Many social movements from across the Americas were in Trinidad for the 4th People’s Summit to articulate their demands for moving the hemisphere towards economic (including trade) and climate justice, food sovereignty, human rights, and an end to militarization. They represented movements of women, peasants, indigenous peoples, labor and those struggling for environmental justice.
Sunday marked Land Day in Palestine and around the world. Land Day is an annual commemoration of the events of March 30, 1976, when the Israeli army and police killed six unarmed Palestinian protesters and injured 96 others during a peaceful protest in the Galilee. More than 300 people were also arrested in the demonstration opposing the Israeli authorities' seizure of 5,500 acres as "closed military zones."
Gaza: War on civilians in the world's largest open-air prison[1]
Grassroots International Board Member Marie Kennedy and staff member Salena Tramel visited partners and allies in the West Bank and Israel prior to joining a delegation to Gaza, co-sponsored by Code Pink. This entry is from Marie's notes from her meetings in the West Bank.
Feb 27th – Stop the Wall Campaign Members Tell Their Stories
With thanks in part to $80,000 dollars in generous donations made to Grassroots International in response to the Gaza Crisis, our partners in Palestine have begun the process of rebuilding their communities.
For a Grassroots International staff member and Board member, this International Women's Day offered a real glimpse at global solidarity. The two women, along with 58 other activists, writers and thinkers stepped across the rarely penetrable border into Gaza. Delegates hope to meet with their counterparts, including a number of Grassroots International partners, visit to the urban gardens of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), and meet with the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP), whose building was severely damaged during the Israeli attack.
On February 23, Grassroots International partner, the Via Campesina met with representatives of the United Nations in New York City to discuss ways to address the chronic problems faced by peasant communities around the globe.
The growing violation of resources rights of peasants by development policies - especially mega-projects whose main goal is to speed up the extraction and export of resources for corporate profits - is an issue that demands immediate attention.
While attending the Via Campesina's Vth International Conference, publisher and author Nic Paget-Clarke caught up with Paul Nicholson.
Nicholson is a member of EHNE (Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna), the Basque Farmers Union in the Basque Country, and a member of the International Coordinating Committee in Via Campesina. EHNE is part of the Spanish COAG (Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Agricultores y Ganaderos), which is part of the European Coordination-Via Campesina, a Via Campesina organization in Europe.
While attending the Via Campesina's Vth International Conference, publisher and author Nic Paget-Clarke sat down with members of a peasant and small farmers' association in Mozambique in an attempt to learn more about the reality of their situation.
Paget-Clarke's piece was published In Motion Magazine. We are also providing a PDF version of the article, which has been formatted for printing.
While attending the Via Campesina's Vth International Conference, publisher and author Nic Paget-Clarke caught up with Diamantino Nhampossa. Nhampossa is executive director of the União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC) / National Peasants' Union of Mozambique and a member for Africa of the International Coordinating Committee of La Via Campesina.
Paget-Clarke's interview with Nhampossa was published In Motion Magazine. We are also providing a PDF version of their conversation, which has been formatted for printing.
While attending the Via Campesina's Vth International Conference, publisher and author Nic Paget-Clarke caught up with Julio dos Santos Pessego. Pessego is a member of UCASN (União dos Camponeses Sul de Niassa / South Niassa Peasants’ Union) and advocacy project director for UNAC (União Nacional de Camponeses / National Peasants' Union) in Niassa province, Mozambique.
Paget-Clarke's interview with Pessego was published In Motion Magazine. We are also providing a PDF version of their conversation, which has been formatted for printing.
While attending the Via Campesina's Vth International Conference, publisher and author Nic Paget-Clarke caught up with Kalissa Regier. Regier is Youth Vice-President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) of Canada.
Paget-Clarke's interview with Regier was published In Motion Magazine. We are also providing a PDF version of their conversation, which has been formatted for printing.
For years, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) has been turning food aid that feeds dependency on its head. Their Farm to Table program purchases food for hungry families from local Palestinian farmers to address critical humanitarian needs and provide local farmers with needed income. Like nearly all organizations working in Gaza, PARC's operations came to a swift halt on December 27, 2008, when Israeli Defense Forces began bombing the region. Their buildings were severely damaged, along with the rooftop and backyard gardens at the core of the urban farm program.
The Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez of Oaxaca (UNOSJO) - a longtime partner of Grassroots International based in Mexico - denounced a recently conducted study in the Zapotec region by U.S. geography scholar Peter Herlihy. Prof. Herlihy failed to mention that he received funding from the Foreign Military Studies Office of the U.S. Armed Forces. The failure to obtain full, free and prior informed consent is a violation of the rights of indigenous communities as codified in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the United Nations in 2007. In addition, UNOSJO fears that this in-depth geographical mapping of indigenous communities may be used in some harmful manner by the military.
The end of 2008 showed a new wave of violence against humanity with the Israeli war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip. The attack by Israeli forces starting on the 27th of December- under the pretext of a war against Hamas - have already killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured thousands of peoples, many of them women and children.
The war in the Gaza strip is destroying houses, schools, hospitals and also Palestinian farmland. Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are currently facing a lack of medicine, water, accommodation and food. Meanwhile, Palestinian farmers are not able to produce their own food. The situation is getting more tragic day by day.
It's interesting how, at the most terrifying and horrific of times, we still manage to make light of the events, and even enjoy a dark sense of humor. Here are two recent personal examples from Gaza.
My 10-year-old cousin was eating a sandwich, when one of my younger brothers, 12, looked at him and, quoted a line from one of his favorite video games. In his dead-on imitation of the character's voice, he said to his younger cousin, "Enjoy it, it could be your last!" I looked at him for a second and began laughing almost hysterically at his imitation and the absurdity of the situation.
*Donate to Grassroots International's emergency relief campaign for Gaza.
Grassroots International joins our partners in Palestine and Israel and thousands of peaceful activists worldwide to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the siege of Gaza , especially the violent attacks on Palestinian civilians including women and children, and the resumption of negotiations for a lasting and just peace in the region. We call for an immediate end to all attacks on civilians on both sides.
