Alvaro Luna Hernandez write-in & call-in

MASSIVE WRITE/CALL-IN EFFORT on behalf of Political Prisoner ALVARO LUNA
HERNANDEZ!!

He has been denied Law Library privileges because of his legal-active
assistance to Texas prisoners and his Political Prisoner status.

So, we are asking people to write or to call in anytime on Thursday,
February 11th, to these listed officials during Texas State office hours
(Central Time).


Twitch - Entropy,
Central Campaign Coordinator,
Committee to Free Alvaro Luna Hernandez,


Please also write directly to our comrade to keep the lines of communication open at a difficult time of retaliation being acted out by the TDCJ-CID Hughes Unit Law Library staff:

Alvaro Luna Hernandez,
TDCJ-CID#255735,
Alfred D. Hughes Unit,
Route-2, Box 4400,
Gatesville, Texas 76597


SUPPORT POLITICAL
PRISONER ALVARO LUNA HERNANDEZ!


Alvaro Luna Hernandez is a Chicano/Mexicano anti-imperialist indigenous political prisoner and POW, being held captive in Texas for defending himself in a shootout with Texas authorities who attempted to assassinate him on July 18, 1996. Currently Alvaro has been denied access to legal materials in the Hughes Unit Law Library. Alvaro has submitted an I-60 Grievance request on December 13th 2009, and has received no response.

Alvaro's denial of library material is a direct violation of
his fundamental right under Texas law (499.102(a)(12), 518 U.S. 343,115 S. Ct. 2174) Alvaro's grievances are either being thrown away or otherwise tampered with by prison staff, which is a direct violation of Texas Penal Code (Tampering with official government documents, section 39.04) and a violation of his civil rights.

The Hughes Unit law library has a history of such corrupt practices. For example, several months ago law library staff officers Murillo and Turner were reassigned off the library because they were abusing and stealing from the Prisoner
Indigent Fund to their own benefit. It is apparent that the prison is unable to or unwilling (most likely both) to facilitate proper care and supplies to its prisoners, along with access to materials which are a prisoners' fundamental right.

It is atrocious and unacceptable that the same oppressors who hold our comrades hostage will so openly disregard their own laws, all the while without being held accountable for their crimes. Alvaro has been targeted due to his political
affiliation and noble actions as a prison para-legal, helping other inmates fight back against the racist Texas prison system. (The police in west Texas have a history of abuse, frame-ups and brutality against Mexicanos. 90% of felony indictments are
against Chicanos in a county whose population is 50% Mexican/Chicano.)


HOW YOU CAN HELP:


Print out the following letter (write in the recipient’s name and
print/sign) and send to any (or all) of these addresses:


Chairman Oliver J.
Bell,
Texas Board of
Criminal Justice,
P.O. Box 13084,
Austin, TX 78711
(512)475-3250

Gilbert Campuzano
TDCJ Regional
Director, Region VI,
4616 W. Howard Lane,
Suite 200,
Austin, TX 78728
(512) 671-2575


Senator John Whitmire,
PO Box 12068,
Capitol Station,
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-0115

Attorney General of Texas,
Greg Abbott,Office of the Attorney General,P.O. Box 12548,Austin, Texas
78711-2548Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2100

FAX: (512) 475-2994



Dear______________________________________,



I am writing this letter out of concern for Texas state inmate Alvaro Luna Hernandez #255735. It has come to my attention that Mr. Hernandez has been denied access to the Hughes Unit's law library, which is a violation of his fundamental right to access courts, counsel, and public officials rules (Board Policy No. BP-03.81 and also as mandated by SEctions 492.013 (a) and 499.102 (a) (12), Texas Government Code, and the Lewis V. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 116 S. Ct. 2174, 1996)

As of December 13th Mr. Hernandez has issued a formal I-60 grievance to which he has received no response, indicating that there has been tampering of his I-60 form by prison staff. Under said circumstances the prison guards are committing a form of extortion against the state of Texas by tampering with a federal government document, depriving Mr. Hernandez of a civil right, and all the while receiving a
monthly salary while not performing their job descriptions. These practices
constitute crimes under Texas law (Section 37.10, Texas Penal Code,
Tampering with a Government Document, Section 39.03, and Section 39.04,
Texas Penal Code, Violation of Civil Rights of a Person in Custody). These
crimes are also punishable under federal law, given the nature of the I-60
document (Title 18 United States Code, Sections 241, and 242).

I ask that you review the issues of abuse that have been occurring to Mr. Hernandez and that steps be taken to correct the measures of document tampering, denial of a fundamental right (access to legal material), and the malpractice of prison guards in the Hughes Unit. Mr. Hernandez will not be cut off from his supporters, he will let
us know if these conditions persist.

Sincerely,

It Is Now Official: The U.S. Is A Police State

From: "Political Prisoner News"
Date: Tue, February 9, 2010

It Is Now Official: The U.S. Is A Police State

By Paul Craig Roberts

09 February, 2010
http://vdare.com/roberts/100208_police_state.htm

Americans have been losing the protection of law for years. In the
21st century the loss of legal protections accelerated with the Bush
administration's "war on terror," which continues under the Obama
administration and is essentially a war on the Constitution and U.S.
civil liberties.

The Bush regime was determined to vitiate habeas corpus in order to
hold people indefinitely without bringing charges. The regime had
acquired hundreds of prisoners by paying a bounty for terrorists.
Afghan warlords and thugs responded to the financial incentive by
grabbing unprotected people and selling them to the Americans.

The Bush regime needed to hold the prisoners without charges because
it had no evidence against the people and did not want to admit that
the U.S. government had stupidly paid warlords and thugs to kidnap
innocent people. In addition, the Bush regime needed "terrorists"
prisoners in order to prove that there was a terrorist threat.

As there was no evidence against the "detainees" (most have been
released without charges after years of detention and abuse), the
U.S. government needed a way around U.S. and international laws
against torture in order that the government could produce evidence
via self-incrimination. The Bush regime found inhumane and
totalitarian-minded lawyers and put them to work at the U.S.
Department of Justice (sic) to invent arguments that the Bush regime
did not need to obey the law.

The Bush regime created a new classification for its detainees that
it used to justify denying legal protection and due process to the
detainees. As the detainees were not U.S. citizens and were demonized
by the regime as "the 760 most dangerous men on earth," there was
little public outcry over the regime's unconstitutional and inhumane actions.

As our Founding Fathers and a long list of scholars warned, once
civil liberties are breached, they are breached for all. Soon U.S.
citizens were being held indefinitely in violation of their habeas
corpus rights. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, an American citizen of Pakistani
origin, might have been the first.

Dr. Siddiqui, a scientist educated at MIT and Brandeis University,
was seized in Pakistan for no known reason, sent to Afghanistan, and
was held secretly for five years in the U.S. military's notorious
Bagram prison in Afghanistan. Her three young children, one an
8-month-old baby, were with her at the time she was abducted. She has
no idea what has become of her two youngest children. Her oldest
child, 7 years old, was also incarcerated in Bagram and subjected to
similar abuse and horrors.

Siddiqui has never been charged with any terrorism-related offense. A
British journalist, hearing her piercing screams as she was being
tortured, disclosed her presence.. An embarrassed U.S. government
responded to the disclosure by sending Siddiqui to the U.S. for trial
on the trumped-up charge that while a captive, she grabbed a U.S.
soldier's rifle and fired two shots attempting to shoot him. The
charge apparently originated as a U.S. soldier's excuse for shooting
Dr. Siddiqui twice in the stomach, resulting in her near death.

On Feb. 4, Dr. Siddiqui was convicted by a New York jury for
attempted murder. The only evidence presented against her was the
charge itself and an unsubstantiated claim that she had once taken a
pistol-firing course at an American firing range. No evidence was
presented of her fingerprints on the rifle that this frail and broken
100-pound woman had allegedly seized from an American soldier. No
evidence was presented that a weapon was fired, no bullets, no shell
casings, no bullet holes. Just an accusation.

Wikipedia has this to say about the trial: "The trial took an unusual
turn when an FBI official asserted that the fingerprints taken from
the rifle, which was purportedly used by Aafia to shoot at the U.S.
interrogators, did not match hers."

An ignorant and bigoted American jury convicted her for being a
Muslim. This is the kind of "justice" that always results when the
state hypes fear and demonizes a group.

The people who should have been on trial are the people who abducted
her, disappeared her young children, shipped her across international
borders, violated her civil liberties, tortured her apparently for
the fun of it, raped her, and attempted to murder her with two
gunshots to her stomach. Instead, the victim was put on trial and convicted.

This is the unmistakable hallmark of a police state. And this victim
is an American citizen.

Anyone can be next. Indeed, on Feb. 3 Dennis Blair, director of
National Intelligence told the House Intelligence Committee that it
was now "defined policy" that the U.S. government can murder its own
citizens on the sole basis of someone in the government's judgment
that an American is a threat. No arrest, no trial, no conviction,
just execution on suspicion of being a threat.

This shows how far the police state has advanced. A presidential
appointee in the Obama administration tells an important committee of
Congress that the executive branch has decided that it can murder
American citizens abroad if it thinks they are a threat.

I can hear readers saying the government might as well kill Americans
abroad as it kills them at home--Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Black Panthers.

Yes, the U.S. government has murdered its citizens, but Dennis
Blair's "defined policy" is a bold new development. The government,
of course, denies that it intended to kill the Branch Davidians,
Randy Weaver's wife and child, or the Black Panthers. The government
says that Waco was a terrible tragedy, an unintended result brought
on by the Branch Davidians themselves. The government says that Ruby
Ridge was Randy Weaver's fault for not appearing in court on a day
that had been miscommunicated to him. The Black Panthers, the
government says, were dangerous criminals who insisted on a shoot-out.

In no previous death of a U.S. citizen by the hands of the U.S.
government has the government claimed the right to kill Americans
without arrest, trial, and conviction of a capital crime.

In contrast, Dennis Blair has told the U.S. Congress that the
executive branch has assumed the right to murder Americans who it
deems a "threat."

What defines "threat"? Who will make the decision? What it means is
that the government will murder whomever it chooses.

There is no more complete or compelling evidence of a police state
than the government announcing that it will murder its own citizens
if it views them as a "threat."

Ironic, isn't it, that "the war on terror" to make us safe ends in a
police state with the government declaring the right to murder
American citizens whom it regards as a threat.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during
President Reagan's first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall
Street Journal. paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org Questions and comments may be sent to
claude@freedomarchives.org

MANA Seminar in DC: The U.S. Prison System Muslims and Human Rights Violations

MANA’s Social Justice Task Force is organizing a seminar on February
13 (Saturday) at Howard University (DC) to educate the Muslim
community about the history and inhumanity of this type of punishment
and to join forces with other activists who are addressing this issue
so that ultimately we can all work to end this form of torture.

Guests include Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Karima Al-Amin and
other activists in the field such as Bonnie Kerness of the American
Friends Service Committee and Sala Nolan of the United Church of
Christ. The program starts at 9:30 am and three panels will be held,
10-12, 1:30-3:30 and 4-6. Al-Amin is the wife of Imam Jamil Al-Amin,
who is incarcerated in a supermax prison in Colorado. The Imam sits
in a small jail cell for 23 hours—in complete isolation. For one
hour he goes out to a small, enclosed area and is able to walk around—
still complete isolation. No human contact. Many Psychologists
argue have this type of incarceration is inhumane and cruel. In the
past, 24/7 isolation was reserved for prisoners who had committed a
major violation. Imam Jamil didn’t commit a major violation. His
treatment is due to the fact that he is Imam Jamil Al-Amin.

The reality is that a large number of people are experiencing the
same treatment. This “cruel and unusual punishment” was developed in
the 1980s when SuperMax prisons and control units were built to house
in particular politically motivated prisoners. This type of
punishment has been expanded under the title of “security threat
group management units” which is aimed at Muslims.

Support Alvaro on 2/11/10!! Call In and Write In!!!

SUPPORT ALVARO!

Alvaro Luna Hernandez is a Chicano/Mexicano Anti-Imperialist
Indigenous Political Prisoner and POW, being held captive in Texas for
defending himself in a shootout with Texas authorities who attempted
to assassinate him on July 18, 1996. Currently Alvaro has been denied
access to legal materials in the Hughes Unit Law Library. Alvaro has
submitted an I-60 Grievance request on December 13th 2009, and has
received no response.

Alvaro's denial of library material is a direct violation of his
fundamental right under Texas law (499.102(a)(12), 518 U.S. 343,115 S.
Ct. 2174) Alvaro's grievances have either been thrown away or
otherwise tampered with by prison staff, which is a direct violation
of TEXAS PENAL CODE (Tampering with official government documents,
section 39.04) and a violation of his civil rights.

The Hughes Unit Law Library has a history of these types of corrupt
practices. For example, several months ago LAW LIBRARY STAFF OFFICERS
MURILLO and TURNER were reassigned OFF THE LIBRARY because they were
abusing and stealing from the PRISONER INDIGENT FUND to their own
benefit. It is apparent that the prison is unable to or unwilling
(most likely both) to facilitate proper care and supplies to its
prisoners, along with access to materials which are a prisoners'
fundamental right.

It is atrocious and unacceptable that the same oppressors who hold
our comrades hostage will so openly disregard their own laws, all the
while without being held accountable for their crimes. Alvaro has been
targeted due to his political affiliation and noble actions as a
prison para-legal, helping other inmates fight back against the racist
Texas prison system. (The police in west Texas have a history of
abuse, frame-ups and brutality against Mexicanos. 90% of felony
indictments are against Chicanos in a county whose population is 50%
Mexican/Chicano.)

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
*WRITE*
Print out the following letter (write in the recipient’s name and
print/sign) and send to any (or all) of these addresses:

Chairman Oliver J. Bell,
Attorney General of Texas,
Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Greg
Abbott,
PO Box 13084,
Office of the Attorney General,
Austin, TX 78711
P.O. Box 12548,
(512) 475-3250
Austin, Texas 78711-2548

Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2100
Gilbert Campuzano
FAX: (512) 475-2994
TDCJ Regional Director, Region VI,
greg.abbott@oag.state.tx.us>
4616 W. Howard Lane, Suite 200,
Austin, TX 78728
(512) 671-2575

Senator John Whitmire,
PO Box 12068,
Capitol Station,
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-0115


Dear______________________________________,

I am writing this letter out of concern for Texas state inmate Alvaro
Luna Hernandez #255735. It has come to my attention that Mr. Hernandez
has been denied access to the Hughes Unit's law library, which is a
violation of his fundamental right to access courts, counsel, and
public officials rules (Board Policy No. BP-03.81 and also as mandated
by SECTIONS 492.013 (a) and 499.102 (a) (12), TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE,
and the Lewis V. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 116 S. Ct. 2174, 1996)

As of December 13th Mr. Hernandez has issued a formal I-60 grievance
to which he has had no response, indicating that there has been
tampering of his I-60 form by prison staff. Under said circumstances
the prison guards are committing a form of extortion against the state
of Texas by tampering with a federal government document, depriving
Mr. Hernandez of a civil right, and all the while receiving a monthly
salary while not performing their job descriptions. These practices
constitute crimes under Texas law (SECTION 37.10, TEXAS PENAL CODE,
TAMPERING WITH A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT, SECTION 39.03, and SECTION
39.04, TEXAS PENAL CODE, VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS OF A PERSON IN
CUSTODY). These crimes are also punishable under federal law, given
the nature of the I-60 document (TITLE 18 UNITED STATES CODE, SECTIONS
241, and 242).

I ask that you review the issues of abuse that have been occurring to
Mr. Hernandez and that steps be taken to correct the measures of
document tampering, denial of a fundamental right (access to legal
material), and the malpractice of prison guards in the Hughes Unit.
Mr. Hernandez will not be cut off from his supporters, he will let us
know if these conditions persist.

Sincerely,



*CALL*

On 2/11/10 call Gilbert Campuzano (or if possible all three numbers)
and support Alvaro!

Gilbert Campuzano
TDCJ Regional Director
(512) 671-2575

Senator John Whitmire
(512) 463-0115

Chairman Oliver J. Bell,
Texas Board of Criminal Justice
(512) 475-3250

What to say:

Hello my name is (.......) and I am calling in regards to Alvaro Luna
Hernandez # 255735 who is incarcerated in the Hughes Unit in
Gatesville. I have been informed that Mr. Hernandez has not been
allowed access to the legal materials in the library. Although this is
a fundamental right he has also had his I-60 grievances, which are
federal documents, tampered by prison staff. I am asking you take
steps to correct this, this is completely unacceptable and Mr.
Hernandez will let us know if this treatment continues. Thank you.

--
FREE THEM ALL!

Carlos Alberto Torres/Avelino/March Women's Event

Parole Campaign for Carlos Alberto Torres

We have 906; we need 94 more to make our goal! SIGN THIS PETITION AND FORWARD IT OUT TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!

Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: Parole Hearing
On January 19, 2010, Carlos Alberto Torres attended a video hearing presided over by
a U.S. Parole Commission hearing examiner whose task was to consider the
disciplinary charges stemming from last January, and to make a recommendation for
what should happen with respect to his request to be released on parole. Carlos
Alberto answered the questions posed, and his attorney Jan Susler asked that the
Parole Commission release him on parole as previously recommended, regardless of the
wrongful charges. She pointed out the vast, ongoing support for his release, and
argued that there is absolutely no risk in releasing him, as evidenced by the
impressive example of his compatriots who were released by presidential commutation
in 1999. The hearing examiner then made a favorable recommendation. The Parole
Commission will make the final decision, hopefully within the next 30 days.

The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign is launching a 30 day online petition campaign! We
want 1000 people to sign our petition within the next 30 days showing their support
for Carlos Alberto Torres.

At the end of the thirty days the petition will be mailed to the Parole Commissioner.

Sign this petition and forward it out to everyone you know!
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Parole4CarlosAlberto/


Man Pleads Guilty In 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery

By EDMUND H. MAHONY
The Hartford Courant
4:34 PM EST, February 5, 2010
HARTFORD

A key figure in the $7.1 million Wells Fargo robbery in West Hartford nearly three
decades ago abruptly pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to charges that include
smuggling the money out of the country.

Avelino Gonzalez-Claudio, 67, was a leader and strategist of Los Macheteros, a
militant, Puerto Rico pro-independence group. In the 1970s and '80s, the group
claimed responsibility for armed attacks on federal interests in Puerto Rico, two of
which caused the deaths of U.S. military personnel.

Gonzalez-Claudio pleaded guilty Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Hartford
to conspiracy to commit robbery and transportation of stolen money out of the
country. Under terms of his plea agreement, he would be sentenced to 7 years in
prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000. Sentencing is scheduled for later this
year.

He has been in prison in Connecticut since the FBI arrested him in 2008 in Puerto
Rico as he drove through the northern coastal city of Manati. While in prison, he
was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and correctional authorities refused to
provide him with medication until last month, said his lawyer, James Bergenn. In
court, Gonzalez-Claudio appeared gaunt and emaciated, and the disease had taken such
hold that he was barely able to speak.

Documents seized by the FBI showed that Macheteros planned to use the stolen
millions to finance the violent overthrow of the U.S. government in Puerto Rico and
to support leftist insurgencies elsewhere in Latin America.

Los Macheteros recruited a young college drop-out from Hartford, Victor Gerena, to
be its inside man in the Sept. 12, 1983, Wells Fargo robbery. Gerena obtained a job
as a Wells Fargo guard, overpowered his co-workers with a pistol, injected them with
a narcotic to incapacitate them, and helped stuff the cash into a battered sedan
which was driven to the depot by fellow Macheteros.

Gonzalez-Claudio and other Macheteros were accused, among other things, of hiding
the cash behind hollow walls in a used motor home and driving the money, in two
trips, to Mexico. Wire-tapped conversations, seized documents and other intelligence
shows that most of the stolen money was flown from Mexico to Cuba, where it ended up
under the control of Cuba's president at the time, Fidel Castro.

Agents continue to seek the two remaining Machetero fugitives wanted in connection
with the robbery: Gonzalez-Claudio's brother, Norberto; and Gerena.

Copyright © 2010, The Hartford Courant


CELEBRATING THE REVOLUTIONARY PUERTO RICAN WOMAN!

This Women’s History Month, join The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign as we honor the
contributions of Women to the Puerto Rican independence Movement:

¡QUE VIVA LA MUJER!


Recipients of the Doña Adelfa Vera Award for 2010:
Lourdes Garcia, Activist/Healer/Artisan
Joyce Jones, Artist/Journalist/Activist
Gloria Quinoñes, Activist/ProLibertad Support
Amy Velez, Activist/ProLibertad Supporter


Keynote Speakers:
Yasmin Hernandez, Artist/Activist
Normahiram Perez, Federacion de Maestros Puertorriqueños


Poetry Performance:
Mariposa and Prisionera


Handcrafts and Natural healing products:
Olga Ayala, Handcrafts (Hecho a Mano)
Lourdes Garcia, Botanicafe Products

Proceeds from the Night’s donations will go to the Point’s Program for Young Women


Friday March 19, 2010 at 7pm:
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church 521 W126th St. Basement
Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway
Take the 1 train W125th St.

