The Dominion - 52

Imaginary Lines

Moira Peters — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:06:16 +0000

Mohawk grandmothers assaulted at border, refuse court charges

Based on an article by Nazila Bettache and Jaggi Singh, organizers and members of No One Is Illegal Montreal. The original version was published by No One Is Illegal Montreal.

A vehicle with two Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) women was stopped by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) at Akwesasne at 2pm on Saturday, June 14. The vehicle was crossing into Canada from the United States. Akwesasne is a Kanion'ke:haka Indigenous community that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec and New York, and residents, travelling within their community, routinely cross between states and provinces.

One Elder, Katenies, who does not recognize the authority of the CBSA over Kanion'ke:haka land, was consequently arrested. At least four male guards forced her face-down onto the ground, handcuffed her, and took her into custody, where she remained for three days.

CBSA guards also demanded that the other woman – Kahentinetha Horn, an Elder of 68 years – leave the car she was driving. She refused, and she too was overpowered by at least four male CBSA guards. She suffered a heart attack while in handcuffs. Because of the intervention of her brother-–a lawyer who was crossing the border at that time-–she was eventually taken to the local hospital in Cornwall, Ontario, by ambulance, and spent four days in the Critical Care Unit.

The two women are Mohawk rights activists, grandmothers, and publishers of Mohawk Nation News.

Katenies was targeted for arrest by CBSA guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly running the border in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court. Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land, and feels that a court appearance would validate a colonial justice system.

The charges the CBSA originally indicated they would bring upon Kahentinetha were never brought forward.

Meanwhile, Katenies was jailed and was granted a bail hearing at the Superior Court in Cornwall three days later, on Monday, June 16.

Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake and Akwesasne attended court to act as witnesses to Katenies' continued refusal to recognize Canada's courts. Several Elders from the Akwesasne community referenced the bridge blockades undertaken in the 1960s and '70s to assert the rights under treaty law of free movement of Indigenous peoples at the border. They consider Katenies' current stance as part of the same ongoing and long-term struggle for sovereignty.

At the hearing, the federal Crown lawyer objected to Katenies' release on bail. A senior investigator with the CBSA testified for the Crown. He outlined the various warrants and court dates in the case, and Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to recognize the authority of the Court, or the jurisdiction of the CBSA over the border.

In the words of the CBSA investigator, Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial system." The investigator, who has lived and worked at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, admitted that it is "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case."

Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the court. Davis refused to tell the court whether she lived in the Ontario or Quebec part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She remarked with a smile: "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."

Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Davis stated, "We feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want. [The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not Mohawks."

Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court, Davis replied simply, "No."

Katenies also addressed the court, reiterating that she did not recognize its jurisdiction, and refused to accept all charges, declining to have them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies stated, "I can only tell what I know."

Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that the courts address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks? She stated, "I'm a passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward."

Katenies had already served the court with a motion to dismiss previous charges, and invoked the jurisdiction question, on January 18, 2007.

Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown lawyer if she would accept paying a cash bond. She replied, "That would be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt with." She added, "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question."

She refused the accusation of contempt, stating, "It is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and constitution?"

In his final submissions, the Crown argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete disdain for the laws of these courts,” adding, "Quite frankly, Your Worship, both mother and daughter don't recognize our jurisdiction."

The Crown asked the court to keep Katenies in custody.

Nonetheless, the presiding Justice of the Peace, Ms. Leblanc, decided to release Katenies under certain basic conditions: that Katenies reside with her mother and notify the Akwesasne police of any change of address (Katenies has lived with her mother for the past eight years, since the death of her father); that her mother post a surety (a $1,000 bond without a deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to appear in court for her. Her next court date has been set for July 14, 2008, at 9am at Cornwall's Superior Court.

Links to background articles and interviews can be found here.

The following is an excerpt from a recently released report by Mohawk Nation News (MNN), “written in consultation with family members and with direct witnesses to the events described."

On June 14, Katenies, Kahentinetha [two Mohawk grandmothers, both part of the MNN network and known for their outspoken criticism of US, Canadian and international power cartels] and Sakowaiaks [a companion] went through the [Canada-US] border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat peacefully for an hour, surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk Elders showed up to watch. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves.... A chief later told them that the gloves were for protection from blood. It was a sign they planned an attack.

Katenies was dragged...from the car...They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground and forced their knees into her back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement.

...She was imprisoned and held incommunicado. They would not let her mother see her or talk to her. She had heard her daughter was injured. She asked several times and was refused. Katenies asked to see her mother. The guards said she didn't ask for her. She was strip searched...

It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw...what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha had been beaten by police in the past...

She was handcuffed and imprisoned. Once in the cell...some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. They ignored her cries as pain shot up her arms. Flashes of light went off in her head and sharp pains shot into her chest. They yelled racial taunts and threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants...

The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition, Kahentinetha had a trauma-induced heart attack.

This attack took place three days after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology for the abuses that took place at the residential schools.

Akwesasne Territory II

Heat Wave

dru — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:15 +0000

heatwave_hmeek.jpg

Apology Accepted?

Moira Peters — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:47:50 +0000

Survivors, Indigenous observers respond to apology

The following are excerpts from responses to Stephen Harper’s apology on behalf of the Canadian government to Indigenous peoples for the residential school system.

"If there is one thing that Mr. Harper's 'apology' provided that could be considered groundbreaking or new, it's the idea that there can be crimes without criminals."

-- Mike Krebs, Indigenous activist and writer, of mixed Blackfoot and Italian descent

"The fifth act [in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – which Canada refuses to ratify] is unquestionably the most directly relevant to 'truth and reconciliation' with regard to Canada’s Indian Residential Schools: 'forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.' The residential schools are often called a 'tragedy,' but they weren’t a tragedy, they were a policy. They were conceived and run with genocidal intent, and from what I’ve seen on Main Street in Winnipeg and the lower east side of Vancouver and on the reserves, they are continuing to have a genocidal impact on Native societies."

-- Ward Churchill, veteran activist of Cherokee descent

"We're probably not feeling the same as the other people. The apology is not intended for us. I spent 10 years of my life [at North West River school] and it was a horrible ordeal. I went through all kinds of physical abuse. I was thrown down stairs. There was kerosene poured over my head to kill lice that I never had."

-- Nora Ford, survivor of North West River (not designated a residential school)

"It's way up in Parliament and we're over here. How can I forgive him when it's up there and we're over here?"

-- Benjamin Lafford, Shubenacadie survivor

"I am one of these people who have prayed for this day and there have been times in this long journey when I despaired that this would never happen, but after listening to the PM and the leaders of the political parties I am filled with hope and compassion for my fellow Aboriginal Canadians as I stand among them here.

-- Mary Simon, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President

"I put in eight years in that dump. My life was destroyed by going to that school so I don't think they could do anything that could help."

-- Gloria Maloney, Shubenacadie survivor

"I keep seeing my mother being a four-year-old girl being taken away and being alone, and that brings me to tears. She's not crying; she knows how to keep her emotions in. But we are, we're crying for her."

-- her daughter Cheryl

"To me, the Prime Minister's speech was dead. I know it didn't come from the heart, it came from his head. He was reading and reading and there was nothing..."

-- Rita Blind, security worker at a women's centre in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, former residential school student

"Few people realize the broader effects that the residential school experience has had on our communities beyond the overwhelming destruction of our families and individual lives. … I believe that the main reasons our youth do not do well academically or socially in mainstream schools is because of the lack of respect in our communities for education due to the learned fear of educational institutions, the social issues we face that stem from Canadian assimilation policies, and the racism that persists throughout this country as non-Aboriginal people judge us for those social issues we are forced to overcome due to all of the external forces that led to them."

-- Lynda Gray, Executive Director, Urban Native Youth Association

"Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister wrote: 'Tell our friends in Europe that the Indian and the Métis will be held down with a firm hand until the country is overrun, owned and operated by White settlers.' MacDonald followed up by naming people in the military as directors-general of 'Indian Affairs.' The interests of European business, with the support of governments, had launched numerous initiatives to eliminate Indigenous People from North America. The French Academy of Sciences even hosted a conference in the 1800s which tried – unsuccessfully – to find out if we were human. That did not stop many attempts to destroy our societies….

"When Canada dismantles Indian Affairs and the Treasury Board vote[s] for funds to meet Treaty obligations [which] are transferred directly to First Nations, then recovery can begin.

"When Canada recognizes that it is a state with delegated authority and not sovereign over Indigenous communities, then healing will begin.

"When Canada shares the wealth of Indigenous lands equitably with Indigenous communities, then the healing will begin.

"When Canada recognizes its addiction to power and accepts the reality that Indigenous peoples agreed to share and live in peace and not to give their lands, resources and very lives so that the Queen’s 'children' could have it all for themselves, then the healing will begin for Canada and for us.

-- Interim Grand Chief Gerald Antoine of the Dehcho First Nations

"Our communities are suffering major problems, which have a direct link with the scandal of residential schools. Yet, the government is not providing the resources required to counter the crisis situation. It still refuses to grant our communities the sums comparable to those of the rest of the population. While Canada ranks 4th on the Human Development Index, our First Nations are at the 68th rank.

"Is the prime minister also apologizing for this situation?"

-- Alain Garon, Information and Communication Officer, AFNQL

"...[W]hile we commend the Canadian Government on the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission we cannot ignore the Auditor General's recent report substantiating that budgets for child welfare agencies in Canada continue to focus the majority of their efforts on the placement of Aboriginal children outside their communities and Nations. This type of practice is reminiscent of the Residential School policy.

"In order for this apology to be considered genuine, more efforts must be undertaken to correct current oppressive measures under the Indian Act that prevent Indigenous peoples from prospering socially, culturally, politically and economically.

"We therefore urge the Government of Canada to adequately fund Indigenous languages in a manner that is equivalent to the support given to the French and English languages; to adequately consult Aboriginal peoples in good faith on legislation that addresses issues such as matrimonial real property, Bill C-21, Bill C-47; Bill C-30 and to eliminate the sexual discrimination that exists under Section 6 of the Indian Act."

