In Egypt, more than 1300 peace activists from 43 countries are being prevented by the Egyptian government from entering Gaza to join the Palestinians. Dubbed the Gaza Freedom March, organizers were planning to cross the border last Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of Israel’s assault on Gaza that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis. The activists are also planning to put forth a global call to both Israel and Egypt to lift the siege that was imposed on Hamas controlled Gaza in June 2007.

Marina Barakatt, a former Cal Poly SJPME officer, is one of some 1,360 persons — including doctors, lawyers, diplomats, rabbis, imams, a women’s delegation, a Jewish contingent, a veterans group and Palestinians born overseas — due to take part in the event on 31 December organized by Gaza Freedom March, a coalition of activists of all faiths focusing on human rights.

She reported that the Egyptian authorities have finally allowed only 100 out of 1,300 protesters into blockaded Gaza after the activists staged demonstrations and a hunger strike. This decision have created confusion and division among the 1300 delegates who came to Cairo planning to reach the Palestinian enclave, which shares the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor, center, was among hunger strikers in Cairo on Tuesday showing solidarity with Gazans.

According to AFP, some organisers said Egypt’s offer was a victory after it initially refused to allow any of the protesters into the Gaza Strip for the Gaza Freedom March, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday. “It’s a partial victory,” said Medea Benjamin, an American activist and one of the demonstrations organisers. “It shows that mass pressure has an effect.”

The offer, however, angered many of the activists. Dozens of French activists camped out in front of their embassy in Cairo after being refused passage. A French organiser rejected it as divisive and said the sit-in in front of the French embassy would continue.”This just gives the Egyptian government a photo-up and the chance say we allowed people through,” said Bassem Omar, a Canadian protester. Activists left behind in Cairo said they planned further protests.

Margaret Hawthorn, 62, who flew in from Massachusetts in the US to take part in the event, said she was stunned to discover she would not be allowed to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. “It’s important that we come here to express support for the people of Gaza,” she told IRIN.

Activist and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein is amongst those prevented from traveling to Gaza by the Egyptian authorities

According to NYTimes, Hedy Epstein, 85, a Holocaust survivor, arrived in Egypt from the United States on Saturday. She said she started a hunger strike on Monday.

“My message is for the world governments to wake up and treat Israel like they treat any other country and not to be afraid to reprimand and criticize Israel for its violent policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians,” Ms. Epstein said. “I brought a suitcase full of things, pencils, pens, crayons, writing paper to take to children in Gaza — I can’t take that back home.”

Pam Rasmussen, The Electronic Intifada, 29 December 2009

Solidarity activists joined approximately a dozen hunger strikers in front of the journalists' syndicate in Cairo.

Riot police barricading protesters in Cairo.

Protesters occupying the grounds of the French embassy.

This time is clearly different.

I have traveled to Gaza twice this year, in groups ranging from 40 to 60 persons, and although there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved in “greasing the wheels” with the Egyptian authorities, we pretty much sailed in. CODEPINK (the group that organized both of my previous trips) developed a well-earned reputation for being able to pull just the right levers to open the doors to the isolated enclave of Gaza — even more so than George Galloway’s Viva Palestina convoy, which is typically allowed in for only 24 to 48 hours (versus our four days).

But too many months have gone by with no change in the crippling isolation of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt, and it was time to risk our privileged access to take our efforts to break the siege up a notch. Our numbers had to be massive enough to threaten the jailers’ growing complacence and broad enough to send the message that this is a global movement that won’t stop until the Palestinian people are given the freedom and justice they deserve. Thus, this time CODE PINK allied with a number of other organizations around the world, and the number of participants quickly ballooned to more than 1,300 from 43 countries. Likewise, while we have collected or purchased thousands of dollars’ worth of school supplies, winter clothing and electronic devices (such as computers — currently only available via the tunnels and thus too expensive for the average Palestinian in Gaza), our message is also unapologetically political: the borders must be opened, to everyone, all the time. NOW.

We have obviously accomplished our objective. The jailers have taken notice and are running scared. So scared that we not only have been denied entry into Gaza, we have been threatened with arrest and deportation if we so much as carry a sign or gather in groups of more than six. Our reservation with a facility in downtown Cairo for an orientation meeting for delegates was canceled at the government’s order, and requests to hold educational workshops instead were refused. In an even more audacious move that was aided and abetted by participants’ own governments, consulate representatives were called to a meeting and apparently instructed to warn their residents not to come. In Spain, that warning was echoed in a news release. In Canada, individuals registered for the march or who had participated in past delegations received emails from their embassies. In Portugal, one marcher was called on his personal cell phone!

As word spread of Egypt’s refusal to open Gaza’s doors — announcing its decision long after thousands of internationals had purchased expensive airline tickets and mere days before they began boarding their flights — supporters around the world inundated Egypt’s embassies with calls, emails and faxes in protest. Many came from legislators and other government officials, past and present. Egypt only backed further into its corner in response, using the aggressive tone of some of the calls and emails to ignore the overall theme: the injustice of the collective punishment imposed on Gaza’s nearly 1.5 million Palestinians and Egypt’s refusal to allow supporters to help.

As I write this, we are still being refused entry to Gaza, and even permission to travel to al-Arish and Rafah on the border. Thirty-eight of our marchers tried to get to al-Arish on their own, but 30 were then put under house arrest in their hotel and eight were detained at the bus station. Every peaceful vigil or protest we staged was met with an “iron wall” — and sometimes, by violence.

When the French contingent of about 450 persons asked for help from their embassy, and occupied the grounds of the building in protest when initial promises negotiated with the Egyptian government were reneged, they were surrounded by heavily-armed and helmeted riot police and refused permission to leave — even for food or to use a toilet. At the time of this writing, their “occupation” is going on 48 hours now.

Similar “sit-ins” have been or are being waged at the US, UK and Italian embassies (with more to come). At the US embassy, 30 Americans were detained within a circle of police for eight hours (at the direction of their own countrymen, by the way) before being released. The only small victory was an (ultimately frustrating and fruitless) meeting for three of the protesters with one of the embassy’s higher-level officials.

The same treatment was received when vigils were staged at the United Nations, the journalists’ syndicate (in support of about a dozen hunger-striking marchers) and the Kasr al-Nil Bridge over the Nile.

However, there are a few, bright silver linings to this dark cloud. Groups on the left of the sociopolitical spectrum are known for being far less cooperative and cohesive than their conservative, reactionary counterparts. It truly gladdened my heart, therefore, to see the immediate mobilization in our support by groups ranging from the War Resisters League to Jewish Voice for Peace.

Meanwhile, it’s a truism that controversy attracts media coverage. Our missions to Gaza have been ignored by the mainstream media in the past, but this time, Egypt’s defensive and angry response attracted the attention of such mainstream media pillars as the BBC, the Associated Press, Newsweek and The New York Times. I am a communications professional, and Egypt has violated a tenet of Public Relations 101: The more you protest, the guiltier you look.

Special thanks to: Electronicintifada.com

All images by Pam Rasmussen.

Pam Rasmussen

Pam Rasmussen is a peace activist and communications professional from Maryland who recently received a Community Human Rights Award for her work on behalf of Palestinians from the UN Association of the National Capitol Area. She can be contacted at peacenut57 A T yahoo D O T com.

*****************************

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Hello all,

You can read the newest update (yesterday’s) from Marie and Katerina in Cairo in the blog at: http://studentlifelinetogaza.blogspot.com/ I am including it attached at the end of this message. As you can see from their own message, the most critical thing they need now is support from home. So please keep making calls, sending emails, and letting people know of what is happening.

There are two things I would like to ask you for your support:

1. First there’s another sample email and list of adresses below. Please either send an email or call.
2. Secondly and this is very important, I would like to ask you to send me any relevant contact adresses or telephones you can find. Everybody reads English, so most of the sample emails we have can be send to many more adresses. If you can find contact details for the Egyptian embassy in your own country, or in other countries around the world for example, to important politicians again, in your country or others, important (or not so important) media, please send them to me, and we’ll try to put together a more extensive list of contacts that people can use.

