Feature Archives

Armed with bazookas, instruments and colorful posters, residents of Santa Cruz will show their support on Tuesday, June 10th at 3:30pm in favor of a pending city resolution requesting that all US military aid to Colombia be re-directed to domestic drug prevention and rehabilitation programs, which have been shown to be more effective in the “war on drugs.” Bert Muhly of Tres Americas will speak on the issue, as well as Sandra Alvarez, long time Colombia activist and Ph.D candidate at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Monday, May 12, 2008: In Lebanon, armed clashes over the past week have left at least 81 dead. Fighting erupted last week during a general strike called by the General Federation of Labor Unions to protest the high cost of living. On May 8th, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah held a press conference in Beirut and condemned a decision by the Lebanese cabinet to outlaw Hezbollah's telecommunication network and dismiss the head of Airport security for his alleged ties to the party. Nasrallah said their private communication network was critical to their success during the July 2006 war with Israel. Hezbollah-led opposition forces quickly overpowered pro-government militias and took over large parts of the capital city of Beirut before handing over control to the Lebanese army.

The work stoppage at all 29 West Coast ports on May 1, 2008 by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) was an historic turning point for the U.S. labor movement. For the first time in more than seventy years, a major U.S. trade union led marches and a system-wide strike on May Day. And for the first time ever, it was not for economic reasons, but for the political demand to end the disastrous and debilitating U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thirty-eight years ago, on May 4, 2008, at Ohio’s Kent State University, the National Guard opened fire on students protesting the US war in Vietnam. The students were shot from distances of 275 to 400 feet, giving lie to claims that the students posed a threat to the Guardsmen. Four students were murdered and nine were injured. Nobody ever did time for those murders.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is helping put together the largest Iraq war spending bill yet. The aim appears to be to fund the war for nearly six months into the next president's term to prevent a new Democratic President from having to vote for the war without risking the war actually ending. On April 28th, Code Pink started a peace vigil on the front porch of Pelosi's house in San Francisco to urge her to not give the President another blank check for the occupation of Iraq

On May 1st, the US assassinated Aden Hashi Eyrow, one of senior leaders of Somalia’s Islamist movement, in an air strike that killed at least 10 other people. Many in Somalia have taken up arms to resist a US backed occupation by Ethiopian troops. Violence has increased in the past year and there have been many well documented cases of war crimes by Ethiopian troops. The upsurge in violence comes as the country is on the brink of a severe drought. The number of people in need of assistance in Somalia has increased to 2.6 million people (35% of the total population), an increase of more than 40% since January 2008.

Direct Action to Stop the War brought its anti-war focus to May Day actions in San Francisco and Oakland on May 1st. Starting at 5:45 a.m. at West Oakland BART, DASW lead a community picket to shut down the Union Pacific rail lines at the Port of Oakland. From 12:30-2:30pm, DASW marched from Justin Herman Plaza to protests at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center (670 Davis St. at Broadway) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (630 Sansome St. at Washington St.). DASW also had a contingent at labor and immigrant rights demonstrations on May Day.