Informazione
[JUGOINFO] Kosovo’s dirty secret
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6253
[JUGOINFO] Experiment Kosovo
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6246
[JUGOINFO] Elzeser: Kosovo i tajne sluzbe
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6245
[JUGOINFO] The Sorcerer's Apprentice
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6243
[JUGOINFO] Der Zauberlehrling
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6231
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - November 22, 2008
Germans arrested in Kosovo were intelligence agents
Three Germans arrested in Kosovo in connection with a
bomb attack on the European Union (EU) headquarters
were intelligence service operatives, German media
reported Saturday, dpa reported.
Spiegel news magazine said the trio told Kosovo
anti-terrorism police they were inspecting the site of
the blast in Pristina but had nothing to do with the
attack, which damaged the building but caused no
injuries.
On Friday, a German government spokesman declined to
be drawn on speculation about the possible involvement
of the foreign intelligence service BND in the case
and instead pointed to the ongoing investigations.
However, the spokesman said if it emerged any of the
three were BND employees, the matter would be referred
to the parliamentary committee responsible for
monitoring the secret services.
Kosovo police arrested the three Germans on Wednesday,
five days after an explosive device was hurled at the
office of the EU's Special Representative for the
region.
One of the men was reportedly photographing the
damaged office from an adjacent empty building from
where the device is believed to have been thrown,
Spiegel said.
The newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said one of the men
told the investigators he was working for the BND.
The suspects were in Kosovo "in a private capacity"
and had no immunity from prosecution, Kosovo police
spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
dpa.
The BND did not comment on the case. An EU mission is
due to take over the oversight of law-enforcement in
Kosovo after more than eight years as a United Nations
protectorate.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February
and Pristina, Belgrade, the UN and EU are currently
wrangling over the conditions for the deployment of
the EU mission, Eulex, comprising 2,000 police,
judicial and customs officials.
Reuters - November 22, 2008
No comment from Germany on Kosovo spy report
PRISTINA - Germany declined to comment on Saturday on
reports that three Germans arrested on suspicion of
throwing explosives at an EU office in Kosovo were
intelligence officers.
The explosive charge was thrown on Nov. 14 at the
International Civilian Office (ICO), the office of EU
Special Representative Pieter Feith, who oversees
Kosovo's governance, but caused only minor damage.
The men were detained on Thursday.
A spokesman for the German foreign ministry in Berlin
confirmed that three Germans had been arrested, but
declined to make any further comment as an
investigation was under way.
A police source in Kosovo told Reuters: "They are
members of the BND", but gave no further details.
The German weekly Der Spiegel also said the men worked
for the German intelligence agency BND, and that they
had told investigators they had been examining the
scene of the explosion, but had not been involved in
it.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February
after nine years under U.N. stewardship and is
recognised by more than 50 countries, including
Germany.
Four days before the bomb attack, its leaders rejected
a plan by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's for the
deployment of an EU police and justice mission, EULEX.
Der Spiegel said the BND agents had not been
officially registered with Kosovo authorities, which
would have secured them diplomatic immunity.
A judge in Pristina was due to decide on Saturday
whether to extend the men's detention or release them
on bail. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Writing by
Kerstin Gehmlich, Editing by Matthew Jones and Kevin
Liffey)
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - November 23, 2008
Germans arrested in Kosovo face terrorism charges
A judge in Kosovo ordered late Saturday a 30-day
detention for three suspected German intelligence
agents arrested on Wednesday in connection with a bomb
attack on European Union offices in Pristina, dpa
reported.
Lawyers of the men said prosecutors were trying to
link their clients to "acts of terrorism," punishable
with up to 20 years in prison.
Kosovo and German media reports have claimed the
suspects were working for the German intelligence
service, the BND. Berlin officials have not commented
on the allegations.
Police arrested the three Germans on Wednesday, five
days after an explosive device was hurled at the
office of the EU's Special Representative for the
region. Nobody was injured in the blast.
An EU mission is due to take assume oversight of
law-enforcement in Kosovo after more than eight years
as a United Nations protectorate.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February
and Pristina, Belgrade, the UN and EU are currently
wrangling over the conditions for the deployment of
the EU mission, Eulex, comprising 2,000 police,
judicial and customs officials.
MakFax (Macedonia) - November 27, 2008
Albanian paramilitary group claims responsibility for Pristina bombing
Pristina - A previously unknown Albanian group took
credit Thursday for a bomb attack on a European Union
office in Kosovo that took place two weeks ago.
"This attack marks the start of the armed battle
against the EU mission in Kosovo EULEX that operates
under conditions set by the Serbs, which is
unacceptable for the Albanians," the obscure Army of
the Republic of Kosovo (ARK) said in a statement.
The spokesman of Kosovo's Police, Veton Elshani, said
that they are taking the threats very seriously.
Three Germans alleged to be working for the BND,
Berlin's intelligence agency, who were arrested last
week in connection with the bombing of the EU office,
could be released from detention upon approval of the
Kosovo Supreme Court.
Tanjug News Agency - November 28, 2008
Germans arrested in Kosovo confirmed as secret service
BERLIN - The German government has stated today that
the three German nationals arrested in Kosovo are in
fact members of the German secret service (BND).
This was confirmed by Bundestag Speaker Thomas
Oppermann.
The Germans were arrested last week over the bombing
of the International Civilian Office (ICO) in
Pristina, since which time speculation has been rife
that they may have been secret service operatives.
....
“They worked for the BND there,” Oppermann told
reporters after a meeting of the committee, which,
according to Reuters, is responsible for “overseeing
intelligence operations.”
Oppermann did not want to reveal the nature of the
German operatives’ mission in Kosovo.
He said that the government in Kosovo has been holding
the Germans for nine days in inhumane conditions and
that the “arrest is a mystery.”
A special commission was formed yesterday by the
Kosovo Supreme Court, which is expected to decide on
whether the German operatives should be freed. Supreme
Court Judge Anton Nokaj said that the case would be
referred to an international judge who would take the
final decision, according to Macedonian news agency
MIA.
The German press writes that the operatives will be
released by the end of the weekend at the latest.
Yesterday, an unknown group calling itself the Army of
the Republic of Kosovo claimed responsibility for the
attack, and warned international community officials
and Serb officials in Kosovo of further attacks.
Stars and Stripes European Edition - December 4, 2008
Kosovo frees 3 German agents suspected in bomb-throwing
Kosovar officials have released three German
intelligence service agents who were arrested on
suspicion that they threw a small bomb Nov. 14 at the
European Union headquarters in Pristina.
"There was not enough evidence to raise reasonable
suspicion," Judge Vinod Boolell, one of three
international judges who investigated the charges,
told The Associated Press.
German media also are reporting that the German
government placed political pressure on Kosovo
officials.
According to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag,
Germany’s chancellery department head Thomas De
Maiziere called Kosovar government officials and
threatened to cut Germany’s financial aid to Kosovo if
the agents were not set free immediately.
Additionally, the German media reported that the
intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, or
BND, was unhappy with the German government’s initial
response to the arrests.
Bernd Uhrlau, head of the BND, said he has missed the
support by the government necessary to help its
agents.
The Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted another
high-ranking BND member as saying: "The German
government had allowed itself to be dragged by the
nose through global politics by a country in which
organized crime is the form of government."
Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, a German author who has written
articles about the BND, told the Netzzeitung that he
believes the agents had indeed carried out the bombing
to make the international community more aware of the
Kosovar struggle for independence.
The lack of casualties in the bombing also has the
markings of the intelligence unit, Schmidt-Eenboom
said. The building was damaged.
"They wanted something like a political bang, but took
care that no one was hurt. Terrorists would have acted
much more violently."
The three agents have been called to testify before a
special commission of the German parliament this week.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - December 7, 2008
Kosovo minister expresses regret over arrest of German agents
The government of Kosovo, while expressing regret over
the circumstances in which three German intelligence
agents were arrested and detained for more than a
week, announced that it would not apologize for the
arrests, dpa reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Vlora Citaku in an interview
published Sunday in the weekly Welt am Sonntag said
the arrests were "a very unfortunate incident."
She however said Kosovo government would not apologize
for the affair "with which we had nothing to do,"
adding that if a mistake had been made, "it was not
the fault of our government."
