Military Resistance:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

4.27.14

Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 12D17

The Crony Capitalist Dictator Morales Punishes Hundreds Of Bolivian Soldiers For Sedition
They Marched To Demand End Of Racist Discrimination Against Indigenous Soldiers:
The Unprecedented Military Protest Began On Tuesday With 500 Soldiers, But Expanded To About 1,000

It Cannot Be That They Dismiss Our Brothers For Demanding Their Rights. We Will Expand The Protest If They Are Not Reinstituted

The unprecedented military protest began on Tuesday with 500 soldiers, but expanded to about 1,000 [Reuters]

Comment: T
Neither the reactionary behavior of the Morales regime nor the rising movement against it is particularly surprising. What is surprising is the quantity of fools who bow down to Morales as some sort of socialist or leftist, when in fact he presides over a nationalist version of capitalist society, defending the interests of his local Bolivian ruling class allies with both hands, as his rgime continues the centuries old Bolivian governmental custom of oppressing and exploiting indigenous people. Be certain that a political commentator who describes the Morales dictatorship as a socialist government is one more elitist with his or her head firmly located up his or her ass. ******************************************************************* 25 Apr 2014 Al Jazeera English

Bolivias military leaders have ordered the dismissal of 702 enlisted men for sedition, after they protested that they should have the option to qualify to be raised to the rank of officer, claiming they were subjected to discrimination for being indigenous citizens. The army, navy and air force said in a statement on Thursday that they had ordered the dismissal of the soldiers because they committed acts of sedition, rebellion, conducted political actions and attacked the honour of the Armed Forces, the AP news agency reported. The unprecedented military protest began on Tuesday with 500 soldiers, but expanded to about 1,000 on Thursday. Non-commissioned officers and sergeants marched through the capital of La Paz dressed in camouflage uniforms, together with some of their wives and Aymara indigenous leaders who supported their demands. Protesters say the military discriminates against indigenous Bolivians, an accusation denied by defence officials. The protesters are demanding changes so that non-commissioned officers in the military may study to become career officers. They are also demanding the release of four protest leaders fired on Monday and say they want more medical benefits on a par with officers. It cannot be that they dismiss our brothers for demanding their rights. We will expand the protest if they are not reinstituted, said indigenous leader Samuel Coarite. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Ruben Saavedra said the situation in Bolivias armed forces is changing and that in 2015 enlisted men and sergeants will be able to receive scholarships to study the same as officers. The protesters had asked to meet with President Evo Morales, but the Aymara president has not spoken publicly about the demonstrations.

MORE:

The Loathsome Tyrant Morales Brings Down Brutal Repression

Morales Pressing Forward With Extractive Industries Without

Concern For The Environmental Destruction And Displacement Of Rural Communities They Left In Their Wake
Protests Against The Government Plans Galvanized A Movement For Indigenous Rights And Environmentalism
In Response, The Government Led Brutal Repression Against Families Marching In Protest
This is a law which criminalizes the right to protest. With this law we wont be able to build road blockades, we wont be able to march (against mining operations), she explained. Were well aware that it was the same Evo Morales who would participate in marches and road blockades (years ago). April 25, 2014 By Ben Dangl, ZNet [Excerpts] When I sat down to an early morning interview with Evo Morales over a decade ago in Cochabamba, Bolivia, the then-coca farmer leader and dissident congressman was drinking fresh-squeezed orange juice and ignoring the constant rings of the landline phone at his unions office. Just a few weeks before our meeting, a nation-wide social movement demanded that Bolivias natural gas reserves be put under state control. How the wealth underground could benefit the poor majority above ground was on everybodys mind. As far as his political ambitions were concerned in terms of Bolivian natural gas, Morales wanted natural resources to construct a political instrument of liberation and unity for Latin America.

