Truth and Justice Radio
WZBC 90.3 Boston
Sundays 6-9:30 AM


LOCAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Week of 7 February 2010

Boycott Israeli Products and Services!


Continuing Events          Announcements
Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Future
TJR EVENT ARCHIVE

ACTION ALERTS!

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

Respond to the corrupt Supreme Court decision empowering corporations as having all rights of "persons"

Action Page: Corporations Are NOT The People
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1029.php

Action Page: Impeach The Supreme Court 5
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1030.php

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

OBAMA BUDGET SAID TO TRIPLE NUCLEAR LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM - ACT NOW!

NIRS action request: tell Obusha and Energy Sec. Chu
NO TAXPAYER BAILOUT FOR NUKE POWER PLANTS.

Just in the past couple of weeks, two more reactors (in Vermont and North Carolina) have been discovered to be leaking radioactive tritium, bringing the total number to more than 20 leaking reactor sites. Far from being safe and clean, nuclear power is proving itself to be dirtier and more dangerous than ever.

nirs.org


THIS WEEK'S EVENTS


SUNDAY, FEB 7, 2010

back to top

"RADIO with a VIEW"
(produced by Marc Stern & Dave Goodman)
Sunday Feb 7 10am - 12:00noon
WMBR 88.1FM or wmbr.org (live webcast & archive)

This week's guests and topics include:

Journalist (Washington Correspondent for The Nation Magazine), and author, JOHN NICHOLS, and author and Professor ROBERT McCHESNEY speak out about the future of media and journalism. Their latest book is called "The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again." [Recorded at the Harvard Coop on Tuesday 2-2-2010]

Grace Notes with GRACE ROSS.

Contact: radioview@ibisradio.org

wmbr.org
ibisradio.org

---------- Sunday ----------

Ethical Society of Boston program ...
THE HIGH COST OF DISCOUNT CULTURE
Sunday, February 7 10:30am
Spiegel Auditorium, 56 Brattle Street, Cambridge (Harvard Square)
Program is Free, Public Welcome, Coffee
Discussion to follow.

Ellen Ruppel Shell will discuss her recently released book, "THE HIGH COST OF DISCOUNT CULTURE", that exposes the dangers of consumerism.

Further information:
call 617-739-9050
or visit BostonEthical.Org

---------- Sunday ----------

Gaza Steadfast:
a photographic presentation by Skip Schiel (SLIDE SHOW)
Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 12:30PM
Cambridge Friends Center
5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge (near Harvard Square)
Free and open to the public
Light refreshments
Photos for sale
Donations to Schiel's work gratefully accepted
Sponsored by the Peace & Social Concerns Committee of
Friends Meeting of Cambridge

More info:
skipschiel@gmail.com
617-441-7756

teeksaphoto.org
skipschiel.wordpress.com

---------- Sunday ----------

City-wide Planning/organizing Meeting to celebrate the contributions of Howard Zinn
Sunday, February 7, 1:30 PM
Encuentro 5 (33 Harrison Avenue, 5^th Floor)
(Chinatown Stop on the Orange Line T)
Everyone is invited so please spread the word.

Howard Zinn inspired many throughout the peace movement and movements for social justice generally.

Contact: John Harris
john.r.harris@verizon.net

---------- Sunday ----------

MONDAY, FEB 8, 2010

back to top

Jill Stein gubernatorial campaign kickoff
(Running as a Green-Rainbow Party candidate)
Mon., Feb. 8, 11 AM
State House, Boston, front steps, across from the
Robert Gould Shaw monument on Beacon St.

(Dr.) Jill Stein will be announcing her gubernatorial kick off Monday Feb. 8 at 11am, on the front steps of the State House, near Boston Common.

To help with planning, RSVP.

Contact/RSVP: info@jillstein.org

jillstein.org

---------- Monday ----------

"Searching for a Human Rights Strategy for the Arab Region" [???]
Bahey El Din Hassan, General Director,
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Monday, February 8, 2010 12:15 - 1:30 PM
Lewis 202, Harvard Law School
Open to the public but RSVP required

A well known lecturer, Hassan is also the author of numerous articles and papers exploring issues associated with human rights and democratic transformation in the Arab Region.

Light lunch provided - RSVP required.

Sponsored by the Middle East Initiative, the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Middle East Law Student Association.

