On Saturday, February 6, a rally in support of the Iranian people and commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the 1979 revolution will be held at 1pm at the Plaza De Cesar Chavez in San Jose. "The Iranian Revolution of 1979 stopped short of establishing a democratic government," say event organizers. "But today, after enduring more than three decades of renewed repression, Iranians are protesting once again to complete a mission that was left unfinished."

Rally organizer NorCal4Iran is inviting the public to join and "declare our unity and our support for these brave people and their struggles. We are not going to watch silently as our brothers and sisters lose their life and endure imprisonment, torture, rape, and violent death, just for peacefully asking for their basic constitutional, civil, and human rights. We are here to let the world know about the brutality of this atrocious and illegitimate government, and to reflect on the voices of people’s demands for freedom and peace to the whole world. Let us hope that our tears, blood, and cries would win over the tyranny and help bring it down." Read more

Previously: Global Day of Action to Express Solidarity with the Iranian People

From the Olympic Resistance Network: "The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver and Whistler, on unceded Indigenous land, February 12–28. We call on all anti-capitalist, Indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice, environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, and anti-colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We are organizing towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games." Read more

Police State Canada 2010 and the Olympic Crackdown | Resist 2010: Eight Reasons to Oppose the 2010 Winter Olympics | McDonald's Attacked by Hooligans

On January 12th, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. The earthquake was centered ten miles southwest of Haiti's capital Port-Au-Prince and was the largest earthquake to strike the Caribbean nation in more than two centuries. Buildings have collapsed and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN he believed more than 100,000 people have died. Among the buildings that collapsed were the Presidential Palace, the UN headquarters and at least one hospital in the capital.

The earthquake struck around 5:00pm and was followed by at least 27 aftershocks, the largest two of which were 5.9 and 5.5 in magnitude. René Préval, the president of Haiti, has described how he had been forced to step over dead bodies and heard the cries of those trapped under the rubble of the national parliament. "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," he told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."

The last time an earthquake of this magnitude hit the south of Hispaniola, the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, was in 1751. USGS geophysicist Kristin Marano has called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti. According to Moreau de Saint-Méry, while "only one masonry building had not collapsed" in Port-au-Prince during the 1751 earthquake, "the whole city collapsed" during the earthquake of 1770 earthquake. The city of Cap-Haïtien and other cities in the northern part of Haiti and the Dominican Republic were destroyed in an earthquake in 1842. In 1946, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck the Dominican Republic and also shook Haiti, producing a tsunami that killed 1,790 people.

Democracy Now Coverage: 1/13 | 1/14 | 1/15 | Flashpoints Coverage

Remember When We Talked About Imperialism? | WSWS: Major earthquake devastates Haitian capital | Haiti earthquake feared to have killed many | Haiti's National Palace Collapsed In Earthquake

Haiti Action: An Urgent Appeal from the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund | Allow Aristide to return to Haiti now

Wikipedia: 2010 Haiti Earthquake | USGS: Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Strikes Haiti | Haiti911 Photos

On the first anniversary of the Israeli military assault on Gaza, the Gaza Freedom March, trapped in Cairo, marched not only against the Israeli siege on Gaza, but also against an Egyptian blockade. On New Year’s Day 2010, Gaza Freedom March delegates ratified the historic Cairo Declaration, launching a global boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against Israeli apartheid.

The international delegation of the Gaza Freedom March had originally planned to arrive in Gaza on December 29, 2009, to join a march against the Israeli blockade together with residents of Gaza on December 31. Instead, most of its delegates remained in Cairo, having been blocked from going to the Rafah border by the Egyptian government, and found itself marching against the Egyptian blockade on Gaza instead.

The Gaza Freedom March sought to highlight the plight of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza on the first anniversary of the Israeli invasion of the densely-populated Palestinian territory by entering Gaza with humanitarian aid for water purification, school materials, medicines, and other much needed supplies. After Israel tightened its blockade on Gaza after the election of a Hamas majority in the elections of January 2006, Egypt has refused to give open permission for foreign citizens to enter Gaza through Rafah until the last minute.
Jan. 4 report by Sharat G. Lin, who traveled to Cairo from San Jose

On January 9th, Egypt announced it will ban all aid convoys travelling to Gaza, tightening its blockade against the people of Gaza. On January 8th, Egypt deported British MP George Galloway, who had been participating in the Gaza Freedom March. Galloway has now been banned from ever returning to Egypt.

