International News

CodePink hosted a demonstration and press conference at U.C. Berkeley Law School on January 11, the 21st anniversary of Guantanamo Prison. The demand was for the Biden administration to close Guantanamo, free the 20 men cleared for release yet still detained, and prosecute U.C. law professor John Yoo for complicity in torture. It was John Yoo who provided the legalistic rationale for torture at US prisons throughout the world.

On December 25, Bethlehem commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a holy time of year for residents and visitors. Many people picture a sleepy, picturesque town surrounded by hills, dotted with sheep, but the reality in the city of Bethlehem is much different. It is a historic and troubled town. Since the municipal Christmas tree was lit on December 3, Israeli forces and settlers have committed a number of human rights abuses in the area.

On November 3, close to a hundred demonstrators protested the US blockade of Cuba at San Francisco's Federal building. The action was timed to coordinate with the UN's 185 to 2 vote to condemn the US economic war against Cuba. After music and speeches, the demonstrators marched to, appropriately, United Nations Plaza and held another rally in front of the statue of Simon Bolivar, a hero of South America's liberation struggles.

On February 24, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine, claiming its goals were to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" the country. Bay Area Ukrainians protested in San Francisco on February 26 and 27, many agreeing with calls for maximal NATO involvement. On March 6, Code Pink and other anti-war organizations called for a Global Day of Action to protest the invasion, while also pointing to NATO expansion as having contributed to the crisis.

International Human Rights Day was marked on December 10 by a diverse protest at San Francisco's Federal Building, calling out worldwide crimes against humanity. Countries and policies targeted were the US-supported Saudi war in Yemen, fascists in Myanmar, Israeli colonization of Palestine, attacks against the free press, police brutality, and the US Supreme Court's attack on women. Protesters later marched to a second rally at Powell and Market Streets.

Members of the Yemeni-American community and world peace activists grieved on the third anniversary of the loss of 40 children whose lives were taken by a 500 pound US-made, Saudi and United Arab Emirates-led bomb. On August 8 in San Francisco, demonstrators laid down 40 pairs of shoes and 40 backpacks to memorialize each child's life. Speakers at the rally co-hosted by Yemini Alliance Committee said that the US government is complicit in the devastation to life and land as it continues to arm Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Alan Clements has been on a quest for freedom that’s taken him to Myanmar, Yugoslavia, Australia, Bali, and even to Santa Cruz. He’s been a Buddhist monk, a performer, and an investigative journalist in areas of war and extreme conflict. Clements’ books, stage performances, and World Dharma meditation retreats have always grappled with the challenge of living open-hearted and authentic in a world of suffering and violence. His latest book — Extinction X-Rated — is part autobiography and partly a “dark satire about good and evil.”

In response to Israel's bombing of Gaza in early May, the Arab Resource & Organizing Center mobilized to prevent the docking of Israeli ships, in solidarity with the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement. Action at the Port of Oakland was one of many protests throughout the Bay Area against Israel's recent attacks against Palestinians. When the Israeli container ship Volans attempted to unload in Oakland on June 4, hundreds of protesters picketed until it left the port.

The UN has repeatedly called Yemen the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, and people around the world responded with a a Day of Action on January 25. In San Francisco, activists participated in COVID-safe in-person rallies and held a large caravan protest. An international online rally included American academic Cornel West. Activists called on President Biden to honor his campaign promise and end the war by ending US support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

An anonymous communiqué reads: On January 18, as strong winds raged, 30+ anti-racists attacked the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco. We thoroughly painted the walls, smashed the windows, and breached the building to wreak havoc inside.... We join all prisoners and ICE detainees who continue to fight by way of hunger strikes, escapes, and riots against repression and neglect from the State. We see you, we hear you, until every prison door and border wall is open. Solidarity means attack!

Facebook blocked hundreds of accounts days before a September 21 online event targeting the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The pipeline is set to cut through sovereign Wet’suwet’en land, defiantly ignoring hereditary chiefs of their rights, title, and consent for the project. The project would lock in decades of increased fracked gas and the impacts to climate, air, water and the risks posed to Indigenous camps built along the route.

The World Health Organization officially named COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. As of that date, over 128,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide and 4,717 people have died (updated statistics). Among the most vulnerable are the elderly, the immunocompromised, the prison population, people who are experiencing homelessness, and hospital workers who have a high likelihood of exposure to the contagious virus as they care for the public health.