Directions to the Kennedy School campus:
www.hks.harvard.edu/about/contact

Full events calendar:
www.hks.harvard.edu/middleeast

RSVP: hrp@law.harvard.edu or 617-495-9362

---------- Monday ----------

Climate Change Action Brookline
Lecture & monthly meeting
Monday February 8th at 7pm
Meeting begins 7:00; Speaker at 7:30
First floor community room at Brookline Town Hall,
333 Washington Street, Brookline, MA

The Century Ahead - Four Scenarios, a talk by Dr. Rich Rosen

Dr. Rosen, who has over twenty-seven years of experience in energy sector resource planning and management, will describe four scenarios for our century. These scenarios include most key aspects of sustainable development: energy consumption, CO2 and methane emissions, economic and population growth, water demand and supply, land-use patterns, agriculture and food, and work life. They illustrate how the issues are interconnected in complex ways, and how they ultimately connect to climate change, and sustainability more broadly. Two of the scenarios lead to an un-sustainable future. Ultimately, one scenario, the Great Transition scenario, emerges as representative of the only hope we have for a sustainable world.

About CCAB: Climate Change Action Brookline is a group of volunteer activists committed to the vision of Brookline evolving from an energy-consuming community to an energy-conserving community. CCAB is a member of Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN), a network of local and statewide groups dedicated to halting the threat of global climate change.

Contacts...
Susan Martin 617-277-1027 Co-Chair
Paul Harris 617-277-0167 Co-Chair

www.ClimateChangeActionBrookline.org
www.Brookline2010.org

---------- Monday ----------

TUESDAY, FEB 9, 2010

back to top

MA Jobs With Justice calendar items
(for details, consult MA JWJ's website)

Tuesday, February 9:
AFL CIO Organizing Roundtable

Thursday, February 11:
Join the Tufts Medical Center and Boston Medical Center Nurses for a Joint Informational Picket
Harvard Labor and Worklife Public Forum

massjwj.net

---------- Tuesday ----------

WEDNESDAY, FEB 10, 2010

back to top

MIT Amnesty International presents...
Women in Afghanistan
screening of "View from a Grain of Sand"
Q&A panel with director/producer Meena Nanji
Wed Feb 10, 6-8pm
MIT Bldg 66 Room 110
Food Will Be Served

Co-sponsors:
MIT Center for International Studies
MIT Program in Women's and Gender Studies

Contact to arrange other showings:
Rachel Williams
978-372-1106
rachfit@mindspring.com

Film info:
viewgrainofsand.com

---------- Wednesday ----------

American Passage: Immigration Then and Now
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 6:30 PM
Cambridge Forum
The First Parish in Cambridge
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Historian Vincent Cannato discusses the history of Ellis Island with political scientist Paul Watanabe. Watanabe's research focuses on contemporary immigration trends as a counterpoint to Cannato's historical research. How has the immigrant experience changed since Ellis Island was the key entry point to the United States?

Co-sponsored by The Immigrant Learning Center.

cambridgeforum.org

---------- Wednesday ----------

Radical Film Night at the Lucy Parsons Center
Always Free
"Gaza Ghetto: Portrait Of A Palestinian Family" (1984)
Wed Feb 10, 7pm
Lucy Parsons Center
549 Columbus Avenue (Boston's South End)
Telephone: (617) 267-6272
Email: lucyparsons@tao.ca

Shows the impact of war on family life and community identity. Produced in 1984, 21 years before complete Israeli withdraw from Gaza.

lucyparsons.org

---------- Wednesday ----------

Poets for Haiti: a Benefit for Partners In Health
Harvard Grad School of Education
Longfellow Hall, Appian Way, Cambridge
Wednesday February 10th at 7:30pm
$10 Donation Requested
presented by HUCTW and the Woodberry Poetry Room

Poets include:
Robert Pinsky
Jorie Graham
Rosanna Warren
Gail Mazur
Afaa Michael Weaver
Fred Marchant
Christina Davis
Marilene Phipps-Kettlewell
Daniel Tobin
Patrick Sylvain
Jean-Dany Joachim
Wendy Mnookin
Kim Stafford
Tom Daley
Jericho Brown
Kevin Bowen
Frannie Lindsay
Barbara Helfgott-Hyett
Nadia Herman-Colburn

Donate Directly:
pih.org

---------- Wednesday ----------

THURSDAY, FEB 11, 2010

back to top

Public symposium: 'Globalization and the Grassroots"
Thursday February 11, 2010 3pm-7:30pm
97 Cargill Hall, Northeastern University Law School
near corner of Boylston & Forsyth
(5 minute walk from either Green 'E' Line Northeastern T stop or
Orange Line Ruggles T stop)
Free admission and refreshments

Featuring scholars and local activists the event will explore themes such as indigenous people and women, food sustainability and housing movements, and the World Social Forum.

