yasir~
Since the beginning
Works in Karachi Pakistan

Discussions (139) Opportunities (0) Events (1) Jobs (0)
DISCUSSION

new Saeed al-Sahaf


...trying to be Saeed al-Sahaf II ?

Jay Garner, the retired US general named by Washington to lead an
interim administration in Iraq, asked: "What better place than the
birthplace of civilization could you have for the beginning of a free
Iraq?

DISCUSSION

FW: [BostontoPalestine] b2p SPEAK OUT! 4/21/03


// BOSTONTOPALESTINE EVENT //

COMMUNITY SPEAK OUT: AGAINST ISRAELI MILITARY VIOLENCE TOWARD
PALESTINIANS!!!

SPEAK OUT: On the killing of International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
Activist RACHEL CORRIE and the shootings of BRIAN AVERY and TOM
HURNDALL

Monday April 21st
6:30pm

Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
Somerville, MA
155 Powderhouse Boulevard
(Intersection of Powderhouse Boulevard and Curtis Street)
T DIRECTIONS BELOW

By exposing the violence directed against ISMers, we can expose the
violence directed against Palestinians every day. Please gather with
us to prepare an urgent response to the deaths and injuries among
Palestinians and International activists.

Bring a snack or drink to share.

"SPEAK OUT" PROGRAM
1. update on Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement
2. speak out from past ISM activists
3. open mic community discussion
4. action announcement, discussion

*organized by BostontoPalestine (b2p), a member group of the Boston
Committee for Palestinian Rights. We are a support group for the
International Solidarity Movement, a Palestine-based movement of
Internationals working with Palestinians to nonviolently end the
occupation.
for more info see: www.bcpr.org/b2p

T DIRECTIONS
From Davis Square T: Take College Ave approx 3 blocks to Powder
House Circle. At the circle, take the second street to your left -
Powder House Blvd. The church is at 155 Powder House Blvd.

----------------------------------------------------------------
STATEMENT ON RECENT VIOLENCE FROM HUWAIDA ARRAF, INTERNATIONAL
SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT

Friends,

Our friend and colleague Tom Hurndall lies comatose

DISCUSSION

worldwide press freedom index


// Reporters Without Borders publishes the first Worldwide Press Freedom
Index //

The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for
Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy
scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are
North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_articleA16

DISCUSSION

12 killed as US troops fire on crowd in Mosul


12 killed as US troops fire on crowd in Mosul

http://www.dawn.com/2003/04/16/top14.htm

UR (Iraq), April 15: The search for a new Iraqi leadership began on
Tuesday with US officials meeting opposition leaders, but tensions
flared as 12 people were killed in the northern city of Mosul after a
firefight involving US troops.

The firefight broke out as a newly-appointed governor was making a
speech which enraged listeners who said it was too pro-US.

A doctor at a hospital said 12 people had been killed and 60 wounded in
the shooting.

Witnesses said US troops fired into the crowd after it became
increasingly hostile towards the new governor, Mashaan al Juburi.

"They (the soldiers) climbed on top of the building and first fired at a
building near the crowd, with the glass falling on the civilians. People
started to throw stones, then the Americans fired at them," said Ayad
Hassun. "Dozens of people fell," he said, his own shirt stained with
blood.

Ambulances ferried wounded people to hospital, while a US aircraft flew
over the city at low altitude. US troops guarding the governor said they
had opened fire after shooting started from an opposite roof.

At US Central Command in Qatar, Navy Commander Charles Owens said:
"We're investigating, all we can say now is that we did not shoot into a
crowd."

MEETING, PROTEST: Iraqi opposition leaders pledged on Tuesday to work
for a democratic Iraq and to hold more talks in 10 days after a
US-sponsored meeting marred by protests over the nation's future.

The United States gathered around 80 exiles, opposition figures and
tribal and religious leaders in the historic town of Ur for the first in
a series of meetings to lay the groundwork for a democratic government
in Baghdad.

But a crowd of around 20,000, mostly Shias, rallied in the nearby city
of Nasiriyah to protest US influence in shaping a post-Saddam Iraq,
underscoring the pitfalls facing Washington's effort to "remake" the
country.

The meeting released a 13-point statement vowing democracy would be
brought to the nation and that the future government would be
non-sectarian, based on the rule of law and chosen by Iraqis themselves.

The special White House envoy to the Iraqi opposition, Zalmay Khalilzad,
told the meeting that the United States had "no intention of ruling
Iraq".

"We want you to establish your own democratic system based on Iraqi
traditions and values," he said.

Jay Garner, the retired US general named by Washington to lead an
interim administration in Iraq, asked: "What better place than the
birthplace of civilization could you have for the beginning of a free
Iraq?"

It remained unclear how long it would take to get an Iraqi government in
place, amid internal divisions in the nation's fractious ethnic, tribal
and religious makeup, and widespread distrust over any potential
US-imposed government.

Nasiriyah witnessed a tense standoff as demonstrators unleashed their
wrath over Ahmad Chalabi, who has had Pentagon backing as a future Iraqi
leader, but is not seen as having broad popular support.

Mr Chalabi did not attend the meeting, but sent a delegate to represent
his umbrella Iraqi National Congress.

The largest Shia group declined to attend the meeting and blasted US
interference in the country's future.

"We refuse to put ourselves under the thumb of the Americans or any
other country because that is not in the Iraqis' interests," Abdul Aziz
al-Hakim, a top official of the Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said on Monday.

One of the delegates dropped to his knees and kissed his native soil
after years of exile before the meeting got under way. Others had tears
streaming down their faces.-AFP

DISCUSSION

[BostontoPalestine] ISM press release - Tom Hundall shooting


BOSTONTOPALESTINE UPDATE
www.alquds.net/bcpr/b2p

We note with great sadness other reports that indicate that Tom
Hundall was declared clinically dead due to brain injury. Please
hold Tom Hundall in your thoughts and prayers.

*the wounded man is Tom Hundall, of the U.K., and not Tom of
bostontopalestine.
---------------------------------------------------
ISM PRESS RELEASE:

Israeli soldiers shoot another ISM activist in the head

Yebna, Rafah - Between 4:30 and 5:00 PM today Israeli snipers shot
another ISM activist in the head. Tom Hundall from Manchester,
Britain, is currently in critical condition in a helicopter on his
way from Europa Hospital in Khan Younis to a hospital in Bir Sheva.
He is 22 years old.

According to Laura [an ISMer at the scene], the activists were being
shot at while protecting some children from Israeli gunfire. Tom was
in plain view of the sniper towers and was wearing a bright orange
fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes. The nine ISM activists
and many children were in the process of leaving the area. Sniper
fire from the tower was hitting the wall close beside the children,
who were afraid to move. Tom was attempting to bring them to safety
when he was shot. There was no shooting or resistance coming from the
Palestinian side at all.

According to Laura, the plan had been to put up a tent where a tank
parks itself every night in front of a Mosque. The soldiers in the
tank shoot down the street, terrorizing people who come to pray. The
group had discovered earlier that the tank was already in place and
had begun firing into the air. The Palestinian organizers felt the
plan had become unworkable, and the action was abandoned.

Laura and two Palestinians decided to go assess the situation. She
soon realized that the tank had moved from where it had been. It was
now possible to set up the tent. She spoke to Tom D by phone and they
decided to meet at the roadblock. The Israeli snipers in the
eastern tower began shooting in Laura's path.

When they arrived at the roadblock, the rest of the group was already
there. The snipers began firing again: this time at the wall of the
building next to the activists. As a result, the group began the
process of leaving.

Tom saw a little boy in an open space, clearly visible to the tower.
Tom went to get him out of the way. He looked back and saw two more
girls whom he also went to retrieve. As he went to get them, he was
shot in the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a pool of
blood. The ambulance arrived quickly, after about two minutes.

For years the Israeli army has killed Palestinian civilians with
impunity. Now they are targeting unarmed international peace
activists and human rights workers. On March 16, Rachel Corrie was
run over and killed by a bulldozer operator in Rafah while trying to
prevent home demolitions. On April 5, in Jenin, Brian Avery was
shot in the face by an APC in an unprovoked attack on a clearly
unarmed group of internationals. Six months ago in Jenin, Caoimhe
Butterly was shot in the leg and UN official Ian Hook was
murdered.

We ask the world community to stand up and demand that Israel honor
international agreements protecting civilians, whether they are
internationals or Palestinians, and hold Israel accountable for these
crimes against humanity. And we demand an end to the illegal and
brutal occupation that these murders defend.
For more information contact:
Allison 067 742 780
Raf 054 389 466
Nick 055 874 693
Alice 067 857 069

Tom ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine
02-277-4602
067-862-439
052-360-241

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
BostontoPalestine-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/