Civil rights lawyer: Patriot Act must go
MILWAUKEE – Bruce Finerty, a Chicago attorney and head of the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, spoke here to an overflow audience of about 100 people recently on the need for the public to respond to the USA Patriot Act, and related acts like the recently leaked Patriot Act II.
International notes
Turkey: Torches for peace / Australia: 30,000 students strike vs. war / Bangladesh: Thousands march vs. war / Greece: 112 MPs demand their country stay out
Labor leaders to Bush: Stop bullying Mexico
Leaders of the nation’s main farm labor organizations sent a letter on March 10 to President George Bush expressing their “outrage over the heavy-handed tactics” employed by his administration against the government of Mexico.
Shock and awe would destroy Baghdad
WASHINGTON – Humanitarian groups warn of “catastrophic” civilian casualties if George W. Bush forges ahead with his “Shock and Awe” attack on Iraq in which cities will be struck with 3,000 missiles in the first 48 hours of war.
International notes
ICFTU: Give peace a chance / India: Left Front wins in Tripura / Chile: Pinochet officers charged in car bomb killing / in car bomb killing / Afghanistan: Latest U.S. bombing kills many civilians / Bangladesh: General strike called for March 10 / Algeria: Gov’t workers strike vs privatization
A new movement sweeps the globe
Many of us sensed that there was something new on Feb. 15, when millions around the globe marched against the U.S. government’s drive to war on Iraq.
International notes
S. Africa: March to U.S. Embassy Some 4,000 people representing 60 organizations – including the governing African National Congress, the Communist Party of South Africa and the Congress of South African Trade Unions – brought a powerful anti-war message to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria Feb. 19. Chanting, “No to war, yes to peace,” the demonstrators rallied as a delegation including ANC Secretary-General Kgalema Motlanthe, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa, Tshwane Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, COSATU President Willie Madisha, and SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande went inside to present the Declaration of South Africans United to Stop the War in Iraq. The action is part of the Stop the War campaign.
Sharon presents new Greater-Land-of-Israel govt
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will present his new government to the Knesset, Feb. 26, to ask for a parliamentary confidence vote. This follows the announcement on Feb. 24, that the Likud had signed an accord with the Shinui (Change) Party to join a Likud-led coalition, composed of Likud, Shinui and the clerical-Zionist, far right National-Religious Party (NRP). These three parties control together 61 of the 120-member Knesset.
Tripura, communists face terror and violence
TRIPURA, India – The Northeastern section of India consists of seven states: Tripura, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. These states, known as the “seven sisters,” are rich with beauty and natural resources. Tea and jute plantations, which extend throughout this lush land, are basic to the economy there. However for the last 14 years all of these states have been facing far-right extremism and terrorism.
Greek protesters bar NATO fleet from port
Thousands of protesters, organized by the Piraeus committee of the Greek Committee for International Peace and Détente, massed for two days of demonstrations against the presence offshore of the NATO Standing Naval Force of the Mediterranean. Protesters also targeted the Greek government and the presidency of the European Union with their slogans. Other initiators included Youth Action for Peace, the Action-Thessaloniki 2003 campaign, the left-led labor federation PAME, and dozens of other organizations.
