[Quebec] Econ Minister's Office Occupied: Demand to End Ties with Israel

suggested by Dan, re-posted from Anarchist People of Color listserv

Quebec Economic Minister's Office occupied to demand Quebec end economic ties with Israel

Montreal, January 15th, 2009 -- On the twentieth day of Israel's attack on Gaza, a group of Montrealers occupied the office of Quebec's Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand, calling on the Charest government to immediately end ties with Israel, and specifically withdraw from the Quebec-Israel accord.

"The accord, signed this fall, establishes unconditional economic ties between the two countries," said Marc-André Faucher, spokesperson for ASSÉ, representing over 40,000 Quebec students. "The accord does not include measures to force Israel to respect international law, but provides economic backing and diplomatic cover for current war crimes in Gaza."

Montrealers, including dozens of supporters outside of the offices, sent a clear message to the Charest government by shutting down the minister's office, disrupting its functioning for the day. Demonstrators locked themselves together in the office, chanting "Israël: terroriste! Bachand: complice!" and demanding the Charest government denounce Israel's war crimes that continue unabated in Gaza.

The protesters, who were eventually removed by police without arrests, demanded that Quebec end all economic ties with Israel as part of the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid.

"We demand that the Charest government tear up the Quebec-Israel bilateral accord and condemn Israel's attack on Gaza," outlined Stefan Christoff, from Tadamon! "Given that Bachand has failed to address our demands, Quebec government institutions should expect future disruptions."

Recent accounts of Israel's carnage document over a thousand dead, including 300 children, and more than 5000 wounded in Gaza.

Major protests have ignited worldwide against the ongoing massacre in Gaza, while growing numbers of direct actions against Israeli apartheid have occurred in recent days, including many on the part of the Jewish community who condemn Israel's attack on Gaza.

* Photos of today's action
http://photos.cmaq.net/v/IsraelQuebecAccord/

* For more information:

- l'Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ)
http://www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca/

- Tadamon!
http://www.tadamon.ca
info@tadamon.ca

[NYC] U.S.S. Intrepid Banner Drop: Jewish Solidarity with Palestine

suggested by Hanan, re-posted from
http://jvoices.com/2009/01/16/jato-nyc-gaza-solidarity-banner-dro/

Banner Drop at U.S.S. Intrepid Marks Spread of U.S. Jewish Solidarity With Palestinians

Friday, January 16, 2009

NYC Jews Call for an Immediate End to Israel's War on Gaza

A banner drop over New York City's West Side Highway, carried out by members of Jews Against the Occupation/NYC, declared “Jews Say: End Israel's War on Gaza NOW!” This action by Jewish New Yorkers continued the wave of increasingly public Jewish solidarity with the Palestinians targeted by the Israeli government's ongoing attack on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 1,000 people, nearly 1/3 of them children.

The banner, which was seen by thousands of commuters during morning rush hour on Friday, January 16th, 2009, expanded the public presence of the many New York Jews who strongly disagree with the self-appointed community spokespeople who have repeatedly expressed support for the bombing and invasion of Gaza. “We are standing up for justice,” said Niuta Teitelboim, one of the JATO/NYC activists, “which is a Jewish tradition that many Jewish organizations seem to have abandoned. Too many have vocally endorsed a war which has involved a continuous string of Israeli war crimes: the mass killings of children and families at UN schools designated as places of refuge; the targeting with bombs and artillery fire of hospitals and ambulances; and most recently the destruction of food and medical aid supplies in a UN facility.”

JATO/NYC placed the banner at the U.S.S. Intrepid to highlight the role of U.S. aid to Israel in the current war and massacres. “Palestinian doctors, ambulance drivers, and children are being killed by bombs paid for with U.S. taxpayers’ money, dropped from planes paid for with U.S. taxpayers’ money, sent by an Israeli administration that could not maintain one of the world's largest militaries without a constant flow of cash from the U.S. treasury,” elaborated R. Rosenthal, another JATO/NYC member involved in the action. “That means all of us are involved in this bloody war. Even if foreclosures and unemployment weren’t decimating our neighborhoods, surely there are better uses for $3 billion a year than helping the Israeli government commit war crimes.”