Arrested on November 17, the three members of the
Germany's BND foreign intelligence service despite
protestations from Berlin and the BND of their
innocence spent 10 days in detention accused of
throwing an ex
(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
http://tv.repubblica.it/copertina/reporter-tira-scarpe-a-bush-2/27304?video
Merci au combattant à la chaussure
MICHEL COLLON
Cher Muntadar,
Comme des millions de gens dans le monde, j’ai souvent serré les poings de rage en voyant les crimes impunis de Bush. J’aurais tant aimé l’avoir en face de moi... Lui faire ressentir ne serait-ce que la millième partie de la peur et des souffrances infligées à tant d’innocents !
Vous l’avez fait. Quel courage, en sachant qu’un gouvernement de marionnettes vous le ferait payer. Mais vous avez choisi d’incarner notre révolte à tous face aux guerres du pétrole, guerres du dollar, guerres du mensonge.
S'il y avait une Justice, vous seriez décoré, Bush jugé pour crimes contre l'humanité et les Etats-Unis devraient payer des dommages à l'Irak - martyr.
Choukran (merci), Muntadar !
MICHEL COLLON
PETITION DE SOUTIEN :
Muntadar al-Zeidi a été tabassé et est menacé de sept années de prison par le "gouvernement" irakien. Pour le soutenir, vous pouvez signer à :
Pétition - http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m49604&hd=&size=1&l=e
COMMENTAIRES :
Un geste qui convient http://www.michelcollon.info/articles.php?dateaccess=2008-12-17%2015:24:45&log=invites
Maxime Vivas - Lettre ouverte à J-F Julliard, secrétaire-général de RSF
Reporters sans Frontières - http://www.michelcollon.info/articles.php?dateaccess=2008-12-17%2014:30:40&log=attentionm
HUMOUR :
Sur notre site, vous verrez que la chaussure fait le tour du monde et des humoristes :
Humour - http://www.michelcollon.info/humour.php
VISEZ BUSH !
Un jeu pour vous exercer si vous le rencontrez un de ces jours...
Jeu Bush - http://www.sockandawe.com/
LA SITUATION EN IRAK :
Sur notre site, en tapant "Irak", de nombreux articles à lire, diffuser, discuter :
www.michelcollon.info
SITES IRAK :
Pour vous informer sur ce qui se passe vraiment en Irak et que les médias ne montrent pas:
Brussels Tribunal - Intellectuels et artistes contre l'occupation
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/
Uruknet - Le plus complet sur l'occupation
http://www.uruknet.info/
Dahr Jamail - Un des rares journalistes indépendants des Etats-Unis
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/
Irak Body Count - «Nous ne comptons pas les cadavres» disait le chef de l'armée US. Eux si.
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
Military Families Speak Out - Témoignages et activités des familles de soldats US
http://www.mfso.org/
Nadia mcCaffrey - La maman d'un soldat US tué en Irak
http://mollyivinscampaign.blogspot.com/2008/01/nadia-mccaffrey-gold-star-mom.html
MEDIAS :
Un faux (et si c'était l'autre, le faux?) New York Times annonce le retrait de l'Irak, le 4 juillet 2009.
Vrai/faux NYT - http://www.nytimes-se.com/
En avril 2003, G.W. Bush décrétait que la guerre en Irak était finie.
En juillet 2003, RSF publiait un rapport intitulé : « Les médias irakiens trois mois après la guerre. Une liberté nouvelle mais fragile».
On y lisait : « Voici trois mois qu’un vent de liberté souffle sur la presse irakienne… », mais aussi que « Le décret 7 de l’administrateur Paul Bremer, fin juin 2003, interdit et réprime, entre autres l’incitation à la violence contre les forces de la coalition».
En clair, rien ne peut être dit dans la presse contre l’occupant, toute critique de l’envahisseur étant assimilée à une incitation à le bouter dehors.
Muntadar Al Zaidi vient de faire voler en éclat cette censure. Pour cela il doit être défendu.
C’est le moment de l’activer. Non pas pour cautionner le lancer de chaussures à la tête des conférenciers, mais parce que ce journaliste-là n’avait pas d’autre moyen d’exprimer dans les médias irakiens et aux yeux du monde, un reproche au chef des envahisseurs venu pérorer devant lui après avoir dévasté son pays, pillé son pétrole et ses musées, tué 800 000 civils d’après certains, un million d’après d’autres. Parmi les victimes, figure une partie de la famille de Muntadar Al Zaidi.
222 journalistes ont été assassinés en Irak depuis le début de l’invasion. Vous indiquez sur votre site qu’entre 2003 et 2006, 12% d’entre eux sont tombés sous des tirs états-uniens.
