Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. He has taught at Yale Law School, lectured at Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild. therealnews.com Near the end Michael Ratner makes some great points about the need for laws protecting our freedoms bolstered by the prosecution of those who ordered and engaged in torture.

from: William Hughes

Joe Stork is the Washington Director, Middle East and North Africa Division, “Human Rights Watch.” On Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, he gave a talk at the Palestine Center, in Washington, D.C. His remarks focused generally on the humanitarian consequences of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ 19 month highly restrictive blockade and recent, 23-day war directed at the 1.5 million people trapped in Gaza. About an estimated 1,300 Gazans were killed, many of them children, and over 5,300 more were seriously injured as a result of the IOF’s military siege. During the Q&A period, Mr. Stork was asked about Zionist Israel’s use of phosphorus bombs in a “very densely” populated Gaza. He charged that it “is not legitimate to use them in an inhabitant area...” and that the use of such a weapon by the IOF “clearly violate one of the other rules of war, which is a warring party has to take all feasible measures to protect civilians from harm and that clearly would be a violation of that--that requirement.” For background: please see: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5556027.ece and http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/16/phosphorus-bombs-video-israel-gaza and http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/12/israel-end-gaza-s-humanitarian-crisis-once and http://www.pchrgaza.org/ and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/pages/crisis-in-gaza and http://www.wrmea.com/.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the measure “expresses vigorous support” for Israel. Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they had personally spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to express their support.

from: William Hughes

On Monday, Jan. 19, 2009, hundreds of antiwar activists expressed their outrage over President George W. Bush’s eight warmongering, economically disastrous, torture approving and lawbreaking years in the Oval Office (2001-2009). The good riddance to Bush rally was held at DuPont Circle, in Washington, D.C. David Swanson, cofounder of afterdowningstreet.org, was one of the speakers at the event. He demanded the appointment of a “Special Prosecutor” to bring to the bar of justice the wrongdoers in the Bush-Cheney Gang. After the speeches, the protesters marched to the White House. Once there, they tossed shoes and combat boots at the White House and insisted: “Arrest Bush!” For background, see: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38908 and http://shoebush.org/.

On Monday, Jan. 19, 2009, hundreds of antiwar activists held a rally at DuPont Circle, in Washington, D.C. Then, they marched, led by the “Veterans for Peace,” about 15 blocks south to the White House. As they paraded, they chanted slogans, like: “Arrest Bush!”; “Prosecute Bush!”; “Stop the Torture!”; Stop the War!”; “Stop Spying on the People”; and “War Crimes!” At the White House, they tossed shoes and boots at a gate, near the recently erected presidential reviewing stands. Again they insisted: “Arrest Bush!” For background, see: www.afterdowningstreet.org.

from: William Hughes

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, Antiwar activists dressed all in black, with white death masks, paraded in a steady rain and in single file, past the U.S. Supreme Court, and around the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as the new 111th Congress convened inside. The “March of the Dead” participants wore around their necks the names of those killed in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israeli Occupied Gaza. The U.S. Congress has
repeatedly voted hundreds of billions of dollars to support those two wars. Check out: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home. In addition, Congress continues to subsidize, to the tune of billions of taxpayers’ dollar a year, the state of Zionist Israel. See, http://www.wrmea.com/. For background and updates on this protest action, please go to: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/.

from: William Hughes

On Friday, Jan. 2, 2009, Human Rights activists staged a demonstration and march, in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinian people of Israeli-Occupied Gaza. The rally began at the Israeli Embassy. One of the speakers was Ibrahim Ramey. He is the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation’s Civil and Human Rights Director. For background, please see,
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=3729
and http://masnet.org/. In his remarks, Mr. Ramey urged the large crowd of activists to “stand up” for the suffering people of Gaza and to work “by nonviolent means” for peace and justice. He directed some of his remarks to President-Elect Barack Obama. For related videos on the demonstration at the Israeli Embassy, check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=788fxH2ccjI&feature=channel_page
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWRX_OFOV08&feature=channel_page
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUtMFyhqjNo&feature=channel_page
For the latest updates on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, please see: http://www.pchrgaza.org/;
http://www.phrmg.org/; http://www.wrmea.com/;
http://justiceandaccountability.org/Home.html; and,
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/.

Fatal police shooting posted on YouTube
The footage is shaky and low quality, with chaotic shouts and protests from onlookers at a subway station in San Francisco's east bay. But it clearly shows three policeman roughly handling a group of young men – including one who is pinned to the ground by two officers and shot in the back. This shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant – who died later in hospital – has outraged many in California and triggered riots in Oakland in a case that many feel echoes the brutal beating of Rodney King by LA Police in 1991. www.guardian.co.uk As with all police brutality and police murders committed in the United States, the police officer in this case will not be prosecuted and will be found innocent of all wrongdoing. The police have the power to execute innocent people with total impunity and often do. The ruling corporate elite have granted this power to the police because they fear the people and want to grind them down and make them afraid.

By Remi Kanazi

At the Gaza rally in NYC yesterday. "The poem is entitled: To Exist is To Resist. Many people within the cultural realm are getting together to see what they can do to educate, inspire, and keep people engaged via artistic mediums."

from: William Hughes

On Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008, Human Rights activists, in Baltimore, MD, staged a demonstration in solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinian people of Israeli-Occupied Gaza. The rally took place at the Memorial Plaza, opposite City Hall.

Tuesday, Dec. 30th was declared a “National Day of Action: Stop the Massacre of the Palestinians,” with protest rallies taking place across the United States. http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8871&news_iv_ctrl=1621

For the latest updates on this critical Human Rights matter, please see: