Monthly Archive for November, 2011

Thanksgiving Day note from The Global Campaign to Save Jeju Island

Dear friends of Jeju Island,

We have much to give thanks for today. The three remaining political prisoners—Gangjeong Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun, Gangjeong villager and cook for the peace camp Kim Jong-Hwan, and photographer/videographer and peace activist Kim Dong-Won–were all released from prison yesterday.

Thank you for your small acts of resistance and solidarity. In these times of uprising and revolution, we must cherish these small and large victories. It has been a good week. The blast at Gureombi has been temporarily stalled and the prisoners have been freed. We have much to be thankful for, including your friendship and belief that, together, we can indeed stop this naval base.

From School of the Americas Watch

Joined by actor Martin Sheen, thousands of people from across the Americas gathered this weekend in Georgia call for an end to notorious US military training school

FORT BENNING, GEORGIA – One Colorado woman was arrested Sunday, November 20 on the grounds of Fort Benning as part of the annual vigil and demonstration to commemorate those killed by graduates of the notorious School of the Americas and to call for the immediate closure of the training institute.

Solemn intonation of the names of those killed by graduates of the School of the Americas filled the air as the music team sang out each name from the stage during this morning’s solemn funeral procession in front of the entrance to Fort Benning. The base is home to the US Army School of the Americas, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC) in 2001, a training facility that has turned out some of Latin America’s most notorious killers and continues to be implicated in human rights abuses today.

From the Save Jeju Island Global Campaign 

Dear friends of Jeju Island,

On November 18th, the South Korean Navy will blast Gureombi, the smooth volcanic rock along the coastline of Gangjeong village where the local people have been fighting day and night almost for 5 years to stop the naval base. Please take 5 minutes to be part of this global collective effort to stop this destructive blast.

Jeju was recently selected among the New Seven Wonders of Nature, which with its UNESCO triple-crowned status makes the island among the world’s most precious cultural and national treasures. In addition, the marine ecosystem that lines Gureombi is an absolute preservation area designated by the South Korean government because of the many endangered species that inhabit Gureombi, including the red-clawed crab and soft coral. The spring water that bubbles up from Gureombi provides up to 80% of the drinking water for residents of Seogwipo City, the southern half of Jeju Island. The destruction of Gureombi threatens the surrounding marine life and the clean water that farmers and villagers depend upon for their survival.

Please take action now and send an email to Jeju Governor Woo urging him to halt the blast and construction of the naval base. The Jeju Island governor should protect Jeju’s pristine nature from being destroyed. Although Governor Woo has the authority to order the Navy to halt construction, he is overseeing the destruction of this pristine coastline.

Dr. Rafil Dhafir

Jailed Iraqi-American physician and philanthropist Rafil Dhafir will be resentenced on January 5th, 2012 at 10 a.m. in the Federal Building in Syracuse, New York.  Dhafir, imprisoned for the last five years at the high security Communications Management Unit in Terre Haute, Indiana, will not be present as he did not want to travel. Judge Mordue has granted his request that he not be present.

Dhafir was originally sentenced to nearly 22 years, but the federal appeals court, when remanding the case to the trial judge for re-sentencing last year on technical grounds, suggested an even longer term might be in order.

Dhafir founded Help the Needy, a charity that directed more than $1M in aid to Iraqi civilians during the era of U.S. sanctions, 1991-2003. He was arrested February 26, 2003, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq,