Military Resistance 12C8 - Heartbeat

8/12/2019 Military Resistance 12C8 - Heartbeat

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Military Resistance 12C8

Bosnia --- The HeartbeatOf A Revolutionary

Process:

The New And Old, Side By Side,Contest For Power;The Plenum And Protests GiveLegitimacy To Each Other, They
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Are A Constant Thorn In The EyeOf The System, Because They Are

Constantly Encouraging GatheredCitizens To Think

There Is A Rise In Consciousness OfSomething Completely New, A NewWay Of Communication That Is Free

From Used-Up Political JargonThere Is A Spiral Of Resistance Which

Is Every Day Spreading Further

Comment: TThere is no guarantee that the revolutionary movement in Bosnia will not be putdown by the local capitalist regime, with a helping hand from a delegation of EUpoliticians traveling there this week, who are unlikely to look favorably on aworking class revolution from below against the EUs previously handpickedruling Bosnian politicians.

That said, however long the plenums and the protests survive, they are indeed, asValentina Pellizzer tells us from Bosnia,something new; a meteor flashing acrossthe sky that shows a path to our common future.

For those on the left who are so demoralized they are without hope for anythingbeyond incremental reforms, the article that follows will mean nothing much. Theburnt out will skip over the significance of what is described.

For those not yet terminally hopeless, the article below will provide courage,powerfully lifting up our hearts and heads.

Our brothers and sisters in Bosnia have put it on the line to show a taste of what

can be in this world here and now.

Like the revolutionaries of the Paris Commune in 1870, they have cracked open awindow into a new world that is possible.

There will be plenty of time later to criticize the political and organizationalweaknesses of this movement.


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For now, lets celebrate it and give all honor, respect and solidarity to theseBosnian sisters and brothers who are lighting our way.

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Valentina Pellizzer: Of course, we should expect constant attempts to sabotage

and delegitimize protests and protesters. In these circumstances it is almostimpossible to predict what will happen.

There are several scenarios, but the most important thing is to do everythingpossible to ensure the functioning of the Plenum.

March 3, 2014 by Margareta Kern, bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/ This article originallyappeared on the 24.2.2014 here: http://www.h-alter.org/vijesti/europa-regija/politika-razdvajanja-i-sabotiranja

Introduction To The Interview:

Valentina Pellizzer, a member of the organising team of Plenum of citizens ofSarajevo, a feminist and long-term activist, speaks to H-Alter about the citizenswish for a longer term articulation of their social justice questions, aboutPlenums demands and about the strategy of Bosnian-Herzegovinian (BH)establishment to discredit it, about moving beyond ethnic identities, and about theeffect of fire and smoke on the direct democracy.

Board of Deputies of the Sarajevo Canton has last Friday accepted all four demands thatwere voted for at the Plenum of citizens of Sarajevo.

Accepted were demands for establishing government of experts, revision of salaries andbenefits of those in public functions in the Sarajevo Canton in line with the currenteconomic situation in the country.

The demand for revision of privatisation was accepted, and so was the setting up of anindependent fact-finding committee to establish facts surrounding the events of the 7thFebruary.

The committee will include selected members of the Sarajevo Plenum, with theright to assess inventory and damage, as well as confirming responsibility of thepolice officers for excessive use of force and violence towards those taken intocustody.

We need to point out, that accepting the demands by the Board does not mean that

these demands will be acted upon, because the decisions will be made by the Assemblyof the Sarajevo Canton, which is set to meet on the 24th February stated the Plenum,and called on all citizens to continue with peaceful protests until all of their demands aremet.

They warned current and future governments that their disrespect of the citizensrights can not and will not be tolerated.


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The Interview:

H-Alter Spoke On This Occasion With Valentina Pellizzer, AMember Of The Organising Team Of Plenum Of Citizens Of

Sarajevo, A Feminist And Long-Term Activist

H-Alter spoke on this occasion with Valentina Pellizzer, a member of the organisingteam of Plenum of citizens of Sarajevo, a feminist and long-term activist, whos beenliving in Sarajevo for the past fifteen years, and from 1994 works on coordination andestablishing of programmes of support and development in Croatia, Macedonia, Albania,Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

H-Alter: [ Italics]On Friday the Board of Deputies of the Sarajevo Canton (SC) has accepted thedemands of citizens, articulated by the Plenum, and the Assembly itself will be decidingabout them this week. What are your expectations?

Pellizzer:Demands were placed on the meeting agenda on Monday. The chosen tactic is thesame to what happened on 12th February after the first Plenum.

Presence of thousand people in a small plenum space, provided by the Universitycampus, is showing effects.

Media is speaking about accepted demands.

But, it should be noted that this is a case of clever tactics and a way for thegovernment to present itself as if it is listening to its citizens while continuing to

do nothing.

While members of the Assembly are slowly preparing for their meeting, citizens havedecided to spend the (past) weekend on the streets.

Currently, on one hand, there is an indication of willingness and openness ofthose in power towards the protestors while the police and media aresimultaneously spreading panic about potential groups of protestors ready forphysical violence.

The pressure on those who feel part of the whole process is enormous.

But, on the other hand, there is a rise in consciousness of something completelynew, of a new way of communication that is free from used-up political jargon. Inall this I feel the citizens desire to articulate their questions about social justice ina long-term way, even with the continual criminalisation of protest and protestors.

What are the reasons behind the obstructions you are speaking about?

The strategy is quite clear: splitting protestors into small groups so it would be easier toremove them from a public focus.


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The Plenum and protests give legitimacy to each other, they are a constant thornin the eye of the system, because they are constantly encouraging gatheredcitizens to think.

The system has been shaken, and its only answer is spreading fear and intimidating

individuals.

In this context, the news of the day is a statement by the organisation Human RightsWatch which has officially confirmed that the police has unjustifiably used violenceagainst 19 B-H citizens, more than 13 in Sarajevo, amongst whom there were twowomen and three minors.

The System Is Rotten And Broken, But The Citizens Have Recognized ThisMafia Rule And They Will No Longer Tolerate It

Which are the key demands that received the highest consensus and which ones, in

your opinion, the citizens of Sarajevo, will not give up easily?

Three demands were passed unanimously, while one, about the parliament of experts,passed by a majority vote.

After the first wave of moralizing about damaged buildings, citizens who are present atthe plenum and protests have recognized and acknowledged the reasons for andcauses of violence.

The decriminalization of protests and protesters, the accountability of the police and thesystems that supports it, along with the other two demands auditing privatization andreducing wages and cutting benefits for the entire political class are definitely (issues)

which we all take as the common foundation. Citizens have not agreed with the newthesis that all politicians have offered so far, and solidarity and understanding are key,not only in Sarajevo but in all the cities where Plenums have arisen.

The system is rotten and broken, but the citizens have recognized this mafia rule(cupola mafiosa) and they will no longer tolerate it.

What exactly is the demand with respect to the parliament of experts and what wouldthe realization of this demand look like, if it were to be adopted by the Parliament?

This is one of the protesters most-discussed questions, adopted by a simple majority,and it requires further elaboration.

Attempts by politicians imply the formation of their own government of expertsand the continuation of their expert theft.

In contrast, the Plenum does not want to see the current politicians with atechnical mandate, and would rather identify persons who are competent,independent and preferably with no ties to any of the parties, whose functionwould be, at the start, to propose and ensure that the government is working andimplementing a recovery program.


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On the other hand, there is a demand for an audit of privatization. Will this, in yourpersonal opinion, encounter opposition from the politicians who in fact enabled this typeof privatization?

Of course it will.

All demands which encourage disclosure of the political-mafia system willencounter resistance.

The practice of initiating investigations is widespread in BiH. However, they generallyconclude up by not concluding, or conclude without the laying of formal charges, so as toensure business as usual.

Another interesting aspect is the question of cross-retaliation, where reviewingprivatization de facto masks a repositioning of the old elite by a new one.

Last week, the Plenum warned that acceptance of a demand does not equal its

implementation.

In your opinion, what could happen in the event that Parliament of SarajevoCanton does not accept and implement the Plenums demands?

Demands can only be accepted. A process in motion cannot be stopped.

If demands are rejected, the message to the public would be the absoluteresistance of the system to any change whatsoever.

It would compare to the indifference of the system to the demands made throughoutYugoslavia in 1968.

If the system had opened up then, little by little, it would probably have survived longer.Since February 7th, politicians have only expressed understanding towards theprotesters.

Of course, we should expect constant attempts to sabotage and delegitimizeprotests and protesters. In these circumstances it is almost impossible to predictwhat will happen.

There are several scenarios, but the most important thing is to do everythingpossible to ensure the functioning of the Plenum.

The Plenums offer a space for dialogue and resolution, while protests are a formof public pressure. They are also a place for healing and for politics, forchanneling energy and anger through demands and solutions.

What is the current situation in Sarajevo? How do you the residents you meet view theprotests and Plenums?

I have the feeling of being in a room with a lot of distorted mirrors. Euphoria, hope,silence, fear, ignorance, inertia its all there.


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One part of the population participates in protests, while the other part watches themfrom a distance as though they are an inconvenience.

Every day, 200 to 300 citizens are on the streets in front of the presidential palace, thesubject of constant disinformation, portraying protests as though they are some sort of

massive traffic jam.

They Can And Should Be On The Streets As Well As At The Plenums AndWill They Face The Fact That Without Taking Personal Risks There Is No

Revolution?

The plenum is quite well attended and 1000 to 1200 citizens regularly come to theyouth center.

Since the first plenum, where there was major obstruction, the authorities haveimplement a model of acceptance of citizens demands as in Tuzla.

But Sarajevo is not Tuzla: the backbone of this city is not workers from bankruptfactories but the employees of the administrative apparatus with its agencies,departments and ministries at all levels: from boroughs to cities, from cantons to theentities, all the way up to the federation government.

This machine is the largest brake, which observes and hums along on the sidelines.All those within the machine do not think alike. There are those quietly cheering for theplenum, and look to it as the only chance for freedom. Currently, this group of citizens isa big mystery. Will they decide to stop being held hostage by their eligible peers?

Will they testify about all those who maintain this system but were elected

through party cronyism and about the hundreds of service contracts beingpaid? Will they come to an understanding that they can and should be on thestreets as well as at the Plenums and will they face the fact that without takingpersonal risks there is no revolution?

Why have you decided to take part in the protests and in co-organising of the Plenum?

Ive decided while watching protests in Tuzla and the spiral of violence in thattown, while watching the politicians accusing each other while jointly accusingthe citizens, while I was listening to Lagumdija saying that citizens of Sarajevoare worse than Karadi, or when I saw it with my own eyes the anger of the riotpoliceman and willingness to wipe you out so that they can fulfill the orders.

([I decided to take part) in order to change the trend (of) arrogance, paternalism

I was also compelled by the feelings I felt while outside the police station, togetherwith parents who dont know where their children are, who are afraid to ask, to getcloser.


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I simply felt called upon. I couldnt, and wouldnt want to observe these events,criticising them from a distance.

Im aware that every person who stands up to the system is an enemy and Imaware of the complexity and fragility of Plenum and protests.

Thats why I join in, like every citizen I want to give my contribution, howeversmall it may be.

I didnt think much, it all happened on the 14th February when the history waswritten, and when together with other citizens I raised my hand and voted forthose four famous demands.

I feel proud to be here and to witness the resistance to the lies and manipulations.

Direct Democracy Is An Incredible Experience, Something CompletelyDifferent And Hard To Imagine

How many citizens are in Plenum currently, have the numbers increased since the firstPlenum and how do you see the experience of direct democracy decision making so far?How efficient in your opinion is Plenum in coming to collective decisions?

From the beginning the Plenum has about 1000 people, and more than 2200demands have been received.

The working groups have minimum of 300 persons who are actively involved, and who,of course, work voluntarily.

Plenum is one of the most persistent spaces that I had a chance to experience.

Direct democracy is an incredible experience, something completely different andhard to imagine.

Every day I learn about myself and others.

Protests Have Placed A Symbolic Full-Stop On The Ethnic CollectivismDemand For Social Justice Is What Unites Protestors

Protests have placed a symbolic full-stop on the ethnic collectivism and shownthat an individual courage based on personal and political solidarity exists.

Demand for social justice is what unites protestors, proving that Bosnia-Herzegovinian society can think through and show the citizens side of the story,without the usual ethno-nationalist colours.

Protests have opened up the process of lustration at all levels, not just inside thegovernment, but also inside the private, as well as non-governmental sector.


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[The world lustration is often used by revolutionaries in Bosnia and the Ukraine. FromWikipedia: Lustration is the government process regulating the participation of formercommunists, especially informants of the communist secret police. It also applies morebroadly to the process of nations dealing with past human rights abuses or injustices thathave occurred. The term is taken from the Roman lustrum purification rituals. T]

We are all under the examination every day, every decision and every mistake ispart of a collective political practice.

Whats under way is a pre-formulation of all discourses and a search for functional,transparent and open model.

What is your comment on the attempts to reduce the protests and plenums to ethno-national questions, and to claim that only Bosniaks are protesting while Croats andSerbs have no connection to it?

They say that when a regime is scared, it hits how it knows the best.

Romans described it the best with the words divide et impera, divide and conquer.

The reality is such that the current protests are part of a longer process and cycle ofprotests.

Already during the JMBG protests (TN: JMBG stands for Unique Master CitizenNumber which the governments couldnt agree on leading to a deadlock in issuing thenumbers to new born babies, resulting in a death of one baby who needed to get urgentmedical care abroad) the citizens showed that they can differentiate and articulatedespite and outside of the ethno-nationalism.

It is normal that inside one mass movement different opinions and beliefs exist, and

that includes different forms of patriotism.

It is important, however, to highlight continual dialogue, understanding, mutualacceptance, difference and the creation of a collective awareness that there is oneflag of the protests and of Plenums, that of a social justice.

Negating differences would be the same as negating the natural democracy of thePlenums whose openness can be instrumentalised, which is why active participation isthe best strategy for creating the front of solidarity without nationalisms and ismphenomenon.

The Plenum Votes For The Message That Everyone Has A Duty, Out OfEthical Reasons, To Pass On

Its necessary to understand that nobody speaks in the name of everybody or others andthat everybody has the right to speak but that the Plenum votes for the message thateveryone has a duty, out of ethical reasons, to pass on.


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Is there a potential for the protests to spread into Republika Srpska (RS), where thesocio-political elites have been working hard, in the last few days, on proving to thecitizens that the aim of protests is its (RS) destruction?

As I said earlier, what is happening is a universal struggle for social justice, not anattempt at a coup dtat.

Attempts to show it as a coordinated destruction of agreements are false.

People are no longer interested in the rhetoric of vital national interests.

People want institutions, where ever they are and what ever they are called, to functionand work in the interest of the citizens.

This Is A Protest Against The Hegemony Of The Political Parties, WhichHave Been Like Leeches

This is a protest against the hegemony of the political parties, which have beenlike leeches for the past twenty years in these regions sucking out the economic,cultural and social riches.

Protests want to return the feeling that public good is truly public good.

What the majority doesnt know or it doesnt see is that there were, and there willbe protests also in Republika Srpska.

There is a spiral of resistance which is every day spreading further.

The protests that are currently in the Federation, are symbolically connected with

the events during JMBG (UMCN) protests, where for the first one could see thatthe citizens stopped blindly believing that national and ethic belonging is a key forevery event.

Republika Srpska is in a crises and its citizens are hungry and angry.

But, a different system and different control of the territory is present there. Morecentralised: those that govern there, govern more brutally and efficiently.

Plenum has started in Brko, protests took place also in Banja Luka and Prijedor,and even the fact that after the protests by the war veterans and demobilisedsoldiers, the government of RS hurried to make promises and bribes behind the

closed doors, is a sign that even in RS the countdown has begun.

Are you in contact with the protestors in other cities? Is there a regular communicationwith other Plenums and are there thoughts about acting together?

There are many horizontal channels of communication and contact.

The last Plenum was attended by those from Tuzla, and today there weredelegations from Konjic, Fojnica and Mostar.


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The information is flowing, but we are working more on the formalcommunication with the aim of defining and implementing joint demands.

Personally I think that Plenums are asking questions which dont concern only thespecific Cantons, but are a matter for all of us.

All of this is done in the spirit of making a better structure, and not in the spirit of itsdestruction. The right question is not whether the current system is needed or not, buthow to make it into a functioning system. Twenty years of rhetoric about the changing ofthe constitution has brought Bosnia-Herzegovina society into the current situation.

