Friday February 15 – Iraq Moratorium Day: NYC Day of Action vs. Military Recruiters

Friday February 15 – Iraq Moratorium Day
Recruitment Keeps the Illegitimate War Going – Bring it to a Halt!
National Day of Action Against the Military Recruiters
More and more military recruitment centers have recently opened to pull high school students into the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Stop the business as usual of dragging youth into the war machine!

With righteous indignation, ridicule, and reality, we will gather youth, grannies, anti-war protesters, and public office holders to say NO! We’re going on FIVE years of this immoral, unjust war. The people must stop it.

Actions in Berkeley, California have repeatedly shut down the new recruiting station near Berkeley High School and the city council of Berkeley California recently passed a resolution that this new recruiting station “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” Pro-war Senators are threatening to take the city’s federal money away, and pro-war protesters are vilifying the council’s stand against the war.

More people should take the stand of those in Berkeley - it needs to spread across the country. The majority of people in this country ARE against the war and ARE against torture, and many people ARE searching for something tangible beyond protest-as-usual to end the war.
World Can’t Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime!

In New York City:
1:00 PM Press Conference
Manhattan City Hall Steps (between Park Row and Broadway)
Join World Can’t Wait, CodePink, Women for Peace NYC, Students for a Democratic Society, the Granny Peace Brigade, Campus Anti-war Network (CAN)- Fordham, American Friends Service Committee (with their Cost of War Exhibition), MDS-SI, invited City Council members and many others (list in formation) in this 6th Iraq Moratorium event. AND:
3:00 PM Take Action / No Business As Usual
Beginning at Army Recruitment Center
East Harlem / “El Barrio”, 126 East 103rd Street
(near corner of Lexington Avenue, 6 train to 103rd)

This new recruitment center in East Harlem / “El Barrio” is an example of how the recruiters particularly target Black and Latino youth and immigrants with their lies and to steal more lives for the U.S. war machine. Join us.

Wear orange - the color of resistance to whole Bush program of war, torture, spying, lying and repression. The world can't wait - DRIVE OUT the Bush regime!

Download and print flyers and distributed them widely:
English
Spanish
English one side / Spanish one side

January 31 - Protest - No Torture - No Business As Usual

Report on NYC - January 31:

Protesters gathered in front of the CNN offices at the TimeWarner Building, amid heavy police presence. Professional actors did a demonstration of waterboarding, which a crowd stopped to watch.

Many people stopped to say they didn't know what waterboarding was, or that they had heard something on the news about Mukasey not identifying it as torture. [click below to get except of waterboarding demo at Columbus Circle]

40 people took off on a march to Fox News, and then to the Armed Forces Recruiting Office at Times Square, where the building was closed all day. Several high school students sat in front of the doors. The last stop was at a corner of Bryant Park, across from the former Verizon Headquarters, where we talked to passersby about torture adn the "Protect America Act" expanding the powers of the federal government to surveil citizens' email and phone calls.

What kind of regime subjects prisoners to waterboarding, and then claims it’s not torture? What kind of regime videotapes this and then destroys the tapes? What kind of regime holds hundreds of prisoners for years without charges, access to lawyers or family or granting them a trial?
Answer: A regime that needs to be driven from office!

Torture concentrates the whole package of crimes against humanity committed by the Bush regime – murderous war in Iraq, snatching of immigrant children from the arms of their mothers, systematic spying, and much more – horrors done for global empire and domestic order. All this must be brought to a halt.

Will the elections repudiate or reverse this? NO!

Leading Republican presidential candidates want more of the Bush program, and no leading Democratic presidential candidate will reverse what’s been set in place by the Bush regime. Leading Democrats knew - and said nothing for years - about the CIA’s torture tapes and waterboarding. Who among the leading candidates is making the repeal of the Military Commissions Act or the Patriot Act; or an immediate and unconditional end to the slaughter in Iraq a major part of their campaign?

January 31 – days before the election circus kicks into high gear on “Super Tuesday”– needs to be marked by the voice of the people who repudiate the Bush Regime and its criminal program.

The time to act is now. The scandal of the destroyed torture tapes continues, heightening both the opportunity and the necessity for a mass outpouring of resistance to torture and to the entire Bush program that it represents.


