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A dossier of weekly information published by the International
INTRODUCTION In this issue, we continue the publication of the discussion at the 13th Conference in Defense of the ILO Conventions. We are publishing an interview with Christian Carmelin, a trade union militant in the chemical industry of France. On Page 3 you will find a contribution from the Bureau of the ILC concerning the discussion around the new "International Trade Union Confederation." Turkey: We are publishing news concerning the founding of the Party of Workers´ Solidarity, which participates in the activities of the ILC. United States: We are publishing various texts concerning the Appeal for an International Commission of Inquiry on Hurricane Katrina. Lebanon: We are also publishing below the appeal of the French Workers Party, "No to the Israeli military intervention in Palestine and Lebanon! The Palestinian people want to live" as well as news on the protests organized throughout the world. Palestine: We are publishing the appeal of the women of Nazareth and news concerning the preparation of the International Conference in Solidarity with Palestinian Women. Subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter! Support the ILC! *************************
p. 1: Introduction ----- Contact: *************************
Interview with Christian Carmelin, trade unionist in the French chemical industry ILC: You participated in the ILC conference last June 11 in Geneva. For you, what were the stakes of the Conference? CC: This was the first time I participated in this Conference. As a trade union activist, I am conscious of the importance of the independence of trade unions. The will of the governments and the capitalists has always been to smash the interests of the workers, through repression or through integration. History does not lack examples of this. In France, as in all countries, attacks are reigning down on us to integrate the trade union movement into so-called governance. Alas, in Europe, we are also obliged to fight the ETUC. The ETUC supports governance and the Constitution rejected on May 29 2005 by the CGT, the CGT-FO and the French people. Its Executive Committee declared on June 6 and 7 2006: "The ETUC reiterates its support for an inter-sectorial directive-framework concerning general interest services." The only trade unionism that I recognize is that which recognizes the contradictory interests present in the class struggle. On an international level, the danger is underlined when we learn that the ICFTU and the WCL are in a process of fusion and that the General Secretary of the CGT is the spokesman of this process. We heard the testimonies of our African comrades, who explained that unionists were beat up during recent strikes. It is clear what the capitalists understand by governance. Even if the ILO is not perfect, as a comrade explained in his intervention, for the moment it remains a bulwark upon which the workers of the world can lean. Our task remains to defend trade union independence and freedom, to defend our confederate structures, the ILO, the ICFTU, and to aim to reconstruct on a European level a trade union confederation based on the defense of the specific interests of the workers. ILC: An extensive debate took place. What is your opinion? CC: I think we learned of the difficulties facing unionists throughout the world. It is clear that nothing on a world level takes place randomly: It responds to a liberal logic. Whether it is in Europe or the other continents, the technique is implacable. Each time that a comrade spoke, the same problems were raised: the destruction of the social gains, the norms, the laws, and the conventions protecting workers´ rights, in the benefit of more free and deeper competition. This gave each of us a wider perspective on trade unionism, which can only be effective through internationalist consciousness. ILC: What were the conclusions of the Conference? CC: Simply that we can only depend on our own forces and that the unionism built by our predecessors is more necessary than ever. The French militants of the independent organizations can contest to the damage caused by the co-management of certain trade unions: the destruction of the collective conventions, the Labor Code, the public services Š and the list goes on. And all these conquests are being destroyed with the support of the "social partners." I think it is important to inform the activists and members of our organization of the real meaning of the struggle we must lead to conquer workers´ rights and defend our confederations, the ILO, and the ICFTU. I think that the objective set by the old CGT has not yet been reached. *********************
Founding of the Party of Workers´ Solidarity (IKP) In Turkey, after two years of a resolute campaign of the bulletin Workers´ Solidarity, the IKP (Party of Workers´ Solidarity) was founded on June 15 and held a press conference in the street on June 16. The founding of the party took place on the 36th anniversary of the great strike of workers of Turkey of June 15 and 16, 1970. During those days of conflict, the workers fought an amendment to the law on trade unions, which aimed to put obstacles on the path of the growing mobilizations of workers and trade unions. More than 100,000 workers struck in the factories of Istanbul and the neighboring cities and demonstrated downtown. On June 16, during the press conference, the IKP made the following declaration concerning the founding of the party: "For years, all the parliamentary parties -- of the "right" and the "left" -- have worked in the interests of the bosses and against our interests. Every day there are attacks against the workers. Our trade unions, the only organizations we have which enable us to act together, everyday go up against measures which make them weaker. They are pushing us toward de-unionization and toward working in out-sourced factories; temporary and deregulated labor is not covered by social protections. The right to freely negotiate collective conventions is the primary condition of democracy, yet it has become a luxury for us. All the governments are on the side of the bosses. None of them listens to our trade unions. But they are very attentive to the bosses and their representatives. There are 23 million workers in Turkey. Including their families, this means 50 to 60 million workers. The remaining 10 million are rich and a small percentage are very rich. Nevertheless what is the parliamentary representation of these sectors? The 50 to 60 million are not represented, while the 10 million have 550 MPs! Have you ever seen the town of Zonguldak have a miner as a MP in Parliament? But it is a miners´ town. The reason for all this is that there has never been in Turkey a party that represents the workers. We don`t need parties that only speak in the name of workers: there are already many of them. We need a party built by the workers themselves, whose founding members, activists, MPs, and Ministers will be workers. We need a party that would open the path to the workers´ and poor peasants´ government. If we are the majority, why shouldn´t we govern? That is why the IKP was founded. It will be independent of the bosses and the state and will be a party of the workers, the retired, the poor peasants and the unemployed, on the basis their basic interests. The IKP was founded by workers´ representatives. All this is inscribed in the statues of the party. When Turgut Ozal (the former Prime Minister, then president) founded the ANAP (Anavatan Partisi, "Party of the Motherland") he explained that it was made up of four tendencies. The IKP brings together over four tendencies, but the difference is that Ozal brought together four tendencies of the bosses, while the IKP represents all the tendencies of the working class. We are launching an appeal to all the trade unions and workers´ organizations. Join with us to build the IKP: It is your party, it will grow with you and with you it will govern. And, of course, it will put an end to the inhumanity of the bosses! Of course, we call on all workers, regardless of whom the voted for in the past. Break with the parties of the bosses you have supported up to the present. This decision is key to your future and that of your children. The alternative is a workers´ and poor peasants´ government or catastrophe! Long live the Party of Workers´ Solidarity! ************************
Dear Brothers and Sisters, On the basis of the information available to us, the discussion between the protagonists of the plan for a new trade union international -- which is set to be founded on November 1st, 2006, in Vienna, Austria, in the wake of the joint dissolution of the World Confederation of Labor (WCL) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Union (ICFTU) -- continues to develop. Though the name of the new confederation has not yet been officially set, it seems that the name will be the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and that the first General Secretary will be the current "boss" of the ICFTU, Guy Ryder from Britain. Concerning the process, we already have some questions concerning the norms of union democracy. Essentially, the delegates to the Vienna congress will be presented with a fait acompli. On Sunday June 11, 2006, delegations from 21 countries met in Geneva, during the 13th Conference of the ILC In Defense of the ILO Conventions and Trade Union Independence. The plans for a "new trade union international" were discussed at this Conference. The discussion was opened with a report presented in the name of the Bureau of the ILC. The decision was taken "to organize the debate and continue the discussion, not only on a national level, but in the framework of the newsletter of the ILC. In the ILC International Newsletter we will include, until November, a special section on this discussion, beginning with the publication of speeches presented at the Geneva conference." Concerning this point, the newsletter of the ILC has already begun to publish all the speeches of the Conference. The decision was also taken "to mandate the bureau of the ILC to write a letter to all the affected organizations and all the delegates to the November 1st