-- Quebec Native Women's Association

Albert Bay School

Fort Chipewyan School

Issue #52

Maya Rolbin-Ghanie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:29:19 +0000

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July 2008

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June in Review

dru — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:23:03 +0000

Oil hits high, food crisis worldwide, conflict over nuclear

Oil prices hit an all-time high of $137 in early June. The federal competition bureau filed charges against 11 companies for fixing the price of gas in Quebec. Air Canada cut 2,000 jobs, citing rising fuel costs. Firms in Arkansas were revisiting the possibility of a four day work week to address rising transportation costs. Fisheries workers in Nova Scotia predicted that the impact of rising fuel costs would be catastrophic, adding that many have already stopped fishing as a result of costs. Canada Post couriers said that rising fuel costs come out of their salaries. The impact of gas prices on remote communities is devastating, said the chief of the northern Manitoba First Nation of Pukatawagan, adding that requests for relief funding from Indian Affairs have not been answered. School buses in Maryland began driving shorter routes, making for longer walks to the bus stop for children. Rising food prices, due to increased demand for biofuel and incereased transportation costs, fuelled inflation. GM cited a lack of demand for inefficient trucks when it announced the closing of an Oshawa truck-assembly plant, eliminating 2,600 jobs. There was speculation in Russia of founding "OPEC 2," a smaller oil cartel consisting of oil-producing countries that could be "capable of really influencing the market." A top NASA scientist told journalists that CEOs of energy companies which put out disinformation about fossil fuels and climate change should be put on trial for "high crimes against humanity and nature." Faith Biro, chief economist of the International Energy Agency said that oil production is falling short of demand by 12.5 million barrels per day, about 15 per cent of global demand. "I think we should leave oil before it leaves us," said Biro.

Climate activists in Britain swarmed a train carrying coal to Britain's biggest power station. The 40 activists occupied the roof and hung a banner declaring, "Leave it in the ground."

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) said it expects tar sands output to increase Canadian oil production to "at least" 4.5 million barrels per day by 2020. Output in 2007 was 2.7 million barrels per day. Protesters disrupted a CAPP meeting in Calgary, challenging them to drink water collected downstream from tar sands extraction sites, where First Nations communities have reported major increases in cancer rates.

Standing Buffalo Dakota First Nation in Saskatchewan went to a Federal Appeals court to stop a major pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to the US from crossing their territory, saying it could harm the land, wildlife and traditional sites.

A conference of US mayors passed a resolution calling for a ban on the use of energy from excessively environmentally damaging sources like the tar sands. Alberta officials called the resolution "misguided."

Government officials announced that Canadian Forces would support the Afghan National Army in providing security for a proposed natural gas pipeline through war-torn Kandahar if the Afghan government asks for help. The US is strongly backing the pipeline as part of a broader energy-related geopolitical strategy. Canadian officials stressed that Canada had no part in planning the pipeline although a recent report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives noted that "Canadian Members of Parliament and officials have participated in regional energy meetings; but in government speeches and media reports, it’s as if no meetings have ever taken place."

The social organizations and municipalities of Bolivia's Cochabamba region announced plans to expel the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from its lands. The organizations said that USAID has been funding groups that seek to undermine the Bolivian political system to promote US values. "It can not be that, on one hand, they say they are cooperating and, on the other, they are causing so much damage, fanning confrontations between Bolivians," a spokesperson said when announcing the decision.

A new bill co-sponsored by US Senator Joseph Lieberman would provide $544 billion in new subsidies to nuclear power projects. A Lieberman aide described the plan as "the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States." The measure in embedded in a climate change bill, though critics say that the full "nuclear fuel cycle," from mining to milling to fission, generates significant levels of greenhouse gases.

Saskatoon-based Cameco announced an investment of $123.8 million into new uranium enrichment technology, and politicians and critics voiced opposition to potential plans to build a nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan.

Seven hundred people, nearly every one opposed to uranium mining, attended an information session in Moncton, New Brunswick. During a similar session in Fredericton, 250 roudy attendees heckled speakers. "We wanted answers from elected officials," said one attendee. "We wanted to know what the process is going to be. We want to know why we're not being listened to."

Eight Algonquins from the community of Barriere Lake and four non-native supporters occupied Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon's offices, demanding a that the government initiate a legitimate leadership reselection process. The Canadian government has forcibly imposed a minority faction on the community. According to some community members, the move was the government's way of avoiding its obligations under an agreement it signed to give the community a share of resource revenues, and the right to be consulted about hydro projects and logging that take place on their traditional territory. Six demonstrators were arrested after they refused to leave the offices until they met with Cannon.

Mohawk leaders in Tyendinaga have suspended land claim negotiations after federal officials said they would not consider buying property currently owned by non-aborigials. Mohawk leaders say the 400 hectares on Lake Ontario's Bay of Quinte was never surrendered.

The St’at’imc Youth Movement released a statement voicing their opposition to the 2010 Olympics, which they say will occur on illegally occupied St’at’imc territory. The statement emphasizes the importance of the land for the survival of the St'at'imc People: "...[O]ur systems are not based on economic gain, but spiritual, physical, and mental well being, this includes a sense of belonging to where we come from."

The CBC reported that BHP Billeton may have to pay a “hefty” fine of $100,000 for a tailings spill at the company's diamond mine on Akaitcho Dene territory (Northwest Territories) that spread 4.5 million liters of processed kimberlite tailings and treated sewage over nine acres of tundra and a frozen lake. Such a fine amounts to little for BHP, whose profits from Ekati alone were $188,000,000, and their overall profits were over $13 billion in 2007.

Dene people are also worried about the dust clouds coming up from tailings ponds of the Giant Mine near Yellowknife, which closed in 2004. The companies that operated Giant, including Falconbridge, Pamour, Royal Oak Mines and the Miramar Mining Corporation, are not responsible for cleaning up the site, while the federal Indian and Northern Affairs Department is on the hook for $300,000,000.

J.D. Irving Ltd., a New Brunswick logging company, lost a court challenge, and will stand trial for the destruction of blue heron nesting habitat. In 2006, the company built a logging road through a known blue heron nesting area, where it is said to have destroyed eight nests. The company had launched a constitutional appeal, in an attempt to overturn legislation protecting migratory birds. If found guilty, fines of $1 million and up to three years of jail time could apply.

High profile environmentalist Tre Arrow, who was arrested in Canada on March 13, 2004, will spend two more years in jail after pleading guilty in June to the destruction of logging trucks on the west coast of the US. On June 3, a statement from Tre was posted on a site supporting the activist who says, "As long as i am able, i will do what i can to help preserve the last remaining wild places while helping to restore the damage this one race has caused."

Another person died after being tasered by Canadian law enforcement. Jeffrey Mark Marreel was shocked with the electric stun gun in Turkey Point, Ontario. Police were called when witnesses say they saw Marreel standing in the middle of the street waving a large piece of metal, threatening to hit cars. Since 2003, at least 21 Canadian's have died after being shocked with a Taser.

A series of public hearings investigating the alleged killing of more than 20,000 Inuit sled dogs by the RCMP between 1950 and 1970 began in Iqaluit. Since the Inuit relied on their dogs for their nomadic life, killing the sled dogs would force them into settlements.

A debate raged about the effect of biofuel production on world food prices, with major biofuel producers USA and Brazil arguing that the effect was minimal. UN and International Monetary Fund representatives argued that up to three quarters of an estimated 40 per cent rise in food prices was driven by new demand from biofuel markets.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 37 countries—20 in Africa, nine in Asia, six in Latin America and two in eastern Europe—currently face exceptional shortfalls in food production and supplies. Political unrest linked to food markets has developed in Morocco, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Guinea, Mauritania and Senegal. The FAO director expressed dismay at the lack of food aid. "How can we explain to people of good sense and good faith that it was not possible to find $30 billion a year to enable 862 million hungry people to enjoy the most fundamental of human rights: the right to food and thus the right to life?"

The Red Cross warned of increasing food riots, saying that violence related to food supplies had already occured in Haiti, Egypt and Somalia.

Massive flooding in the American midwest also fed into a global increase in food prices. A confluence of factors, including increased demand, decreased supply, and chaos in real estate and banking investments, is leading to what is being called a "perfect storm" of grain prices.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cited major reforms, including handing over "idle land" to peasants and the creation of a massive food bank, as reasons the country has been able to weather the current food crisis.

Analysts examined the history of Haiti's current food crisis, noting that while the country was once "nearly self-sufficient," IMF-mandated cuts to import tariffs led to a disastrous fall in local rice production as subsidized US product flooded the market.

A growing number of migrant farm workers come to Canada every year "under conditions that amount to indentured servitude," according to a new study by the Centre for Policy Alternatives in BC. "Migrant workers are often housed in substandard conditions, are not allowed to choose who they will work for, and cannot stand up for their basic rights without fear of being sent home."

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union opened an office in Quebec to offer support for migrant farmer workers and advise them on their rights. The office is the first of its kind in the province that is 'home' to the second-largest temporary migrant population in Canada.

Workers at Mayfair Farms in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba ratified the first-ever contract to cover migrant farm workers in Canada. "Equal labour rights for migrant workers is now more than a concept. It's a contract," said United Food and Commercial Workers Canada National President Wayne Hanley. In Quebec, three other bargaining units made up of migrant farm workers are in the process of securing a first contract. In Ontario, the UFCW is waiting for a decision on a constitutional challenge it launched against the province's ban on agriculture workers forming unions for the purpose of collective bargaining.

General Motors announced its intention to shut down an Oshawa truck-assembly plant, eliminating 2,600 jobs. The move came after the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union voted to approve a contract which accepted pay cuts and another plant closure but purportedly guaranteed no other job cuts through 2011. GM says there are clauses in the contract which allow it to shut down the plant.

The CAW organized a blockade of General Motors headquarters to protest the plant closure, keeping white-collar workers from entering the building for 12 days. Amidst rumours of rank-and-file talk of wildcat strikes, and widespread anger among autoworkers, CAW leadership promised more protests.

Over two dozen members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty disrupted a Toronto council meeting to denounce the city cutting some 350 beds from local homeless shelters. The action came following an overnight protest camp in Allan Park. During the rainy night, police officers moved in to shut down the makeshift campsite, cutting down the protesters tarp and slashing it so they could not put it back up.

