Why the UN must disarm the United States -- Rogue nation exposed!

As we go to press, the Bush administration ordered its predictable post-Christmas call-up of U.S. troops. President George W. Bush is busy resurrecting the discredited doctrine of “preventative” war to justify an attack on Iraq. “Preventative” war was last invoked by Nazi party leaders as a defense of their actions during the Nuremberg trials. The U.S. government is engaging in an unprecedented propaganda campaign to justify its invasion and occupation of Iraq. Our government’s plans to seize 119-billion barrels of known Iraqi oil reserves are conveniently ignored. Still, the reality of selling the Iraq war is proving difficult, especially since Iraq has no nuclear weapons, and its only known link to biochemical weapons were those supplied by the U.S. and its allies during the 1980s.

While the U.S. points fingers at Iraq, the press routinely reports that the Bush’s chief Islamic ally in the region, Pakistan, provided the nuclear technology to North Korea. So, Pakistan, a major nuclear power, with direct ties to Al Qaeda and the North Korean nuclear weapons program, is not a threat according to Bush.

Ohio JwJ coalitions fight for affordable prescription drugs

Jobs with Justice continues to work as part of the statewide coalition to win the Ohio Prescription Drug Fair Pricing Act. This will be a state bulk buying program, similar to the one passed in Maine, that will allow discounts estimated to be as high as 50% for important prescription drugs for anyone not covered by insurance plans.

On October 30, 2002, a statewide rally and march were held at the State House in Columbus. About 200 people participated, including about 50 from the Cleveland area. Cleveland JwJ organized a bus to take people down to the capitol, and was very visible at the rally and march. Very visible unions included SEIU, AFSCME, UAW, USWA, UNITE, and others. Numerous retiree organizations were active. There were people from a variety of community groups, including UHCAN Ohio, and religious organizations, including the Commission on Catholic Community Action of the Diocese of Cleveland. Two days later, Cleveland JwJ organized people chanting and holding signs about the same issue outside the last gubernatorial candidates’ debate in Cleveland. www.jwj.org

Thirty years of Roe v. Wade

January 22, 2003, will mark the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, the landmark privacy ruling that gives women the constitutional right to choose abortion. With the Nov. 5 elections giving Republicans the majority of the House and Senate, and with staunchly anti-abortion George W. Bush in the White House, this triumvirate of power makes the struggle to maintain abortion and reproductive rights so much more difficult and imperative.

It is estimated that prior to the passage of Roe v. Wade, tens of thousands of women died as a result of illegal abortions. Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, women have lost ground to an anti-choice movement whose aggressive behavior has passed many onerous restrictions to abortion rights and threatened to crush the very rights it took generations to win — both through legislation and through Supreme Court decisions.

Al-Awda dedicated to Palestinian human rights

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is the largest network of grassroots activists dedicated to Palestinian human rights. It is a broad-based, non-partisan, global, democratic association of grassroots activists and organizational representatives. Al-Awda’s objective is to educate the international community to fulfill its legal and moral obligations vis-à-vis the Palestinian people. Al-Awda develops, coordinates, supports and guides, as needed, global and local grassroots initiatives for action related to Palestinian rights. Its advocacy includes the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland, and to full restitution of all their confiscated and destroyed property in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international law and implementation of United Nations Resolutions which uphold these rights. A major portion of their activities are planned by autonomous local committees similar to this Al-Awda Ohio committee. Al-Awda works to mobilize the local communities and organizations, plan local events including, for example, teach-ins and protests, watch and inform the media, as well as organize advocacy meetings.

Human Rights Day with the FBI

Local activists put in a full day’s work on December 10, International Human Rights Day. To protest human rights violations and threats against civil liberties, local demonstrators gathered at the federal building in the early afternoon and then brought their message to the offices of the Columbus Police, Columbus City Hall, U.S. Senators, the Ohio Statehouse, the City Center mall, the Franklin County Courthouse and jail, before ending at the FBI building. At each stop, parts of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights were read aloud. The Columbus Police followed the demonstrators from location to location in an obvious show of force. The Human Rights Day Coalition put together a pamphlet that spelled out what they believe to be violations of the UN Declaration. Several speakers demanded an end to the unjust “War on Terrorism” which they argued was really “a war on democracy and freedom.” Eight days later, approximately a thousand Muslim immigrants were rounded up and jailed without charges in southern California.