Suggested donation: $5 (no one will be turned away)
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED!

www.ProLibertadWeb.com
ProLibertad@hotmail.com

Israel court frees 2 internationals on bail

Feb. 8, 2010 Ma'an News

Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israel's High Court of Justice on Monday freed two foreign nationals who were detained early Sunday in Ramallah.

Ariadna Marti of Spain and Bridgett Chappel of Australia, activists with the International Solidarity Movement, posted a 3,000-shekel bail and will be permitted to remain in Israel while they challenge a deportation order.

The High Court accepted that the detentions may have been illegal, because they reportedly involved Israel's special "Oz" immigration unit, which is permitted to handle only cases of foreigners in Israel. Marti and Chappel, however, were in Ramallah, a city supposedly under control of the Palestinian Authority.

"The raid and detention of the two is in direct violation of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which clearly forbids any Israeli incursion into Area A for reasons not directly and urgently related to security. Even the conduct of 'hot pursuit' is disallowed in non-security related matters, which overstayed visas are," the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said in a statement.

The Israeli army raided the activists' apartment in the Area A at 3am on Sunday and arrested the two on suspicion of overstaying their visas. They were then taken to the Ofer military prison located inside the occupied territories, where they were handed over to "Oz."

An Israeli military spokesman told Ma'an that the women were in Israel illegally and that the arrests were executed by the army, adding that one woman was in possession of "fake documents" while the other held an expired visa. "Both were involved in illegal riots and in interferring with IDF activity," he said. According to the spokesman, the two women were transferred to the Ministry of the Interior.

Ryan Olander, an American solidarity activist who was present during the raid, told the PSCC that around 10 soldiers forcefully entered the apartment, demanded to see the passports of everyone inside, and informed the two of their detentions on the grounds of overstayed visas. The soldiers confiscated cameras, a computer, pro-Palestinian banners and ISM volunteers' registration forms, Orlander said.

Orlander has been arrested twice by the Oz Immigration Unit but his deportation was stayed after a judge ruled his detention illegal, the PSCC said.

Latest in a series of raids

An American woman, 27, was detained along with two Palestinians by Israeli forces during a night raid in the village of Bil'in last Wednesday. The Israeli military said the US woman, who was not identified, interfered in the work of the army and attempted to "prevent Israeli soldiers from carrying out their duty." The army also said the actions of the woman caused rioting in the area.

International peace activists have been staying overnight in the village of Bil'in since the Israeli army began night raids into the village, initially following each Friday's demonstration against the separation wall being constructed on village lands. Night raids became regular during the fall of 2009.

In January, Czech national Eva Nováková, the ISM's media coordinator, was detained from her home in Ramallah during a night raid and deported the following day.

PCHR condemns

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned what it termed the continued persecution of international human rights defenders in the West Bank by Israeli forces, as well as the deportations.

In a statement, the PCHR said it was concerned about such measures, which the group alleged are aimed at expelling international witnesses of human rights violations perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians during protests against separation wall and settlement activities.

Israeli forces detain pro-Palestinian activists

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Sun Feb 7, 2010

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli troops broke down the door of an apartment
in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Ramallah on Sunday and arrested
two pro-Palestinian activists from Spain and Australia, their roommate
said.

The Israeli military said the two women overstayed their visas, but also
alleged they were involved in violent protests in the West Bank. Their
lawyer, Omer Shatz, said he believes the pair were targeted for what he
described as peaceful protests against Israeli policies in the West Bank.

The two women are members of the International Solidarity Movement, which
has been active in the Palestinian territories for several years.

Shatz said the women were in detention but that a judge issued an order
preventing their deportation. He identified them as Ariadna Jove Marti,
25, of Spain, and Bridgette Chappell, 21, of Australia.

The women's roommate, Ryan Olander, said about a dozen Israeli soldiers
broke into the apartment before dawn Sunday and demanded to see everyone's
passports. Soldiers searched the apartment, confiscated a laptop and two
video cameras and told the women to pack up their things, said Olander, of
St. Paul, Minnesota.

International Solidarity Movement activists show up at points of friction
between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators, often trying to
block the soldiers. They take part in weekly protests against Israel's
West Bank separation barrier.