He was widely considered a popular contender for the presidency, and was clear that the indigenous politics he sought to mobilize as a leader were tied to a vision of Bolivia recovering its natural wealth for national development. We, the indigenous people, after 500 years of resistance, are retaking power. This retaking of power is oriented towards the recovery of our own riches, our own natural resources. That was in 2003. Two years later he was elected Bolivias first indigenous president. Fast forward to March of this year. It was a sunny Saturday morning in downtown La Paz, and street vendors were putting up their stalls for the day alongside a rock band that was organizing a small concert in a pedestrian walkway. I was meeting with Mama Nilda Rojas, a leader of the dissident indigenous group CONAMAQ, a confederation of Aymara and Quechua communities in the country. Rojas, along with her colleagues and family, had been persecuted by the Morales government in part for their activism against extractive industries in the country. The indigenous territories are in resistance, she explained, because the open veins of Latin America are still bleeding, still covering the earth with blood. This blood is being taken away by all the extractive industries. While Morales saw the wealth underground as a tool for liberation, Rojas saw the president as someone who was pressing forward with extractive industries in mining, oil and gas operations without concern for the environmental destruction and displacement of rural communities they left in their wake. Extractive activities and the export of raw materials continue as before, but are now justified with a progressive discourse, explains Puerto Rican environmental journalist Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero. In Bolivia, President Evo Morales has spoken widely of respecting Pachamama, fighting against the worlds climate crisis, and utilizing indigenous philosophies such as Buen Vivir (Living Well) for living in harmony with the earth. His government has enacted progressive policies in terms of creating more governmental revenue through the state management of natural resource extraction, and using that revenue for wage increases, national social programs in healthcare, pensions, education and infrastructure development. Yet the rhetoric and promise of many of these changes contradict the way MAS policies have played out on the ground. The government has advocated for a plan to build a major highway through the TIPNIS indigenous territory and national park.

Protests against the government plans galvanized a movement for indigenous rights and environmentalism. In response, the government led brutal repression against families marching in protest of the highway in 2011. Government violence left 70 wounded; victims and their families and allies are still searching for justice. Most recently, the MAS promise of respecting Mother Earth and indigenous and small farmer rights clashed against another of its plans; the Mining Law, which was passed by the MAS-controlled congress in late March, and was on its way to the Senate, when protests against the law forced the government to suspend its passage pending more input from critics. While private cooperativist mining groups, notorious for their lack of concern for the environment and local communities impacted by mining, protested the law because it did not grant them to the right to sell their resources to foreign and private entities without sufficient government oversight, other groups with different demands have put forth their critiques. Separate from the cooperativist miners, these farmer and indigenous movement critics are more concerned with issues such as water access and the right to protest. The Mining Law gives the mining industry the right to use public water for its waterintensive and toxic operation, while disregarding the rights of rural and farming communities to that same water. Furthermore, the law criminalizes protest against mining operations, leaving those communities that would bear the brunt of the industrys pollution and displacement without any legal recourse to defend their homes. In response to the law, a number of indigenous and small farmer organizations have taken to the streets in protest. I spoke with CONAMAQ indigenous leader Mama Nilda Rojas of her view of the Mining Law. The Morales government has told us that it will govern by listening to the bases, and that the laws will come from the bottom-up. But this is not what happened with the Mining Law, Rojas said, which was created without sufficient input from representatives of communities impacted the most by mining. This is a law which criminalizes the right to protest. With this law we wont be able to build road blockades, we wont be able to march (against mining operations), she explained. Were well aware that it was the same Evo Morales who would participate in marches and road blockades (years ago). And so how is it that he is taking away this right to protest? This government has given a false discourse on an international level, defending Pachamama, defending Mother Earth, Rojas explained, while the reality in Bolivia is quite a different story.

If an alternative model is to succeed that truly places quality of life and respect for the environment over raising the gross domestic product and expanding consumerism, that puts sustainability over dependency on the extraction of finite raw materials, that puts the rights to small scale agriculture and indigenous territorial autonomy ahead of mining and soy companies, it will likely come from these grassroots movements. If this model is to transform the regions wider progressive trends, these spaces of dissent and debate in indigenous, environmental and farmer movements need to be respected and amplified, not crushed and silenced. We are on our feet, marching against extractivism, Rojas said. Mother Earth is tired.

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Five Troops Killed In UK Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan

4.26.14 ITV Five service personnel were killed when the UK helicopter they were travelling in crashed in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. The crash in southern Afghanistan that killed five service members, took place near Kandahar City, a spokesman for Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa told Reuters.

POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR

Resistance Action
26 April 2014 TOLOnews A soldier was killed in a bomb blast in southern Zabul province on Friday evening, according to local officials.

There were six civilians and five other soldiers who were injured in the blast. The incident took place in Qalat the capital of Zabul, when a motorcycle packed with explosive devices detonated where Afghan forces were on patrol, said Ghulaam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai, the provincial police chief. The victims have been taken to a nearby hospital to be treated. Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident and said 14 soldiers were killed or injured in the blast.

IF YOU DONT LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION

Foreigners Plan To Flee Kabul As Insurgent Attacks Against Them Rise:

A Year Ago, You Could Differentiate The Good Guys From The Bad Guys, But Now It Seems Like Some Of The Bad Guys Are Just Lurking
Foreigners Increasingly Stay Indoors And Seek To Keep As Low A
Profile As Possible Research Shows There Was A 15 To 20% Increase In Violence Last Year In

Afghanistan, Contrary To Occupation Military Statistics That Show A Decline

April 25 By Tim Craig, The Washington Post [Excerpts] KABUL Rokey W. Suleman II, a former elections chief in both the District and Fairfax County, was nervous when he decided in January to make his first trip to Afghanistan to serve as an international observer of presidential elections in April. But when Suleman arrived in Kabul in late February, he felt surprisingly secure. He was staying at the four-star Serena Hotel, behind four layers of security and blast walls. The streets looked dirty, he thought, but hardly resembled a battle zone. I felt everything was as good as it can be, said Suleman, 46. I felt comfortable there. That changed on March 20, when Suleman found himself in the middle of a major Taliban assault inside the hotel, previously viewed as one of the safest locations in the capital. Since then, foreigners have continued to come under attack, raising new fears about security as coalition forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan this year. Since Jan. 20, foreign civilians have been killed in violent assaults on a popular Lebanese restaurant, a Western guesthouse and other venues where foreigners congregate in Kabul. Afghan security officials have turned their weapons on foreigners in two other attacks, most recently on Thursday, when an Afghan police officer killed three Americans at a Christian hospital in Kabul. On Friday, the consequences of that attack were reverberating across Kabul, as foreigners huddled with safety consultants and colleagues to debate whether they should stay or go. I think people are going to start leaving, which is unfortunate for the people of Afghanistan, but fortunate for their own safety, said Kimberley Motley, an American lawyer who has a practice in Kabul and has been traveling to Afghanistan since 2008. A year ago, you could differentiate the good guys from the bad guys, but now it seems like some of the bad guys are just lurking. Even before the latest violence, Kabul had been transitioning from a city where foreigners took taxis and attended loud parties into one where they increasingly stay indoors and seek to keep as low a profile as possible. Coalition commanders and Afghan security officials insist that the Afghan army and police force are becoming more efficient at disrupting plots and repelling attacks.

But one executive at a major security firm, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect clients, said the situation facing foreigners in Kabul is tenuous and unlikely to improve in the short term. Graeme Smith, the senior Afghanistan analyst for the International Crisis Group, said he believes foreigners could be the target of even more lethal attacks in the coming months. He said he is preparing to publish research showing there was a 15 to 20 percent increase in violence last year in Afghanistan, contrary to coalition statistics that show a decline. What I expect is that violence will keep rising in 2014 and 2015, and Kabul will not escape that trend, said Smith, a former journalist who has been working in Afghanistan since 2005. I expect Kabul will remain firmly in the hands of the government, but I think all the (nongovernmental organizations) and internationals here are going to have to think long and hard about their exposure.

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose. Frederick Douglass, 1852

Marxists know that democracy does not abolish class oppression. It only makes the class struggle more direct, wider, more open and pronounced, and that is what we need. The fuller the freedom of divorce, the clearer will women see that the source of their domestic slavery is capitalism, not lack of rights. The more democratic the system of government, the clearer will the workers see that the root evil is capitalism, not lack of rights. The fuller national equality (and it is not complete without freedom of secession), the clearer will the workers of the oppressed nations see that the cause of their oppression is capitalism, not lack of rights, etc. -- V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition; Vol. 23

Russia Threatens Export Ban On Cheap Vodka, Organized Crime

Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images Entertainment March 26, 2014 By Tony, The Duffle Blog [Late report} MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off two of the largest exports to the United States in protest of what he calls Americas intervention in a strictly Russian affair, the completely editorially-independent and fearless bastion of journalism Russia Today reported. Following Russias annexation of Crimea, Putin called for legislators to introduce a ban on exports of organized crime and cheap vodka to the west, sending shockwaves through much of U.S. media. This is the country of little Odessa, where we have hurled endless Bratva and degenerates, as a boon to our American friends, Putin said to the Duma, introducing a nationalist fervor for his land of methamphetamines, cheap heroin, and greedy public officials hungry for bribes. Each one of these capitalist endeavors is dear to our hearts, symbolizing Russian glory and outstanding valor. But we cannot forgive the Americans for their interference in Crimean independence and so our partnership cannot continue. Many Americans reacted with panic soon after news broke of Putins speech. But how will we get our heroin, without the Russian mafias connections to the Snow Leopard Brotherhood? asked Brad Whitaker, a local war historian and entrepreneur in Los Angeles, who refused to give more details about his business. Look, you have absolutely no idea how much damn money I stand to lose without the ability to run my cultural job exchange program, explained a visibly frustrated Ivan Bear Dimitiov, owner of FromRussiaWithLove.com, an online dating website that is in no way a place for sexually frustrated American males to purchase a Russian woman to be later delivered to them as if they just ordered something off Amazon. I thought it was bad having to pay 40 percent to the home office, now what am I to do? While many lamented Moscows decision, some support did seem to come from unlikely quarters. Think of it this way, explained notorious Ukrainian crime lord Semion Mogilevich. Where Russians fail you, eastern Europe can fill the gap. We can search for alternative market. That is capitalism, no? Well, unless were annexed first.

MILITARY RESISTANCE BY EMAIL

If you wish to receive Military Resistance immediately and directly, send request to contact@militaryproject.org. There is no subscription charge. Same address to unsubscribe.

ANNIVERSARIES

April 28, 2004: The Truth Comes Out

Carl Bunin Peace History April 23-29 The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBSs 60 Minutes II. The photos had been taken by U.S. military personnel responsible for detaining and interrogating Iraqi prisoners arrested following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

CLASS WAR REPORTS

Forget About The Donetsk Republic, Said Vladimir Kovalchuk, Who Supports The Protests Against Kiev But Says He Doesnt Want To Join Russia

People Want Decent Wages And Pensions. They Want The Smell Of Meat And Wine
Some In Donetsk Favor A United Ukraine But Hate The New Authorities In Kiev
April 24, 2014 By James Marson And Paul Sonne [Excerpts] DONETSK, Ukraine Western Ukraine was only absorbed by the Soviet Union in 1939 after centuries under Polish or Austrian rule. It was long a bastion of Ukrainian nationalism that has translated into strident political activism, particularly against Russian influence. Many people there work, study or travel in Western and Central Europe. The eastern heartland of Donbas was long part of the Russian empire and adapted quickly to Soviet centralized rule, where big steel mills, factories and coal mines took care of most every element of life. Few have traveled West, relying as before on Russia for trade and jobs. But that doesnt mean they want to become Russian. A recent poll showed that only about 28% of people in the Donetsk region want to become part of Russia. Just 18% supported the seizure of the regional assembly, according to the survey, which the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, one of the countrys most respected, independent pollsters, conducted from April 8-16. The Donetsk protesters themselves are at odds over what they want. They demand a referendum, but when they are pressed on what question will be posed, few can answer. Compared with Kiev, it is more difficult to mobilize protesters of any political stripe in Donetsk, a less-youthful and more working-class city buttressed by surrounding steel mills, coal mines and factories, said Serhiy Harmash, a journalist and activist who organized a pro-Ukraine rally in the city last week. Here, people are more apolitical, Mr. Harmash said. There is a lot more paternalism. Many simply feel they have no influence on events controlled by elites and vested interests. When they decide something somewhere up above, thats when something will happen, said Irina Kiriyenko, a 17-year-old Donetsk student. We have nothing to do with it. Ms. Kiriyenko said, above all, people just want stability, even those who might sympathize with the goals of the activists.

In the KIIS poll, 42% of people in the Donetsk region cited Russias economic stability and 38% political stability as what they find attractive about the countryeven higher percentages than in eastern Ukraine as a whole.

