Oakland stevedores refuse to cross picket line to unload Israeli ship

As reported by Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (click the title of this post for the complete article):

From 5:30 am to 9:30 am, over 800 labor and community activists held a militant and spirited protest in front of four gates of the Stevedore Services of America, with people chanting non-stop, “Free, Free Palestine, Don’t Cross the Picket Line,” and “An injury to one is an injury to all, bring down the apartheid wall.”

Citing the health and safety provisions of their contract, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers refused to cross the picketline to report for duty. ...

This week the San Francisco Labor Council and Alameda Labor Council passed resounding resolutions denouncing Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Both councils sent out public notices of the dock action.

The ILWU has a proud history of extending its solidarity to struggling peoples the world over. In 1984, as the Black masses of South Africa were engaged in an intense struggle against South African apartheid, the ILWU refused for a record-setting 10 days to unload cargo from the South African “Ned Lloyd” ship. Despite million-dollar fines imposed on the union, the longshore workers held strong, providing a tremendous boost to the anti-apartheid movement.

Today’s Oakland action, in the sixth largest port in the United States, is the first of several protests and work stoppages planned around the world, including Norway, Sweden and South Africa. It is sure to inspire others to do the same.

The goal is for a 24-hour shutdown of the docks where the Israeli ship is docked, so the protest is planned again for 4:30 p.m. Click here for details of the 4:30 p.m. protest.

Competition is for losers

COMPETITION: An event in which there are more losers than winners. Otherwise it's not a competition. A society based on competition is therefore primarily a society based on losers.

— John Ralston Saul

Simon Wiesenthal Center wants to dig up ancient Muslim cemetery to build "museum of tolerance"

Click the title of this post to read the story.

Soccer balls met with tear gas

In Bili’in, Palestine, protesters played a soccer game near the Israeli barrier that divides the village, kicking several balls over the barbed-wire fence onto land still owned by villagers.

The Israeli soldiers fired several tear-gas canisters and then arrested six journalists, continuing to detain two of them. While people worked to put out the fires in an olive grove caused by the tear-gas bombs, soldiers fired on them.

Click on the title of this post for the story from Ma'an News.

Video from the Mavi Marmara

Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara // Raw Footage from Cultures of Resistance

On the night of Sunday, May 30, showing a terrifying disregard for human life, Israeli naval forces surrounded and boarded ships sailing to bring humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. On the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, Israeli commandos opened fire on civilian passengers, killing at least 9 passengers and wounding dozens more. Others are still missing. The final death toll is yet to be determined. Cultures of Resistance director Iara Lee was aboard the besieged ship and has since returned home safely.

Despite the Israeli government's thorough efforts to confiscate all footage taken during the attack, Iara Lee was able to retain some of her recordings. Above is raw footage from the moments leading up to and during the Israeli commandos' assault on the Mavi Marmara.

15 min. version:

Video of passengers attacking Israeli soldiers appears to be fake

Some astute observers of the Israeli video showing the passengers of the Mavi Marmara fighting back in the assault on their ship noticed that details of the ship in the video didn't quite fit those of the Mavi Marmara. Most obviously, the name of the ship should be prominent on the side of the deck where the filmed events are taking place, but it is absent in the Israeli video. (Click here for a ship-spotting photo of the Mavi Marmara and here as it was prepared for the flotilla) Click the title of this post to see comparisons of the ship in the video and the actual Mavi Marmara.

This is not to say that a small group of activists did indeed resist, injure, and capture some of the Israeli soldiers attacking their ship. But at least nine activists were killed (several are still missing). (Click here for video of soldiers beating and then shooting 19-year-old Furkan Dogan.) Whereas the injured soldiers were cared for and protected from further harm by the ship's passengers.

Children of All Ages Delighted by Enslavement of Topsy The Elephant

TUCSON, AZ—Cheers, laughter, and applause filled the big top tent at the Ringling Bros. Circus Saturday as children of all ages were captivated by the savage enslavement of Topsy the elephant. ...

[click on the title of this post to read complete story]

animal rights