You are originally from Italy, but youve lived in Sarajevo for fifteen years, and youvespent the past twenty years in the Balkans. How do you see from that position thecomplexity of Bosnia-Herzegovinian society and the social conditions in that country?

I come from the south of Italy, from a small town in Calabria, where mafia, thievery andcorruption is ever present.

I know what fear and silence mean, and how difficult it is to say something openly andseparate yourself from the safe anonymity.

In that way I think Bosnia-Herzegovina is not that different, except for its specificconstruction of ethno-collectivism, a kind of disease which stifles any attempt atchange, at least until now.

There Is A Spiral Of Resistance Which Is Every Day Spreading FurtherPoliticians Have Woven Their World, And Wont Let Anyone Else In

This is why I think that a spark of democracy such as is Plenum, can only come from theplaces that have nothing and have to invent all of it, have to build a system from thezero.

How similar are the protest activi ties in Bosnia-Herzegovina to those that tookplace since 2011 in many countries of Europe and Latin America?

We are all united under the conditions of injustice.

In all the countries indirect democracy has shown its limit, disfunctionality andcorruption.

Politicians have woven their world, and wont let anyone else in.

They collaborate with each other, replicate each other and mutually maintain eachother.

It is enough to observe on the global level the economic-corporative-politicalmachinery and it becomes very clear that political elites have only their personal-political (party) interests, while the citizens are there only for pro forma voting,paying taxes and to be the cannon fodder when they rebel.


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I think that in the beginning they couldnt believe that nobody stands behindPlenum, and that people are simply ready to accept a new model, and to work onit.

Then they tried to overtake that body.

Such pressure is still present, and the only way to answer it, is for many morepersons to join the work of Plenum and through suggestions, discussion andvoting Plenum stays an alive place.

How much have the citizens uprisings and protests uncovered the fundamentalimpossibility of functioning of the current political model in BH and how much is even thecurrent model to be blamed for the current social situation in this country?

The system does not function, and its disfunctionality is strategically used from all sides.

Ethno-nationalist blockades have for years paralysed the health reforms, (carriedthrough with) wrong privatizations, and misused social welfare.

The newness of these protests is that social justice became something concreteand real, something that each governing body can work on, regardless of its level(of jurisdiction) and constitution.

When we speak about a political model, we have to understand that we are nottalking about a constitution, entity or Canton, but about a systematic robbery,which is hidden behind an ethno-curtain.

The citizens have seen that the king is naked, and this time they decided to dosomething about the situation, take responsibility and build something whichmany countries thought was not possible.

In that context, the events of the 7th February were a turning point.

Violence does not resolve problems, but the fire, smoke, arrests and brutalityhave indeed created a chasm, filled by Plenum and which turned into somethingabsolutely unexpected: an exercise of direct democracy where citizens thinkthrough the entire system and do that in their own name.

MORE:

Elites Sit And Wait For The Protests To

Be Over21 Feb 14 By Soeren Keil, Balkan Insight [Excerpt]

[A]t least at entity and national level, elites sit and wait for the protests to be over.

While some cantonal governments in the Federation had to step down, no such changeshave happened at entity or national level.


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At the same time, none of the leading politicians in the entities and in the centralinstitutions has offered to meet the protesters and discuss their demands.

While this has happened at regional level, in Tuzla, for example, entity elites andthose in power at central level abstain from engaging directly with the protesters,

as they are well aware that the demands raised are not about ethnic issues butabout social and economic problems.

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVEIN THE MILITARY?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the email address if youwish and well send it regularly with your best wishes. Whether inAfghanistan or at a base in the USA, this is extra important for your servicefriend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growingresistance to injustices, inside the armed services and at home. Sendemail requests to address up top or write to: Military Resistance, Box 126,

2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Car Seat Bomb Blows Up Afghan Official


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Police search the destroyed car of Noor Agha Kamran, a district chief in eastern

Afghanistan, after he was killed in his car when a bomb ripped through the vehicle in thecenter of Jalabad, Afghanistan, Saturday, March 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Nisar Ahmad)

3.8.14 AP

KABUL, Afghanistan A bomb placed under the car seat of a district chief exploded

Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, killing him and wounding six other people, officialssaid.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for assassination, the latest targeting senior officialsas the militant movement fights to undermine the Western-backed government. The

Afghan army has recently carried out several operations against militants in Nangarharprovince, where the attack occurred.

The blast killed Noor Agha Kamran, head of the Nazian district, as he was on his way towork in Jalalabad, Nangarhar's deputy governor Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal said.

"A magnetic bomb was placed under the seat of his vehicle. While he was on his way to

his office near the university the bomb exploded," Gardiwal said.

The explosion seriously wounded two of Kamran's bodyguards and lightly wounded fourother people, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an emailsent to reporters.


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Elsewhere, six Afghan security forces were killed and two wounded while trying todefuse a newly planted roadside bomb on the outskirts of Mihterlam, the capital ofLaghman province, said Sarhadi Zawak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

Those killed included four soldiers and two police officers, Zawak said. The Taliban alsoclaimed responsibility for the explosion.

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh hadI the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream ofbiting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom theyoppose.

Frederick Douglass, 1852

A revolution is always distinguished by impoliteness, probably because the rulingclasses did not take the trouble in good season to teach the people fine manners.-- Leon Trotsky, History Of The Russian Revolution


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Russian Socialists Against TheWar:

The Struggle For Freedom InRussia Is A Struggle Against

Foreign Policy Adventures Of TheRuling Regime, Which Is Trying

Through These Actions To

Postpone Its Own DemiseNo To Pitting The People Of UkraineAnd Russia Against One Another!

Yes To Freedom From Ultimatums AndPeaceful Self-Determination Of People

Living In The Crimean Peninsula!March 5, 2014 Socialist Worker

On March 1, as Russian forces were completing their takeover in Crimea, the RussianSocialist Movement issued this statement saying no to war in Ukraine. [Excerpt fromintroduction.]

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March 1, 2014:Central Council of the Revolutionary Socialist Movement

War has begun.

With the purpose of protecting and accruing assets for the Russian oligarchs and theoligarchs from Viktor Yanukovych's group, the Russian authorities have undertaken amilitary incursion into Ukraine.


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This aggression is fraught with catastrophic consequences for the Ukrainian andRussian people, and, most of all, for the population of the Autonomous Republic ofCrimea and the industrial regions of southeast Ukraine.

For Ukraine, this also means an escalation of an international conflict; for Russia,a strengthening of dictatorship, repression and chauvinist hysteria, with the help

of which the ruling elite has tried to neutralize social discontent caused by thedeepening economic crisis.

We share the anxiety of residents of the southeast about the nationalist tendencies ofthe new Kiev government. But we are sure that it is not Putin's tanks, but only self-organization and a struggle of the people for their own civil, political and socio-economicrights that will lead to freedom.

The people of Ukraine, it goes without saying, have the right to self-determination, to anymeasure of autonomy or independence. But what we are seeing today has nothing incommon with the democratic choice of the population. It is a naked and cynical operationof Russian imperialism, directed at the seizure of foreign territory and the return of

Ukraine or its regions into its own protectorate.

Today, the struggle for freedom in Russia is a struggle against foreign policyadventures of the ruling regime, which is trying through these actions to postponeits own demise.

The Russian Socialist Movement calls upon all real left and democratic forces toorganize antiwar protests with the following demands:

-- No to Russo-Ukrainian war!

-- No to provocations for bloodshed in Ukraine!

-- No to pitting the people of Ukraine and Russia against one another!

-- No to the interference of the Russian army or the armies of other countries in Crimea!

-- Yes to freedom from ultimatums and peaceful self-determination of people living in theCrimean peninsula!

-- Yes to the struggle of the working people of Ukraine against the oligarchs and corruptbureaucrats!

-- No to international conflict!

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CLASS WAR REPORTS


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The Revolution Owes A Lot To

The Womens MovementWomen Leaders With Years Of

Experience Working In The RegionWere Trusted, So It Made It Easier

For Them To Mobilize Their

CommunitiesWomens Rights Organizations InWestern And Southern Regions Of

Ukraine Helped Export TheRevolution From Kiev To The

Regions

When The Regions Stood Up, It Was ABreakthrough

February 28th, 2014 By Natalia Karbowska, PopularResistance [Excerpts]

News from Ukraine is moving so fast that if you dont look closely, youll miss the untoldstory: a revolution for and by Ukrainian women.

In a week, more than 80 people were killed and some 500 injured when the governmentof President Viktor Yanukovych who is now being sought on charges of mass murder

tried to crush our protests with violence.

The opposition movement that toppled his corrupt regime came together for acommon goal, but it was by no stretch of the imagination homogenous.

People referred to Maidan as a force of male heroes while delegating women tocook, clean, and provide moral support.


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Men donned signs reading, Women, if you see garbage clean it up. Revolutionaries willbe pleased. Social media was buzzing with requests for more women in the kitchen.Some women followed suit with a hug initiative to show solidarity by hugging their maleheroes.

Protestors organized themselves in Hundreds self-defense groups of roughly

100 people, aligned with their region or cause.

Organizing in groups of 100 is an old tradition, from the 16th-century Cossack war ofindependence. Protestors with cars united in the AutoMaidan movement, calling onthose with vehicles to block streets and drive alongside people as they marched to thehomes of oligarchs.

When police started arresting people there was a desperate need of lawyers to protectthem. Many women with professional expertise offered their help but often they heard,you should go to the kitchen; we need help there.

The kitchen was not an option for us.

So, women organized the womens hundred.

Women from everywhere in Ukraine wanted to join this informal group, and theyhelped each other find their place in Maidan.

Women taught self-defense classes to female protesters. At Maidan University, aninformal education center in the square, the womens hundred invited lecturers to speakabout feminist theory.

As snipers opened fire on civilians and more and more people were injured at the handsof police, it was dangerous for them to go to the hospital.

Instead of getting medical treatment, they would simply disappear.

The womens hundred helped organize shifts at the hospital, documenting the namesand telephone numbers of the injured protestors in case they went missing. Womenlawyers offered legal aid to patients, and women drivers used their skills in AutoMaidan.

The revolution owes a lot to the womens movement.

In the early months, Ukrainians outside Kiev thought the resistance was confined to thecapital city. It was womens rights organizations in western and southern regions ofUkraine that helped export the revolution from Kiev to the regions.

Women leaders with years of experience working in the region were trusted, so it madeit easier for them to mobilize their communities.

When the regions stood up, it was a breakthrough.


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OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Zionist Occupation Forces Attack West

Bank Women's Day March

A Palestinian women throws a stone towards attacking Israeli troops at Qalandia

checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 8, 2014.Palestinian women marked International Women's Day by marching to the checkpointwhere they were attacked by Israeli troops. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

March 8, 2014 Al-Akhbar

Israeli occupation forces on Saturday fired stun grenades and tear gas at dozens ofprotesters marking International Women's Day near a West Bank checkpoint, injuring atleast 11 women, local media reported.

Ma'an News Agency said the women suffered from tear gas inhalation after soldiersattacked them at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the central West Bank.

The Qalandiya checkpoint separates Ramallah, the administrative capital of the WestBank, from Jerusalem, which has been Palestine's historical capital before Israel'soccupation of the country.

The women had attempted to march past the notorious checkpoint to assert their right toenter their capital, organizers of the march were cited as saying by Wafa news agency.


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"We are trying to revive the role of women in the popular struggle (against Israel), tomaintain the Arab identity of Jerusalem, and to boycott Israeli goods," Intissar al-Wazir,head of the General Union of Palestinian women, told Wafa.

"The march towards the Qalandiya checkpoint today confirms the participation of womenin the struggle against the Israeli occupation," Khalida Jarrar, member of the Palestinian

Legislative Council, added.

Another Week Of Zionist SettlerMob Terror Against Palestinians

In Nablus:

Settlers Living In The IllegalOutpost Of Havat Gilad LeftBehind A Trail Of Destruction

Yesh Din Concluded That SettlersAre Largely Operating With Impunity

Throughout The West BankInstead Of Sanctioning The Settlers

Carrying Out The Attacks, Measures AreBeing Imposed On Farmers Who Have

Fallen Victim To Such Attacks

March 01, 2014 By Jan Walraven, Palestine Monitor [Excerpts]

The village of Jit, located in the northern Nablus governate, was attacked by

dozens of settlers on Saturday 22 February.

Damaging several private homes and vehicles, settlers living in the illegal outpost ofHavat Gilad left behind a trail of destruction. +972 reported on video footage of theattack showing settlers throwing rocks towards the village and Palestinian villagers doingthe same in response, causing the settlers to leave the scene.


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On Thursday 20 January, six Palestinians were injured when settlers from IsraelsYitzhar settlement attacked the Burin High School in Nablus..

The Israeli army intervened by firing several rounds of teargas.

According to an Israeli army spokesperson quoted by Ma'an News Agency, clashes

started when 100s of Palestinians began hurling rocks at soldiers who were engaged inroutine activity in the area and that soldiers used riot dispersal means against theprotesters.

Ghasan Daghlas, a representative for the Palestinian Authority (PA) who monitorssettlement activity opposed these statements, telling Ma'an that Palestiniansthrew rocks in response to the initial settler attack.

That same day, the Israeli army closed off the main road after a molotov cocktail wasthrown at a car owned by a settler.

The clashes of 20 January came after a similar settler attack on Wednesday 19

January, when one group of settlers threw stones at Palestinian schoolchildren,while another group attacked a Palestinian man near the Yitzhar settlement.

Ma'an News Agency reported that Israeli forces arrived to the area soon afterwards,firing tear gas canisters and rubber coated bullets at the Palestinians.

In its Humanitarian Bulletin of January 2014, the United Nations Office for HumanitarianAffairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHAopt) turned its spotlight to the Nablusgovernorate.

Throughout 2013, the area witnessed 119 settler attacks resulting in Palestinianinjuries or property damage, the largest number in the West Bank.

In January 2014, there were 29 settler attacks in the West Bank, eight of whichtook place in the Nablus governorate. OCHAs bulletin voices particular concernregarding the high level of violence in the settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha, bothlocated south of Nablus.

Settlers use violent attacks and intimidation tactics in their effort to confiscatePalestinian owned land.

OCHA reports in the Humanitarian Bulletin, that the Israeli army has reacted tothese recurrent incidents by issuing military orders to close the Palestinian landsand by putting in place a system of prior coordination.

This entails that Palestinian farmers will have to apply for access and militaryprotection before being able to enter their lands. They can only apply for thisprotection a few times a year.

When farmers use these targeted lands less often, settler attacks decrease.

Nonetheless, these measures place severe restrictions on the freedom ofmovement of Palestinian farmers.


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Instead of sanctioning the settlers carrying out the attacks, measures are beingimposed on farmers who have fallen victim to such attacks.

With access to their lands limited, farmers aren't able to perform all necessaryagricultural actions, leading to a decline in quantity and quality of the produce,

causing economic loss.

According to international humanitarian law, the Israeli army, as an occupying force, isobliged to prevent attacks against Palestinians living in the West Bank and to properlyinvestigate all incidents. For OCHA this is a clear example of "the longstanding failure ofthe Israeli authorities to enforce of rule of law on Israeli settlers."

Research by Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din confirmed these failings. YeshDin concluded that settlers are largely operating with impunity throughout the WestBank. Between 2005 and 2013, Yesh Din monitored 938 investigation files. Just 8.5% ofthem ended in the indictment of Israelis suspected of harming Palestinians and theirproperty.

OCHA has recorded a total of 1,474 settler attacks resulting in casualties ordamage to property between 2010 and 2013.

Next to that, OCHA concluded, in a report on settler violence from November 2011,that the settler impunity, combined with "measures of the current system,including requiring Palestinians to file complaints at police stations located insideIsraeli settlements," discourages Palestinians from filing complaints in the firstplace.

Moreover, it seems that in some cases the Israeli army even offers protection to settlerswhile they carry out attacks.

One case, reported by the Israeli human rights organisation BTselem, showsvideo footage of an attack by settlers on a water reservoir and the secondaryschool in 'Urif, a Palestinian village near Yitzhar in Nablus.

The footage captured on 6 January shows Israeli soldiers accompanying settlersas they attack. When students from the local school responded to the attack bythrowing rocks at the settlers, the Israeli army fired tear gas in the direction of theschool.

The settlers of Yitzhar do not only focus their violent attacks towards surroundingPalestinian villages. On Friday 12 January, for example, a group of settlers vandalized

an Israeli commander's vehicle, slashing his tires. According to Israel Yahom, IsraeliPrime Minister Netanyahu called for the arrest of the perpetrators.

To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commandedby foreign terrorists, go to:

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16


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DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

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