Congratulations to the Native Americans who walked across America to bring awareness to diabetes for Native people. Carl 'Bad Bear' Sampson, Western Shoshone, Manny Calapoo of Warm Springs, Oregon, Lisa Peake, Ojibwe/Pomo, and T-Hawk, Mohawk/Tongan.June 30, 2011
Renegade Walkers for Diabetes, Long Walk 3, Reach DC
Congratulations to the Native Americans who walked across America to bring awareness to diabetes for Native people. Carl 'Bad Bear' Sampson, Western Shoshone, Manny Calapoo of Warm Springs, Oregon, Lisa Peake, Ojibwe/Pomo, and T-Hawk, Mohawk/Tongan.Jimbo on Flotilla 'Palestinians are living the American Indian Experience'
Palestinians are Living the American Indian ExperienceBy Jimbo Simmons, Choctaw
Photo: AIM's Jimbo Simmons, Bill Means, Lenny Foster and Mike Flores on Alcatraz. Photo by Brenda Norrell
I am one of a group of Indians from several tribes that have been keeping a spiritual vigil with a sacred fire burning continuously for more than two months at a place called Segora Te, which has held the remains of our ancestors for more than three thousand years. The city of Vallejo, California calls it Glen Cove, after one of the 19th century colonizers, and it now wants to develop the land. A similar project is taking place in Jerusalem, where Israel is building a so-called “Museum of Tolerance” on an ancient Muslim graveyard confiscated from Palestinians.
This is hardly the only experience that we share with Palestinians. Most of both peoples have been expelled from their ancestral lands. Both are denied anything more than token sovereignty for their people. Both are kept in abject poverty, which, in the case of the Palestinians, has been called, “putting Palestinians on a diet” by Israeli policy makers.
This year, I accepted an invitation from the Free Palestine Movement, a U.S. nonprofit, to sail to Gaza with the Freedom Flotilla. I recognize that Israel will probably not let us in, and may even use brutal means to discourage us. However, the 1973 Indian defense of Wounded Knee from assault by U.S. forces is also part of our experience, and a reminder that the struggle for our rights often demands sacrifice, whether we are Indian or Palestinian.
Israel claims self defense rights, but we pose no danger. We carry no arms, and no dangerous materials or persons. Under international law, Israel’s only right is to prevent the entry of arms, which will be assured by government inspection at the points of departure. However, we are very familiar with governments that use security arguments against defenseless civilians for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, and the way laws and treaties are disregarded by the powerful at the expense of the weak. This is unfortunately another experience that we share with Palestinians.
Over the last century, long after most of the great massacres of Indians had taken place, the federal government has been forcing us to chose tribal identities or to give up our native identity altogether, which is another way of erasing our identity. Little by little, attrition of our identity continues, as more members of our nations fail to qualify under standards that have been imposed upon us by agencies over which we have little or no control, and whose aim is to make Indians disappear entirely from the continent so that there will no longer be any discussion of allocating land or resources to us.
Our Palestinian brothers and sisters face a similar struggle. Today, less than half the Palestinians in the world possess an Israeli-issued identification card, which is their only means of remaining on their land. Israel also forces them to choose between jobs and education on the one hand, and retaining possession of their home on the other. Those who spend too much time away from home may be refused renewal of their residency permits, effectively exiling them forever from their ancestral home. For millions living in exile without ever having held such a card, the right to return to their homes remains a dream.
Where indigenous nations were once the only people in North America, they are now less than one percent of the population. Although a majority of Palestinians have also been driven out of Palestine, they still constitute almost half the population. Both of our peoples are resisting progressive genocide, which is why we have had an important solidarity relationship with each other for forty years or more. As a member of the American Indian Movement, I feel compelled to support and defend the indigenous Palestinian struggle and all other struggles for indigenous rights. We have welcomed and continue to value Palestinian participation in our struggle, so that all of our rights are respected and restored, and so that our people will live in full sovereignty in their homes.
William “Jimbo” Simmons is a member of the Choctaw nation and a member of the Governing Council of the American Indian Movement. He lives in Davis, California.
This is hardly the only experience that we share with Palestinians. Most of both peoples have been expelled from their ancestral lands. Both are denied anything more than token sovereignty for their people. Both are kept in abject poverty, which, in the case of the Palestinians, has been called, “putting Palestinians on a diet” by Israeli policy makers.
This year, I accepted an invitation from the Free Palestine Movement, a U.S. nonprofit, to sail to Gaza with the Freedom Flotilla. I recognize that Israel will probably not let us in, and may even use brutal means to discourage us. However, the 1973 Indian defense of Wounded Knee from assault by U.S. forces is also part of our experience, and a reminder that the struggle for our rights often demands sacrifice, whether we are Indian or Palestinian.
Israel claims self defense rights, but we pose no danger. We carry no arms, and no dangerous materials or persons. Under international law, Israel’s only right is to prevent the entry of arms, which will be assured by government inspection at the points of departure. However, we are very familiar with governments that use security arguments against defenseless civilians for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, and the way laws and treaties are disregarded by the powerful at the expense of the weak. This is unfortunately another experience that we share with Palestinians.
Over the last century, long after most of the great massacres of Indians had taken place, the federal government has been forcing us to chose tribal identities or to give up our native identity altogether, which is another way of erasing our identity. Little by little, attrition of our identity continues, as more members of our nations fail to qualify under standards that have been imposed upon us by agencies over which we have little or no control, and whose aim is to make Indians disappear entirely from the continent so that there will no longer be any discussion of allocating land or resources to us.
Our Palestinian brothers and sisters face a similar struggle. Today, less than half the Palestinians in the world possess an Israeli-issued identification card, which is their only means of remaining on their land. Israel also forces them to choose between jobs and education on the one hand, and retaining possession of their home on the other. Those who spend too much time away from home may be refused renewal of their residency permits, effectively exiling them forever from their ancestral home. For millions living in exile without ever having held such a card, the right to return to their homes remains a dream.
Where indigenous nations were once the only people in North America, they are now less than one percent of the population. Although a majority of Palestinians have also been driven out of Palestine, they still constitute almost half the population. Both of our peoples are resisting progressive genocide, which is why we have had an important solidarity relationship with each other for forty years or more. As a member of the American Indian Movement, I feel compelled to support and defend the indigenous Palestinian struggle and all other struggles for indigenous rights. We have welcomed and continue to value Palestinian participation in our struggle, so that all of our rights are respected and restored, and so that our people will live in full sovereignty in their homes.
William “Jimbo” Simmons is a member of the Choctaw nation and a member of the Governing Council of the American Indian Movement. He lives in Davis, California.
Tucson: Angry community members storm offices of G4S Wackenhut
ANGRY COMMUNITY MEMBERS STORM G4S OFFICE Press statement
Censored News
Protest Targets Prison Firm for Profiteering, Police Cite 16 for Trespassing
TUCSON --(June 29, 2011) At around 2 p.m., community members burst uninvited into the Tucson offices of private security firm G4S and declared in no uncertain terms their opposition to the company’s profiteering at the expense of immigrant communities in Tucson, across the nation and throughout the world. Incensed by G4S’ role in promoting the criminalization of immigrants and the expansion of the private prison industry, the protestors entered the G4S office complex, delivered a letter to company representatives and unfurled a banner reading “G4S: Prison profiteering destroys communities.”
Today’s action, which was organized autonomously by Tucson community members, was carried out under the banner of Direct Action for Freedom of Movement. Although the protesters were never asked to leave the building, and were there only 10 minutes, the Tucson Police cited 16 individuals for criminal trespassing.
G4S is the world’s largest security company and has public contracts to transport, detain and imprison immigrants throughout the world. The company is infamous for the mistreatment of individuals in its custody, with the most atrocious examples including the senseless deaths of two inmates in 2010. Since 2006, G4S has provided transportation for Customs and Border Protection and, in 2010 alone, secured over 125 million dollars in contracts from the Department of Homeland Security. Read more ...
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tucson-angry-community-members-storm.html
Also see:
Australian Aboriginal elder cooked to death by G4S
Duty of Care: beyond the case of Mr Ward, cooked to death by gigantic outsourcer G4S
Clare Sambrook, 8 June 2011
Last week in Western Australia, Graham Powell and Nina Stokoe, two former private security guards, pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the death of renowned Aboriginal elder Mr Ward, cooked to death while being transported more than 220 miles across searing Goldfields in a badly maintained van with faulty air conditioning in January 2008.