200 avocats ont déjà fait savoir qu’ils souhaitent assurer gratuitement la défense de Muntadar Al Zaidi. On ignore à ce jour dans quel bagne il est encagé. Des milliers d’irakiens ont défilé dans la rue pour exiger sa libération.
Le film du lancer de chaussures nous montre que le journaliste était en parfaite santé après le deuxième jet. Or, il « a été hospitalisé à l'hôpital Ibn Sina car il a un bras et des côtes cassées et souffre de blessures à l'oeil et à la jambe » a affirmé son frère à l'AFP. On apprend par ailleurs qu'il souffrirait aussi d'un traumatisme crânien. Il a donc été sévèrement tabassé alors qu’il était inoffensif.
A Washington, le département d'Etat a averti qu'il condamnerait d'éventuelles violences infligées au journaliste par les forces de l'ordre après l'incident de Bagdad.
« Nous condamnons bien évidemment tout recours inutile à la force à l'encontre d'un journaliste », a déclaré le porte-parole de la diplomatie américaine Robert Wood, tout en assurant ne pas savoir si M. al-Zaïdi avait effectivement été frappé et qu'il condamnerait d'éventuelles violences infligées au journaliste par les forces de l'ordre après l'incident de Bagdad. Ce qui prouve que l’humour (noir) n’est pas l’apanage des Anglais.
RSF a publié un communiqué implorant la clémence du gouvernement mis en place par l’occupant. Mais il est de votre devoir, d’intervenir autrement qu’en paroles, autrement que par un communiqué platonique.
Il faut exiger que Washington condamne, comme il s’y est engagé, le « recours inutile à la force à l'encontre d'un journaliste », puisque l’on constate des « violences infligées au journaliste par les forces de l'ordre après l'incident de Bagdad ».
Vos liens particuliers avec les USA vous positionnent avantageusement pour intervenir auprès des envahisseurs, qui sont en mesure de faire cesser les sévices.
En effet, le rapport « Commission for Assistance to a free Cuba « (458 pages) remis au début du mois de mai 2004 par Colin Powell à Georges Bush vous distingue parmi des centaines d’autres ONG. A presque toutes les pages (et jusqu’à dix fois à la page 77), Powell fait appel aux ONG. Une seule, est nommée (dès la page 20) comme on cite le bon élève : Reporters sans frontières (associating Reporters Without Borders).
Personne ne comprendrait que RSF tolère que Muntadar al Zaidi continue à être maltraité en secret, sauf à y voir une collusion de votre organisation avec un pays qui vous verse des subsides depuis 2002.
Vous avez su, au mois d’avril décorer de banderoles revendicatives la Tour Eiffel et Notre-Dame de Paris. Fort de votre expérience, agissez ainsi pour ce journaliste que l’opinion publique mondiale (y compris aux USA) ne condamne pas.
Vous avez su cadenasser à Paris les grilles de l’ambassade d’un pays du tiers monde, refaites-le à l’ambassade états-unienne à Paris. Ou à celle de Bagdad si vous croyez qu’elle ne dépend pas de la première.
Vous avez su faire connaître, parmi les centaines de journalistes assassinés depuis 10 ans à travers le monde, le nom d’Anna Politkovskaïa. Faites de même pour un journaliste d’un pays occupé, qui n’a blessé personne et dont le geste n’eut pour conséquence que de rendre visible l’opinion de la rue irakienne dans le monde entier.
Vous avez su établir d’éphémères liaisons radios et créer des sites Internet à destination de pays dont vous vouliez dénoncer le comportement à l’égard de la presse. Refaites-le en Irak et aux USA.
Vous avez manifesté devant l’UNESCO, déguisés en bagnards, refaites-le devant les ambassades d’Irak et des Etats-Unis à Paris.
Vous disposez d’un budget de plus de 5 800 000 euros pour venir en aide aux journalistes. Usez-en pour que la famille (ce qu’il en reste) de Muntadar al Zaidi puisse survivre pendant sa détention.
Vous avez su organiser avec Médiapart deux rencontres au théâtre du Rond-Point à Paris. Organisez la troisième sur un sujet qui remplira la salle.
Vous avez su distribuer des tracts dans les aéroports pour dissuader des touristes Français d’embarquer pour les Caraïbes. Revenez-y en tractant devant les salles d’embarquement pour Bagdad et New York.
