Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 10:54:39 -0700 From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••> Subject: Quick Political Scholastic Aptitude Test (QPSAT) Quick Political Scholastic Aptitude Test (QPSAT) This test consists of one (1) multiple-choice question. Here's a list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum: China 1945-46 Korea 1950-53 China 1950-53 Guatemala 1954 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959-60 Guatemala 1960 Congo 1964 Peru 1965 Laos 1964-73 Vietnam 1961-73 Cambodia 1969-70 Guatemala 1967-69 Grenada 1983 Libya 1986 El Salvador 1980s Nicaragua 1980s Panama 1989 Iraq 1991-99 Sudan 1998 Afghanistan 1998 Yugoslavia 1999 In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result? Choose one of the following: (a) 0 (b) zero (c) none (d) not a one (e) a whole number between -1 and +1 ***************************************************************************** Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 23:13:22 EDT From: Refuse & Resist <•••@••.•••> Subject: ACTION REPORTS:Yugoslavia & Iraq X-Comment: Refuse & Resist! Announcement List. See http://www.calyx.net/~refuse for more about R&R! [note: this is forwarded from the Anti-Intervention Network] Dear AIN Members & Friends, Anybody who thinks "there's nothing going on" is looking in the wrong places! Protest is busting out all over on many fronts, especially Yugoslavia and Iraq. Let's keep up the momentum and raise our voices so loud that we CAN'T be ignored. These wars against our sisters and brothers in the Balkans and Iraq do NOT have a popular mandate from the people of the world. Read on... PROTESTS AGAINST U.S./NATO INTERVENTION IN YUGOSLAVIA info from http://protest.net/links.html * Almost five thousand people attended a great rock concert for peace in the Balkans in Sofia Saturday evening, expressing solidarity with tens of thousands of young people in Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad, Pristina, Pancevo and other Yugoslav towns that have been exposed to a brutal aggression by the United States and NATO for a month now. * Anti-NATO demonstrations were held in front of the White House in Washington, with protesters carrying a coffin symbolizing the burial of the Western militray alliance. Several thousand demonstrators, cordonned off by a large number of policemen, protested all afternoon. * Tens of thousands of people protested yesterday in several main Italian cities, including Naples, the headquarters of Nato's southern command. * On Saturday, April 24 thousands of people protested in Toronto in front of the US consulate, after which the protest moved to the British consulate. The speeches mainly dealt with the solidarity of our people in Yugoslavia as well as the solidarity of all anti-NATO protesters in the world. The protest was peaceful and concluded with a walk back to the US consulate. * Thousands of students participated (April 20th) in Spain in a national day of action against the bombing of Yugoslavia. The protest was called by the Students Union (Sindicato de Estudiantes). Thousands of students participated in meetings in the schools to discuss a resolution drafted by the Students Union opposing NATO's intervention against Yugoslavia. * On 3rd April 100,000 people marched in a demonstration in Rome against the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. A week later another demonstration of over 50,000 took place. There is a lot of opposition to the NATO bombing among the workers and youth in Italy in spite of the government's support. There was a demonstration about 3,000 strong at the Aviano air base in Northern Italy. This is one of the bases the NATO warplanes are using. The demonstration was brutally attacked by the police who waded into the demonstrators with truncheons and fired tear-gas cannisters. There is widespread opposition to the bombing among the students, but even more important have been the developments in the labour movement. Demonstrations against the war in Yugoslavia throughout April have made protest of this war known in Italy. 