Over the past week, Jews across North America and Europe have shown their opposition to Israel's latest war, as well as its ongoing military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and denial of Palestinian refugees right to return home. Jewish groups have held sit-ins at Israeli consulates in Toronto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; taken it upon themselves to declare the cancellation of a London rally in support of the war; participated actively in the many demonstrations calling for an immediate end to the bombing and invasion of Gaza; and joined the worldwide campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel until Palestinian rights under international law are respected. “Today’s action is one small contribution to the growing movement in solidarity with the 1.5 million Palestinians being bombed, shelled, and shot by the Israeli army," JATO-NYC member Sholom Schwartzbard explained. "We know from our own history what being sealed behind barbed wire and checkpoints is like, and we know that ‘Never Again’ means not anyone, not anywhere - or it means nothing at all."

[LSE] London School of Economics Occupation for Gaza

suggested by Hanan, re-posted from a Facebook note

P.S. School of Oriental and African Studies in London also had a 24hr occupation, and got all of their demands met.

--------------------------

*The Old Theatre is now under Occupation*

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Over forty pro Palestine students have occupied a lecture theatre at the London School of Economics to demand that the university releases a statement condemning the attack on Gaza and divests from arms companies that supply the Israeli military.

Students entered the Old Theatre and sat down on the stage after the Students' Union passed a motion in support of their demands. A lecture continued as scheduled with the students on the stage.

The group want LSE Director to issue a statement condemning the Israeli violence on Gaza.

"LSE is an institution founded on the Fabian values that were the precursor of the human rights agenda of modern politics. LSE must restate those values and condemn state criminality. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity," a spokesperson said.

The group are also demanding that LSE divests from arms firm BAE Systems, an arms company who supply the Israeli military.

"The fact that LSE invests in BAE Systems means that it is directly profiting from the collective punishment of the Gazan people. Our University will remain tainted for as long as it is funded by unlawful military aggression. The LSE must divest from BAE and other arms companeis immeditately.

The LSE also invests in arms companies Boeing, Rolls Royce and BHP Billiton, a firm the School says supplies nuclear material for warheads.

They have also issued several demands related to providing material support for Palestinian students including providing 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students, books and computers for Palestinian universities and facilitation for fund raising activities.

The LSE has said "disowned" the protest and said that it will hold the Students' Union responsible for any damage. It has however said that it will not remove the occupiers and have agreed not to prevent free movement in and out of the occupied theatre.

Over 250 students and academics wrote to Director Howard Davies at the beginning of the year to demand a statement and other demands similar to those being demanded by the occupation. Davies agreed to waiver application fees for students affected by the crisis but refused to issue a condemnatory statement, pledge further material assistance or support divestment from arms firms.

Davies claimed that the School does not take positions on "political issues". This is in stark contrast to an overtly political statement issued by the Davies in May 2007 condemning a UCU (University and College Union) resolution concerning the Israeli Occupation, and previous condemnations by LSE of South African Apartheid and the Tiananmen Square massacre in the 1980's.

* DEMANDS IN FULL *

1) *Statement*
The LSE should release a statement condemning the Israeli attack on Gaza and demanding a ceasefire. LSE is an institution founded on the Fabian values that were the precursor of the human rights agenda of modern politics. LSE must restate those values and condemn state criminality. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity. A statement condemning Israeli violence is fully in keeping with the founding principles of our university.

2) *Divestment *
The LSE currently holds investments in BAE Systems, a firm that the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (caat.org.uk) states provides weapons and ammunition for the Israeli military. This means that our university is being directly funded by the Israeli war on Gaza. The LSE must divest from BAE immediately.

3) *5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students*
At a University as diverse and international as LSE, Palestinian students are grossly underrepresented in the student body when compared to other groups.

4) *Fundraising day*
The LSE administration should facilitate a 'fundraising day' where buckets will be in every lecture and seminar to collect money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians

5) *Books and Computers*
The LSE has a £26 million surplus and is lucky enough to be able to regularly invest in new equipment. Any computers or books due to be got rid of at the end of Lent and Summer terms should be donated to the University and to schools that have been bombed in Gaza.

