There were many actions in solidarity with Palestine last weekend, including a few in NC; some upcoming actions are listed here:
www.answercoalition.org/palestinians_resist_brutal_u_s_backed_israeli_repression
samidoun.net/2021/05/global-calendar-of-resistance-join-these-events-to-defend-palestine/ (lists actions in many countries)
Some statements:
ICMLPO condemns the war against the Palestinian people
For more than ten days, the Palestinian people have been exposed to one of the deadliest attacks. To mark the 54th anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, wild hordes of Zionists, supported by the occupation army, have attacked Palestinians residing in the city in a last attempt to expel them from their homes and land .. The last stronghold of resistance, Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, adjacent to the city's Islamic and Christian holy places, is the goal of these attacks. This is a new ethnic cleansing campaign aimed at the judaization of the city and its final Annexation to the Zionist State. At the same time, other parts of East Jerusalem and the entire West Bank are experiencing an unprecedented expansion of settlements under the complicit eyes of imperialist countries and United Nations institutions.
As soon as the fascist gangs of Zionist settlers initiated these killer attacks, they were transmitted by the Zionist state war machinery that, as usual, aim without distinction at the civilian population: the elderly, children, men, women, perpetrating a true genocide and causing mass destruction in all the occupied territories. The Zionist goal is to force these populations to leave their land to join the ranks of the six million Palestinians, refugees in neighboring countries and dispersed in the diaspora.
These are true crimes against humanity being committed against the Palestinian people and should appeal to the entire progressive community of the world as well as to all peace and justice-loving men and women to express their support for this people who, alone, face the Zionist war machinery and imperialist plans, including the US administration's ′′ Agreement of the Century ′′ aimed at maintaining imperialist dominance over the region and its wealth.
The ICMLPO, while strongly condemning the war on the Palestinian people, is addressing the world’s working class, its parties and mass organizations, all peoples of the world to rise up against Zionist barbarism and demand an immediate end of this war and express your support for their just cause.
The Coordinating Committee of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations
May 2021
[ www.cipoml.net/ ]
Free Palestine!
Stop the Bombing!
The forced removal of Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem and the escalation of attacks by colonial settlers and Israeli forces is nothing short of ethnic cleansing. It is reminiscent of the Nakba [the Catastrophe, 1948, commemorated May 15th] when Zionists took half of Palestine for a Jewish state. At that time, they ravaged Palestinian towns, massacred, terrorized and forced much of the Palestinian population to flee into neighboring counties. Today, the Israeli government is telling the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah that they must leave their generational homes so that Jewish settlers can take them.
At the same time, they have attacked Muslim worshipers right inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest places in all of Islam, on one of it’s holiest days. Israel has also increased bombing attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, which has been called the “world’s largest open-air prison” because Israel prevents people from leaving or coming to Gaza. This means the people cannot escape bombs, drones and rockets from Israel. This is nothing short of a war crime.
Much of the world is condemning these attacks. These condemnations are coming even from countries and people who have been reluctant to condemn Israel in the past. But where is the condemnation from the United States? US news media and politicians all use the same lying words. They say the Israeli attacks are in “retaliation” for Palestinian attacks. This is not true. There is a conscious policy by the Israeli government to take Palestinian land, homes, destroy their culture and religion. This is a genocidal policy that the US supports and encourages In recent years, in violation of international protocol, the US has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved its embassy to Occupied East Jerusalem. They have given Israel the green light to further annex Palestinian land and continue to send military and economic aid to Israel. Although some of this was done under the Trump administration, the Biden administration has not reversed any of it. Israel is the greatest supporter of US imperialism’s agenda in the region and has bombed and attack Iran, Syria and other countries in the furtherance of that agenda. Therefore, we in the United States have a special obligation to defend the Palestinian people against these attacks.
As these words are being written, Gaza is being bombed (see video below [nepajac.org/horrorbombing.mp4]).
We must be out in the streets in support of the Palestinian people. Demonstrations are being organized throughout the US and the rest of the world. Join them or organize one in your area.
#freepalestine
No US aid to Israel!
Stop to the annexation of Palestinian land!
Stop stealing Palestinian homes!
Stop the bombing!
[United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) May 11th email; nepajac.org/palstatement51121.htm ]
UNAC: Solidarity with Palestine
We will discus how we can increase our solidarity with the people of Palestine and how we can increase our pressure on the Biden administration to end its support to Israel.