100,000 of its citizens come together to reject the war in the Balkans. The demonstrations have occured throughout Italy: Brindisi, Taranto, Milan, Piacenza, Bari, San Piero a Grado, Aviano, and of course Rome. Many of these demonstrations have taken place outside U.S. or NATO bases. The largest of these demonstrations to date occured in Rome on April the third. Other forms of protest have included short work stoppages and concerts. With the diversification and promulgation of the anti-war movement in Italy it seems that while the bombing continues in Yugoslavia so too will the protests. * In Antwerp, the biggest harbour-city of Belgium a peaceful protest against the NATO agression that was anounced for friday, 23 April, Judge declared illegal. * About 2,000 people protested in Toronto on Friday, April 23. As usual, the crowd gathered in front of the US consulate at 7:00 p.m. where a number of speeches were made mainly denouncing the terrorist attack on RTS. The crowd then marched about 3 km to the Liberal Party headquarters. The Liberals are the ruling party in Canada who sent Canadian airman, and will send ground troops, if required, to attack Yugoslavia. All this without even a vote in the Canadian parliament. The protesters slowly walked back to the US consulate and the protest ended at about 11:00 p.m. This week the protests were taken on the road to: CBC-TV, Toronto Star newspaper, CITY-TV, Italian consulate and the Liberal Party headquarters. Next protest is Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and the "walk" is to the British consulate. * Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in over 150 German cities during the Easter holiday. Ten thousand took to the streets in Berlin under the slogan "No To War Politics". During protest in Frankfurt by 6,000 people the US flag was burned outside the US Consulate.Among the demonstrators were two Vietnam veterans who issued a call to U.S. troops to desert from the military and refuse to take part in a war that makes victims of rank-and-file soldiers. * The Brussels demonstration was forbidden by the Mayor of Brussels. A group of Belgians succeeded in a quite unusual way to protest against brutal NATO aggression on Yugoslavia and bombardments of civilians, despite a ban imposed by authorities in Brussels on public meetings from the beginning of the NATO air assaults. In a protest held under the slogan "Against aggression on Yugoslavia," the group of Belgians chained themselves to the wire fence around the U.S. embassy and chanted slogans against NATO and its savage assaults on the civilian population. About two hundred Belgians protested in the centre of Brussels against NATO aggression. The following report is from Ron Jacobs, a member of the Network in Burlington, Vermont. (•••@••.•••) Way to go!!! ANTIWARRIORS OCCUPY BERNIE SANDERS OFFICE April 26, 1999, a rally and march were held in Burlington, Vermont, USA against the U.S. war on Yugoslavia. Approximately 100 people attended the 45 minute rally at the University of Vermont campus and then marched down Main Street. The destination of the march were the local offices of Vermont three congressional members: Senators Leahy (Dem.) and Jeffords (Rep.), and Rep. Bernie Sanders. The purpose of these visits was to present petitions calling for "an immediate end to the bombing, a return to the negotiating table and no introduction of NATO ground forces to the conflict". These 1,000 signatures on these petitions were collected in a little over two weeks time. At Senator Leahy's office, a small delegation of demonstrators went into the office, presented the petitions and were served cookies. At Senator Jeffords' office, the delegation that went inside asked for and received a conference call with Mr. Jeffords' foreign policy advisor in Washington, D.C. >From there, we headed to Bernie Sanders' office at the top of Burlington's downtown pedestrian mall (Church Street). Once we arrived at the office building , the remaining protestors (approximately 30 in all) headed inside and up the stairs to Sanders' office. We were met by his staff who presented us with a written statement by Mr. Sanders concerning his support of the bombing. Those present read the statement and then asked a member of the staff if we could hold a conference call with Bernie and give him a chance to justify his position. We were told this was not possible because Sanders was on a plane to Washington, D.C. and he did not own a cell phone. So we sat down and informed the staff that we would wait until we could speak with Sanders. Seattle musician Jim Page happens to be in Burlington this week and he had accompanied us on the march. While we sat in the office, he played guitar and sang songs in between discussions about the war, the killings in Littleton, CO., the arrogance of liberals in power and numerous other subjects took place. As time passed, it became clear that Bernie had no intention of talking to us. After conversations out of our earshot, the primary staffperson informed us that we could meet with Bernie next Tuesday if we made an appointment. This suggestion was rejected out of hand; the reasoning being that hundreds more would die in the interim. Time ticked on. Around 5:30 PM, we were asked again if we wanted to accept the meeting with Bernie next Tuesday. We agreed to the meeting but also insisted on speaking with Sanders that day. Furthermore, we affirmed that we would not leave the office until we spoke with Bernie that evening. We were than told that our choice was to either leave then and meet with Sanders next week or stay until we were removed and not meet with the congressmen at all. At 6:00 PM or so, we were asked once again if we would assent to this arrangement. Once again we said no. At 6:45 PM, Burlington police officers began arresting those protestors who refused to leave when asked. This was done at the request of Congressman Sanders and his staff. The arrests were conducted in an orderly fashion and all were released later in the evening. This was the first time Sanders office had ever been occupied. One has to wonder if it will be the last, given his continual drift rightward. (For those who live in Vermont-There will be a Vermont town meeting on the war with Sanders in Montpelier, VT. on Monday, May 3, 1999 at the Pavilion. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. Please come and bring your friends.) PROTESTS AGAINST THE SANCTIONS/WAR ON IRAQ *NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION* April 27 was the national day of action on sanctions! Hundreds of community activists across the United States challenged the sanctions by attempting to mail aspirins, bandages, lead pencils, school notebooks, and chlorine bleach to Iraq via the U.S. Postal Service (which is banned from mailing anything of value to Iraq). *WEEK OF ACTIONS* FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (excerpted for length) Contacts: Rania Masri (919) 272-8685 or (919) 848-4738 Will Younans (734) 827-1077 OVER 100 CAMPUSES JOIN FORCES FOR "NATIONAL DAYS OF STUDENT ACTION" AGAINST THE U.S. SANCTIONS AND BOMBING WAR ON IRAQ Students and faculty members on over 100 campuses throughout the US have dedicated the week of April 25 through May 1 to taking action aimed at lifting the UN imposed sanctions and stopping the US and allied bombing of Iraq. Students throughout the country are participating in marches, rallies, vigils, teach-ins, circulating petitions and otherwise joining forces to pressure the US government to end its support for sanctions upon Iraq that organizers of the activities say have caused the deaths of 1.2 million Iraqi people. Rania Masri, another national coordinator, and a student at North Carolina State University, states "Our reasons for promoting in the Days of Action are two fold. We aim to arm ourselves and our fellow students with the facts about the deadly impact of U.S. policy toward Iraq. Once so informed, we will act to organize into an effective force toward ending the U.S. war on the Iraqi people." A list of every student action during this week can be found at http://iraqaction.org/days.html or http://iraqaction.org/call2action2.html _________________________________ NOTE: to contact Refuse & Resist! by email, send to <•••@••.•••> ********************************************************************** Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:41:50 -0700 From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••> Subject: May Day demonstration against the war Leiden (the Netherlands) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 From: Herman de Tollenaere <•••@••.•••> Subject: 1 May against the war Leiden (the Netherlands) May Day demonstration against the war Leiden (the Netherlands) Saturdag 1 may 15 h.00 Hooglandse Kerkgracht (bridge across Oude Rijn) Leiden various speakers/Arab music STOP the Balkan war! demonstration to Resistance Monument near Windmill de Valk. There, we will be silent for one minute, in respect for all victims of the Balkan war. Please bring flowers organized by: Anti Oorlogscomité Leiden PO box 2228, 2301 CE Leiden, The Netherlands. Phone +71-5173019/5225180 ***************************************************************************** Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 02:44:11 +1000 From: ROAL <•••@••.•••> (by way of Lynette Dumble <•••@••.•••>) Subject: [GSN] Letters from Seville - Mireya WiB Dear Jan and friends, FYI from Women in Black, Spain - a small window into the untold suffering inflicted by NATO's war in the name of "humanitarianism" - with warm regards, Lynette. ------------------- Dear friends, >From Spain, we send you two letters; the first one (written 12 days ago!) in English and the second one in Spanish (we will send you the translation in a few days). Here, in Spain, we will try to hand "An Appeal to governments members of NATO" to the Foreign Office personnaly the 7th May. We would like to know if there would be possible a coordinated action of this kind in some of the NATO countries. Please, answers before Tuesday. We plan additionaly to hand an statement asking to stop ethning cleasing to the Yugoslav Embassy, in order to keep the line of neither/nor. Best wishes, Yolanda R. Letter from Sevilla/Mireya Women in Black (18 04 99) traducción: Paula/W in B Sevilla (25 04 98) Dear Friends, More than a week has gone by with no news, lots of activity, trying to keep up with everyone by means of an ice-cold screen that can't transmit what we really need to know - direct news from our friends. So many people that we would love to have just a sign from, people we want to caress with the tenderness of our words, know how they are living through these endless days and nights. Friends from Kosova, Belgrade, Panchevo, Montenegro and others from the communities thrown together and separated, bridges that were destroyed years ago and again now, Vojvodina ... <snip> We are trying to build bridges between those who manage to get away from the bombs, through communiqués that you send us, bridges to associations here who have opened their eyes to the huge delusion. But, as you know, it is not easy to get this published. Through conferences, group meetings, protests, we are trying to create links of communication among our civilian population, from women to women, from young to young, trade union to trade union, human rights to human rights, university professors, jurists, etc. Having taken into account that our communiqué (that of the 17) at least in Andalucía, Sebastian is going to send it as the Defensor of the People... Human Rights are preparing a 20-page bulletin. On Saturday we were choosing themes and communiqués, letters, it will be distributed to all 100 communication media in Andalucía and to all the members. <snip> Seville, you telling me about each of our friends, our sisters ... On the 6th of April we had another unitary protest, organized after holy week by various Peace groups. On Wednesday the 7th we had ours where we always invite all groups and individuals to participate. Panels with counter-information, posters, murals, a fishing net with the names and places of Women in Black and friends of our meetings: affection, solidarity, love, etc. Net in Spanish means on the one hand the fishing net and on the other the network of relationships between people, so our Sofía comes along with a long fishing net every Wednesday where we clip on names, words and places with clothes pegs - women for peace. It is an important point of meeting for us where we talk about what other women are doing in places like Italy ... After each meeting we paint some words on the path in front of the town hall but the next day it is always cleaned away, although we come back stronger every Wednesday! The CNN come to our protests. They interviewed me one day. I'm being interviewed and invited to participate in Faculty and Institutional debates. On Sunday llth IU (United Left) staged a protest against NATO. Sebastian and I were there to talk with them.<snip> On Sunday the 9th of May, in Rota, Andalucía, there will be a march against the base, against NATO, against the war; a march of Iberian character as even some Portuguese will participate too. A multitude of associations are organizing it. We are among the participants and we will try to communicate messages from women, make a space for that ... On Thursday I particpated in a 'round table' talk at the Architecture Faculty. Imagine, three in favour of 'the inevitable necessity of the intervention' and three against ... there I spoke strongly about civilian networks and the effect of the bombs etc. <snip> For the 24th of May I propose that we all have an idea in common ...the Net from Jerusalem to Seville passing through Santiago, New York and Rome etc. .... We propose two symbolic acts, one can be carried out on the same day depending on the places or divided between Monday and Wednesday. 1. At a public square we will repeat the circle and rituals that was performed in 1998 at the meeting, with as many women as possible, remembering the links that we women create among women from different cultures and places, creating a net of communication and of Peace. A network of communication against bombs. Creating a network of civilian voices against the horror of bombs. For this we need to make posters too contrasting our information with the official lines. (See also proposals/appeals that we wrote in a communiqué on the 29th of March: participation of women in the peace negotiations). 2. Bridges: always bridges. Occupy somehow a bridge as a symbol od communication (civilian negotiation and power) in contrast with bombs and military aggression. Unite the two riverbanks; unite necessities. It also seems important to us to find an opportunity to "employ fiscal objection" against military spending in NATO countries, just as we suggested in our first letter on the 29th of March for the net. Deserting military taxes to support desertors and war refugees. There is alot to be said about this civilian restistence strategy as women (what defense do we want?)... It seems important to distribute this initiative or method of resistance against spending on this day that was co-ordinated by women in Europe at the beginning of the 80s to end the missile bases. <snip> Let's see if there are more ideas for this 24th May which will be celbrated in this time of the terrible reality of real war. Another thing, to organize talks on the situation, alternatives with women, inviting antimilitary women from other groups and also from NGOs to create a collective debate. We could also use the documentary film on Women in Black in Belgrade. In Seville we have a copy on professional tape which can be copied for everyone without damaging the original. You can obtain this paying 2.500pts on delivery for Spain. From outside Spain give us a call. It lasts 90 minutes and it is in English and German. Another idea is to eventually organize a solidarity party and send the money raised to Women in Black in Belgrade. <snip> ******************************************************************* Mother's Day is an excellent time for protests/vigils and making the links. Here is something I (Jan) wrote for the local media. It may be of help for others... If You Want Peace, Prepare for Peace While many people are outraged by the way Kosovan Albanians have been treated and want to do SOMETHING, the something that is being done now (bombing) is only making things worse and must be stopped. While some government leaders have done their best to paint this NATO bombing campaign as a humanitartian mission, people must listen to their common sense (and even the evidence available in the mass media) and realize that we could be spending our money and resources on useful help for those suffering from violence, rather than on this bombing campaign (which could become a bloody and terrible ground war between many nations if we do not succeed in stopping it). Let's consider some statistics: The money being spent on humanitarian relief for the Kosovan refugees is a tiny fraction of that being spent on the bombing. NATO's bombs have created a crisis in one of the poorest areas of Europe. * The cost of one of the US's B-2 "Stealth" bombers is £1.5 billion. That is the same as the entire gross domestic product of Albania. * The US has 21 B-2 bombers. The money used to produce them could meet the basic health and nutritional requirements of the starving across the world for TWO years. That would save the lives of the 30,000 children under the age of five who die EVERY DAY because of malnutrition and easily treatable diseases. * Every cruise missile fired costs $1 million. Experts estimate NATO dropped at least 120 cruise missiles in the first week of bombing alone. The cost of EACH ONE could provide the seeds and tools for 50,000 poor peasants in the "Third World" to grow their own food for a year. Perhaps the bombing and media blitz will not have been totally useless though, for it is focussing many people's attention on the problems in Kosovo and we are finding out about the many groups and people whose non-violent work for peace in that region went unoticed before. The US government's record in the region (refusing to disarm the Yugoslav army when they had the opportunity to do so, stymying efforts to bring war criminals such as Slobodan Milosovitch to trial, etc.) has been very unhelpful to say the least. But other countries, mainly those working through the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) have been making more genuine efforts for peace. A group of former Nobel laureates, including Mikhail Gorbachov, Betty Williams, Frederik de Klerk, Rigoberta Menchu, Simon Peres, David Trimble and Joseph Rotblat has expressed its willingness to travel to the region and help bring an end to this war. These are the efforts we ought to be supporting, not the bombing war. Those people who want to concentrate their thoughts and prayers on peace are invited to a vigil for peace on May 8 at noon in front of the Digby library. The day before Mother's Day is an especially important date for a peace vigil as Mother's Day was initially begun as a day for peace efforts. Julia Ward Howe wrote, on that occasion over 125 years ago: "Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage... Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs". Let us hope that all citizens will be so tender of their children and the earth's fragile web of life that they will work to bring peace by peaceful means instead of supporting the fiction of a "humanitarian" war. - 30 - NOTE: There will also be a vigil Sat. MAy 1 by the Annapolis Royal Town Hall at noon. Thank you, Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS B0W 3T0 (837-4980)