Members of the Anti-Poverty Committee protested outside the nomination of current Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan (Sullivan lost the nomination by a slim margin). They brought a golden shopping cart full of pop bottles as an award for Sullivan, whose administration has seen significant drops in affordable housing, despite promises to the contrary. While APC members chanted and handed out leaflets outside, one woman entered the room and managed to pour a pitcher of soda on the outgoing mayor.

A lawyer launched a constitutional challenge in British Columbia. Catherine Boies is taking the city of Victoria to court over the municipality's laws banning the homeless from camping in public parks. The case claims that the city is violating the homeless' Charter right to security by not providing enough room in shelters, and is therefore obliged to allow them to use public land to fulfill that right.

According to a recent study, the richest 10 per cent of Canadians have a significantly higher negative ecological impact than the rest of the population, using 66 per cent more resources than the average Canadian household. "Clearly ecological impact is stongly related to income," said one of the study's authors. "Greenhouse gas emissions policies should reflect that reality or risk being less effective and unfair to low- and middle-class Canadians.”

Sixteen lakes across Canada have been slated for use as taillings ponds under Schedule Two of the Fisheries Act. According to Elizabeth Gardiner from the Mining Association of Canada, turning lakes into toxic waste dumps is “really the safest option for human health and for the environment."

A delegation of Mexican activists and their Canadian supporters protested at Canadian mining company Metallica’s Annual General Meeting in Toronto.

The Tambogrande mining project in Peru appears to be back on the table. This, despite the fact that five hundred community members in the town of Sandia occupied the Untunca mine to protest it, and there are reports of a fraudulent community referendum in Cajamarca.

Montreal author Rawi Hage won the world's single largest literary prize. The Beirut-born 44-year-old was awarded the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, worth some $158,000, for his 2006 book DeNiro's game. The novel, Hage's first, follows two friends in 1980's Beirut during the Lebanon Civil War as they deal with living in a city and country wracked by internal violence. Hage, who grew up in Lebanon during the civil war, moved to New York in 1982, and has lived in Montreal since 1991.

L'Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ), a Quebec-wide student federation representing over 42,000 students, voted to join the international boycott campaign opposing the Israeli apartheid. ASSÉ is the first major student union to join the boycott in Canada.

Israel conducted a large scale military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean involving several dozen warplanes. Military observers believe it was a show of strength in preparation for a possible attack on Iranian nuclear reactors. The exercise came following Israel's bombing last year of a Syrian nuclear facility, and despite official US intelligence reports stating Iran has suspended its nuclear activities.

Ten non-violent resisters went to court for attempting to dialogue with executives of Canada's self-proclaimed top military manufacturer, L-3 Wescam in Burlington, Ontario. The protesters were charged with trespassing in November. Their action followed on the heels of the October 30 bombing of a school that killed 80 Pakistani children. Protesters say the targeting device that shot a Hellfire missle into the students' school was designed and manufactured at Burlington’s L-3 Wescam.

The US military released six of the eight soldiers originally accused of massacring 24 Iraqi men, women and children in Haditha in 2006, after their charges were dismissed by a US judge. The move sparked outrage across Iraq, particularly among relatives of the victims who were killed in what has been described as a revenge attack on civilians following the explosion of a roadside bomb.

The Canadian Parliament passed a motion to allow US war resisters to apply for permanent resident status in Canada and cease all deportation orders against them. Corey Glass, 25, who signed up for the US National Guard in 2002 after he was assured he wouldn't have to fight overseas, faces deportation from Canada on July 2. In 2005 Glass was sent to Iraq and says the war he was participating in was "illegal and immoral." He and about 200 other war resisters are currently seeking refuge in Canada.

Forty thousand new homes are set to be built on crown land in northern Alberta. The province has announced the new housing project in Fort McMurray as a way to ease the ongoing housing crunch that's resulted from the booming housing industry: the number of houses in the town has doubled over the past year to 65,000.

The possibility of municipal water privatization in Saint John, New Brunswick was put on hold after a proposal to hear a presentation about a "public private partnership" was voted down by city council.

A report released by an array of human rights groups accused the United States government of blocking $54 million of international loans in order to apply pressure for political change in Haiti. The loans were intended to provide clean drinking water, but the US was not happy with the elected Haitian government led by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who the US (along with Canada and France) helped oust in 2001.

Brazilian President Lula de Silva visited Haiti, prompting demonstrations across Brazil, in Mexico City and San Francisco, protesting against the 4 year occupation of Haiti by UN troops led by Brazil.

Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a Catholic priest who was imprisoned in 2005 and called a "Prisoner of Conscience" by Amnesty International, was cleared of all charges brought against him. Jean Juste is an outspoken supporter of Famni Lavalas, the political party of ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Canada signed its fourth Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the Americas (after NAFTA, Costa Rica and Chile) with Peru.

Negotiations for the Canada-Colombia FTA were
finalized. No version of the text has been made public. Shortly after the signing of the agreement, paramilitaries threatened the Canadian embassy in Bogotá, for giving asylum to witnesses in Colombia’s ongoing “para-politica” scandal.

Five men have been sentenced to 780 years in prison for the Río Negro massacre that took place on March 13, 1982. The sentence has been called “bittersweet,” as the intellectual authors of the genocide in Guatemala, like Rios Montt, remain free.

In Venezuela, president Hugo Chavez announced that he would revise Venezuela’s new intelligence law, as various articles in the new text were potentially unconstitutional.

Two radio broadcasters were assassinated in Oaxaca, Mexico. Death squads continue to patrol the region.

After a month of debate and almost 30 amendments, the North West Territories parliament unanimously passed a consensus budget. Though the budget originally projected major cuts and job losses, significant opposition by labour and opposition MLA's brought "massive concessions."

The West-Asian state of Georgia decided to outsource hospitals and medical insurance in a bid to reduce government costs and increase "competition." Private businesses are able to take over the hospitals for free with the number of hospitals to be reduced by 60 per cent.

East Timor's president suddenly and inexplicably released a number of war criminals.

Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush. Democrats unanimously voted to refer the bill to Judiciary Committee where it is expected to die. Most Republicans voted for a debate and vote, assuming that few Democrats would actually back Bush's removal.

Barack Obama declared, "Look. I am a pro-growth, free-market guy. I love the market".

Coal Protest

War Resisters

Death in the Field

hillarybain — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:00:36 +0000

An interview with Arturo Rodriguez of the United Farm Workers of America

Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died in May after suffering a heat stroke while pruning grape vines at the San Joaquin County vineyard in California. Jimenez was a seventeen-year-old undocumented worker who had migrated from Oaxaca, Mexico to work in the United States. She was working in the fields with her fiancé and was pregnant at the time of her death. As an undocumented worker, Jimenez’s death points to the often severe realities faced by non-status agricultural workers in the US.

Since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), migration from Mexico to the US has increased dramatically. NAFTA has failed to deliver the economic boom for Mexico that was promised and thousands like Jimenez migrate to the US each year seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

Jimenez’s death sparked protest in California, including a caravan from Lodi, CA, to Sacramento, CA, coordinated by the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). Jimenez’s death reinvigorated calls for an amnesty program for undocumented workers in the US who often face appalling working conditions that frequently go undetected due to the precarious status of the workers.

Arturo Rodriguez, president of the UFW, spoke with Dominion contributor Stefan Christoff about the recent death of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez and the political movement for regularization of non-status workers in the US.

Dominion: The death of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez has drawn a great deal of attention to the case of undocumented farm workers in the United States. Commentators across the political spectrum are referencing this tragic event. Could you address the specifics surrounding her death?

Arturo Rodriguez: Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was a 17-year-old farm worker who was pregnant while working in the fields in the San Joaquin County Vineyard, working with grape vines. Maria was working in the fields for long, long hours. The employer didn’t bring water until 10:30 that morning--work had begun at 6am. Maria had worked for over four hours without any water to drink and on that particular day, the temperatures soared above 95 degrees [Fahrenheit], and in the fields even hotter.

That afternoon, Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez collapsed after not having enough water, or having any shade provided and without any sufficient rest. Consequently, Maria fell into a coma. Supervisors took no action, not calling the ambulances, not calling an emergency vehicle, instead putting her in the back of a sweltering van. About two hours later, [they] finally brought her to a hospital where, upon arrival, the doctors pronounced that the body temperature had soared to around 108 degrees.

At this point Maria was admitted to the hospital and over the course of the next days her heart stopped beating a number of times and finally her heart simply stopped beating. Doctors said that there was no real chance to revive her or for her to survive. At this point the family made a decision to shut off the machines that were keeping her alive.

Could you provide a picture of the trek that undocumented migrants are making from throughout the Americas, due to economic factors, to work in agricultural fields in the United States and Canada?

Migration occurs throughout the United States and into Canada. Towns that the workers come from, in Oaxaca or Chiapas in Mexico, have economic conditions that are so bad, so poor, that people are forced to look externally for ways to provide their children with enough to survive in these states.

Often families will pay thousands of dollars to smugglers, known as coyotes, to take people across the borders to a place where another family member is, or a place where they can work as an undocumented labourer where they slowly start working in the field. These people are then indebted to that particular coyote, so they are working first to pay off their debt.

Literally thousands and thousands of people are crossing each day. Estimates indicate that at least five hundred people are dying trying to cross the border each year. People are dying while crossing the deserts, dying from thirst, heat exposure or starvation.

Can you talk about these demands for safety reform within the context of the larger demands for regularization or status for all non-status people or workers in the United States?

Our organization has been working extremely hard for the past decade because we know that Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez isn’t an isolated case. In the US, at least 70 per cent of the farm labour force is undocumented. Oftentimes, workers like Maria are abused, or exploited, or mistreated, simply due to their lack of status in the US.

Consequently, we feel that it’s extremely important that we change this situation, to ensure that undocumented workers are afforded the same rights as anyone else in the United States when they come to work in this country. A very important part of our work as an organization is to bring about real immigration reform in the US.

Recently we have worked very closely with Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Kennedy and Congressman Howard Berman on a special piece of legislation that would in particular deal with undocumented farm workers in the United States. Through this legislation, farm workers would bring proof that they have worked 150 days over a four-year period. This legislation would then provide a pathway to grant legal status for the workers and their spouses and children in the US.

