NYC Labor Against the War
10.11 Occupy Wall Street Report:
Global Spring
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The dominant theme in world politics in 2011 is the generalised crisis of world capitalism. The economic crisis has contributed to two major developments: first, the deepening of the crises of US and EU imperialism, processes that were already under way even before the collapse of Lehman Brothers; and, second, the intensification of class struggle and popular resistance both in the imperialist core and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7088%3Aworld-imperialism-and-the-capitalist-crisis&Itemid=385
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The only hope for the United States is now a band of visionary heroes camping out for nights and days, occupying the site of that Ponzi scheme that calls itself “Wall Street”, all the while being brutalised by the militarised New York police with evident impunity. . . . Intifada, while usually translated as uprising or resistance, literally means ‘shaking off’. From Wall Street to Syntagma Square, from Rothschild Boulevard to Sana’a Tahrir Square, it is a global intifada that is afoot: People are rising up to shake those in power off their backs. As another demonstrator’s t-shirt in Manhattan read: “We Are All Palestinians”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/20111010111924737411.html
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OWS-NYC: INFORMATION & RESOURCES
OccupyWallStreet
The resistance continues at Liberty Square and Nationwide!
http://occupywallst.org/
Donate Money to #occupywallstreet
http://nycga.cc/donate/
NYC General Assembly
The Official Website of the GA at #OccupyWallStreet
http://nycga.cc/
Occupy Wall St.: Immediate Needs
Comfort Committee’s Current NEEDS: thermal wear (especially smaller sizes), blankets, toiletries (especially toothpaste), hats & gloves, towels for showers We do NOT need more ponchos or space blankets. All donations can be sent to: The UPS Store Re: Occupy Wall Street 118A Fulton St. #205 New York, NY 10038
https://www.facebook.com/OccupyWallSt/posts/213285578739214
#OccupyWallStreet Publishes First Issues of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal” « naked capitalism
The first issue of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal” was published last week, and I’m surprised that it hasn’t gotten much notice, given that reader Deontos tells me they printed 50,000 copies. It’s a quick read but nevertheless helps give a feel for what the movement is about. We’ve posted the second issue here, which puts more stakes in the ground than the first (both contain a section which lists five things that people who want to help can do now).
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/occupywallstreet-publishes-first-issues-of-the-occupied-wall-street-journal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29
OWS-NYC: UPDATE
Dr. John Carlos Raises his Fist at Occupy Wall Street | The Nation
”I definitely see the connection between then and now. Back then we were fighting the racial struggle. Now it’s broader than that because this economy is affecting all of us. The fat cats have had their day. It’s past time for the mice to get together.”
http://www.bit.ly/oIWELm
Hip-Hop Artist Immortal Technique: No More Free Passes for Our Government
Among the many artists supporting the Occupy Wall Street encampment is the hip-hop artist Immortal Technique. He shares his impressions of the protesters’ demands and performs his song “Toast to the Dead.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/11/hip_hop_artist_immortal_technique_no
Kanye Occupies Wall Street
Kanye and Russell make a trip down to support the protesters at Occupy Wall Street.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y768coPoGo&feature=share
Marines at OWS tell Sean Hannity to “Fuck Off”
Recently Sean Hannity called the occupy wall street protesters un-american in response Henry James Ferry interviewed a few Marines at Zuccotti Park.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aaTGsGdp4c&feature=share
Iraq Veterans at Occupy Wall Street Decries Financial Crisis Soldiers Face Returning Home
Protesters at Occupy Wall Street include veterans of the U.S. military, many of whom are struggling with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Democracy Now! interviews Jose Vasquez, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/11/iraq_veterans_at_occupy_wall_street
Heated Debate at Council Hearing Over Layoffs – SchoolBook
Among the laid-off workers, the 410 aides make up the bulk of the total. The others include 66 parent coordinators, who serve as a link between parents and a school’s administration and 82 family workers, whose role includes making sure homeless students show up for class. Most of these workers are black or Latino women, many of whom are single mothers themselves who work in the same schools their children attend.
http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/10/11/heated-debate-at-council-hearing-over-layoffs/
BEYOND OWS-U.S.
About OCCUPY TOGETHER
Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, an unofficial hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St.
http://www.occupytogether.org/
Downloadable Posters
The posters provided on this page are free for you to download, print, and hang up within your community, not only to promote local efforts, but the solidarity of all occupiers around the country. In fact, we highly encourage it as this will be a great means of spreading the word and getting others involved.
http://www.occupytogether.org/downloadable-posters/
Occupy Boston eviction
October 11th at 1:30 to 2:00 in the morning. Cops evict the north camp. The prominent voice is a Veteran Against War, who served as a Marine in Vietnam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAwP6IvIyFs
Protesters attempt to occupy US Senate
Nearly 100 protesters on Tuesday morning marched onto Capitol Hill, the site of the Capitol building, and flooded the Hart Senate Office Building, where they unveiled two banners that read: “End War Now” and “People for the People”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/10/20111011175111944299.html
Washington protest: American Spectator condemned over article
A conservative US news magazine has come under fire after one of its journalists boasted of being an agent provocateur at a clash between protesters and security guards in Washington.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/10/washington-protest-american-spectator-patrick-howley
Ron Kovic Rallies at Occupy L.A.: ‘This Is the Beginning of a Revolution’
On Oct. 1, Vietnam veteran, author and activist Ron Kovic gave a throng of Occupy L.A. protesters gathered near Los Angeles’ City Hall an enthused boost with this speech, in which he invokes the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and serves notice to President Obama by co-opting the president’s campaign slogan and repurposing it for his appreciative audience, declaring, “You represent the real change in this country.”
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/ron_kovic_rallies_at_occupy_la_this_is_20111010/
Support Union Longshormen in their Fight for Survival
From The Philadelphia AFL-CIO :
Labor rally at Philadelphia City Hall tomorrow, rain or shine!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Union-Longshormen-in-their-Fight-for-Survival/151286914891216
Human Rights Lawyers: American Universities Must Protect Students’ Freedom of Speech on Palestine and Israel
University administrators may be violating American students’ First Amendment rights when they curtail criticism of Israel, said the National Lawyers Guild on Tuesday, October 11. Prompted by growing reports of censorship by student activists and the Irvine 11, David Gespass, President of the National Lawyers Guild, issued a letter to over 100 university administrators around the country clarifying their duty to protect the rights of Arab and Muslim students.
http://www.nlginternational.org/news/article.php?nid=441
ANALYSIS
World imperialism and the capitalist crisis
The dominant theme in world politics in 2011 is the generalised crisis of world capitalism. The economic crisis has contributed to two major developments: first, the deepening of the crises of US and EU imperialism, processes that were already under way even before the collapse of Lehman Brothers; and, second, the intensification of class struggle and popular resistance both in the imperialist core and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7088%3Aworld-imperialism-and-the-capitalist-crisis&Itemid=385
Is politics from below ‘class warfare’?
In addition, it is a reaction to the prolongations of predatory wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a rising anti-democratic Islamophobic tide, to a shameless reliance on incarceration for harmless activities, to a presidency that seems less willing to confront hedge fund managers than jobless masses, and to a Congress that incredibly represents billionaires while scorning the people that put them in office.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011107143444910576.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=SocialFlow&utm_medium=MasterAccount&utm_term=tweets
Occupy Wall Street to a global intifada?
