The next NYCLAW meeting take place on Monday, April 4,
2005, 6:30 p.m., at DC 1707 AFSCME, 75 Varick St., 14
Floor (1/9/A/C/E to Canal St.).

The agenda will include:

1. Evaluation of March 19 demos.

2. May 1 MWM/TONC Demo.

3. Labor for Palestine.

4. Other upcoming activities.

30 April 2005

USA/Germany: U.S. Conscientious objector sentenced to seven
months in prison

Blake Lemoine, a U.S. conscientious objector, was sentenced
by the Darmstadt military court of the US Armed Forces in
Germany to seven months in prison on 28 March 2005. Blake
Lemoine tried to be discharged from the US military earlier
this year, as he is opposed to the US occupation of Iraq
based on his religious beliefs. He applied for conscientious
objector status, but his application was never decided.
Instead, he was charged with disobeying orders on 4 March
2005. Blake Lemoine started a hunger strike in protest
against the US Army's refusal to discharge him from the
military. He also stopped carrying out any order, and was
therefore charged with disobeying orders. The Darmstadt
court of the US Army sentenced him to seven months
imprisonment, and ordered that he be discharged on a "other
than honourable" discharge after serving his prison term.

War Resisters' International demands the immediate release
of Blake Lemoine, and his recognition as conscientious
objector.

War Resisters' International calls for letters of protest to
the US authorities, or US embassies abroad. A protest email
to US President George W. Bush jr can be sent at
http://wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20050330a.html .

Andreas Speck War Resisters' International
---
Conscription and Conscientious Objection Documentation War
Resisters' International
5 Caledonian Road - London N1 9DX - Britain tel +44-20-7278
4040  - fax +44-20-7278 0444 email concodoc@...
http://wri-irg.org

Support War Resisters' International! Donate today! Online:
http://wri-irg.org/en/donate-en.htm

PATRIOT ACT AT SFSU: ADMINISTRATION DEMANDS SECRET MEETINGS
TO THREATEN STUDENTS

On Wednesday, March 9th, students from New York to San
Francisco rallied to protest military recruiters on their
campuses. The students were expressing their outrage at the
military's anti-gay "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the
diversion of federal funding away from education into
military spending, and the war in Iraq.  At San Francisco
State University, the administration has responded with
police action and secret meetings.

At SFSU over 150 students joined Students Against War -- the
school's Campus Antiwar Network chapter -- and other groups
to protest Air Force recruiters and Army Corps of Engineers
attending a school sponsored career fair. The crowd flooded
the fair, surrounding their tables and chanting. When Air
Force recruiters tried to wait out the protest, students
staged a peaceful anti-war sit-in and teach-in.

POLICE INTIMIDATION AND UNIVERSITY THREATS

The following day, recruiters returned to the SFSU career
fair. As soon as two activists entered the career fair,
eight police officers forcibly removed them from their own
student center, pushing them and twisting one activist's
arm. When the other activist asked why she was being forced
to leave, she was pushed into a doorway, told she was
causing a fire hazard by standing there, and then kicked out
of the building.

A number of members of Students Against War have received
official notices of appointment from the Coordinator of
Judicial Affairs dated March 18, 2005. The letters state
that the administration has received a complaint from the
Chief of Public Safety and that each student must meet
individually with Judicial Affairs the week of April 4th.
The letter specifically states that the meetings are
confidential and none of the students have been informed of
nature of the charges against them. Failure to respond the
summons may jeopardize the student's status at San Francisco
State University. Disciplinary action by the administration
could result in probation, suspension or expulsion from the
university.

The university demanding secret meetings with students is
unacceptable. The actions of the police and the San
Francisco State administration are a blatant attempt to
stifle dissent and create a climate of intimidation. The
administration is purposely singling out the leading
organizers of the student antiwar movement on campus to
prosecute.

San Francisco State University should be ashamed that they
are a shell for the US military.  They undermine their own
anti-discrimination policies and commitments to diversity by
allowing a racist, sexist and anti-gay institution to
recruit on campus. When the administration refuses to defend
it own policies, students are forced to be the moral
backbone of the university. The students, who participated
in the March 9th demonstration, where defending their
classmates and refusing to let one more person become cannon
fodder in an illegal war.

These attacks are an attempt to go after one of the leading
campuses in the growing counter recruitment movement around
the country. If they can punish students at San Francisco
State for protesting, it will be easier to arrest, sanction
and intimidate students on other campuses.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We ask the public to speak-out against the administration's
plans to limit free speech rights, and demand that no
sanctions be placed on students that helped to plan the
March 9th protest. Please contact:

Robert A. Corrigan, SFSU President
Phone: (415) 338-1381, Fax: (415) 338-6210
Email: corrigan@...
please CC your email to: cansfsu@...

Penny Saffold, SFSU Vice President/Dean of Students
Phone: (415) 338-2032, Fax: (415) 338-0900
Email: psaffold@...
please CC your email to: cansfsu@...

Also, please sign our online petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/sfsu/petition.html/

For more information about the March 9th protest:
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/breaking/003099.html
http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_2603424
http://kpix.dayport.com/launcher/4122/?tf=video_player.tpl

Watch a video of the protest at
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/collegenotcombat.mov.

We urgently need your help.  Please lend your support to
anti-war student activists and activists who are fighting
the militarization of our schools by letting the
administration know that their actions are not supported by
members of the community, students, alumni, faculty, and
staff.

Sincerely, Students Against War cansfsu@...

PRESS ADVISORY April 2, 2005

Student protest prevents CIA recruiting event at New York
University Antiwar students hope to halt unique CIA college
marketing effort at NYU

CONTACT: Sam Pipp, (339) 832-0761, spp230@... Elizabeth
Wrigley-Field, (646) 320-6880, wrigleyfield@...

ATTN: All Media

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

A planned CIA recruiting event at New York University (NYU)
was cancelled after the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) called
a protest demanding the CIA abandon its recruiting program
at NYU. 20 hours before the recruiting event was scheduled
to begin, its organizers sent an email to all those who had
registered, headlined, "The CIA Speaker Event scheduled for
Thursday, March 31 @6PM has been CANCELLED due to the
possibility of a protest by the Campus Antiwar Network."

The event -- which was scheduled to include speakers from
the CIA, a dinner, and a raffle for prizes such as an iPod
Shuffle -- was organized by students in an NYU marketing
class whose classwork for the semester is to market the CIA
to their peers at NYU. They will be graded on their efforts;
the CIA, which provided them a $2500 budget for their
project, retains ownership of the marketing campaign they
create. The CIA hired the company EdVenture Partners to
broker this arrangement.

This alliance between the university and the CIA to market
CIA employment on campus is taking place at only two
universities this semester: NYU and the University of
Texas-Pan American (UTPA). Students at both schools have
rallied in protest against the program.

"We believe they're testing the waters to see how brazenly
they can recruit on campuses without encountering student
opposition, before spreading programs like this to colleges
across the country," said Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, a senior
at NYU and member of the Campus Antiwar Network. "Forcing
them to cancel their big speaking event is a huge victory.
It showed them they can't market an agency that supports
torture and murder around the world without a fight."

After the event was cancelled, about twenty students rallied
in celebration outside the building where it was scheduled
to have been held, passing out fact sheets about the CIA's
history of assassination attempts and support for brutal
dictatorships. Ten students went to challenge the event's
organizers to a public debate on campus about the CIA -- an
offer which was declined.

"Their marketing campaign says they want to 'dispel the
myths' about the CIA," said David Florey, a senior at NYU
and member of the Campus Antiwar Network. "But they refused
our offer to debate. They can't dispel the reality of the
CIA's own practices. It's not a myth that the CIA organized
the program in Afghanistan that trained Osama bin Laden."


PART OF A NATIONAL COUNTER-RECRUITMENT MOVEMENT

NYU's protest comes in the context of a counter-recruitment
movement that has swept colleges and high schools across the
country. Students at schools ranging from Seattle Central
Community College and San Francisco State University on the
West Coast, to City College New York and and Southern
Connecticut State University on the East Coast, have chased
military recruiters off their campus this schoolyear.

Expensive private colleges like NYU don't get the same kinds
of military recruiters. The only recruiters NYU has seen
this year came from the Judge Advocate General (the legal
arm of the military), which faced protest from NYU students
opposed to the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the
prosecution of war resisters. But students at NYU see their
CIA Off Campus campaign as a contribution to the national
counter-recruitment movement.

"We know that because of the general affluence of the
students at NYU, direct military recruitment will never be
as fruitful as the government would hope, but in the past
few months, we’ve seen a significant increase in the
presence of OTHER forms of recruitment for militaristic
operations," said Sam Pipp, a sophomore at NYU and member of
the Campus Antiwar Network. "This CIA recruitment in the
guise of a class represents a campaign of sorts on the part
of the government to pull as many as they can into the
military machine."

"We're here as part of a growing counter-recruitment
movement that has the potential to stop Bush's ability to
carry out his agenda of war and terror," said Leia Petty, a
member of the Campus Antiwar Network, at the protest. "We're
here to say that torture and terror are not career
opportunities, and we don't intend to back down until the
CIA drops all efforts to recruit at NYU."


THIS PROTEST IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Two days before NYU's protest, students at UTPA had
protested the CIA recruiting event at their campus, where
the CIA is explicitly marketing itself as an employer of
choice for Latinos. "I think the students in the marketing
class are naive to think they're offering any opportunity to
Hispanics," said Samantha Garcia, president of Students for
Peace and Justice and the University Socialist Forum at
UTPA, two groups that protested the CIA. Garcia noted the
CIA's history of involvement in Latin America, such as its
involvement in the overthrow of Chile's left-wing leader
Salvador Allende and its support of Nicaragua's Contras.

At both schools, students plan to keep fighting the CIA
presence and opposing the U.S. occupation in Iraq, which
they see as intimately connected. "Bush says we're bringing
democracy to Iraq," Wrigley-Field said. "But the history of
the CIA shows the U.S. is the last country that can bring
democracy anywhere."

[The following event was initiated on October 18, 2004 by
the Million Worker March, and is endorsed by NYCLAW]

May 1:
May Day Rally for Jobs, Not War - Bring the Troops Home Now!

Union Square 1 pm


Join us May 1 to say, "Jobs, Not War!"  Thousands of working
people, trade unionists, veterans, youth, and antiwar
activists will take to the streets on May Day--International
Workers Day--to demand jobs, housing, and education, not war
and occupation.

http://www.TroopsOutNow.org

*********************

On March 19, thousands of activists, students, veterans, and
community organizers joined in a historic march from
Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park to Central Park to demand an end
to the illegal occupation of Iraq.