Preliminary Schedule

3:00 to 5:00pm- panel on "Global Activism and Emerging Transnational Subjectivities"

Berna Turam, Northeastern University: Transnational Islam
Denise Horn, Northeastern University: Transnational Activism and Global Civil Society
Manisha Desai, University of Connecticut: Transnational Feminism and the World Social Forum
Sylvia Escarcega, Depaul University, CIESAS- Oaxaca: Global Indigenous Movements
Janet Conway, Brock University: Transnational Activism and the World Social Forum
Geoffrey Pleyers (University of Louvaine, London School of Economics): Global Movements for Food Sustainability

Moderator: Alex Khasnabish, Mount Saint Vincent University

5:00 to 5:30pm- coffee break

5:30 to 7:30pm- panel on "Globalization, Crisis, and Grassroots Responses"

Liza Weinstein, Northeastern University: Globalization and Housing Movements in Mumbai
David Hess, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Localist Movements in a Global Economy
Jackie Smith, University of Notre Dame: Globalization, Crisis, and the US Social Forum
Thomas Ponniah, Harvard University: The World Social Forum and the Left in Latin America
Giuseppe Caruso, University of Helsinki: Local Food Movements in India Boston-based housing and tenant's rights activists

Moderator: Jeffrey S. Juris, Northeastern University

Sponsored by the Northeastern University College of Arts & Sciences, Departments of Sociology & Anthropology and Political Science, and Program in International Affairs

Contact: J.Juris@neu.edu

For more Info:
grassglobsymposium.wordpress.com

---------- Thursday ----------

Gaza Freedom March Report Back with Sarah Roche-Mahdi
Thursday February 11, 2010 6:30pm-9pm
Boston University Kenmore Classroom Building (KCB), Room 101,
565 Commonwealth Ave. (5 minute walk from Green 'B' Line Blandford Street T stop or from Kenmore Square)
Free admission, wheelchair accessible

The Gaza Freedom March brought together hundreds of people from 43 countries, including high-profile leaders, to challenge the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza. Organized by the US based CODE PINK and UK based Viva Palestina, the march was intended to bring hundreds of people to Egypt to march against the closed boarder with Palestine, bringing badly needed humanitarian supplies. To our dismay the Egyptian authorities did not allow the march to proceed and activists scrambled to make their voices heard despite the overt repression. Come hear the personal account of one woman's journey to Egypt with the Gaza Freedom March!

Sponsored by the Greater Boston Stop the Wars Coalition, CODE PINK, BU Students for Justice in Palestine, Socialist Party USA

contact Sarah Roche-Mahdi: MRochemahd@aol.com
RSVP on Facebook:
tinyurl.com/yjsuugl
or
facebook.com/event.php?eid=298336391976&ref=nf

---------- Thursday ----------

China Study Group discussion and New Year's dinner
Thursday February 11, 2010 discussion 6:30pm-7:30pm
Center for Marxist Education, 550 Mass Ave, Central Square, Cambridge
Dinner 7:30pm
Mary Chung Restaurant, 460 Mass Ave, Central Square, Cambridge
The discussion is free, but if you go out for dinner you have to pay your share

For the next China study group we will discuss China's role at the Copenhagen conference on the environment and also look at a New Yorker article which talks about some of China's alternative energy accomplishments (along with continuing serious pollution problems). Then we will go to Mary Chung's restaurant to celebrate China's Lunar New Year -- Year of the Tiger!

6:30 discussion
7:30 leave for restaurant

Duncan can send you the reading material, but worth coming anyway

Contact Duncan McFarland: mcfarland13@gmail.com

---------- Thursday ----------

Boston 9/11 Truth meeting
Thursday February 11, 2010, 6:30pm
Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th floor
near corner of Harrison and Beach
(5 minute walk from either the Orange Line Chinatown T
stop or the Green Line Boylston T stop)

contact Richard Krushnic:
rkrushnic@gmail.com or 617-276-7839

---------- Thursday ----------

FRIDAY, FEB 12, 2010

back to top

The Militant Labor Forum presents a video showing...
"Deacons for Defense"
Friday, Feb 12 at 7:30pm
Militant Labor Forum Hall
12 Bennington St., 2nd floor, East Boston
(T Blue Line to Maverick Station, bus or walk five blocks down Meridian to Bennington at Liberty Plaza traffic circle)
Suggested donation $5

The civil rights movement was marked by sustained mass challenges to the Jim Crow system in the South that drew millions of Black workers, farmers, and youth into combat. The Ku Klux Klan and other segregationist forces staged brutal, and often deadly, assaults on movement leaders and foot soldiers. In response, armed self-defense of Black communities played a critical and under-appreciated role in the movement.

One example of this was the Deacons For Defense in Louisiana, founded in 1965 in the town of Jonesboro.