Vous avez organisé une conférence de presse à l’hôtel Hilton de Caracas pour soutenir une chaîne de télévision complice de putschistes qui appelèrent à l’assassinat du président élu. Agissez de même depuis Bagad pour soutenir celle qui employait un lanceur de chaussures contre un président venu narguer un peuple écrasé par son armée.
Vous avez su impulser les actions des partisans de l’indépendance du Tibet, persévérez avec les mêmes procédés pour celle de l’Irak débarrassée d’un intrus botté qui « interdit et réprime » les écrits des journalistes patriotes.
Hélas, vous avez su aussi oublier pendant deux ans un journaliste innocent (Sami Al Haj) à Guantanamo, et attendre, pour demander la fermeture de ce bagne où croupissaient des journalistes, qu’Amnesty International, l’Union Européenne, l’ONU l’aient exigé solennellement.
Ne renouvelez pas ce genre d’« erreurs » : exigez la fermeture des bagnes de Bagram en Afghanistan et d’Abou Ghraib en Irak.
Enchaînez-vous aux grilles de Guantanamo. Protestez dans des combinaisons orange devant les barbelés de cette zone de non droit.
Et surtout, agissez sans relâche pour Muntadar al Zaidi.
Dans l’improbable hypothèse où vous en resteriez à des communiqués sur votre site Internet, nul ne comprendrait en quoi l’association RSF d’aujourd’hui est différente de celle qui fut longtemps dirigée par un homme désormais salarié d’une dictature arabe (le Qatar) où la presse n’a pas le droit de critiquer la famille régnante.
Veuillez agréer, monsieur Julliard, l’expression de mes sentiments attentifs au sort des journalistes.
___________
* Maxime Vivas est écrivain et auteur notamment de « La face cachée de Reporters sans frontières. De la CIA aux Faucons du Pentagone », éditions Aden.
Plus subtil, le porte-parole du Département d’Etat, Robert Word, a déclaré qu’il condamnerait l’usage de la violence qui serait exercée à l’encontre du journaliste par les forces de l’ordre.
Cependant, RSF consent finalement à « demander aux services de sécurité irakiens de garantir l’intégrité physique du journaliste » et elle reconnaît que, « visiblement il a été blessé durant sa rétention ».
Mais elle insiste : « Nous n’approuvons pas cette forme de comportement comme moyen pour exprimer une opinion ».
Mountazer Al-Zaidi a jeté ses souliers sur le président nord-américain George W. Bush dans un geste de mépris envers celui qui a dévasté son pays et tué des dizaines de milliers de ses compatriotes.
L’organisation française qui a organisé un si grand nombre de campagnes, financées par Washington, contre Cuba et le Venezuela finit en se mettant à genoux devant le maître de la Maison Blanche pour que son agresseur n’aille pas rendre une petite visite au camp de concentration de Guantánamo.
Textuellement, Benoit Hervieu, l’auteur de ce communiqué inepte, écrit : « La décontraction avec laquelle George W. Bush a commenté l’incident doit, a fortiori, inciter les autorités irakiennes à la clémence » a déclaré l’organisation.
Dans une conversation - apparemment tout-à-fait aimable - avec Reporters sans Frontières, Abdel Karim Khalaf, « responsable d’opérations au Ministère de l’Intérieur irakien, a déclaré que Mountazer Al-Zaidi a été arrêté en flagrant délit et qu’il est inculpé en vertu des articles 223, 225 et 227 du code pénal irakien ».
Le journaliste encourt une peine de « 7 années d’emprisonnement pour offense envers un Chef d’Etat étranger » a précisé ce sbire de service en s’adressant à la si peu prestigieuse organisation parisienne qui prétend défendre les journalistes.
Mountazer Al-Zaidi est un héros dans son pays et dans tout le monde arabe à la suite de l’incident survenu le 14 décembre lorsqu’il a jeté ses souliers sur George W. Bush au cours d’une conférence de presse organisée dans un bunker militaire de Bagdad à la suite d’une visite surprise du président nord-américain.
Ces dernières années, Reporters sans Frontières s’est rendue célèbre à cause de sa négligence criminelle face à la cruelle détention, à Guantánamo, du journaliste soudanais Sami Al-Haj. Cette pseudo ONG a aussi été clouée au pilori suite à un rapport scandaleusement pro-nord-américain dans lequel elle niait une quelconque responsabilité de l’US Army dans la mort du cameraman espagnol José Couso.
Elle a de même fait preuve d’une singulière lâcheté dans l’affaire du reporter ukrainien Taras Protsyuk, assassiné par l’armée des Etats-Unis en Irak.
Le fondateur de Reporters sans Frontières, Robert Menard, a démissionné il y a quelques semaines de son poste à la tête de l’organisation lorsqu’a éclaté, à Washington, un scandale dans lequel il fut révélé qu’un lieutenant de Frank Calzón, son bienfaiteur de la CIA, avait détourné cinq cent mille dollars des fonds payés par les contribuables.
Traduction par Manuel Colinas pour Investigaction.
I think this is an awesome idea---inundate the White House with shoes!!!!!!! !!!!!!! Let's get this around the whole world!
Tell George what you think of his presidency!
Contact #s.
http://www.whitehou se.gov/contact/
Mailing Address
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
SPREAD THIS FAR AND WIDE!!!!!
Ode to shoes
Ah, lowly objects of mundane human existence, forever condemned to carry on your backs the weight of the world, this ode is to you. Because of you we tenderfeet are able to trudge through burning deserts and freezing slush. We slap you upon the pavements of great metropolises and quiet villages until your seams split, your tongues loll and your soles disintegrate. You are then discarded to the ashbins of history, leaving no record of your great service to humanity.
But now comes a humble pair of shoes that shall live forever.
When you flew through the air, one after the other, in a transcendent arc that nearly clipped the ears of W. Mad Dog, a great sigh went up to the heavens and swept the globe. It was the sigh that comes when a door long shut is cracked open, when a torment long denied at last finds its breath.
A presidential media appearance! How many shoes have attended such solemn and august occasions before, dutifully shuffling in and out on cue, never drawing attention to their presence. But this time, you could not remain rooted to the floor. This time it was one WMD too many. You soared and with you went the hopes of suffering humanity.
You rode in on the feet of Muntader al-Zaidi, a 29-year-old Iraqi journalist who, it turned out subsequently, kept a poster of Che on the wall of his modest apartment. As he threw the first shoe, he shouted to WMD, “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!”
Perhaps that shoe’s mate felt left out—but not for long. “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!” was Zaidi’s greeting to the president as he lofted the second shoe.
Where are you now, oh noble shoes? Have sinister bureaucrats with the Secret Service sliced you apart, trying to find some clue as to who lovingly tanned your leather, stitched your seams, added a touch of polish? Did they search you for weapons of mass destruction? How dense. The WMD was at the podium.
Even if you are bloodied and abused now, you and Zaidi cannot be erased. The liberating deed was done. The stifling weight of bourgeois decorum couldn’t stop it. The pure oxygen of freedom and sovereignty, for which so many have given their lives, filtered through even the reinforced concrete and razor wire of the puke-Green Zone.
The day will come when monuments of bronzed shoes will dot the street corners. Perhaps your torturers know this. Maybe, before disassembling you, these creatures of free enterprise calculated what you will be worth soon on E-Bay and wondered if they could trade you as they did Iraq’s archeological treasures.
But they have lost. And your brief journey, defying the tug of gravity and the gravity of the occasion, proves it.
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011Email: ww@...
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@...
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php
Defend the Right to Demand "Bail Out the People, Not the Banks!"
Steve Millies, a long time activist, took the podium at the meeting and denounced the MTA as "a collection agency for the biggest banks and insurance companies," and said that the budget should be "thrown in the garbage can."
Today's New York Times reports:
“We don’t need any fare increases and we don’t need our transit system ravaged either,” said Mr. Millies, who said he was an Amtrak signal-tower operator and a member of the Bail Out the People Campaign, a group that has stood up for victims of the economic crisis. He called for the subway and bus fare to be reduced to $1, to help unemployed New Yorkers.
Then, referring to the authority’s chief executive, who was sitting about 15 feet away, he said: “Where is Elliot Sander?” He stooped, slipped off one of his shoes and shouted, “You made $300,000 last year.”
Immediately, authority police officers swarmed him and pushed him out of the room. He was clutching his shoe, a black, thick-soled oxford, in his hand....
“I wanted to show the sole of the shoe as a sign of contempt for someone who makes so much money and yet wants to raise fares on the disabled,” he said. He said that the authority’s plans to more than double the $2 fare for disabled passengers who use the Access-a-Ride service particularly incensed him.
He said the gesture was planned with Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi shoe-thrower, in mind.
“I was very much inspired by that courageous Iraqi journalist who was protesting the occupation of his country by the American and British oil companies and their governments,” Mr. Millies said.
Mr. Millies said the ticket he was given charged him with “intent to cause a public annoyance.”
“What’s the point of having a public hearing,” he said, “unless you allow people to annoy public officials?”
Activists all around the city and country are applauding Steve Millies. He did what millions of New Yorkers, who are paying more for everything while bankers are being bailed out, would love to do.
Millies reported for work yesterday at AMTRAK, where he has been a union worker for 24 years, and was told by his supervisors to go home because of this incident.
Action Alert:
Here's how you can help:
- Please call the NYPD Switchboard at 1-646-610-5000 - demand that the false charges against Steve Millies be dropped.
- Make a donation online at http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml. Help us defend Steve Millies and continue to organize to demand "Bail Out the People Not the Banks!"
MEDIA COVERAGE***
Youtube - Ch 11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjAslDC3BbU
Say Whatever You Want, but No Throwing Shoes (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/nyregion/18sander.html
The shoe must go on: MTA adopts 'miserable' budget
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-limta185969267dec18,0,1516669.story
Touching your shoes during conference can land you in jail!
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/touching-your-shoes-during-conference-can-land-you-in-jail_100132527.html
This Shoe's For You: Emotions Boil At MTA Hearing:
http://wcbstv.com/cbs2crew/mta.cash.crunch.2.889271.html
At M.T.A. Hearing, Another Shoe Almost Dropped:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/at-mta-hearing-another-shoe-almost-dropped/
Rider to MTA boss: 'This shoe is for you!":
http://www.newsday.com/iphone/ny-nymta1218,0,5427568.story
This Shoe's for you, MTA! Protestor at board meeting inspired by Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/12/17/2008-12-17_this_shoes_for_you_mta_protestor_at_boar-1.html
MTA Board Approves Fare Hike, Service Cuts:
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/90797/mta-board-approves-fare-hike--service-cuts/Default.aspx
Disgruntled Subway Rider Attempts to Throw Shoe at MTA Boss:
http://www.wpix.com/landing/?Disgruntled-Subway-Rider-Attempts-to-Thr=1&blockID=164538&feedID=1404
(Donna bosniaco-musulmana reclama la liberazione del marito -
algerino, trasferito in Bosnia durante la guerra contro i serbi e
contro la Jugoslavia - detenuto a... Guantanamo.
Si vedano le eloquenti fotografie: http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USTRE4AP61220081126&channelName=topNews#a
=1 )
Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:34pm EST
By Daria Sito-Sucic
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Hajj Boudella's children will have to wait a
while to see their father, even though a U.S. federal judge ordered
his release last week from the Guantanamo Bay prison after nearly
seven years...
... It may take up to two years before Boudella, one of five Algerians
ordered released last week from Guantanamo, returns home to Bosnia,
where he first went during the 1992-95 war to help organize
humanitarian assistance.
Thousands of volunteers from Arab and African countries came to Bosnia
during the war to fight along with Bosnian Muslims against Serbs and
Croats. Some worked for Islamic aid groups...
... "I fought not to spend the rest of my life as the wife of a
terrorist but of a man who was illegally kidnapped," she said.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; editing by Adam Tanner and Philippa
Fletcher)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4AP61220081126?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
Quel Natale nelle baracche
- di Adriano Prosperi
Strano Natale.
Una cronaca televisiva da Forte dei Marmi mostra un mercatino di Natale nel luogo più caro d'Italia. Un venditore dichiara soddisfatto: «Spendono, spendono». La televisione diffonde immagini da cartolina: paesaggi, consumi, uomini e donne tutto di lusso. Spostiamoci di poco. Siamo nei pressi dell'Arno, a poca distanza da Pisa. Altre immagini, altre parole. Si vedono ma non in televisione alcune baracche.
Gli abitanti hanno scritto un appello, in italiano e in inglese. Ne riporto alcune frasi:
«Siamo dei Rom rumeni, siamo circa 60 famiglie.Viviamo nella città di Pisa, nelle baracche in condizioni non buone, senza acqua e senza luce.
