'Hey hey how many kids did you kill today!'

MASS PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI EMBASSY
Following Saturday’s national demonstration, there will be a
mass protest outside the Israeli Embassy from 4.00 - 6.00
pm. Please join if you are attending the national
demonstration.

MASS PROTEST AT ISRAELI EMBASSY
After national demonstration
SATURDAY 3 JANUARY 4.00 - 6.00 PM
KENSINGTON HIGH STREET W8
(Nearest tube High Street Kensington)

Bring your old shoes to throw at useless Gordo

Reminder for tomorrow, spread the word…

Massacre in Gaza: Demonstrate Saturday 3 January

Assemble 12.30pm Embankment, London (Embankment tube)



Protests taking place across the country - details www.palestinecampaign.org

The demonstration will march from Embankment to Trafalgar Square for a rally, where speakers include Annie Lennox, Alexei Sayle, Ken Livingstone, Richard Burden MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Sarah Teather MP



Bring old shoes to leave for Brown when the march passes Downing Street.

The demonstration will be calling for an immediate end to the Israeli massacre in Gaza and for an immediate lifting of the siege

The New Year begins with an outright refusal of Israel to consider a ceasefire in its massive military assault on the Palestinian people of Gaza. Today the airstrikes and killing are continuing.

It is clear that Israel believes it can act with impunity, continuing to commit war crimes against the illegally occupied Palestinian people.

However the blatant inhumanity of the Israeli actions has resulted in world wide condemnation from the public, with demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people, demanding an end to the siege, an end to the bombardment and an end to occupation. Betty Hunter of Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, “The Israelis may believe their own lies, Western politicians may choose to believe the Israeli lies and the media may choose to publish the Israeli lies, but ordinary people the world over know they are lies and want to put an end to the lies and the occupation.”

2009 must be the year in which the British government ends its complicity with Israel’s repeated violations of international law.

The demonstration in London on 3rd January, supported by more than twenty organizations will be demanding that the British government pledges itself to work for:

· An immediate end to Israel’s military assault on Gaza

· An immediate end to the blockade and siege on Gaza

· An end to Israel’s violations of international law

· An end to Israeli occupation

In addition to this demonstration, British people are protesting in towns around the country.



COACHES TO LONDON ON SATURDAY FROM:

Nottingham FREE Coaches! Leaving at 7:30am town centre, call 07970893981 or 07982638687 or nottmpsc@yahoo.co.uk

Birmingham coaches: leave 8.30am - Carrs Lane Church, Carrs Lane, (opposite Moore St station). Tickets: £8 (Unemployed/students), £12 (Employed) For tickets, call Nick on 07828013091 or Naeem Malik on 07721427690

10 MAB Coaches, Departing from Birmingham Central Mosque (Highgate, B12), 8.30am
Tickets: £5 each - Contacts: 07870948503 | 0776691344

Manchester: Manchester to London. It will be leaving at 7.15am from Manchester university students union on oxford road (M13 9PR), and cost £10/ person. Call asap to book: 07599832052.



PROTESTS AROUND THE UK

LONDON

Friday 2 January 2pm - 4 pm. Outside the Egyptian Embassy, 26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW. Call for Egypt to open the border immediately. Green Park/Marble Arch tube.

BRIGHTON

Saturday January 3rd – 12:30pm Gaza Demonstration - Churchill Square

Brighton

SWANSEA

SATURDAY, 3rd January, 1PM, CASTLE SQUARE, SWANSEA - DEMONSTRATE AGAINST ISRAEL’S WAR CRIMES & THE MASS SLAUGHTER IN GAZA.