The turnout for this demonstration confirms that the antiwar
movement has entered into a new phase of organizing against
the war. It confirms that the greatest attention must be
paid to reaching out to communities most impacted by the war
and by the policies of the Bush Administration. These
communities are the targets of the budget cuts. They are
also targeted by military recruiters, who exploit economic
hardship with false promises of opportunity. As a result,
the children of these communities are dying
disproportionately in Iraq, paying the ultimate price for a
policy of greed and empire.


**************** Next Step:  May Day
****************

On May 1 the Troops Out Now Coalition and the NYC Million
Worker March are calling for a Jobs, Not War! - Bring the
Troops Home Now! rally in Union Square, NYC.

May Day grew out of the struggle of working people in this
country more than 100 years ago for an 8-hour workday with a
full day's pay. All over the world, working and poor people
march on May Day to send the message that workers are united
and have the right to a job, a living wage, health care,
housing and education. Workers have a right to pensions and
social security. Immigrant workers and the unemployed should
have the same rights. On May Day 2005, let's bring back that
fighting spirit.

This is an important opportunity to link the struggle
against the war with the struggle for jobs, healthcare, and
education here at home.

Now, more than ever, the antiwar movement needs to be in the
streets to oppose the Bush Administration's agenda of
endless war.  Two years ago, George W. Bush took the U.S.
into war under the pretense that Iraq had weapons of mass
destruction.  Now, his Administration is claiming that Iran
and North Korea possess weapons of mass destruction.  It is
important that we expose any talk of removing the threat of
nuclear weapons as just another justification for a
pre-emptive war against the people of Iran and Korea.


As the Bush Administration gears up for new military
adventures, working people at home are under attack, as
budgets for education, housing, and healthcare are slashed,
the cost of living rises, and jobs are disappearing.

For more than 100 years, May Day has been a day for working
people to be in the streets, united in the struggle for
jobs, healthcare, and housing.  Join us in the streets, May
1 in Union Square!



************** What you can do:
**************

1) Endorse the May 1 Rally:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1endorse.html

2) Help get the word out.  Download flyers at
http://troopsoutnow.org/literature.html

3) Donate: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html

4) Organize transportation from your area:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/volunteer.html

The following was delivered at the March 19 antiwar rally in Fayetteville, North
Carolina (home of Ft. Bragg), by NYCLAW representative Thomas Barton, publisher
of GI Special <http://www.militaryproject.org/> .

Comments by other Fayetteville rally speakers are posted at:
<http://www.traprockpeace.org/fayetteville_rally_1.html>
<http://www.traprockpeace.org/fayetteville_rally_2.html>

---------------
Let’s Get to Work

Greetings from New York City Labor Against the War; GI Special; Traveling
Soldier newsletter, produced by Pham Binh; and the Military Project organizing
committee.

Here is a blinding flash of the obvious.

During the Vietnam war, the antiwar movement at home was necessary to stop the
war, but it was not sufficient.

The resistance in Vietnam was necessary to stop the war, but it was not
sufficient.

But the rebellion against the war in the armed forces was both necessary and
sufficient to stop the war.  And the war stopped.

It was the greatest insurrection against an Imperial war since the rebellion of
the Russian army in 1917.

But you don’t have to believe me about that, and you shouldn’t.

Check out: Heinl, Jr., Col. Robert D., THE COLLAPSE OF THE ARMED FORCES, Armed
Forces Journal, 1971.

Lots of soldiers can fight in wars.

It takes something very special in soldiers to stop one. Honor and respect to
them all.

Respect also to the civilians who forged the links to the antiwar troops, gave
them aid and comfort, and helped make that rebellion possible.

Now it is time for us to follow the instruction of the prophet:

Go thou and do likewise.

Today, the anti war movement is necessary to stop the war in Iraq, but it is not
sufficient.

Today, the Iraqi resistance to Imperial invasion and occupation is necessary to
stop the war, but it is not sufficient.

But the coming rebellion in the armed forces will be both necessary and
sufficient.  It may not come as soon as we might wish, but it will come.  And
the war will stop.

But you don’t have to take my word for that, and you shouldn ’t.

Here is what one 1st ID member from a group of anti-war soldiers in Iraq wrote
to GI Special:

“Before any soldier risks going to prison he should realize that his ability to
communicate with other troops will be limited.

“We choose our battles and continue to speak out in our underground action.

“There has to be a point when we reach a high enough number of troops in our
peace effort that a unified boycott of all military action will have a desired
effect.”

Nothing is more important today than forging new links with the troops turning
against this war.

Our job is to help them do what is necessary to stop this war and end forever
the power of the predators who rule in this society.

If we act together to take back our lives and our futures from those who would
steal both, there is no force on earth that can stop us.

We need our troops by our side.

Without them we are truly lost.

With them, everything is possible.

Let’s get to work.

CONTENTS
1.  AFL-CIO Collaboration With The War
2.  Some Antiwar Groups Still Moving Right
3.  “Out Now!” – More Than Ever
4.  Iraqi Resistance Truth Kit
5.  Slow-motion G.I. Mutiny Takes Many Forms
6.  Palestine & Iraq Indivisible

+++++++++

1.  AFL-CIO COLLABORATION WITH THE WAR

ACLD:  The [Advisory Committee on Labor Diplomacy] is an effort to restore a
process in the State Department known as “Labor Diplomacy.” In reading reports
and meeting minutes from its website, it is clear that the State Department is
using U.S. labor leaders to help them target overseas unions for political
purposes -- and that these labor leaders readily and actively participate. It is
the State Department through which funding for the so-called National Endowment
for Democracy (NED) is channeled, although there is no mention of this
connection on the AFL-CIO website.
—Kim Scipes, “AFL-CIO Foreign Policy Leaders Help Develop Bush’s Foreign Policy,
Target Foreign Unions for Political Control,” Labor Notes, March 2005
<http://labornotes.org/archives/2005/03/articles/e.html>

PNAC:  AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has declined to explain why his name and
title appear on a list of supporters of the Project for the New American
Century, an organization whose prime activity is to promote the establishment of
an American global empire through the use of military and economic power.
—Harry Kelber. “Sweeney Is Silent on Ties to War Hawks Who Are Promoting Bush’s
Global Agenda,” LaborTalk, April 6, 2005
<http://www.laboreducator.org/sweenhawk.htm>

+++++++++

2.  SOME ANTIWAR GROUPS STILL MOVING RIGHT

UFPJ:  UFPJ has a left wing Strategic Framework, but its leadership is almost
completely focused on appealing to an imaginary mainstream America and
influencing the Democratic Party. While the left minority could sway things from
this orientation at the Assembly, this will be more difficult afterwards when
the leadership and staff will not be held accountable to the grassroots and will
able to turn things back their way on every question.
—Senan Shaqdeh, “United For Peace with Justice National Assembly: Arabs were not
there,” Al Bawaba, March 9, 2005 <http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/181151/>

MOVEON & THE NATION:  [O]ther “progressive” organizations are sliding into the
same pro-war pit inhabited by MoveOn. For example, The Nation’s call for
immediate withdrawal, at least in the last half year, has been minimal.
—John Walsh, “Misdirecting the Anti-War Movement, The Perfidy of the Democratic
Party’s Puppets,” Counterpunch, March 18, 2005
<http://www.counterpunch.org/walsh03182005.html>

BLANK CHECK FOR PRO-WAR DEMOCRATS:  It is not a surprise that the vast majority
of Democrats voted to continue to fund the illegal occupation of Iraq. . . .
[T]he peace movement leadership . . . will not only vote for Democrats, they
will remain silent and work for pro-war Democrats. . . Hopefully the peace
movement also learned a lesson: Democrats need to be opposed for engaging in war
just as pro-war Republicans need to be opposed.
—Kevin Zeese, “Don’t Just Blame the Democrats, Progressives are Reaping the
Harvest They Planted in 2004,” Dissident Voice, March 28, 2005
<http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar05/Zeese0328.htm>

+++++++++

3.  “OUT NOW!” – MORE THAN EVER

VERY NECESSARY: [Parent of a G.I.] Colleen McLaughlin . . . rejects the belief,
voiced even by some in the antiwar movement, that the U.S. has a responsibility
to maintain a military presence in Iraq, to prevent chaos. “To adopt that
attitude gives a green light for perpetual warfare,” she says. “If people in the
antiwar movement adapt that attitude -- if we broke it, then we have to fix it
-- then that what will happen in the next war that the Bush administration
instigates. I think the American presence is the problem, not the solution.”
—Alan Maass, “Bring Them Home Now!,” Socialist Worker, March 18, 2005
<http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-1/535/535_01_BringHome.shtml>

VINDICATED IN VT REFERENDUM:  The votes in Burlington, Marshfield and Hinesburg
show we do not have to moderate our demands and adapt to the pro-occupation
Democrats. They demonstrated that “Out Now” is a demand that can galvanize our
side, win majority support, and form the basis of a popular movement to end the
occupation and oppose Bush’s future wars.
—James Marc Leas and Colleen McLaughlin, “Burlington Votes to Bring the Troops
Home Now!,” ZMag, March 10, 2005
<http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=7407>

PERSUASIVE -- TO THOSE WHO PAY THE PRICE OF WAR:  The antiwar movement today
should have as its general watchword “Troops Out Now.” This is the most
effective and clear way to make our opposition to U.S. imperialism’s right to
intervene around the world, while simultaneously expressing support for the
right of national self-determination -- and providing a bridge to others who may
not have this political position but are firmly against U.S. soldiers fighting
and dying for the profit of the tiny minority who run this country.
—Paul D’Amato, “Iraqis Have the Right to Resist,” International Socialist
Review, March-April 2005 <http://www.isreview.org/issues/40/righttoresist.shtml>

+++++++++

4.  IRAQI RESISTANCE TRUTH KIT

NOT AL-QAEDA:  The anti-war movement cannot remain silent pretending it is not
supporting “violent” Resistance. The violence is brought by the Occupation, not
by the people fighting to end it. It should be borne in mind that, there are
other criminal elements at work to discredit the name and the image of the Iraqi
Resistance. The Occupation bogymen of al-Qaeda are not the face of the Iraqi
Resistance. The Iraqi Resistance is a legitimate nationalist movement
(Washington Post, 06 February 2005) fighting against imperial foreign
occupation.
—Ghali Hassan, “Meaningless Imperial Policy,” Information Clearing House,
February 11, 2005 <http://informationclearinghouse.info/article8030.htm>

NOT ZARQAWI:  The militants in Iraq responsible for most of the kidnappings,
beheadings, and the killing of the faithful at mosques are imports, not Iraqis,
not resistance fighters. This is not a big secret. Al-Zarqawi and his band admit
to the atrocities.
—Sandy Shanks, “Insurgent, Resistance, Terrorist,” Al-Jazeera, March 23, 2005
<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4F7F6A29-7F41-48D2-903D-74C9F1056195.htm\
>

NOT “TERRORIST”:  As one of eight American soldiers who fled to Canada instead
of going to Iraq, Cliff Cornell [says] . . . . “The people over in Iraq, they’re
not terrorists,” he said. “They’re not insurgents. They’re people defending
their country from us. We have invaded them and it’s wrong.”
—Caryn Rousseau, “Arkansas Soldier Defends Going to Canada to Avoid Iraq War,”
Associated Press, March 28, 2005
<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2259163p-8638899c.html>

NOT IFTU “STOOGES”:  [The IFTU’s] leadership has been selected from the top down
and this “federation” is linked to the stooge government.  They do not organise
workers on the ground . . . They do not oppose the occupation but are linked to
their stooge regime.
—Hassan Juma’a Awad, “Iraqi Trade Unionist Speaks,” The Socialist (U.K.), March
19, 2005 <http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/2005/385/index.html?id=pp8.htm>

REFLECTS *IRAQI* REALITIES:  We can run the risk of being racist or colonialist
in our own political outlook. Of course, you and I would like a secular society
in Iraq. I want to see a libertarian society. We shouldn’t think that these
forces and ideas don’t exist, but we should also be conscious of people coming
from their own context and conditions.
—“Anti-Occupation Activist Ewa Jasiewicz: Workers’ Struggles in U.S.-Occupied
Iraq,” Socialist Worker, March 11, 2005
<http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-1/534/534_06_EwaJasiewicz.shtml>

DOESN'T NEED ANYONE ELSE'S STAMP OF APPROVAL: As socialists and
internationalists, we want to see a progressive, secular resistance that puts
women’s and workers’ rights at the top of its agenda. But to withhold our
support from Iraqis who resist the U.S. because they don’t measure up to some
political or philosophical test means accepting that the U.S. government should
have the right to crush some opponents of its rule. . . . The health and the
future of the movement depend on an open discussion of this crucial question --
not on artificial limitations on what political issues are acceptable to raise,
and what are too “extreme.”
—“Why You Can’t Be Antiwar and Pro-Occupation,” Socialist Worker, April 1, 2005
<http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-1/537/537_03_Antiwar.shtml>

+++++++++

5.  SLOW-MOTION G.I. MUTINY TAKES MANY FORMS

CAMILO MEJIA:  Coming home gave me the clarity to see the line between military
duty and moral obligation. I realized that I was part of a war that I believed
was immoral and criminal, a war of aggression, a war of imperial domination. I
realized that acting upon my principles became incompatible with my role in the
military, and I decided that I could not return to Iraq.
—Camilo Mejia, “Regaining My Humanity,” Common Dreams, February 24, 2005
<http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0224-22.htm>

IVAW:  On the second anniversary of this unwise, unjust, and unproductive
invasion, Iraq Veterans Against the War call upon our President, the Congress,
and all elected officials to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all U.S.
troops from Iraq and the Middle East.  We also demand full funding for the
medical needs of our returning veterans, including treatment for post traumatic
stress disorder and the effects of depleted uranium. Finally, we call for all
citizens of the United States to demand that their government end the pillaging
and destruction of Iraq so that everyday Iraqi people can control their own
lives and country.
—“IVAW Statement on the Second Anniversary of the Iraq War,” March 2005
<http://www.ivaw.net/index.php?id=39>

5500 QUIET DESERTERS:  We imagine 5,500 conscientious objectors to a bloody
quagmire, soldiers like Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia, who strongly and eloquently
protested the Iraq war, having actually served there and witnessed civilians
killed and prisoners abused, and who was subsequently court-martialed, found
guilty of desertion, and given a year in prison. But deserters rarely leave for
purely political reasons. They usually just quietly return home and hope no one
notices.
—Kathy Dobie, AWOL in America:  When Desertion is the Only Option, Harper’s
Magazine, March 1, 2005
<http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/AWOL-UA-Desertion1mar05.htm>

BLACK YOUTH:  Young blacks have grown markedly less willing to join the Army,
citing fear of being sent to fight a war in Iraq they don’t believe in,
according to unpublicized studies for the military that suggest the Army is
entering a prolonged recruiting slump.
—Robert Burns, “Army: Recruiting Young Blacks Tougher Now,” Associated Press,
March 8, 2005
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4849741,00.html>

UN-VOLUNTEERS:  One by one, a trickle of soldiers and marines -- some just back
from duty in Iraq, others facing a trip there soon -- are seeking ways out.
—Monica Davey, “Un-Volunteering: Troops Improvise to Find Way Out,” New York
Times, March 18, 2005 <http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1871>

ROOT CAUSES:  They may not be part of any organised anti-war movement, but the
conscientious objectors, runaways, and other irregular protesters suggest that,
two years on, the war is taking a heavy toll. . . . The root causes for more
widespread dissent are there. Longer and repeat deployments have worn down
regulars and reservists. So has the rising toll, with more than 1,500 US
soldiers dead and 11,000 wounded. Recruitment and re-enlistment rates are down
-- especially for African-Americans, a 40% drop in the past five years -
increasing the strain on the Pentagon.
—Suzanne Goldenberg, “Two Years after the War Began, a Growing Number of US
Troops Are Refusing to Return to Iraq,” Guardian, March 19, 2005
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1441289,00.html>

DURING VIETNAM WAR:  [T]hree elements . . . combined to defeat the U.S. in
Vietnam: a strong national resistance movement in Vietnam; the development of a
mass antiwar movement at home; and . . . GI rebellion. . . . [W]hether Iraq is
the “next Vietnam” . . . will be determined by two forces, the Iraqi people and
the American working class.
—Joe Allen, “Vietnam: The War the U.S. Lost:  From Quagmire to Defeat,”
International Socialist Review, March-April 2005
<http://www.isreview.org/issues/40/vietnamIII.shtml>

+++++++++

6.  PALESTINE & IRAQ INDIVISIBLE

ARABS, MUSLIMS ALIENATED FROM UFPJ:  UFPJ only reluctantly took up the issue of
Palestine and has done little against the scapegoating and detentions of Arabs
and Muslims in the US, thus alienating activists from these communities. As a
result, there were no Muslims in attendance [at the UFPJ conference] and only
one or two Arabs.
—Senan Shaqdeh , “United For Peace with Justice National Assembly: Arabs Were
Not There,” Al Bawaba, March 9, 2005 <http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/181151/>

LINKS IN SAME CHAIN:  No troops, no wars -- in Iraq and Israel/Palestine. The
struggle to end the Iraq War, one link in Washington’s imperial chain of power
projection, is tied up with struggles to break other links of the chain. The
more we understand where the Iraq War fits in Washington’s empire, the better
chance we have of making allies to attack its base from many different
directions.
—Yoshie Furuhashi, “How Do We Resist This Ruinous War?  No Troops; No Wars,”
Counterpunch, March 25, 2005
<http://www.counterpunch.org/furuhashi03252005.html>

Support the Right to March in New York City

Emergency Demonstration Thursday, April 21
1:00 pm City Hall


The Bloomberg Administration has refused a permit for the May Day
March organized by the Troops Out Now Coalition and the Million Worker
March.  The march, which is expected to draw thousands of people from
all over the region, will begin with a 1:00 pm rally in Union Square.
In a Tuesday morning meeting between march organizers and police
officials at Manhattan South, Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka told
organizers that they would not allow a march anywhere, any distance,
on any route, on May Day.

Last year, organizers with the Million Worker March issued a call for
a unified May Day demonstration in New York City.  Since that time,
both the Million Worker March and the Troops Out Now Coalition, a
group of labor, antiwar and community activists, have been planning
for a rally in Union Square, followed by a march.  Organizers applied
for a permit in November of last year, which gave the city ample time
to prepare.

Now, less than two weeks before the march, the Bloomberg
Administration has said they will refuse to issue a permit for any
march from Union Square.  This is part of a pattern of illegal and
unconstitutional political repression directed at antiwar activists
and working people.

Two years ago, when millions of people all over the world marched
against the war, the Mayor refused to allow a march in New York City.
During the Republican National Convention, he refused to allow a
peaceful rally in Central Park.  Throughout the week of the
Convention, the Bloomberg Administration and the NYPD engaged in
illegal mass arrests and detentions.  In prosecuting those arrested,
they used perjured testimony and altered videotape to press fabricated
charges.

Our basic rights--the right to free speech, the right to assemble, the
right to express dissenting political views--are under attack.  Please
join us to defend these rights.  Call, fax, or email Mayor Bloomberg
and tell him you support the right to march on May Day.  Then join us
for an emergency demonstration on Thursday at 1:00 pm at City Hall.

Working people have the right to speak out and to march for better
wages, for education, for healthcare, and against the war--especially
on May Day, which is International Workers Day.

The permitted rally in Union Square is scheduled to go ahead as
planned, and organizers are determined to exercise their right to march.




****
What you can do:

***********************
Contact Mayor Bloomberg
***********************

Phone:  (212) 788-3000
Fax: (212) 788-2460
E-Mail: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html


*************
Call the NYPD
*************

Nicolas Estavillo, Chief of Patrol for NYC
Phone: 646-610-6734


***************************************************
Join us for an emergency demonstration at City Hall
***************************************************
Thursday, April 21, 1:00 pm


****************************
Donate to help with expenses
****************************
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html



http://www.TroopsOutNow.org

Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 6:50 PM
Subject: May Day - Union Sq. NYC May 1, 1:00pm



A Call to the Workers and Social Justice Movement, to the
Anti-war Movement, to all Progressive People:

*****************************************************
Revive May Day--International Worker's Day Unite with
working and poor people all over the world
*****************************************************


Jobs not War! Bring the Troops Home Now! Solidarity Makes Us
Stronger!


SUNDAY MAY 1ST – 1:00 P.M. RALLY AND MARCH IN UNION SQUARE
14TH STREET IN NEW YORK CITY

The Million Worker March Movement, the Troops Out Now
Coalition and scores of other progressive groups are calling
for a "JOBS NOT WAR-Bring the Troops Home Now!" MAY DAY
RALLY and MARCH in Union Square on Sunday, May 1, beginning
at 1:00 p.m.

The rally is part of a campaign across the country to revive
May Day in the U.S.

Reclaiming May Day reflects a growing consensus among many
of us that the movement can only move forward by fully
uniting the anti-war movement with the worker's movement and
with those communities which suffer the most from war,
cutbacks, poverty and repression.

This is now more decisive than ever.

It is hardly necessary to review the magnitude of suffering
that global capitalism, and in particular the onslaught of
U.S. imperialist war, has brought to the people of the
world, especially since 9/11. Nor is it necessary to
underscore the grave danger that endless war abroad in
pursuit of empire and war at home against working and poor
people represents.

The empire has demonstrated that if allowed, it will rule
the world by military force, and pit worker against worker
on a global scale that has no precedent in history, in its
quest for profits.

We must unite and organize to meet this danger.

Our challenge is to work harder and act more boldly in
linking our struggle against the war to our struggle against
the war at home.

You don't turn off ordinary working people by talking about
Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti Columbia, North Korea or
Iran. On the contrary, workers think about the world a great
deal these days. The problem is that they get misinformation
from the mainstream media. It's up to those of us who know
better to break things down to people and make all the
connections.

Whether our struggle is against union busting and the
"Walmartization" of workers' wages, or unemployment (and
underemployment), especially in the Black and Latino
communities, or the drive to dismantle what remains of the
so called "safety net"--including Medicare, Medicaid, Social
Security, public education and subsidized housing--let's
bring back May Day and turn that day into a clarion call for
a new level of unity.

Recent history has proven once again that we cannot depend
on the system's elections, and its politicians, or any other
force but the united power of working and poor people all
over the world to accomplish this urgent task.

No single day or demonstration can do this. However,
understanding the meaning of May Day--international workers'
day--and embracing its meaning by bringing May Day back is
an important part of this process.

No challenge before us as a movement is greater than the
need to usher in a whole new epoch of solidarity. May Day is
about solidarity. May Day is about standing together. May
Day is about uniting against all that imperialism would
employ to divide us. May Day is about reaffirming our belief
that the future belongs to the majority of the people in the
world and not a handful of billionaires.

May Day belongs to the working class.

For this reason the Million Worker March Movement set the
reclaiming of May Day 2005 as one of its principal goals at
a meeting of regional representatives the day after its
historic Oct. 17, 2004 rally at the Lincoln Monument in
Washington, D.C.

The Troops Out Now Coalition, which organized the March 19
"Bring The Troops Home Now" march from Harlem to Central
Park, has joined MWMM's call. One of the reasons that the
March 19 demonstration began in Harlem was to say what can
be expressed better through actions than words sometimes:
The struggle against the war in Iraq is also the struggle
against the war at home.

MAY DAY--International Workers' Day--grew out of the
struggle of working people in this country more than 100
years ago for an 8-hour work day with a full day's pay.

All over the world, working and poor people march on May Day
to send the message that working and poor people are
determined to forge greater unity in the struggle against
global capitalism, imperialism and the misery and war it
produces.

The main reason why May Day is not widely celebrated or well
known in the U.S. is that the system, frightened by the
prospect of a worldwide movement of workers and progressive
forces, has sought to bury the history of May Day in this
country.

This was done for the very same reason that the government
has sought to silence and crush radicals, and radical ideas
in the labor movement, particularly during the infamous
"witch hunt" period of the 1950's and the progressive and
revolutionary movements of the 1960's. Their war on
radicals, and radical ideas like international solidarity,
continues today.

Our interest in reviving May Day does not come from
nostalgia for times past, but from the need to nurture a
higher political consciousness about how important
solidarity and political independence is to the strength of
our movement.

We don't need to have a million workers in Union Square on
May Day 2005. But enough of us can be there to help set the
direction that the movement needs to move in on May Day. And
together we can, and we will, do this.

On May Day 2005, let's bring back that fighting spirit.


* END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ, STOP ENDLESS WAR

* WE DEMAND JOBS AT DECENT WAGES, HEALTH CARE, HOUSING AND
EDUCATION FOR ALL

* SOLIDARITY WITH IMMIGRANTS WORKERS – WE WILL NOT BE
DIVIDED

* HANDS OFF SOCIAL SECURITY

* UNITE AGAINST RACISM AND POLITICAL REPRESSION

* STOP THE REINSTATEMENT OF THE DRAFT

* SOLIDARITY WITH WOMEN, WITH LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND
TRANS PEOPLE

* SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA,
AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN WHO ARE RESISTING
U.S. IMPERIALISM'S DRIVE TO OWN AND EXPLOIT THEM

* SOLIDARITY WITH ALL OF THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS

* A REBIRTH OF WORLDWIDE SOLIDARITY IS ESSENTIAL TO THE
STRUGGLES AHEAD OF US

--NYC MILLION WORKER MARCH MOVEMENT AND THE TROOPS OUT NOW
COALITION




Endorsers of Mayday Include:

New York City Labor Against The War

The International Action Center

National Immigrant Solidarity Network

Artist and Activists United For Peace

Brenda Stokely, President DC 1707 AFSCME

NYC Council Member Charles Barron

Chris Silvera, Secretary Treasurer Local 808
IBT/Chairperson, National Black Teamsters Caucus

New York City AIDS Housing Network

NY Coalition To Free Mumia Abu Jamal

New Jersey Solidarity - Activists for the Liberation of
Palestine

Harlem Tenants Council

Korea Truth Commission

NISPOP (Network in Solidarity with the People of the
Philippines)

Haiti Support Network

Queers For Peace and Justice

New York Committee To Free The Cuban 5

New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition

BAYAN-USA

Homeless Action For Necessary Development

DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association

International Socialist Organization

Fight Imperialism Stand Together (FIST)

Jersey City Peace Movement

Monterey County Peace Coalition

New England Human Rights Organization for Haiti

People's Solidarity for Social Progress

The Iraq Solidarity Campaign (UK)

No Draft No Way

Boston Stonewall Warriors

Womens Fightback Network, Boston

Workers World Party

Central New Jersey Coalition for Peace and Justice

Casa Freehold

Baltimore All Peoples Congress

People Judge Bush

Movement in Motion

SNAFU- Support Network for an Armed Forces Union

Steve Gillis, President, USWA Local 8751 Boston School Bus
Union



4 Ways you can help:

1) Endorse the May 1 Rally at:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1endorse.html
2) Download flyers at:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/literature.html
3) Become a May 1 Organizing Center - sign up at:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1orgcentsignup.html
4) Donate at: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html

To find out more, go to http://www.troopsoutnow.org or call
212-633-6633

"Ask Me 'What Would You Rather Do, Spend Your Life In Prison Or Murder A Child?,' I Would Much Rather Spend My Life In Prison."

The New Issue Of Traveling Soldier Is Out!

This issue features:

1. "All the reasons we were given were false, so it was people dying and people suffering for lies" say Kelley Dougherty of Iraq Veterans Against the War http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.ivaw1.php

2. Nicholas Przybyla of I.V.A.W.: "I don't think that's a good way to fight a war, just to blow the shit out of a country, kill a bunch of innocent people, and then charge into another country that has nothing to do with it" http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.ivaw2.php

3. Military mom: "I will not stop fighting until our last soldier is home" http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.mfso.php

4. GIs, Iraq vets, and military families speak out. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.mailbag.php

5. Should al-Qaeda occupy New York? http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.al-qaeda.php

6. The Chicken Factory - it's time to organize. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.chicken.php

7. Words from the front-lines - what soldiers are saying about the war in Iraq. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/4.05.words.php

8. Download the new Traveling Soldier to pass it out at your school, workplace, or nearby base.

http://www.traveling-soldier.org/TS10.pdf

Escalation of the attacks on Free Speech at San Francisco
State

Students at San Francisco State still need your help. The
attack against students activists for the March 9th counter
recruitment protest has escalated. On April 1, 2005, the six
student organizations that endorsed the demonstration
(Students Against War (SAW), LA Raza, Voices for Sexual
Freedom (VOX), Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavour (PACE),
M.E.C.h.A. and the International Socialist Organization
(ISO)) recieved letters stating that the administration is
beginging formal Disciplinary Proceedings against them. This
is on top of the 3 invdividual students who received letter
from judicial affairs on March 22nd. The groups involved may
be facing formal hearings as soon as Monday, April 25,
2005.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We ask the public to couninue speaking-out against the
administration's plans to limit free speech rights, and
demand that no sanctions be placed on students organizations
that helped to plan the March 9th protest.

Please contact:
Robert A. Corrigan, SFSU President
Phone: (415) 338-1381, Fax: (415) 338-6210
Email: corrigan@...
please CC your email to: cansfsu@...

Penny Saffold, SFSU Vice President/Dean of Students
Phone: (415) 338-2032, Fax: (415) 338-0900
Email: psaffold@...
please CC your email to: cansfsu@...

Also, please sign our online petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/556/petition.html


MARCH 9TH COUNTER-RECRUITMENT DEMONSTRATION

On Wednesday, March 9th, students from New York to San
Francisco rallied to protest military recruiters on their
campuses. The students were expressing their outrage at the
military's anti-gay "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the
diversion of federal funding away from education into
military spending, and the war in Iraq. At San Francisco
State University, the administration has responded with
police action and secret meetings.

At SFSU over 150 students joined Students Against War -- the
school's Campus Antiwar Network chapter -- and other groups
to protest Air Force recruiters and Army Corps of Engineers
attending a school sponsored career fair. The crowd flooded
the fair, surrounding their tables and chanting. When Air
Force recruiters tried to wait out the protest, students
staged a peaceful anti-war sit-in and teach-in.

POLICE INTIMIDATION AND UNIVERSITY THREATS

The following day, recruiters returned to the SFSU career
fair. As soon as two activists entered the career fair,
eight police officers forcibly removed them from their own
student center, pushing them and twisting one activist's
arm. When the other activist asked why she was being forced
to leave, she was pushed into a doorway, told she was
causing a fire hazard by standing there, and then kicked out
of the building.

A number of members of Students Against War have received
official notices of appointment from the Coordinator of
Judicial Affairs dated March 18, 2005. The letters state
that the administration has received a complaint from the
Chief of Public Safety and that each student must meet
individually with Judicial Affairs. The letter specifically
states that the meetings are confidential and none of the
students have been informed of nature of the charges against
them. Failure to respond the summons may jeopardize the
student’s status at San Francisco State University.

On April 1, 2005, the six student organizations that
endorsed the demonstration (Students Against War (SAW), LA
Raza, Voices for Sexual Freedom (VOX), Filipino American
Collegiate Endeavor (PACE), M.E.C.h.A. and the
International Socialist Organization (ISO)) received
letters stating that the administration is beginning
formal Disciplinary Proceedings. The groups involved
may be facing formal hearings as soon as Monday,
April 25, 2005.

The university disciplining students and organizations for a
peaceful demonstration is unacceptable. The actions of the
police and the San Francisco State administration are a
blatant attempt to stifle dissent and create a climate of
intimidation. The administration is purposely singling out
the leading organizers as well as political organizations on
campus to prosecute.

San Francisco State University should be ashamed that they
are a shell for the US military. They undermine their own
anti-discrimination policies and commitments to diversity by
allowing a racist, sexist and anti-gay institution to
recruit on campus. When the administration refuses to defend
it own policies, students are forced to be the moral
backbone of the university. The students and organizations,
who participated in the March 9th demonstration, where
defending their classmates and refusing to let one more
person become cannon fodder in an illegal war.

These attacks are an attempt to go after one of the leading
campuses in the growing counter recruitment movement around
the country. If they can punish students at San Francisco
State for protesting, it will be easier to arrest, sanction
and intimidate students on other campuses.

For more information about the March 9th protest:
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/breaking/003099.html
http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_2603424
http://kpix.dayport.com/launcher/4122/?tf=video_player.tpl

Watch a video of the protest at
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/collegenotcombat.mov.

We urgently need your help. Please lend your support to
anti-war student activists and activists who are fighting
the militarization of our schools by letting the
administration know that their actions are not supported by
members of the community, students, alumni, faculty, and
staff.

Sincerely, Students Against War
cansfsu@...

www.TroopsOutNow.org

*TOMORROW--Wednesday the 27th--there is an EMERGENCY Troops
Out Now Press Conference on the steps of NYC City Hall at
1pm to challenge Mayor Bloomberg's decision to DENY us our
rights as US citizens to march to Washington Sq. Park AFTER
the Union Square May Day / Anti-War rally!

Wednesday: Emergency Press Conference -- Support the Right
to March

Press Conference
Steps of City Hall
Wednesday, April 27
1:00 pm

Mayor Bloomberg is once again attempting to silence the
antiwar movement in NYC.  He has denied the Troops Out Now
Coalition a permit to march on May Day.

Join Ramsey Clark, City Council Member Charles Barron,
labor leaders, antiwar activists, clergy, veterans, and
military families on the steps of city hall to demand the
right to march.

PLEASE join us at 1pm on NY CITY HALL steps:

Sara Flounders-International Action Center,
Ramsey Clark-Fmr US Attorney General,
Union Activist-Brenda Stokley--NY NYCLAW,
Jersey City Peace Movement
Erik-Anders Nilsson-Candidate for Jersey City Council
NY Councilpersons-Charles Barron and Bill Perkins
AND MANY OTHERS!

May Day is International Workers Day; Working People have the right to march!

In this email: 

1) Victory in struggle to march on May Day
2) March & Rally Details
3) How you can help

Let's push forward in the struggle to revive May Day--International Workers' Day!

How you can help:

***Join us in Union Square on Sunday, May 1, at 1pm.  Whatever your plans for the day, consider joining us, even for a few minutes to display our united determination to defeat the Mayor's attempt to silence dissent. Bring your friends, family and co-workers to say "Jobs, Not War."

***Add your name to the growing list of endorsers: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1endorse.html

***Volunteer!  There are many last-minute tasks to be done in the next few hours.  Please join us for work session Friday and Saturday, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at the International Action Center, 39 W. 14th St. #206 in Manhattan, between 5th & 6th Aves. 

We also need volunteers on the day of the march.  Join us at the International Action Center at 10:00 am for a pre-meeting (39 W. 14th St. #206 in Manhattan, between 5th & 6th Aves) or at 11:00 am at Union Square.  If you can't come early, look for the Troops Out Now tables to find out how you can get involved.

 ***Forward this email widely.

===============================================================================

**Funds are urgently needed to help with the many expenses of this mobilization. 
Please consider making a  generous contribution.
You can make an online donation at http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html

===============================================================================

• The rally will begin at 1:00 pm in Union Square South.  Speakers will include labor leaders, community organizers, immigrant workers, international solidarity activists, youth, veterans, military resisters, and military families.  Click here for a map.
• The march will begin at 2:30 pm.  We will march East on 14th St., then up 1st Avenue past the VA hospital, which has been targeted for closing by the Bush Administration.  We will also march past Beth Israel Hospital, where workers are being laid off and the hospital face closing due to budget cuts.
• We will then march West on 14th St., past Union Square, to the Garden of Eden, where the UFCW is waging a struggle to organize workers.
• We will then return to Union Square for a brief closing rally.

• Brenda Stokely, President of AFSCME Disctrict Council 1707
• Gerardo Cajamarca, Colombian Trade unionist in exile
• Jesse Heiwa, Queers for Peace and Justice
• Charles Barron & Margarita Lopez, NYC City Council members
• Patti Smith, musician
• Nana Soul, Artists and Activists United for Peace & Blackwaxx Recordings
• Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10, Million Worker March co-convener
• Chris Silvera,  Chair of the Teamsters National Black Caucus
• Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council
• Samia Halaby, Defend Palestine
• Sara Flounders, International Action Center
• LeiLani Dowell, Queers for Peace and Justice, 2004 Peace & Freedom Party Congressional Candidate
• Carl Webb, member of the National Guard who refused to deploy to Iraq
• Larry Holmes, Troops Out Now Coalition
• Dustin Langley, NoDraftNoWay.org
  
• A special May Day message from political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist on death row
• Immigrants rights organizers from Casa Freehold, Accion 21, Damayan, and Haiti Popular
• and other representatives of labor, immigrant rights, antiwar and community organizations; musicians and spoken word artists; and more
  

The next NYCLAW meeting take place on Monday, May 2,
2005, 6:30 p.m., at DC 1707 AFSCME, 75 Varick St., 14
Floor (1/9/A/C/E to Canal St.).

Call for a National Day of Action for GI Resisters on May 10

May 1, 2005

We urge you to join us in a "National Day of Action for GI Resisters" on Tuesday
May 10, 2005. This is the day before the US military is planning to bring sailor
Pablo Paredes and soldier Kevin Benderman before military court martial
tribunals for their opposition to the Iraq War. They face forfeiture of pay and
benefits, and military jail time.

On December 6, 2004, Navy Petty Officer Pablo Paredes refused to board his ship
as it left the San Diego Naval Station in support of the Iraq War and
occupation. At the time of his refusal, Pablo said he hoped his protest might
inspire other GI's to refuse to take part in the war.

On January 5, 2005, Kevin Benderman refused to deploy for a second tour of duty
in Iraq with the Army's Third Infantry Division. At the same time seventeen
other soldiers from his unit went AWOL, two tried to kill themselves and one had
a relative shoot him in the leg to avoid deploying.

Both men applied for discharge from the US military as conscientious objectors.
The military has wrongly rejected both claims.

It's time for us to escalate public pressure and action in support of Pablo,
Kevin and the thousands of other courageous men and women who have followed
their conscience to uphold international law and to take a principled stand
against the unjust, illegal war and occupation of Iraq. It's time we had their
backs.

Objection and resistance by military servicepersons is a healthy and important
assertion of Democracy in a country where the decisions to invade Iraq, to
maintain an occupation, and engage in widespread human right violations and
torture were made undemocratically in violation of international law and based
on continuing lies and disinformation.

Please join us by organizing a public demonstration, vigil or rally of support
on May 10. Every action, no matter how large or small is important.

Also,

* Send letters of support and donations to cover legal fees to Pablo and Kevin
via their websites listed below.

* Come to San Diego, California (Pablo) or Fort Stewart, Georgia (Kevin) to show
your support during their trials.

* Write letters to the editor, and help educate your organization, church,
union, school, co-workers and community.

Resisting illegal occupation and war is not a crime! The right to conscientious
objection is being systematically violated by the military. Those objectors who
are publicly asserting their rights are being singled out for punishment. We
demand that military personnel retain their right to follow their conscience,
publicly dissent and that their basic democratic rights be respected.

More info about Pablo Paredes: http://www.SwiftSmartVeterans.com

More info about Kevin Benderman: http://www.BendermanDefense.org

For May 10 actions, leaflets, and more: http://www.CourageToResist.org Contact:
courage@...

Courage to Resist is a new group of concerned community members, veterans and
military families organizing support for military objectors to illegal war and
occupation and the underlying policies of empire. We have adopted a people power
strategy to weaken the pillars that support the Iraq war and occupation by
supporting GI resistance, which together with counter-recruitment and draft
resistance work can remove the supply of obedient troops.

FREE PABLO PAREDES AND KEVIN BENDERMAN PUT THE WAR ON TRIAL

On May 11th, Sailor Pablo Paredes and soldier Kevin Benderman are scheduled to
appear before military court martial tribunals for their opposition to the Iraq
War. They face forfeiture of pay and benefits, and military jail time.

On December 6, 2004, Navy Petty Officer Pablo Paredes refused to board his ship
as it left the San Diego Naval Station in support of the Iraq  War and
occupation.

On January 5, 2005, Army Sgt Kevin Benderman refused to deploy for a second tour
of duty in Iraq with the Army's Third Infantry Division.  At the same time
seventeen other soldiers from his unit went AWOL, two tried to kill themselves
and one had a relative shoot him in the leg to avoid deploying.

Both men applied for discharge from the US military as conscientious objectors.
The military has wrongly rejected both claims.

It's time for us to escalate public pressure and action in support of Pablo,
Kevin and the thousands of other courageous men and women who have followed
their conscience to uphold international law and  to take a principled stand
against the unjust, illegal war and occupation of Iraq. It's time we had their
backs.

On May 12th, we will have a unique event. What Pablo and Kevin are unable to say
in their trials we will say in public. We will put the war on trial.

