This past week in Olympia, Washington a military ship docked at the port full of Strykers and other equipment returning from Iraq. The Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) was incredibly well organized and quick to respond. PMR states “We oppose Olympia’s complicity in a war whose disastrous effects have been felt worldwide and we will actively resist the use of Olympia’s port to further that war. Through nonviolent actions we intend to stop the Port of Olympia from becoming a revolving door of military machinery furthering illegal war. This war has taken the lives of 3,845 US soldiers, over one million Iraqis, and has displaced millions more. These weapons are returning to be repaired and refitted for further combat. We see this as a continuation of the war despite our nation’s and the Iraqi people’s overwhelming opposition to the war.” They held a candlelit vigil on Monday November 5th when the ship arrived and then began holding demonstrations to prevent the equipment from making its way from the port to the Fort Lewis military base. Demonstrators were attacked by police—pepper-sprayed, shoved, thrown, dragged, struck with batons—after successfully shutting down and delaying military transports out of the Port of Olympia. Fifteen demonstrators have been arrested and actions are still ongoing. For more information and video check out http://www.omjp.org/

For three days in early June the leaders from the U.S.A., the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, Russia, Japan and Germany gathered for the 33^rd G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, a small German resort town on the Baltic Sea. The G8 was created in 1974 to protect the interests of the world’s most wealthy and powerful countries in the face of the oil crises and recession of that time. In the last decade, the annual G8 Summit has become the site of an increasing number of demonstrations. These protests are a rejection of both the highly undemocratic methods by means of which the leaders of the eight wealthiest countries, (containing only 13% of the world’s population) make decisions for all, but also of the capitalist policies these leaders espouse, which continue to spread inequality and injustice worldwide. In response to the growing protest at each new Summit, the G8 has attempted to put on a friendlier face, claiming that its primary goal today is “how to shape globalization so that everyone stands a chance” and adding issues like aid to Africa and global warming to the G8 meeting agenda. However, one does not have to look far to see through this well rehearsed rhetoric as the agreements the G8 leaders reach do little more than treat the symptoms of the world’s problems while working hard to maintain western dominance. The growing resistance to the G8 and the current world order is serving to bring important attention to these realities.

The Alternative

The G8 demonstrations have provided the global justice movement with the opportunity to bring attention to the desperate need for relief from the exploitation of neoliberal globalization and an opportunity to network and encourage others in the movement to try to live the alternative. The theme of this year’s demonstrations, which brought an estimated 80,000 people together, was “Make Capitalism History.” The organizers laid the groundwork for three camps equipped to house 15,000 demonstrators. Cooperatively run and volunteer driven, the camps provided meals, electricity, internet, and a large tent for spokescouncil meetings, trainings, and event coordination. Volunteer security, called “rabbits” maintained a 24 hour lookout for police raids and other activity. The infrastructure was well organized not only in the camps but also in preparation for the week’s events, which included concerts, marches, an alternative summit and action days leading up to the Summit on themes of global agriculture, migration, and anti-militarism. The Block g8 campaign arranged for the first day of the summit was organized a year and a half in advance.

16 Million Dollar Fence

Fearing the strengthening global justice movement and its power to disrupt the status quo, immense security steps were taken by the German police and military officials in anticipation of the protests. Keeping with the trend among recent G8 host countries of more walls, militarization and civil rights erosion, an eight-mile long steel fence was constructed by the Germans around the Summit site. The fence included underground iron bars and was topped with barbed wire, video surveillance and sensory detectors. The fence cost 16 million dollars, an exorbitant amount and yet only a small percentage of the total of 124 million dollars spent only on security for the Summit. A “no demonstration zone” was set by the police and upheld by the courts. It prohibited demonstrations within 2.5 miles of the fence. 16,000 police officers were deployed with armored personnel carriers, helicopters, and water cannons as well as an unknown number of German soldiers, naval ships and spy jets. A few weeks before the Summit police searched 40 homes and offices of various protest organizers and seized computers, discs and written documents throughout Germany. The raids were arranged by using Germany’s anti-terror laws. Body odor samples of global justice organizers were also obtained in order to enable the police to identify them later through the use of police dogs.

Achievements of the Resistance

On the morning of the first day of the Summit, the camp we were in began stirring at 6:30 a.m. as people prepared to head for one of the three permitted rally points just outside the no demonstration zone. The strategy for the blockades was made even more effective by the fact that the fence had only three entrances. The area involved is so rural that few roads reach these entrances. In order to get to the roads and avoid as many police as possible, the plan was to walk for miles through fields and forests in a decentralized manner so it would be impossible to prevent everyone from reaching the four blockade destinations. The five finger system, developed by the anti-nuclear movement, was used for this purpose. As the police stood in a line blocking the only road that lead to Heiligendamm, the first of five lines of demonstrators headed directly into the field. The surprised cops, in full riot gear, began running into the fields, and as they did, a second line of activists headed off through another part of the field, and then the third, fourth and fifth. The police did not know how to proceed as we walked right into the no demonstration zone.

