Denounce “the tight grip of the Israeli occupation of Palestine”
Bloomington, MN – Israeli security forces refused entry to three U.S. solidarity activists for attempting to participate in a human rights delegation organized by the Palestine Solidarity Group. Sarah Martin, member of Women Against Military Madness, and Katrina Plotz, of the Anti-War Committee, refused voluntary deportation and were forcibly deported Sunday evening, August 2. It was an emotional reunion at the airport on Monday afternoon, as Martin and Plotz were greeted with cheers and embraces by dozens of friends and supporters, carrying signs reading “Free Palestine!” and “End the occupation!”
The assault on Iraq began with a failed sneak attack. Minutes before bombers cruised over, sirens blasted a warning to the sleeping people of Baghdad. It was 5:30 a.m. on March 20. The full strength of the world’s largest military began a war of terror, which they called ‘shock and awe.’
In the face of a growing Iraqi resistance movement, the plans of the Bush administration to consolidate the occupation of Iraq are crumbling. The Pentagon acknowledges that attacks on the occupation forces are growing in scale and intensity. U.S. attempts to gain more military and financial support, within and outside of the United Nations, have by and large failed. So have efforts to create a viable Iraqi puppet government. The Governing Council, made up of U.S. appointees, has little legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqi people or in the region as a whole.
Washington, DC – People across the country took to the streets to protest on the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Demonstrators called for an end to the ongoing wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. It was the first national day of protest against the war and occupations since Obama was elected president.
Chicago, IL – Sami Rasouli is an Iraqi American. “When the U.S. invaded, I felt like I was attacking myself. I was the oppressed and the oppressor.” Rasouli emigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in 1976 and became a U.S. citizen in 2001. He moved back to his home in Najaf, Iraq in 2004 to help counter the U.S. occupation. Since then he has returned the U.S. each year to speak, explaining the disastrous impact of the occupation on the Iraqi people and to seek support for his efforts. Rasouli is in the U.S. now; he travels back to Iraq in July, but will be back in Saint Paul, Minnesota by Sept. 1 to join the protests at the Republican National Convention.