CAMBRIDGE

Saturday 3rd January - 11.30 onwards


Silent Vigil in Cambridge Market Square - Outside the Guildhall
Women in Black in conjunction with Cambridge PSC, Stop the War and representatives from Cambridge churches


LEICESTER

Saturday 3rd January 12 noon - 2pm at the Clock Tower Leicester. Leicester Protest against Israeli massacres in Gaza



SHREWSBURY

Saturday 3 January 2pm - Peace Vigil in The Square, Shrewsbury Town Centre



LANCASTER

Sat 3rd Jan – PROTEST Lancaster - Museum Steps, 11.30am

CAERNARFON

Saturday, January 3 11am -1pm

Morrisons, Caernarfon Stop the attacks on Gaza. Justice for the Palestinians. Come to show your opposition to the attacks by Israel on Gaza, and your solidarity with the Palestinian people. Organised by the Arfon peace and Justice Group

BURY

Saturday 3 January - Assemble 11.30am HANDS OFF GAZA - Bury Town Hall - For more information: 07857 610 426

GLASGOW

Saturday 3 January assemble at 12@30 for 1 pm start. Outside Lloyds TSB St Vincent Street then assemble for demo at Blytheswood Square 2pm

EDINBURGH

Saturday 3 January 12 noon. Foot of the Mound, Princes Street

BRISTOL

Centre, opposite the Hippodrome Friday 5.00 - 6.00 and Saturday 2.00 - 4.00.

PORTSMOUTH

Saturday 3 January 11am, Guildhall Square

Organised by Portsmouth Network for a Just Settlement of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Portsmouth Stop the War Coalition

HULL

Saturday 3 January, 11am. Queen Victoria Square.

MANCHESTER

Vigil every day 5pm outside BBC Oxford road, Manchester.

Vigil to be held every night until Israel’s criminal attacks cease.

MANCHESTER DEMONSTRATION

SAT 3rd JANUARY
Stop the Massacre in Gaza ! End the Siege Now!
Assemble: 12 noon on Cavendish St, All Saints Park on Oxford Rd. Manchester
(further down from the BBC) March through city centre to Albert Square

SHEFFIELD

Saturday 3rd January: Assemble at 12 noon: Outside Sheffield Town Hall

NEWCASTLE

Sat 3rd Jan - 12 to 2pm Grey’s Monument in Newcastle

Organised by PSC, Stop the War Coalition & the University Friends of Palestine

LIVERPOOL

Saturday 3rd January 12-2pm St Lukes Church - top of Bold St. Liverpool



Organised by Liverpool Friends of Palestine

HASTINGS

Saturday 3rd. January - 3pm Vigil in Harold Place, Hastings

Hastings Against War

YORK

Protest has been called for Saturday 3rd January 1pm, at St. Sampson’s Square in York.

We hope to follow this with a march through town. Please bring banners, flags and placards. Organised by York PSC.

NORWICH

Vigil/Potest12.00 noon - 1pm Saturday 3rd Jan outside St Peter Mancroft Church in the Millenium Library Square- by Norwich PSC and Norwich STWC

TUNBRIDGE WELLS

Saturday 3rd Jan - 12 noon at Tunbridge Wells shopping precinct

Called by Wealden progressive movement and stop the war coalition Tunbridge wells

DURHAM

Saturday 3rd January : Gaza protest march from Millennium Square (Gala Theatre) through Durham to Cathedral. Assemble 10.45am for 11am start. British Government inaction condones Israeli barbarism.



BRADFORD

Saturday 3rd January - Meet 1pm Infirmary Fields, Bradford

march and City Center rally

STOP THE KILLINGS IN GAZA - END THE SIEGE



EXETER

Saturday 3rd January – 12 noon at Bedford Square, Exeter High Street



STOP THE MASSACRE IN GAZA- END THE BOMBING - FREE PALESTINE

Wear black and bring flowers. Exeter Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Exeter Stop the War Coalition have called a protest this Saturday against Israel’s bombing of Gaza.



BEDFORD

Sunday 4th January 11am in Bedford town centre outside M&S

PRESTON

Protest on Sunday 4 January at 1.30 - assemble in Preston Flagmarket





*** Action alert ***

Write to your MP urging them to insist that Prime Minister Gordon Brown acts to ensure:

* An immediate end to Israel’s military assault on Gaza
* An immediate end to the blockade and siege on Gaza
* An end to Israel’s violations of international law
* An end to Israeli occupation

http://www.writetothem.com

For more information: www.palestinecampaign.org

Boycott Israeli Goods - Join the protests – Take Action Now!

=====================================



The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) aims to raise public awareness about the occupation of Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian people. PSC seek to bring pressure on both the British and Israeli government to bring their policies in line with international law. PSC is an independent, non-governmental and non-party political organisation with members from communities across the UK. Join PSC today!



Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Box BM PSA
London
WC1N 3XX

Tel: 020 7700 6192
Fax: 020 7609 7779

Email: info@palestinecampaign.org

Web: www.palestinecampaign.org

The bloodshed goes on! Protest tomorrow with me!

Saw this from David as a comment on the Socialist Unity site, I think it needs to be blogged and celebrated as a sound statement on the horrible situation, it is certainly a statement I agree with.

You don’t have to support the politics of Hamas (I don’t) to recognise that what is happening is an attack on the Palestinian people and their aspirations for survival, self-determination and equal rights.

The bitter political division among the Palestinians mainly into Hamas and Fatah blocs is a tragedy. I’ve no doubt there are clerical-fascists, fundamentalists and anti-left people esconced in the Hamas leadership, but that is not the platform on which significant numbers of Palestinians shifted away from traditional support for Fatah to support them. Hamas won support principally on the secular demands for freedom and self-determination, demands for freeing Palestinian prisoners and for return of refugees and for continued resistance to occupation, and also because the PA leadership was suspected of corruption and of making too many concessions to Israel.(In reality the PA has been in a no-win situation for many years)

But the Left should not be afraid to acknowledge that Hamas’s tactics of lobbing rockets against civilian targets in Israel directly threatens Israel’s poorer communities and has been a PR gift to the Israeli politiical-military leadership.

In the longer run all socialists should want to see a strong, unite, secular and progressive current as the leading political current on the Palestinian street. In the here and now - and on the streets of London and other towns tomorrow we must join the demonstrations to
demand a halt to Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Mumia obituary for Eartha Kitt

Most famous, or infamous, was the tongue-lashing she delivered to President Lyndon Johnson's wife, Lady Bird, at a White House luncheon in 1968. The topic was the then-raging Vietnam War. Kitt, according to some accounts, caused the first lady to cry when she said, "You send the best of the country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot."

I have been blogging about wheely bins but I have some space for my guest posters on another green world too!

I am so lucky to get this kind of stuff from Mumia, he is generous Eartha did have a bit controversy from not boycotting South Africa but lets be generous too, she did her bit for Indochina....wonder whether Mumia will write about Pinter?

I get the impression sadly that my man in Havana may be ill or busy but will let you know as soon as I get something....and of course Cuba celebrations soon, I have just been blogging so much from and about Gaza.

Anyway on to Mumia...a great man still in prison, our prophet.

He will certainly be commenting on the massacre on going in Gaza.

Do copy Mumia's columns and paste them up on your own websites, I know he would like that very much, just acknowledge him and don't change uno palabra, por favor.




EARTHA KITT -- (1928-2008)
[col. writ. 12/25/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal


For generations, the name, Eartha Kitt, was synonymous with sexy, sultry, and outspoken.

In an industry where careers can sometimes be measured in minutes, Eartha Kitt was the real thing, for quite a while; dancer, singer, actress, and on occasion, a comedian.

Since the tender age of 14, she worked the stage, and for nearly 7 decades, she left her indelible imprint by her work on the big screen, TV, and on recordings.

On Jan. 26, 1928 she was born in South Carolina as Eartha Mae Kitt.

She danced, sang, and acted her way into the hearts of millions.