Read more:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/clare-sambrook/duty-of-care-beyond-case-of-mr-ward-cooked-to-death-by-gigantic-outsourcer
O'odham: Not Guilty in Border Patrol Lockdown Protest
DATE: Thursday June 29, 2011
Contact: Alex Soto
Contact: Alex Soto
Phone: 602-881-6027
Email: stopbordermilitarization@gmail.com
Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters Found Not Guilty
Reaffirms Call to End Border Militarization
Email: stopbordermilitarization@gmail.com
Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters Found Not Guilty
Reaffirms Call to End Border Militarization
Traduction en français: http://www.facebook.com/l/8AQC5rM9r/www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=123
Chuckson (Tucson), AZ - The six protesters who locked-down and occupied the United States Border Patrol (BP) – Tucson Headquarters on May 21, 2010 were found not guilty on the remaining count of a disorderly conduct "with serious disruptive behavior” charge.
The legal defense, William G. Walker and Jeffrey J. Rogers, argued that the remaining charge of disorderly conduct did not apply because it did not meet any of the statutes of the charge. After three hours of deliberation, the judge found the six not guilty.
The city prosecutor had attempted to re-introduce the previously misfiled criminal trespassing as a misdemeanor charge, but this charge was dismissed after the first trial date for the occupiers in February. After an objection by the defense, the state’s motion was denied.
“Today’s not guilty verdict shows that we, as O’odham, are not the ones who are disorderly. It is the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security, and the various levels of government that perpetrate the violence in our communities,” stated Alex Soto, Tohono O’odham, one of the protesters and member of O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective. “When will the institutions, whose conduct continues for more than 500 years of trespassing, that terrorize indigenous and migrants communities, be held accountable?”
“No state entity can deny peoples’ inherent right to freedom of movement," said Marisa Duarte, one of the protesters standing trial. "Borders are a colonial weapon used to continue the genocide of indigenous people and their culture. Through trade they exploit natural resources and use the profits to further the progress of neo-liberal infrastructure projects such as CANAMEX and NAFTA. This results in the criminalization of those who defy borders through living their lives traditionally. You see the forced relocation of families from borders all around the world. Today we say no more to this criminalization of people.”
O’odham Elders and community members attended the court proceedings to demonstrate their support.
“Today we celebrate our victory in court, but understand this is just one step in ending border militarization. We took action last May in order to directly confront the issues in our communities by physically intervening and occupying the Border Patrol station. Since that time, many have answered the call to end border militarization, and victories like today have inspired more action,” said Franco Habre.
As the six waited for the state’s decision, 16 angry community members targeted the prison firm G4S (formally Wackenhut) and were cited criminal trespassing charges. The16 declared in no uncertain terms their opposition to the company’s profiteering at the expense of immigrant communities in Tucson, across the nation and throughout the world. Their action, which was organized autonomously by Tucson community members, was carried out under the banner of Direct Action for Freedom of Movement.
The six still stand firmly with their commitment and demands to end border militarization and their initial demands are listed below:
- Immediately withdraw National Guard Troops from the US/Mexico border
- Immediately halt development of the border wall
- Immediately remove drones and checkpoints
- Decommission all detention camps and release all presently held undocumented migrants
- Immediately honor Indigenous Peoples rights of self-determination
- Fully comply with the recently signed UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
- Respect Indigenous People's inherent right of migration
- End NAFTA, FTAA and other trade agreements
- Immediately end all CANAMEX/NAFTA Highway projects (such as the South
Mountain Freeway)
- Immediately repeal SB1070 and 287g
- End all racial profiling
- No BP encroachment/sweeps on sovereign Native land
- No raids and deportations
- Immediate and unconditional regularization (“legalization”) of all people
- Uphold human freedom and rights
- Uphold the rights of ALL Indigenous People - repeal HB 2281, support the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People
- Support dignity and respect
- Support and ensure freedom of movement for all people
Soto concluded, “This action was a prayer. We’d like to thank those who stood with us during this process and to all who firmly stand with us to end border militarization. The occupation of the Border Patrol station was never about any group/organization, or us, it was about directly confronting the terror that the state unleashes upon indigenous and migrant communities, so we can critically challenge border militarization. As an O’odham, I always think back to my grandparents’ teachings: We as O’odham people have always traveled freely, regardless of the border. It’s our land, who we are, and we will defend it.”
To view the occupation video and for additional resources please visit:
http://www.oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com/
http://www.survivalsolidarity.wordpress.com/
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