WLOE E-Newsletter 11 November 2003:
FTAA – and opponents -- coming soon to Miami; Iraqi women tour US; Stop the
Wall; loss of legal and human rights reported
- What’s wrong with the
Free Trade Area of the Americas?
From ecofeminist
activist Starhawk: “The FTAA would extend NAFTA, the North American Free Trade
Agreeement, throughout the hemisphere. Its draft includes the same extension
of investors’ power that was under dispute in the WTO, the same push toward
privatization and commercialization of services, and a clause which allows
corporations to sue governments if they enact environmental, labor or safety
standards or other regulations which cut into profits.
The same splits between rich and poor, north and south, exist in the FTAA
as were present in Cancun. Brazil is already talking about a counter-draft.
The developing countries may pressure for reforms or revisions, but
they could also walk out of the negotiations. If they do, the FTAA too
can be derailed before it is ever put into place.” See her site for regular
reports from Miami: http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/cancun_to_ftaa.html
FTAA: An important
local site, “The Root Cause”
”On September 13, 2003, members of three South Florida-based grassroots organizations
gathered to discuss the possibilities of building a grassroots response to
the Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Summit in Miami. The organizations included
the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, Miami Workers Center
and Power
U Center for Social Change.We came together with the goal of forging a
common analysis and agenda in relation to free trade policies, as well as
a unified strategy for making our voices heard as poor communities and communities
of color during the upcoming FTAA ministerial meetings…” http://www.therootcause.org
They also have an excellent set of links for information on the FTAA:
http://www.therootcause.org/ftaa/index.shtml
From United
for Peace and Justice:
“Trade ministers
from 34 countries will meet in Miami from November 19-21 to negotiate the
Free Trade Area of the Americas, an agreement that would extend the failed
NAFTA model of corporate globalization throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Local and national groups across the hemisphere are mobilizing for a massive
showing of opposition to this new trade policy, in order to demonstrate that
another world is possible. A broad hemispheric coalition against the FTAA
will deliver hundreds of thousands of ballots to the delegates at the Summit,
representing the millions of people who will not be able to attend…
In addition to supporting
the large-scale mobilization, involving a wide range of legal and permitted
activities, we are calling for massive nonviolent direct action in Miami November
19-21 to disrupt and derail the FTAA. The process of negotiating the FTAA
has been so undemocratic that our opposition cannot be expressed through ordinary
channels. Through direct action, we can to demonstrate the breadth and depth
of our opposition to its policies and make visible the alternative we stand
for, a world of peace, democracy, community, environmental balance and shared
abundance…”
See the site for
lots of information, brochures, etc. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2083
- “The cradle of civilization
after the invasion” -- Women of Iraq tour the US:
“In October, AMAL
AL-KHEDAIRY and NERMIN AL-MUFTI will begin a remarkable tour of the United
States, offering the American public a rare opportunity to listen to and interact
with informed Iraqi women who passionately want to dispel the assumptions
about Iraq, by sharing their personal experiences and extensive knowledge
of Iraq’s culture and people… As scholars of art, archeology, culture and
civil affairs, Ms. Al-Khedairy and Ms. Al-Mufti will offer their perspective
as two independent Iraqis who have sought to celebrate the history and dignity
of their culture despite constant wars and sanctions…”
The tour is being
organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, with support from many organizations
and institutions. For information: http://www.forusa.info/news/womentour.html
- End the Occupation –
Stop the Wall! Many actions, November 9 and beyond
“Build Bridges, Not Walls
At the moment hundreds of bulldozers and earthmovers are carrying out the
largest national project in Israeli history. An immense complex of electric
fences, walls, patrol roads and trenches are being built in most part deep
inside the occupied territories…”
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resources/articles/wall.html
For statistics on the wall:
http://www.betselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/Statistics.asp
Palestinian
women resist the construction of the Apartheid Wall
This report, with photos, is on the website of IWPS Palestine, an international
team of 16 women based in Hares, a village in Palestine's West Bank, which
started reporting in August 2002. “IWPS documents human rights abuses, works
with the media, and non-violently intervenes in abuses.”
http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/iwpsreports.htm
To see what
is happening around the world:
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/62.shtml
“Understanding
the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer”
by Phyllis Bennis (Institute of Policy Studies, Washington, DC, and a long
time analyst of the Middle East and U.S. policy in the region). A new updated
edition of this valuable resource, with easy-to-understand and straight-forward
answers to frequently-asked-questions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,
is available on-line at:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=52
- From the Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights: “the loss of particular freedoms for
some, and worse, a detachment from the rule of law as a whole,” in the USA;
garment workers in Bangladesh:
“Two years after the terror attacks of 9/11, the relationship between the
U.S. government and the people it serves has dramatically changed; this “new
normal” of U.S. governance is defined by “the loss of particular freedoms
for some, and worse, a detachment from the rule of law as a whole,” a new
report by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights finds.”
http://www.lchr.org/us_law/loss/assessing/assessingnewnormal.htm
Bangladesh’s garment workers have long been subject to chronic violations
of their human rights in the workplace. A new LCHR report analyzes an initiative
by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Bangladesh to use monitoring
methodologies as part of a strategy to improve working conditions and protect
workers’ rights in Bangladesh’s garment factories.
Read the Report
From: Rebecca Thornton, Equal Justice Works Fellow, U.S. Law & Security
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, New York City
www.lchr.org
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