Egyptian Riot Cops Attack Humanitarian Workers in Viva Palestina Aid Convoy to Gaza | Video of the attack on Viva Palestina‏ | Blocking Freedom Marcher/Viva Palestina Aid to Gaza | Viva Palestina Convoy Enters Gaza

Gaza Freedom March: detained at the US embassy | Will Egypt's underground wall end the Gaza tunnel trade? | Galloway Deported, Banned From Egypt | Egypt bans Gaza aid convoys

Clare Bayard, from Dialogues Against Militarism, writes: "In Silwan, a neighborhood of East Jerusalem adjacent to the Old City, Palestinian families sometimes demolish their own homes when the notice comes because they can't afford to pay the fines levied upon people after the army bulldozes their houses. Sometimes the eviction notice gives them days, and other times a few hours to pull out several generations' of possessions before the house is demolished. Sometimes people are given 15 minutes to get out of their house before tear gas is fired through the windows.

"Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, 'transferring' thousands of Palestinians from West Jerusalem, which legally obliges the Israeli government to follow the Geneva Conventions that prohibit destruction of housing and property of occupied people. Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized, as is Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its unified capital. But Jerusalem, the Palestinian capital known in Arabic as al-Quds, is a key battleground in the demographic war that Israel is waging to 'reduce density' of Palestinians, with housing struggle as a primary weapon. The goal is to create a solid Jewish majority throughout Occupied East Jerusalem, with contiguous connections to the massive illegal settlement blocs spreading out into the West Bank. Half a million Israeli settlers currently colonize the West Bank, with more than a third of those in East Jerusalem." Read more

First They Came For the Palestinians.... Sheikh Jarrah as the Embryo of a Future Society | Israeli Police Charge Protesters in Sheikh Jarra‏h, Beat and Arrest 23 people | More than 50 Palestinians Evicted from Jerusalem Homes

For reasons unknown, Cannabis Culture Magazine's Facebook page has been disabled by the popular social networking site. The page, which had over 25,000 fans, disappeared on December 23, 2009.

Shortly afterward, administrators of the page received an email notification stating that the page violated Facebook's terms of use. Cannabis Culture editors contacted Facebook and hope to have the page reinstated soon. They are still trying to figure out how the page violated Facebook's terms, and are hopeful that Facebook does not consider discussion of cannabis to be "obscene."

According to Cheryl Shuman, Executive Director of Beverly Hills NORML 90210, her Facebook account was also removed on December 23, 2009. Shuman reports that, "Within 24 hours of me updating my posts to include that I'm beginning a national media campaign for Beverly Hills NORML, my account was just pulled!"

Read More | Cannabis Culture Magazine | Beverly Hills NORML 90210

On Friday, December 11th, more then 150 people marched to Sheikh Jarrah to show support and solidarity with the families who have been evicted from their houses, and those facing evictions. Upon arriving at the neighborhood, the protesters continued to the Al-Kurd’s home where settlers have taken over parts of the house, making the Al-Kurd lives a living hell.

The Israeli courts, who never acknowledge the rights of Palestinian refugees, have ruled that four families who were evicted from their homes and land in the Nakba ("disaster") of 1948, are to to be evicted again from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah, since the land was owned by Jews some 50 years ago. The court never dealt with the houses and land that were taken from these Palestinian families (and that are now populated by Israelis) since Israeli laws allow for the confiscation of properties of Palestinians refugees. The Palestinian families were removed not to house the descendants of the land's original owners, but for settlers from an extremist organization (Ateret Cohanim) working to expel all Palestinians from Jerusalem.

After an Israeli flag, which represents colonialism and more then 60 years of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, was removed from the stolen settler house window, the police charged the protesters, beating and arresting 23 people, three of them internationals. Requests by some arrestees for medical attention after being pepper-sprayed and beaten were ignored by the police immediately after the arrests.

Update: This Friday (December 18) again, a peaceful demonstration of around 300 people, held in solidarity with the evicted Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, was violently dispersed by the Israeli police.

Read more | Another weekend in Sheikh Jarrah | Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem- What Can Be Done From Abroad | Sheikh Jarrah is no fairy tale

Older Coverage: More than 50 Palestinians Evicted from Jerusalem Homes

Global UN Climate negotiations are proceeding in Copenhagen with over one hundred heads of state expected to attend in the next week. 2009 was the fifth hottest year on record, and scientists are saying a Climate Treaty is more urgent with global carbon emissions still increasing and acidification threatening marine biodiversity.

