Photo Fwd: Peacemakers

Hankyoreh
Peacemakers
Posted on : May.16,2011 13:41 KST

Members of anti-war organizations carry out a protest in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, Seoul, on Sunday, marking International Conscientious Objectors’ Day.
The conscientious objectors lay on the ground to write out the word “peace.”

The South Korean chapter of Amnesty International asked for adoption of alternative service for conscientious objectors in a statement that day, saying that some 950 conscientious objectors to military service are in prison in South Korea.

Baek Jong-keon, a Jehovah Witness and lawyer indicted for refusing to serve in the military filed a petition with a court against the Military Service Law that puts conscientious objectors behind bars on May 9. Under the law, those who refuse military service without legitimate causes are sentenced to imprisonment of up to three years.

International Conscientious Objectors’ Day, organized by War Resisters’ International (WRI) and its affiliated organizations, is observed around the world on May 15. (Photo by Shin So-young)　

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Text Fwd: STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA and BAHRAIN

See also Global Research
International Action Center
STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA
March 19, 2011

On March 17, 2011, Washington showed its true intentions by pushing through a U.N. Security Council resolution that amounts to a declaration of war on the government and people of Libya.

A U.S. attack is the worst possible thing that could happen to the people of Libya. It also puts the unfolding Arab revolutions, which have inspired people across North Africa and Western Asia, in the gravest danger.

The resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could "take all necessary measures" ... "by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime."(CNN.com, Mar 17)

The new resolution not only calls for attacks on Libyan aircraft and air defenses, but authorizes the strafing and bombing of ground forces as well. The U.S. and French governments immediately announced that they were ready to go. Britain and Italy are aiding. In essence the former colonial powers have begun an armed attack on the Libyan government and its people, backing one side of a civil war.

No matter how one feels about Libya today and the role of the Gadhafi government; regardless of how one evaluates the Libyan opposition, a U.S.-led war or intervention in Libya is a disaster for the Libyan people, and for peace and progress around the world.

The U.S. and its allies are repeating over and over the lie that they are trying to "prevent attacks on civilians" and are acting from humanitarian motives. But nobody should be fooled. Consider these “humanitarians” and how they react to Bahrain.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, which is an absolute monarchy. Its people have been valiantly trying to change their government for weeks. They had some initial success. The king responded with deadly repression and later with hints at reform.

On March 14, however, the day after Secretary of Defense Gates visited Bahrain, supposedly to urge "restraint", the Bahraini government commenced a brutal crackdown, backed up by Saudi Arabian troops. Helicopters, tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition were used, killing and injuring many people. Nearly all of Bahrain's security forces are foreign mercenaries.

Unlike the Libyan rebels, the Bahraini people have absolutely no arms. But there has been no talk of a no-fly zone over Bahrain, let alone attacks on the murderous Bahraini and Saudi armies.

This is because the real motivation for the U.S. and its allies in both Bahrain and Libya, and indeed the whole region, is to control the OIL! It is Washington’s main strategic interest and a primary financial interest for U.S. big business.

This is true even though the U.S. is not directly dependent on imported oil from Libya. Oil is a worldwide commodity, and any country which imports oil must deal with a world market, no matter from which individual country or countries they import the oil.

Of even more importance to the U.S. and Europeans is who controls the flow of oil. A military presence or a reliable puppet in Libya would give Washington --and to a lesser extent the European imperialists -- control of the oil spigot to Europe and also establish a military presence in North Africa from which to influence or prevent the development of the revolutions, especially in Egypt and Tunisia.

Not only a demonization campaign against the Libyan leader, but every form of fraud and propaganda is being used to push for this intervention, including a supposed "vote" by the Arab League supporting the latest U.N. resolution. Left unsaid is the fact that only 11 of the 22 members of the League even attended the meeting, which was held behind closed doors. Two of these 11 attending members, Syria and Algeria, made clear that they were completely opposed to military intervention in Libya.

Meanwhile the corporate media has ignored a resolution by the African Union, representing 53 countries, which adamantly rejected a no-fly zone or other intervention.

The U. S. blocked any UN action, even a toothless resolution, during the massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2008 and also during the Israeli bombing and attempted invasion of Lebanon in 2006.

It is important that peace-loving and progressive people around the world develop a consistent approach opposing ALL U.S. intervention. This is the only way to avoid becoming just an echo of the U.S. State Department and Pentagon.

U.S., French, British, Italian hands off Libya!



International Action Center
c/o Solidarity Center
55 W 17th St Suite 5C
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646
iacenter@iacenter.org
www.iacenter.org

Text Fwd: Bitter Memories of War on the Way to Jail

* Image source: same as the link
AP / Susan Walsh
One hundred thirty-one demonstrators, Chris Hedges among them, were arrested in front of the White House on Thursday.

* Text sent from Bruce Gagnon on Dec. 20, 2010

Truth Digg

Bitter Memories of War on the Way to Jail

on Dec 20, 2010
By Chris Hedges

The speeches were over. There was a mournful harmonica rendition of taps. The 500 protesters in Lafayette Park in front of the White House fell silent. One hundred and thirty-one men and women, many of them military veterans wearing old fatigues, formed a single, silent line. Under a heavy snowfall and to the slow beat of a drum, they walked to the White House fence. They stood there until they were arrested.

The solemnity of that funerary march, the hush, was the hardest and most moving part of Thursday’s protest against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It unwound the bitter memories and images of war I keep wrapped in the thick cotton wool of forgetfulness. I was transported in that short walk to places I do not like to go. Strange and vivid flashes swept over me—the young soldier in El Salvador who had been shot through the back of the head and was, as I crouched next to him, slowly curling up in a fetal position to die; the mutilated corpses of Kosovar Albanians in the back of a flatbed truck; the screams of a woman, her entrails spilling out of her gaping wounds, on the cobblestones of a Sarajevo street. My experience was not unique. Veterans around me were back in the rice paddies and lush undergrowth of Vietnam, the dusty roads of southern Iraq or the mountain passes of Afghanistan. Their tears showed that. There was no need to talk. We spoke the same wordless language. The butchery of war defies, for those who know it, articulation.

What can I tell you about war?

War perverts and destroys you. It pushes you closer and closer to your own annihilation—spiritual, emotional and, finally, physical. It destroys the continuity of life, tearing apart all systems, economic, social, environmental and political, that sustain us as human beings. War is necrophilia. The essence of war is death. War is a state of almost pure sin with its goals of hatred and destruction. It is organized sadism. War fosters alienation and leads inevitably to nihilism. It is a turning away from the sanctity of life.

And yet the mythic narratives about war perpetuate the allure of power and violence. They perpetuate the seductiveness of the godlike force that comes with the license to kill with impunity. All images and narratives about war disseminated by the state, the press, religious institutions, schools and the entertainment industry are gross and distorted lies. The clash between the fabricated myth about war and the truth about war leaves those of us who return from war alienated, angry and often unable to communicate. We can’t find the words to describe war’s reality. It is as if the wider culture sucked the words out from us and left us to sputter incoherencies. How can you speak meaningfully about organized murder? Anything you say is gibberish.

The sophisticated forms of industrial killing, coupled with the amoral decisions of politicians and military leaders who direct and fund war, hide war’s reality from public view. But those who have been in combat see death up close. Only their story tells the moral truth about war. The power of the Washington march was that we all knew this story. We had no need to use stale and hackneyed clichés about war. We grieved together.

Photos Fwd: Pan-Korean people’s rally for the Lee Myung-Bak regime’s OUT and for the people’s right to live 이명박 정권 퇴진 민중생존권 쟁취 전국민중대회 열려

Pan Korean People’s Rally:
Lee Myung-Bak OUT!

No War! Convert the Hyundae irregular jobs to regular jobs!
No ROK-US FTA! No Four River Project!
Seoul Square/ 3pm, Dec. 18, 2010

The leaflet(front) of the rally, Dec. 18 (scanned)
Click the image for larger view
이미지를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다

The leaflet(back) of the rally, Dec. 18 (scanned)
Click the image for larger view
이미지를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다

________________________________________________
* Related blogs 관련 블로그들

Friday, December 17, 2010
Photo Fwd: The new-elected chairpersons of the pan-Korean university student body announce ‘ No war-statement regarding the state of affairs

Friday, December 17, 2010
Text Fwd: S. Korea to stage live-fire drill on border island shelled by N. Korea

Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Poster Fwd: Pan-Korean People's Rally on Dec. 18
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* Photo credits if the below two: Kim Do-Yeon, News Cham, Dec. 18, 2010 김도연, 뉴스 참, 2010년 12월 18일

Pan-Korean people’s rally for the Lee Myung-Bak regime’s OUT and for the people’s right to live,
3pm, Seoul Square

* A sign reads:

Jeong Mong-Goo, President of the Hyundae Automobile Co.,
Stop a raging wind of oppression on labor union!

(The spark for people's liberation-The 53rd student body of the Seoul University (Preparatory)

________________________________________________
* Photo credits if the below seven: Yang Ji –Woong, Voice of People, Dec. 18, 2010 양지웅, 민중의 소리

* A sign reads: Peace to the Yeonpyeong-do! Routine life to its residents! (SPARK)

The two signs read:

Does the Lee Myung-Bak government want war?(SPARK)
Peace can never be brought by the Yeonpyong-do fire drill!(SPARK)

The red signs read:
Lee Myung-Bak government OUT!

Kim Young-Hoon, The Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions speaks

The yellow signs read:
Let's win the people's right to live!

Lets' hold the candles of vision again!

The green sign reads:
Let's make the West Sea (Yellow Sea) into the Sea of Peace!(SPARK)

________________________________________________

* Video source: Kim Joon-Chul, Voice of People, Dec. 17, 2010, 김준철, 민중의 소리
많은 의혹 품은 연평도 훈련 중단하라!
Stop the Yeonpyeong-do drill of many suspicions!



민주노동당과 평화와통일을여는사람들, 한국진보연대 등 시민사회단체는 17일 국방부 앞에서 기자회견을 열고 18일 부터 21일 사이에 재개하는 '연평도 사격훈련을 철회할 것을 촉구했다.

The civic organizations such as the Democratic Labor Party, the Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, Korean Alliance of Progressive Movements, having the press interview on front of the Ministry of National Defense on Dec. 17, 2010, demanded to stop the Yeonpyeong-do fire drill which that been resumed between Dec. 18 to 21. 2010.
________________________________________________

국문: 한국 단체들 논평 및 성명서

1. [제 단체 12월 17일 공동 성명서] 전쟁위기 조장하는 연평도 사격훈련 즉각 철회하라

발제:

합동참모본부는 18일부터 21일 사이에 재개하기로 발표한 연평도 사격훈련 계획을 즉각 철회해야 한다.

우리는 이명박 정부가 국회 날치기로 분노하고 있는 국민들의 민심을 희석시키기 위해 의도적이고 계획적으로 연평도 사격훈련을 재개하려는 것으로 밖에 볼 수 없다. 서해발 전쟁공포로 온나라가 혼란한 틈을 타 국회에서 예산안 날치기를 강행하더니, 국민의 거센 비난으로 국정 전반이 위기에 몰리자 결국 또다시 안보장사로 위기를 모면하려는 것이 아닌가?

* 전문은 링크1, 또는 링크 2, 또는 링크 3 클릭
....................................................................
2. [정욱식, 2010. 12. 17] 누구를 위한, 무엇을 위한 연평도 훈련인가

발제:

여기서 주목되는 것은 미국의 태도 변화이다. 미국은 북한의 연평도 포격 이후 여러 차례에 걸쳐 남한에게 연평도 사격훈련 자제를 요청한 것으로 알려졌다. 그러나 이번에는 주한미군까지 투입해 남한을 지원하기로 했다. 1차적으로는 강력한 한미동맹과 북한의 도발 의지를 꺾겠다는 ‘불굴의 의지’를 과시하기 위한 목적으로 보인다.

[..]

연평도 피격 직후 뉴욕타임즈는 사설을 통해 북한의 공격을 강력히 규탄하면서도, “우리는 남한 대통령이 누가 그 아이디어(북한 인근 수역에서 사격훈련)를 고안했는지 물어보기를 희망한다”며 남한의 사격훈련 실시에 안타까움을 나타냈다. 대북 규탄에 동참한 러시아 정부 역시 남한의 사격훈련 실시가 북한의 과잉대응을 촉발한 원인 가운데 하나라는 입장을 밝힌 바 있다.

* 전문은 여기 클릭

....................................................................
3. [범민련 남측 본부, 2010년 12월 18일 논평] 자위권, 평시훈련, 정전협정준수는 기만

발제:

군 사적으로 민감한 연평도 인근에서 ‘평시훈련’조차 있어서도 안 될 뿐 아니라 지금의 ‘해상 사격훈련’은 미국과 이명박이 천안함사건 조작과 모략의 연장선상에서 올해 하반기 내내 북침 전쟁연습을 전개하겠다고 공언한 ‘전쟁국면’ 상태에서 벌이는 명백한 ‘전시훈련’이다. 특히 ‘해상 사격훈련이 정전협정을 준수하는 가운데 정당하게 실시된다’며 계속 정전협정과 관련한 궤변을 늘어놓고 있는 바, 정전협정은 “최후적인 평화적 해결이 달성될 때까지 조선에서의 적대행위와 일체 무장행동의 완전한 정지를 보장하는 정전”협정이다.

* 전문은 여기 클릭

.....................................................................

4. [12. 17 제 단체 공동 성명서] 아프가니스탄 한국인 노동자 피랍사건 : 더 큰 무장 갈등과 재앙을 낳기 전에 철군하라

발제

지난 13일 아프가니스탄 북부 사마간주의 한 도로건설 현장에서 한국인 노동자 2명이 탈레반으로 추정되는 무장저항세력에 피랍됐다가 총격전 끝에 풀려나는 끔찍한 일이 발생했다. 당시 건설 현장을 호위하던 아프가니스탄 경찰 2명도 함께 피랍됐다가 풀려났다. 우리는 이명박 정부가 “다시는 파병하지 않겠다”던 약속을 번복하고 아프가니스탄에 재파병을 강행한다면 파병 군인들과 국민들이 공격의 표적이 될 것이라고 경고해 왔다. 이번 피랍 사건은 우려가 또다시 현실로 드러난 것으로, 더 큰 재앙을 낳기 전에 파병된 한국군은 즉각 철군해야 한다.

* 전문은 여기1 또는 여기 2 클릭

..........................................................

5. [사회 진보 연대, 2010년 12월 15일] 이주노조 위원장 탄압 중단하고 이주노동자 결사의 자유 보장하라: 세계 이주민의 날을 맞이하며

발제:

이번 12월 18일은 11번째를 맞이하는 세계 이주민의 날이다. 2000년 12월에 시작된 세계 이주민의 날은 1990년 12월 18일에 UN 총회에서 ‘모든 이주노동자와 그 가족의 권리 보호에 관한 국제협약(이하 이주노동자협약)’이 채택된 것을 기념하는 날이다. 전 세계에서 이주노동자와 그 지지자들은 이 날을 통해 이주민에 대해 차별적이고 억압적인 정책, 노동조건, 사회 관습의 변화를 요구하고 국가가 존중해야 하는 최저 기본 기준을 설정한 이주노동자협약을 비준할 것을 정부에 촉구한다.

