warcrimes &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:warcrimes News and Views from the People's Struggle Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:00:51 +0000 https://i.snap.as/RZCOEKyz.png warcrimes &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:warcrimes Minnesota SDS protest confronts war criminal Condoleezza Rice https://fightbacknews.org/minnesota-sds-protest-confronts-war-criminal-condoleezza-rice?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[SDS leads protest against war criminal Condoleezza Rice") Minneapolis, MN - Hundreds of students and community members gathered outside of Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota (U of M), on the evening of April 17, to protest an appearance by Bush White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Rice was speaking as an invited guest of the University’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. !--more-- The crowd of over 250 protesters, led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), heard speakers including professors David Pellow and August Nimtz, AFSCME 3800 President Cherenne Horazuk, Welfare Rights Committee member Deb Howze, Anti-War Committee member Sabri Wazwaz and representatives from other student groups such as Whose Diversity and Students for Justice in Palestine. Speakers condemned Rice as a war criminal whose misconduct during the Bush administration included direct responsibility for the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ This torture was systematically implemented by the CIA and used at Black Sites around the world as well as prisons like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Protesters gathered in front of Northrop exercised their rights to ‘free speech’ by defying police orders banning the use of amplified sound. In the weeks before Rice’s appearance, SDS worked with several professors on a University Senate resolution, modeled after a similar one passed at Rutgers University, condemning the visit of Rice. Though the resolution failed, over 200 professors signed a petition opposing her visit, her receiving of $150,000 to speak, and condemning her role in the Bush administration. Speaking to the rally, Stephanie Taylor of SDS stated, “Condoleezza is advocating for the erasure of history and the covering up of crimes committed.” Sociology Professor David Pellow spoke about how Rice’s ‘humanitarian’ work was done in places like Iraq with F-16 jets. He reminded the crowd that Rice was a board member for the Chevron Corporation which has been responsible for a long list of environmental disasters around the world. For her efforts, Rice had an oil tanker named after her. The name of the tanker was changed in the run up to the war on Iraq. Speaker Maggie Kilgo pointed out, “The illegal invasion of Iraq was predicated on the lie that Iraq had WMDs to disguise the fact that a great economic incentives provided a lucrative bounty to the American invaders and the private corporations that they brought with them.” In addition the record of illegal wars, occupation and systematic torture under the leadership of Rice and the Bush administration, SDS and other protesters highlighted that Rice, who was to speak about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was bad choice to speak on the subject. In his open letter to Condoleezza Rice, U of M Humphrey School Roy Wilkins Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice Samuel Meyers, Jr. stated, “the argument is that you are black and a woman and even though you have expressed opposing views long held by the mainstream supporters of equal opportunity and fairness, and you are not an academic expert on the topic, your visit should be supported because, well, you are black and a woman!” Professor August Nimtz stated, “Hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of others” could have spoken to the “narrative about how a particular black family coped with, and refused to be broken by, that system” of white supremacy in the Jim Crow south. Nimtz himself grew up in the Jim Crow south in New Orleans and highlighted the fact that Rice was “missing in action” while some “90% of her cohorts made the decisive contributions for the victory, the Children’s Crusade, when the masses took to the streets.” Nimtz also highlighted her absence from struggles against apartheid in South Africa. Deb Howze of the Welfare Rights Committee told of the hypocrisy of Rice speaking on behalf of Civil Rights when Rice oversaw wars abroad that took billions of dollars to murder Iraqi’s including women and children while the women and children of the U.S. suffered and starved at home. After speaking in front of the auditorium, hundreds of protesters marched around the building and across campus. They returned to the side entry of Northrop where guests entered and were expected to exit from. Inside, during Rice’s speech several members of the audience wore orange jump suits and black hoods to protest her contributions of torture and crimes against humanity. Upon exiting the speech from Rice, hundreds of people were confronted by the protesters waiting outside the doors. Exiting guests had to walk through a canyon of loud protesters chanting slogans like “This is what democracy looks like, Rice is what hypocrisy looks like!” The protest led by SDS made it clear to Rice and the University of Minnesota that “War criminals are not welcome on our campus.” #MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #WarCrimes #CondoleezzaRice div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> SDS leads protest against war criminal Condoleezza Rice

Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of students and community members gathered outside of Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota (U of M), on the evening of April 17, to protest an appearance by Bush White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Rice was speaking as an invited guest of the University’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

The crowd of over 250 protesters, led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), heard speakers including professors David Pellow and August Nimtz, AFSCME 3800 President Cherenne Horazuk, Welfare Rights Committee member Deb Howze, Anti-War Committee member Sabri Wazwaz and representatives from other student groups such as Whose Diversity and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Speakers condemned Rice as a war criminal whose misconduct during the Bush administration included direct responsibility for the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ This torture was systematically implemented by the CIA and used at Black Sites around the world as well as prisons like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

Protesters gathered in front of Northrop exercised their rights to ‘free speech’ by defying police orders banning the use of amplified sound.

In the weeks before Rice’s appearance, SDS worked with several professors on a University Senate resolution, modeled after a similar one passed at Rutgers University, condemning the visit of Rice. Though the resolution failed, over 200 professors signed a petition opposing her visit, her receiving of $150,000 to speak, and condemning her role in the Bush administration.

Speaking to the rally, Stephanie Taylor of SDS stated, “Condoleezza is advocating for the erasure of history and the covering up of crimes committed.” Sociology Professor David Pellow spoke about how Rice’s ‘humanitarian’ work was done in places like Iraq with F-16 jets. He reminded the crowd that Rice was a board member for the Chevron Corporation which has been responsible for a long list of environmental disasters around the world. For her efforts, Rice had an oil tanker named after her. The name of the tanker was changed in the run up to the war on Iraq. Speaker Maggie Kilgo pointed out, “The illegal invasion of Iraq was predicated on the lie that Iraq had WMDs to disguise the fact that a great economic incentives provided a lucrative bounty to the American invaders and the private corporations that they brought with them.”

In addition the record of illegal wars, occupation and systematic torture under the leadership of Rice and the Bush administration, SDS and other protesters highlighted that Rice, who was to speak about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was bad choice to speak on the subject. In his open letter to Condoleezza Rice, U of M Humphrey School Roy Wilkins Professor of Human Relations and Social Justice Samuel Meyers, Jr. stated, “the argument is that you are black and a woman and even though you have expressed opposing views long held by the mainstream supporters of equal opportunity and fairness, and you are not an academic expert on the topic, your visit should be supported because, well, you are black and a woman!”

Professor August Nimtz stated, “Hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of others” could have spoken to the “narrative about how a particular black family coped with, and refused to be broken by, that system” of white supremacy in the Jim Crow south. Nimtz himself grew up in the Jim Crow south in New Orleans and highlighted the fact that Rice was “missing in action” while some “90% of her cohorts made the decisive contributions for the victory, the Children’s Crusade, when the masses took to the streets.” Nimtz also highlighted her absence from struggles against apartheid in South Africa.

Deb Howze of the Welfare Rights Committee told of the hypocrisy of Rice speaking on behalf of Civil Rights when Rice oversaw wars abroad that took billions of dollars to murder Iraqi’s including women and children while the women and children of the U.S. suffered and starved at home.

After speaking in front of the auditorium, hundreds of protesters marched around the building and across campus. They returned to the side entry of Northrop where guests entered and were expected to exit from. Inside, during Rice’s speech several members of the audience wore orange jump suits and black hoods to protest her contributions of torture and crimes against humanity.

Upon exiting the speech from Rice, hundreds of people were confronted by the protesters waiting outside the doors. Exiting guests had to walk through a canyon of loud protesters chanting slogans like “This is what democracy looks like, Rice is what hypocrisy looks like!”

