Ambrosio Vilhalva ( 1960 - 2013) Lies, Theft and Murder, the sickness of civilization

'While I'm still alive, I'm not going to to shy away from anyone, I'm going to demand action.'

' This is what I most hope for: land and justice... we will live  on our ancestral land, we will not give up.'

- Ambrosio Vilhalva

Guarani leader and film star Ambrosio Vilhalva was found dead  in his hut on December the first, at the entrance to his community, known as Guyra Roka, in Brazils Gross o Do Sul State,he was reportedly stabbed multiple times. For years he campaigned for his tribes right to live on their ancestral land, travelling  extensively internationally to speak about his tribe's plight, and to the Brazilian government to live up to its legal obligations and protecting Guarani land.He fought hard afainst the suger growers in the region, and consequently had had a number of death threats, because he was seen as one of the main leaders of the Guarani peoples  campaigns. According to the Brazil-based indigeneous rights group CIMI, 319 Guarani-Kaiowa Indians were slain from 2003 -2012. More than half of all 558 Indians killed in the entire country during the same period, mostly killed in disputes over land with farmers and ranchers encroaching on their land . Lies, theft and murder,continue sadly to be  part of  the sickness of civilisation that the world's  media ignores. Another senseless death, please help carry forward Ambrosio's struggle and message.

http://www.survivalinternational.org/emails/guarani-stopmurders

Ambrosio Vilhalva  1960 -2013

(following clip includes scenes from the film 'Birdwatchers' by Marco Bachis)

Taking 'Selfies' at Mandela's memorial service simply beyond contempt.

South African President  Jacob Zuma had called  on people to celebrate the life of Mr Mandela, who died last week aged 95, but I am sure a selfie with beaming smiles was not appropriate  behaviour for world leaders on such an occasion.
Their supposed to be acting  in accordance with their status, but here we get their true, worth, much worse than a bunch of giggling teenagers, because in youth one does not always understand the rules of engagement.
Snapping selfies at such a solemn occasion is the ultimate sign of disrespect, it more than sums  up what kind of people they really are. Behaviour that is simply beyond contempt. It is now official they have no class or shame.
A Pictures speaks louder than a thousand words.

Steve Bell Cartoon in yesterday's Guardian 

65 years after Universal Declaration of Human Rights, why so many still not free.

Whilst President Obama and our world leaders, attend Nelson Mandela's memorial service, speaking  and praising Mandela as one of the last great liberators of the 20th Century, urging the world to carry on  his legacy in fighting inequality, poverty and discrimination. Let us today remember that today the world observes the 65th International Human Rights Day, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly.

" All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards another in a spirit of brotherhoood."


I concur  , but today also marks the 12th  year British national Shaker Aamer will have spent in a prison cell without being told why. He is still  not free, and he is far from alone. From Aamer's fellow detainess at Guantanamo,  free expression activists across the globe , in Russian , the U.S.A, China, Iran, Israel, etc etc,  all arbitrally detained prisoners need the advocacy of global citizens  dedicated to impartial justice and universal rights.
The history of injustice  has many parallels in  the United States,  take a look at the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian activist who has been in prison for 36 years, wrongfully convicted say many. His case full of holes and irregularities, part of Americas enduring  history  of colonialism of the Native communities in the United States. Evidence of his innocence  has continued to mount, leading organisations such as Amnesty International, as well as notable individuals such as Nobel peace prize winner Desmond Tutu, continue to declare him a political prisoner and call for his release.http://www.leonardpeltier.net/

Leonard Peltier

Poverty, exclusion, and deprivation still spread in equal measures across the globe, the dream of human rights for all unfortunately still more of a dream than an actual reality. The press is still not free in many countries, and dissenters are silenced, too often permanently. People face  unfair trials in at least 54 countries, and freedom of restriction is still restricted  in at least 77 , as well as the use of torture and abuse in at least 81. There are still millions of people in slavery, more than 1 billion without access to clean water.
Then we have Israel, whose persistent human rights violations would not be possible without the complicity  or support of the international community. Because of Israel's systematic discrimination, occupation and colonization, the Palestinian people have faced increased  violations to their right of life, their right to housing and property, their right not to be subjected to torture  to torture, their right to return.
It seems we still have a long long way to go in terms of global human rights, but we should not give up, we should keep on pushing our own individual governments, if we are strong enough to achieve this, encouraging others to do the same. We should not give up, all  our history  is based on change, as a result of people  having pushed hard enough for it.
Without human rights  for all, there can be no justice, without justice there can be no peace. The assertion that "another world is possible," is now an absolute necessity.

Denis Goldberg on Israeli Apartheid

Denis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner. Golberg was a technical officer in the armed wing of the African National Congress, Umkhonto we Sizwe and was sentenced in 1964 at the end of the famous Rivonia Trial to four tems of imprisonment.
Goldberg draws parallels between apartheid South Africa and Israel and highlights the importance of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction.
The struggle continues.
Free Palestine.

' The histories of our two peoples, Palestinian and South Africa correspond in such a painful and poignant ways, that I intensley feel myself being at home among compatriots.'

- Nelson Mandela (October 1996)

Snarling Kids with Video Games

Short film by an advertising company about how they snare kids  with their Army recruitment video games. Targeting children for war service is a relic of the past that should go away. We should not allow the military to target minors with recruitment, they should not be allowed to market to children, but it does. It is simply wrong.
Those recruited at 16 have faced double the risk of fatality of adult recruits throughout the conflict in Afghanistan.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18/7/18 -5/12/13) Freedom fighter and man of the People R.I.P

It is with great sadness that I have heard the news that South Africa's first black President and anti-apartheid revolutionary icon has died at the age of 95. A freedom fighter of long inspiration, who stood for justice, freedom and solidarity, with his selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom. A true man of the people, his life of courage and fighting back is a testement to us all.
Today we grieve but we should all, also  continue his struggle for a better world.We must carry on the fire of resistance, this should be the  everlasting legacy to this great man.
The fight continues.

' I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.'

'Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.'

'I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.'

'Where globalization means, as it often does that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poor and weaker, we have a resposibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.'

'We know to well our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.'

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

R.I.P

Flotillas from Gaza break Naval Blockade

On Saturday, November 30, some 250 Palestinian children launched minitature  boats along the Gaza coast  to raise awareness about the ongoing Israeli maritime seige of the 25-mile long coastal territory. The naval blockade has destroyed Gaza's fishing industry and fishing has become physically dangerous. Fishermen have reportedly been shot and arrested within the six mile nautical miles limit, where they are officially permitted to take their boats.
Also a Palestine Flotilla named 'Steadfastness and Justice' lauunched on Monday morning and managed to break the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza strip, reaching a distance of 6  nautical miles of Gaza's coast in an act of symbolic defiance. Israel forces threatened to prevent the flotilla from crossing the 6 nautical mile barrier.
The flotilla was composed of 20 boats carrying Palestinians and international activists from Sweden, the United States and Japan.
Before returning  back to the shores, the activists threw bottles containing  messages into the sea, which included calls for the international community to put more pressure on Israel to lift its strict seige on Gaza. The messages also included calls for the Israeli naval forces to stop their daily violations against the fishermen in Gaza.
Meanwhile the main pumping station in Gaza  is still not working, due to lack of fuel, so the people of Gaza  are currently without fuel and electricity. Also  lacking access to clean-drinking water and medicines,.
The siege of Gaza continues,  but it's people still search for means of getting a vestige of justice, equality, freedom of movement, and despite  their daily suffering their will is not yet broken.
I try to pass on the news, that unforunately  in my country the B.B.C deems not important enough to report.

Tennessee Williams (26/3/11 - 25/2/83) - Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos.

