Tomorrow: Protest at City College for Palestinian Rights

Protest for Palestinian Rights!

Thursday, October 30th
12-2pm
NAC plaza
City College of New York

Join the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS), the Campus Anti-War Network (CAN) and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) for a protest on the anniversary of the British government’s Balfour Declaration, the first building block in the eventual dispossession and forced removal of 800,000 Palestinians from their land. Just as the British did in the past, the US government now supports the occupation and continued oppression of Palestinian people, land and homes by the Israeli state. Come and show your support for Palestinian rights on this notorious anniversary!

10/23 Day of Action for Troy Davis

Below is an announcement from our allies in the Campaign to End the Death Penalty about a protest tomorrow in NYC in support of Troy Davis, who is again set to be executed by the State of Georgia on Monday. If ever there was a case that exposed the racism of the US justice system and its complete contempt for truth, this would be it. For a recent article on Troy’s case, go here.

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Fellow Abolitionists,

As you may know by now, the State of Georgia has set an execution date of October 27 for Troy Davis, ignoring overwhelming evidence of his innocence.

Amnesty International has issued a call for a Global Day of Action set for October 23rd, in conjunction with a large rally at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. The Campaign to End the Death Penalty supports this inititative and is encouraging all of our members, supporters and allies to display their opposition to Georgia’s plans on that day.

Day of Action NYC: STOP THE EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS!

US Supreme Court denies justice for Troy Davis & lifts stay of execution!

What: Demonstration for Troy Davis
When: Thursday, October 23rd at 5.30 PM
Where: 33rd Street and 8th Avenue – SE corner (NYC)
Who: Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Amnesty International. List in formation.

Why: October 14th, the US Supreme Court denied Georgia death row prisoner Troy Davis‘ request for a new trial. The decision was a cruel answer to Troy and his family who were hoping the Court would review the facts and circumstances surrounding his unjust conviction. Troy was convicted without physical evidence — instead, the case against him relied on witness testimony. However, since his conviction 7 of the 9 witnesses have recanted their testimony at trial.

Troy‘s case has become an important battleground for all those who are concerned about the unfairness of a legal system that routinely sends the poor and minorities to prison without due process. Concerns about Troy‘s case have prompted a wide range of individuals from across the world to call for a halt to his execution. From former President Jimmy Carter to Rev. Desmond Tutu, people concerned with justice have been organizing on Troy‘s behalf.

JOIN US! Join the tens of thousands who demand justice for Troy Davis!

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CONTACT INFO FOR GEORGIA PUBLIC OFFICIALS:

Chairman Gale Buckner
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909
Telephone: (404) 657-9350
Fax: 404-651-6670 and (404)651-8502

Or fax or email a message through Amnestys Web site:
http://amnestyusa.org/troydavis

Thurbert E. Baker
Office of the Attorney General
40 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, Ga 30334
Phone:(404) 656-3300
Fax:(404) 657-8733

Spencer Lawton, Chatham County District Attorney
Chief Assistant District Attorney David Locke
133 Montgomery Street
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Phone: (912) 652-7308
Fax: (912) 652-7328 or (912) 447-5396

Resisting Empire: Laila Al-Arian, Jeremy Scahill, Camilo Mejia and Michael Schwartz

The Barnard-Columbia ISO is happy to be co-sponsoring and helping with the organizing of this amazing event:

RESISTING EMPIRE

A National Anti-War Speaking Tour by Haymarket Books

co-sponsored nationally by AlterNet, Nation Books and Iraq Veterans Against the War

NYC Tour Stop Details:
Saturday, October 25th, 7pm
New York University
19 West 4th Street, Room 101 (near Broadway)
N, R to 8th Street; B,D,F,V to Broadway Lafayette; 6 to Astor Place; A,C to West 4th Street
Sliding Scale Admission: $5/10/12

Here and around the world, people want to see an end to the Iraq War and a change in the reckless direction of U.S. foreign policy. U.S. aggression has inflicted a humanitarian catastrophe— from Iraq, to Afghanistan, and beyond—with millions of people killed or turned into refugees. American troops continue to suffer and die, while schools and hospitals fall apart. A new resistance needs to be built from the ground up.

To build it, we need to hear the stories the mainstream media refuse to tell: the stories of war resisters, unembedded journalists, and activists. Resisting Empire starts with us.

Featuring:

Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejía was the first veteran to publicly refuse to redeploy to Iraq. He is the Board Chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and is the author of a memoir, Road From ar Ramadi (Haymarket Books, 2007).

Michael Schwartz is a founding director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University, and author of the new book, War Without End: The Iraq War in Context (Haymarket Books, 2008).

Jeremy Scahill is is a correspondent for Democracy Now! and the author of the Polk-award winning New York Times bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army (Nation Books).

Laila Al-Arian is a freelance journalist and co-author, with Chris Hedges, of Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians (Nation Books, 2008). She has written for The Nation, USA Today, United Press International, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

The New York City stop of this tour is co-sponsored by the NYU Radical Film and Lecture Series, Iraq Veterans Against the War-NYC, AlterNet, Nation Books, Campus Anti-War Network-NYC and Hunter College, Military Families Speak Out-NYC, Adalah-NY, International Socialist Organization and World Can’t Wait.

For more information or to endorse the NYC tour stop, please contact jenroesch@gmail. com. For more information about the national tour and a full list of speakers and tour stops, please see www.resistingempire.org or contact 773-583-7884.

Tonight: Life in Occupied Palestine

Our allies in Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) have organized a great event tonight and we encourage everyone to attend:

Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories and Photos with Anna Baltzer from the Palestine Freedom Project
WHEN: Thursday, October 16th, 8pm
WHERE: Hamilton 602, Columbia University

Please join us in welcoming Anna Baltzer of the Palestine Freedom Project for a talk and presentation tomorrow, Thursday 16th October

Anna Baltzer is a 29-year-old Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, author, and the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees. As a volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service, Baltzer documents human rights abuses in the West Bank and supports Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation. When not in Palestine, Baltzer spends most of her time on tour with her acclaimed presentation, Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos, and her popular full-color book, Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories.

About the presentation:
“The purpose of the presentation and book is to provide those interested in the Israel/Palestine conflict with critical information and documentation that can be difficult to obtain through mainstream Western media sources, and to encourage dialog towards taking informed action on the issue. My hope is that the presentation and book will also offer a thoughtful perspective given my background as the grand-daughter of Polish-born Holocaust refugees. I see it as my responsibility to expose the injustices of today in light of those of the past. The presentation covers—among other things—checkpoints, settlements, Zionism, Israeli activism, 1948 war & refugees, censorship, the Wall, and the often unreported Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance movement.”–Anna Baltzer

Protest Military Recruiters at City College!

The ISO, including members at Columbia, are active on neighboring campuses as well – Please join the City College chapter of Campus Anti-War Network as we turn up the heat in student activism on campus:

Students are organizing a protest rally against the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and Lockheed Martin setting up shop at our Student Career Fair!

When: this Thursday, October 2nd, 12-2pm

Where: outside Shepard Hall, 138th and Convent

Why: $51 million were just slashed from the CUNY Budget. By connection, in welcoming recruiters on campus, the CCNY administration essentially seeks to throw students into the arms of the war machine. We demand money for books and scholarships, not bombs and battleships.

Bring posters! Invite friends, co-workers, classmates, professors! This is a “come one, come all” kind of event, so spread the word… We depend on it.

Join the facebook group here.
Join the facebook event here.
See our new video here!