We continue to work very hard on this legislation, as we think it’s the real solution to the current problem. [If the legislation were adopted], farm workers could enjoy the same protection as anyone else and they will no longer be discriminated against.

Do you see a parallel between the recent death of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez and the current position of the US government to not grant farm workers status in the US today?

Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez is one of nine individuals that we know of who have died of heat stress just in California. Multiple other deaths have occurred due to equipment failures, due to heavy use of pesticides, and you can go on from there. The overwhelming majority of these deaths are undocumented people, so we know that these deaths are very closely linked to the legal status of these individuals.

Unfortunately, the legal status of undocumented farm workers needs to change for them to be treated as human beings. This is the reality that we face in the US and we are trying to do everything within our own power to ensure that these changes do come about. So it’s of utmost importance for us to ensure that farm workers receive the same type of legal status and protections that any other workers in the US [receive].

Throughout Mexico there has been unrest concerning the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Can you talk about the case of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez within the larger context of NAFTA, which some argue is forcing increased migration of undocumented workers into the US?

Unfortunately, NAFTA hasn’t been the solution for Mexico’s economic concerns that it was presented as. Many companies went to Mexico looking for a cheap labour supply, [but] once they found a cheaper labour supply in China or other parts of the world, they often abandoned the communities or cities in Mexico where they had set up.

Along the US-Mexico border, near Tijuana [and] other areas, you can often find factories that have been completely abandoned as a result of these corporations finding other locations internationally where they could find a cheaper labour supply, a labour supply they could better use and exploit for their corporate economic benefit.

Many large regions or states in Mexico, for example Oaxaca, were not impacted by any of the proposed economic gains from NAFTA. Oftentimes the areas that NAFTA impacted, in terms of US companies setting up factories along the border regions, are no less destitute [today] as these factories or companies are now leaving.

Today, large, large numbers of people in these states are in situations of unemployment, even homelessness, as they had left their homes in other parts of Mexico and are now stranded without work or opportunity. Oftentimes, the only solution that they had was migration to the US, in order to seek some kind of relief, in order to deal with the economic stress that they were feeling in Mexico.

Profound economic changes that benefit people will never take place unless there is real economic revival within Mexico and across other parts of Latin America. Huge numbers of people are migrating from across the Americas to the US in order to find jobs, basically to find economic relief; this is a real challenge.

Economic stability in Mexico means that people will have self-reliance where they live, an economic situation locally where they can provide for themselves, their families and their local communities.

Migrant Farm Workers

Missing Voices

hillarybain — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:37:15 +0000

Media coverage of Harper's apology left obvious holes

Reactions in the media to the federal government’s June 12 apology for the horror and tragedy of the residential school system came quickly and were plenty. Many sources, including authors in the Vancouver Sun and the Toronto Star, called on the federal government to take further immediate action to back up the apology.

But even when challenging the government, by and large the underlying message in the press was: Now that we have said sorry, Canadians can pat ourselves on the back and feel better about our colonial past. While there is little doubt that such an apology was necessary and is an important step forward, the majority of mainstream media coverage shied away from the fact that we are still living in a colonial present.

Absent from coverage was talk of current problems in British Columbia concerning the 2010 Olympics and the accompanying spike in luxury ski resort developments on unceded aboriginal land. Neither was there mention of ongoing battles over mining and forestry exploitation in Ontario that landed seven First Nations elders in jail for defending their territorial rights. There was also no word of the Quebec and Canadian governments’ removal of the traditional elders in Barriere Lake, replacing them with government appointed officials. This lack of coverage isn’t necessarily surprising, given there was little coverage of these incidents before the apology, but by ignoring these concrete situations, among many others, the media relegates colonialism to our past. By doing so, we ignore the fact that the same beliefs that inspired residential schools in the early 1900s are still present-–perhaps just more subtly so-–today.

While this lack of coverage could be addressed by mainstream journalists doing a better job reporting on the ongoing crises facing First Nations, Innu and Métis communities, another way would have been to open up the pages and airwaves to those who suffered through residential schools and are still living through the repercussions today. There were a few exceptions, such as a piece by Thohahoken Michael Doxtater in Montreal’s Le Devoir and Matthew Coon Come in the Montreal Gazette, but overall First Nations voices were reported on, instead of being allowed to speak for themselves. This is not due to the lack of possible voices. From the above-mentioned Doxtater to acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alanis Obamsawin, to Cree playwright Tomson Highway, there is no shortage of choices.

One venue that seemed perfectly suited for providing this forum was the Globe and Mail's inaugural Globe Salon. An online discussion featuring 15 participants, it provided a real-time analysis of the apology, with voices coming in from across the country. The Globe, while admitting that the list was perhaps incomplete, noted it believed the voices brought together were those Canadians would want to hear. The list featured some better- and lesser-known names, from the Canadian Autoworker’s left-leaning economist Jim Stanford, to conservative Globe and Mail columnist Marcus Gee, to the online newspaper The Tyee's David Beers and Christian broadcaster Lorna Dueck. But there were clearly some holes: all were white and many are already provided ample room in the media. The most obvious problem, however, was that the list did not include a single First Nations, Innu or Métis person, let alone a survivor of residential schools.

One commenter brought up this issue. In reply, discussion moderator and Globe and Mail Opinions Editor Patrick Martin posted an advance excerpt from an online exclusive comment piece by Stephen Kakfwi, the former premier of the North West Territories and a residential school survivor. No mention was made of whether Kafkwi had originally been invited to participate in the forum and The Dominion did not receive comment from Martin by deadline.

Any hopes of returning the land, resources and rights that First Nations, Innu and Métis people strongly deserve will obviously require much more action and will invoke much more debate in Canada’s media. But only by looking beyond the typical voices and faces will we ever truly have the nation-to-nation dialogue necessary to rectify the mistakes of the past.

Missing Voices

A Nation of Carefully Selected Immigrants

dru — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:34:43 +0000

Liberal MPs abstain, leading to major changes to immigration policy

On March 14, Canada's Conservative government introduced a series of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Instead of being presented as an immigration bill, the new reforms were slipped into Bill C-50, the 136-page "budget implementation bill" that pertains to this year's federal budget. The government launched an ad campaign in hundreds of ethnic newspapers, at a cost of $1.1 million, touting the measures while they were still before Parliament. In addition, Stephen Harper's government raised the stakes for any opposition by making the bill a confidence vote.

If Liberal MPs had voted against the bill, along with the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party, it would have triggered an election.

While all opposition parties condemned the changes, the Liberals abstained en masse to avoid forcing an election. On June 10, with the seats of 80 Liberal MPs empty, Bill C-50 passed into law.

Vancouver resident, political science graduate, migrant justice campaigner, indigenous solidarity organizer and single mom Cynthia Oka notes that in spite of Citizenship and Immigration Canada's attempted infiltration of ethnic media for the purpose of defending the bill before it had even passed, there is opposition to be found in those same venues.

"Grassroots immigrant communities are speaking out against the bill, but they're not finding voice through institutionalized channels. Some ethnic media are taking a decidedly more critical angle of the bill, which is encouraging."

In Canada, there are three categories of immigrants: family class, independent or 'economic' immigrants (admitted on the basis of skill, capital and labour-market preferences) and refugees. Under the previous system, anyone who qualified to come to Canada would get in, though the process often took years. The new system will allow Immigration Minister Diane Finley and her department to prioritize some people over others. Applications that are not dealt with by the end of each year will be sent back. Under the new law, the minister has the right to reject an application without any court review, even after the established criteria have been met.

The reforms will allow Finley and future immigration ministers to issue quotas and restrictions on people based on their particular categories and countries of origin. Humanitarian and Compassionate applications no longer have to be examined if the applicant is outside Canada. The minister also has the authority to decide the order in which the applications get processed, regardless of when they are filed.

The government has cited a "backlog problem" in the processing of immigrants as the chief reason for implementing reforms that give the immigration minister unprecedented control. Harsha Walia of No One Is Illegal (NOII) notes that, “instead of getting rid of the inexcusably long waiting list by easing immigration bureaucratic controls, their solution is to give themselves the power to simply kick people off the list.”

The result is a decision based on the needs of the employers and industry, rather than family reunification or human safety. Further reinforcing the standard of employability by which immigrants to Canada are reviewed, are the 'improvements' to the country's Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, which Finley announced in late April. Previously, foreign students studying in Canadian universities were allowed to work in Canada for a year (or two, in certain areas) after their graduation. Once they had acquired a year of work experience, they often had to return home since it was difficult for them to have their work permits extended long enough to allow their applications for permanent residence to be settled. Now, students who complete a program of study of two or more years at an eligible post-secondary institution in Canada can qualify to stay and work in the country for three years. Toronto immigration lawyer and columnist Guidy Mamann sums up the logic behind this extension.

"Canada will have an immigration system whereby we can actually 'test-drive' the candidates before accepting them as permanent residents here."

This move, contrary to popular belief, is not merely beneficial to foreign students, but is likely to further promote the gap between those who can afford the higher tuition fees reserved for out-of-country students and those who cannot. Finley's "improvements" also serve to emphasize the particular kinds of people her department deems worthy of permanent residency in Canada.

A number of agreements signed in recent years signify an endorsement of indifference, prejudice and enmity toward migrants who do not fulfill their roles as labour market commodities. The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) was agreement implemented in 2004 between the governments of Canada and the US in which both governments committed to bar most refugee claimants at the US-Canada border in order to better manage the flow of migrants at their shared land border.

The North American Security and Prosperity Partnership(SPP), implemented in 2005, mandates the arming of border guards and a forceful increase in the number of border security initiatives to keep Canada, US and Mexico borders "closed to terrorism yet open to trade." There has been an exponential increase in the Canadian budget for "security measures"--estimated at over $24 billion since 2001. According to NOII Vancouver, Bill C-50 and the STCA allow Canada to reject up to 40 per cent of people seeking asylum.

Support for Bill C-50 came mainly from employer organizations and the business lobby. Critics say the Conservatives' treatment of immigrants sends the message that people without credentials and with lower income levels are far less likely to qualify for permanent residency in Canada, and if they do qualify they are often limited to being temporary workers in marginal, often abusive jobs where loss of employment can sometimes end in deportation. Canada has become an increasingly antagonistic environment for people from other countries who are seen as either a security threat or as an unwelcome foreign imposition.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced on May 6 that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had arrested 45 people alleged to be in the country illegally.

"This large-scale operation protects the integrity of our immigration program and reinforces the security and prosperity of Canada," said Day. "The government of Canada continues to take this issue very seriously and remains committed to ensuring that those who wish to live in Canada do so according to our laws and by respecting the proper legal channels."

NOII Vancouver observes that, “This is particularly revolting in a context where the Canadian government and Canadian corporations actively participate in the creation and reinforcement of a system of global displacement of migrants and refugees who are fleeing poverty, persecution, war and corporate exploitation of their lands.”

Canada's own history (and contemporary reality) of war, persecution and corporate exploitation of land also comes into play. On June 4, while Finley was speaking at the Hotel Omni in Montreal, Samantha-Lee Chew Quinn of Montreal's South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC) addressed a crowd of demonstrators who were denied access to the conference.

"This cannot be said often enough. We are a country of immigrants, but we must also keep in mind that Canada as a nation has been built on the dispossession of the indigenous people. Canada owes its international reputation to all who dwell here but this minority government wishes to ignore the wishes of the people."

Journalists from The Dominion and Al Jazeera were barred from attending the conference. Select members of the press were granted access.

On April 4, Finley addressed the House of Commons, claiming that, "We were able to welcome 430,000 new Canadians last year to this country, the highest in over 100 years." In fact, every year since coming to power, the Conservatives have reduced the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada. According to Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Maurizio Bevilacqua, the government has cut the total number of people by 36,000 over the last two years.

"This misinformation campaign is really hurting the credibility of the process," said Bevilacqua.

While the percentage of permanent residents in Canada is decreasing, there is an increase in the number of temporary migrant workers without basic rights. In Canada today, the number of people admitted each year on temporary work visas is greater than the number admitted as permanent residents.

Finley's newfound right to impose different migrant quotas on different countries has been compared to previous racist legislation, like the head tax that was once applied to all Chinese immigrants, or the Chinese Exclusion Act that was passed on Dominion Day, July 1, 1923. Until 1947, when the act was repealed, the Canadian Parliament excluded all but 50 Chinese immigrants from entering Canada.

The Chinese-Canadian community viewed this law as the ultimate form of humiliation, especially given that Canada's attempts to restrict Chinese immigration to Canada began in 1885, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) and the resulting shift in the needs of Canada's labour market.

The Canadian Conservatives' racist Continuous Journey Law, passed to discourage Indian immigrants from entering Canada, was responsible for the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, where 20 people from India were shot dead by British authorities for challenging Canadian legislation.

Ukrainian-Canadian internment, part of the confinement of "enemy aliens" in Canada during and after the First World War, kept about 5,000 Ukrainian men of Austro-Hungarian citizenship in internment camps.

The Harper government has made announcements to acknowledge past injustices and compensate people both directly and indirectly affected by immigration policies of the past, but often to the dissatisfaction of many. For example, when the prime minister offered an apology in 2006 for the head tax once paid by Chinese immigrants and a redress of $20,000 for those who were alive at the time to pay it (an estimated 20 Chinese Canadians who paid the tax were still alive in 2006), many were critical of the apology. Peter O'Neil of the Vancouver Sun noted that “factions of the Chinese-Canadian community were set to do battle as the federal government announced a head tax redress plan that doesn't provide direct compensation to individuals, and their descendants, who suffered because of racist Canadian laws.” The Chinese-Canadian community continues to fight for an acceptable redress from the Canadian government.

According to Oka, what is needed in order to counteract the duplicitous Bill C-50 is "a mass and visible response of people, organizations and communities saying, 'no.'"

"A big part of that has to do with making immigrants, and the work they do, more visible. It is not a bill that is happening in a vacuum. It's happening in a context of securitization and hyper neo-liberalism. The war on terror, the Olympics, the tar sands--it's all connected, and C-50 makes perfect sense when considered in that web."

Anti-C-50 demonstrators

Samantha-Lee Chew Quinn

Finley Attendees Regard Protesters

Gravel and Gold

hillarybain — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:50:45 +0000

In the Quinte Detention Centre, Indigenous spokespeople compare stories of resistance

At noon on Monday, May 19, I walked through several doors of State security into the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ontario, to visit Shawn Brant, a spokesperson for the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga. I was accompanied by Sergio Campusano, chief of the indigenous Diaguita of the Huasco Valley in northern Chile.

Campusano had spent the last month in Turtle Island (North American) along with Wiradjuri (Australian), Ipili (Papua New Guinean) and Western Shoshone (American) indigenous leaders, all speaking out against the destructive and repressive operations of Toronto-based Barrick Gold, the biggest gold mining company in the world.

Brant, on the other hand, had spent the last month in the Quinte Detention Centre. Shawn was arrested on April 25, 2008 for charges tied to his involvement in resistance to a gravel quarry on Native land. Government prosecutors are seeking a minimum sentence of 12 years in federal prison.

Brant's current circumstance, and recent incidents at Tyendinaga, cannot be fully understood without knowledge of some of the history. In 1832, the Culbertson Tract was stolen from Tyendinaga. In 2003, the federal government acknowledged that the Tract belongs to the Mohawk community, but has yet to give it back. While land negotiations were ongoing, the government granted a mining licence to Thurlow Aggregates, a non-native business that developed a gravel quarry in the Culbertson Tract.

Both before and after Tyendinaga physically reclaimed the gravel quarry in March 2007, the Mohawk community and others have led a series of actions, including economic disruption, in order to raise awareness about the situation and pressure the provincial and federal governments to act. Brant has been repeatedly targeted and arrested for a series of charges.

In late April 2008, after a series of road blockades against Kingston realtor Emile Nibourg in response to plans for construction within the Culbertson Tract, Brant was once again arrested. The charges included various counts of uttering death threats and possession of a dangerous weapon (a fishing spear during fishing season) related to his efforts to protect the women and children of his community from a racist attack on April 21.

Campusano and I approached the prison with some caution, apprehensive of the high fences surrounding the detention centre in the small Ontario city of Napanee, only one highway exit away from Tyendinaga. Having never visited any prison outside of Central America, I had no idea what to expect, especially since we were visiting Brant.

After we identified ourselves over the intercom as visitors, the large fenced gate slowly opened, reminding me of a cattle entrance. The old building and indirect interactions through intercoms, glass and metal reminded me, as do most bureaucratic institutions, of something straight out of Kafka's stories. We filled out a registration form, left behind our passports and belongings, and were instructed to enter the visitors' side of the room, which was separated from the detainees' area by thick plastic, with booths on either side.

Brant had already been escorted in and was calmly waiting for us in his fluorescent orange jumpsuit. Since we were the first visitors to arrive, we had no trouble hearing each other for the first while. When others piled into the booths beside us, however, the telephones generally depicted in prison visit scenes in Hollywood movies would have been extremely helpful. Instead, we had to lean down and press our ears against the metal grating below the plastic windows in order to hear each other.

"We're not prepared to simply stand by," Brant told Campusano through the metal grating. "We feel that our very existence is depending on it."

Before Tyendinaga blockaded and reclaimed what everyone acknowledges is unceded territory, trucks were transporting 10,000 loads of newly crushed gravel from the pit every year--an estimated 100,000 tonnes.

Campusano's community is facing something similar in Chile, where Barrick has fenced off some 50,000 hectares of traditional Diaguita territory and claims it as company private property; off limits to the indigenous people who have lived there herding animals and gathering medicinal plants and firewood in the mountains for centuries.

"They put up a gate..." Campusano began saying as he showed slides from his home community of 1,500 Diaguita at an event held at the Ottawa Public Library a few days before. He broke down in tears and had to take a moment to collect himself before he could continue.

"They don't let us go onto our land," he explained. "This hurts me very much."

The Diaguita community erected their own brightly painted sign at the entrance to Barrick Gold's installations: "Home of the Huasco Altinos since 1903. Private."

"We won't trade this for anything. There is no money in the world to buy this." As Campusano spoke, he showed the audience a series of slides: a mural painted on the church belltower in the town of Alto de Carmen, messages of resistance painted on banners carried in marches and protests, and the faces of some of the 260 Diaguita elders. Most of the Diaguita elders proposed Campusano as a candidate for Chief of the Diaguita community of the Huasco Valley. He has been elected twice with their blessing.

"Why don't they let us be what we want to be?" he asked the Ottawa audience.

At the detention centre, Brant said: "It is about more than mining. Mining is just a symptom. Until we're gone, the miners, developers, governments and others cannot come into indigenous territory and do what they please." Brant's ancestors fought the same struggle for the chance to exist as Peoples and he believes the current generation must make the same sacrifice for future generations.

A few years ago, faced with the onslaught of mining in their territory, the Huasco Valley Diaguita community put out a call for international solidarity and especially for global indigenous solidarity. They received a response from the Manitoba Assembly of First Nations (MAFN). Ron Evans, Grand Chief of the MAFN, flew down to Chile and was welcomed in a ceremony in which the Diaguita and MAFN signed an International Agreement of Mutual Aid.

Later, however, the Diaguita learned that the MAFN had used their agreement to propose a multi-million dollar project to Barrick Gold. The Diaguita community sent word to the MAFN that they were to come immediately to the Huasco Valley to explain themselves to the Diaguita community. When Evans did not return to Chile to clarify the situation, the Diaguita informed all involved that the agreement was null and void.

The visit of the MAFN to Diaguita territory for this pro-mining purpose is not an isolated incident. Evans has reportedly travelled to several Latin American countries on similar missions. The use of First Nations Band Council leaders by Canadian mining corporations and the Canadian government in an effort to convince indigenous communities in other countries to accept mining is not uncommon.

"We consider them traitors in our midst," said Brant, referring to Evans and the Assembly of First Nations in general, explaining that the Mohawk traditional system of governance--founded on values of sovereignty, honesty and integrity--has existed for thousands of years and still exists alongside the Band Council system that was imposed by the Canadian government.

"The Assembly of First Nations is a government of Canada Indian organization that supports the government of Canada and does nothing to support the Mohawk and other nations," Brant explained to Campusano.

Mohawk communities and leaders have long been singled out and targeted by government and mainstream media for their militant resistance and defence of their territory. While many remember the images of armed Mohawks in fatigues and balaclavas defending their territory during the Oka stand-off in 1990, fewer remember the images of heavily armed Canadian soldiers and police forcibly trying to remove blockades and enter sovereign First Nations territory at Oka, Ipperwash, Gustafsen Lake, Grassy Narrows, Six Nations, Tyendinaga and many others.

The Mohawk Warrior Society was the only domestic organization singled out in a 2005 draft version of the Canadian Armed Forces' Counterinsurgency Field Manual, identified along with the Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Taliban.

After Brant's arrest on April 25, the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga responded with blockades and actions. The police crackdown in response to these actions was severe.

"We were at gunpoint for four days. We were not allowed to leave the quarry," said community member Arosen. He explained that for those four days, from April 26-29, the Mohawk occupation of the gravel quarry was effectively under siege by over 300 police officers and no one was allowed to leave or enter for food, water, or any other reason. "It was terrifying," he said.

Another Mohawk community member recalled the siege: "There were rifles, machine guns, snipers, helicopters, undercover police agents sneaking around at night."

A SWAT team even detained a school bus full of Tyendinaga high school students who routinely travelled off the reservation in order to continue their studies after elementary school.

"They were pulled over by a SWAT team and searched," said Mohawk community activist Niki Storms. When a Mohawk youth at the back of the bus asked what they were looking for, a police officer responded: "Terrorists."

"All we ever wanted was a safe and healthy community to raise our babies, and clean drinking water," remarked Brant during our visit. "Sadly, we share the same issues and the same efforts to wipe us out," he told Campusano through the prison glass at the Quinte Detention Centre.

"I came from very far away," said Campusano. "My eyes have been opened here."

In South America, he said, even indigenous leaders have the idea that indigenous peoples are treated very well in Canada. One of his missions upon his return to Chile, said Campusano, would be to spread the word about Brant's case in specific and about repression against First Nations in Canada in general.

For more information, or to get involved, contact the Tyendinaga Support Committee

Occupied Quarry

Huasco Valley

Evo Morales on Europe and Migration

dru — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:07:23 +0000

An open letter from Evo Morales to the European Parliament

Up until the end of the World War II, Europe was an emigrant continent. Tens of thousands of Europeans departed for the Americas to colonize, to escape hunger, the financial crisis, the wars or European totalitarianisms and the persecution of ethnic minorities.

Today, I am following with concern the process of the so called "Return Directive". The text, validated last June 5th by the Interior Ministers of 27 countries in the European Union, comes up for a vote on June 18 in the European Parliament. I feel that it is a drastic hardening of the detention and expulsion conditions for undocumented immigrants, regardless of the time they have lived in the European countries, their work situation, their family ties, or their ability and achievements to integrate.

Europeans arrived en masse to Latin and North America, without visas or conditions imposed on them by the authorities. They were simply welcomed, and continue to be, in our American continent, which absorbed at that time the European economic misery and political crisis. They came to our continent to exploit the natural wealth and to transfer it to Europe, with a high cost for the original populations in America. As is the case of our Cerro Rico de Potosi and its fabulous silver mines that gave monetary mass to the European continent from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The people, the wealth and the rights of the migrant Europeans were always respected.

Today, the European Union is the main destiny for immigrants around the world which is a consequence of its positive image of space and prosperity and public freedoms. The great majority of immigrants go to the EU to contribute to this prosperity, not to take advantage of it. They are employed in public works, construction, and in services to people in hospitals, which the Europeans cannot do or do not want. They contribute to the demographic dynamics of the European continent, maintaining the relationship between the employed and the retired which provides for the generous social security system and helps the dynamics of internal markets and social cohesion. The migrant offers a solution to demographic and financial problems in the EU.

For us, our emigrants represent help in development that Europeans do not give us – since few countries really reach the minimum objective of 0.7% of its GDP in development assistance. Latin America received, in 2006, remittance (monies sent back) totaling 68,000 million dollars, or more than the total foreign investment in our countries. On the worldwide level it reached $300,000 million dollars which is more than US $104,000 million authorized for development assistance. My own country, Bolivia, received more than 10% of the GDP in remittance (1,100 million dollars) or a third of our annual Exports of natural gas.

Unfortunately, "Return Directive" project is an enormous complication to this reality. If we can conceive that each State or group of States can define their migratory policies in every sovereignty, we cannot accept that the fundamental rights of the people be denied to our compatriots and brother Latin-Americans. The "Return Directive" foresees the possibility of jailing undocumented immigrants for up to 18 months before their expulsion – or "distancing", according to the terms of the directive. 18 months! Without a judgment or justice! As it stands today the project text of the directive clearly violates articles 2, 3, 5,6,7,8 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

In particular, Article 13 of the Declaration states:

1. All persons have a right to move freely and to choose their residence in the territory of a State.
2. All persons have the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

And, the worst of all, the possibility exists for the mothers of families with minor children to be arrested - without regards to the family and school situation - in these internment centers where we know that depression, hunger strikes, and suicide happens. How can we accept without reacting that our compatriots and Latin American brothers without documents, of which the great majority have been working and integrating for years, are concentrated in camps. On what side is the duty of humanitarian action? Where is the "freedom of movement," protection against arbitrary imprisonment?

On a parallel, the European Union is trying to convince the Andean Community the Nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) to sign an "Association Agreement" that includes the third pillar of the Free Trade Agreement, of the same nature and content as that imposed by the United States. We are under intense pressure from the European Commission to accept conditions of great liberalization of our trade, financial services, intellectual property rights and our public works. In addition under so called "judicial protection" we are being pressured about the nationalization of the water, gas and telecommunications that were done on the Worldwide Workers' Day. I ask, in that case, where is the "judicial protection" for our women, adolescents, children and workers who look for better horizons in Europe?

Under these conditions, if the "Return Directive" is passed, we will be ethically unable to deepen the negotiations with the European Union, and we reserve the right to legislate such that the European Citizens have the same obligations for visas that they impose on the Bolivians from the first of April 2007, according to the diplomatic principal of reciprocity. We have not exercised it up until now, precisely because we were awaiting good signs from the EU.

The world, its continents, its oceans and its poles know important global difficulties: global warming, contamination, the slow but sure disappearance of the energy resources and biodiversity while hunger and poverty increase in every country, debilitating our societies. To make migrants, whether they have documents or not, the scapegoats of these global problems, is not the solution. It does not meet any reality. The social cohesion problems that Europe is suffering from are not the fault of the migrants, rather the result of the model of development imposed by the North, which destroys the planet and dismembers human societies.

In the name of the people of Bolivia, of all of my brothers on the continent and regions of the world like the Maghreb and the countries of Africa, I appeal to the conscience of the European leaders and deputies, of the peoples, citizens and activists of Europe, for them not to approve the text of the "Return Directive". As it is today, it is a directive of vengeance. I also call on the European Union to elaborate, over the next months, a migration policy that is respectful of human rights, which allows us to maintain this dynamics that is helpful to both continents and that repairs once and for all the tremendous historic debt, both economic and ecological that the European countries owe to a large part of the Third World, and to close once and for all the open veins of Latin America. They cannot fail today in their "policies of integration" as they have failed with their supposed "civilizing mission" from colonial times.

Receive all of you, authorities, Euro parliamentarians, brothers and sisters, fraternal greetings from Bolivia. And in particular our solidarity to all of the "clandestinos."

Evo Morales Ayma

President of the Republic of Bolivia

Evo Morales

See No Evil

hillarybain — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:37:15 +0000

Canada removes Israel from list of countries suspected of using torture

“The Israelis tied my hands, blindfolded and then beat me all the way to the interrogation center. I was then cuffed to a chair for four days where interrogators prevented me from sleeping. I was tied in painful stress positions, and on one occasion the agents grabbed me while I was cuffed to the chair and shook me severely, I passed out when they started shaking me by the head,” said “Samer” a former student union activist at Birzeit University who was arrested in 2006.

This isn’t torture, according to Foreign Affairs Canada and the Harper government. The Canadian government used to list Israel and the United States as countries suspected of using torture in its diplomatic manual Torture Awareness Workshop Reference Materials. On January 19, 2008, though, shortly after this became public, the two countries were dropped from the list with an expression of regret and embarrassment from then-foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier.

For tortured Palestinians, and Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, however, Bernier’s expression of regret and embarrassment should instead be directed at the federal government's weak stance on Israeli torture. Sarit Michaeli, a spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, believes the international community has an obligation to act against torture. “We are very concerned about the Canadian government removing Israel from this list,” she said.

On January 21, B'Tselem sent a message to Bernier protesting Israel's removal from the list of countries suspected of torture. According to Foreign Affairs spokesperson Rodney Moore, the government has no record of receiving B'tselem's letter.

"The minister made it clear that this was not a position of government policy," stated Moore in referrence to Israel being listed in the manual. "The minister said in his statement that this was an embarrassment," he added, refusing to elaborate on why Israel was originally in the manual or the reasons for the country’s removal from it.

B’tselem’s comments were echoed by Amnesty International Canada (AIC), the human rights organization that obtained the diplomatic manual on torture before releasing it to the press. “We are disappointed that Canada would take countries off the list for diplomatic reasons,” said Paul Champ, AIC’s attorney who obtained the document. “Torture is a very serious issue and if there’s evidence, the Canadian government needs to deal with it.” Champ explained the manual was for training consul officers and, in the case of Israel, to bring claims of torture to their attention.

Last year, B’tselem, along with the Israeli individual liberties group HaMoked, released a report which documented the pervasiveness of Israeli torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees. The document reported that two-thirds of interview subjects said they’d experienced beatings, painful binding, humiliation and denial of basic needs at the hands of security forces personnel.

According to Gadi Zohar, the former chief of Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank and former head of the Israeli Army Intelligence’s Terror Research Department, Israelis “have to fight for our lives, not for anybody’s reports.” Zohar contends that Israel shouldn’t be called a state that tortures because of its “special situation in fighting terrorism. When you have to make decisions about saving lives and someone suffering, then one should suffer,” he argued.

In the office of the Israeli prime minister, spokesperson Mark Regev is terse and clear. "Torture is illegal in Israel," said Regev, referring to Israel's 1999 Supreme Court decision. "Nobody, not the Prime Minister's office, the Defense Establishment, nobody is above the law."

Despite Israel’s claim not to torture, the story of violent and tormenting ill-treatment by Israeli officials during detention is common in the Occupied Territories. According to Mahmud Sehwail, the general director of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for victims of Torture in Ramallah, there was little change after the 1999 Israeli High Court ruling that partly barred torture. Sehwail said that 90 per cent of Palestinian detainees have been tortured or ill-treated. The main switch after 1999, he explained, was from more physical to more psychological forms of torture. Sechwail also noted the ruling’s torture loophole, allowing for “physical pressure” to be applied in “ticking time bomb” cases.

Samer, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, also relayed experiences of psychological torture, discussing how Israeli Security Agents (ISA) claimed to have arrested his mother and sister, threatening to rape them if he didn’t confess. Samer said he has suffered from back pain and diminished eyesight as well as psychological trauma since his detention. While his experiences are more severe than most detainees, they are not uncommon.

Hammad Selaman described the Israeli army coming to his door at two in the morning to arrest him when he was 17. Freed as part of Israel’s token release of 429 prisoners in November 2007, he says he was charged with being a member of Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas’ political movement considered an illegal organization by Israel. Describing being blindfolded and put on the floor of an army jeep, he said the soldiers kicked and beat him all the way to the detention centre. Selaman highlighted that the soldiers unleashed dogs on him in the jeep.

After arriving at the centre where he said he was held for a month, he described being taken to a small room where soldiers beat him again. “I was then taken to a bigger room where I was blindfolded and cuffed to a chair for 10 hours waiting for interrogation. I could hear other prisoners screaming from the torture.”

While the Harper government is evasive and the Liberals refused an interview, the New Democratic Party’s Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar is cautious in his response, primarily targeting the government for not acting on their information.

“The government has to stop shutting up its bureaucrats when they come out with important information,” he said, highlighting that both Canada and Israel haven’t signed the UN convention against torture. Shying away from condemning the Israeli government, Dewar said that Samer and Selaman’s experiences sounded like torture, but he hasn’t seen B’tselem’s report and doesn’t know if Israel’s actions would meet the criteria to be listed as a state that tortures.

While Canadian politicians distance themselves from publicly confronting Israel over its detention policies, many Palestinians who've passed through Israeli custody say that torture doesn't end in the interrogation room but continues in prison after sentencing.

Jihad Maher Shalapi was 16 when he says he was arrested at Nablus' Huwwara checkpoint. He was beaten all the way to interrogation and then severely beaten after refusing to sign a confession in Hebrew which he didn't understand. "The interrogator started screaming at me, beating me and kicking my head against the door. I was forced to stand on my tiptoes squatting in a stress position for half an hour at a time."

A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at the time of arrest, he said he was caught with two homemade explosives intended for a retaliation attack after the Israeli military carried out the extrajudicial assassination of his uncle. He was sentenced to a year in prison by an Israeli military court where he says extreme mistreatment continued. Released in October 2007, he described the regular use of tear gas by guards in the prison yard which would blow into the cells. He also highlighted cell block raids where the army would discharge tear gas into cells, then rushing in to beat prisoners with batons. Similar stories of prison were also relayed by Samer and Selaman.

With a Canadian election on the horizon, the NDP has said the issue of torture will be part of the party’s human rights platform. However, Dewar was vague as to how the issue will be addressed. Regardless of the muted response in Canada to the descriptions of Israeli torture, Shalapi, Selaman and Samer have called on the Canadian government to place Israel back in the manual and take concrete diplomatic action to end Israeli torture.

Jesse Rosenfeld is a freelance journalist based in Ramallah. To learn more, check out his blog.

A version of this story was originally published in NOW Magazine.

Protester in Palestine

Jews for Palestine

Stuart Neatby — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:21:11 +0000

Remembering the Nakbah

On May 15, the State of Israel turned 60. Celebrations around the world were held to mark Israel's Day of Independence. Remarked also for different reasons, this day has made a global impact under its other title, "the Catastrophe," or Al Nakbah in Arabic. It is mourned as a day that commemorates the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, as a result of which Israel is today a Jewish majority state.

Resistance to these celebrations has also taken place across North America under a campaign entitled “No Time To Celebrate: Jews Remember the Nakbah.” This activism demonstrates a growing Jewish presence within the movement to oppose Israeli policies, the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the ongoing oppression of Palestinians. In Canada, this presence was strongly felt on March 29 when over a hundred representatives of various organizations joined at the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadian's (ACJC) conference. The aim of the conference was to create an effective and justice-oriented strategy for future collaboration of jews critical of Israel's policies.

A jewish stance in solidarity with Palestinians is particularly significant, given recent remarks by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Reminding the world of the Holocaust, Harper announced that Israel was "threatened by those groups and regimes who deny to this day its right to exist." Despite Israel’s refusal to acknowledge a Palestinian state, in deed if not in word, Harper further emphasized his alliance with the State of Israel by calling it "one of the most successful countries on earth... Israel truly is the ‘miracle in the desert.’”

"The source of Israel's strength and success,” continued Harper, “is its commitment to the universal values of all civilized peoples: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law." Post-Holocaust Jewish settlers in Israel, according to the Prime Minister, have "led the world back to the light."

Such flamboyant support stands in stark contrast to Canada's historical record of siding with the majority of the world, whose national representatives have consistently voted at the UN General Assembly for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

During a teach-in held in Ottawa days before the anniversary of the Nakbah, Diana Ralph, Coordinator of the ACJC conference, reduced much of Harper's statements to little more than myths. Ralph broke down the logic in Harper’s speech, which proposed that all criticism of Israel was equated with anti-Semitism, that Israel was the only democracy in the Middle East, and that Arab and Jewish people hate each other.

“If this is a beacon of light onto nations,” said Ralph, referring to Harper’s position on Israel's settlers, “I think we need to turn out the lights."

Ralph's support for human rights in the Middle East went hand in hand with the outcome of the historic ACJC conference. The ACJC body has made a remarkable move in declaring its support for "a properly negotiated peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people" and opposing "any attempt by the Israeli government to impose its own solutions on the Palestinians."

The organization further recognizes the world's repeated calls for Israel to respect international law, particularly the 2004 International Court of Justice's ruling on post-1967 affairs in the region. The ICJ ruled that the so-called “Annexation Wall,” as well as the West Bank settlements, were illegal and demanded Israel pay reparation for "all damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, includ[ing] in and around East Jerusalem."

Such international decisions have been amplified worldwide by opposition to the celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary. In San Francisco, 20 Jewish activists were arrested while protesting their local community centre's celebrations of Israel@60. In New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and dozens of other cities across the continent, organizers put together street theatre shows, die-ins, educational and media events, mournful vigils, and peaceful disruptions, all in solidarity with Palestine.

In Canada’s capital, Not In Our Name (NION): Jews Against Israel's Wars, which represents pro-justice Jewish voices in the Ottawa community, has linked with many others to form what has become the Ottawa Palestine Solidarity Network (OPSN). On May 8, over 70 community members and activists joined to mourn outside the Ottawa Civic Centre where the local Israel@60 celebration took place. Continuing their visible support for understanding the real history of Israel/Palestine, OPSN held a teach-in on May 18 that posed the question of whether the 60th anniversary of the State's inception was indeed something to celebrate.

Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian refugee, presented the history and fallout of the 1948 Nakbah. She spoke of the 500 villages that were destroyed in the lead-up and in the midst of the 1948 War of Independence, a war that displaced 750,000 refugees. Today, the West Bank hosts over 500 checkpoints; the Israeli State controls all Palestinian access to water, land, and employment; and an “Annexation Wall” now segregates communities from each other. In places such as Qualqilia the wall completely surrounds entire villages, while the checkpoints reinforce a segregation system. Israeli-only settlements are interspersed in the West Bank among Palestinian farms, connected to one another and Israel-proper by Israeli-only roads which are heavily protected by walls, fences, and armed soldiers. Effectively, Sabawi explained, the Nakbah Catastrophe has never ended.

Ralph followed Sabawi's short history with a talk entitled "Which Side Are You On?" which emphasized the importance for Jews to stand for justice in Palestine. Ralph’s message was further amplified by Rabbi Dovid Feldman, who drew from the Old Testament to argue that traditional Judaism rejects the idea of Zionism. The philosophy of zionism, to which the creation of the State of Israel has been attributed has, according to Feldman, been countered by Jewish leaders since its very inception at the end of the 19th century. Rejecting the celebrations of Israeli Statehood, Feldman stated, "Every Israeli Independence Day, we have a day of fasting. It is a day of mourning."

Concluding the teach-in, Mazen Masri, a member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and a PhD candidate at York University, spoke about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

Arising from Palestinian civil society, the BDS campaign began in the summer of 2005. The campaign calls for tactics similar to those which contributed to the official end of South African apartheid to be applied to Israel. The BDS campaign calls for the boycott of Israeli businesses by individuals, the divestment of international corporations from the Israeli economy, and the enforcement of sanctions by governments against the State of Israel until its apartheid policies end.

Days later, on May 20, a fundraiser held at the National Arts Centre (NAC) was sponsored by the Jewish National Fund and hosted by Israeli Ambassador to Canada Alan Baker, who was also the guest of honour. Baker has been under strict in recent weeks after making remarks that have been called discriminatory and racist against Muslim and Arab people. Baker argued that Canada should limit immigration of Muslim people on that grounds that they may alter Canadian demographics as well as Canada's overt support for Israel. In response, almost a hundred protestors crowded the doors of the NAC, including over twenty Haredi religious Jews as well as dozens of Israelis, secular Jews, Palestinians, and other supporters. A mock check-point was constructed and activists, dressed as soldiers, with the inscription "Israel Offense Forces" attached to their uniforms, controlled access to the entrance. Organizers billed this as a mild demonstration of the daily humiliation and delay to which Palestinians are subjugated.

In Toronto, on Sunday May 25, the UJA Federation’s annual ‘Walk with Israel’ was held. Advertised as a fundraiser for “programs for children and youth in Israel with a specific focus on those in Sderot and the Western Negev,” the event drew thousands of participants as well as approximately three dozen protesters. Holding a silent vigil on the outskirts of the Walk, the protestors were met with discriminatory remarks such as “go back to Jordan.” Some parents even stopped to demonstrate to their children that the men and women who were dressed in black to commemorate the Nakbah, were forever Israel’s enemy.

“I would kill another 800,000 of you!” one man yelled, referring to the 1948 ethnic cleansing.

In Israel/Palestine, 21,915 black balloons were released over Jerusalem to represent the number of days since the beginning of the Nakbah. Spearheaded by the Badil Resource Centre in Ramallah, the idea was part of an international campaign called "Justice is the Key to Tomorrow." The organization's website explains the reasons for which thousands worldwide have mobilized in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

"How can you celebrate?" the site asks. "The establishment of the State of Israel sixty years ago was a settler-colonial project that systematically and violently uprooted more than 750 thousand Palestinian Arabs from their lands and homes... These celebrations, by definition, insult our history, violate our rights, and deepen our oppression. They also render the path to justice, freedom, equality, and sustainable peace based on international law longer than ever before."

Rabbis for Palestine

NION

An Artful Recovery

Moira Peters — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:54:22 +0000

Artists respond to post-Katrina New Orleans

On Friday, August 26, 2005, visual artist Elizabeth Underwood made the decision to evacuate New Orleans when she learned that Hurricane Katrina had strengthened to a Category 3 storm in the Gulf of Mexico. “We knew this was it; this was the big one, the storm we’d been talking about for years,” she says now.

At the time, Underwood was working for the photographer Herman Leonard, renowned for his images of New Orleans jazz culture. Suddenly she found herself on the brink of losing both her job and her home. “Saturday I went to pick up Herman’s negatives to put in the safe at the Ogden Museum. I had to judge what was important, how high the water was going to get, what needed to be taken care of first. After, with the little time I had left, I went home and had to judge what was important for me; first, what was living and then what was irreplaceable. I packed my hatchback with my fifteen-year-old cat and sixteen-year-old dog, leaving behind twenty years of hand-written journals.”

For several weeks, Underwood “bounced around from couch to car to hotel,” ending up alone in Austin, TX, for nearly a year. Then finally, in August 2006, she formulated an idea for a project that would bring her back to her beloved city. In September 2006, she moved into an unheated trailer in the Uptown district of New Orleans and began laying the groundwork for “Art in Action,” turning to her art to help rebuild not only her own life but also that of her city, and joining a growing community of artists committed to doing the same.

As the director of the “community-based, on-going, public art project,” Underwood orchestrates outdoor art installations in hurricane-devastated areas of New Orleans and uses the art to transcribe the experience of visiting those "tourist" areas as she guides visitors through some of the twenty-six sites created thus far.

Underwood found inspiration for Art in Action in the work of artist Tyree Guyton, a fellow native of Detroit. For his Heidelberg Project, he transformed the vacant lots of a decentralized and marginalized district in Detroit into one giant art installation. Today, “though the neighbourhood no longer exists, you can go to the street where the art is still standing,” she explains.

The heart of Underwood’s venture however originates in deep-seated New Orleans traditions. “This is a city that publicly ritualises life, death, and trauma through art, with examples in Mardi Gras and jazz funerals," she says. The jazz funeral stems from a centuries-old African ideology that has, in modern times, become a public, sacred experience unique to Louisiana, in which a jazz band plays slow, mournful dirges while the family of the deceased accompanies the body to the cemetery. After the burial, the band’s tempo accelerates, transforming the experience into a festive celebration that’s open to the public.

This community-based act of sharing in another’s trauma finds echoes in the mission of Art in Action, whereby artists reanimate flood-damaged areas of the city by using them as the backdrops for their public installations, always with the utmost respect and care for the residents. Indeed, the artists can only produce their works with the permission and participation of the landowners and neighbours. Once the installation is up, participants invite the local community to an "opening" party complete with live music and donations from Whole Foods and the local coffee house Fairgrinds.

In 2007, Underwood herself worked with fellow artist Naftali Rutter to create "Picture This" in the Lower 9th Ward. By hanging Polaroid images from the branches of a tree, the artists wanted to comment on how New Orleans has long been “visually fetishized” through photography. On the one hand, images recording the flood are powerful tools with which to communicate the need to rebuild the city and help its residents heal. On the other hand, “in a landscape that now symbolizes the horrific destructivness [sic] of marginialization/‘other-ing’,” it’s hard to find ways to “connect with the landscape/story via photography … with respect and dignity,” as they explain on the Art in Action blog. Picture This, however, also reflects how losing family photos became a shared experience for displaced residents after the storm: “A common refrain of survivors is how [that loss] is what hurts them to this day.” The site continues to evolve, since they invite anyone to add their own photos to the tree, as long as they’re "joyous, singing, and/or celebratory."

In addition to support from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Art in Action, like other initiatives trying to rebuild and renew the flood-damaged city through art, receives funding from the non-profit Art Council of New Orleans, the official art agency of the city. Even with its office destroyed and under water, the council became indispensable to the city’s art community after the hurricane. Shirley Corey, the CEO at the time of the flood, moved its headquarters some 450 kilometres northwest of New Orleans to Shreveport, LA, in order to field the calls that were streaming in, both asking for and offering help.

One of the offers came from the French government and involved relocating artists to residencies in France. "Because of a long standing relationship with the French Consulate, the Art Council was prepared to work with them, and we were able to recommend a group of visual artists," says Mary Len Costa, Interim CEO of the council who worked with the consulate’s artistic attaché Debbie de la Houssaye to coordinate the residencies.

"New Orleans is a city built on its arts and culture. It’s attractive to artists, with its laissez-faire attitude,” says Gene Meneray, the director of the Arts Business Program at the council. “It’s important for us to help them because a community looks to its artists to tell the stories and capture the thoughts and emotions after a tragedy to make sense of what’s happened." By funding "Social Dress New Orleans" (2007) by Takashi Horisaki, for example, the council has helped bring the story of the Katrina disaster to the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, NY, where the artist created a sculptural installation made of latex, cheesecloth, steel, and the remnants of a house that once stood at 1941 Caffin Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward.

New Orleans has long identified itself in its artistic community, one with long-standing traditions of celebrating life and mourning death in very public, communal ways. While the population is still not back to its pre-Katrina numbers and many neighbourhoods remain in grave states of decay, the artists of New Orleans are returning to these traditions in order to tell the stories of the flood and ensure the city is reborn more vibrant than ever.

Art in Action
Art Council of New Orleans
The Heidelberg Project
Takachi Horisaki, Social Dress New Orleans

Picture This

"We Are Tired"

hillarybain — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:30:58 +0000

Fate of Liberian refugees uncertain

There’s an African proverb that reads: “When two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers.” It’s an adage that rings all too clear in Liberia after nearly 15 years of civil war.

While leading a coup d'état in 1980, Samuel Doe murdered and subsequently replaced Liberia's president, William R. Tolbert. Doe reigned for 10 years until the notorious Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) attacked Liberia on Christmas Eve, 1989. Civil war ensued for the next 14 years.

The Buduburam refugee settlement, located an hour outside Ghana's capital, Accra, is home to some 35,000 Liberian refugees, a number that fluctuates daily as refugees constantly come and go. Some of Buduburam's inhabitants have been there for up to 18 years, while others have just arrived, but all have one thing in common: they are seeking asylum.

In the 14 years of war in Liberia, more than 200,000 people were slain, some 800,000 internally displaced, and an estimated 350,000 Liberians fled their country. Liberia's infrastructure, education, health system and economy crumbled.

Liberia has been relatively peaceful since the signing of the August 2003 Peace Agreement in Accra, moving the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to launch a voluntary repatriation program in October 2004; the program came to a conclusion on June 30 of last year.

Under the UNHCR, registered repatriates were transported from their country of exile to Liberia via ship or air. Once in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, the UNHCR gave each repatriate $5 US and four months' ration of wheat, blankets and basic cooking utensils.

According to the UNHCR, 6,320 Liberian refugees from Ghana and over 110,000 people from other West African countries have passed through the UNHCR's repatriation program. This has still left an estimated 72,000 Liberian refugees in West Africa. Ghana is currently home to one third of those refugees, totalling some 36,000 people.

The UNHCR has been pressuring the Ghanaian government to reintegrate remaining refugees into Ghanaian society where they are currently not allowed to work legally. Starting from February 19, 2008, however, hundreds of Liberian refugee women began protesting the UNHCR’s stance. Protesters are demanding resettlement in a third country-–namely Europe or North America-–or $1000 US for each refugee to travel back home.

“Basically the refugees want an increase package from the UN in order to return to Liberia, or to be resettled in a third country of asylum,” says Leon Toe, 26, a resident of Buduburam and a Liberian journalist. “They want the UNHCR and the governments of Liberia and Ghana to either resettle refugees or take them back to Liberia and give them money. More than five dollars to restart their lives,” says Toe.

Many of the residents insist that five dollars and some grain simply will not be enough to sustain them while rebuilding their homes and lives.

“The camp is really heating up,” says Joseph Keanmue Tokpah, a resident of Buduburam for the past eight years. “The women even sleep on the field where the repatriation is done [in protest].”

“There is tension in the air. There is fear because most people fear that anytime the military can take action,” says Toe.

Ryan Bolton was living and reporting at the Liberian refugee camp from the end of July until September with Journalists for Human Rights.

Shortly before this article was published, the author received an email from colleague Leon Toe, a Liberian journalist living in the camps, who was also interviewed in the article.

"Before dawn Monday morning [Mar. 17] heavily armed police raided the camp and took more than 700 women and children to an unknown camp in the east of Ghana. The police took the women and children in about eight buses.

"I pray that things do not get out of hand, or we will all be dead and the world will only condemn the act.

"We are all now living in fear since the Interior Minister ordered the police to arrest our mothers, sisters, wives, and kids, because we do not know what will happen to us males next."

Liberian Refugee Protests 1

Liberian Refugee Protests 2