Congress in Vienna, to discuss with them the need to preserve the independence of trade union organizations." In this context, the Bureau of the ILC aims to discuss a few fundamental principles of labor unionism that could be undermined as a result of such a unification. First of all, the Bureau of the ILC should state the fundamental principles upon which the ILC was founded: "The ILC is not in competition with any other organization of the workers´ movement. Its mission is not to formulate a program. Its responsibility is to inform, alert and discuss the questions that affect the future of the workers´ movement." In this framework, the ILC will express its position in relation to the drive to unify trade unionism on an international level. During the 20th century, international trade unionism faced the political, economic, and social conflicts that shook various countries of Europe. The wars and the rise of various types of totalitarian regimes marked the trade union movement and often undermined international class solidarity, workers´ internationalism. The International Association of Workers, founded in London in 1864 upon the principle that workers have no homeland, raised the central slogan: "The emancipation of the workers is the task of the workers themselves." The exploited class, already in that epoch, expressed the will to fight for definitive emancipation, the end of the exploitation of one class by another. Today, despite all the "globalization" arguments that seek to tell us the contrary, the "class criteria" continues to mark authentic trade unionism on an international and national level. Globalization and its effects on the economy and society demonstrate that the unending conflict between those who own the means of production and those who are subjected to the pangs of this property continues and deepens. From this arises the need to channel a permanent class struggle produced from the growing conflict of interests on a world level. The exploitation of labor by capital has never been so oppressive as today. The statistics recently published by the ILO and its director Juan Somavia in relation to jobs and wages confirm the intensity of this exploitation. That is why the trade unions mandated to defend the interests of the wage workers must, more than ever, act in the name of class interests. The situation facing millions of workers of the world -- unemployment, low wages, precarity, poverty, and misery -- is the proof of the existence of a collapsing capitalist society, where the most blatant social inequalities daily face the people, who are condemned to famine, disease, and death. Barbarism is not awaiting us. It is already here. We deal with it every day. The creation of a united international organization, set to be founded in Vienna on November 1st, is a priori a positive development because the unity of the workers´ movement, in principle, always serves its interests, by improving effectiveness in action. Nevertheless, upon reading the preparatory documents for this "creation" -- both the public documents and the "under the table" and informal ones -- numerous questions are posed. Generally, the framework of the ITUC is that of globalization and "world governance." We have frequently explained that such a definition globalization tends to eliminate the concept of the nation-state as a political decision-making framework. The nascent "world governance, tends to erase national geographic borders, and replace them with regions. The "reform of the UN," together with the multilateral institutions, heads in this direction. On a global level, "civil society" is being given a socio-economic function -- as an element of a neo-totalitarian structure. The Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) -- dedicated to expressing civil society, outside of any mandate stemming from universal suffrage -- are the pillars of this "world governance." However, currently, upon reading the official documents of the protagonists of the "trade union unification," it appears that the ITUC is set to integrate itself into the structures of globalization, where the so-called "societal" problems will take precedent over the strictly trade union questions; that is, over the defense of the specific interests of the wage earners, the material and moral interests of the working class. Let us recall, one more time, that "civil society," as Thomas of Aquinas, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, etc. have already explained, is a non-concept. It is important to understand that civil society is divided into social classes with antagonistic interests. That is why the workers and exploited of the world need, on a national and international level, trade unions that reject accompanying a reactionary drive and struggle against the attacks of capitalism and imperialism. This is what the delegates to the Vienna congress, on November 1st, should remember. In the tradition of the democratic principles, please send us your remarks and observations. Very fraternally, The Bureau of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples July 20, 2006 **********************
Appeal for the creation of a International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina: The U.S. government's crimes will be judged Eleven months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, it is clear the U.S. government was responsible for the consequences of the catastrophe and that the reconstruction plan set into motion constitutes a operation of ethnic cleansing against the black population. Several coalitions and organizations of black militants, with the support of the ILC, launched a campaign for the reconstruction of New Orleans and are preparing a Tribunal to judge those responsible for the crimes committed. We are publishing the appeal for the Tribunal, set to take place at the end of March, 2007, the appeal for an International Commission of Inquiry on Hurricane Katrina that will take place at the end of August, as well as a letter of support of the ILC. ------ Appeal for an International Commission of Inquiry on Hurricane Katrina The International Commission of Inquiry on Katrina (ICI) is part and parcel of the International Tribunal on Katrina (see "A Day of Judgment" at www.peopleshurricane.org). The Black Activist Coalition on Katrina, the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, the International Liaison Committee for a Workers International, and International Tribunal on Africa and others are organizing the International Tribunal on Katrina, aka the "Day of Judgment". The Tribunal is tentatively scheduled for March 2007, although an exact date has not been determined. The purpose of the International Commission is to ascertain preliminary facts pertaining to the human rights crimes being charged against the U.S. government related to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. It is also intended to help broaden, build and internationalize the Tribunal on Katrina. The International Commission of Inquiry is going to be conducted in New Orleans, Louisiana Sunday, August 27 through Sunday, September 3, 2006. The Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition and the Black Activist Coalition on Katrina will host the Commission. The general activities of the Commission will entail: * Taking testimony from various Katrina Survivors In Unity and Struggle, ----- A DAY OF JUDGEMENT A call for an International Tribunal to address the U.S. government's human rights violations responsible for the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the ill treatment of the Internally Displaced People, and rebuilding plans that seek ethnic cleansing and political disenfranchisement of historically majority Black communities in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Why a Tribunal "They left us here to die" is the clear charge against the U.S. government by the peoples of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast region displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Between August 29 and September 5, 2005 the world witnessed the monumental failure of the U.S. government to protect and respect the lives of Blacks and the poor. This failure is the direct result of the institutional dimensions of race, class, and gender oppression inherent in the U.S. government's and social structure's treatment of Blacks throughout its 230-year history. Since Katrina and Rita, the government has politically disenfranchised tens of thousands of Blacks, refused to adhere to its own policies and procedures pertaining to the security and well being of the Internally Displaced, mismanaged resources for the reconstruction of the region, including awarding no-bid contracts to big corporations connected to the Bush administration, eliminated environmental and worker-protection laws, unjustifiably criminalized thousands of the Displaced people, set up a process for reconstruction that excludes effective input, major decision-making and control by the majority Black population, and targeted large portions of New Orleans for ethnic cleansing to prevent the right of return of the Black majority. And this is just a short list of the countless abuses being actively committed against the Internally Displaced of the Gulf Coast by the U.S. government. The U.S. government must be held responsible for these crimes against humanity and summarily brought to justice. This is why we are calling for an International Tribunal for justice, reconstruction and reparations. Background On December 8-9, 2005 hundreds of Internally Displaced People from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita gathered in Jackson, Mississippi in a Survivors Assembly to demand accountability, reconstruction and restitution from all levels and departments of the U.S. government. The Survivors Assembly was convened as a democratic institution to provide the Internally Displaced impacted by Katrina and Rita and the U.S. government's destruction, particularly the Black and working class majority, with a vehicle for self-determination that voices, organizes and mobilizes for a just reconstruction. Their demands were in response to the government's deliberate indifference to the fate of Katrina victims and survivors. Katrina was a category 