_________________________________________

Sample letter:

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,

I am writing to you to urge the Egyptian government to let Code Pink’s Gaza

Freedom March continue so that 1362 international delegates can join the

Palestinians of Gaza to march together on December 31, 2009.

Currently all delegates are stuck in Cairo and have been refused the right

to move towards Gaza.

The UK government and David Miliband have openly condemned the blockade.

This is a crucial moment for the UK to use its influence as an international

player to take responsiblity and act upon behalf of peace, justice and human

rights.

The Code Pink delegates will not stand for this oppressive ban. This

indirectly endorses war crimes and the inhumanity caused by the blockade

onto the Palestinians of Gaza.

The international peace marchers have aid and are ready to deliver it.

They have

raised tens of thousands of dollars for medical aid, school supplies and

winter clothing for the children of Gaza. But we realize that in addition to

material aid, the Palestinians of Gaza need moral support. The Gaza Freedom

March offers that support on the difficult anniversary of an invasion that

brought them so much suffering.

Sincerely,

__________

Contacts:

-Foreign & Commonwealth Office Ministerial support team email address

MSU.PublicIn@fco.gov.uk

-Egyptian Embassy in London

Tel: 020 7499 3304/2401

eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg

-Egyptian Consulate

consulate@egyptianconsulate.co.uk

Irini Pantelidou has also found these addresses (thanks!):

questions@cabinet.gov.eg

or …complaints@cabinet.gov.eg

Cabinet of Ministers

Address : 2 Maglas El Shaab

Phone : +202-2793-5000

Fax : +202-2795-8048

Email : questions@cabinet.gov.eg

ministry of international cooperation for the egyptian government

Mrs. Fayza Mohamed Aboulnaga

Address : 8 Adly street – Cairo

Tel : 23910008

Fax : 23908159

URL : www.mic.gov.eg/

Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs?

Mr. Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit

Address : Kornish el Nile, Maspiro- Cairo

Tel : 25749820 – 25749821

Fax : 25748822

URL : www.mfa.gov.eg/

E-mail:

General Inquiries:  Info@mfa.gov.eg

Citizens’ Complaint Unit: Contact.Us@mfa.gov.eg

Foreigners and Legalization Affairs: foreign.legalization@mfa.gov.eg

______________________________________________________

6th update from Cairo from Katerina and Marie:

We demonstrated all day at the UN today, demanding that

1) the UN put pressure on the Egyptian government so that we can continue our march

2) help let all our aid through to Gaza

3) organise a small group of delegates to Gaza to at least represent all the countries and be in bloody Gaza!!!

Answer:

No

No

and No.

It was a really peaceful demonstration, with lots of music, dancing, chess playing, talks by Walden Bello and Anna Haas (journalist).

Led by the 85 year old holocaust survivior Hedy Epstein, 14 are now on hunger strike. We were barricaded by police however, not allowing to leave the area for a few hours. Lol, we made a makeshift pee area but the atmosphere was super awesome.

Also, Netanyahu is coming to Cairo, to meet with Mubarak about Gilad Shalit.

The French delegates, around 300, have been camping outside the French embassy for the last 2 days. We will be joining them tonight, but they managed to get the French ambassador to negotiate and talk. The ambassador has been talking to the Egyptian government as a result. However, there were over 1000 riot police and since today they have not allowed any of the French people to leave or enter.

Any attempts for smaller groups to get to Gaza have been stalled. People have either been detained, put under hotel arrest or been forced to return to Cairo.

We are feeling quite demoralised, since we have put so much effort into getting to Gaza as has everyone else here. We are relying on support from back home, so please keep writing.

At this point you have more power than we do.

This was the final action of the evening. We met in front of Mogamma, in Tahrir Square, near the Egyptian Museum. The same police from Protest #2 [video & post coming asap] but so much nicer and non-violent. Interesting how they treat a protest by foreigners [peacefully] and how they violently oppress any dissent from their own people.

Student group planning meeting.

Medea Benjamin speaking to the crowd.

A police officer politely watching, even allowing a photo to be taken of him. Funny how less than an hour ago, my camera would have gotten smashed for this, especially if I spoke to him in Arabic.

Dear all,

First of all, apologies for the flood of emails and msgs the last few days. Unfortunately things are moving very fast right now, and we’ve now found out that the Freedom March to Gaza from Egypt, is also being blocked now, as is still the convoy which has yet to be allowed to enter Egypt. Hopefully we’ll be able to send fewer messages as things calm down.

I’m forwarding below the latest update from Sam from the ‘Can you help us end the Blockade of Gaza this december?’ group that was set up in facebook (join: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=188973921044 ), which inludes the message send from Cairo from Katerina and Marie, and also a sample letter to send to politicians and Egyptian embassies, together with relevant adresses.

________________________________________________________________

Dear Friends,

Sorry to be spamming your facebook inboxes but everything is proceeding quickly right now (hopefully it will calm down soon) and we do need your help!

Firstly, Katerina and Marie are now in Cairo, they sent this message today:

***********************************************************

Dear Friends,

Marie and I are both in Cairo and have bad news.

Like Viva Palestina, our Free Gaza March has also been banned by the
Egyptian government.
There are 1300 international volunteers in Cairo, who all want to go to
Gaza. We have aid and donations that will go to waste if we stay here.

The Free Gaza March have planned the following activities for the next 2
days:
Sunday
- small protest in the centre of Cairo
- protest at the French Embassy to pressure the European Commission
- public vigil at the Nile

Monday
- we will gather at the bus station to protest against the Egyptian’s ban on
our trip
- public protest in the main square of Cairo

Consensus is that we stay united and so that 1300 people demonstrate
together in Cairo to pressure Mubarak’s government to let us go. Small
individual groups have gone and we are waiting to hear what they encounter and how they get along.

The Egyptian government has put a ban on all freedom marchers meeting in groups of more than 6 people. This is oppressive and denies us the right to stand up to the Palestinians. Please protest against the Egyptian’s decision with us. By holding us back, their oppressive regime is as responsible for
the siege as is Israel’s.

*We need your help, you demonstrate the international spectrum of all of
this. *
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8425232.stm*

Sample letter to Embassies & MPs:

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,

I am writing to you to urge the Egyptian government to let Code Pink’s Gaza
Freedom March continue so that 1362 international delegates can join the
Palestinians of Gaza to march together on December 31, 2009.

Currently all delegates are stuck in Cairo and have been refused the right
to move towards Gaza.

The UK government and David Miliband have openly condemned the blockade.
This is a crucial moment for the UK to use its influence as an international
player to take responsiblity and act upon behalf of peace, justice and human
rights.

The Code Pink delegates will not stand for this oppressive ban. This
indirectly endorses war crimes and the inhumanity caused by the blockade
onto the Palestinians of Gaza.

The international peace marchers have aid and are ready to deliver it.
They have
raised tens of thousands of dollars for medical aid, school supplies and
winter clothing for the children of Gaza. But we realize that in addition to
material aid, the Palestinians of Gaza need moral support. The Gaza Freedom
March offers that support on the difficult anniversary of an invasion that
brought them so much suffering.

Sincerely,

***********************************************************

EGYPTIAN CONTACTS:
-Egyptian Embassy in London
Tel: 020 7499 3304/2401
eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg

-Egyptian Consulate
consulate@egyptianconsulate.co.uk

POLITICIANS:
-Jeremy Corbyn (Labour MP for Islington North)
corbynj@parliament.uk
Office phone:
020 7561 7488

-Clare Short (Independent MP for Birmingham Ladywood)
shortc@parliament.uk
020 7219 4264/4148

-David Miliband (Foreign Secretary/Labour MP for South Shields)
milibandd@parliament.uk
(0191) 456 8910

-Foreign & Commonwealth Office Ministerial support team email address
MSU.PublicIn@fco.gov.uk

-Nick Clegg (Leader of Lib Dems, MP for Sheffield Hallam, wrote this piece in the guardian the other day http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/22/lift-the-gaza-blocade-nick-clegg)
nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk
cleggn@parliament.uk

-British Embassy in Egypt
Tel: (20)(2)27916000
information.cairo@fco.gov.uk

NB that MPs are not supposed to help UK citizens who live in other constituencies, but those listed above either have shown a personal interest in Gaza (Short, Corbyn, Clegg) or are the Foreign Secretary (Miliband) so you should perhaps make it clear that this is why you are contacting them, not in their formal duties as MP.

Secondly, a reminder of the vigil outside the Israeli embassy in London tomorrow: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index9b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=62&Content_ID=976 Please come along if you can, this could be helpful for raising awareness of the Convoy and Freedom march inside the UK, which is really something we need to do right now.

I know we are sending out lots of messages but that’s because lots of important information is coming in quickly. We *will* take it easy again when things get back on track—which we hope they will soon. Thank you for your patience!

Season’s greetings,

Sam

Hello all.

You must have received the message from Fred and Nora forwarded earlier today regarding the convoy to Gaza that is currently prevented from entering Egypt. We have also received news from Nora, and up to now, the news is they are still not allowed to Egypt. From what I’ve understood, the Egyptians have said they’ll be allowed to enter the country, if apparently they leave the aid to travel through Israel with the Israelis, they return to Lebanon, and then go from Lebanon to Egypt, hope to be allowed to land from there, and then hope to receive back the aid from the Israelis to take to Gaza. All in all, the ‘offers’ made up to now are merely a publicity stunt by Egypt and Israel to pretend they are allowing aid to pass through while it essentially becomes confiscated and the convoy prevented from finishing its mission.

We need help to pester the media, politicians, and the Egyptians. What we have done is divide up all the email adresses we have into Egyptian contacts, politicians and media. Im giving you the lists below, and further down are three sample letters to send to each of the three ‘categories’. Please, if anybody knows any more contact emails we can use, or Egyptian contacts in other countries outside of Britain (emails can be send from anywhere to anywhere after all) or other media, please send them to us, so we can update the contact lists.

All you have to do is simply send each of the three letters to the emails for the respective target category.

EGYPTIAN CONTACTS:

-Egyptian Embassy in London

Tel: 020 7499 3304/2401

eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg

-Egyptian Consulate

consulate@egyptianconsulate.co.uk

POLITICIANS:

-Jeremy Corbyn (Labour MP for Islington North)

corbynj@parliament.uk

Office phone:

020 7561 7488

-Clare Short (Independent MP for Birmingham Ladywood)

shortc@parliament.uk

020 7219 4264/4148

-David Miliband (Foreign Secretary/Labour MP for South Shields)

milibandd@parliament.uk

(0191) 456 8910

-Foreign & Commonwealth Office Ministerial support team email address

MSU.PublicIn@fco.gov.uk

-Nick Clegg (Leader of Lib Dems, MP for Sheffield Hallam, wrote this piece in the guardian the other day http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/22/lift-the-gaza-blocade-nick-clegg)

nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk

cleggn@parliament.uk

-British Embassy in Egypt

Tel: (20)(2)27916000

information.cairo@fco.gov.uk

NB. the embassy email addresses are only meant for information, so you could include a kind note to forward the message to the appropriate diplomatic staff.

MEDIA

national@guardian.co.uk

foreign@guardian.co.uk

news@observer.co.uk

editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk

reader@guardian.co.uk

reader@observer.co.uk

newseditor@independent.co.uk

foreigneditor@independent.co.uk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4030000/newsid_4032600/4032695.stm

LETTER TO EGYPTIANS

Egyptian Letter:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I would like to express my dismay that you are preventing British / E.U. citizens who have driven many vehicles filled with medical supplies for the people of Gaza from crossing your border.

The Viva Palestina Aid Convoy has enjoyed the support of all the other countries on their long journey across Europe and the Middle East. The convoy’s sole objective is to deliver medical items, such as ambulances, bandages and wheelchairs.

Please let this convoy cross the border in a timely fashion. Please do not redirect the convoy to make this long journey even more difficult for the hundreds of volunteers on a journey of aid and goodwill.

Regards

(your name)

LETTER TO POLITICIANS

Politicians:

[Your address]

Dear ——-

I have been following the progress of a convoy taking aid to the Gaza strip. The convoy consists of over 200 vehicles carrying many thousands of pounds worth of aid, and has been organized by Viva Palestina and Code Pink. Many of the activists taking part have gone from the United Kingdom.

It has recently come to my attention that Egyptian authorities have blocked the progress of the convoy by denying entry to Egypt. The convoy is currently waiting in Jordan to be permitted to board a ferry across the Red Sea. I have heard from one person in the convoy who has decribed how they are cold and have little access to food at the moment.

I am kindly requesting that you use your position and influence to help us persuade the Egyptian authorities to permit the convoy to pass safely. This is very important to me, both for my hope that the people in Gaza will receive the much-needed aid, and also out of concern for my friends in the convoy.

Kind Regards,

LETTER TO MEDIA

Press:

Subject: Please report Gaza convoy.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of Israel’s commencement of its operation ‘Cast Lead’ in which, according to the BBC, about 1,300 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in three weeks. Three Israeli citizens also died in rocket attacks during the operation.

I hope that your publication will be noting this anniversary, and if so I strongly urge you to give news coverage to the Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza, seeking to break the ongoing blockade which a UN special rapporteur has called a “crime against humanity.” http://www.vivapalestina.org/home.htm

The convoy consists of over 200 vehicles; over 200 of the drivers are from the UK (including George Galloway MP). Currently Egyptian authorities are not allowing the convoy to enter and are therefore blocking their progress to Gaza. The convoy is currently in Aqaba hoping to get permission to cross the Red Sea. It would be very helpful if this was mentioned in the UK national press; I and many of my friends are extremely disappointed that it has not yet been. If a correspondent was sent there would be over 500 people willing to give interviews.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Hello all – glad tidings etc.

As you may be aware, I am currently on the Viva Palestina with my co-driver Nora, also from Warwick Uni. We are on a mission to deliver urgently needed supplies and medical aid to the people of Gaza, who are under siege as part of a genocidal long-term strategy by Israel, supported by our government and the USA, as well as Egypt.

We are currently stuck in Aqaba, Jordan, waiting for a ferry to Nuweiba. The Egyptians are preventing us from getting on the ferry and entering Egypt. They have said we are allowed in, but only through Al Arish, on the Mediterranean side. This is simply a chimera. If we comply with this demand, we will be in an even weaker position than we already are – they have also given us a list of conditions for getting into gaza – that we donate all of our aid to UNWRA, that we coordinate with Israel (!!!) and a load of other rubbish. These channels have a terrible track record of getting aid into Gaza. Essentially they are trying to make it impossible for us to get our aid into Gaza.

Therefore I am asking you to put pressure on the Egyptian government in any way you can. The simplest way is to email / phone your local embassy. However, if you have the time and the inclination, you can go further – contact media, press, local organisations, whatever. The main point is to maintain the momentum we already have here in the Arab world, and to cross over into the European news.

The situation we find ourselves in is extremely precarious – we could easily be stuck here for several weeks. If this isn’t a major news story, the Egyptians will not feel the need to let us in. We won’t get to Gaza. The aid we are carrying will be useless. You can make a difference.

Please help, and take the time to do something about this. I have attached a sample email you could send to your local embassy. Putting pressure on English embassies in Egypt will also help.

Thank you, tell all your friends

Fred

linkz:
http://readingpsc.org.uk/convoy/
http://vivapalestina.org/home.htm
http://www.presstv.ir/search.aspx?q=viva%20palestina

This time a group of local jihadist collaborators and their useful idiots have it scheduled for December 30th, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m downtown, in the Skyway, using children as human shields – just like the good jihadist collaborators they are:

We will gather at Hennepin County Government Center Plaza and march through the skyways of downtown Minneapolis to send Obama, the US State Department and Congress a message to pressure the Israeli government to Lift the Siege on Gaza Now! We highly encourage you to bring children of all ages to this event!

Their joke press release continues by quoting Ghandhi:

Gandhi said that the purpose of nonviolent action is to “quicken” the conscience of humankind. Citizens of Minnesota are called upon to stand in solidarity with 1,400 International Peace Activists marching in Gaza-to lift the inhumane siege of Gaza and align ourselves with International Law.

