This year, February 11, 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Great Flint Sit Down Strike.

It was this 44 day sit down strike in Flint, Michigan from 1936-1937 that won the right to industrial unions in the US. Twenty-five years ago, on February 11, 1987, we celebrated the 50th anniversity with some of the sit down pioneers in Flint, Michigan.

We were privileged then to have met and learned about the sit down and the developments before and after from some of the labor pioneers who had waged the battle to win the right to unions in the large industrial factories in the US.

Some of these pioneers that we met and had the chance to know included Jack Palmer, Roscow Rich, Kenny Malone, Doc Wilson, and Floyd Hoke-Miller. There were of course, many more pioneers that we only met occasionally or learned about,… weiter lesen

Up until the Arab League Observer Mission had been sent to Syria on December 24, 2011, there had been two main narratives describing what was happening in Syria. One was that the violence in Syria was by the government against its people. The other was that the violence was also perpetrated by armed groups attempting to destabilize Syria. There had been no independent way to judge between these two narratives. The Observer Mission Report of January 22 provided such an independent judgment. (1)

The Observer Mission determined that there were armed opposition elements in Syria. (Paragraph 71) The original protocol setting up the Observer Mission did not take into account this aspect of the situation. By detailed observations in the Report, the Observer Mission documented that there were armed opposition elements attacking civilians and government officials, blowing up trains and pipelines, civilian buses and killing not only Syrian civilians but… weiter lesen

The Arab League Observer Mission succeeded in providing a different perspective from that of the mainstream western media about what has been happening on the ground in Syria. After a resolution by the Arab League which was worked out in an agreement with the Syrian government, Observers from the League went to Syria and provided a means of investigating what was happening.

The report of the Observers mission that was concluded on January 19, noted several important observations.(1)

1. The mission noted that there were false reports being made of explosions or violence and when the observers went to the location, they found that the reports were unfounded.

2. The mission found that media accounts were exaggerated about the nature of incidents or numbers of people killed in incidents and protests.

3. There were discrepancies in the lists the Mission received of people in detention. Names were repeated, or information… weiter lesen

I –Introduction

As is customary, a press conference was held by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin to mark the beginning of the Russian Federation’s Presidency of the Security Council for the month of December 2011. Ambassador Churkin’s comments in this press conference provide insight into an important problem in the structure of the Security Council that became evident in the course of the implementation of the Security Council resolutions against Libya.

The press conference was held on December 2. There is video of the press conference for those who are interested in viewing the conference itself. (1)

Though other issues were brought up, many of the questions asked by journalists related to the Russian Federation’s views concerning Security Council action on Libya and Syria.

II– Critique of Implementation of SCR 1973 on Libya

During the press conference Ambassador Churkin revealed that NATO had been asked for a “final report…summing up… weiter lesen

I – Introduction

On Tuesday, October 4, the UN Security Council announced it would take up a draft resolution on Syria. This meeting was to be an instance, when the lessons some Security Council members had drawn from the experience with the resolutions on Libya could be reflected in their action on a draft resolution against Syria.

Several weeks earlier, journalists had been told that there were two different draft resolutions about Syria tabled at the Security Council.

One draft resolution on Syria had been proposed by Russia and China. Russia and China said their resolution had been designed to encourage a peaceful process to help the Syrian government deal both with its stated desire for reforms and with the extremist violence against the Syrian government that was making such reform difficult.

The other draft resolution was tabled by four of the European members of the Security Council –… weiter lesen

[A few months ago I posted a statement by Concerned Africans on the Abuse of Libya by the UN Security Council. Concerned Africans has just issued a press statement, "On the Libyan Crisis and Execution of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi." Their statement calls for an independent, transparent, international enquiry into the true facts of the extra judicial execution of Gaddafi. The statement concerns the role of NATO, of the US, France, the UK, the UN, and the so called rebels in carrying out this "morally repugnant act". Because it helps to clarify the importance of identifying the significant breach of international law and moral decency represented by those responsible for Gaddafi's death, I would hope this statement receives widespread distribution. Below is their statement-ed]

24 October 2011

On Thursday 20 October 2011, Libya’s former leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was publicly executed in an act of vigilante violence. A day before… weiter lesen

The demonstration on Saturday, October 15 was one of the most impressive demonstrations I have ever been to. As part of the Occupy Wall Street events in New York City, a demonstration was called for Times Square at 5 pm.

There were people of all ages represented who filled a crowded area between 42nd and 43rd Street on Broadway. This was just one of several areas in the next several streets filled with protesters. Many people carried homemade signs. The 42nd-43rd area probably included more than one thousand people. Some of the slogans on the signs people carried included slogans such as, “Don’t occupy Iraq or occupy Afghanistan, Occupy the US, Bring Democracy to America”, “Normal Person”, “All the news we’re paid to print”.

Along with all of the homemade signs, another aspect of the demonstration that was impressive was the free speech stage. Anyone who wanted… weiter lesen

“The Art of Resistance on Jeju, Island of Peace” was the subject of a program at New York University on Saturday, September 24. The program described the protest on Jeju Island against the building of the Gangjeong Naval Base. Koh Gilchun, an artist from Jeju and Gloria Steinem, the American feminist and peace activist made presentations to an audience of students, activists and other interested people. Hong Sukjong, a researcher and activist, was the moderator who introduced the program putting the anti-base struggle in Jeju in its broader context.

Gloria Steinem described how she had first gone to Jeju 9 years ago and was impressed with the beauty of the island. More recently she was invited to visit Gangjeong Village and to see the damage to the people and natural beauty of Jeju being wrought by the construction of the naval base.

Steinem also mentioned that before… weiter lesen

The United Nations came back alive on Friday, September 16 with denunciations of the bombing and regime change agenda being carried out against Libya by NATO.

The occasion was the report of the credentials committee recommending that the seat held by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya be taken by the National Transitional Council (NTC). The Credentials Committee is a committee appointed by the President of the General Assembly. The Credentials Committee for the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly which began on September 13, 2011 and will last until September 12, 2012 consists of nine member states. They are China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Italy, Maldives, Panama, Russian Federation, Senegal and the United States. The representative from Panama presented the results of the report of the Credentials Committee to the General Assembly as a consensus report .

Ambassador Jorge Valero of Venezuela was the first speaker to offer a… weiter lesen

The 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened on Tuesday, September 13. Greeting the new session of the UNGA, an Open Letter on Libya with over 300 signatures was delivered to the President of the UN General Assembly, to the President of the Security Council, and to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to a press release from the group Concerned Africans. (1) The letter “respectfully demanded” that “the NATO war of aggression in Libya should end immediately.” Also the cover letter said, “We call upon the UN Security Council and the General Assembly to act immediately to respect the sovereignty and self-determination of the Libyan people as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. “

Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, the letter explained, provides for a relevant regional organization to be supported in working toward a peaceful resolution of a conflict such as that… weiter lesen