[May 23rd at 1pm Eastern Time; registration here.]
Black Alliance for Peace:
African Liberation in the Americas: A Webinar on Haiti, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela
In anticipation of the global events marking African Liberation Day [May 25th, commemorating the Organisation of African Unity's founding in 1963], The Black Alliance for Peace is hosting African Liberation Day in the Americas, a webinar exploring the parallel struggles and inter-connected histories of people of African descent throughout the Americas. Drawing on the collective knowledge of Black activists and academics from Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and the United States, the webinar will examine how forms of anti-Black repression extend across the geographic, national, and linguistic divisions of the hemisphere – only to be resisted by a shared culture and tradition of African revolt and autonomy.
Given the recent wave of state terrorism directed against Black people throughout the region, African Liberation Day in the Americas takes on a particular urgency. Please join the Black Alliance for Peace on Saturday, May 22nd at 11am (EST), to learn more about African liberation in the Americas.
Featuring
Jesús Chucho García, Center for Afro-American Studies in Venezuela
Charo Mina-Rojas, Afro-Colombian Human Rights Defender
Ana Barreto, AfroResistance Program Director from Brazil
Professor Gerald Horne, University of Houston
Moderated by Jemima Pierre, Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Coordinator
Independent Workers' Party:
Invitation – Press Release
On Sunday, May 23, at 3 PM ET the Independent Workers Party (www.IndependentWorkersParty.org) will present a webinar on the struggles of the Haitian people and other peoples of the Caribbean. The link will follow, and will be posted on our website.
Speakers will be:
David Oxygene, Moleghaf (Movement for Freedom and Equality of Haitians), Haiti
Camille Charlmers, Professor of Economics, Papda (Political Party of the People’s Side), Haiti
Dahoud Andre, Komokoda (Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti), New York
Robert Sae, CNCP (National Council of Popular Committees), Martinique
Aquiles Castro, Frente Popular (Broad Front), Dominican Republic
Andres, Communist Workers and Students for Social Change, Puerto Rico
Yves Engler, author of The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, Montreal, Canada
After three centuries of barbarism, of genocide by white European settlers; after three centuries of non-stop struggle, the blacks who found themselves enslaved in Haiti succeeded in freeing themselves by routing Napoleon's large army, through the only anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist revolution of the 19th century, which in addition put an end to the system of slavery which created the wealth of the European powers. The Haitians, after having achieved this feat of 1804, that is they proclaimed the general freedom of slaves, in fact were able to create a land of freedom, a land of welcome, a land of refuge for all those who fled the atrocity of this system of iniquity which dehumanized human beings throughout the Americas, especially the non-whites who were considered beasts of burden.
The internationalist aspect of the Haitian revolution was something concrete; Sebastian Francisco de Miranda and Simon Bolivar traveled to Haiti where they were given arms, ammunition, and men, with a view to freeing much of Latin America from the yoke of Spanish colonialism. The capitalists whose system rested on the exploitation of human beings have never forgiven Haiti for having disrupted the world order.
France, which never accepted defeat at the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803, organized attempts to reconquer the territory of Saint-Domingue, all of which failed. Nevertheless it succeeded in imposing on Haiti an indemnity of 90 million gold francs, a sum that the old metropolis claimed from the revolutionaries for the loss of the slaves who were their movable property.
The United States, the first country in the Americas to gain independence by a revolution 8 years before Haiti's revolution, participated in the plot to isolate the new nation, and did not recognize its independence until 1862.
A significant historical fact in this work of destruction of the Haitian revolution which perhaps was a racist act was the campaign led by the United States among the Latin American beneficiaries not to invite Haiti their liberator to the Congress of Panama in 1826 during which Pan-Americanism was to be discussed.
These same North Americans, becoming a hegemonic power, invaded Haiti in 1915 and occupied it for 19 years until 1934. The country has experienced more than thirty coups, of which the United States was always their authors. Even in the attempts at democratic election for the stabilization of the country, the United States found a way to make them fraudulent in order to allow their lackeys to gain power with the sole aim of punishing Haiti for achieving independence in 1804. The proof is the behavior of the Clintons in Haiti. They squandered nearly $14 billion collected in the name of Haiti after the earthquake of 2010. But they also imposed the ruling PHTK regime on the Haitian people. This is a fascist power which for 10 years has been trying to force Haitians to relive the 29 years of dictatorship of the Duvaliers who were the watchdogs of the United States against the communists during the East-West cold war.