We will make the future.
We pledge to stop endless war for empire.
We refuse consent to a torture state.
We won’t swallow a hateful culture of bigotry & intolerance.
We will not go silently into a fascist nightmare.
We will engage in an act of civil resistance to make a better world.
We are what we’ve been waiting for.

Download a flyer and spread the word!

Download a small poster and spread the word!

Support those defying Federal Grand Jury Repression of Puerto Rican Independence Movement

Friday, February 1st, 9:30 AM Federal Court, Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn.

Meet at corner Tillary St & Cadman Plaza East for rally; hearing at Federal Courthouse, Cadman Plaza E & Tillary St, Brooklyn (A/C to HighSt, 2/3 to Clark St, M/R to Court St-Boro Hall, 4/5 to Boro Hall,F to Jay St-Boro Hall, G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn).

As those who read Juan Gonzales' Daily News column three weeks ago have learned, another "front" in the moves towards "police state America" are underway. Three young Puerto Rican activists have been subpoenaedto testify fore a grand jury. As is often the case, in these Federal Grand Jury probes, those subpoenaded are not be charged with any crimes, nor is even the general purpose of their investigation stated. But "off the record" it has been revealed that this is an investigation of the Puerto Rican movement and especially the Machetero movement in Puerto Rico. There are indications that more will be targetted. (The three were originally called to testify on January 11th, but this was postponed to February 1st.)

Like the "Thought Crimes" legislation now in Congress, HR1955 ("Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007") this kind of action is aimed at government surveilance and intimidation of any or all opposition political forces. As Bob Boyle of NYC National Lawyers' Guild said about this case: "Federal grand juries have long been used to gather information on legitimate political activities". There is a history of dragging activists in, demanding that they "name names" and information on other activists. Those who have righteously refused have faced long periods in prison, including some in the Federal government's new "super Max" sensory deprivation/isolation dungeons. It is important to rally in support of those resisting all this.

We will be posting more on this case and on the whole issue of the grand jury probes as a tool of political repression soon.

Drop the charges on the Nadler office 4! Pack the court on Tuesday, February 5th!

Come to court in support of four defendants accused of asking to discuss impeachment with Congressmember Jerrold Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee, who is blockading the proceedings.

Elaine Brower, Sharon Pavlovich, Stephanie Rugoff and Eileen Ryan will appear Tuesday February 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Part AR2 at 120 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn.

Some of these activists face misdemeanor Criminal Trespass 3rd Degree charges as of the time of this message.

Said Elaine, "All out to support us because I think Nadler's henchman, Gottheim, will put the screws to us if he can!" Kings (Brooklyn) Criminal Court, 120 Schermerhorn St. btw. Smith St./Jay St. & Boerum Pl/Adams St.: R or M (not N) to Lawrence Street; G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn; A, F or C to Jay Street; 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Borough Hall.

Demanding that Bush & Cheney be Impeached for War Crimes is no crime!

Silence and complicity with a government that tortures, spies, and wages endless wars based on lies is what is criminal!

Drop the charges on all the Nadler office defendants.

The struggle and truth squads continue:

On Sunday, January 13th three of the WCW Nadler office arrestees along with several WCW supporters attended a local presidential forum in Chelsea attended by 300-400 people. (Congressman Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution where H. Res. 333/779 languishes, was speaking as the representative of Hillary Clinton). We sported our orange bandanas as we gave out orange leaflets to the attendees .

We had put out a wide call for impeachment activists to attend the forum. We were joined by Code Pink, ImpeachBush.org, AskNadler2Impeach.org,a group with letters spelling out I-M-P-E-A-C-H, and others. When Nadler got up to speak, we also stood, called out "Impeach Now" and then sang the song "Dayenu" which means "Enough."

At various points during the question and answer period impeachment activists took the mike raising loudly and clearly the impeachment issue, as well as the ongoing war on Iraq and threats to attack Iran helping change the forum's "terms of debate."

The representatives of Gravel and Kucinich also spoke to these issues, the Gravel representative especially clearly and forcefully. There are many of these forums coming up in the next few weeks. We urge you to attend them and raise the issues that the "leading" candidates want to avoid. You may want to visit Congressman Nadler at one of his offices as well.