* 전문은 여기 클릭

Video & Text Fwd: [Organzing Notes] 138 activists against war were arrested in the Washington DC on Dec. 16 미국 수도 워싱턴에서 활동가들이 전쟁 반대를 외치다 138 명 체포됨

* Video source: Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes, Dec. 18, 2010

* Image source: Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes, Dec. 17, 2010

* Image source: Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes, Dec. 17, 2010

* Image source: Organizing Notes, Dec. 18, 2010

___________________________________

Organizing Notes
Saturday, December 18, 2010
THE HOPE MAN IN ACTION
(* [Video] Chris Hedges’s speech in the Washington D.C. on Dec. 18, 2010)

Organizing Notes
Saturday, December 18, 2010
HOLIDAY PARTY CONVERSATIONS

EXCERPT

See no evil, hear nothing but NPR, say Merry Xmas!

By Lisa Savage

Anyway, I was in a discussion about the weather for upcoming holiday travel with two people I have known for years. They were wondering if it was snowing in Washington DC that day and I said that it was because I had just seen a video of a snowy scene where "hundreds of people got arrested today for chaining themselves to the White House fence."

[..]

I can't be sure about any of that, but I am pretty sure about this: any literate person with Internet acces who cannot identify Bradley Manning is in a willful state of ignorance.

............................................................

Organizing Notes
Saturday, December 18, 2010
WITHDRAW YOUR CONSENT FOR WAR

............................................................

Organizing Notes
Friday, December 17, 2010
WAITING ON THE PARK POLICE

EXCERPT

We were told over and over again today that their computers were down…… just imagine all that money paid to corporations to run these big government computer systems and they don’t work. But we never believed this one. They were just pushing us to pay the $100 fine as they kept telling us that if we would just hand over the money we could leave right away – they wouldn’t need the computer to process that transaction they said – yeah right!

[..]

Former career CIA agent Ray McGovern was arrested with us yesterday. He had this to say about what he hoped to see come of the exercise in civil disobedience:

There's a saying that hope is the twin. Augustin said that hope has two daughters-- anger and courage. What we have seen in our [trying to stop the war] policy is a lot of anger.....but anger is not enough, you've got to have courage.

............................................................

Organizing Notes
Thursday, December 16, 2010
UP AGAINST THE FENCE

EXCERPT

The best speech of the day, at the rally that kicked off the event, was by award winning journalist Chris Hedges. He has often been criticized for his strong and direct analysis of the current situation in the U.S. (his book called "The Death of the Liberal Class" being one example) but today he challenged us using the word "hope" over and over again. He told us that civil resistance to the empire, at a time when reform is dead inside the halls of Washington DC, is the only way to create hope.

[..]

We've got to increase our efforts to connect the dots between war spending and social collapse.

See two photo slideshows from the action here and here

Additional video coverage here

______________________________________

Related blog

Friday, December 17, 2010
Text Fwd: STOP THE WAR GRAVY TRAIN

______________________________________

* Also from Stephanie Westbrook via USC4P&J mailing list on Dec. 18, 2010

'Action at the White House yesterday led by veterans as Obama, Gates e Clinton present their "strategy" for Afghanistan and Pakistan. 131 arrested, including Daniel Ellsberg, best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers during Vietnam. It was his 80th arrest for civil disobedience (and soon he will celebrate his 80th birthday). Photos: http://tinyurl.com/34kumsg Video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/video/video_3684.html?1292533016 More on the web site: http://www.stopthesewars.org/'

Poster Fwd: Pan-Korean People's Rally on Dec. 18

*Image source: Korean Alliance of Progressive Movements; Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification, South Korean branch; and many other Korean organization sites

Pan Korean People’s Rally:
Lee Myung-Bak OUT!

No War! Convert the Hyundae irregular jobs to regular jobs!
No ROK-US FTA! No Four River Project!
Seoul Square/ 3pm, Dec. 18, 2010

Click the image for larger view
이미지를 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.