' Nobody sees anybody truly but all through  the flaws of their own  egos.That is the way we all see each other in life. Vaity, fear, desire, competition.... all such distortions within our own egos, condition  our vision of those in relation to us. Add to those distortions to our own egos the corresponding distortions in the egos of others and you see how cloudy the glass must become through which we look at each other. That's  how it is in all living relationships except when there is that rare ease  of two people who love intensely enough to burn through all the layers of opacity and see each other's naked hearts.' 

Stop the Prawer Plan: Day of Rage

On  the 24th of June, the Israeli Knesset approved the so-called Prawer Palan, which if implemented will  result in the destruction of more  than 35 unrecognised villages in  Al-Nagab  in the south of the Israeli state,   and the forced expulsion and confinement of more than 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins from their ancestral homelands in the desert.
The majority of these vilages pre-date the establishment of the Israeli state, yet Israel refuses to recognise them. As the inhabitants  are non-Jewish citizens, the state has chosen to treat them as 'illegal communities', denying them essential rights and services such as connection to the electric, water and transport networks, and refusing to provide medical, postal and educational services. Israel treats construction within these villages as illegal and regularly demolishes the homes of the residents. The Israelis have demolished the village of Al-Arakib more than fifty times.

Bedouin Village of Al-Arakib being razed to the ground

This plan is the largest Israeli land-grab since 1948. It epitomises  the true nature of Israels policy of expansion and containment. Despite opposition from Bedouin leaders,  and the International communitty's repeated calls to halt  the implementation of the Prawer Plan, Israel still seems intent on pushing it through.  The UN committe  on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has also condemned  the plan saying it will 'legalise the ongoing policy off home demolitions and forced displacement of the indigenous Bedouin communities.' Also, in 2012, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Israel to stop the Prawer plan and its policies of forced displacement and dispossesion.
We must all as human beings, say no to the Prawer Plan, we should also note that International corporations such as Caterpillar, Hyundai, Volvo and JCB are providing the equipment that Israel uses to carry out its demolitions in the Nageb area. I would urge people to join campaigns to boycott these companies and encourage investment bodies to remove their money from them.
On 30th November their will be major mobilizations across all of Palestine as part of the Day of Rage.
During the last 2 big mobilzations against the Prawer plan on the 15th of July and August the 1st, thousands of Palestinians went to the streets in opposition to the plan.
On Saturday the International community will also be keeping up the pressure, in acts of solidarity against this draconian piece of legislation, in protests across the globe , and in individual efforts of pushing our own governments into condemning Israels actions.
The Prawer plan should not be allowed to pass, otherwise it will become yet another chapter in Palestines long and tragic history. Opposing the Prawer Plan is to say no to etnic cleansing, displacement, and confinement in the 21st Century.

No to Prawer Plan

Stop Prawer Plan Protest in the Negev - Protest and chanting

 

 

 

 

Some useful Links:-

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prawershallnotpass

+972: http://972mag.com/tag/prawer-plan/

From the Independent: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/06/28/a-snapshot-of-the-lives-of-the-bedouin-tribe-of%E2%80%9Cal-araqib%E2%80%9D/

Harvey Milk (22/5/22/30 -27/11/78) - Give them hope.

' I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living ' - Harvey Milk

Former San Francisco  city supervisor and gay political icon Harvey Milk was assasinated 35 years ago today. Milk was the first openly gay man to hold political office in California. A popular mayor from 1977, until  he was shot dead by a former policeman and city supervisor Dan White.
After White was convicted of a much lesser  charge than murder, an enraged populace erupted in what is known as the 'White Night Riot'.
In his short time in office , Milk was able to erase some of the invisible boundaries of who could serve in office. Today I remember  him, and all others , who opened doors, that hopefully will never be closed again.
The following speech still resonates today, his dreams of a better tomorrow, with the hope for equality and a world without hate still resonates today. These were to be among  his final words, shortly after delivering it, Milk was assasinated.

Harvey Milk - Give them hope

Harvey Milk had feared  assasination, and these were the words that he released posthumously in anticipation of his tragic death.