On December 12th, 100,000 people took to the streets of Copenhagen, but around 3pm police charged into the march and made arbitrary arrests of an estimated 1,000 people. Further protests are occurring over the next week inside the conference center and on the streets.

Read More | Indymedia.org Coverage | 350.org | Denmark Indymedia | Live Video Coverage

Copenhagen Protests: Danish police arrest nearly 1,000 protesters at climate conference | Supporting Poor, Vulnerable Nations | Glimpse at Activist Preparations in Copenhagen | Naomi Klein: Fate of Planet Rests on Mass Movement for Climate Justice | Climate Justice Activists Enter Day 34 of Hunger Strike

UN Climate Negotiations: G77 Chief Condemns Secret US-Danish Climate Deal | Walden Bello: Climate and Capitalism in Copenhagen | Bolivia responds to US on Climate Debt: "If you break it, you buy it."

Impacts Of Climate Change: Climate Change is a Feminist Issue | Scientist: Extinction threatens Coral Reefs unless CO2 limited to 350ppm | Indigenous Leaders at the Front Line of Climate Change | Angelique Kidjo Speaks Out on Climate Change

Recent Local Indybay Climate Change Coverage: Protest at Chevron Headquarters in San Ramon | N30 - International Day of Action for Climate Justice | Climate Activists Rally by the Ocean, the Redwoods, in Cities and Suburbs

On December 1st 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he would send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan in the coming months, bringing the total number of American troops occupying Afghanistan to nearly 100,000. Describing the war as "not just America's war," Obama vowed to start bringing the troops back home by the middle of 2011.

The ANSWER Coalition has joined with six other national anti-war organizations and issued an appeal asking people to take immediate action in their communities against the war in Afghanistan the day that the Obama administration announces its plans to expand the war. On December 2nd, several hundred protesters gathered at 5pm at Powell and Market in San Francisco to voice their opposition for Obama's war plans.
Photos | Event Details

Democracy Now Report | Oppose Obama’s escalation of the Afghan-Pakistan war! | Vietnam Vet, Scholar Andrew Bacevichon Obama War Plan | Kucinich on Afghanistan War | American Party of Labor Response | Juan Cole: Top Ten things that Could Derail Obama's Afghanistan Plan | Obama issues order for escalation in Afghanistan | More troops to Afghanistan, but the public is wary | In Afghan Debate, Few Antiwar Op-Eds in Nation's Two Leading Newspapers | Obama Partnering with Afghan Gov't But is there any there there?

Previous Indybay Coverage: Afghan Women Speak Out Against Occupation and Fundamentalism | Protest in SF on 8th Anniversary of the War in Afghanistan | SF Action in Response to Escalation of the War in Afghanistan

On November 30th, the 10th anniversary of the global justice movement’s successful non-violent shut-down of the WTO in Seattle, activists exposed some of San Francisco’s worst climate criminals, demanding that they stop financing climate change and standing in the way of climate solutions. They also demanded that these corporations stop lobbying against climate policy and blocking a strong international agreement at Copenhagen.

Protesters met at Justin Herman Plaza marched to a non-violent civil disobedience at the Bank of America where about two dozen people were arrested. Activists elsewhere set out for other targets.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Video: 1 | 2 | 3
Realtime Video and Photo Updates
Actions from Around North America

See Also: Announcement | Earth First Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Training for Int'l Day of Action for Climate | Mobilization for Climate Justice, West

Previous Related Indybay Features: U.S. Climate Policy Slammed by Climate Justice Protest in San Francisco | August 15 Mobilization for Climate Justice at Chevron’s Polluting Oil Refinery in Richmond

David Shulman writes: "I’ve been trying to explain in my talk why I keep going down to the South Hebron hills when, after all, our impact on the situation there is so minimal, so pointillist, the task so Sisyphean, the sense of futility so overwhelming. I claimed that despite all this, there is something good about being there, in those landscapes and with those people, and that it had something to do with the difference between truth and falsehood.

"There are, it seems, situations when the distinction is truly palpable. I listen to my prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, say that he hopes the Palestinians 'will get their act together, so that negotiations can begin.

"You hear the lie at once, and you can’t help noticing how thin and superficial it is, how lacking in any human depth; also, of course, how astonishingly twisted and corrupt. We live in the midst of swirling clouds of lies. 'That’s the thing about South Hebron,' Amiel says. 'It exposes the lie and reveals the truth in all its clarity.'"

Read More | Photos: The People of Bir al-Eid Return Home, attacked by settlers after less then a week | B'Tselem: Means of Expulsion - Violence, Harassment and Lawlessness Toward Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills