international

Throughout its brief but dramatic history the United States has employed an arsenal of myths to create the impression in the minds of its citizens and the world that it is unique and superior among nations and peoples of the world. These myths played an important role in the early expansion of the United States from a republic formed from 13 colonies to the international Goliath that new straddles the world.

For decades defenders of the Palestinian peoples right to establish a state of their own have had to face the inevitable question that is raised by defenders of the Israeli state that occupies Palestinian land. That question is: "Does Israel Have The Right To Exist"? This question is the official line of the Israeli state whenever they are criticized for excessive and disproportionate military responses to Palestinian resistance.

Israeli commandos attacked a flotilla of ships from the Free Gaza Movement carrying food, medical equipment, and building materials to besieged Gaza. Gaza has been blocked by Israel and Egypt since June 2007, denying basic goods to 1.5 million people.

On May 5th, all hell broke loose in Athens, Greece. Tens of thousands of people of all political stripes flooded the streets to protest the government’s reduction of public sector wages, cuts to pensions, and the rollback of pro-labor laws. In the midst of these riotous demonstrations, the firebombing of Marfin Bank, allegedly by anarchists, resulted in the deaths of three of its employees from suffocation.

Among the diverse array of angry Greeks protesting austerity and capitalism are of course dogs. One particular dog, who calls himself Loukanikos, has taken to the streets he lives on to join the mobs. Barking at police, inhaling copious amounts of tear gas and chasing rubber bullets, Louk apparently hasn't missed an Athens riot in years, first appearing in photos of street disturbances with protesters after Athens cops killed 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in December 2008. Since then Louk has consistently pitched in, barking and growling at neoliberal austerity measures and agents of state repression during times of street warfare, and providing comradeship on the sidelines. Capital has taken notice: riot dog even appeared on the cover of a recent edition of the European edition of the economist.

On the internet, you can check out Louk and other canine rebels at http://rebeldog.tumblr.com/ or on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/riot.dog

The Toronto Community Mobilization Network is a group of community-based organizers and allies, facilitating teach-ins, creative actions, rallies and demonstrations leading up to and during the G8/G20 Summits in Toronto, June 21-27, 2010.

by FFFC - Ottawa

On May 18th, the Royal Bank of Canada in Ottawa was firebombed. RBC was a major sponsor of the recently concluded 2010 Olympics on stolen indigenous land. This land was never legally ceded to colonial British Columbia. This hasn’t stopped the government from assuming full ownership of the land and its resources for the benefit of its corporate masters and to the detriment of aboriginal peoples, workers and the poor of the province. The 2010 Winter Olympics increased the homelessness crisis in Vancouver, especially the Downtown Eastside, Kanada’s poorest urban area. Since the Olympics bid, homelessness in Vancouver has nearly tripled while condominium development in the Downtown Eastside is outpacing social housing by a rate of 3:1. The further criminalization and displacement of those living in extreme poverty continues apace.

(Adapted from Press Release from Toronto Community Mobilization Network.)
The Toronto Community Mobilization Network is a group of community-based organizers and allies, facilitating teach-ins, creative actions, rallies and demonstrations leading up to and during the G8/G20 Summits in Toronto, June 21-27, 2010.

***Sign-making & Action planning Sunday, May 2 @7:30pm at the A-space, 4722 Baltimore Ave.***

Monday, May 3

3-5:30pm

The Mexican Consulate
21 S. 5th St, between
Market & Chestnut
Philadelphia

WHY TAKE ACTION NOW?
On April 27, 2010, a Solidarity caravan representing members of Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) was brutally attacked by paramilitary forces.  Two people were killed, one injured and many more have disappeared.  See below for more information in English & Spanish.

With a population just shy of 2.4 million and a labor force of 640,000, the West Bank exists in perpetual economic depression. This reality, according to a 2009 United Nations report on trade and development, is “rooted in the relentless Israeli internal and external closure policy, the attrition of the Palestinian productive base and the loss of Palestinian land and natural resources” that has occurred since 1967 under the Israeli occupation. In reality, these policies result in crippling unemployment and generations of unrealized economic potential.