At the protests, Palestinian teens routinely throw stones at soldiers, who
respond with tear gas, stun grenades and sometimes live ammunition. Israel
says the barrier is meant to keep Palestinian attackers out, while
Palestinians say it's a land grab.

In recent months, Israel has intensified its crackdown on those involved
in the barrier protests, arresting dozens of Palestinians.

Sunday's raid marked only the second time troops have seized foreigners
from a Palestinian-ruled area of the West Bank. In January, a Czech
activist with the International Solidarity Movement was detained in
Ramallah and deported.

An Israeli military spokesman said the two women arrested Sunday were
involved in "riots and other acts of violence." The official spoke on
condition of anonymity, in line with military regulations.

Al-Awda West Coast Conference - Educating, Advocating, and Organizing For The Return

Educating, Advocating, and Organizing For The Return
Fifth Al-Awda West Coast Regional Conference

Hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine @ SDSU, UCSD and USD, and
Al-Awda San Diego, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition

Where: La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, La Mesa, CA
91942
(please note we changed the venue)

LEARN about the Palestinian refugee crisis and what is happening
here on the West Coast

SHARE IDEAS
with fellow activists and help empower the right to return
movement at large

ACT NOW!
your participation is urgently needed in the months ahead! This is
your chance!

One-Day Conference
Saturday February 13, 2010, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Program: Strategy & tactics discussions will include panels on
Student Activism, Refugee Support, Media Activism, and
preparations for the upcoming Annual International Al-Awda
Convention. Speakers will include Dr. Jess Ghannam, Chair of
Al-Awda's National Coordinating Committee, Mazen Almoukdad,
Al-Awda Refugee Support Activist, Adam Shapiro, activist
filmmaker, among others. There will also be a special presentation
of personal experience by a Palestinian refugee recently arrived
from Al-Waleed camp in Iraq.

For a tentative schedule with more details of the one day
conference, visit this page.

Conference is free of charge!!

The conference will be followed by

Dinner Banquet - Celebrating 10 Years of Al-Awda!
When: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)

Banquet Includes: Keynote Address by Dr. Jamal Nassar, Dean of the
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at California State
University, San Bernardino; Dabke; and Delicious Arabic Food (all
Halal)

Banquet Dinner Tickets: General $25.00; Student $15.00; Children
under 5 free

To get your tickets, please go to
http://al-awdacal.org/dinner.html or contact 760-918-9441 Monday
to Friday 9 AM to 5 PM

(Please note that attendance at the conference is not required for
attendance at the dinner and vice versa)

Sponsorship: We welcome individual and organizational sponsorship
of The Fifth Al-Awda West Coast Regional Conference. All Sponsors
will be listed in the printed program of the conference and
acknowledged at the Ten Years of Al-Awda Celebration Dinner unless
otherwise requested. Underwriters will each also have a table for
eight people reserved for them at the Dinner Celebration. For more
information, please go to this sponsorship page.

Suggested accommodation for out of town guests see: Hotel circle
http://www.hotelcircle.net

Flyer (color): Fifth Al-Awda West Coast Regional Conference
Flyer: Fifth Al-Awda West Coast Regional Conference

Directions to Conference and Banquet: Take the Spring St exit from
I-8 E toward El Centro (6.8 miles). Merge onto 13A (85 ft). Slight
left to stay on 13A (315 ft). Continue onto Spring Street (0.1
mile). Turn left at University Ave (0.4 miles). Turn left at
Memorial Dr.

Parking is free. Plenty available.
For more information, contact:

SJP @ SDSU, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182; Tel:
661-992-3281 email: sjp.sdsu@googlemail.com or Al-Awda San Diego:
info@al-awdasandiego.org, Tel: 760-918-9441
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-918-9441
Fax: 760-918-9442
Email: info@al-awdacal.org
WEB: http://al-awdacal.org





Forward email


Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition | PO Box 131352 | Carlsbad |
CA | 92013

Celebrate Freedom with Me (Feb. 6 Statement by Leonard Peltier)

From: "Political Prisoner News" ppnews@freedomarchives.org>
Date: Sat, February 6, 2010

Greetings to everyone,

34 years. It doesn't even sound like a real number to me. Not when
one really thinks about being in a jail cell for that long. All
these years and I swear, I still think sometimes I'll wake up from
this nightmare in my own bed, in my own home, with my family in the
next room. I would never have imagined such a thing. Surely the only
place people are unjustly imprisoned for 34 years is in far away
lands, books or fairy tales.

It's been that long since I woke up when I needed to, worked where I
wanted to, loved who I was supposed to love, or did what I was
compelled to do. It's been that long-long enough to see my children
have grandchildren. Long enough to have many of my friends and loved
ones die in the course of a normal life, while I was here unable to
know them in their final days.

So often in my daily life, the thought creeps in - "I don't deserve
this." It lingers like acid in my mouth. But I have to push those
types of thoughts away. I made a commitment long ago, many of us did.
Some didn't live up to their commitments, and some of us didn't have
a choice. Joe Stuntz didn't have a choice. Neither did Buddy Lamont.
I never thought my commitment would mean sacrificing like this, but I
was willing to do so nonetheless. And really, if necessary, I'd do it
all over again, because it was the right thing to do. We didn't go to
ceremony and say "I'll fight for the people as long as it doesn't
cost too much." We prayed, and we gave. Like I say, some of us
didn't have a choice. Our only other option was to run away, and we
couldn't even do that. Back then, we had no where left to run to.

I have cried so many tears over these three plus decades. Like the
many families directly affected by this whole series of events, my
family's tears have not been in short supply. Our tears have joined
all the tears from over 500 years of oppression. Together our tears
come together and form a giant river of suffering and I hope,
cleansing. Injustice is never final, I keep telling myself. I pray
this is true for all of us.

To those who know I am innocent, thank you for your faith. And I hope
you continue working for my release. That is, to work towards truth
and justice. To those who think me guilty, I ask you to believe in
and work for the rule of law. Even the law says I should be free by
now, regardless of guilt. What has happened to me isn't justice, it
isn't the law, it isn't fair, it isn't right. This has been a long
battle in an even longer war. But we have to remain vigilant, as we
have a righteous cause. After all this time, I can only ask this:
Don't give up. Not ever. Stay in this fight with me. Suffer with me.
Grieve with me. Endure with me. Believe with me. Outlast with me. And
one day, celebrate freedom with me. Hoka hey!

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,

Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488
Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701/235-2206
Fax: 701/235-5045
E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info

Alleged conspirator in San Gabriel Valley arson attacks dies in France

February  5, 2010 La Times

Tyler James Johnson, a Caltech graduate student who fled the U.S. after authorities
identified him as an alleged conspirator in a case involving arson attacks at
several San Gabriel Valley car dealerships six years ago, has died.

He was 30. According to an obituary posted on the website of the Michigan-based
Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Johnson was “killed from a fall due to an avalanche”
on Dec. 26 during a solo expedition in the Corsican mountains of France.

Johnson became a fugitive after being named as a co-conspirator
in the August 2003 firebombing of eight sport-utility vehicles at a
West Covina auto dealership and another SUV parked on a residential
street in Monrovia.

William Jensen Cottrell, then 24 and a doctoral candidate in physics,
implicated Johnson in the bombing rampage, alleging that Johnson and
another conspirator threw the Molotov cocktails that damaged or
destroyed the cars.

During his trial, Cottrell told the court that he and Johnson painted messages
on SUVs, including “Killer,” “Terrorist” and ELF, the initials of the
Earth Liberation Front, a militant environmental group.      
      
Cottrell was convicted of conspiracy and arson in November 2004 for his
part in vandalizing about 125 SUVs in the San Gabriel Valley. He was
sentenced in April 2005 to eight years in federal prison. But his arson convictions
were overturned last year and his sentence vacated by a federal appeals court.

According to Johnson’s online obituary, he spent the last six years in
Corsica, where he “befriended dozens of people, hiked nearly all 214
summits greater than 2,000 meters and co-founded Solaria, a nonprofit
association that designs solar technology.”

Described as a mathematician, physicist, photographer and mountaineer,
Johnson was born in Ingham County, Mich. He earned a bachelor's degree
in physics from Caltech in Pasadena, spoke fluent Chinese and French,
and traveled extensively throughout the U.S., China and Australia.

“Tyler will be remembered for his kind and friendly nature, leadership,
creative passion, independence, optimism, and idealistic vision of how
things should, and could, be,” the obituary read.

He is survived by his parents, James and Patrice Johnson of Dansville,
Mich., sister Kelsey Johnson,  grandmother Winnifred Johnson and
numerous aunts, uncles and cousins, according to the funeral home
website.

-- Ann M. Simmons