Despite everything, the Haitian people have always resisted the maneuvers of the imperialist countries to push them back into slavery.
Today, it is said that Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere because Haitians cannot manage themselves? This is to be ignorant of the history of the inhabitants of the first black republic in the world. At the same time how can one explain this state of affairs when the only revolution in the 19th century to have triumphed without the help of any other country was that of Haiti?
To discuss all this and above all with the aim of supporting the people's struggle to uproot the fascist, tyrannical power of the PHTK regime, the IWP invites you to attend and participate in this webinar on Sunday May 23 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. We will have guests from 5 different countries.
Workers, peasants, proletarians, activists, of all countries, unite! Another world is possible!
UNAC: Nicaragua Against Empire - International premiere and discussion
Nicaragua Against Empire - International premiere and discussion of recent "Yes to Sovereignty! No to Sanctions" Delegation to Nicaragua [resceduled from May 15th due to the events in Palestine].
Nicaragua Against Empire highlights resistance by the people and revolutionary government of Nicaragua against Western imperialism, including sanctions and regime change efforts.
It is dedicated to uplifting the voices of Nicaraguan people rarely heard in mainstream media, including workers, peasants, women and Afro-Indigenous communities.
The footage from this documentary was collected during the “Yes to Sovereignty! No to Sanctions!” Delegation (March 2021), coordinated by the Friends of the ATC and Sanctions Kill Coalition. Following the screening, there will be panel discussion about the documentary and delegation.
You can join the premiere live via zoom webinar or on the YouTube and Facebook channels of Friends of the ATC (@friendsatc,) and Sanctions Kill Coalition (@sanctionskill). The event will be bi-lingual in English and Spanish.
VUSE boycott rally in Durham May 27th:
The Triangle Friends of Farmworkers (see TFF's group on Facebook) is organizing a rally at the 3301 Guess Road Circle K (near the intersection with Carver Street, north of the Northgate Mall area) Thursday, May 27th 5 - 5:40pm. The Ragin' Grannies will be in attendance. Feel free to bring a sign and signs and handouts will be available, as well as TFF's VUSE Puppet. As usual, a delegation will present a letter to the person in charge at the Circle K. This protest campaign, temporarily on hiatus due to the pandemic, seeks to pressure British American Tobacco (replacing Reynolds American, Inc), the producer of VUSE e-cigarettes, to negotiate with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, representing tobacco workers in North Carolina and elsewhere.
TFF is also involved in the campaign against the REDA amendment to the 2021 NC Farm Act and other activities. The group meets once a month in Durham.
Weekly vigil against UNC's Coal-fired Co-generation Facility
8 - 10am every Friday there is a vigil against UNC's co-generation facility, which burns coal to produce steam and electricity for the University, while releasing toxins over a residential area and contributing to climate change. There was student and community activism against the plant about a decade ago and promises were made, but the plant is still in operation and the administration wants to keep operating it for years more (see: www.counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/putting-values-into-action/ ). The plant is at the corner of Cameron Avenue and Merritt Mill Road west of the University; parking might be limited, but there is a free municipal parking lot near Roberson Street in Carrboro a short distance down a paved greenway paralleling the railroad that supplies the plant with coal.
May 17th with short notice the Town of Chapel Hill held a virtual information meeting about ongoing efforts to deal with an old coal ash dump at the Chapel Hill Police Station that had become exposed and was releasing arsenic and other toxins along Bolin Creek and a public trail. I'm not aware of the source of the coal ash.
Some sales
The lilylike higanbana (Lycoris radiata) in UNC's Coker Arboretum are being divided and extra bulbs are being sold (10 for $40) every Friday at the NC Botanical Garden until they run out. The sale started May 14th and maybe it would be better not to publicize it. I'm familiar with the flowers, but I don't think I've ever seen them blooming at Coker. These beautiful Asian flowers are apparently often associated with death; the Japanese name above refers to the far shore of Sanzu, the Japanese equivalent of the River Styx. Some regular plant sales have been going ahead this year and NCSU's JC Raulston Arboretum has reopened after about a year of pandemic closure.
Booksales are still in hiatus due to the coronavirus, but the Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library and now the Friends of the Durham Library have online sales. Ordinarily Wake County's massive annual booksale would have been this month and there would have been others around April and June. Some public libraries have partially reopened.
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