5 hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast of Mississippi on August 29, 2005 and left over 2,000 dead or missing and over 800,000 without homes, jobs or help. It is the largest and most inhumane internal displacement of Blacks since the end of the 19th Century following the Civil War. On December 10, 2005 over 5,000 survivors and their supporters marched on City Hall in New Orleans demanding the right to return with dignity to their homes and their communities. The Survivors Assembly was facilitated by the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF-OC), the Mississippi Disaster Relief Coalition (MS-DRC), the Black Activists Coalition on Katrina, and over 50 coalition partners from a broad range of political, religious, and social sectors in North America. The tragic scenes of Katrina victims and evacuees facing death, destruction,
abandonment and eventually relocation at gunpoint in herds like animals
gave rise to outrage across the globe. The events of December 8-10,
2005 signaled the first phase of turning this outrage to action. The Charges Katrina survivors have serious charges against the federal, state and local governments for violating and negating their fundamental human rights. The charges can be divided into three categories: (1) Pre-Katrina abuse and neglect, (2) Katrina storm, flood, rescue and evacuation related abuses, and (3) post-Katrina related abuses. A sampling of these charges include: 1. The government, on all levels, knew for years that the levee system in New Orleans was inadequate to withstand the impact of a storm as powerful as Katrina and yet did little or nothing to fortify or update the levee system. This left thousands at risk, particularly in poor and predominantly Black communities where the levee system was in the worst condition. 2. Waited four days before coming to the aid of Katrina Victims after the storm hit, and made little or no preparation to deal with the storm although it was forecast days before it hit. 3. Left Black women, children and men begging for help on roof tops, trudging through filthy and contaminated water, locked in their homes, locked in jails, stranded at the convention center, the Superdome and on bridges without medical treatment, food, clean water, restroom facilities and other necessities for days. Meanwhile helicopters and ambulances rushed passed Black victims in order to attend to whites and upper middle class neighborhoods. 4. Ordered the National Guard and police to shoot to kill survivors for taking necessary food items and clothing from abandoned stores. There are reports that some were indeed shot and killed by these forces. 5. Treated evacuees with disdain and disrespect when buses were finally sent in to transport survivors out of New Orleans. Most were relocated at gunpoint, and often separated from their children or other love ones. 6. Refused to allow critical medical and emergency rescue aide from foreign countries and the international community to help save lives in the Gulf Coast. 7. Disenfranchised tens of thousands of Black voters in the New Orleans elections by refusing to establish and implement satellite voting in major centers where displaced survivors were temporarily living (like the system in place for Iraqis living in the U.S.), and made the process of obtaining absentee ballots prohibitively restrictive. 8. Refused to designate the Survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita an Internally Displaced People, and failed to comply with its own laws and policies on the provision of emergency relief, international aid, and long-term development assistance as contained in the "USAID Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons Policy." 9. Ethnic Cleansing of the historic Black majority of New Orleans via threats of imminent domain, denial of vital resources for reconstruction, and the systematic denial of social services in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The Call The Black Activist Coalition on Katrina and the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition are launching a campaign to convene an International Tribunal on Katrina and the human rights abuses of the U.S. government. This tribunal will be held in New Orleans in early 2007. A specific date has not been determined, but the committee is investigating March 30-31, 2007. The Tribunal will expose to the world the evidence with respect to the racism and lawlessness of the federal, state and local governments in the Katrina tragedy. We call on organizations, individuals and governments throughout the United States and internationally to sign on as endorsers of the International Tribunal and to contribute time, resources and funds to help organize this important undertaking. To participate in the Tribunal organizing process or for further information
contact the Katrina Tribunal at (601) 353-5566 or write Katrina Tribunal
at 440 North Mill Street, Jackson, MS 39202. You may also email Kai
Abiodun at <kaiabiodun@yahoo.com> or Chokwe Lumumba at <CLumumba@aol.com>
or visit www.peopleshurricane.org for more information. To All Supporters of the ILC the World Over Dear Sisters and Brothers: At the end of August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. Day after day, the entire world looked in horror at TV images of Black people stranded on their rooftops for days on end without being rescued. The U.S. National Guard, which was set up to handle national disasters such as this one, had been deployed to fight an immoral and unjust war in Iraq; thousands of people, whose lives could have been saved, were left to die. The scene of tens of thousands of people crammed into a football stadium, or into community centers, without food or medical resources for up to one week -- or bodies washed up daily onto the city streets -- was reminiscent of images from war-torn countries in Africa. People around the world were shocked that such a scenario could be taking place in the richest country of the world at the beginning of the 21st century. As the disaster unfolded, the dimension of conscious policy and criminal negligence on the part of the U.S. government became more and more apparent -- from the failure to repair levees, to the failure to evacuate people, to the failure to provide food and shelter for the evacuees. It also became clear that the government complicity was shared by politicians of all stripes at the federal, state and local levels. The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) reported
on this tragedy in our weekly, multi-language ILC International Newsletter
and gave voice -- issue after issue -- to the Black organizations on
the ground in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast that began to organize
the struggle of the evacuees for their rights, their dignity -- and,
above all, their resolve to control all facets of the reconstruction
process in their own name. The evacuees have been dispossessed of their homes, denied the right to return to their neighborhoods and communities. Their right to vote has been trampled upon. The levees remain without repair, and the housing crisis has deepened as the reconstruction process has become the vehicle for powerful corporate interests and the ruling elites to gentrify the city of New Orleans and expel the Black majority in what can only be characterized as a process of ethnic cleansing. To put the international spotlight on this unfolding tragedy, the PHRF-OC is organizing an International Tribunal on Katrina in the spring of 2007. At the end of August of this year, they are putting together an International Commission of Inquiry that will travel to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to draw up the first charges against all the agencies and institutions in the United States responsible for the ongoing crimes against the predominantly Black people of the Gulf Coast region. The PHRF-OC organizers have called upon the ILC to help promote this important initiative. Over the years, we have worked closely with many of the organizers of this campaign on two campaigns launched by the ILC: the International Tribunal on Africa (whose first session was held in Compton, Calif., in February 2000) and, later, the International Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. The ILC -- which since its founding conference in February 1991 has promoted the struggle of all working and oppressed peoples against war and exploitation - calls on all its supporters the world over to join us in endorsing the "Day of Judgment" Call for the International Tribunal on Katrina. We also call upon all unions and organizations interested in participating in the International Commission of Inquiry at the end of August 2006 to contact us as soon as possible at our Paris office, so that we can relay your message to the PHRF organizers in the United States. The ILC considers that this campaign for the rights of Black people
against the policies of ethnic cleansing in the Gulf Coast is part and
parcel of the same fight against the U.S. war in Iraq and against the
U.S.-IMF-WTO drive to implement the Structural Adjustment and debt-repayment
policies that are devastating the peoples of Africa -- also promoting
war and ethnic cleansing on that continent. We urge all ILC supporters to get behind this International Tribunal on Katrina by filling out the endorsement coupon below and returning it both to us at the ILC and to the organizers of the PHRF-OC campaign in the United States. In solidarity, ***********************