At the same time, they can insure than even more weapons, including missiles, will be smuggled into Gaza. As an added bonus, they will ignore the wall that Egypt is building to stop Hamas from smuggling weapons:

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) — A few hundred Hamas supporters gathered along the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday to protest Egypt’s construction of an underground wall to stem smuggling to the besieged territory.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the wall an “unjustifiable situation” and demanded that its construction be immediately halted.

“This will only lead to the strangulation of our residents and will bring about a real catastrophe in the Gaza Strip,” he told the crowds that assembled in the border town of Rafah near where the wall is being built.

Egypt has only implicitly confirmed the construction of the underground wall, which was first reported by Israeli media, saying it is aimed at protecting its territory from security threats.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said the barrier will reach a depth of 30 metres (100 feet) and will be 10 kilometres long (six miles).

The barrier appears aimed at shutting down the extensive network of smuggling tunnels along the border that have served as a crucial lifeline since Israel and Egypt sealed the territory off from all but vital aid in June 2007 following the Islamist group’s bloody seizure of the territory.

The tunnels are mainly used for food, fuel and household appliances, but Hamas also uses them to import weapons into the territory and send fighters abroad for training.

Egypt has long been mediating between Israel and Hamas and among feuding Palestinian factions, struggling to balance its stated support for the Palestinians with its interest in defusing regional tensions.

Earlier Monday Cairo rejected a request by international activists to organise a march to Gaza via Egypt to mark one year since Israel’s massive military offensive against Hamas.

“Egypt finds it difficult to cooperate with this march considering the sensitive situation in the Gaza Strip,” the foreign ministry said.

Now, where was I…oh, yes. back to the protest.

Who, of note, is endorsing this national and international wine and cheese festival?

None other than Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters (that’s right, Pink Floyd), Howard Zinn, Cindy and Craig Corrie (the parents of Saint Pancake), Oliver Stone, Gore Vidal, Hedy Epstein (who has her status as a Holocaust survivor used in order to to bludgeon the Jews), Jennifer Loewenstein (a sonderkommando in academia at UW Madison), Judith Weisman (Jewish Women to End the Occupation by Israel and Start the Slaughter of Jews by the Arabs, Again), Leslie Cagan (former national coordinator of United for Peace & Justice for Almost Everyone), Medea Benjamin (kapo and cofounder, Global Exchange and CODEPINK), Mieciu Langer (Holocaust survivor – they found another one?), Naomi Klein (sonderkommando and author), Peter Juviler (professor detrius of political science, Barnard College), Phyllis Bennis (author and fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies), Rabbi Arthur Waskow (kapo, Shalom Center), Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb (kapo, Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence), Ralph Nader (attorney, author, lecturer, public health advocate and former presidential candidate, responsible for the election of George Bush), Ramsey Clark (thankfully, former U.S. Attorney General), Sara Roy (another member of American academia, senior research scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University), Tom Hayden (American social and political activist and politician – which is to say – another has-been ’60’s radical).

And that’s just the individuals of note. Just as important, note the company they keep – try Omar Barghouti for starters. He’s one of the founders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Same with the organizations – note well the jihadist and Islamist front groups that are listed on their web site. Here’s a sample, with emphasis on groups in the Unted States:

American Friends Service Committee (Chicago), American Jews for a Just Peace, Americans for Justice in the Middle East, American Association of Jurists (what?), American Iranian Friendship Committee (hah – like the Soviet-American Friendship Committee, right?), ANSWER Coalition, Asian Americans for Peace & Justice (notice how many groups that hate Israel and Jews have “peace” and/or “justice” in their name), Association for Family and Society Development (what?).

BDS National Committee (figures).

Coalition for Jerusalem (without Jews), Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine (I threw that one in from their list as an illustration of who these people are), National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba (how dare the Jews establish their own country – without the permission of the Arabs), Palestine Israel Committee of the Western New York Peace Center, Presbytery of The United Church of Canada (as they probably lose even more parishioners like the rest of leftist Christianity), Boston BDS, Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, Brampton Coalition for Peace and Justice, Brooklyn For Peace, Catalyst Project (whoever they are in San Francisco), Coalition of Women for Peace, CODEPINK, Committee for an Open Discussion of Zionism (I can only imagine), Community Change, Inc. (probably another member of the non-profit industry in Boston who specializes in writing grant requests).

Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Democratic National Law Foundation – Gaza (that’s good one – like “Queers for Palestine”), Development Horizons Association, Dorchester People for Peace, El-Basma Association for the Rehabilitation and Support of Mental Paralysis (when cured, they leave fundamentalist Islam), Faculty for Israel-Palestinian Peace – International and U.S., Fellowship of Reconciliation (another good one), Friends Association of Folks with Special Needs (disabled Quakers like jihadists, so it seems), Friends of Sabeel – North America (Christian dhimmis), Friends of the Visually Impaired Association (a/k/a “The Blind Leading the Blind for Gaza”).

Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Inc. – USA (when cured, they don’t blow themselves up), Global Exchange, Global Help Initiative for Palestine, Grassroots International, Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace (there’s that “peace” and “justice” again).

Independent Jewish Voices – Canada, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network – Headquarters and Canada (these are particularly filthy kapos), International Solidarity Movement – Chicago and Northern California chapters (figures), Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) – Israel, UK, USA (allows jihadists to keep their houses for weapons smuggling), Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews Say No (to bagels and lox with mustard).

Khadem el-Haramein Centre for the Quran and Sunna (there you go – a real peace and justice group – and included to make a point), Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (rejected), Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Michigan Peace Team, National Lawyers Guild (say hello to Jordan Kushner, their Minneapolis hack).

New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, Nonviolence International – Washington D.C. (now that’s what I call an irreconcilable contradiction), Oakland Institute, Palestine Task Force, Boston United for Justice with Peace, Peace Action (shame), Progressive Democrats of America (pathetic shame), Project Voice – AFSC New England (more quacky Quakers).

Rachel “Saint Pancake” Corrie Foundation, Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence (unbelievable, isn’t it?), United for Peace and Justice, Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (WHAT???? The Unitarians? OMG…ed. note).

Veterans for Peace – MN, Chapter 27, Veterans for Peace National Board, Veterans for Peace – NYC, Chapter 34, Voices for Creative Nonviolence (supporting weapons smuggling by an exterminationist military organization qualifies as “creative nonviolence, so it would appear), War Resisters International, War Resisters League, WESPAC Foundation, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, Women in Black – Los Angeles.

There are groups in the above list that have branches here in Minnesota. You are, as they say, being watched for your pro-jihadist activities. Carefully.

BTW: here’s the twitter channel ( http://twitter.com/MinnesotaToGaza ) and email address ( mn.to.gaza@gmail.com ) for the Minnesota Gaza march.

Post or email to those addresses as often as necessary. And then post or email again. And again, just to get your point across.

Well, you know the Taliban?

We’ve received another update from the Viva Palestina convoy and the students attending. If you are not receiving the updates yourselves, you can get them send to you on facebook, by joining the relevant group (see link below).

I’m attaching the update below.Please remember to help us much as you can in publicizing the convoy.  Even if you cannot contact newspapers or politicians, you can still send messages and emails to your friends, invite them to the facebook group or the blog, update on twitter or facebook, or  any other social networking site you belong to, or even just talk to people. Also remember that you can still donate to the group.

If you would like to become more involved in publicity and you did NOT attend the publicity workshop at the end of the term or been assigned a specific contact to try to reach, please send us an email and we’ll see if there’s a way you can help more directly.

You can follow the concoy from its blog website at: http://studentlifelinetogaza.blogspot.com

on at the facebok group:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=188973921044

on twitter: http://twitter.com/WarwickInGaza

If you want to make a donation, still VERY important, please click here:

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_us/send_money

then enter the email address fredsters_s@mac.com and send!

Follow the Convoy through press.tv at: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113929&sectionid=351020202

For the Viva Palestina website: http://vivapalestina.org

The Update:

____________________________________________________________________________

I was on the phone to Nora yesterday. They are well and at the time of speaking to her, she was sat in the van at the Jordan crossing, waiting to pass. They had been there for a couple of hours and Fred has snuck over to another van to play Playstation.

Apparently Syrians received them extremely well, offering accommodation and providing a great morale boost with their generous and warm welcome. The drive through Syria was calm, but Jordan may pose some troubles.

The only Arab countries to have signed agreements with Israel are Egypt and Jordan. The convoy explicitly implies “no deal with Israel”, to which Jordan must react. In a way they are obliged to, as a result of the deal with Israel.

Hours later I stumble across this article, which details the events following my phone conversation with Nora. As predicted, Jordan did cause the convoy some troubles.

As not predicted, however, many Jordanian civilians protested against the Jordanian police’s treatment of Viva Palestina, taking to the streets to support the convoy. Eventually the police let Nora, Fred and all other vehicles through.

Now our friends are in Jordan, creeping ever closer to the Gaza border. The Egyptians have released this statement:

“any attempts to violate the law or public order by any group, whether local or foreign, on Egyptian soil will be dealt with in conformity with the law”

Is it a psychological threat? Are the Egyptians standing up to us just like Jordan stood up to the convoy? We do not know.

I wonder in amazement at the sheer force and power that collective agreement or disagreement can have, just look at the people in Jordan. Please support the convoy as much as you can through word of mouth or by writing to your local MP or newspaper. The more support it receives the greater its effect.

Check out the blog: http://studentlifelinetogaza.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/WarwickInGaza

CAIRO – December 21 – Citing escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us on December 20 that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,360 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we’ve encountered—and overcome–before.  No delegation, large or small, that has entered Gaza over the past 12 months has received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border.  Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah.  Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and to march in Gaza on December 31 against the international blockade. We are continuing the journey.

Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world will be hearing by phone, fax and email from delegates and the supporters of the Gaza Freedom March  over the coming crucial days, with the clear message: Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

Many delegates are already in Cairo and more are arriving daily. Delegates cancelled holiday plans months ago to come on the Gaza Freedom march and air tickets were purchased. We anticipate that virtually all of the 1,360 delegates will come to Cairo.

Because of the incredible humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the Israeli attack on Gaza a year ago and by the international siege on Gaza, we feel morally obligated to continue our mission to bring more international attention to the plight of the 1.5 million people imprisoned in Gaza.

For more information:

Ann Wright
019 508 1493 (cairo), microann@yahoo.com

Medea Benjamin medea@globalexchange.org
US +1.415-235-6517 Cairo 0189561919

Ehab Lotayef  lotayef@gmail.com
Canada +1.514.941.9792   Cairo 017 638-2628

Haidar Eid  haidareid@yahoo.com
Gaza +972 599 441 766

###

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects foreign policies based on domination and aggression, and instead calls for policies based on diplomacy, compassion and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

(CNN) — Another wartime Christmas week has arrived.

Yet on the streets of the United States, it often feels as if this is a nation that has half-forgotten that its sons and daughters are in combat.

Not literally, of course; Americans are intellectually aware that the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq continue. And for the families of the young soldiers, sailors, Marines and aviators in combat zones, the wars never go away, even for a single tick of the clock.

But the lack of shared sacrifice during these war years — the sense that those of us at home go on with our lives pretty much as usual while the men and women who have volunteered to be in uniform risk their own lives anew with each rising of the sun — is a notion that is especially acute during the holiday season.

How have our lives changed during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? What has residing in an America at war done to the texture of daily life?
–
Where’s the shared sacrifice of war?
by Bob Greene.

Mr. Greene, we have endured countless protests by the left, crying crocodile tears over the causalities of the war and the “suffering” of US troops and their families.

Greene goes on and on about war time rationing and restrictions. Newspapers would run stories on it, ration cupons were a part of everyday life. Nylon, silk, rubber, metal, things we take for granted toady were drafted into an effort to beat the Axis was machine. They became scarce during the war, shortages were common. Something never seen in the postwar years.

There was more to the war than rationing. The technology of the day still required massive man power. Ships took hundres of men to keep them running. Mechanics, welders, truck drivers, carpenters, plumbers were all drafted to make the army run. It was a rule of thumb that for every soldier or marine with a ruck sack and a rifle, seven other service members made his job possible.

Now one of the left’s favorite boogymen is the “permanent war economy”, that means US industry is geared for war. This came about due to President Dwight Eisenhower ’s farewell address. The “military-industrial complex” was his warning about President-elect Kennedy and his rhetoric. He fears the JFk would run the US headlong into war with the USSR.

See the US had to build up it’s military to face the USSR. Their used to be several Army divisions, Air Force Wings, Navy ships and overseas bases the US had to fight the cold war if it got hot.

Between the wars, the US downsized it’s forces, reverting back to the model of the last century. A small professional force augmented by the state militias (the national guard). After the war, most thinkers figured that we’d be fighting the massive red hoards. So we did not cut back as massively as we did after WWI. We did another round of cut backs after the USSR fell apart in the 90’s.

Elvis Presley served in the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division. That unit fought in Desert Storm then was deactivated. Just one example of the post Cold war draw down.

Technology improved. Of all the causalities in Europe, 1/4 of those belonged to the US Army Air Force’s 8th Air Force. To bomb a factory took waves and waves of bombers. Flash forward to the Vietnam war era. To destory the Bridge at the Dragon’s Jaw took a flight (5-6 aircraft) a fe laser guided bombs. We lost lots of pilots in Vietnam, don’t get we wrong. But the “War of a Million Sorties” was nowhere near as costly as WWII, the firepower was greater.

And so we come to the War on Terror. The US military is growing, WITHOUT a draft. We need men and women with technical skills, not bodies. The “permanent war economy” actually produces the internet and other peace dividends. It makes it possbile for Greene to enjoy this holiday season with out worrying about the war.

Yes, to those of you who have been there, those of you down range and those with loved ones over there, it seems strange. Like a dream. That we can enjoy “normal” with a war on.

But that’s the point.

While the left bitches about the “new normal”, moaning about security measures and drone strikes, we are safe.
Rough men and women are doing violence on our behalf with more firepower than any WWII general could have dreamed of. A Private in the Army today knows more than a sergeant did in WWII. His platoon has access to more firepower than an entire battalion of WWII soldiers.

Times have changed, for the better. That’s the real lesson of WWII, Mr. Greene. Thanks to the hard work of the WWII, cold war generations and this generation of service members, leaders, scientists and engineers, we can be free.

Your Welcome Mr. Greene

As most of you may know, most of our activity at the start of the year has been focused on charity collection to support the convoy trying to break into Gaza this December. 2 of the Warwick students attending are already on their way traveling all the way through Europe then the Middle East, while another 2 will be joining them soon in Egypt.

We’ll be trying to keep you updated with the movement of the convoy as it nears Gaza – please, please, please, remember to pester your papers, local politicians and anybody and everybody you know to try and raise awareness of the convoy. Facebook messages, status updates, twitter, emails, blogs, if there is any way you can help to raise awareness, your help would be most appreciated. If you have any friends who you think would also want to help, let them know as well.

You can follow the concoy from its blog website at: http://studentlifelinetogaza.blogspot.com

on at the facebok group:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=188973921044

on twitter: http://twitter.com/WarwickInGaza

If you want to make a donation, still VERY important, please click here:

https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_us/send_money

then enter the email address fredsters_s@mac.com and send!

Follow the Convoy through press.tv at: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113929&sectionid=351020202

For the Viva Palestina website: http://vivapalestina.org

Finally, below is the latest update from the convoy.

It was a tired but happy Nora I got on the phone, after my 127^th attempt to reach her UK mobile this evening from my snowbound home in Copenhagen. Can’t even put words to the incredible feeling of relief and excitement I got when I finally heard her voice!

They were both safe and intact – though Nora explained how her ONE pair of jeans started to smell of puke (I promised her Kat and I would bring her an extra clean pair!) and her hair was turning into one massive dread, whilst bearded Fred was turning into a Santa look alike. I heard him joking in the background that it would probably make him blend in perfectly well with the local people in Gaza. Nora said they’d had to spend many sleepless nights in the van, as the cold weather conditions weren’t suitable for tents. However, despite the tough trucker lifestyle, Nora said they were still having an incredible time with the rest of the Viva Palestina team and with all the wonderful support they had been receiving along the way they were only getting more and more motivated to reach their final destination in Gaza.

The convoy has now safely arrived in Turkey, Istanbul, where they received a truly unforgettable reception. Hundreds of people stayed up till 3-4am standing outside in the cold and rain on the motorway to wave and greet the Convoy vehicles as they arrived at the Turkish borders, and provide them with food and accommodation.

Nora told me that the convoy received massive support by the people in Istanbul- political as well as practical, providing everyone with food and accommodation. In Istanbul there have been lots of press conferences, rallies through the city and speeches by MP George Galloway. Turkish National TV is reporting live coverage as the convoy moves through their towns. A lot of Turkish supporters have given the Viva Palestina convoy very generous donations of aid, and a huge numbers of Turkish vehicles have joined the convoy doubling the convoy size to around 200 vehicles!

The next stop is Ankara, and from there the convoy will be heading on towards the Syrian borders. Nora says calmly that she believes Syria should hopefully be a safe drive-through.

The latest news is that the Convoy has received a warning letter from the Egyptian authorities that no aid vehicles will be allowed past the Egyptian borders and that they will use all means to stop the convoy from entering Egypt. Nora explained how this was especially worrying as the last Viva Palestina Convoy’s border-crossing in Egypt got really violent.

Fortunately, MP David Miliband has contacted the Egyptians to request safe passage for the convoy.

Nora, Fred and the rest of the Viva Palestina team urges everyone to help get the word out and contact media. It would especially be helpful to put pressure on the BBC Middle East Correspondent to come to Egypt to cover the Convoy’s arrival at the Egyptian borders, to pressure the Egyptians to let them pass by safely.

Nora and Fred both send you all their love and biggest thanks for all your support. They are deeply sorry they haven’t been able to update you more frequently themselves, but they have sadly had very limited access to internet. Next time they get the chance they promise to try to upload some of the many million photos they have taken so far.

Until then, please make sure to follow updates from the Viva Palestina Convoy on: http://readingpsc.org.uk/convoy/

Peace,

Marie

Using a $26 program from Russia, some insurgents have been able to view the video from US drones:

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.

Not control mind you. Those links are encrypted. The DOD wanted those video feeds to have as wide a distribution as possible. The only way to do that was to use commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronics and unencrypted links. Many assumed that the terrorists did not have the know how.

In from the Cold puts that baby to bed:

It’s another testament to our hubris–the same mindset that (prior to World War II) assured us that the Japanese could never produce–let alone fly–a first-class fighter, and that the B-17 would not require fighter escort to reach enemy targets. In both cases, the cost of our arrogance was measured in human lives.

The response has been muted, at least out in public:

“What do you mean the ‘compromise of the data’,” Deptula says. “Nothing is compromised. I want to get information out to the joint forces on the ground, you follow me? If someone does pick [the video feed] up and they don’t know the context of how the information is being used, what’s the compromise?”

Deptula also says the military has been aware of the vulnerability first reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal.

“We’re talking about interception of signals that are broadcast over the air – duh,” Deptula says.

– Hacked Predator video no concern: USAF intel chief
By Stephen Trimble

What has happened, to some extent, is that the media smells a scandal. The fable of low-tech insurgents beating the high tech US military started in Vietnam. That story was false. The North Vietnamese had lots of help from the USSR. From SAM sites, to intel ships off the coast that spotted US aircraft. And lots of massive shipments of arms and equipment.

But the media likes to believe the myth. That’s why this story has some legs. The reality is that the signals were broadcast over a wide area, and anyone with a receiver could have picked them up. The terrorists needed Iranian help. That’s what matters. Many in the Obama administration think that we can deal with these maniacs.

They’re wrong.

That Iran had been exploiting this vulnerability speaks volumes over the shortsightedness of the DOD, the Bush and Obama administrations.

While the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan would not find much use, for Iran, Syria, China and Russia (who sells tech to nations we don’t like) this was a goldmine. They now know how we operate our UAV’s (and sensors on our aircraft too).

No UAV’s were “hacked”, the control signals are narrow band, encrypted and they don’t have the tech for that. The danger lies in future operations being compromised by our present shortsightedness.

I just listened to an interview with Sue Niederer [mp3 ~ 2009.11.24] of Gold Star Families for Peace on Radio Free Mississippi.

Ms Niederer’s son was killed while occupying Iraq, and then she became anti-war. She was accused of assaulting Laura Bush when she asked her when the Bush daughters were going to join the army. She was featured in Martin Sheen’s Obama propaganda piece, Finding Our Voices: Stories of American Dissent.

Niederer hates Christians and Southerners. A few times in the interview she made fun of the Southern accent, and said “I really cannot stand the Southern people,” because of their ignorance and belligerence. She also says that Christians are ignorant. To be fair, she seems to be referring to those apostates who follow the Jewish lies of the Untermyer-Schiff-Scofield “Bible”.

The interviewer himself hates those he calls “Christians”, meaning those Jew-enslaved apostate fools who insult Christ and humanity.

Niederer says that she is now discovering the beautiful core of her Judaic faith. She says many Jews supported the Iraq War because they can shake a shekel or two out of it:

“Honestly, my own people [Jews, not Americans], a lot were supporting of the war. And that’s because they say ‘Jews are business people, and you know, economics’ — they get money through war efforts.”

They must think she’s a dumb cow for sending her Jewish son to do the goyims’ job. he says,

She is offended by Code Pink because they protest the Jews’ holocaust in Gaza.

Niederer used to protest, and demand an end to “the war”. After so vehemently opposing Bush, she says her group is now,

“trying to wait, to see what President Obama is going to be doing. Okay? And this has created some of us to sit back a little bit,to see what is going on, and to give him the opportunity to  try to get us out of Iraq, and to at least try to figure out — do we continue on in Afghanistan, or do we turn around and just get of Afghanistan too.”

Her group’s website has been inactive since Obama was elected. The last sporadic posting was in March, 2009. Serious activity ended in 2008.

When asked about any connection between Israel/Zionism and the war in Iraq, Niederer said:

“I never really equated the two, nor really thought too much about it. The only thing I can say is that any president who does not support Israel, in general, is going to have a very, very rough time. Because Israel is the protector of the United States. Without Israel, we would have an extremely rough time. So, our country has to support Israel, as Israel supports us. … Israel is our protector. Without Israel, this country becomes very uncovered, and our protector is not there.”

This is a strange way to describe America’s worst enemy, especially after 9-11.

Dead in the Water, continued in the Comments section…

Powerline has two take-downs of a proposed shield law.

Quoting the proposed law:

(iii) in a criminal investigation or prosecution of an unauthorized disclosure of properly classified information by a person with authorized access to such information, such unauthorized disclosure has caused or will cause significant and articulable harm to the national security;

A reader shoots back:

A really bad, totally unnecessary law. I ran a prosecutor’s office for many years, and I can count on the fingers of one hand (and still have one or two fingers left over) the number of times I authorized the issuance of a subpoena to a reporter, and I think in my own cases I only did it twice in 18 years

So what we have here is a law designed to protect Big Media and their lefty fellow travelers. The irony is that if Climate Gate had happened here, this law would have protected the hackers from penalties.

Someday a reporter or news outlet will hurt American troops, the government or expose us all to a terrorist attack. And since the average American knows little about the working of Government (military or civilian), a simple misunderstanding could be used by the left to make a mountain out of every molehill. (remember the “assassination program” that got no further than a paper study?). The tinfoil hat crowd will have a field day.

This law is a bone tossed to a lap dog press by the Democrats. They’re paying them back for getting their help in November. And I bet that a leak that hurts the current white house will be found to cause “significant and articulable harm” to the left’s poll numbers national security.

In other news, the anti-war crowd is burning out. A protest against Afghanistan only attracted 300 people. Not even the LA Times was impressed.

“People are burned out,” explained the rally’s organizer, Laurie Dobson. As she and other antiwar activists struggle to remake their movement, they also acknowledge there are obstacles.– La Times

Some media outlets are pumping up the numbers of protesters to 1500, but even on Matthis Chiroux’ Facebook page World Can’t Wait admits to only 300; –This Aint Hell

It was always about Bush, Anti-Americanism and communist propaganda. They were never intrested in the suffering of the people of Iraq, Afghanistan or the 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11.

The Al-Qaeda/Taliban death cult has killed or maimed more people than the US military has. We liberated two nations, despite the cut and run brigade. The left said that Afghanistan was the “good war”. They lied. They hate all wars started by the US or involving the US. Wars started by anti-western forces are just fine with them.

With no draft, the lazy jaded youth have no reason to cut class and hit the streets. While they try to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the US Army goes rolling along….

Code Pink in action

When pacifists (i.e., dingbats) take to the streets to protest war, they do so not because they genuinely long for peace.

In fact, I invite anyone who genuinely believes these sign carrying, spoiled brat noisemakers in hot pink demonstration smocks actually care about peace to stand on his or her head while balancing fiery coals on the soles of their feet.

If they really did, they would embrace the United States military.

They protest because, first and foremost, they want American soldiers to withdraw from whatever theater of engagement they happen to be in - but not because they care about the slaughtering of innocents by totalitarians. To the contrary, they are absolutely willing to let bad people do whatever they’re going to do to innocents as long as America stays out of it. (Cambodia, Rwanda, come to mind).

The peace movement is about anything but peace.

Rarely (if ever) will these born-to-protest enthusiasts direct their colorful banners and rally rhyming schemes at someone like Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. You won’t often see these flower-in-your-hair socially conscious do-nothings speak out against ethnic cleansing overseas, or terrorist attacks on innocent civilians. Indeed, they’re willing to travel across the country to shake their fists at Americans willing to fight for what’s right, but never find themselves traveling overseas to speak out against whatever oppression they find unworthy of their time and effort.

Code Pink is one of the better known anti-war organizations in the country. They’re pacifists – meaning they’re morally bankrupt cowards. Just a glance at their website reveals everything from “Arrest the War Criminals” banners to calls for the arrest of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, blah, blah, blah. Their misguided, out-of-context, leftist drek is far too extensive to catalogue here. Safe to say, they are immeasurably wrong on each issue they address – unless irrational, emotion-based, bumper-sticker cognition with no practical real-world meaning is your thing.

The question is … how long until Code Pink, and other white flag waving cowards, call for the arrest of Leftist-in-Chief, Barack Obama?

Perhaps they’re on their way.

On their website is a link to their “Woman Say NO to the Escalation“ web page (referring to the war in Afghanistan), which features the following graphic:

From their website:

*UPDATE* The White House called to let us know that they had been receiving too many emails from us! So keep them coming!

Whether or not you voted for Barack Obama, this escalation of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan is not the HOPE he promised.

“If Obama is really honest with the Afghan people, he must apologize and end this tragic drama of the so-called war on terror, end this occupation. Democracy never comes by the barrel of a gun, or by cluster bombs.” –Malalai Joya, 11/07/09

Really, Ms. Joya?

I invite her, and the members of Code Pink, to look up and read about the American War for Independence (i.e., The Revolutionary War).

If I recall … something about guns, fighting tyranny, building a democracy…

Maybe they ought to brush up a bit on German and Japan and the aftermath of World War II.

-

President Obama has announced his strategy of sending 30,000 troops (short the 10,000 GEN McChrystal wanted).

But there have been many missteps. And the left is turning on the President, despite saying (during the Iraq War) that Afghanistan is the “just war.”

Outside West Point. On MSNBC.

And the biggest (and I mean biggest) political gadfly Michael Moore had this to say:

MOORE: No. That didn’t work in Vietnam. It’s not going to work in Iraq. It was interesting to hear him essentially praise the Bush policy in Iraq and how it succeeded. I mean, it was really bizarre to hear him say some of these things. And I have to tell you, Larry, I hate to be even saying these things because I honestly think Barack Obama is a good and decent man. He has a good heart. I believe he’s a man of peace. I was thrilled that he won the [Nobel] Peace Prize. So to see him make this mistake- I don’t think there’s any kind of evil or dark place in his heart that- where this is coming from. I just think that he’s listened to the generals.

Of course the President listened to the Generals. That’s what the generals are for! Only in the left’s fantasy land can troops magically be shifted to Afghanistan duringt he battels for Iraq (or magically come home in a few months with out the 100 mile long convoy of doom ‘cut and run’ would have required).

Now that the president is trying to fight the war, the left just turns on him.

“Obama’s escalation in Afghanistan is the last in a string of disappointments. His flip-flopping acceptance of the military coup in Honduras has squandered the trust of Latin America. His Wall Street bailout leaves the poor, the unemployed, minorities and college students on their own. And now comes the Afghanistan-Pakistan decision to escalate the stalemate, which risks his domestic agenda, his Democratic base, and possibly even his presidency.”
Granolakrieg!– Jules Crittenden quotes 60’s leftover Tom Hayden

They don’t hate war (the left was silent when Russia invaded Georgia and used ballistic missiles on their cities). They don’t hate killing (the left is silent on suicide bombers, some western profs even write poems to them*). they hate the US, the US military and for some reason seem to want to use their freedoms to take away ours.

The anti-war left was never about being anti-war. It was always about power. Now that the President is using his war powers to act, they turn on him.

*–Yes, Google the name of Ayat al-Akhras and you’ll find the sickening ode to her murders.

Sheehan and Vet "working it out."

Anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan, has got a real talent for pissing people off. Here we see an angry old vet getting up in her grill. But Cindy wasn’t havin’ it. So she gave him a piece of her mind, Sheehan-Style.

Disclaimer: The photo above has been altered from 3rd party sources

“Though its leaders benignly present themselves to the public as ordinary, concerned women who would simply rather “wage peace” than go to war, this group was in fact founded by four experienced activists and hardcore communists – Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin, Diane Wilson, and a radical Wiccan activist calling herself Starhawk. Code Pink works closely with United For Peace and Justice, whose leader Leslie Cagan is a longtime devotee of Fidel Castro and the Socialist Party USA.”

“Another Code Pink ally is Medea Benjamin’s group Global Exchange, which has strong ties to the communist Workers World Party. Imbued with a deep hatred for the United States and capitalism in general, Benjamin is a pro-Castro activists who lived in Cuba (and was married to a Cuban) was a principal organizer of the 1999 Seattle riots in which some 50,000 protesters wreaked havoc and tried to shut down the World Trade Organization meetings.”

The latest attack. They have NO respect for our Veterans at all.

“Throughout the 1990s, in fact, many of the Marxists currently working for Code Pink were busy organizing anti-free trade protests – some of them violent – and filing numerous high-profile lawsuits that forced American corporations to spend enormous sums of money to defend themselves. When we examine the backgrounds of Code Pink’s major players, we find that they have very little in common with “average, everyday, concerned” American women or activists just interested in peace.”

“Jodie Evans, for instance, sits on the board of directors of the Rain Forest Action Network (RAN), a coalition of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate environmentalist groups. RAN’s co-founder Michael Roselle also founded the Earth Liberation Front, which the FBI ranks alongside the Animal Liberation Front as the foremost domestic terrorism threats in the United States. According to the FBI, during the past seven years those two groups have been responsible for more than 600 criminal acts and $43 million in damages. And in 1985, Code Pink spokeswoman Sand Brim, who was then the executive director of Medical Aid, flew an American neurosurgeon to San Salvador to operate on the combat-wounded hand of Marxist Revolutionary Party Commander Nidia Diaz, whose group had recently murdered four American Marines and nine civilians. (MASH star and celebrity “antiwar” activist Mike Farrell assisted in the general’s surgery.)”

“Code Pink now consists of more than 90 chapters in numerous American cities and such far-flung nations as Costa Rica, Norway, and India. Mocking the Bush Administration’s color-coded security alerts, the “Code Pink Alert” warns that this administration poses “extreme danger to all the values of nurturing, caring, and compassion that women and loving men have held.” Professing their commitment to “wage peace,” Code Pink members see no justification for war under any circumstances – where the U.S. is concerned.”

Code Pink calls marines war criminals!!!

In addition to scorning America’s military action in Iraq, Code Pink members also condemn the racism, sexism, poverty, corporate corruption, and environmental degradation they claim are rampant in the U.S. In this respect, Code Pink is like other prominent “peace” movements in our country – portraying America as a moral cesspool and an imperialist aggressor, while remaining mute about whatever barbarities occur anywhere else on earth. Not even the pre-war atrocities of Saddam Hussein drew a scintilla of condemnation from Code Pink.

Proclaiming that “women have been the guardians of life . . . (I wonder if they are Pro-Life? lol) because the men have busied themselves making war,” Code Pink calls on “women around the world to rise up and oppose the war in Iraq. We call on mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters . . . and every ordinary outraged woman willing to be outrageous for peace.” During one Code Pink demonstration in Washington, D.C., participants marched up the steps of the Capitol, unfurled their slogan-bearing banners, and stripped down to the dove-adorned bras and panties they wore beneath their clothes. “We’re putting our bodies on the line,” they shouted. “You Congresspeople better get some spine. We say ‘Stand back, don’t attack – innocent children in Iraq!’” Another popular chant was, “We don’t want your oil war. Peace is what we’re calling for!”

“We choose pink,” they say, “the color of roses, the beauty that like bread is food for life; the color of the dawn of a new era when cooperation and negotiation prevail over force.” Such women obstinately refuse to acknowledge that they are free to wax poetic in this manner only because others before them won their security by fighting the very real enemies that sought to destroy our civilization. Moreover, they despise the very society for which those men gave their lives.”

“In addition to her Code Pink duties, Jodie Evans also sits on the advisory board of the International Occupation Watch (IOW) center in Iraq, which Code Pink helped establish. The organizers of Occupation Watch – Medea Benjamin and Leslie Cagan — explicitly declared their purpose in setting up headquarters in Baghdad was thin U.S. forces by getting soldiers to declare themselves conscientious objectors.”

“IOW also monitors American abuses during the reconstruction of Iraq. Implying that America’s true motivation for attacking Iraq was to seize its oil fields, IOW proudly asserts its intent to “advocate for the Iraqis’ right to control their own resources, especially oil.” No mention is made of the fact that, for decades, Iraq’s oil was controlled, not by Iraqis,  but by Saddam Hussein for – largely for his own aggrandizement. IOW further purports to be “a watchdog regarding the military occupation and U.S.-appointed government, including possible violations of human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly.” Again, no mention is made of the fact that these are American concepts that had not seen the light of day in Iraq since the moment Saddam first rose to power.”

Code Pink Blocks Recruiting Center Entrance

“Clearly, Code Pink is but another in a long line of “peace” groups whose main goal is to blame the United States for every conceivable international crisis. If peace were indeed Code Pink’s chief concern, surely it would be able to find something to say about wars elsewhere in the world. If “nurturing, caring, and compassion” were in fact what Evans and her ilk cared about, surely they would utter at least a few words about human rights abuses in some nation other than the United States. Instead they trace all of humanity’s afflictions to the doorstep of America.”

“As a far leftist, Evans has found a comfortable political home in the Democratic Party.….”

“In short, Evans’ posturing as a champion of human decency is nothing more than a political battering ram selectively aimed only at those with whom she disagrees. Similarly, her posturing as a woman deeply devoted to “peace” is but a mask for her real agenda: the blanket condemnation not only of our nation’s foreign policy, but its very way of life.”

Code Pink Calls Our Soldiers Terrorists

John Perazzo is the Managing Editor of DiscoverTheNetworks and is the author of The Myths That Divide Us: How Lies Have Poisoned American Race Relations. For more information on his book, click here. E-mail him at WorldStudiesBooks@gmail.com

http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=15107

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Here is Code Pink Liberal propaganda. (Notice the words PEACE, Social Justice, Green Jobs, commitment to INTERNATIONAL LAW, and the best for last, commitment to NON-Violence!)

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects foreign policies based on domination and aggression, and instead calls for policies based on diplomacy, compassion and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/codepink

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CODE PINK BEATS A HASTY RETREAT

Code Pink, the radical anti-war guerilla group that has hounded wounded troops outside Walter Reed Army Hospital, won’t be monopolizing its street corner for quite some time. Seems they forgot to renew their permit….

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/01/23/code-pink-beats-a-hasty-retreat/

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Code Pink co-founder is Obama bundler

A co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, which has made a name for itself by interrupting hearings on Capitol Hill, is a fundraising bundler for Barack Obama.

Jodie Evans has pledged to raise at least $50,000 for Obama, according the Democrat’s campaign site…..

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0608/Code_Pink_cofounder_is_Obama_bundler.html

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Jodie Evans: Code Pink founder, Obama bundler, Osama apologist

….”Ibbetson tries to explain that we hadn’t done anything to provoke the 9/11 attacks by saying we hadn’t invaded Afghanistan. Evans replies that we were in Saudi Arabia, which to her gave al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden a rational reason to kill thousands of Americans in terrorist attacks. Note that she says, “I don’t think any terrorist attack is justified,” and then says we should listen to Osama bin Laden and change our policies because — “Sometimes, it would be a good idea to listen to why someone is trying to blow you up”…..

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/12/jodie-davis-code-pink-founder-obama-bundler-osama-apologist/

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Code Pink Activists Taunt Wounded Soldiers

It’s not easy for an organization that raised money for al Qaeda to find new lows, but Code Pink is doing its level best — or rather worst….

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2005/08/code_pink_activ.html

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Pete hegseth From Vets For Freedom Takes On Code Pink

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The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Cindy Sheehan, Against War? Not So Much Anymore

I like finding examples of left wing media bias as much as the next guy but I suppose that guy would have to be another right wing nut job like me in order to enjoy it as much as I do. Anyway, over the weekend I was watching all the hype for the big Obama Afghanistan announcement on Tuesday when I saw a little gem of a news story on Headline News. There she was, the former darling of the left wing press, Ms. anti-war Cindy Sheehan herself, leading a huge war protest in front of Travis Air Force Base outside of Sacramento, CA.

Except Ms. Sheehan’s protest really wasn’t all that huge. It looked like Cindy and about seven or eight of her aging hipster friends had gotten some gas money together, made a few signs and a rented U Haul truck for a trip from the Bay Area up to Sacto. To be honest I felt a little sad for Cindy, I think I could get more people over to my house for an Amway meeting. I didn’t see how less than a dozen people doing anything would rate national news time. However, Ms. Cindy was getting more air than on HLN that the entire 9/12 demonstration did and though we may disagree about how many folks were there, I think we can all agree it was a little more than twelve.

Maybe she was getting face time because there was a counter protest? One old veteran put on his uniform and came out to confront Ms. Sheehan. This guy of about 80 was giving the protesters a severe tongue lashing. To try to silence his dissidence Ms. Peace and Love put her bullhorn about an inch from his face and kept talking. The old guy batted it away was and was instantly demonized for “slapping” Ms. Sheehan. She was demanding to anyone who would listen that he be arrested for assault.

Then something odd struck me, she and her Code Pink friends weren’t really protesting the war. They were protesting the use of drones to kill enemy scumbags. To Ms. Sheehan’s credit until then she has never quit protesting the war.  What happened was that she quit getting coverage. When she would show up in Crawford with her ragtag band of merry pranksters they would be outnumbered by adoring media types ten-to-one. She got her sour puss on all the CNN and MSNBC chat fests. Then Obama, the anti- war President happened and all of the media went away. Her campout at Martha’s Vineyard this past summer during Mr. Obama’s vacation brought hardly a mention and that was on the evil Fox News.

Now her protest isn’t against the President’s lack of action on his promises to the hard left, oh no! Nor is it against the war itself. Her protest is now Obama friendly! In order to get back in the limelight she isn’t protesting the war she is protesting “drones.” I think she actually said something to the effect that the use of unmanned drones weren’t fair. I guess Ms. Sheehan think if we need to clean out some rat hole of terrorist we should do it in a more sporting manner.

Now that she isn’t protesting “the war” which on Tuesday became President Obama’s war, she is back on the good list with the liberal media. I expect to see Cindy and company all around the liberal media protesting that mean old Air Force and their use of unfair drones. I wouldn’t hold my breath for any anti-Obama rhetoric!