Join a discussion after the film about the lessons of this little known history.

Info:
themilitant.com
pathfinderpress.com

---------- Friday ----------

SATURDAY, FEB 13, 2010

back to top

Boston UJP Strategy Conference
Sat Feb 13 1:00pm
The Democracy Center
Mt Auburn Street 1/2 block from Harvard Sq T stop
Cambridge

justicewithpeace.org
justicewithpeace.org/node/797

---------- Saturday ----------

OTHER EVENTS

SUNDAY, FEB 14, 2010

back to top

Boston Anarchist Black Cross presents
Anti-Valentine's Day Dinner!
Sunday, February 14 at 6PM
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street (Copley T stop)

Come alone, come with friends, bring a date, bring multiple dates, bring your kids, bring your parents, but come on over to Copley to take in the ambience and eat delightful vegetarian food! Vegan and gluten-free diets amply accommodated. Please notify us of any food allergies.

Your ticket gets you a four course dinner with a drink! Tickets start at $15 and you must get them in advance. You can arrange this through one of our friendly collective members when you see them, at the Lucy Parsons Center, or through bostonabc@riseup.net

Write to: bostonabc@riseup.net

lucyparsons.org

---------- Sunday ----------

MONDAY, FEB 15, 2010

back to top

Daniel Ellsberg to Speak for AFSC
Cambridge Friends Meeting
5 Longfellow Pk (just off Brattle St., near HarvardSq)
Monday February 15 at 5pm
Suggested contribution $10; no need to RSVP

Dan will be providing a "Critique of Obama's U.S. National Security Policy"

During the Vietnam War, Henry Kissinger described Daniel Ellsberg as "The most dangerous man in America." Dan remains among the most trenchant critics of the national security state, pained and outraged by the suffering it brings abroad and here at home.

A senior Pentagon and Rand Corporation official for Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, Dan was sentenced to 109 years in prison for making the Pentagon Papers - the Pentagon's secret history of the Vietnam war - public in a heroic effort to force an end to the war's killing. Since then Dan has become a long-term resource for the peace movement and has been arrested many times for participating in nonviolent protests.

Our program begins with a fund raising reception with Dan (4:00 - 5:00 P.M.) for AFSC's Peace and Economic Security Program. ($40 per person, please RSVP to 617- 661-6130 ext. 119)

afsc.org



ANNOUNCEMENTS

back to top
Boycott of Israeli Products and Services

(1) IDENTIFYING RETAIL PRODUCTS MADE IN ISRAEL
Examine the UPC ("Universal Product Code") section of the product's label. (This is a bar code with 10-12 numeric digits at bottom.) If the FIRST THREE DIGITS are 729, the product is made in Israel. (The "7" will appear to left of the leftmost bar in the bar code.)
HTTP://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.php

(2) LIST OF COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO ISRAEL:
26 prominent companies with links to info
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.html#list

(3) BRANDS & LABELS TO BOYCOTT:
123 prominent brands and labels with links to info
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-brands.html

____________

back to top
Support End the Occupation!

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation How You Can Sustain the US Campaign

To generate more momentum and bring us closer to our goal, we need sustained support. That's why we're asking you to join our Olive Branch Club and make a regular monthly tax-deductible contribution of $5-$200 per month.

____________

back to top
Support MA Senate Bill (S931) on Fusion Center Oversight

Do you know about the Fusion Center?

It knows about you.

Please take a moment to ask your state legislators to co-sponsor Senator Harriette Chandler's new bill -- An Act Regarding the Commonwealth Fusion Center and Other Intelligence Data Centers -- filed on behalf of the ACLU of Massachusetts.

So what is the Fusion Center anyway?

In the aftermath of 9/11, then-Governor Mitt Romney enlisted Massachusetts in a national plan to centralize and expand the government's ability to collect and retain detailed information on ordinary Americans, for the professed purpose of preventing terrorism.

Without public debate, Romney established the Commonwealth Fusion Center, a multi-agency data-mining hub which enables federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to comb through information about Massachusetts residents and engage in domestic intelligence collection beyond the bounds of ordinary criminal investigations.

Take action now! Find and contact your legislators. Urge them to support Senator Chandler's bill to provide oversight of the Commonwealth Fusion Center.

Historically, unregulated database-driven policing has led to broad surveillance of completely lawful activities, including protected First Amendment activity -- and it's happening again in Massachusetts in 2009.

The Fusion Center operates today with virtually no independent oversight, without adequate privacy protections, and without necessary protections for constitutional rights. With your help, we can -- and must -- shine a light on the Fusion Center's operations and insist that any intelligence operations in Massachusetts be conducted in keeping with established civil liberties principles.

ACLU Announcement on Fusion oversight bill.

____________

back to top
Sign Employee Free Choice Petition!

The Employee Free Choice Act is critical to our economic recovery. Good union jobs helped build America's middle class. This legislation will rekindle the American Dream by leveling the playing field and empowering workers to form unions and bargain for a better life.

That's why greedy CEOs are terrified of this bill. One top executive has called it "the demise of a civilization." And they're fighting with underhanded tactics, misleading ads, shady front groups and, of course, big budgets.

But we can win if enough of us get involved. Members of Congress have a weeklong break this month, and we've planned hundreds of lobby meetings at their home offices. Imagine those workers handing over our petition and being able to say, "Two million people support the Employee Free Choice Act."

a href=http://freechoiceact.org>Move us closer to 2 million signatures--it just takes one minute.

____________

back to top
Sign petition to release Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Jails

Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people

Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11.870 Palestinian citizens

A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs. The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old.

Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate.

The Minister of Palestinian Prisoner is in prison since many years... for the fifth time.

There are more than 11,870 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 117 of them are mothers. Some give birth while chained, and their children are forced to live in the cells where they do not live their childhood or play or go out.

I don't have to tell you about lack of healthy conditions, or medical negligence. Some prisoners are denied warm clothes sent to them by their families. They are held in 30 different prisons, and detention centers. 1189 prisoners are schools, collage, and universities students of both genders, 330 of the detained are children. Not only the students were detained, but their teachers too, there are 107 Palestinian teachers in Israeli prisons. 1150 Palestinian prisoners suffer acute illnesses.

A large number of the detained are denied visits by family members.

Thousands of Palestinian detainees in the Negev desert prison and other detention camps such as Ofer prison near the town of Ramallah, Hawara, Qadumim, Megiddo, Nafha, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and other prisons are shivering from the cold under waves of rain and snowfall coming from northern regions of the world especially that some are detained inside tents made of cloth surrounded by walls open to the cruel cold of the desert, living in wet tents caused by snow falls and rain, sleeping on boards made of wood which gets soaked wet.

Soon, April 17th is the International day of prisoners. I hope you can join in denouncing what the Israeli government is doing to those prisoners, and demand their release to join their families.

Do not rely on journalism to get the news, journalists were the first to be attacked and harassed so that you do not know what was going on.

The records documented 1147 aggressive attacks on journalists by the Israelis. Only between 28th of September 2000, and 31st of March 2007.

Please sign the petition and buy those prisoners some happiness.

We are hoping to get at least 11.000 signitures, one for each prisoner, and present this petition to International Human Rights bodies like Amnesty International, and United Nations. Please Circulate this petition to all the people you can get the message through to them. It is about time we show solidarity for each other on human level.

Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network

____________

back to top

Sign up to be a "Hang Up On Motorola" Organizer

Israel's recent war on the occupied Gaza Strip brought death and destruction to Palestinians, and a windfall for war profiteers. Around the world, people are standing up and saying "No more" by boycotting and divesting from corporations that profit from Israel's human rights abuses. The people of Stockholm have severed their contract with the transit/waste removal corporation Veolia due to Veolia's involvement with Israel's settlements, and British Telecom company FreedomCall has ceased their cooperation with Israeli counterpart MobileMax due to the war on Gaza.

Join this growing global movement for boycotting, divesting from and sanctioning (BDS) those who support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories by becoming an organizer for our Hang Up On Motorola campaign. Motorola makes a lot more than cell phones - they also make at least four products that directly support Israel's occupation of and assaults on Palestinians. This is why we've created a tool-kit for boycotting Motorola until its products are no longer used by Israel to abuse Palestinian human rights.

Why Motorola?.

Bomb Fuses: Motorola Israel sells fuses that the Israeli Air Force uses in its MK-80 series of bombs. On July 30, 2006, during its war on Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force dropped an MK-84 bomb on an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon, killing at least 28 civilians.

Communication Devices for Occupation: Motorola's $100 million "Mountain Rose" communication system enhances the efficiency of Israeli occupying forces. Patterns of human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories include, but are not limited to, the killing and injuring of civilians, torture, extra-judicial assassinations, deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, acts of collective punishment, and economic warfare.

Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal Wall: Motorola supplies the "Wide Area Surveillance System" (WAAS) to monitor and maintain Israel's illegal wall, constructed in violation of the July 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion. This wall is perhaps the strongest symbol of Israeli Apartheid, carving the West Bank into Bantustans. Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal

Settlements: Motorola has made $93 million providing radar detection devices and thermal cameras for 47 illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land, its illegal settlements, illegal wall, and continued occupation would not be possible without Motorola's compliance.

