Friday, December 7, 2007
In Need of a Headline
Hola communeros,
I was hoping to pitch this to Pavement Pieces as well-would be very grateful for your input!
__________________________________________________________________
I was hoping to pitch this to Pavement Pieces as well-would be very grateful for your input!
__________________________________________________________________
Against the cold concrete rests the prisoner’s hooded head. His body, dressed in orange jumpsuit, is prostrated on the pavement. He is awaiting execution. Or a pardon. Or a double-take of a passerby who may pause to find out what is going on this Tuesday morning in Foley Square, just outside the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.
By “bringing home” these distressing images, students and activists gathered here are hoping to raise awareness about the pending Supreme Court hearing of the two cases of Guantanamo Bay detainees, who are petitioning for the right of habeas corpus that would allow them to challenge their detention in American courts.
Under the current Military Commissions Act as “enemy combatants” or “awaitin
g determination,” these men can be held indefinitely without any charges being brought against them. According to Center for Constitutional Rights statistics, out of 786 men and boys detained since January 2002, so far only 10 have been charged with any crime. US government lawyers argue that since Guantanmo Bay is not owned by US, prisoners there are “aliens outside of the sovereign territory of the United States” reports the BBC and as such “do not enjoy any rights [under the habeas corpus clause of US Constitution].”
These people, says Ms. Elena Landriscina, an NYU student and one of the organizers of today’s event “are made to disappear. These are 21st century disappearances carefully crafted so that people don’t have access to courts, media or public ear.”
Or to the public eye. Demonstrations such as this one are trying to get American people to visualize that this “is an issue that really affects them as well,” says Ms. Katie Savin, an NYU student. “Our constitution is being stripped away.”
Co-sponsored by Center for Constitutional Rights (the organization representing the detainees), the National Lawyers Guild and Witness Against Torture, the event drew out some thirty activists. Amongst the demonstrators were members of Granny Peace Brigade, an organization started in 2005
when 18 grandmothers-ages 59 to 91- tried to enlist to go to Iraq instead of the young recruits. They were arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and acquitted after a six-day trial. The experience led them to organize.
For Ms. Carol Husten, one of the activists, this time “is a complete change from what we have grown up with. And we are in our seventies, some of us in our eighties, some in nineties...watching the deterioration of the civil rights in this country.” The issue seems to lend strength and mobilize even those least mobile: armed with earmuffs against the increasingly fierce wind, one member leaned against her walker for support.
While the Supreme Court will not reach a decision until June 2008, these women will continue to protest because-in part- “justice is made in the street.” “The point is that it is almost besides the point. I have to be doing this-for the future of my children, and everybody’s children” says Ms. Husten.
By “bringing home” these distressing images, students and activists gathered here are hoping to raise awareness about the pending Supreme Court hearing of the two cases of Guantanamo Bay detainees, who are petitioning for the right of habeas corpus that would allow them to challenge their detention in American courts.
Under the current Military Commissions Act as “enemy combatants” or “awaitin
g determination,” these men can be held indefinitely without any charges being brought against them. According to Center for Constitutional Rights statistics, out of 786 men and boys detained since January 2002, so far only 10 have been charged with any crime. US government lawyers argue that since Guantanmo Bay is not owned by US, prisoners there are “aliens outside of the sovereign territory of the United States” reports the BBC and as such “do not enjoy any rights [under the habeas corpus clause of US Constitution].”These people, says Ms. Elena Landriscina, an NYU student and one of the organizers of today’s event “are made to disappear. These are 21st century disappearances carefully crafted so that people don’t have access to courts, media or public ear.”
Or to the public eye. Demonstrations such as this one are trying to get American people to visualize that this “is an issue that really affects them as well,” says Ms. Katie Savin, an NYU student. “Our constitution is being stripped away.”