Guest Witnesses TBA

Thursday, May 12th at 7pm The Community Church of New York
24 East 35th Street (between Park and Madison Ave.) Take the
6 train to 33rd Street or the B, D, F, and R to 34th Street and 6th Avenue at
Herald Square.

Sponsored by (in formation): to endorse email ParedesBendermanDefense@...

Citizens for Pablo Veterans for Peace
Military Families Speak Out NY-NJ-CT
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
United For Peace and Justice
International Action Center / SNAFU Not
In Our Name
Campus Anti-War Network
Vietnam Veterans Against the War - Clarence Fitch Chapter (NY, NJ, CT)
Chris Harrison (Iraq Veterans Against the War, Peace-Out.com)
International Socialist Organization
Solidarity

"All of the politicians that want to fight a war are free to trade places with
me at any time. I will gladly go and learn war no more." --Sgt. Kevin Benderman

"I call on everyone who reads these words, to reclaim their humanity. Refuse, as
every member of humanity should, to promote this mass violence against innocent
people." --Pablo Paredes


TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PABLO AND KEVIN AND TO SIGN AN ONLINE PETITION IN SUPPORT
OF THEIR CASES VISIT: www.defendpablo.org www.bendermandefense.org

[Labor For Palestine is an independent, global solidarity
campaign founded by:  Al-Awda.org and New York City Labor
Against the War]

Rebuilding Labor at the AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago, July
23, 2005

On July 23, 2005, LFP will hold a national educational
conference in Chicago on the issue of Palestine, Labor and
the AFL-CIO. At the same time that the National AFL-CIO
supports the US war and occupation of Iraq, it also defends
the "strangulation wall" and the institution of an apartheid
state against the Palestinian workers and people. This
conference will examine the history of the relationship of
the AFL-CIO to Israel as well as the extensive investments
of AFL-CIO pension funds into Israel Bonds.

We will also look at the active efforts of the AFL-CIO
leadership and supporters of Israel to silence critics of
Israel in the labor movement. This will also include the
effort to purge professors and teachers who are supporters
of Palestinian rights. The conference will also look at how
and why the labor movement around the world has come to the
defense of Palestinian workers and unions. We invite labor
activists, trade unionists and union locals to endorse and
participate in this critical conference.

The conference, hosted by Students for Justice in
Palestine-DePaul, will be held at DePaul University and will
go from 10am to 6pm. The event will include local and
international speakers, and will debut two new documentaries
on labor and Palestine.

-----------

LFP’s Resolution on Israel Bonds To Be Presented at the
Convention:

Whereas, the use of union pension money is a vehicle for
bringing change against union busters in the US and around
the world and,

Whereas, the purchase of Israel Bonds has helped the Israeli
government pursue it's continued construction of illegal
settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and,

Whereas, these pension funds have been invested without the
knowledge and vote of the membership of unions within the
AFL-CIO and,

Whereas, the Israeli government has targeted trade unionists
and their unions for repression and destruction and,

Whereas, the US labor movement opposed the apartheid regime
in South Africa and opposes all regimes that discriminate
against workers because of religion, race, or national
origin and,

Whereas, US labor can no longer acquiesce with the polices
of the AFL-CIO leadership including many internationals in
continuing the financial support of this regime,

Whereas, US labor must divest from any regime or institution
that violates international law, including the Palestinian
right to return,

Therefore, be it resolved, the following trade unionists
call on our affiliated unions and the AFL-CIO to divest of
all Israeli bonds and to oppose the continued occupation and
apartheid regime in Israel.

Details:  http://www.laborforpalestine.org/pages/1/index.htm

The Establishment of a National Council for Arab Americans

Washington, DC, May 15, 2005 - The National Council of Arab
Americans (NCA) held an historic founding conference in
Washington, DC on May 13-15, 2005.  The Conference was
unique in every aspect as it gave a real sense of hope for a
community yearning for unity and collective empowerment on
all levels.

[Full text:
http://www.arab-american.net/Events/Founding/founding.html]

Dear Friends in the Labor Community,

Labor For Palestine is compiling an information pamphlet for
the LFP Convention in July. It will include a series of
Palestine-related news articles and research, but it will
primarily have a "how to" thrust, in terms of mobilizing
divestment and other forms of solidarity action for
Palestine.

Please submit information on:

1) Procedural guidelines on passing resolutions and
mobilizing pro-Palestine actions within labor unions;

2) Anecdotes and personal accounts of successes and failures
(although they are not really failures);

3) Past Palestine-related or South African-related union
resolutions, statements or actions;

Send these items even if they are incomplete, we will edit
everything accordingly. For now, submit as much relevant
information as possible, AND SOON!

Thank you,

The LFP Organizers Email your submission to:
lfp@...

Labor For Palestine www.laborforpalestine.org

****Please Forward Widely****

http://www.local-impact.org/

Fax Robert Corrigan to demand that the San Francisco State
University not punish students who protested military
recruiters on campus.

SFSU students staged a peaceful and effective protest
against military recruitment on campus. Now students who
planned the protest are facing possible disciplinary action.
Please go to http://www.local-impact.org/ to send a quick
fax to the president of San Francisco State University to
show your support for the students activists.

For more information:
http://www.local-impact.org/learn19.html and
www.campusantiwar.net

Robert A. Corrigan, President San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue San Francisco, CA 94132 Fax: (415)
338-6210

Dear President Corrigan:

I am writing to express my support for students that
peacefully protested military recruitment on SFSU's campus
on March 9-10, 2005. These students have every right to
voice their opposition to discriminatory recruitment
policies, excessive military spending, and the war in Iraq.
I urge SFSU to take a stronger stance against military
recruitment on campus, rather than punishing students who
plan and participate in peaceful protests.

Sincerely yours, you name

To send a fax go to
http://www.local-impact.org/takeaction19.html

UNITY CALL TO THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT FROM TROOPS OUT NOW COALITION

The Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) wholeheartedly and unreservedly joins the activists and groups who are calling for a united mobilization against the war in the fall. The absence of such unity amongst the anti-war coalitions only serves to demoralize rank and file anti-war activists and local forces across the country. The grassroots of the movement are looking to those of us who make decisions to put our differences aside in the interests of the struggle to get the U.S. the hell out of Iraq.

Achieving unity isn't easy but the power of unity is the thing that will give everyone the confidence to do what needs to be done. Moreover, the people of Iraq and throughout the Middle East need the movement in this country to unite. The whole world is looking to us to do it. TONC welcomes the sentiments of all who have signed on to the unity statement that is being circulated by USLAW.

TONC would add to that call that the movement needs to reach out in a more serious way not only to trade unionists that are active in the anti-war movement, but also to working people and people of color. In the Million Worker March Movement you have trade unionists that are people of color at the helm.

These trade unionists are leading the way in helping to bring the workers movement and the anti-war movement together. Let us make sure that our appeal extends to them as well as others including immigrants who are all too often under-represented.

An important part of forging any meaningful unity will, of necessity, require that the anti-war movement both acknowledges and unites with the struggle of people of color and the events that carry their message.

The call for a "Millions More March" on the tenth anniversary of the "Million Man March" has gone out far and wide. The Millions More March will extend over 3 days next fall, October 14, 15 and 16, including a massive march on Washington DC. It goes without saying that many of us will be pre-occupied with this important mobilization. This is something that needs to be respected.

TONC believes that the time has come for all of us to unite around the demand to bring the troops home immediately. This in no way means that other demands should not be put forth.

We absolutely must talk about the war budget and how it's robbing workers and poor people.

We must talk about the prospect of the draft being revived. We must find ways of reaching out to resisters inside the military.

Moreover, we don't believe that uniting must mean censoring, silencing or excluding the positions of those who are participating in that unity.

The antiwar movement must not turn its back on the Palestinian people and their struggle. In addition, the position that the Iraqi people have a right to resist occupation by whatever means they choose cannot be censored or excluded.

We don't think that it helps us to make no mention of the threats against Venezuela or Cuba or Iran or North Korea and simply pretend that these problems don't exist. We believe that the movement must address the ongoing occupation of Haiti and Afghanistan; the imperialist designs on Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Colombia and all the peoples of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Caribbean and Latin America. Others may have different priorities.

The anti-war movement must ensure that all oppressed communities have an equal place at the table, where their issues and concerns are represented.

Unity does not mean uniformity--the main thing is for the basis of unity to be clear.

It's not necessary for us to ask of each other that we forget neither our differences nor the unpleasantness of past conflicts. All that is required is that we not let any of that get in the way of joining hands to grasp the opportunities that only unity makes possible.

There is a high road. On that road, questions are answered, problems are solved and the means and methods necessary to move forward are found.

Nothing is more important at this moment than for all to walk together on the high road to unity. We believe that what we all do will be decisive. We must and we can stop the war and get every U.S. soldier out of Iraq.

It is up to all of us to do whatever is necessary for our movement to rise to this challenge.

TONC is holding a regional meeting on June 11. A special session of this meeting will be devoted to continuing the discussion on unity and we will be extending invitations to groups to participate in that discussion.

How you can get involved:

Troops Out Now

Complete Video:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news_web/video/9012da68000cfe0/nb/09012da68000d\
153_nb_16x9.asx

Transcript:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3-1616578-3,00.html

May 18, 2005

Galloway v the US Senate: transcript of statement
By Times Online

George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, delivered this statement
to US Senators today who have accused him of corruption

"Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. and neither has
anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one,
sold one - and neither has anyone on my behalf.

"Now I know that standards have slipped in the last few years in Washington, but
for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here
today but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the
world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having
contacted me, without ever written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt
to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice.

"Now I want to deal with the pages that relate to me in this dossier and I want
to point out areas where there are - let's be charitable and say errors. Then I
want to put this in the context where I believe it ought to be. On the very
first page of your document about me you assert that I have had 'many meetings'
with Saddam Hussein. This is false.

"I have had two meetings with Saddam Hussein, once in 1994 and once in August of
2002. By no stretch of the English language can that be described as "many
meetings" with Saddam Hussein.

"As a matter of fact, I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times
as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell
him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns. I met him to try
and bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war, and on the second of the
two occasions, I met him to try and persuade him to let Dr Hans Blix and the
United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country - a rather better use of
two meetings with Saddam Hussein than your own Secretary of State for Defence
made of his.

"I was an opponent of Saddam Hussein when British and Americans governments and
businessmen were selling him guns and gas. I used to demonstrate outside the
Iraqi embassy when British and American officials were going in and doing
commerce.

"You will see from the official parliamentary record, Hansard, from the 15th
March 1990 onwards, voluminous evidence that I have a rather better record of
opposition to Saddam Hussein than you do and than any other member of the
British or American governments do.

"Now you say in this document, you quote a source, you have the gall to quote a
source, without ever having asked me whether the allegation from the source is
true, that I am 'the owner of a company which has made substantial profits from
trading in Iraqi oil'.

"Senator, I do not own any companies, beyond a small company whose entire
purpose, whose sole purpose, is to receive the income from my journalistic
earnings from my employer, Associated Newspapers, in London. I do not own a
company that's been trading in Iraqi oil. And you have no business to carry a
quotation, utterly unsubstantiated and false, implying otherwise.

"Now you have nothing on me, Senator, except my name on lists of names from
Iraq, many of which have been drawn up after the installation of your puppet
government in Baghdad. If you had any of the letters against me that you had
against Zhirinovsky, and even Pasqua, they would have been up there in your
slideshow for the members of your committee today.

"You have my name on lists provided to you by the Duelfer inquiry, provided to
him by the convicted bank robber, and fraudster and conman Ahmed Chalabi who
many people to their credit in your country now realise played a decisive role
in leading your country into the disaster in Iraq.

"There were 270 names on that list originally. That's somehow been filleted down
to the names you chose to deal with in this committee. Some of the names on that
committee included the former secretary to his Holiness Pope John Paul II, the
former head of the African National Congress Presidential office and many others
who had one defining characteristic in common: they all stood against the policy
of sanctions and war which you vociferously prosecuted and which has led us to
this disaster.

"You quote Mr Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Well, you have something on me, I've never
met Mr Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Your sub-committee apparently has. But I do know
that he's your prisoner, I believe he's in Abu Ghraib prison. I believe he is
facing war crimes charges, punishable by death. In these circumstances, knowing
what the world knows about how you treat prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, in
Bagram Airbase, in Guantanamo Bay, including I may say, British citizens being
held in those places.

"I'm not sure how much credibility anyone would put on anything you manage to
get from a prisoner in those circumstances. But you quote 13 words from Dahar
Yassein Ramadan whom I have never met. If he said what he said, then he is
wrong.

"And if you had any evidence that I had ever engaged in any actual oil
transaction, if you had any evidence that anybody ever gave me any money, it
would be before the public and before this committee today because I agreed with
your Mr Greenblatt [Mark Greenblatt, legal counsel on the committee].

"Your Mr Greenblatt was absolutely correct. What counts is not the names on the
paper, what counts is where's the money. Senator? Who paid me hundreds of
thousands of dollars of money? The answer to that is nobody. And if you had
anybody who ever paid me a penny, you would have produced them today.

"Now you refer at length to a company names in these documents as Aredio
Petroleum. I say to you under oath here today: I have never heard of this
company, I have never met anyone from this company. This company has never paid
a penny to me and I'll tell you something else: I can assure you that Aredio
Petroleum has never paid a single penny to the Mariam Appeal Campaign. Not a
thin dime. I don't know who Aredio Petroleum are, but I daresay if you were to
ask them they would confirm that they have never met me or ever paid me a penny.

"Whilst I'm on that subject, who is this senior former regime official that you
spoke to yesterday? Don't you think I have a right to know? Don't you think the
Committee and the public have a right to know who this senior former regime
official you were quoting against me interviewed yesterday actually is?

"Now, one of the most serious of the mistakes you have made in this set of
documents is, to be frank, such a schoolboy howler as to make a fool of the
efforts that you have made. You assert on page 19, not once but twice, that the
documents that you are referring to cover a different period in time from the
documents covered by The Daily Telegraph which were a subject of a libel action
won by me in the High Court in England late last year.

"You state that The Daily Telegraph article cited documents from 1992 and 1993
whilst you are dealing with documents dating from 2001. Senator, The Daily
Telegraph's documents date identically to the documents that you were dealing
with in your report here. None of The Daily Telegraph's documents dealt with a
period of 1992, 1993. I had never set foot in Iraq until late in
1993 - never in my life. There could possibly be no documents relating to
Oil-for-Food matters in
1992, 1993, for the Oil-for-Food scheme did not exist at that time.

"And yet you've allocated a full section of this document to claiming that your
documents are from a different era to the Daily Telegraph documents when the
opposite is true. Your documents and the Daily Telegraph documents deal with
exactly the same period.

"But perhaps you were confusing the Daily Telegraph action with the Christian
Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor did indeed publish on its front
pages a set of allegations against me very similar to the ones that your
committee have made. They did indeed rely on documents which started in 1992,
1993. These documents were unmasked by the Christian Science Monitor themselves
as forgeries.

"Now, the neo-con websites and newspapers in which you're such a hero, senator,
were all absolutely cock-a-hoop at the publication of the Christian Science
Monitor documents, they were all absolutely convinced of their authenticity.
They were all absolutely convinced that these documents showed me receiving $10
million from the Saddam regime. And they were all lies.

"In the same week as the Daily Telegraph published their documents against me,
the Christian Science Monitor published theirs which turned out to be forgeries
and the British newspaper, Mail on Sunday, purchased a third set of documents
which also upon forensic examination turned out to be forgeries. So there's
nothing fanciful about this. Nothing at all fanciful about it.

"The existence of forged documents implicating me in commercial activities with
the Iraqi regime is a proven fact. It's a proven fact that these forged
documents existed and were being circulated amongst right-wing newspapers in
Baghdad and around the world in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Iraqi
regime.

"Now, Senator, I gave my heart and soul to oppose the policy that you promoted.
I gave my political life's blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by
the sanctions on Iraq which killed one million Iraqis, most of them children,
most of them died before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for
no other reason other than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to born at
that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you
did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was
a pack of lies.

?I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of
mass destruction. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no
connection to al-Qaeda. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had
no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001. I told the world, contrary to your
claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of
their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the
end, but merely the end of the beginning.

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you
turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them
American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them
wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies.

If the world had listened to Kofi Annan, whose dismissal you demanded, if the
world had listened to President Chirac who you want to paint as some kind of
corrupt traitor, if the world had listened to me and the anti-war movement in
Britain, we would not be in the disaster that we are in today. Senator, this is
the mother of all smokescreens. You are trying to divert attention from the
crimes that you supported, from the theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's
wealth.

"Have a look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have a look at the 14 months you
were in charge of Baghdad, the first 14 months when $8.8 billion of Iraq's
wealth went missing on your watch. Have a look at Haliburton and other American
corporations that stole not only Iraq's money, but the money of the American
taxpayer.

"Have a look at the oil that you didn't even meter, that you were shipping out
of the country and selling, the proceeds of which went who knows where? Have a
look at the $800 million you gave to American military commanders to hand out
around the country without even counting it or weighing it.

"Have a look at the real scandal breaking in the newspapers today, revealed in
the earlier testimony in this committee. That the biggest sanctions busters were
not me or Russian politicians or French politicians. The real sanctions busters
were your own companies with the connivance of your own Government."

NYCLAW Statement on IFTU Tour
May 19, 2005

New York City Labor Against the War cannot support the
northeast tour organized by USLAW for the Iraqi Federation
of Trade Unions.

As shown below, the IFTU -- and its political affiliate, the
Iraqi Communist Party -- shares a position virtually
indistinguishable from the Bush administration’s:  U.S.
troops must remain in Iraq for as long as it takes to crush
the resistance.

(Since July 2003, the ICP has been an ardent member of the
occupation regime, which on January 28, 2004 designated the
IFTU as “the legitimate and legal representatives of the
labour movement in Iraq.[1])

*June-July 2003.  Former ICP general-secretary:  “If the
[U.S.] were to withdraw from Iraq, there would be a civil
war and democrats would have no chance.”[2]

*June 25, 2004.  IFTU general-secretary Majid Musa to
British union UNISON: “[U]nilateral withdrawal of troops
would be bad for Iraq, bad for the emerging progressive
forces, a terrible blow for free trade unionism and would
play into the hands of extremists and terrorists.”[3]

*September 28-29, 2004.  IFTU international representative
Abdullah Muhsin successfully urges the British Labor Party
conference to defeat a resolution calling for “early
withdrawal” of British troops:  “[A]n early date for the
unilateral withdrawal of troops . . . would be bad for my
country, bad for the emerging progressive forces, a terrible
blow for free trade unionism, and would play into the hands
of extremists and terrorists,”[4] and would “lead at best to
the Balkanisation of Iraq and or even worse a bitter civil
war.”[5]

*November 23, 2004.  ICP general-secretary Majid Musa
opposes a December 31, 2005 deadline for withdrawal of U.S.
troops:  “[T]he withdrawal of foreign forces . . . is an
objective that all Iraqis without exception seek to achieve.
. . . However, the problem is deciding when those troops
could depart. We have not yet built sufficient military,
police or security forces to protect the security of Iraq.”
[6]

*December 19, 2004.  ICP general-secretary Majid Musa:
“[H]ow can we [end the occupation] in view of the country’s
complex situation, the current balances of power and the
regional and international circumstances around us? . . . .
[T]errorist and subversive acts will only prolong the
presence of foreign forces and give an excuse to others to
say the country is in danger and cannot endure the bad
consequences and so the help of the foreign forces is
needed.”[7]

*April 22, 2005.  Saady Edan, president of Mosul IFTU: “[I]f
[the occupation] ends now, it will bring chaos. Once the
Iraqi security forces are capable, then the occupation
should leave. But they are not yet.”[8]

In sharp contrast, the Southern Oil Company Union demands an
immediate end to the occupation:  “We as a union call for
the withdrawal of foreign occupation forces and their
military bases. We don’t want a timetable -- this is a
stalling tactic. We will solve our own problems. We are
Iraqis, we know our country and we can take care of
ourselves. We have the means, the skills and resources to
rebuild and create our own democratic society.”[9]


Notes

1.  “Official recognition given to new union federation by
Iraqi Governing Council,” February 9, 2004
<http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/000016.html>.

2.  “NDI Assessment Mission to Iraq, June 23 to July 6,
2003,” p. 4
<http://www.ndi.org/front_page/1625_iq_report_072503.pdf>.

3.  “UNISON Labour Link committee chair on Labour Party
conference,” October 1, 2004
<http://www.labourfriendsofiraq.org.uk/archives/000006.html>.

4.  “Open letter from Abdullah Muhsin, foreign
representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, to
trade union delegates at the Labour Party conference”
<http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B1571.pdf>.

5.  Patrick Wintour and Kevin Maguire, “Deal with unions to
keep Blair safe,” Guardian, September 30, 2004
<http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2004/story/0,14991,1316070,00.html>.

6.  Juan Cole, “Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and
Religion,” Guardian, November 26, 2004
<http://www.juancole.com/2004_11_01_juancole_archive.html>.

7.  “Iraqi Communist Party leader views electoral program,
obstacles to elections,” BBC International Reports (Middle
East), December 21, 2004.

8.  John Lloyd, “United we understand,” Financial Times,
April 22, 2005
<http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/000262.html>.

9.  Hassan Juma'a Awad, “Leave our country now,” Guardian,
February 18, 2005
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1417222,00.html>.

Call To Action:
Educational Actions Called for AFL-CIO Convention by
progressive labor activists and the Latin America Solidarity
Coalition

• Yes to International Solidarity – No to Bush
Administration/NED Funding
• Pass the "Building Unity and Trust" Resolution at the
AFL-CIO Convention
• International Labor Solidarity is a Must. Don't Taint it
with Bush Money!

We urge the AFL-CIO Convention, meeting in Chicago, July
25-28, 2005 to adopt the "Building Unity and Trust Among
Workers Worldwide" resolution. This resolution would end
dependence by the American Center for International Labor
Solidarity (ACILS), more commonly known as the Solidarity
Center, on US government/NED taxpayer funding.

[Full text:  http://www.lasolidarity.org/call.shtml ]

TROOPS OUT NOW COALITION STRATEGY MEETING
SATURDAY JUNE 11, FROM 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
66 WEST 12TH ST NEW YORK, NY

GETTING U.S. TROOPS T H E   H E L L OUT OF IRAQ NOW!

THE WORLD DEMANDS IT - WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

11 am - opening presentations
1 to 3 pm - workshops
* It's a war against the workers and the poor
* GI resistance
* From Latin America, to Asia and Africa, to Palestine, the
connections
3 to 6 pm - unity in the antiwar movement - a discussion

Come to the Strategy Meeting!

For more information, go to http://www.troopsoutnow.org or
call or contact Troops Out Now Coalition at 39 W. 14th St.
#206, New York, NY 10011, phone 212-633-6646

Endorse the Troops Out Now Coalition Call for Unity in the
Anti-War Movement at
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unityendorse.html

Read the call and beginning list of endorsers below, and at
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unitycall.html
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unityendorsers.html

The next NYCLAW meeting take place on Monday, June 6,
2005, 6:30 p.m., at DC 1707 AFSCME, 75 Varick St., 15
Floor (1/9/A/C/E to Canal St.).

(Please see related material, below)

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

Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 7:22 PM
To: U.S. Labor Against the War; uslawaffiliates@...
Subject: RE:  Important Statement on Labor Solidarity Tour

On behalf of New York City Labor Agains the War (NYCLAW):

This message from the USLAW conveners requires a thorough
response.  Meanwhile, suffice it to say that the Iraqi
Communist Party is certainly adept at talking out of both
sides of its mouth (and even Bush is "against the
occupation" -- once it wipes out the resistance).

But can any amount of doublespeak explain away, for example,
the IFTU's decisive role in helping Blair defeat a proposed
"troops out" resolution at the British Labor Party
conference in September 2004?[1]

As an Iraqi activist points out about the ICP/IFTU:  "If you
are part of a government that allows the U.S. to bomb towns
like Falluja and the al-Sadr area of Baghdad, don't tell me
you oppose the occupation."[2]

Notes

1.  "NYCLAW Statement on IFTU Tour," May 19, 2005
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/message/2253>.

2.  "Fake unions won't help Iraqi workers," Socialist Worker
(U.K.), October 9, 2004
<http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=2724>.


-----Original Message-----

From: U.S. Labor Against the War [mailto:uslaw@...]
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:33 PM
Subject: [uslawaffiliates] Important Statement on Labor
Solidarity Tour

The Co-Convenors of USLAW have issued an important statement
about the Iraqi Labor Solidarity Tour in response to
questions and concerns raised by some about the
participation of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions.  It
is available at
http://uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?list=type&type=78

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/article.asp?id=111004

11 October 2004

THE STOP THE WAR COALITION AND THE IFTU

Since the bloody and illegal invasion and subsequent
occupation of Iraq by US and British armies, the Stop the
War Coalition (StWC) has consistently called for the
withdrawal of foreign troops and the ending of the
occupation. This position commands the support of the great
majority of the British people, and was recently reaffirmed
as the unanimous position of the TUC. It also commands the
support of the majority of the Iraqi people, as evidenced by
opinion polling carried out by the occupation forces
themselves.

At the same time StWC has always refrained from taking any
position on the internal development of Iraq, since this is
solely the preserve of the Iraqi people themselves.
Affiliates of the Coalition have, of course, developed their
own links with Iraqi organisations, according to their
particular policies or spheres of interest.

However, the recent activity of the representative of the
Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) in Britain compels
the StWC to make its position clear. In recent weeks the
IFTU representative has:

     * Urged that the Labour Party conference welcome the
puppet Iraqi premier Allawi, at a time when the entire
anti-war movement was demanding that the invitation be
withdrawn, which it subsequently was.

     * Shared a platform with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
and the UK government’s “human rights envoy” to Iraq Ann
Clwyd, respectively a leading architect of and an
indefatigable apologist for the war and the occupation.

     * Most shamefully of all, energetically lobbied the
trade union affiliates of the Labour Party to oppose a
motion, reflecting the unions’ own agreed policies, calling
on Blair to set an early date for the withdrawal of British
troops from Iraq.

In this last undertaking the IFTU representative worked as
the direct instrument of the government and the Labour Party
apparatus, which prepared and distributed his statements to
delegates. Indeed, the statement by the IFTU representative
issued by the Party was not merely supportive of the
continued military occupation of his country, but could also
be read as supportive of the original invasion of Iraq.

There is little doubt that this intervention played a
significant part in persuading some major trade unions (and
perhaps constituency delegates too) to abandon their agreed
policy on the occupation (affirmed at the TUC just two weeks
earlier).

It is understandable that British trade unions should wish
to express their support to the working class of Iraq in its
extremely difficult struggles, and the StWC has always
encouraged such support insofar as it falls within our
political remit. The IFTU is one of a number of trade union
and workers’ organisations in Iraq, distinguished from
others by its support for the Allawi government and, it is
now apparent, for the foreign occupation on which that
government depends for its existence.

The IFTU has, however, attempted to divide the anti-war
movement from the trade unions by taking advantage of the
goodwill towards it shown by a number of unions for
honourable reasons of solidarity, the lack of understanding
of the actual nature of different organisations in Iraq, and
the climate of pre-election pressure from the government on
trade union delegations.

As a result, several affiliated trade unions at the Labour
Party conference voted for a policy of effectively
open-ended licence for the occupation and against the early
withdrawal of British troops.

The StWC hopes that the leading unions will restate their
previous policy of an end to the occupation. The coming
weeks and months are likely to see still bloodier battles
within Iraq, with a growing number of deaths both of Iraqis
and of British and US soldiers. It remains most likely that
the war and the occupation will remain the dominant
political issues in the months leading up to the next
British general election. The trade union movement must find
a voice on these developments and cannot remain within the
confines of the statement agreed at the Labour Party
conference.

With regard to the IFTU, the StWC condemns its political
collaboration with the British government, exemplified at
the Labour Party conference, and its view that genuinely
independent trade unionism in Iraq can develop under a
regime of military occupation (including the daily
bombardment of major Iraqi cities) by the USA and Britain.

The StWC reaffirms its call for an end to the occupation,
the return of all British troops in Iraq to this country and
recognises once more the legitimacy of the struggle of the
Iraqi people to secure such ends.

Stop the War Coalition

* A Call for a United Front Against the War*

*SATURDAY JUNE 11
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM The New School Lang Center
55 W 13th St New York, NY*

*GETTING U.S. TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ NOW!
THE WORLD DEMANDS IT - WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

www.troopsoutnow.org <www.TroopsOutNow.org>*

*11 am - Opening presentations
12 noon to 3 pm - Discussion groups:*

* The Millions More Movement, the Million Worker March, and the
Antiwar Movement
* Lessons from the past to build unity in the future
* Disrupting the war machine - counter-recruiting, fighting the draft,
supporting military resisters
* How solidarity helps build the antiwar movement

*3 to 6 pm - Unity in the antiwar movement - a discussion *

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

Endorse <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unityendorse.html> the Unity Call
Donate <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html> Start
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1orgcentsignup.html> a local
organizing center


*T*he war has now entered its third year.  More than 100,000 Iraqis
and nearly 1,700 U.S. soldiers are dead.  The Bush Administration, in
open defiance of international law, has built a system of brutal
prison camps where thousands are tortured, held in isolation, and
denied basic human rights.

Despite growing evidence that the occupation is failing, the neocons
in Washington are determined to crush the Iraqi people and is making
threats against new targets, including the people of  Korea,
Venezuela, Iran, and Syria.

This lawless regime in Washington demands a unified opposition.  The
Troops Out Now coalition has organized this discussion on Saturday, June
11 to bring together activists from a wide variety of antiwar, labor,
and community organizations  to  explore and strategize about building
a united front to end the war in Iraq.

On May 26, the Troops Out Now Coalition issued a unity call
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unitycall.html>, appealing to all
progressive and antiwar organizations to unite around the central
demand for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq,
recognizing that individuals and organizations would of course, raise
other issues in their own way--unity does not have to mean uniformity.
  This call has drawn more than 800 endorsers
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unityendorsers.html> from across the U.S.
and all over the globe.  The circumstances demand unity, and activists
in the U.S. have a particular obligation to do everything within our
power to stop the war.  *Nothing is more important at this moment than
for all to walk together on the high road to unity.*  All three
national coalitions have an obligation to do everything possible to
present a united front against the colonial war and criminal
occupation.  We believe that what we all do will be decisive. *We must
and we can stop the war and get every U.S. soldier out of Iraq.  It is
up to all of us to do whatever is necessary for our movement to rise
to this challenge. *

Please join us for this important meeting on Saturday, June 11 at the
Lang Center of the New School University.

For the full text of the unity call -
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unitycall.html


Endorse <http://www.troopsoutnow.org/unityendorse.html> -- Add your
voice to the Call for Unity Donate
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/donate.html> Start
<http://www.troopsoutnow.org/may1orgcentsignup.html> a local
organizing center