6) *Amnesty*
LSE has a proud history of student activism. Students united to campaign against apartheid, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more recently around divestment from the arms trade. All students have a democratic right to peaceful protest and students should not be prevented from expressing their opinions by fear of reprisals.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Updates will be available at *http://lseoccupation.blogspot.com/
2. It is the official policy of the LSE Students' Union to demand a statement from LSE and demand divestment from arms companies
3. Contact Estelle Cooch; *s.e.cooch@lse.ac.uk* ; 07748874987

---

The motion "Defend Gaza: Condemn Israeli Massacre" *passed in todays UGM*. The Students Union supports the creation of an emergency fund to waive tuition/application fees for Palestinians students affected; support links between LSE faculty and Palestinians universities ; the call to recall our Ambassador, end preferential trade.

With over 1,000 Palestinians killed - 300 of them children - and over 5,000 injured, the Students' Union condemns the Israeli massacre in Gaza. Understanding the sanctity of human beings, students have voted in support of the Palestine Society's declaration that we will not sit by as Israel continues its persecution of 1.5 million Palestinian.

---
* Latest Bombings *

Even by the Israeli Forces' depraved standards, today's bombings reached new lows for the grotesque. Three acts in the last 24 hours show their total lack of humanity and total disregard for the dignity of the dead.

Late yesterday, news reports reached the world of how the Israeli Army had shelled the holy burial grounds at the main Gaza cemetery in northern Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighbourhood. Even the dead are denied peace.
*http://english.sina.com/world/2009/0114/211603.html*<https://exchange.lse.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://english.sina.com/world/2009/0114/211603.html>

Then the Israeli Air force attacked yet another UN building sheltering 700 refugees. The air strike injured three UN workers and from eyewitness accounts, they used illegal phosphorus bombs. The building hit by the Israeli Air Force also contained tonnes of much needed medical supplies, which now as a direct result of their attack has destroyed these vital supplies.
*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/15/israel-gaza-offensive-truce-talks
*<https://exchange.lse.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/15/israel-gaza-offensive-truce-talks>

And finally, if the Israeli army doesn't kill you the first time, and you manage to make your way to one of the few remaining medical centres, you'll still not be safe. Today Israeli forces shelled Al Quds hospital making the medical treatment of the innocent victims of Israel's slaughter even tougher. According to the head of emergency services at the hospital, Dr. Bashar Murad, two of the Israeli missiles used also included white phosphorus.

---

*Please come join the occupation of the Old Theatre!*

In solidarity

LSESU Palestine Society
(from the Old Theatre)

[L.A.] Jews Shut Down Israeli Consulate for 3 Hours

re-posted from APOC listserv

January 14, 2009

JEWS SHUT DOWN ISRAELI CONSULATE FOR 3 HOURS:

10 JEWS CHAIN TOGETHER TO BLOCK DRIVEWAY AND ENTRANCE

Early this morning, Jewish activists in a historic first in Los Angeles, chained themselves to the entrance of the Israeli Consulate and blocked the driveway to the parking structure, blocking all traffic in and out of the building. "We sent a clear message to the world that LA Jews are part of the global majority in opposition to the Israeli siege of Gaza," said Lenny Potash a 72-year old protester who was cuffed to eight other activists, blocking the driveway to the consulate. The activists were joined by 50 other supporters and who chanted "LA Jews say, End the Siege of Gaza" and "Not in Our Name! We will Not be Silent!" Protesters also held up signs reading "Israeli Consulate: Closed for War Crimes."

"We succeeded today in letting Jews and other Americans of conscience know that it is safe to speak out against the policies of the Israeli government and that the Israeli lobby does not speak for everyone," said Robin Ellis, a Registered Nurse who also risked arrest to block the consulate entrance. "We are committed to escalating non-violent activities in the future to end the siege and win justice for Palestinians," Ellis said.

The group of activists were an ad-hoc, multi-generational group of LA Jewish residents, including members of the recently founded International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. They shared a commitment to ending the Israeli siege on Gaza and an end to Israeli apartheid. The demonstration will kick off a wave of demonstrations across the United States uniting Palestinians, Jewish people, and other Americans outraged by the siege.