Co-sponsored by Center for Constitutional Rights (the organization representing the detainees), the National Lawyers Guild and Witness Against Torture, the event drew out some thirty activists. Amongst the demonstrators were members of Granny Peace Brigade, an organization started in 2005
when 18 grandmothers-ages 59 to 91- tried to enlist to go to Iraq instead of the young recruits. They were arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and acquitted after a six-day trial. The experience led them to organize.For Ms. Carol Husten, one of the activists, this time “is a complete change from what we have grown up with. And we are in our seventies, some of us in our eighties, some in nineties...watching the deterioration of the civil rights in this country.” The issue seems to lend strength and mobilize even those least mobile: armed with earmuffs against the increasingly fierce wind, one member leaned against her walker for support.
While the Supreme Court will not reach a decision until June 2008, these women will continue to protest because-in part- “justice is made in the street.” “The point is that it is almost besides the point. I have to be doing this-for the future of my children, and everybody’s children” says Ms. Husten.
Should the decision of the Supreme Court defy their hopes, for Ms. Husten it would mean “a time for the revolution.”
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
New Yorkers on Rudy Giuliani
Greetings Colleagues,
gonna submit this to Pavement Pieces, any feedback is appreciated.
--lance
_______________________________________________________________________________
Watch New Yorkers give their take on their former mayor and current Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani.
gonna submit this to Pavement Pieces, any feedback is appreciated.
--lance
_______________________________________________________________________________
Watch New Yorkers give their take on their former mayor and current Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Flower power’s gone, but we have so much more:
Tom Hayden tells New Yorkers to forget the 60s and recognize today’s growing antiwar movement
New York, Dec. 5—The ghost of the Vietnam War was everywhere Monday night, rattling the windows and bookcases in The Strand bookstore, where longtime antiwar activist Tom Hayden addressed a small crowd. Hayden was speaking on his new book, Ending the War in Iraq, but kept returning to the war he devoted his youth to fighting in order to make one, all important point: today’s antiwar movement may not be what it was in the 60s, but it is alive and well.
“There’s been a systemic neglect of the existence of an antiwar movement in the media but also I find there’s been a systemic neglect in our own minds of the existence of this movement, and I think that’s because, in this case we know something but we’re governed by what we know and what we know is the sixties,” he told a gathering of approximately 50 people. Hayden helped found the Students for a Democratic Society while a student at the University of Michigan. He was also one of the “Chicago Eight,” a group of antiwar protesters arrested during the 1968 Democratic Presidential Convention, as the war in Vietnam escalated.
But recognizing today’s antiwar movement means forgetting the protests of the past, he argued.
“We have an image of the antiwar movement that’s outside the system, blood on our faces, gassed, being dragged off to jail, that’s what a movement is. But in this case, the movement has crossed so many boundaries that you can’t define it in sixties terms,” Hayden said.
Hayden’s remarks seemed to catch the audience off guard, as if most of them were expecting a gloomy speech on an uphill battle, not an encouragement to recognize the work already being done. After Hayden’s 30-minute speech, one man solemnly asked if anything could be done about the control the military-industrial complex has in the U.S. and if only a collapse of the economy could make people wake up. Others said they felt powerless.
“It’s almost like, in this so called free society and democracy we’ve imprisoned ourselves as ignorant victims of a war we can’t do anything about,” Hayden said at the beginning of the talk. “It’s got to be very depressing for people and very difficult to oppose.”
But there is good news, he said, people are just missing it. Despite what many Americans think, the antiwar movement is not only alive, but it’s arguably more powerful than ever. He cited 11 demonstrations of more than 100,000 people since the war began, and mentioned how Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11—a scathing critique of President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq—broke all records for documentaries.
Another powerful example a flourishing antiwar movement that has been overlooked is MoveOn.org, Hayden argued. From ‘03 to ’04, members of the progressive and antiwar website MoveOn.org raised $180 million for peace candidates, he said.
“That’s probably ten times the budget of all antiwar groups in the entire history of the United States,” Hayden said. “You know you’re operating on different turf here, you’re operating in an environment in which antiwar opinion is libel to spring up almost everywhere, outside politics [or] inside politics.”
But the lynchpin in Hayden’s argument that Americans should be encouraged, not discouraged, to protest the war in Iraq was the 2006 Election. The results were a sign that a shift in public opinion has already occurred and is making a difference.
“It should be no accident to realize that the 2006 election turned on antiwar opinion and resulted in the dumping of the Republican majority,” Hayden said. “People didn’t see that coming which is a sign that students of social movements, as well as media consultants, as well as political party consultants are not necessarily aware of what’s mushrooming up in terms of public opinion.”
Hayden also laid out his plan for ending the war. Exerting constant pressure on “the big three” Democratic candidates—Clinton, Obama, and Edwards—is the only way to ensure that American troops won’t be in Iraq for decades, he said, encouraging the audience to become more active in the antiwar movement.
After the event, Hayden signed books with his name and a single word: “Peace.”
New York, Dec. 5—The ghost of the Vietnam War was everywhere Monday night, rattling the windows and bookcases in The Strand bookstore, where longtime antiwar activist Tom Hayden addressed a small crowd. Hayden was speaking on his new book, Ending the War in Iraq, but kept returning to the war he devoted his youth to fighting in order to make one, all important point: today’s antiwar movement may not be what it was in the 60s, but it is alive and well.
“There’s been a systemic neglect of the existence of an antiwar movement in the media but also I find there’s been a systemic neglect in our own minds of the existence of this movement, and I think that’s because, in this case we know something but we’re governed by what we know and what we know is the sixties,” he told a gathering of approximately 50 people. Hayden helped found the Students for a Democratic Society while a student at the University of Michigan. He was also one of the “Chicago Eight,” a group of antiwar protesters arrested during the 1968 Democratic Presidential Convention, as the war in Vietnam escalated.
But recognizing today’s antiwar movement means forgetting the protests of the past, he argued.
“We have an image of the antiwar movement that’s outside the system, blood on our faces, gassed, being dragged off to jail, that’s what a movement is. But in this case, the movement has crossed so many boundaries that you can’t define it in sixties terms,” Hayden said.
Hayden’s remarks seemed to catch the audience off guard, as if most of them were expecting a gloomy speech on an uphill battle, not an encouragement to recognize the work already being done. After Hayden’s 30-minute speech, one man solemnly asked if anything could be done about the control the military-industrial complex has in the U.S. and if only a collapse of the economy could make people wake up. Others said they felt powerless.
“It’s almost like, in this so called free society and democracy we’ve imprisoned ourselves as ignorant victims of a war we can’t do anything about,” Hayden said at the beginning of the talk. “It’s got to be very depressing for people and very difficult to oppose.”
But there is good news, he said, people are just missing it. Despite what many Americans think, the antiwar movement is not only alive, but it’s arguably more powerful than ever. He cited 11 demonstrations of more than 100,000 people since the war began, and mentioned how Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11—a scathing critique of President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq—broke all records for documentaries.
Another powerful example a flourishing antiwar movement that has been overlooked is MoveOn.org, Hayden argued. From ‘03 to ’04, members of the progressive and antiwar website MoveOn.org raised $180 million for peace candidates, he said.
“That’s probably ten times the budget of all antiwar groups in the entire history of the United States,” Hayden said. “You know you’re operating on different turf here, you’re operating in an environment in which antiwar opinion is libel to spring up almost everywhere, outside politics [or] inside politics.”
But the lynchpin in Hayden’s argument that Americans should be encouraged, not discouraged, to protest the war in Iraq was the 2006 Election. The results were a sign that a shift in public opinion has already occurred and is making a difference.
“It should be no accident to realize that the 2006 election turned on antiwar opinion and resulted in the dumping of the Republican majority,” Hayden said. “People didn’t see that coming which is a sign that students of social movements, as well as media consultants, as well as political party consultants are not necessarily aware of what’s mushrooming up in terms of public opinion.”
Hayden also laid out his plan for ending the war. Exerting constant pressure on “the big three” Democratic candidates—Clinton, Obama, and Edwards—is the only way to ensure that American troops won’t be in Iraq for decades, he said, encouraging the audience to become more active in the antiwar movement.
After the event, Hayden signed books with his name and a single word: “Peace.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)