No to the Israeli military intervention in Palestine and Lebanon! The Palestinian people want to live! Excerpts from the articles in Informations ouvrières (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Parti des travailleurs, Issue 753, July 27-August 2, 2006. The Palestinian women of Nazareth who demonstrated on July 3rd, in response to the appeal of Sawt el-Amel (The Workers´ Voice) for international solidarity declared: "They stole our land! They stole our labor!" And a worker who signed their appeal added: "And now they steal our lives!" This appeal has already been signed by workers and activists of all tendencies in 39 countries. And now? The facts are clear. Here is what the press reveals: An Israeli colonel stated: "We cannot let the risk of harming civilians permit us to lose this war." Le Figaro writes: "The Israeli offensive has already reduced to ashes the majority of the social-educational establishments controlled by Hezbollah. Š The government of Jerusalem is disposed to give the Israeli army the necessary time to ´finish the job,´ to use the expression of G.W. Bush." These are the facts! Since the beginning of the Israeli military offensive dubbed "Summer Rain", 117 Palestinians, principally civilians, in the Gaza Strip, have been killed. On July 20, 15 Palestinians were killed and more than a 100 wounded in Maghazi. In Lebanon, in 15 days, the official report is that there have been more than 400 deaths, 325 of which were civilian. More than 700,000 women, children, and elderly people were thrown into the streets, in what UNICEF has called a "situation of extreme catastrophe." A "New Middle East" carved in the flesh and blood of the peoples! The U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, recently arrived in Lebanon. She stated: "The time has come for a new Middle East. A "New Middle East" carved in the flesh and blood of the peoples! Is this tolerable? The Algerian press reports: "The embassy of the U.S. in Algiers invited the foreign and Algerian press to a press conference on July 27 with U.S. Commander Northland, on the occasion of his visit the port of Algiers." The Algerian journalists of all tendencies responded by declaring: "In the current context, this invitation seems to us to be, at the very least, out of place. In solidarity with the resistance movements of Lebanon and Palestine Š we Algerian journalists, signers of the present petition, call for a boycott of this press conference." These are the facts. In a letter published in Informations ouvrières on July 20, a Jewish militant of Palestine declared: "Faced with the unceasing Israeli aggressions, the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves. Š I affirm this as a child of a disappeared parent in Auschwitz and the grandson of a family assassinated in the Lodz ghetto." Judge for yourselves. Take a look at the maps which, from 1947 to the present, demonstrate how the Palestinian people have been chased from their land, and today are essentially locked down bantustans, where they threatened with total destruction. Is this tolerable? We support the conclusion of this Jewish activist in Palestine: "We demand the unconditional removal of all the Israeli armed forces in Gaza and the West Bank! We demand the end of all acts of aggression of the Israeli army!" ----- Demonstrations throughout the world Numerous demonstrations have taken place throughout the world. Here are the reports by AFP and the press. -- Tel-Aviv: Jews and Arabs, demonstrated from July 16 to July 22, on the appeal of Taayoush, the Peace Bloc, Yesh Gvul, and the Coalition of Women for Peace. -- Haifa and Galilee: Jews and Arabs jointly demonstrated on July 20. Haaretz, the Israeli daily, on July 21, reported that for "the demonstrators, the Israeli army´s attack on southern Lebanon does not aim to free the imprisoned soldiers. Š Among the protestors there were activists of Taayoush, Kol Aher Bagalil, representatives of the families of 13 victims of October 2000, activists of Hadach (the Communist Party, which regroups Jewish and Arab activists) and Balad." -- Ramallah (The West Bank): Palestinian groups called for a general strike and demonstrations on Monday July 24 in all the Palestinian territories to protest the visit of Condoleezza Rice. On July 25th, more than 2,000 people demonstrated in Ramallah. -- Middle East: On July 21, thousands of protestors took to the streets in Cairo, Amman, Damas, Baghdad, and Tripoli to denounce the Israeli offensive. -- Caracas: Around 300 people demonstrated on July 20 in front of the Israeli embassy to protest the bombings. --United States: Demonstrations took place in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, where the Jews of the Bay Area gathered in front of the Israeli consulate to say: "We will not allow you to fight this war in our name." -- London: Over 20,000 people demonstrated on July 22, in response to the appeal by the Stop the War coalition to call for the end of the Israeli military operations. There were also demonstrations in Birmingham, Newcastle, and Sheffield. -- Madrid: Thousands of demonstrators (20,000) gathered together on July 20. Banners read "In Solidarity with the Palestinian People" and "End the Genocide of the Palestinians." There were also demonstrations in Barcelona, Tarragona and Gerona. -- Paris: More than 2,000 protested, at the appeal of the Lebanese branch of the CP of France, the Iranian CP, and several organizations in solidarity with Palestine. Marches also took place in Marseille, Avignon, Toulouse and Strasburg. -- Istanbul: Thousands of Turkish demonstrators (5,000) took to the streets on July 23. -- Jakarta: Thousands demonstrated on Sunday July 23. -- Stockholm: 2,000 demonstrated on July 22nd in front of the Israeli embassy. -- Geneva: A silent march was organized by the Rights for All Association. -- Sydney: Over 10,000 demonstrated on July 22nd, calling for the end of the Israeli military operations. -- Algeria: Demonstrations are being prepared for July 26 in Algiers and all the country´s principal cities. ----- Preparing the International Conference in Solidarity with Palestinian Women Palestinian women in Nazareth launched an appeal, last month, against the undermining of their rights by the Israeli government: "We are Palestinian women; we have the right to live and to work in our own country and to raise our children decently here. We demand an immediate halt to racial and gender discrimination. It is a question of democracy!" This appeal was rapidly signed in 49 countries by unionists, university students, artists, democratic associations, etc. Louisa Hanoune, an Algerian MP and General Secretary of the Workers Party of Algeria proposed, on July 15th to the Dialogue review, the organization in Algiers of a International Conference in Solidarity with Palestinian Women, stating: " Isn't it time that we took serious action to put a stop to the bloodshed, in order to save human lives and to save all the peoples of that region from the organized chaos that is awaiting them?" This conference will take place around November in the Algerian Parliament. These initiatives have already created an important echo. During the international congress of the Palestinian organization Al-Awda, for the right to return for the Palestinian refugees, which took place on July 13, 14, and 15 in San Francisco, numerous delegates signed the appeal and asked for copies to collect more signatures. Also, the workshop of the congress titled "The American labor movement and Palestine" put the appeal of the Palestinian women´s appeal on the agenda. A petition campaign in a Parisian market-place was met very favorably: 54 people signatures were collected in one hour and 24 signers asked to regularly receive the preparatory bulletins of the conference. A notebook was set up to ensure the continuity of the campaign. To sign the appeal of the Palestinian women, write to Dialogue 87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75 010 Paris. ------ Nazareth: An Appeal of Palestinian Women In August 2005, the association in defense of Arab workers in the State of Israel, Sawt el-Amel (Laborer's voice), based in Nazareth, took the initiative to launch a public campaign and to organize demonstrations against the implementation of an Israeli Government's plan called the Wisconsin Plan. The Wisconsin Plan does not create any new jobs. It is meant to exclude the unemployed from their right to benefits by forcing them to accept any job whatsoever. In Nazareth, it principally affects Palestinian women. In 2002, Arab women, made up 15% of the female labor force of working-age people in the state of Israel but represented only 5% of female jobs. They present the most exploited and oppressed layer of the working population submitted to the Wisconsin Plan. Arab women are the main victims of the Wisconsin Plan. How is it possible to inflict such a treatment on women? This past January 6, the police used a violent crackdown against the demonstration convened by Sawt el-Amel despite the fact the demonstration took place in an orderly manner. One demonstrator who intervened to prevent a woman from being beaten by the police was himself beaten up and put under arrest. The Agam Mehalev company, which manages the Wisconsin Plan in Nazareth, decided to terminate the right to unemployment benefits for any workers having participated in the demonstration of Sawt el-Amel. Not only does the company exclude unemployed women from the right to employment but it also uses all sorts of tricks to exclude them from their right to benefits. The company also precipitates them in dire destitution. Whatever may be one's political beliefs, the question should be asked: Who could accept such inhumane treatment? On March 8, 2006, more than 300 Palestinian women demonstrated on International Women's Day at the call of Sawt el-Amel. They waved black flags and portraits of Kheir Khaleile, a young Palestinian worker, first victim of the Wisconsin Plan, who died on March 3rd. Kheir Khaleile had serious health problems. The workers were confined for eight hours in unbearable conditions. Kheir Khaleile asked the Agam Mehalev company for the authorization to leave work. They refused. When he came back home, he fell down and died. We are Palestinian women; we have the right to live and to work in our own country and to raise our children decently here. We demand an immediate halt to racial and gender discrimination. It
is a question of democracy! (1) The Wisconsin Plan, of American origin, aims to institutionalize the "workfare" policies inside the state of Israel, that is, the implementation of forced precarious labor for all considered fit to work; to not accept the job means losing unemployment benefits. For the Sawt el-Amel association it is "a declaration of war, not against unemployment, but against the unemployed: It aims to destroy social benefits." (Note by the ILC International Newsletter.)
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Open World Conference of Workers