"We are shocked and outraged at Israeli's latest act of violent aggression against the Palestinian people. Killing over 950 people, including 250 women and children, bombing schools and mosques and then calling it self-defense—that is the worst kind of hypocrisy. It also amounts to war crimes," said Hannah Howard, a local member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. "We shut down the Israeli consulate today because as Jewish people we cannot allow business as usual while violence is being done in our name."

Action participants also spoke out against the US government's unconditional support for Israel's siege and its ongoing war against the Palestinian people. "While US-funded F16's rain down bombs on the people of Gaza, our elected officials locally and nationally offer unqualified support." said Marsha Steinberg, a retired union representative. "Our government must stop sending billions of dollars in military and economic aid to the Israeli war machine," Goldberg said. In the coming week, concerned Americans from all backgrounds will call on the new Presidential administration to make a 180 degree change in policy.

"While the end of the siege on Gaza is our most immediate priority, this is only the latest chapter in Palestinians' 60 plus year experience of occupation and ethnic cleansing. Peace and justice in the region will only come when Palestinians have freedom and control their own destiny," said Lisa Adler, a community organizer in Los Angeles and another member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. "Even before the siege began, Israel's inhumane months-long blockade of Gaza created a major humanitarian crisis. We must end the siege. And we are building a nonviolent international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions that brings an end to Israel's policies of occupation and apartheid and advances the Palestinian struggle for justice," said Adler.

For more information on the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, visit www.ijsn.net

-- ## --

Profiles of several Demonstrators

Marsha Steinberg is a retired union representative and long time activist for social justice.

Gabriel Strachota is a 22-year old Jewish native of Massachusetts. His mother grew up in apartheid South Africa and he has many aunts, uncles, and cousins living in Israel.

Robin Ellis is a 34-year old Registered Nurse, working in Los Angeles' public health system.. Robin's grandparents and great grandparents fled Nazi Germany and settled in New York where Robin was born.Registered Nurse

Lisa Adler is a 29-year old New York native from a Latin American Jewish family. She spent several weeks in occupied Palestine in 2002 working in solidarity with Palestinians resisting the occupation non-violently.

Eric Romann is a 31-year old community organizer originally from New Jersey. Eric's grandparents moved to Palestine to escape Nazism in the 1930's and lost many family members in the Nazi Holocaust. His father spent the first 15 years of his life in Israel and Eric has many family members living there.

Samantha Tess Sunshine is a queer white Jew who lives in Los Angeles. She is a trained sex educator who has worked in the field of sexual health for almost a decade, and is currently a lead facilitator for the Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations Program at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

Fact Sheet on Gaza and Israeli Apartheid

THE PEOPLE OF GAZA: Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians live in Gaza, many of them concentrated in one-half of the territory. In this area, the population density is nearly 20,000 people per square mile, one of the highest in the world. More than three quarters of Gaza's residents are refugees who were driven from their homes during past wars with Israel (in 1948 and 1967), and their descendants. Israel has permanently barred their return. Over half of these refugees still reside in Gaza's eight refugee camps. (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5122404.stm)

THE OCCUPATION OF GAZA: The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has control over Gaza's air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. ("What You Don't Know About Gaza", Rashidi Khalidi, New York Times, January 7, 2009).

THE BLOCKADE of GAZA: Israel's blockade of the strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly stringent since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading to life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its democratic rights. (Khalidi, New York Times).

THE CEASE-FIRE: Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction in rockets fired from Gaza from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported killed. (Khalidi, New York Times).

WAR CRIMES: Israel's current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. ("Israel is committing war crimes." George Bisharat, Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2009.)

ISRAELI APARTHEID: Former South African President Hendrick Verwoerd observed as far back as 1961 that "Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state." In Palestine, the Zionist goal of controlling as much land as possible without Palestinians led to the large-scale expulsions of 1947-48 and 1967. Today, 92 percent of Israel's land is defined as the "inalienable property of the Jewish people." Jews anywhere in the world have a "right to return" and claim citizenship, while Palestinians who were expelled from their homes are denied the "right to return" guaranteed by international law. Former President Jimmy Carter defines apartheid as the "forced separation of two peoples in the same territory with one of the groups dominating or controlling the other." This accurately describes the situation in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, where Israeli settlers and soldiers totally dominate the indigenous Palestinian population. The policies Israel has implemented to carry out its 40-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and expropriate Palestinian land closely mirror the "inhuman acts" that make up the UN Convention on the "Crime of Apartheid." (US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, "Why Apartheid Applies to Israel", http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/AAFWhyApartheid.pdf)

[Oakland] Anarchist reportback

suggested by Elliott, re-posted from Counterpunch.org, "This analysis was written collaboratively by a group of anarchists based out of Oakland who together were present at all moments during the rebellion."

by Kara N. Tina

Oakland on Fire

Anarchists, Solidarity, and New Possibilities in the Oakland Rebellion

"I'm sorry my car was burned but the issue is very upsetting."

-Ken Epstein, assistant editor of the Oakland Post, who was finishing an article about Grant's death, watched from the 12th story of his office at 14th and Franklin streets as his 2002 Honda CR-V disintegrated in a roar of flames (Oakland Tribune)

The murder of Oscar Grant by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle early New Year's morning sent a wave of grief throughout the Bay Area and reminded all that racism and police violence continue to be endemic components of US society. During the following days, that pain transformed into overflowing anger as multiple videos of the execution recorded by witnesses emerged on the internet and in the media. One week later on January 7, over a thousand people from diverse communities across Oakland and the Bay Area gathered to show their anger and be in the presence of others feeling similar grief. This hastily planned rally shut down the Fruitvale BART station where the shooting took place as speaker after speaker addressed the crowd. Without any plan or organization, the vast majority of those who patiently listened to speakers for over two hours took the demonstration into the streets with a spirited march that made its way towards downtown as the sun set. 

As the march reached the Lake Merritt BART station and headquarters of BART police downtown, clashes immediately broke out leaving one police cruiser destroyed alongside a burning dumpster. Marchers dispersed down side streets to the sounds of police weapons discharging and the sting of tear gas in the air. The following hours witnessed waves of rioting and demonstrations throughout downtown Oakland that even forced Mayor Ron Dellums to come out into the streets and promise the opening of a homicide investigation in a failed attempt to subdue the angry crowds. Hundreds of businesses and cars were damaged or destroyed and dumpsters were left burning. The next day, a BART board of directors meeting was filled beyond capacity and overwhelmed with community members expressing indignant rage, clearly feeling validated and empowered to speak up by the previous night's rebellion.

In the days since the unrest, rumors have begun to circulate that anarchists hijacked the otherwise peaceful event and were responsible for unleashing the 'violence'.  A cover story in the San Francisco Chronicle two days after the rioting quoted an organizer of the Fruitvale rally as saying that he was led to tears when his work was "destroyed by a group of anarchists." This dangerous and misleading narrative obscures what actually transpired and why, on that evening, the streets of Oakland unleashed such a powerful show of resistance and solidarity that gave many an empowered glimpse of radical new possibilities.

It is true that anarchists were present from start to finish on Wednesday. Counter to some generalizations that assume all anarchists are white, those who were there on Wednesday come from diverse backgrounds. They participated in a wide variety of ways; from spreading the word about the rally beforehand in order to have a large turnout, to spending hours painting banners and signs, to engaging in militant street actions, to being rounded up and at times beaten and arrested. Anarchists are among the over 100 community members who now face charges ranging from misdemeanor rioting to different felonies.

African-American youth made up the majority of those involved in the actions along with sizable numbers of anarchists as well as other youth of color and activist folk who were all there side by side. During the rioting, there was a sense of unity in the air and a defiant mood of solidarity among all who faced off against the police.  Anarchists tend to show up at all demonstrations prepared to act should the situation escalate, and this case was no different. Yet it is simply incorrect to suggest that there was some conspiracy of anarchists from the 'outside' who were able to manipulate the helpless youth of Oakland as part of their sinister agenda. This is a paternalistic and disempowering misreading of what was unquestionably a spontaneous outpouring of rage, led by youth of color, creating an extremely empowering moment for participants in the streets. There, temporary alliances were made as those who were motivated to act in the moment experienced a unique cross-pollination that cut across the inhibiting social boundaries of everyday life. 