The protest led by SDS made it clear to Rice and the University of Minnesota that “War criminals are not welcome on our campus.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #WarCrimes #CondoleezzaRice

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/minnesota-sds-protest-confronts-war-criminal-condoleezza-rice Fri, 18 Apr 2014 16:57:59 +0000 U of M SDS plans protest against war criminal Condoleezza Rice https://fightbacknews.org/u-m-sds-plans-protest-against-war-criminal-condoleezza-rice?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Protest flyer Minneapolis, MN – The University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) are organizing an April 17 protest to coincide with a speech by Condoleezza Rice – a close aide of George Bush and a war criminal to boot. !--more-- Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be speaking as the 2014 Distinguished Carlson Lecturer at the University of Minnesota. The Carlson Foundation, a private donor to the University of Minnesota, is fronting the $150,000 honorarium to host Rice. The university planned her speech, on the subject of civil rights, to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The University of Minnesota describes her speech as recognition towards “her effort to foster freedom and democracy.” This invitation and “distinguished” lecture has disgusted students, staff, faculty and community members. The Twin Cites anti-war movement, heeding a call from SDS, will join a large rally to highlight Dr. Rice’s criminal conduct and to underscore the massive violations of human rights she was responsible for during the Bush administration. The choice of Dr. Rice to speak on civil rights or “freedom and democracy” is outrageous. In fact, her crimes stand in direct opposition to the great contributions made by leaders of the civil rights movement like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King had no problem connecting poverty, racism and injustice at home with the imperialist war in Vietnam. Dr. King noted that “every time we kill one \[Vietnamese\] we spend about $500,000 while we spend only $53 a year for every person characterized as poverty-stricken in the so-called poverty program.” For Dr. King and other civil rights leaders, the war was a disgrace that “played havoc with our domestic destinies” and put the U.S. “in a position of appearing to the world as an arrogant nation.” Recall that under Rice’s leadership as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, the U.S. openly committed well-documented and widespread crimes against humanity. These crimes included but are not limited to an illegal invasion of Iraq on pretenses of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ - which were never found. The years of occupation that followed the invasion of Iraq left, by conservative estimates, over half of a million people dead. This invasion and occupation was accompanied by widespread use of terror, in the systematic torture of prisoners as documented at Abu Ghraib and the long-standing torture prison known as Guantanamo Bay. While this torture was documented, much more remains less documented. White House reports have long cited legal memos dispersed by Rice not only tolerating torture but suggesting that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the U.S. while engaged in its terroristic war, ‘The War on Terror.’ It is with these facts and with many others that Students for a Democratic Society and other student and anti-war groups will rally against Rice’s visit to the University of Minnesota. While administrators of the university have said that their invitation of Dr. Rice was on the grounds of “freedom of speech,” her “free speech” should be seen as nothing more than promoting the annihilation of sovereign countries via barbaric means of torture and criminal activity. Like students and staff at Stanford, and most recently at Rutgers, Dr. Rice will be greeted upon her arrival with a reminder that her mark of distinction is that of a war criminal. In the name of the millions of Iraqis who saw their country ripped apart by the U.S. invasion – overseen in part by Condoleezza Rice, we urge you to join us at this protest. And in the names of thousands of young Americans sent to war only to return home without jobs, without proper healthcare – and the many who never returned at all - join SDS on April 17 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota to condemn war criminals speaking on our campus. #MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #UniversityOfMinnesota #WarCrimes #CondoleezzaRice div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Protest flyer

Minneapolis, MN – The University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) are organizing an April 17 protest to coincide with a speech by Condoleezza Rice – a close aide of George Bush and a war criminal to boot.

Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be speaking as the 2014 Distinguished Carlson Lecturer at the University of Minnesota. The Carlson Foundation, a private donor to the University of Minnesota, is fronting the $150,000 honorarium to host Rice. The university planned her speech, on the subject of civil rights, to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The University of Minnesota describes her speech as recognition towards “her effort to foster freedom and democracy.”

This invitation and “distinguished” lecture has disgusted students, staff, faculty and community members. The Twin Cites anti-war movement, heeding a call from SDS, will join a large rally to highlight Dr. Rice’s criminal conduct and to underscore the massive violations of human rights she was responsible for during the Bush administration.

The choice of Dr. Rice to speak on civil rights or “freedom and democracy” is outrageous. In fact, her crimes stand in direct opposition to the great contributions made by leaders of the civil rights movement like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King had no problem connecting poverty, racism and injustice at home with the imperialist war in Vietnam. Dr. King noted that “every time we kill one [Vietnamese] we spend about $500,000 while we spend only $53 a year for every person characterized as poverty-stricken in the so-called poverty program.” For Dr. King and other civil rights leaders, the war was a disgrace that “played havoc with our domestic destinies” and put the U.S. “in a position of appearing to the world as an arrogant nation.”