In 1968, she dared speak out against the Vietnam War, when the war was raging at it's hottest, and was both blacklisted and hounded for doing so. That's because she spoke at a photo op at the White House in the face of First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson (wife of Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson). For daring to speak her mind at the heart of the empire, and for denouncing an Imperial war, the media and the state tried to 'disappear' her. She had to go abroad to find her freedom of speech, where she remained for nearly a decade.

For those who want to see her as a seductive chanteuse, the 1958 film, St. Louis Blues, starring Nat King Cole, Ruby Dee, Pearl Bailey and the gospel great, Mahalia Jackson, is a great source. For a slightly comic turn, see her as an amorous entrepreneurial cougar on the hunt for a young Eddie Murphy in the 1992 film Boomerang starring Halle Berry as the principal love interest.

Although she was known as the quintessential sex kitten for her acting, her public outspokenness came at quite a cost. Her comings, goings, doings and sayings were tracked by both the FBI and the CIA.

She moved through life with an intelligence, wit and nerve that made her distinctive and unforgettable.

Eartha Mae Kitt was 80.

--(c) '08 maj

[Source:African Arts and Letters, eds, Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., (Phila., PA: Running Press, 2004.]
==============

Palestinian academics in survival plea

As a Fulbright scholar and professor of American literature at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), I have always preferred to keep silent about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I always felt that it was my mission to preach love and peaceful coexistence. However, Israel's massive offensive against the Gaza Strip has spurred me to speak out.

Last night, during the second night of Israel's unprecedented attack on Gaza, I was awakened by the deafening sound of intensive bombardment. When I learned that Israel had bombed my university with American-made F-16s, I realized that its "target bank" had gone bankrupt. Of course Israeli politicians and generals would claim that IUG is a Hamas stronghold and that it preaches terrorism.


Also spotted this on the comments from an Engage post.



Union urges immediate boycott following Gaza university bombing
Appeal, Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, 30 December 2008

The following appeal was issued on 29 December 2008:

The Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombing today of the campus of the Islamic University in Gaza. This wanton destruction of an academic institution is only the latest in the ongoing lethal campaign launched by the Israeli government and army against Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip. This murderous rampage has caused more than 300 deaths and the injury of close to 1,500 Palestinians. And the carnage continues with impunity.

We add our voice to the urgent appeal issued two days ago by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) urging international civil society not just to protest and condemn Israel’s massacre in Gaza, but also to join and intensify the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel to end its impunity and to hold it accountable for its persistent violations of international law and Palestinian rights. We agree that, without sustained, effective pressure by people of conscience the world over, Israel will continue with its gradual, rolling acts of genocide against the Palestinians, burying any prospects for a just peace under the blood and rubble of Gaza, Nablus and Jerusalem.

Today, at the height of the lethal Israeli assault against the Palestinian people in Gaza, we are met with deafening silence emanating from the Israeli academy. Does it condone the murderous bombing campaign that its government is carrying out in the name of all Israelis? Are the members of the academy dutifully preparing for the reserve call-up just approved by their government, ready to serve in the death squads committing war crimes around the clock? Are Israeli universities willing to call for an end to the occupation? Are they going to cut their organic and deep-rooted ties with the military-security establishment? There is no doubt that the aggression against the Gaza Strip has reached horrendous proportions, described by many international public figures as constituting war crimes and a continuation of the ethnic cleansing unleashed 60 years ago.

We urge academics around the world to intensify their boycott of Israeli academic institutions, and to isolate the Israeli academy in international forums, associations of academics, and other international venues. Israeli academic institutions are complicit in the entrenched system of oppression practiced by the Israeli state, and their silence at this critical moment is only the most vociferous indicator of this complicity.

Dr. Amjad Barham
President
Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees

Boris Johnson's New Year hangover for the capital

A taste of a coming Cameron government, cheaper for SUV drivers, higher fares for those who use public transport....yes the Tories will fuck over those who reduce CO2 emissions and then laugh.



Boris Johnson's New Year hangover for the capital - "Mayor hits
Londoners in the pocket with fares rise"

Tomorrow's above-inflation fare increase in London - which will see
the price of a single bus journey on Oyster go up by a massive eleven
per cent - has provoked strong criticism today from a cross party
group. "At a time of financial crisis the Mayor should be helping
Londoners by holding down fares and investing in key public services
like transport - he is doing the opposite, hitting ordinary Londoners
in the pocket," said MP Jon Cruddas, former Mayor of London Ken
Livingstone, Assembly members Len Duvall, Jenny Jones, Darren Johnson,
and Val Shawcross, and Steve Hart (regional secretary of transport
union Unite) in a joint statement.

They called for the fare increase to be reversed and criticised the
loss of millions of pounds of income for Transport for London since
Boris Johnson became mayor which could have been used to avoid the
painful rise. Although Boris Johnson has claimed he is cutting costs
to Londoners by freezing the council tax, this will be more than
cancelled out for hundreds of thousands of Londoners hit by tomorrow's
fare increase.

In their statement the cross-party group said:

"The Mayor of London plans to raise fares by six per cent, with some
increasing far more: the price of a single bus journey on Oyster will
go up by 11 per cent, to £1.

"Yet at the same time the Mayor has cancelled investment to improve
the city's transport system, and is throwing away millions of pounds
by cancelling measures like the planned £25-a-day charge on the
worst-polluting cars, such as Chelsea Tractors, in central London and
taking one of the richest parts of London, Kensington and Chelsea, out
of the Congestion Charging Zone.

"At a time of financial crisis the Mayor should be helping Londoners
by holding down fares and investing in key public services like
transport: he is doing the opposite, hitting ordinary Londoners in the
pocket.

"We demand that this January's above-inflation fare increase be cancelled."
Signed: Ken Livingstone; Jon Cruddas MP; Len Duvall AM; Darren Johnson
AM; Jenny Jones AM; Val Shawcross AM; Steve Hart (Regional Secretary,
Unite).

ENDS
Notes to editors
* The Mayor has announced a six per cent fare increase overall, with
other fares rising considerably more. A single bus journey on Oyster
will rise by eleven per cent from 90p to £1.
* The Mayor's New Year fares hike will come into force this Friday
(2nd January) with most Londoners affected on the first full working
day after the New Year break on Monday 5th January.
* Last year Boris Johnson announced that work on future transport
links such as
extensions to the DLR and the Croydon Tramlink were being shelved.
* The cost to London of cancelling the £25 charge on gas guzzlers has
cost London up to £50million a year
* TfL's own figures show that the removal of the Western Extension of
the congestion charge will cost £50-70 million a year in lost revenue

wwww.progressivelondon.org.uk

Looks like the IDF are going to be killing more kids in 2009

As the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza continues to climb, Mohammed Ali, an advocacy and media researcher for Oxfam who lives in Gaza City, will be keeping a diary of his experiences.

Photo from Al Jazeera...comments below from Haim...thanks Haim!



Dear Friends,

I am writing to tell you of some updates to the Gaza Resource page on my website, added today.

Gaza photos: http://www.haimbresheeth.com/2008/12/31/gaza-photos
Quite horrifying images from Gaza
Things you can do!: http://www.haimbresheeth.com/category/gaza-carnage/things-you-can-do
Updated page
Activities: http://www.haimbresheeth.com/2008/12/31/activities
New page
Updated Eyewitness Report on the London demo 29 December: http://www.haimbresheeth.com/2008/12/30/gaza-palestine-guernica-demo-in-london-december-29
I have also added the YouTube film of the police searching demonstrators after the demo, on their way to the Tube station, taken by Mike Cushman.

You may also like to look at the revamped main Resources page: http://www.haimbresheeth.com/2008/12/30/gaza-carnage-resources-page
Many additions here

I also include here a link to my article on Electronic Intifada:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10080.shtml
Where peace is a problem
Haim Bresheeth, The Electronic Intifada, 31 December 2008