____________

back to top
Film: "Occupation 101"
A "Must See" That Untangles the Web of Lies

The truth is buried about Israel's occupation of Palestine through sophisticated repetition of irrelevant rhetoric, distorted shuffling of time and placement of people's histories and other devious ways of keeping many afraid to form an opinion or act on outrage.

Well, here's a good cure for that - pick up a copy of Occupation 101 and you won't have to worry about being on any fences in regards to this issue. This highly informative video documentary will keep your mind attentive and clear all cobwebs in the brain by getting to the root cause of violence from the occupier and resistance from the occupied, all embellished with current examples and very pertinent comparisons to Apartheid South Africa.

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict - 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.

The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.

The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.

Tripoli Productions, DVD, NTSC all regions, 1.5 hour plus bonus features.
leftbooks.com

____________

back to top

Write to prisoners, AIUSA

From our activist friend Sandy Coy, who runs a weekly vigil Thursday afternoons in Wayland:

I am writing to ask activists, as well as my family and others who are not political activists, to join me in a simple action to launch what the whole world hopes will be a fresh start in a better direction. I feel I must write after reading a book today that one of my children gave me for Christmas, "Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak."

Most of the detainees do not know these poems were saved, declassified (much of their writing still has not been), translated and published. But it has happened, through the persistent work of many volunteer legal advocates. In these poems, the goodness of many souls and their hope in God and their fellow men for justice comes through. Some of the poems moved me to tears of both sorrow and shame.

But tears for them or anyone unjustly imprisoned will do no good. Doing something as simple as writing a brief card can actually help people who are being unjustly imprisoned.

How? When prisoners receive volumes of international mail, their jailers know they have lost the cover of anonymity. This leads to better treatment for the prisoner and ultimately their release, just to get the public spotlight to go away.

So, here's what I am asking of myself, my family and of you, which shouldn't take more than a few minutes:

Write out one or more cards for selected prisoners of conscience from any of 12 countries (one is a Guantanamo detainee) identified by Amnesty International.

This card to a prisoner of conscience is probably going to mean more than any other card we sent this year.

____________

back to top
25 actions you can do for justice in Gaza

From the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (via our correspondent Mazin Qumsiyeh):

So far hundreds of civilians have been killed in Gaza. Five sisters in one family, four other children in another home, two children on a cart drawn by a donkey. Universities, colleges, police stations, roads, apartment buildings were all targeted. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian areas issued a statement that "The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent s evere and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war."

Twenty-five things to do to bring peace with justice:

1) First get the facts and then disseminate them.
Here are some basic background information

Israei Information Center for Human Rights

PNGO Condemnation of Gaza Attack

Middle East Peace

United for Peace

Electronic Intifada on Gaza Attack


2) Contact local media. Write letters to editors (usually 100-150 words) and longer op-eds (usually 600- 800 words) for local newspapers. But also write to news departments in both print, audio, and visual media about their coverage. In the US you can find media listings in your country using search engines like google.

3) Contact elected and other political leaders in your country to urge them to apply pressure to end the attacks. In the US, Contact the State Department at 202.647.5291, the White House 202-456-1111 the Egyptian Embassy 202.895.5400, embassy@egyptembassy.net and the Obama Transition Team 202-540-3000 (then press 2 to speak with a staff member).

4) Organize and join demonstrations in front of Israeli and Egyptian embassies or when not doable in front of your parliament, office of elected officials, and any other visible place (and do media work for it).

5) Hold a teach-in, seminar, public dialogue, documentary film viewing etc. this is straightforward: you need to decide venue, nature, if any speakers, and do some publicity (the internet helps).

6) Pass out fliers with facts and figures about Palestine and Gaza in your community (make sure also to mention its relevance to the audience: e.g, US taxpayers paying for the carnage, increase in world instability and economic uncertainty).

7) Put a Palestinian flag at your window.

8) Wear a Palestinian head scarf (Koufiya).

9) Wear Black arm bands (this helps start conversations with people).

10) Send direct aid to Gaza through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

11) Initiate boycotts, divestments and sanctions at all levels and including asking leaders to expel the Israeli ambassadors (an ambassador of an apartheid and rogue state). See Palestinian call.

12) Work towards bringing Israeli leaders before war crime courts (actions along those lines in courts have stopped Israeli leaders from traveling abroad to some countries like Britain where they may face charges).

13) Calling upon all Israelis to demonstrate in front of their war ministry and to more directly challenge their government.

14) Do outreach: to neighbors and friends directly. Via Internet to a lot of others (you can join and post information to various listservs/groups).