The only hope for the United States is now a band of visionary heroes camping out for nights and days, occupying the site of that Ponzi scheme that calls itself “Wall Street”, all the while being brutalised by the militarised New York police with evident impunity. . . . Intifada, while usually translated as uprising or resistance, literally means ‘shaking off’. From Wall Street to Syntagma Square, from Rothschild Boulevard to Sana’a Tahrir Square, it is a global intifada that is afoot: People are rising up to shake those in power off their backs. As another demonstrator’s t-shirt in Manhattan read: “We Are All Palestinians”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/20111010111924737411.html
Democrats Try Wary Embrace of the Protests
It is not at all clear whether the leaders of the amorphous movement actually want the support of the Democratic establishment, given that some of the protesters’ complaints are directed at the Obama administration. Among their grievances, the protesters say they want to see steps taken to ensure that the rich pay a fairer share of their income in taxes, that banks are held accountable for reckless practices and that more attention is paid to finding jobs for the unemployed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/us/politics/wall-street-protests-gain-support-from-leading-democrats.html
MoveOn.Org and Friends Attempt to Co-Opt Occupy Wall Street Movement | Truthout
The Democratic Party vultures are waiting to swoop in, steal the thunder and then make sure the focus is on electing Democrats, who are just as much to blame as Republicans for the ascendancy of Wall Street. If anything, they are even more to blame for the pacification role they play in co-opting the overwhelming swath of the left time and time again, no matter what horrible policies they pass. Will Occupy Wall Street of 2011 be a repeat of the Iraq war of 2006? Similar forces are at bay, that is for certain. It will all depend on activists deciding whether they choose to be used as a “gift,” or if they choose to remain independent of the forces of co-option.
http://www.truth-out.org/moveonorg-and-friends-attempt-co-opt-occupy-wall-street-movement/1318259708
Discussing Palestine at Occupy Boston
I left the protesters feeling good about the movement’s goals and diversity. But I do have one major concern: Unlike Tahrir, the Occupy movement runs a very real risk of being co-opted by a range of establishment Democrat bandwagoneers. Nothing will bury this nascent American movement for social justice more effectively than the Democratic Party. I hope that enough of the leadership knows that.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/discussing-palestine-at-occupy-boston.html
Who’s doing Mubarak’s bidding in Washington?
Seven firms are currently registered foreign agents for Egypt, including one, the Podesta Group, that has close ties to the Democratic Party and the Obama administration.
http://politics.salon.com/2011/01/28/egypt_in_washington/
Same struggle, same fight
More than a few union officials are willing to mobilize protests in the streets as a substitute for confrontations with employers through job actions or strikes. The challenge for union militants, therefore, is to use the new fighting mood around the Occupy movement to take a stand against employers–and take the initiative if union officials are unable or unwilling to do so. A first step is organizing against the incessant employer demands for concessions in pay and health care–and in the public sector, fighting to defend social services. From the fight in Wisconsin earlier this year to the organizing underway in the Occupy movement today, it’s clear that the labor movement can be revived and rebuilt on a fighting basis.
http://www.socialistworker.org/2011/10/11/same-struggle-same-fight
Discussing Palestine at Occupy Boston
My main task for the day was to lead a Palestine teach-in. About twenty people – from a variety of backgrounds – sat in a circle to offer comments and ask questions. Significantly, the teach-in was organized at the request of the Occupy Boston leadership. I have to admit that I was surprised at the new baseline that’s emerged in recent years. People took it for granted that America and Israel have been working to undermine Palestinian human rights for decades now. Anyone who remembers talking about Palestine in 2003 knows that the goalposts have shifted. I just wasn’t aware by how much.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/discussing-palestine-at-occupy-boston.html
BEYOND OWS: INTERNATIONAL
BOLIVIA: Bolivian road protest threatens to flatten Evo Morales’s popularity
”There will be blood if they [the government] cut across the indigenous park,” Adolfo Chavez, another protest leader, said. “As soon as tractors start building section 2 [of the highway, through the park], they will see the full strength of the indigenous people. We will take steps to defend ourselves.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/10/bolivian-road-protest-evo-morales
EGYPT: Egypt’s Copts vent their rage during funerals
Hundreds of Egyptian Christians chant slogans against the ruling Military Council during funerals for the protesters that were brutally killed in clashes with the army.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHRg2GhHTHs&feature=share
EGYPT: Mistrial declared in case of Egyptian blogger