After opposing demonstrations in Donetsk in March resulted in violence, many people became scared and lost the desire to protest. One demonstrator was stabbed on March 13 when a pro-Russia mob attacked a crowd waving Ukrainian flags. Also, some say their ideas cant be boiled down to a clear, shared goals in the way the Kiev protestersdespite vastly differing backgroundscame together in demanding Mr. Yanukovychs resignation and closer ties with the European Union. For example, some in Donetsk favor a united Ukraine but hate the new authorities in Kiev, making them wary of unfurling Ukrainian flags. Some older people in particular want closer relations with Russia and dream of the old Soviet days, but nonetheless see Donetsk as part of Ukraine. The toppling of Mr. Yanukovych shocked people in the region amid fears the new government wouldnt listen to their interests. Last year, when he seemed set to sign a free-trade deal with the European Union, Russia slowed its imports from Ukraine and halted some industrial cooperation in what was interpreted as a warning shot. If it did so again, production in the industrial region would fall, sending unemployment soaring to more than 15%, estimates Dmitry Petrov, an analyst at Nomura.

Even so, weekly anti-Kiev protests appeared to be fading before an unexpected thrust in early April, which Kiev officials say was provided by Russian agents and money, leading to building takeovers in several cities. Moscow has denied involvement. Now, apart from hotbeds like Slovyansk, the occupied buildings in places like Donetsk have turned into strange spectacles. Tuesday in Donetsk, about 20 middle-aged men and women sat on makeshift benches behind the barricades, watching a flat-screen television taped to a wooden bookshelf that was beaming out a live feed of Russian state news. Curious passersby stopped to listen to Soviet-era poems or karaoke performances. It is a different vibe from Kiev, where students were the lifeblood of the protests. Here they are rarely spotted. Neither have many blue-collar workers joined. The trade union at one of the largest metal plants in the region said its members supported Ukrainian unity and would stay at work. At the root, however, the concerns of many in Donetsk resemble those of people in Kiev. Forget about the Donetsk Republic, said Vladimir Kovalchuk, a pensioner who supports the protests against Kiev but says he doesnt want to join Russia. People want decent wages and pensions. They want the smell of meat and wine.

DANGER: CAPITALISTS AT WORK

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Zionist Goons Chop Down Palestinian Olive Trees In Ramallah Village, As Usual:
Locals Say The Attacks Are An Almost Everyday Occurrence
21/04/2014 Maan RAMALLAH (Maan) -- Israeli settlers on Sunday chopped down more than 100 olive trees in the central West Bank village of Ras Karkar, locals said. Witnesses told Maan that more than 20 settlers from a nearby illegal Israeli outpost chopped down the five-year-old trees in a private Palestinian field. Locals say the attacks are an almost everyday occurrence. Settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank is systematic and ignored by Israeli authorities, who rarely intervene in the violent attacks or prosecute the perpetrators. In 2013, there were 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Palestinian Photographer Critically Wounded By Occupiers At Ofer Protest:

They Were Aiming For His Head. They Were Trying To Kill Him

He Was Posing A Danger With His Photos By Showing The World The Truth
There Is No Way To Run From The Occupation. This Is Life Under Occupation
April 19, 2014 By Claire Matsunami, The Palestine Monitor 21-year-old Mohammad Basman Yasin was critically wounded by Israeli forces while working as a volunteer photographer with BTselem, documenting the demonstration outside Israels Ofer prison near Ramallah on Friday 4 April. Protestors gathered outside of Israels Ofer military prison to demonstrate against the Israeli governments failure to release the latest round of prisoners, a group whose release was one of the conditions for the now evaporating peace talks. As protesters attempted hold midday prayers outside the prisons gates, soldiers reportedly began shooting tear gas at them and clashes erupted. Mohammad Yasin was over 100 meters away from the clashes, preparing to leave, when he was shot twice from the right side. One live bullet sliced across his nose, the other hit him in the waist. He was holding his camera and was wearing a gas mask and bright yellow shirt with PRESS emblazoned on it. The bullet that grazed his face was a .22 caliber bullet. It left a deep gash in his nose. In an interview with the Palestine Monitor, his father pointed out that the shooter was likely aiming at Mohammads head. He noted that every time Mohammad looks in the mirror, he will have to see the scar across his nose, a reminder that They were aiming for his head. They were trying to kill him. .22 caliber bullets are technically banned by the Israeli military as a crowd dispersal method. According Human Rights Organization BTselem, they should only be used in life threatening situations. However, BTselem has documented evidence revealing that .22 caliber bullets are still widely used during non-life threatening clashes.

According to the International Solidarity Movement, at least 13 others were seriously wounded at the same protest. .22 caliber bullets wounded six of the 13. When asked about the clashes by Maan News Agency, an Israeli army spokeswoman said that Israeli forces had lightly injured five people. More troublesome is the fact that the bullet that hit Mohammad struck him in the side. This bullet was a dum dum (or expanding) bullet, which flattens upon impact to create a larger wound and inflict greater damage. The bullet fragmented into his abdomen, breaking several ribs. Doctors retrieved one piece of the bullet from his right kidney, but there are still fragments lodged throughout his abdomen. The use of dum dum bullets is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court. Mohammad was the only one at the protest shot by a dum dum bullet. Why my son? Why is he the one they chose to shoot a dum dum at? Why do they want to kill him? Mohammads father asked. Mohammad spent nine days in the hospital as a result of his wounds, six of which were spent in the ICU in critical condition. In three months doctors will assess whether or not to they will attempt to retrieve more bullet fragments. One fragment remains in his liver that doctors will not attempt to retrieve, due to medical risks. His family fears he will probably suffer from organ damage and lingering pain for the rest of his life. His father is especially troubled by the fact that the shooting was unprovoked. He wasnt throwing stones or anything, but he was posing a danger with his photos by showing the world the truth, he said. The man is horrified, but not surprised. There is no way to run from the occupation. This is life under occupation. Mohammad is home now in his village of Bilin. He spoke with the Palestine Monitor, sitting in the front yard of his fathers house, surrounded by family and friends. When asked about what he will do now, he smiled shyly, his face still handsome despite the gash across his nose. He explains that he wont let his injuries hold him back. I will take this to court. I will continue to fight, I will persist, I will not stop until the end.

Heroic Zionist Forces Harass And Torment Christian Pilgrims In Occupied Jerusalem For Easter, As Usual

Israeli police block the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, April 19, 2014. The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled this month that Palestinians rights are being violated by checkpoints and other restrictions that annually create obstacles to worship. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org) April 21, 2014 Text and photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org; +972 Magazine Palestinian Christians and international pilgrims faced Israeli barriers and harsh treatment by officers as they attempted to celebrate the Easter season in Jerusalem this year. In scenes similar to previous years, thousands of worshipers were denied entry to the Old City of Jerusalem by police barricades as a heavy presence of security forces controlled access to the city. Despite VIP status, even Robert H. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, faced similar treatment. The Washington Post reports: But despite earlier assurances of unhindered access to the church, Serry said in a statement, the Israeli police refused to allow his group entry, saying they had orders to that effect. The special coordinator expressed dismay at the incident and called on all parties to respect the right of religious freedom, granting access to holy sites for worshipers of all faiths and refraining from provocations not least during religious holidays.

Israeli police push worshipers in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 19, 2014. Many Palestinians report harsh treatment by Israeli police while attempting to access holy sites in Jerusalem. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

This month, the Israeli High Court of Justice agreed that Palestinians rights were being violated by police checkpoints and other restrictions that annually create obstacles to worship. While Palestinian Christians and Muslims from the West Bank and Gaza have to apply for permits to enter Jerusalem for their religious celebrations, Israeli Jews (and effectively, any Jew regardless of their nationality) participate in their religious celebrations in occupied East Jerusalem without any restriction. Even Jerusalem ID holders and Palestinian citizens of Israel needed special policeissued wristbands to pass checkpoints into the Old City on Saturday, while in at least some cases Jewish worshipers were allowed to pass freely by police while crowds of other pilgrims were forced to wait. Palestinians and others who face these checkpoints and barricades often report harsh treatment by police. Last year, a Coptic priest was choked and beaten by police in an incident caught on video. While authorities claimed the case was a rare exception, and that the massive police presence is needed to maintain order, Palestinian Christians maintain that such abuses are commonplace.