15) Start your own activist group or join other local groups (simple search in your city with the word Palestine could identify candidate groups that have previously worked on issues of Palestine). Many have also been successful in at bringing coalitions from different constituencies in their local areas to work together (human rights group, social and civil activists, religious activists, etc).

16) Develop a campaign of sit-ins at government offices or other places where decision makers aggregate.

17) Do a group fast for peace one day and hold it in a public place.

18) Visit Palestine (e.g. with Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies).

19) Support human rights and other groups working on the ground in Palestine.

20) Make large signs and display them at street corners and wherever people congregate.

21) Contact local churches, mosques, synagogues, and other houses of worship and ask them to take a moral stand and act. Call on your mosque to dedicate this Friday for Gaza actions.

22) Sign petitions for Gaza, e.g. Gaza: Stop the Bloodshed Petition.

23) Write and call people in Gaza.

24) Work with other groups that do not share your political views (factionalism and excessive divisions within activist communities allowed those who advocate war to succeed).

25) Dedicate a certain time for activism for peace every day (1 hour) and think of more actions than what is listed above.

For support and contacts of people in Gaza or to volunteer, please contact the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, via gaza@imemc.org, or call 989-607-9480 (from the US and Canada) or 972 2277 2018 (from other places).

____________

back to top

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) in Jerusalem has been informed that its request for re-funding has been rejected, in high probability because of pressure brought to bear by right-wing Israeli neo-cons who have campaigned obsessively against our funding while threatening publicly to close us down.

Tax-deductible donations needed.

____________

back to top

We have quietly been working away at TecsChange in Chinatown to refurbish computers. We recently sent one of our bigger shipments of 15 computers to a series of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico.

We work most Thurday evenings and Saturday afternoons
(1pm to at least 4 PM, usually longer)

We have one day a week where daytime volunteers come in. Presently it's Mondays but it might change soon.

Please call if you are interested.
TecsChange Office
617-442-4456

____________

back to top

EXTRA-VIRGIN FAIR TRADE OLIVE OIL FROM PALESTINE

We now ship anywhere in the continental US; please see our website for details . Olive Branch Olive Oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, and is the only Palestinian organization that has received the Palestine Standards Institution certification for its olive oil.

Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family's annual income. As the political and economic situation in Palestine worsens, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.

Olive Branch Olive Oil is extra-virgin and comes in 750 ml (25 ounce) green glass bottles. Produced from the first pressing of the olives, extra- virgin olive oil contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil. Unopened bottles of olive oil are generally good for up to two years, and should be kept in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Palestinian farmers traditionally care for their trees without the use of pesticides or sprays.

Olive Branch Olive Oil is an outgrowth of a 2003 effort by Middle East peace activists in the Boston area to support Palestinian farmers. Since then, it has evolved into an ongoing volunteer project to create a U.S. market for Palestinian olive oil. Our goal is to make a tangible difference in the lives of the farmers and their families.

Any funds that are raised above and beyond the cost of the oil, importing fees and administrative and marketing costs are re-invested in purchasing more oil. Out of that amount, 15% is donated directly to worthy projects in Palestine. Past donation recipients include:

Gush Shalom Emergency Relief Convoy
Badil
Palestinian Children's Relief Fund
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Zochrot
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Birthright Unplugged
American Friends Svc. Comm. Middle East Crisis Fund
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
Olive Harvest Coalition
Union of Palestinian Women's Committees
Ibdaa Cultural Center
Grassroots International
Taayoush

How to Order
On our website with PAYPAL
or send a check to P.O. Box 1064, Arlington, MA 02474.

Each case contains twelve (12) 750ml bottles.

Prices for local pick-up in Arlington or Cambridge:
Case price $170/case
Bulk price for 7+ cases: $150/case
Bulk price for 10+ cases: $145/case

Case price shipped within continental US: $195/case
3 Bottles shipped within continental US: $65/3 bottles

For more information.



CONTINUING EVENTS

back to top

EVERY SUNDAY

10-11:30 AM: "Radio with a View"
WMBR 88.1 Cambridge

---------- Every Sunday----------

12-1pm Amherst Peace Vigil

Town Common, Amherst
For more, contact Mark Watkins
---------- Every Sunday----------
back to top

1:30pm Cambridge Peace Vigil

Mass. Ave., and Garden St., next to Cambridge Common.
---------- Every Monday ----------

11:45AM-12:15PM: Vigil for Gaza

Memorial Church in Harvard Yard

Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.