Noi non vogliamo vivere nelle baracche. Siamo costretti a vivere nelle baracche perché non ci è data la possibilità di prendere una casa: il Comune non ha interesse ad aiutarci a trovare una casa. Non possiamo mandare a scuola i bimbi perché non abbiamo le condizioni igienico-sanitarie. Alcuni bimbi vanno a scuola, ma spesso le scuole rifiutano di iscrivere i nostri figli.
Facciamo lavori che gli italiani non vogliono fare, in condizioni peggiori. Alcuni di noi lavorano con contratto regolare, altri al nero, altri sono in cerca. Alcune persone hanno fatto dei corsi di specializzazione, anche se vivono in queste condizioni.
E' difficile trovare lavoro perché molti datori di lavoro chiedono la residenza dell'anagrafe. Anche se viviamo a Pisa da tanti anni, anche se lavoriamo, anche se i nostri figli vanno a scuola, il Comune non ci dà la residenza dell'anagrafe perché viviamo nelle baracche.
Noi siamo persone che vogliamo integrarci, siamo persone intelligenti, con cultura, con tradizioni.
Il Sindaco di Pisa ha firmato una ordinanza per sgomberare i campi, senza soluzione, in stagione di inverno. Noi non possiamo lasciare la città di Pisa, abbiamo lavoro, paghiamo i contributi, abbiamo anche alcuni figli malati. Ordinare uno sgombero in queste condizioni è inumano».
Mi dicono che lo sgombero sarà spostato a dopo Natale. Pietà? Forse è vero che, come ha scritto Machiavelli, gli uomini non sono mai del tutto buoni o del tutto cattivi. Forse si è temuto l'effetto sgradevole dello sgombero nel freddo intenso di questi giorni, mentre i cittadini bennati vanno alla messa. O forse anche i vigili incaricati della demolizione delle baracche e della deportazione dei rom in quel giorno hanno altro da fare.
Non chiedete da quale parte politica viene quell'ordinanza. La cosa non è importante, non più. La politica, sia quella delle lotte dei partiti, sia l'antica paziente arte del possibile è morta. Rimane solo la caccia al favore degli elettori. Che non la faranno mancare.
Me ne offre la prova una lettera anonima (non del tutto, c'è una firma collettiva: «un gruppo di lettori del Tirreno») speditami un mese fa dove si legge fra l'altro: «In città ci sono troppi immigrati e zingari, tutta gente che non fa nulla ai quali si aggiungono una miriade di ambulanti di colore che danneggiano gravemente il turismo. Di qui l'ordinanza più che giusta anti-borzoni» (sic: trattasi di un'ordinanza che vietava le grosse borse dei venditori ambulanti di colore). E continuava: «Case ai rom? Cose da pazzi! Gli zingari prima o poi dovranno essere rispediti nei loro paesi di provenienza. Di questo ne è convinto il novanta per cento della gente. Quella degli zingari, in particolare, è l'etnia più odiata dagli italiani».
Dai tempi dell'esplosione di violenza con l'aggressione fascista al campo di Ponticelli le cose sono dunque cambiate. Come, lo lasciamo giudicare ai lettori. Nel paese che ricorda ufficialmente le leggi razziali del 1938, nella regione che ha dedicato solenni e commosse cerimonie pubbliche e convegni di studio, a pochi passi da quel Parco di San Rossore dove quelle leggi vennero firmate, l'odio «etnico» è professato apertamente da anonimi lettori di un quotidiano di sinistra.
Forse è il caso di progettare su quell'argine dell'Arno, al posto delle baracche destinate alla ennesima demolizione (ché molte altre ce ne sono già state) un monumento alla memoria di Arturo Bocchini, il capo della polizia che nel settembre del 1940 emanò i primi provvedimenti di internamento degli zingari italiani. Lui li internava nei campi di concentramento, i suoi imitatori di oggi li buttano fuori dalle baracche, all'aperto, in questa stagione. Forse moriranno di freddo. L'importante è che lo facciano lontano dai nostri occhi.
Questo accade in un paese dove nella distrazione generale si parla apertamente di regime presidenziale e si portano a termine gli ultimi dettagli di quel piano della P2 di cui giustamente Licio Gelli rivendica la lungimiranza e il successo. Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo.
Adriano Prosperi, La Repubblica, 24 Dicembre 2008