The allegations of an anarchist takeover are destructively misleading. At best they come from ignorance and at worse they represent a flawed and divisive ideology of social change which embodies paternalistic and racist assumptions about those involved in the actions. To scapegoat anarchists for what transpired, robs from marginalized and oppressed youth of color the agency they possess and the power to resist which they demonstrated that evening. It also ignores the remarkable diversity and unique solidarity in the streets that created an liberating experience far beyond any rally or march.

There were some moments during which individual anarchists attempted to influence the course of events, but these instances still do not fit into the narrative that the corporate media and some organizers have tried to tell. At one point a group of black youth smashing the windows of a locally owned business were encouraged to target large corporations and banks instead of 'mom and pop' shops. They proceeded to do just that. Anarchists also un-arrested youth, and encouraged people to push dumpsters and other objects into the streets to prevent the police from advancing, a tactic that was quickly picked up and utilized. Other examples of this type of interchange involved anarchists encouraging youth participating in the riots to wear bandanas over their faces, change clothes during calm moments and other tactics to help avoid arrest or identification. Without question, the exchange went both ways as anarchists took away valuable lessons in mobility, evasion, and more as they worked together with the youth throughout the night.

None of this, however, suggests that anarchists had some sort of control or single handedly determined the events that transpired. The rage and energy that transformed downtown Oakland into a momentary battlefield came from those who are most directly affected by the racist police state regime. No one group had any control over what unfolded. It was a spontaneous rebellion that sprang organically from the streets of Oakland and in retrospect anarchists played an important yet relatively minor role. 

The property destruction and rage that burned throughout downtown Oakland was at times undirected and ended up damaging many small businesses and cars along with corporate targets such as Sears and McDonald's. However, some of the most powerful moments that parralled the destruction were confrontations with police and sponatenous high energy gatherings of people in the street who refused to be dispersed. It was during these moments that chanting would again erupt from the crowd reminding all who were present that the direct political demands of justice for Oscar Grant and active resistance to the racist police state system in the United States were the motivations of all who took to the streets that evening.

It's important to also remember that not one person was assaulted during the actions and there were no reports of fights or scuffles amongst the groups of youth who resisted police and destroyed property into the night. In this sense, the rebellion was not violent. It is disturbing to watch as fellow organizers and members of our communities have uncritically adopted the rhetoric of the right in their confused denunciation of mass property destruction as 'violence'.

On the other hand the Oakland Police Department, who everyday harass, intimidate and beat Oakland's youth, was unleashing its very real violence that night. Police opened fire on crowds with different types of less lethal projectiles and in some cases shot tear gas canisters directly into people's bodies. A Berkeley High teacher had his face bashed during arrest and spent the night in the hospital before being taken back downtown for booking.  A man taking pictures was attacked by police and his bike helmet was cracked as he was beaten. During the mass arrest at the end of the night, 80 people were forced by police to lay on their stomachs at 20th and Broadway, including a very pregnant woman who was screaming in pain.

What manifested during the Oakland rebellion was a moment of interchange and revolutionary transformation that rarely happens within the rituals of left organizing in the Bay Area. Between white "community organizers" overtaken by guilt into an impotent politics of servitude, professional activists worried about annual reports and grant cycles, and vanguardist marxist sects continually looking to use the next demonstration as a recruiting drive, many radicals find themselves in a desert devoid of revolutionary activity and thought. Within this barren landscape, it is rare to find new possibilities for radical social change while combatting racism and the constant oppression of capitalism. Resisting the police shoulder to shoulder, destroying property (albeit with different emphasis), helping one another evade arrest, exchanging tactics and gestures of solidarity across racial barriers pushes the desire for a multi-racial revolutionary movement years ahead, more than any speaker at a rally ever could.

Anarchists are very accustomed to accusations of spoiling carefully managed demonstrations, and in some cases this is true and necessary. The Oakland rebellion was a different story. Those who are truly committed to revolutionary change in this country need to appreciate the significance of what unfolded in the streets that night and move forward without falling into the usual sectarian traps.

[USA] Important New Cultural Trend: Reading!

re-posted from KTVU, 01/12/09 @ http://www.ktvu.com/news/18461304/detail.html

'Astonishing' Americans Read More in 2008

Report based on sample of 18,000 adults

NEW YORK -- "Reading on the rise" declares a new government study, which reports a surprising and welcome increase in the number of adults who recently read a novel, short story, play or other work of literature.

But the study also suggests that not every person who reads necessarily wants to.

According to "Reading on the Rise," being issued Monday by the National Endowment for the Arts, just over half of the people surveyed 18 or older read some kind of literature in 2008, up from 46.7 percent in 2002, when the number had dropped by seven percentage points over the previous decade. NEA chairman Dana Gioia called the results "astonishing" and an "important new cultural trend."

According to the survey, which reflects both online works and paper texts, reading rates increased for whites, blacks and Hispanics, for men and for woman, for all levels of education and across virtually all ages. Reading among 18-to-24 year olds jumped from 42.8 in 2002 to 51.7 percent last year.

For much of the decade, Gioia and the NEA have warned of a crisis in literacy and have implemented numerous programs to encourage reading. In a preface to the new report, being released shortly before Gioia steps down after heading the endowment for seven years, he cites a nationwide effort and says the results demonstrate that "our faith in positive social and cultural change was not misplaced."

But the preface does not mention a countertrend: a drop among people not obligated to read. Adults who read books of any kind - fiction or nonfiction, online or on paper - that were not assigned by a teacher or employer dropped from 56.6 percent of adults in 2002 to 54.3 percent last year. The fall was greatest among those younger than 55.

And while the number of adults who say they read a non-required book is 3.5 million higher than in 2002, the report notes that that the total adult population increased by 19 million, meaning an increase in the number of people who didn't voluntarily read books of 15.5 million, a huge disparity confirmed by NEA research director Sunil Iyengar.

Gioia believes the NEA report is essentially positive - if only because good news about reading is so rare - but says that "we're still in a culture in which all kinds of reading are under pressure" from other forms of leisure and entertainment.

The NEA chair, himself a published poet, doesn't have a definitive answer to the large gap between voluntary readers and reading overall. He speculates, "just a hypothesis," about a large subgroup of "shallow readers," people who feel compelled to take on a book for a class or a reading program but are not inspired to finish the text or to read independently.

"We have so many of these programs around the country, and I always tell our people that we can't expect to make permanent readers out of everyone," he says.

"So have we become a nation of Lionel Trillings"? asks Gioia, referring to the late and supremely erudite literary critic. "The answer is absolutely not yet."

The NEA report, based on a sample of more than 18,000 adults, is based on data gathered in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

[medical] Implants for babies could help deaf learn to speak

re-posted from New Scientist, 01/04/09 at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126883.500-implants-for-babies-could-help-deaf-learn-to-speak.html

Implants for babies could help deaf learn to speak

BRAIN activity that is "scrambled" in deaf cats develops normally if they are fitted with a cochlear implant shortly after birth. The finding may explain how deaf children given implants as babies can learn to speak almost as well as hearing children.

In hearing animals, sound vibrates hair cells in the inner ear, triggering neurons to send impulses to the brain. In deaf animals, these hair cells are often defective; cochlear implants compensate by stimulating neurons directly.

To see how this artificial stimulation affects the brain, Rob Shephard at the Bionic Ear Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues recorded electrical activity in the cortex of 17 8-month-old cats that were deaf from birth. As they monitored the cats' brains, they activated each cat's cochlear implant.

Ten of the cats had received the implant relatively recently and their electrical activity was "completely scrambled", indicating that they did not perceive sound coherently: normal cortex activity is key to perceiving sound and, in humans, to developing speech.

In the seven cats that received implants at 8 weeks old, however, activity was similar to that in hearing cats.

Some deaf people say it is unethical to operate on deaf babies, who would otherwise learn sign language. Neurologist Jim Pickles at the University of Queensland, Australia, says the latest work "increases the weight of evidence to implant children early".