Ohio Mosque re-opens after attack by vandals

On Saturday, January 4, the Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio (IFCO) and the Columbus Muslim community celebrated the re-opening of the Columbus Islamic Center with an open house. The Islamic Center closed last year after being attacked by vandals.

“The re-opening ceremony of the Islamic Center has an important meaning for people of all faiths. It sends the message that Muslims are an integral part of our community and that the attack on their Mosque was an attack on everyone in our state,” said Ahmad Al-Akhras, president of the Ohio office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio). “We are very proud of our Center. It has been an icon of the social and religious fabric of Columbus for many, many years and it is here to stay,” said IFCO president M. Nabih Tarazi. “We are not going to allow the bigoted acts of a tiny minority to create an atmosphere of apprehension and fear in the American Muslim community,” added Tarazi.

Adopt-a-Minefield

Minefields continue to be a scourge in many areas of the world, years, and sometimes decades, after the combatants who placed them in the ground have gone home. They continue to kill and maim innocent civilians going about their daily lives of living, working, traveling, and playing. Children account for a large proportion of those affected due to their curiosity and playfulness. Afghanistan, trying to recover from decades of wars between different factions, faces one of the worst landmine tragedies. An estimated 10 million landmines and UXOs (Unexploded Ordinance - bombs and shells remaining on the ground) claim an estimated 300 to 400 casualties each month and prevent the safe use of large areas of otherwise arable land. This makes the restoration of “life as usual” a real challenge for many rural - and urban - people.

Fitrakis for City Council

Free Press Editor Bob Fitrakis recently received the endorsement of the Central Ohio Green Party for Columbus City Council. Dr. Fitrakis, a professor of Political Science at Columbus State Community College, is also a recent graduate of OSU’s Moritz College of Law. Fitrakis says his campaign will focus on protecting civil liberties, challenging sprawl development and fighting for livable wages. Information about his campaign will be available at www.fitrakis.org.

<i>Alive</i> abandons activist community

The “alternative” weekly newspaper formerly known as Columbus Alive seems to have abandoned the activist community in Columbus by eliminating listings of community meetings. Both the Central Ohio Sierra Club and Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio (DSCO) noticed that announcements of their monthly meetings were left out of recent issues. Alive, as it is now known, also moved the Tom Tomorrow cartoon to its back pages and made it very small, also a blow to progressive activists, who used to enjoy its commentary without using a magnifying glass. For the record, DSCO meets every third Thursday at Northwood Community Building, 2231 High Street at Northwood and call 614-470-2792 or visit ohio.sierraclub.org/central to find out when the Central Ohio Sierre Club meets. Central Ohio Sierra Club monthly programs are held on the second Wednesdays of most months, 7:30pm at the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Rd. The Alive does offer the most extensive calendar of bar-hopping events.

Madison prison demonstration

Two dozen protestors demonstrated at the Madison Correctional Institution in London, Ohio on November 24. Some banners at the protest read “Stop the Prison Industrial Complex” and “No More Prisons.” The demonstration was sponsored by the Prisoner’s Advocacy Network-Ohio (PAN-Ohio), CURE-Ohio, the Community Organizing Center, Students for Sensible Drug Policies and the Ohio Prison Reform Unity Project. Dan Cahill, spokesperson for PAN-Ohio and former inmate, stressed the daily brutality against prisoners. He also outlined the corruption and dereliction of duty engaged in by prison staff and guards. Cahill says that the exploitation of prison labor for private profit amounts to “slave labor.” Among Cahill’s specific demands for reform are the improvement of medial treatment for inmates and the creation of an adequate grievance procedure.

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