Akwesasne Mohawk Warriors vow to storm Border Post

By David Gonczol, Canwest News Service,
May 30, 2009





AKWESASNE, Ont. - Mohawk Warriors from the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont. say they will storm a Canada Border Services Agency post on Monday and shut down the international border crossing unless their political leaders receive a commitment from the federal government not to arm border guards at the post, which stands on reserve territory.

The CBSA started arming guards in 2007, and officers at the Akwesasne reserve, which straddles the Ontario-Quebec-New York boundary, are scheduled to begin carrying 9 mm handguns on Monday.

The Mohawks say they don't want armed guards at the post because it would violate their sovereignty and increase the likelihood of violent confrontations.

``We are going to clear them out,'' said Thomas Stacy, a middle-aged former professional wrestler who stood across from the border post with a small group of young men carrying large Mohawk Warrior flags on Saturday.

They kept a low profile Saturday during a peaceful rally organized by the Akwesasne Mohawk Council. About 100 people gathered at the post to demand that the CBSA not arm the guards and that their demand be sent to officials in Ottawa.

``(Sunday) night at 12 o'clock (midnight) we have to have an answer,'' Stacy said.

``If that answer don't come, that's it. Monday is going to be the worst. That's the crackdown. It's going to be over. It's going to be done. No more signing papers, no more negotiations - nothing.''

Stacy said the reserve's political leaders have been in fruitless discussions with the CBSA and federal officials.

``We are not getting anywhere with the government. The government is going to come over here and take over everything,'' he said.

The Mohawk Warriors are a long-standing group that is separate from hereditary chiefs or more modern elected chiefs and councils. Stacy said they have made it clear to the council and to the Akwesasne police that if the government does not back away from its plan, the Warriors will act.

``What we are waiting for is an answer from Ottawa. We don't get that answer action has got to be taken by the people,'' he said.

Brendan White, a spokesman for the First Nation, said the elected leadership is working toward a negotiated settlement and will ``continue to make itself available to have that dialogue with the federal government.''

``We remain hopeful that the federal officials will see the need to address our concerns,'' White said. ``I guess we are in a wait-and-see mode right now. The community is frustrated.''

After Monday, he said, it will be ``in the hands of the community.''

Howard Thompson, chief of the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, representing all Mohawks in Canada, said he was worried about ``someone instigating something that would get out of hand.''

``We don't want to have to come and pick up the pieces later,'' he said. ``We would rather do it peacefully and negotiate something, rather than doing some kind of physical demonstration.''

``June 1 isn't the end; it's the beginning for us to continue to working toward not having armed customs officers here.''

...

The council has been told that 18 border guards from the Akwesasne post are receiving weapons training and some of them will be ready to carry them.

The Akwesasne leadership has long warned against the move in letters to federal politicians.

``We seriously consider your government's actions in arming the (CBSA) guards as a direct assault on our sovereignty, which resonates into an act of war against our people,'' wrote Grand Chief Tim Thompson in a 2008 letter to Stockwell Day, public safety minister at the time and now minister for international trade.

Ottawa Citizen with files from Canwest News Service

Congress of South African Trade Unions ‘shocked’ at death of illegal miners

Andrew's Note: It is believed racketeers have lured workers from Lesotho and other countries to go to South Africa to work illegally underground where they often live below the surface for months at a time. This is a crime born out of poverty and desperation on the part of unemployed workers in Lesotho who are exploited by capitalist racketeers


2009/06/02
http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=429324

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) today (June 2) said it was “shocked and dismayed” by the news of the death of 36 illegal miners.

Harmony Gold Mining (HAR), South Africa’s third-largest gold producer, yesterday said the bodies of 36 illegal miners were brought to surface by fellow illegal miners at its Eland shaft in the Free State during the weekend.

The miners reportedly lost their lives following an underground fire in an abandoned area of the mine.

“Our affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers, is monitoring the situation, and we demand a full investigation into this shocking situation,” Cosatu said.

In the meantime, trade union Solidarity has called for the Department of Mining must put together a task team to investigate illegal mining in South Africa.

“Not only are the illegal miners stealing gold worth millions of rands, but the ensuing accidents are always very severe,” said Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans.

This is not the first time the remains of illegal miners have been found in the Eland shaft.

Two weeks ago five bodies were recovered and in 2007, 25 illegal miners died in a similar underground fire.

This is also the second accident of its kind this year, after 20 illegal miners died at the New Consort gold mine near Barberton in March.

The deaths are over and above the 73 fatalities reported by South African mining companies so far this year.

“A task team consisting of all the role-players must urgently look at the problem. It is a grey area that nobody wants to touch,” said Kleynhans.

He said coordination between the various government departments, such as the Department of Mining, Department of Justice, the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Service must also improve if any progress is to be made in the fight against this problem.

Harmony yesterday said it had also charged and will criminally prosecute 294 illegal miners who were brought to surface at the shaft over the past two weeks.

The gold producer said it has tightened security.

“We continue to address the issue of criminal mining on a daily basis, together with the South African Police Service, the Department of Justice, the National Prosecuting Authority and other affected mining companies,” said Harmony CEO Graham Briggs.

3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) - victims of US Af-Pak diktat - are sheltering in more than 20 camps - south of the battle zone

Asia Pacific News












A displaced woman from the Swat valley cooks outside her tent at the Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan.


SINGAPORE: The offensive in Swat Valley in Pakistan has sparked an exodus of people.

About three million of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are sheltering in more than 20 camps - south of the battle zone - creating a humanitarian crisis.

Channel NewsAsia spoke with Pakistan's Defence Secretary, Lieutenant-General Syed Athar Ali, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La dialogue - a regional defence conference in Singapore.

Lt-Gen Syed Athar Ali said: "I think this is a big issue and a big challenge not only for the military but also for the government ... the government has taken certain concrete measures, giving hard cash to these individuals and the families so that they can sustain themselves without really depending on others."

He said the government had also set up more than 20 camps in adjoining areas and some in far-flung areas to assist them with the tools to construct temporary shelters.

Lt-Gen Syed Athar Ali said: "UNHCR has come in a big way to assist in the camp management and all. Then the national response from all over the country has been overwhelming in terms of food, in terms of shelter, in terms of clothes, in terms of bedding, utensils and all those things which are required to manage the IDPs in the camps.

"I think there has been an overwhelming response from the general public also. Some of the important international actors have also pledged money and donated it but only restricted to the pledges now. We hope that money comes in quickly so that it can be utilised to alleviate the problems and sufferings of the IDPs.

"I think the subsequent management of these areas, the provision of civic amenities, the rebuilding and restoration of the houses and the movement of the IDPs - assisting and facilitating them to go back into their homes - will remain the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies, including the army and the police."

On the next phase in terms of military operations, Lt-Gen Syed Athar Ali said: "One would have to see as to what is the future course of action of the remnants of the militants and Talibans ... depending on what kind of threat it emanates from them and what area, that will definitely be communicated to the political government who in concert with the law enforcement agencies will make a political decision for subsequent actions and the military will act accordingly." -

Pro-Russian Party Wins South Ossetia’s First Election US, EU Slam Nation's First Vote

by Jason Ditz, June 01, 2009
www.antiwar.com




Declaring its independence last year in the wake of the brief war between Georgia and Russia, the separatist enclave of South Ossetia has held its first elections, and the Unity Party led by President Eduard Kokoity carried by far the largest margin at 46.3%. Their allies in the People’s Party came in second (22.5%), while the Communist Party was close behind at third (22.3%).

The Unity Party has close ties with the United Russia Party of Vladimir Putin, and many of its members support joining the Russian Federation. Freshly independent from Georgia after decades of separatist ambitions, it remains to be seen if the tiny enclave of just 70,000 people will continue to be an independent ally of Russia or will join with their neighbors in North Ossetia outright.

Though the results showed an impressive turn-out, the European Union slammed the election, saying it would not recognize the election and still considers South Ossetia part of Georgia.

The United States likewise expressed “regret” at the vote, saying it was a “step away from peaceful negotiations.” A close ally of Georgia, the US has promised to use its position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to ensure that neither South Ossetia or the larger enclave of Abkhazia is ever recognized as independent.

Israel said Monday that it will not cooperate with UN Inquiry Panel to investigate Human Rights crimes during the Offensive against Gaza

www.chinaview.cn 2009-06-02













UNITED NATIONS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Monday that it will not cooperate with the UN inquiry panel to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law during the Israeli military offensive on Gaza that ended on Jan. 18.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak made the remarks to reporters after meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters.

Barak said that the panel, led by South African prosecutor Richard Goldstone, will never be able to talk to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) which controls Gaza, to probe "terrorist" attacks on Israel, so as to ensure an "unbiased conclusion."

"I don't think Israel has to or will cooperate with this investigation," he added.

The UN inquiry panel of 15 legal experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council arrived in Gaza on Monday.

Goldstone told reporters that he is glad to be in Gaza, adding that his team "will work and cooperate with all parties."

"We came here to investigate, to listen and to watch everything related to violations that happened here and harmed the human rights and the international conventions," said Goldstone.

According to deposed Hamas' ministry of health, more than 1,450 Palestinians were killed, most of them were women and children, and less than one third of those killed were militants.

Furious Jewish Settlers rampage in West Bank, by: Imad Saada

http://www.france24.com/en/20090601-jewish-settlers-rampage-west-bank










Monday, June 1, 2009 - 15:41
AFP News Briefs List


Jewish settlers rampaged in the West Bank on Monday, wounding four Palestinians, as they vented fury that Israel may answer US calls and dismantle outposts in the territory, officials said.


Jewish extremists blocked roads, hurled rocks at drivers, burned fields, cut down olive trees and opened fire towards Palestinians who tried to chase the trespassers from their fields in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.

West of the city of Nablus, an area home to some of the most hardline settlers in the occupied territory, dozens of masked extremists blocked a road in the early hours and hurled rocks at Palestinian drivers who stopped their vehicles to move the obstructions, they said.

"They attacked when the minibus (carrying 17 Palestinian workers on their way to work in Israel) stopped. The man next to the driver was seriously wounded," said Zakaria Sada, an activist with the Rabbis for Human Rights organisation.

When another driver stopped his vehicle to move the stones in the road, the mob beat him until Israeli troops arrived on the scene, Sada said.
Four people were wounded in the attacks, and one remained in serious condition in hospital with a fractured skull, medics said.

Near the settlement of Yizhar -- one of the most radical in the West Bank -- heavy smoke billowed into the air as settlers set fire to Palestinian fields.
When a group of Palestinians threw stones trying to chase them off the land, about 20 settlers armed with guns jumped out from hiding places and opened fire in the direction of the Palestinians and journalists, an AFP correspondent said.

Three army patrol vehicles at a nearby junction stood by and did not intervene to stop the violence, but prevented a Palestinian fire-engine from reaching the field.
The police and army had no immediate comment.

"These sorts of rock hurling incidents are unfortunately very common in the West Bank," one army spokesman said as he tried to search for information on the incidents.

Angry mobs of settlers also set fire to fields, sawed down olive trees and threw rocks at Palestinians outside the villages of Burin and Far'ata south of Nablus.
"It took us six months to plant everything, this is our whole life," Shaher Tawil said, as his fields of wheat and olive trees burned on the outskirts of Far-ata.

Asked to comment on the violence, the president of a settler umbrella organisation in the northern West Bank, Gershon Messika, said: "It's natural that people who face expulsion from their house do what they can to avoid being expelled."
Groups of settlers converged on the area overnight after rumours spread that Israeli security forces were moving in to evacuate settlement outposts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to dismantle several dozen wildcat outposts -- settlements that were erected in the West Bank without government approval -- in response to demands from Washington, which has called to a halt to all Israeli settlement activity.

"Our intention is to dismantle the unlawful outposts," Netanyahu told a parliamentary committee on Monday, while pledging to continue construction in other settlements to accommodate population growth.
In the past few weeks Israeli police have taken down some tents and tin huts in the occupied territory, though the structures usually reappear within hours after troops leave.

On Monday police and army removed several shacks containing farming equipment outside the settlement of Elon Moreh northeast of Nablus. New shacks arose on the site within a few hours, local settlers said.

Hardline settlers believe the Jewish people have a God-given, biblical-era right to live on the land, though most of the more than 280,000 Israelis who live in the settlements dotting the West Bank are there for economic reasons.
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Arab land illegal, but Israel makes a distinction between those built with or without government approval.

New left-wing EU critical electoral alliance launched, No2EU

www.no2eu.com
March 18, 2009
New left-wing EU critical electoral alliance launched
http://www.no2eu.com/Pressrelease1.pdf












No2EU – Yes to Democracy will be contesting seats in the European elections on June 4, 2009 on a platform of opposition to the Lisbon Treaty, against the EU-led privatisation of our public services, for workers’ rights and in protest at the corrupt EU gravy train,alliance convenor Bob Crow announced today.

Speaking at the launch of No2EU –Yes to Democracy in the House of Commons, Bob Crow said that millions of working people felt abandoned by the main political parties and needed a voice to represent them.

“The renamed EU constitution, now called the Lisbon Treaty, would still enshrine right wing Thatcherite economic policies as constitutional goals at a time when this discredited neo-liberal agenda is failing apart.

“We were promised a referendum on this issue by this government in the 2005 election yet it has been taken away from us and the Treaty was rammed through parliament with Lib Dem and Tory help, said the transport union RMT general secretary.
Former MP Dave Nellist said that he was elected in 1983, along with former PM Tony Blair, on an EU-critical platform on the basis that the emerging EU was a cartel of big business interests.

“Today we can see the EU’s privatisation agenda only to well with the endless stream of EU diktats demanding the privatisation of our public services,” he said.
Indian Workers’ Association vice president Avtar Sadiq said that EU’s internal market rules demanding the ‘free movement’ of capital, goods, services and labour within the EU had created conditions for a race to the bottom in terms of wages and conditions inside the EU and a fortress Europe mentality.

“The EU is dividing people not uniting them and this is feeding the rise of racism and fascism across Europe,” he said.

…