---------- Every Monday ----------

6:30PM: Stop The Wars Coalition meetings

Encuentro 5
33 Harrison Ave, Chinatown, MA 02111
info@encuentro5.org or call 617-482-6300

These are the meetings where we decide on events and discuss strategies to end the war. Anyone is welcome -- from seasoned activists to beginners and we look forward to building a dialogue with anyone opposed to the war. Our main tenent is that we are independent of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, such that we can build an anti-war movement that survives elections and continues to oppose the war, regardless of which candidate is in office.

---------- Every Tuesday----------
back to top

Tuesday Weekly Anti-War Vigil 5:30-6:30pm Copley Square

---------- Every Wednesday----------

NOON-12:30 PM: Harvard-Cambridge Walk for Peace

Starts at John Harvard Statue, Harvard Yard.
Every Wednesday. All are welcome.

Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.

---------- Every Thursday----------

5-6 PM: Antiwar Vigil in Newton
Corner of Beacon and Center Streets, Newton Center
Organizer: Newton Dialogues on Peace and War

---------- Every Thursday----------

5-6 PM: Veterans for Peace vigil
West Side Rotary, Augusta, Maine

---------- Every Thursday ----------
back to top

9 PM: 911 Researchers Conference Call

Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#

---------- Every Friday----------

7-9 AM: Socialist Alternative Radio in Boston

Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.

---------- Every Friday----------
back to top

Noon-1PM in front of JFK Federal Building, Boston.

Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.

In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.

---------- Every Friday----------
back to top

12:30 PM: Women in Black Vigil
Lithgow Library, Augusta, Maine

---------- Every Friday----------

4:30-6 PM: Protest AIPAC - every Friday

Kennedy Sch of Govnt
79 JFK St, Harvard Sq, Cambridge
Organized by AntiWar League
---------- Every Friday----------

6-8PM: *Chillin Against the Villins*
DeMilitarized Zone*
Corner of Mass ave and Boylston st!!!

On this day, Friday and from there on!, we hereby declare the establishment of a new DeMilitarized Zone where all those who wish can congregate to denigrate and repudiate the war machine and celebrate the growth of the new movement from coast to coast willing to oppose the war and opression in this country and around the world. Bring your signs, and minds, let's chalk, talk, play music, paint art with caring and sharing and declaring that we are "chilling *against* the villins" in this zone to show our independence!!!!!

We declare our solidarity with the people of the Middle East who share the misfortune of living on top of the largest oil reserves on the planet which is the reason behind the current war on Iraq. We declare our condemnation of those who support this criminal war commanded by criminals who promote a criminal ideology with criminal intent and crimes against humanity. We repudiate with prejudice the general assault on our rights: abuses, excuses, jailings, raids, lies, spies, xenophobia, torture, extraordinary rendition, and the general police state system that says we must stand together and support this generalized oppression. We are no longer the silent generation but are now willing to Stand Apart and against the mass murdering villins who are doin the real killin. Join us in the DMZ!!


Chillin against the villin's!!!

Our *DMZ* and our Independence.

---------- Every Saturday----------

11am-1pm on WZBC: Sounds of Dissent with John Grebe

Saturday Anti-War Vigils

back to top
  • 11-11:30am Weston, Old Boston Post Rd at School St
    Traffic island with flowerpot, Contact person: Mary Shaw

  • 11-11:45am Quincy City Hall

  • Noon-1pm Natick Center (Rt 27 & 135)

  • Noon-1pm Sudbury Town Hall

  • Noon-1pm Coolidge Corner, Brookline Peace Works

  • 12:30 PM Needham Center on the Green

  • 1-2pm Park Street T station
---------- 1st & 3rd Saturday----------
11A-NOON:
1st Saturday of Month
Corner of Main & Moody Streets, by the Common.
Parking: On-street or the lot on Center St.

3rd Saturday of Month
Corner of Moody and Pine Streets, by Watch City Brewery.
Parking: On-street or Embassy Theatre lot on Pine Street

Useful Links (alphabetized)

back to top

TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS
FOR THE U.S. CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD

back to top
    dial up, then ask for a particular Senator or Representative
  • 800-426-8073
  • 888-355-3588
  • 800-828-0498
  • 866-340-9281
  • 866-340-9279

Radio and TV Connections

back to top
    On sister station WMFO 91.5 (Tufts University Radio)
  • "No-U-Turn Radio" (Tuesdays 8-10am, Dean Wallace)
  • "Free of Form" (Fridays 8-10PM)
    On sister station WMBR 88.1 Cambridge...
  • "Radio with a View" (Sun 10-11:30am, Dave Goodman & Marc Stern)
  • "What’s Left" (Sundays 11:30am-1pm, Linda Pinkow & Will Taggart)

Truth and Justice Radio Local Events Archive

back to top
Contact the webmaster with comments and/or questions.