Feature Archives

On February 25th, 2010, activists and organizations from around the world joined together in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Hebron/al Khaleel, through local protests that demand the opening of Shuhada Street to Palestinians and an end to the Israeli occupation. In San Francisco, nine were arrests, after protesters holding a banner that read "Israeli Apartheid closes streets" closed off Powell Street and refused police orders to disperse, while a crowd of hundreds looked on cheering. In Al-Khalil, a peaceful march to Shuhada st, was met with tear gas, stun grenades, and arrests.

On Saturday, February 6, a rally in support of the Iranian people and marking the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Iranian 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."

On January 28, at around 9pm Andrea Caraballo, Guadalupe Rodriguez Lopez, James Wells and Jennifer Lawhorne were eating ice cream in the zocalo of Oaxaca. At that time, one of them recognized the face of the governor of Oaxaca who was about nine feet away. A friend of Brad Will took advantage of the governor’s presence to ask him about the case of Mr. Will, which to this day remains unresolved.

Bradley Roland Will, a journalist with New York City Indymedia, was shot and killed in October 2006 during the six-month long uprising in Oaxaca. His assailants are believed to be local officials with ties to the ruling political party.

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, labor, 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."

UPDATES: First-hand video, photos, and reports from Vancouver are being posted to Indybay by the Friendly Fire Collective.

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 more than 100,000 people are feared dead. Among the buildings that collapsed were the Presidential Palace, the UN headquarters and at least one hospital in the capital.

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. On January 9th, Egypt announced it will ban all aid convoys travelling to Gaza, tightening its blockade against the people of Gaza.

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."