The Revolution Will Not Be Censored Conference
I was on one of the panels during this 2 day conference in Caracas. This article is in Spanish so don’t be afraid to google translate that sucker. Love the quote the used for me. That’s fine that they refer to me as a ‘he’ though. That’s fine. :/
Radio Mundial Interview
This is one of the short interviews I gave in Caracas. :)
Victory!
Starting this petition (click the title for the link) helped me to feel so much more empowered than just sitting on the couch lamenting the injustices of the world. So glad my friend encouraged me to do it! I can’t describe how it feels to see that “Victory” banner over Randa’s head today.
Here’s the blurb I wrote for the victory declaration on Change.org:
It’s official! Khader Adnan has reached an agreement with Israeli authorities and ended his hunger strike on day 66.
Mr. Adnan, a 33 year old baker, was taken from his home in front of his family and pregnant wife on December 18, 2011. On the rare occasion that his family was allowed to see him, he described being subjected to humiliating interrogation tactics, beatings, parts of his beard was torn out and he was not allowed to bathe. Once so weak he needed hospitalization, he was shackled to his bed and handcuffed on trips to the bathroom. While the major networks waited over a month to begin reporting on his plight, grassroots pressure steadily grew and both the press and elected officials were forced to take notice and act. As of February 21, 2012, still without charge or a trial, Mr. Adnan has been offered a deal to stop his hunger strike in exchange for being released on April 17th as well as having his record cleared. It should be noted that Israel has tacitly acknowledged that it has no evidence against Mr. Adnan by agreeing to his release without charge. His bravery & tenacity highlight the need for stronger international scrutiny of Israel’s interrogation and “administrative detention” policies. It also sheds lights on the hundreds of other administrative detainees currently languishing indefinitely in Israeli prisons without charge or trial.
Act Now for Elephants!
We must spread this far and wide! RINGLING BROS just submitted their request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to renew their captive-wildlife registration under ” 50 CFR 17.21 {g} for Asian Elephants, to “enhance their propagation or survival”.
*In case this isn’t clear. This is like the coach who set up a program for disadvantaged kids just so he have easy access to abusing them.
Public comments are extremely important and influence the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when they determine their course of action . Please politely ask Brenda Tapia to deny Ringling’s application to renew its captive-bred wildlife registration { PRT-720230} for Asian Elephants ………..Addresse : Brenda Tapiua , division of Management Authority , US Fish and Wildlife Service , 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 212 , Arlington , VA 22203 , fax { 703} 358-2280; e-mail DMAFR@fws.gov.
The Worst Christmas Gift Ever | PETA.org
Live Stream of Freedom Riders!
Dear friends,
In the next few hours, history could be made in Palestine. A small number of brave Palestinians will brave attack and arrest to commit a forbidden act — they will board a public bus.
Lacking their own state, Palestinians are forbidden to use buses and roads reserved for non-Arabs - part of a host of race-based rules that US President Jimmy Carter has called “apartheid”. 50 years ago, blacks in the US challenged these rules by simply and non-violently refusing to follow them. In a few hours, Palestinians will take the same approach, and their actions will be live webcasted by Avaaz teams at the link below.
As diplomats stall in the fight for a Palestinian state, the Palestinian people are taking the fight into their own hands, one public service at a time. And they’re doing it with the simple, elegant and unstoppable moral force of non-violence in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The Palestinian spring begins right now - click below to watch it LIVE, register support, and give these brave activists the global solidarity and attention they urgently need to win:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_freedom_riders/?tta
Non-violence is the game-changing force in this long standing conflict. Boarding buses is a symbolic act, but so was Gandhi’s salt march, and Rosa Park’s own ‘freedom ride’ on a segregated bus in the US. Just as non-violent protest was able to topple dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, so can it finally free the Palestinian people from 40 years of crippling military oppression by a foreign power.
There are many dangers. Israel has been arming the extremist settler population, a tactic which is likely, if not intended, to provoke awful violence that will draw the news cameras away from the brave acts of non-violence. Even the Palestinian authorities are pushing back on the action which they fear will start a democratic protest movement that they cannot control. But these few brave Palestinians have had enough, and if we stand with them now, we can help them ignite a flame that will burn its way all the way to a free and peaceful Palestinian state:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_freedom_riders/?tta
We have no idea what will happen in the next 24 hours. Maybe the authorities will crush this brave action. Maybe it will spark into a massive conflagration. Maybe it will sow the first seed of an unstoppable movement with tremendous integrity. But we can watch it live, and lend our voices to the effort. And maybe one day, we can tell our grandchildren that we were there when Palestinians boarded the buses that would ultimately take them to freedom.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Alice, Emma, Alice, Raluca, Pascal, Diego and the rest of the Avaaz team
Sources:
I Woke Up This Morning with My Mind Set on Freedom
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clarence-b-jones/i-woke-up-this-morning-wi_b_1087407.html
Freedom Riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19foner.html
Palestinian Freedom Rides echo the Civil Rights Movement
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3888-freedom-rides
‘Freedom Rides’ to Resume in Palestine
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17242