Photos Fwd: Some voices of the G20 protest, Seoul, Korea, Nov. 11/ 11월 11일 G20 반대 시위의 목소리들

__________________________________________________________
* Summary of the contents and details of program, anti G20 protest, Nov. 11, 2010
* Yonhap News article after the rally, Nov. 11, 2010
__________________________________________________________
* Related blogs

[In Update] People’s Response Action against G-20
[엎데이트중] G20대응민중행동

Photos Fwd:[Benjamin Hiller] G20 Seoul, Nov. 11: 10.000 rally against G20 Summit. Only minor scuffles.
[사진: 벤자민 힐러] 2010년 11월11일 서울 G20 시위: G20 정상들에 반대해 1만여명 집회. 작은 난투뿐.

Photos Fwd:[Jeffrey Bright] G20 Protests Seoul, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진: 제프리 브라이트] 서울, 2010년 11월11일, G20 시위
__________________________________________________________

Click the images for larger views
이미지들을 클릭하시면 확대됩니다.

_____________________________________________
1. Stop the war and dispatch_Anti-War Peace Solidarity

Stop the plan to dispatch special warfare force to the UAE!
Not war and arms cost but jobs and welfare!
Stop the occupation of Afghanistan!/ South Korean troops, withdraw from Afghanistan!

Veterans for Peace and All Together members distribute the fliers on no-dispatch troops to the UAE and withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Flier front
Not war and arms cost but jobs and welfare!(* title translation)
Anti-War Peace Solidarity

Flier back
G20 summit meeting is the festival by the nations
cooperating in occupation and and massacre! (*title translation)
All the occupation forces and ROK troops should withdraw from Afghanistan!

_____________________________________________

2. International voices: No G20!

A representative from the international association of the wood workers speaks

A representative from Canada who went through G20 last time talks on solidarity

A representative from France who will go through G20 next time opposes G20

_____________________________________________

3. Some voices that have to be told as well

Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea members
No ROK-US alliance! No US troops in Korea! No FTA!

No Four River Project!

Street vendors are angry!
'Stop the crackdown on the street vendors with the pretext of G20!'

Valeo Korea, withdraw from fake closing-business and lay-off of all the workers!

KEC, metal union workers in Koomee will make victory over oppression

Hanjin Heavy Industry workers are angry at their company managers who, ignoring the agreement between them and company, attempt to make them pay for company crisis.

Go away, G20!

Do not make people pay for their crisis!
No G20!

False G for those G20, True G for all the people on the globe.

Confiscate and nationalize all the banks, financial institutes and monopoly capital!
The spirit of Jeon Tae-Il still lives all these 40years!

Photos Fwd:[Benjamin Hiller] G20 Seoul: 10.000 rally against G20 Summit. Only minor scuffles. [사진: 벤자민 힐러] 2010년 11월11일 서울 G20 시위: 1만여명 집회. 작은 난투만.

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* Summary of the contents and details of program, anti G20 protest, Nov. 11, 2010
* Yonhap News article after the rally, Nov. 11, 2010
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* Related blogs

[In Update] People’s Response Action against G-20
[엎데이트중] G20대응민중행동

Photos Fwd: Some voices of the G20 protest, Seoul, Korea, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진] 2010년 11월 11일 G20 시위의 어떤 목소리들

Photos Fwd:[Jeffrey Bright] G20 Protests Seoul, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진: 제프리 브라이트] 서울, 2010년 11월11일, G20 시위
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* All the courtesy of image & caption source: Benjamin Hiller in the Demotix

* A marshal law in 2010?
Abolish the G20 security law!
Protect the freedom of the rally!
Headquarter of the Anti-G20 solidarity university students' movement

'Today around 10.000 Demonstrators protested against the G20 Summit held in Seoul.

After international activists and union leaders held speeches at the Seoul Station in the core of the city the demonstrators breached through a police line to start their march. After around one hour the march stopped an an further police barrier.

Their it came again to some minor scuffles and a small fire. The police was with several thousand men in the area present, as well as with heavy gear.'

SEE MORE PHOTOS on the same subject by Benjamin Hiller in the Demotix