Parliamentary elections took place in occupied Iraq on March 8 as rockets and mortars slammed into the Green Zone and U.S. military bases across the country. The U.S. government and its allies in occupied Iraq have hailed the election as a victory for democracy ( Newsweek went so far as to write “Victory at last” across the cover of their latest issue), but the reality is anything but. The elections are nothing but a continuation of the same illegal, unjust occupation political process that began when the U.S. invaded and overthrew the anti-imperialist Iraqi government in 2003. The latest election only serves to consolidate the existence of a puppet regime loyal to the U.S. occupation.
Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, urgently requests, “Help and aid from Americans, Colombians, and the international community to stop a crime.” Professor Palmera is being put on trial in Colombia while held in solitary confinement in the U.S. He is being forced to wear prison clothes, shackled at the hands and feet and then chained together around the waist, with the ever-present threat of electrical shock if he moves too quickly. This ‘trial’ is a violation of Professor Palmera’s dignity and his rights as a prisoner of war. Tom Burke says, “There is nothing fair or just about the trials and imprisonment of this brave Colombian freedom fighter Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera should be set free.”
In early November I received a copy of a death threat made against student activists at the University of the Atlantic in Barranquilla, Colombia. The threat was sent out in the name of the “United Self-Defense Forces (AUC)-Rearmed”. The AUC is the largest paramilitary organization in Colombia, though it supposedly demobilized due to government efforts. However, a number of organizations, from Arco Iris Corporation to Human Rights Watch, have reported that para-militarism is actually on the increase, often in the form of new or reconstituted organizations.
Tehran, Iran – Millions of Iranians rallied on Feb. 11 to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the hated U.S.-backed Pahlavi monarchy. In Tehran a massive crowd of 5 million took to the streets, while rallies were held in 800 other cities around the country.
Professor James J. Brittain's new book, Revolutionary Social Change in Colombia: The Origin and Direction of the FARC-EP (Pluto Press, London: 2010), is a thoroughly researched and documented academic study of the Colombian revolution and of its largest and longest lasting guerrilla organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP). This alone makes it almost unique. Add to this the fact that it is based on five years of extensive research in Colombia’s countryside, both with the FARC and with the rural population, and it becomes clear that we have a one-of-a-kind book. What this study amounts to is a systematic and thorough defense of the FARC, facing the myths and allegations against the FARC squarely and putting them to rest. On this point, the book is invaluable.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chairperson of the International League of People’s Struggle.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on the kidnapping and imprisonment of Ahmad Sa'adat. We urge all of our readers to support the efforts to secure his immediate release.
More than 100,000 Haitians are dead. People are buried alive under houses and workplaces that collapsed. The people of Haiti are suffering without clean water, food, and housing. Nearly every family has lost a loved one. We are asking you to donate to a group that builds people to people ties and seeks peace with justice.
Haitian government officials say that up to 500,000 are dead, crushed beneath their homes, schools and workplaces during a mighty earthquake Jan. 12. Most were killed when poorly constructed buildings collapsed on them. Television news in the U.S. showed rows of children's bodies lying lifeless, bloodied and bruised. It is a horrible tragedy that will be largely reported as a natural disaster. There is nothing natural about it.
Fight Back! interviewed Ala Jaradat, a Palestinian who lives in the West Bank and is the program manager for Addameer – a Palestinian prisoners support group. Ala Jaradat was in the Twin Cities in November and spoke at Hamline Law School and the University of Minnesota, during a nine-city tour of the United States. Israel currently holds more than 8000 Palestinian political prisoners.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following account of the massive Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) rally, held in Gaza, Dec. 12. This account of the event was written by the PFLP.
Mehtarlam, Afghanistan – Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets on Dec. 8 to protest the killings of 15 civilians by U.S. forces during an overnight raid on Armal village.
Fight Back News service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao.
With chants of “The people, united, will never be defeated!” and “Close the SOA!” thousands marched here Nov. 21-22. Students, clergy and Latin America solidarity activists demand the immediate closing of School of the Americas (SOA), now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The SOA is a U.S. military school for torture, disappearances and assassinations.
Daughter talks of father tortured and killed by Colombian Army
Fight Back! spoke with Martina Giraldo at the protest to shut down the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. The SOA trains the military officers who run death squads in many Latin American countries. The SOA is a school for torture, death and destruction. Martina lives near Cali, Colombia and is the daughter of Jose Orlando Giraldo – who was murdered by the Colombian Army. Martina Giraldo heads a human rights group called the Asociacion Colectivo Interdisciplinario para la Defensa de Derechos Humanos (ACIDDH).
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Luis Jalandoni of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on the massacre at Maguindanao.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Spokesperson Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Mindanao.
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