Recall that under Rice’s leadership as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, the U.S. openly committed well-documented and widespread crimes against humanity. These crimes included but are not limited to an illegal invasion of Iraq on pretenses of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ – which were never found. The years of occupation that followed the invasion of Iraq left, by conservative estimates, over half of a million people dead. This invasion and occupation was accompanied by widespread use of terror, in the systematic torture of prisoners as documented at Abu Ghraib and the long-standing torture prison known as Guantanamo Bay.

While this torture was documented, much more remains less documented. White House reports have long cited legal memos dispersed by Rice not only tolerating torture but suggesting that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the U.S. while engaged in its terroristic war, ‘The War on Terror.’

It is with these facts and with many others that Students for a Democratic Society and other student and anti-war groups will rally against Rice’s visit to the University of Minnesota. While administrators of the university have said that their invitation of Dr. Rice was on the grounds of “freedom of speech,” her “free speech” should be seen as nothing more than promoting the annihilation of sovereign countries via barbaric means of torture and criminal activity.

Like students and staff at Stanford, and most recently at Rutgers, Dr. Rice will be greeted upon her arrival with a reminder that her mark of distinction is that of a war criminal. In the name of the millions of Iraqis who saw their country ripped apart by the U.S. invasion – overseen in part by Condoleezza Rice, we urge you to join us at this protest. And in the names of thousands of young Americans sent to war only to return home without jobs, without proper healthcare – and the many who never returned at all – join SDS on April 17 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota to condemn war criminals speaking on our campus.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #UniversityOfMinnesota #WarCrimes #CondoleezzaRice

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/u-m-sds-plans-protest-against-war-criminal-condoleezza-rice Fri, 04 Apr 2014 03:07:49 +0000 Iraq: Leaked video shows U.S. military murdering over one dozen Iraqis https://fightbacknews.org/leaked-video-shows-us-military-murdering-over-one-dozen-iraqis?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Reuters journalists and children among the dead and wounded The men try to cover as the first rounds of shots hit them from the Apache.") The organization WikiLeaks released a leaked video today showing footage of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately gunning down Iraqis from an Apache helicopter gunship. In the video, U.S. soldiers are heard laughing while shooting down over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. After the initial shootings, a van stops by to pick up one of the survivors who is crawling away. As Iraqis load the wounded man into the van, the U.S. soldiers open fire again, killing more Iraqis and wounding two young children who were inside the vehicle. !--more-- Later, when U.S. troops arrive on the ground to investigate the scene of the killings, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle drives over the body of one of the dead, and two U.S. soldiers are heard chuckling over the intercom of the Apache helicopter. The U.S. troops discover two badly wounded children, 10-year-old Sayad and 5-year-old Doaha, and a soldier makes a decision to evacuate them by air to a U.S. military hospital. The order is then revoked and the children are placed in the hands of Iraqi police to be taken to a local clinic, where care is inferior and there will be greater delays prior to treatment. The Reuters journalists who were killed by U.S. troops were Namir Nour El Deen, age 21, and Saeed Chmagh, age 40. "What Namir was doing was a patriotic work. He was trying to cover the violations of the Americans against the Iraqi people," said Nabil Nour El Deen, the brother of Namir, speaking to Al Jazeera today. "Is this the democracy and freedom they claim they have brought to Iraq?" "This is another crime that should be added to the record of American crimes in Iraq and the world," Nabil added. The video provides rare insight into the daily reality of Iraqis throughout seven years of U.S. occupation. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Iraqis have been killed during the U.S. occupation, with hundreds of thousands of deaths directly attributable to the actions of U.S. military forces. What is especially instructive about this incident is how the U.S. military portrayed the event at the time. As Reuters reported on July 16 2007, "The U.S. military said last week it had called in ‘attack aviation reinforcement’ after coming under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Nine insurgents and two civilians ‘reported as employees for the Reuters news service’ were killed, the statement said.’” Each day similar statements are issued by U.S. military describing their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many other murderous incidents are hidden by similar statements of "clashes with insurgents?" Additional photographs and resources documenting the crime are available from WikiLeaks. #Iraq #Occupation #WarCrimes #WikiLeaks #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Reuters journalists and children among the dead and wounded

The men try to cover as the first rounds of shots hit them from the Apache.

The organization WikiLeaks released a leaked video today showing footage of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately gunning down Iraqis from an Apache helicopter gunship. In the video, U.S. soldiers are heard laughing while shooting down over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. After the initial shootings, a van stops by to pick up one of the survivors who is crawling away. As Iraqis load the wounded man into the van, the U.S. soldiers open fire again, killing more Iraqis and wounding two young children who were inside the vehicle.

Later, when U.S. troops arrive on the ground to investigate the scene of the killings, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle drives over the body of one of the dead, and two U.S. soldiers are heard chuckling over the intercom of the Apache helicopter. The U.S. troops discover two badly wounded children, 10-year-old Sayad and 5-year-old Doaha, and a soldier makes a decision to evacuate them by air to a U.S. military hospital. The order is then revoked and the children are placed in the hands of Iraqi police to be taken to a local clinic, where care is inferior and there will be greater delays prior to treatment.

The Reuters journalists who were killed by U.S. troops were Namir Nour El Deen, age 21, and Saeed Chmagh, age 40. “What Namir was doing was a patriotic work. He was trying to cover the violations of the Americans against the Iraqi people,” said Nabil Nour El Deen, the brother of Namir, speaking to Al Jazeera today. “Is this the democracy and freedom they claim they have brought to Iraq?”

“This is another crime that should be added to the record of American crimes in Iraq and the world,” Nabil added.

The video provides rare insight into the daily reality of Iraqis throughout seven years of U.S. occupation. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Iraqis have been killed during the U.S. occupation, with hundreds of thousands of deaths directly attributable to the actions of U.S. military forces. What is especially instructive about this incident is how the U.S. military portrayed the event at the time.

As Reuters reported on July 16 2007, “The U.S. military said last week it had called in ‘attack aviation reinforcement’ after coming under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Nine insurgents and two civilians ‘reported as employees for the Reuters news service’ were killed, the statement said.’”

Each day similar statements are issued by U.S. military describing their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many other murderous incidents are hidden by similar statements of “clashes with insurgents?”

Additional photographs and resources documenting the crime are available from WikiLeaks.

#Iraq #Occupation #WarCrimes #WikiLeaks #MiddleEast

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/leaked-video-shows-us-military-murdering-over-one-dozen-iraqis Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:09:51 +0000 Palestine: PFLP condemns moves to postpone UN discussion of Israeli war crimes https://fightbacknews.org/pflp-condemns-moves-postpone-un-discussion-israeli-war-crimes?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Fight Back News Service is reprinting the following statement for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , an organization that helps lead the fight to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The statement condemns the Palestinian Authority for requesting the postponement of consideration of the report by Judge Richard Goldstone on war crimes in Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. !--more-- PFLP: PA decision to postpone consideration of the Goldstone report is an unjustifiable betrayal The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denounced the actions of the Palestinian Authority in requesting the postponement of consideration of the report of Judge Richard Goldstone on war crimes in Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, declaring that this act of betrayal will not be forgiven by the Palestinian people or by the Front. The PFLP said this is a defeated, unjustifiable action that works hand in hand with the US and the occupation and betrays the struggle of our people and all those who have supported that struggle. A spokesperson for the PFLP said that any misleading justifications for this action, such as a lack of consensus at the UN, or an "adverse impact" on the so-called peace process, indicate only a starkly clear example of utter surrender and complicity with US and Israeli dictates and complete disregard for the blood, dignity and rights of the Palestinian people. The spokesperson continued by urging all national and Islamic forces to condemn this action and hold the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah accountable for this betrayal that serves the occupation and its plans. Comrade Khalil Maqdesi, of the Information Office of the Front, said that national unity is impossible with such so-called leaders who act on the international level to implement US/Israeli plans against our people. He said that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, including its leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad, have sold the blood of the Palestinian people to US imperialism and the fascist occupation state of Benjamin Netanyahu. He demanded that all honest and responsible forces within Fateh take action to hold these so-called leaders accountable for their betrayal of the Palestinian people. Comrade Maqdesi noted that the Netanyahu regime had indicated publicly that it was demanding the PA drop this resolution at the Human Rights Council in exchange for the approval of new mobile telephone frequencies for Wataniya mobile telephone company, a new corporation supported by the Palestinian Investment Fund and many cronies and members of the Palestinian comprador class aligned with Abbas and Salam Fayyad. Comrade Maqdesi said that this action at the Human Rights Council reveals the nature of the enemies of our people - Israel and Zionism, U.S. imperialism, Arab reaction and the Palestinian comprador class, who sell the rights and interests and blood of our people for cell phone frequencies and lucrative contracts. He noted that this total submission and collaboration with US/Israeli interests in exchange for financial benefit for a very few wealthy Palestinians is the true meaning of the "economic peace" propounded by Fayyad. Furthermore, Comrade Maqdesi noted that the Front maintained its analysis of the Goldstone report, that it presented a notable opportunity to bring occupation officials to justice in international courts for its ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people - which continue daily with the devastating siege. He criticized the report for its failure to differentiate between the resistance and the occupier, saying that any attempts to criminalize the resistance to the brutal occupation are utterly rejected by the Palestinian people, and that the resistance forces of our national liberation movement engaged in heroic operations during the Gaza war against the occupation state that had targeted our people with the full range of its military arsenal. However, Comrade Maqdesi said, the failure of the Human Rights Council to take up the report and its recommendations at this meeting shows complete disregard for the numerous and heavily detailed occupation crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority's active participation in this denial of justice reveals whose side it is taking in the Palestinian people's confrontation with the occupation - the side of the occupation state, continuing along the path of security cooperation, "peace process", and repression of the resistance. Comrade Jamil Mizher, member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced the actions of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in postponing consideration of the report of Judge Richard Goldstone on the commission of war crimes during the occupation aggression in Gaza as a shameful, reckless insult to the struggles and sacrifices of the Palestinian people and the blood of over 1400 martyrs and 5000 injured in the genocidal war of aggression on Gaza. He added that the Palestinian Authority will be held accountable by the Palestinian people and the Popular Front for this heinous act of betrayal. Comrade Mizher said in an interview on Al-Quds television on October 3, 2009 that this action shows and confirms that the Palestinian Authority has moved beyond submission to US and Israeli dictates into full participation in US/Israeli actions against the Palestinian people. He said that there had been a great opportunity at this meeting of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva to bring war criminals to justice before the law, particularly that this resolution formed a clear condemnation of the occupation state and the conditions were ripe to take action around such a decision, bringing the leaders of the occupation who committed the most heinous crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza to justice in international courts. He said further that the PFLP, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front and the People's Party met today, October 3, in Gaza City, denouncing this defeatist attitude, saying it reflects the utter failure and lack of any political will on the part of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to act in the interests of the Palestinian people. He also said that the PFLP and the Palestinian people will punish those who are responsible for this decision and hold them accountable for their actions. He concluded by denouncing their reliance on the racist Netanyahu regime and their strategic partners, the US empire, saying that they will never recognize the national rights of the Palestinian people unless they are forced to do so. Comrade Hussein al-Jamal, speaking with the Voice of the People radio station, said that this action confirms the existence of secret negotiations between the Zionist occupier and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. He said further that this exposes the PA as completely untrustworthy to the Palestinian people and the national and Islamic factions. He called upon the Palestine Liberation Organization and its Executive Committee to investigate the situation and act in order to prevent another Oslo-like catastrophe, that also surfaced as an end result of secret negotiations that placed Palestinian national rights in the hands of those who would give away our rights to the occupation. #Palestine #Gaza #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #PFLP #PalestinianAuthority #WarCrimes #UNHumanRightsCouncil #GoldstoneReport #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Fight Back News Service is reprinting the following statement for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , an organization that helps lead the fight to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The statement condemns the Palestinian Authority for requesting the postponement of consideration of the report by Judge Richard Goldstone on war crimes in Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

PFLP: PA decision to postpone consideration of the Goldstone report is an unjustifiable betrayal

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denounced the actions of the Palestinian Authority in requesting the postponement of consideration of the report of Judge Richard Goldstone on war crimes in Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, declaring that this act of betrayal will not be forgiven by the Palestinian people or by the Front. The PFLP said this is a defeated, unjustifiable action that works hand in hand with the US and the occupation and betrays the struggle of our people and all those who have supported that struggle.

A spokesperson for the PFLP said that any misleading justifications for this action, such as a lack of consensus at the UN, or an “adverse impact” on the so-called peace process, indicate only a starkly clear example of utter surrender and complicity with US and Israeli dictates and complete disregard for the blood, dignity and rights of the Palestinian people. The spokesperson continued by urging all national and Islamic forces to condemn this action and hold the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah accountable for this betrayal that serves the occupation and its plans.

Comrade Khalil Maqdesi, of the Information Office of the Front, said that national unity is impossible with such so-called leaders who act on the international level to implement US/Israeli plans against our people. He said that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, including its leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad, have sold the blood of the Palestinian people to US imperialism and the fascist occupation state of Benjamin Netanyahu. He demanded that all honest and responsible forces within Fateh take action to hold these so-called leaders accountable for their betrayal of the Palestinian people.

Comrade Maqdesi noted that the Netanyahu regime had indicated publicly that it was demanding the PA drop this resolution at the Human Rights Council in exchange for the approval of new mobile telephone frequencies for Wataniya mobile telephone company, a new corporation supported by the Palestinian Investment Fund and many cronies and members of the Palestinian comprador class aligned with Abbas and Salam Fayyad. Comrade Maqdesi said that this action at the Human Rights Council reveals the nature of the enemies of our people – Israel and Zionism, U.S. imperialism, Arab reaction and the Palestinian comprador class, who sell the rights and interests and blood of our people for cell phone frequencies and lucrative contracts. He noted that this total submission and collaboration with US/Israeli interests in exchange for financial benefit for a very few wealthy Palestinians is the true meaning of the “economic peace” propounded by Fayyad.

Furthermore, Comrade Maqdesi noted that the Front maintained its analysis of the Goldstone report, that it presented a notable opportunity to bring occupation officials to justice in international courts for its ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people – which continue daily with the devastating siege. He criticized the report for its failure to differentiate between the resistance and the occupier, saying that any attempts to criminalize the resistance to the brutal occupation are utterly rejected by the Palestinian people, and that the resistance forces of our national liberation movement engaged in heroic operations during the Gaza war against the occupation state that had targeted our people with the full range of its military arsenal.

However, Comrade Maqdesi said, the failure of the Human Rights Council to take up the report and its recommendations at this meeting shows complete disregard for the numerous and heavily detailed occupation crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority's active participation in this denial of justice reveals whose side it is taking in the Palestinian people's confrontation with the occupation – the side of the occupation state, continuing along the path of security cooperation, “peace process”, and repression of the resistance.

Comrade Jamil Mizher, member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced the actions of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in postponing consideration of the report of Judge Richard Goldstone on the commission of war crimes during the occupation aggression in Gaza as a shameful, reckless insult to the struggles and sacrifices of the Palestinian people and the blood of over 1400 martyrs and 5000 injured in the genocidal war of aggression on Gaza. He added that the Palestinian Authority will be held accountable by the Palestinian people and the Popular Front for this heinous act of betrayal.

Comrade Mizher said in an interview on Al-Quds television on October 3, 2009 that this action shows and confirms that the Palestinian Authority has moved beyond submission to US and Israeli dictates into full participation in US/Israeli actions against the Palestinian people.

He said that there had been a great opportunity at this meeting of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva to bring war criminals to justice before the law, particularly that this resolution formed a clear condemnation of the occupation state and the conditions were ripe to take action around such a decision, bringing the leaders of the occupation who committed the most heinous crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza to justice in international courts.

He said further that the PFLP, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front and the People's Party met today, October 3, in Gaza City, denouncing this defeatist attitude, saying it reflects the utter failure and lack of any political will on the part of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to act in the interests of the Palestinian people. He also said that the PFLP and the Palestinian people will punish those who are responsible for this decision and hold them accountable for their actions. He concluded by denouncing their reliance on the racist Netanyahu regime and their strategic partners, the US empire, saying that they will never recognize the national rights of the Palestinian people unless they are forced to do so.

Comrade Hussein al-Jamal, speaking with the Voice of the People radio station, said that this action confirms the existence of secret negotiations between the Zionist occupier and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. He said further that this exposes the PA as completely untrustworthy to the Palestinian people and the national and Islamic factions. He called upon the Palestine Liberation Organization and its Executive Committee to investigate the situation and act in order to prevent another Oslo-like catastrophe, that also surfaced as an end result of secret negotiations that placed Palestinian national rights in the hands of those who would give away our rights to the occupation.

#Palestine #Gaza #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #PFLP #PalestinianAuthority #WarCrimes #UNHumanRightsCouncil #GoldstoneReport #MiddleEast

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/pflp-condemns-moves-postpone-un-discussion-israeli-war-crimes Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:59:27 +0000 U.S. Hit with War Crimes Charges in Belgium https://fightbacknews.org/uswarcrimes?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[U.S General Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. and British forces during the war on Iraq, has been named in a war crimes case, filed in a Belgian court. Belgian law allows cases to be brought before its courts in response to violations of International Humanitarian Law. !--more-- The complaint, filed on behalf of 20 victims of the U.S.-led war, was brought before the court by Jan Fermon, of the Workers Party of Belgium. The Workers Party of Belgium played a pivotal role in building the anti-war movement in that country. The war crimes charges are directed against yet-to-be-identified U.S. soldiers, and cite Franks in particular for ordering the crimes, for not preventing troops from committing them and for providing protection to the perpetrators. The victims were seriously injured or lost family members as a result of the use of cluster bombs, attacks on the civilian population (including journalists), acts of aggression against health services and other Iraqi infrastructure and looting protected by or under orders from the U.S. army. One of the victims was being transported to a Baghdad hospital along with his pregnant wife and another woman close to giving birth. When they reached an American checkpoint, troops opened fire. The victim was shot in both legs, which later had to be amputated. The women, who remained in the ambulance, were burned alive when the vehicle caught fire. The case against Gen. Franks has enraged Pentagon officials. Defense Secretary Rumsfield raised the possibility that U.S. military leaders might stop traveling to NATO headquarters in Brussels, and that unless Belgium changes its laws to suit Washington, NATO headquarters should be moved to some other country. The Belgium-based coordination, Stop USA, has been working to build support for the case domestically and internationally. U.S. organizations that have expressed support for the case include the Colombia Action Network, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, the International Action Center and the Colombia Solidarity Committee. #Belgium #News #Iraq #IraqWar #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #WarCrimes #MiddleEast div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> U.S General Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. and British forces during the war on Iraq, has been named in a war crimes case, filed in a Belgian court. Belgian law allows cases to be brought before its courts in response to violations of International Humanitarian Law.

The complaint, filed on behalf of 20 victims of the U.S.-led war, was brought before the court by Jan Fermon, of the Workers Party of Belgium. The Workers Party of Belgium played a pivotal role in building the anti-war movement in that country.

The war crimes charges are directed against yet-to-be-identified U.S. soldiers, and cite Franks in particular for ordering the crimes, for not preventing troops from committing them and for providing protection to the perpetrators.

The victims were seriously injured or lost family members as a result of the use of cluster bombs, attacks on the civilian population (including journalists), acts of aggression against health services and other Iraqi infrastructure and looting protected by or under orders from the U.S. army.

One of the victims was being transported to a Baghdad hospital along with his pregnant wife and another woman close to giving birth. When they reached an American checkpoint, troops opened fire. The victim was shot in both legs, which later had to be amputated. The women, who remained in the ambulance, were burned alive when the vehicle caught fire.

The case against Gen. Franks has enraged Pentagon officials. Defense Secretary Rumsfield raised the possibility that U.S. military leaders might stop traveling to NATO headquarters in Brussels, and that unless Belgium changes its laws to suit Washington, NATO headquarters should be moved to some other country.

The Belgium-based coordination, Stop USA, has been working to build support for the case domestically and internationally.

U.S. organizations that have expressed support for the case include the Colombia Action Network, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, the International Action Center and the Colombia Solidarity Committee.

#Belgium #News #Iraq #IraqWar #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #WarCrimes #MiddleEast

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/uswarcrimes Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:31:49 +0000