To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx and http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16 The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

While The Poorest Fifth Of Americans Pay An Average Tax Rate Of Over 11 Percent, The Richest One Percent Of The Country Pay Half That Rate

Inequality Is What Has Turned Washington Into A Protection Racket For The One Percent
23 April 14 By Bill Moyers, Michael Winship, Moyers & Company [Excerpts] According to Working for the Few, a recent briefing paper from Oxfam, In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 percent became poorer. Our now infamous one percent own more than 35 percent of the nations wealth. Meanwhile, the bottom 40 percent of the country is in debt. Just this past Tuesday, the 15th of April Tax Day the AFL-CIO reported that last year the chief executive officers of 350 top American corporations were paid 331 times more money than the average US worker. Those executives made an average of $11.7 million dollars compared to the average worker who earned $35,239 dollars. As that analysis circulated on Tax Day, the economic analyst Robert Reich reminded us that in addition to getting the largest percent of total national income in nearly a century, many in the one percent are paying a lower federal tax rate than a lot of people in the middle class. You may remember that an obliging Congress, of both parties, allows high rollers of finance the privilege of carried interest, a tax rate below that of their secretaries and clerks. And at state and local levels, while the poorest fifth of Americans pay an average tax rate of over 11 percent, the richest one percent of the country pay are you ready for this? half that rate. Now, neither Nature nor Natures God drew up our tax codes; thats the work of legislators politicians and its one way they have, as Chief Justice John Roberts might put it, of expressing gratitude to their donors: Oh, Mr. Adelson, we so appreciate your generosity that we cut your estate taxes so you can give $8 billion as a tax-free payment to your heirs, even though down the road the public will have to put up $2.8 billion to compensate for the loss in tax revenue Inequality is what has turned Washington into a protection racket for the one percent. It buys all those goodies from government: Tax breaks. Tax havens (which allow corporations and the rich to park their money in a no-tax zone). Loopholes. Favors like carried interest. And so on. Recently, researchers at Connecticuts Trinity College ploughed through the data and concluded that the US Senate is responsive to the policy preferences of the rich, ignoring the poor.

And now theres that big study coming out in the fall from scholars at Princeton and Northwestern universities, based on data collected between 1981 and 2002. Their conclusion: Americas claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy. Instead, policy tends to tilt towards the wishes of corporations and business and professional associations. Last month, Matea Gold of The Washington Post reported on a pair of political science graduate students who released a study confirming that money does equal access in Washington. Joshua Kalla and David Broockman drafted two form letters asking 191 members of Congress for a meeting to discuss a certain piece of legislation. One email said active political donors would be present; the second email said only that a group of local constituents would be at the meeting. One guess as to which emails got the most response. Yes, more than five times as many legislators or their chiefs of staff offered to set up meetings with active donors than with local constituents. Why is it not corruption when the selling of access to our public officials upends the very core of representative government? When money talks and you have none, how can you believe in democracy?

YOUR INVITATION:
Comments, arguments, articles, and letters from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Write to Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or email contact@militaryproject.org: Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication. Same address to unsubscribe. Military Resistance In PDF Format?
If you prefer PDF to Word format, email: contact@militaryproject.org

FREE TO ACTIVE DUTY:

A Vietnam Veteran Describes The Strategy And Tactics Used By Troops To Stop An Imperial War

SOLDIERS IN REVOLT: DAVID CORTRIGHT

[CIVILIANS: $16 INCLUDING POSTAGE BUY ONE FOR A FRIEND/RELATIVE IN THE SERVICE. CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS PAYABLE TO: THE MILITARY PROJECT] Requests from active duty or orders from civilians to: Military Resistance Box 126 2576 Broadway New York, N.Y. 10025-5657

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN MILITARY SERVICE?

Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish and well send it regularly. Whether at a base in the USA or stationed outside the Continental United States, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war and economic injustice, inside the armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top or write to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657.

Military Resistance Looks Even Better Printed Out

Military Resistance/GI Special are archived at website http://www.militaryproject.org . The following have chosen to post issues; there may be others: news@uruknet.info; http://williambowles.info/military-resistance-archives/.
Military Resistance distributes and posts to our website copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of the invasion and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law since it is being distributed without charge or profit for educational purposes to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Military Resistance has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor is Military Resistance endorsed or sponsored by the originators. This attributed work is provided a non-profit basis to facilitate understanding, research, education, and the advancement of human rights and social justice. Go to: law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more information. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

If printed out, a copy of this newsletter is your personal property and cannot legally be confiscated from you. Possession of unauthorized material may not be prohibited. DoD Directive 1325.6 Section 3.5.1.2.