Maikel Nabil has been on hunger strike for 45 days in protest of his three-year sentence for criticising the military.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/2011101114545943900.html
GREECE: 5/10/11 Strike in Athens, Greece (Eng subs)
5 October 2011 Strike in the public sector, Athens, Greece. Thousands workers demonstrated, united with the university and the school students, in the center of Athens, against the harsh measures of the goverment, the EU and the IMF. The police attacked to journalists and strikers, throwing teargas and hitting people even inside the metro station.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6Xa_RYXK0
INDIA: Strike Adds to Problems at Indian Auto Plant
There is a growing dissatisfaction among Indian factory workers, particularly those in the auto industry, that they are not sharing in the financial success of their companies at a time when inflation in India is running at nearly 10 percent. Union workers are also angry over the growing use of contract workers, who are paid far less than regular employees and — unlike permanent workers — can be laid off without government approval. In some auto factories, contract workers make up more than half the staff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/business/global/strike-adds-to-problems-at-indian-auto-factory.html?ref=world
KUWAIT: Kuwait warns strikers as labor unrest stalls key oil exports
The strikes began last month after state oil workers received raises of between 15.5 percent and 66 percent after threatening to walk off the job. So far, strikes have hit banks and factories and almost grounded the state airline, Kuwait Airways, where union officials agreed to postpone discussions on walkouts until next month, media reports said. Last week, a group of firefighters tried to storm the main fire department building to demand workplace changes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/kuwait-warns-strikers-as-labor-unrest-stalls-key-oil-exports/2011/10/10/gIQA4vRRbL_story.html
PALESTINE: “The prisoners are the living martyrs”
A daughter of a former prisoner who spent 33 days on hunger strike writes from the Gaza Strip, urging international solidarity with the Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails.
http://www.electronicintifada.net/content/prisoners-are-living-martyrs/10475#.TpSO1OtAvIY
PALESTINE: #TweepStrike: A Call from Gaza to Support Palestinian Prisoners
In solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held under harsh conditions in Israel’s jails, a new twitter trend emerged today from Gaza. The trend is #TweepStrike and is an open invitation to everyone across the globe to go on a hunger strike on Wednesday Sept. 12th.
http://www.electronicintifada.net/blog/rana-baker/tweepstrike-call-gaza-support-palestinian-prisoners-0#.TpRGTHIRSBM
PALESTINE: BNC supports palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike, and calls for intensifying BDS | BDSmovement.net
The Palestinian prisoners’ movement has always been at the forefront of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and self determination. As the hunger of Palestinian prisoners bangs the walls of their prison cells[2], we in turn to prod the conscience of international civil society to hold Israel accountable to international law by intensifying BDS campaigns against it.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/bnc-supports-palestinian-prisoners-hunger-strike-and-calls-for-intensifying-bds-8151
PALESTINE: Hebron demonstration against checkpoints, 11-10-2011
Palestinian school children and teachers protest against checkpoint rules imposed by Israeli occupation forces around their school in the divided city of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, on October 11, 2011. Photos by Hossam Abu Alan & Hazem Bader
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.294166517260326.82910.136633479680298&type=3
SOUTH AFRICA: South African Municipal Workers Union: If You Fear Losing Your Job or Have Lost it Already…..Find an Occupation Near You!
We urge all of our friends in the trade union movement and in social movements to join an occupation near you including here in South Africa. Make the links with communities that are engaged in struggles, give each other support, share human and material resources to this effect, and encourage others to do likewise. Discover our common ground, and break with the sectarian and blaming culture that has plagued many of our campaigns. Seize the opportunity to begin to lay the foundations for a new chapter in our struggle for a world based on the needs of all of our people, and not just a bankrupt elite.
http://www.samwu.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=948%3Aif-you-fear-losing-your-job-or-have-lost-it-alreadyfind-an-occupation-near-you&catid=98&Itemid=93
UK: NHS cuts protesters occupy Westminster Bridge – in pictures
More than 2,000 protesters blocked Westminster Bridge to protest against the government’s planned shakeup of the NHS.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2011/oct/09/nhs-protest-westminster-bridge-gallery
UK: Lowkey – OCT8 Antiwar Mass Assembly
http://fb.com/harryfear – Musician Lowkey speaks and performs (0:13) at the October 8th Antiwar Mass Assembly in London on the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan war.
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NYCLAW: NYC Labor Against the War 