During the four-hour walk, we had to cross two additional roads to get to our blockading destination. Using batons, water cannons and pepper spray, the police attempted to prevent us from crossing the streets. Helicopters buzzed quite low overhead and delivered police reinforcements, but it did not matter. In both instances, as we approached the police each of the five lines of demonstrators split up into 10 more. With hands held above our heads the 4,000 demonstrators willingly faced the police violence and made it across successfully. Once we arrived at our blockading destination it was announced over the bullhorn that 8,000 other demonstrators had also crossed the fields and forests and by the late afternoon all four entrances into Heiligendamm blockaded, including the train track that was to bring in the mainstream press to cover the opening evening event. That evening, journalists and delegates were advised to stay in their hotel rooms. The police managed to disperse by nightfall, with violence, one of the blockades in preparation for the morning, yet, even on the second day, many delegates were delayed for hours and had to be shuttled to the Summit site by boat. Only the eight leaders who had been flown in by helicopter were able to easily reach the Summit location.

On the same morning, the route from the airport was also successfully blockaded. Throughout the entire week surrounding the Summit, spontaneous and creative actions could be spotted throughout the area. 11 Greenpeace boats, chased by police, attempted to land on the shore of Heiligendamm to hand over a petition on global climate change. Street theater included representatives of Doctors Without Borders leaping into the water in an effort to reach for a large bottle of medicine that was out of reach, representing all those who could have access to necessary medicine at an affordable price if it wasn’t for patents and the drug companies unrelenting quest for larger profits. Over 100 rebel clowns were seen everywhere, mimicking the police and de-escalating tense situations.

“Achievements” of the G8

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has booked another success for her style of quiet but persistent diplomacy at the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the northern resort of Heiligendamm,” states the mainstream media, playing its usual role of ignoring the overwhelming demonstrations and mindlessly applauding the empty agreements achieved at the Summit that will do nothing to effect the causes of the social and economic problems facing the world. An international media center was constructed to welcome the 4,000 journalists who came to Heiligendamm to cover the story. At the opening of this center (sponsored by corporations including Nike), journalists were wined, dined and entertained with roasted pig, 20 varieties of mousse, a putting green, as well as a German News service link complete with the angle to cover the Summit and demonstrations. Except for the few selected to travel through the fence to clearly staged photo opportunities, the majority of the members of the press corps never had to leave the comfort of their hotel and the International Media Center, where a large video screen aired all that most journalists evidently felt they needed to see.

The “newly agreed upon aid to Africa” was nothing more than the same aid that had been agreed during the last summit, an empty promise of meager charity yet to be fulfilled, even in the tragic face of unbelievable poverty and the devastating effect of Aids. The desperately needed cancellation of African debt and the allowance of generic drugs was not considered. These remedies will not serve to maintain the well-established structures of global capitalism and therefore are not “appropriate” solutions. The well-publicized agreement on fighting climate change contains no firm commitment, rather several of the countries are “seriously considering” reducing worldwide emissions by half by 2050. The other agreements were little more than a continued celebration of the free market and attempts to applaud the very economic strategies that have led to today’s global reality, where in the last ten years the number of people fighting starvation has risen from 840 million to 854 million (while the tiny minority of millionaires and the super-rich were able to double their wealth from 16 trillion to 33 trillion dollars). The G8 participants discussed a collective strategy against copyright piracy in developing nations, one of the few means of income for people to make money in depressed economies. They expressed concern over the North Korean and Iranian atomic programs, an ironic concern coming from nations who together currently have a total of over 26,000 nuclear weapons, 98% of the world’s supply.

Make Capitalism History

Very little news about the demonstrations was heard throughout the world. Independent media attempted to provide another perspective of the Summit, with a half-hour daily news program and podcasts, but much room remains for expansion of these efforts.

Compared to the WTO demonstrations in Seattle in 1999, these demonstrations had a much stronger sense of unity, and a clearer vision and statement of what is demanded. There was no hesitation in claiming that the movement is first and foremost an anti-capitalist movement. North African immigrants were at the forefront of the demonstrations in Germany, making clear the demands for an end to deportation and the “fortressing of the West.” The demands for democratic globalization, for fair relations and trade between all countries, for an economy based on solidarity, for the sustainable treatment of the environment, for peaceful and political solutions to conflicts, were heard over and over again. The strength of the movement provided inspiration and the determination to remain firm, to not shy away from standing for the radical change required, and to return home to continue to support and create alternative structures in our own communities, while strengthening the connections between the various struggles.

As the week of demonstrations came to an end, the police control was at its most extreme, turning the city into an occupied zone with checkpoints and constant intimidation. Over 700 people were detained, many “preemptively” as allowed by German law for reasons as ridiculous as wearing black and having a bandana. Yet the spirit of the people who participated in the actions was one of victory and of a growing sense that, no matter how much money and force can be mustered to maintain the world order, the people together can overcome it armed with a unified vision of equality and of a just life for all. The G8 summit in Heiligendamm gave the global justice movement a brief glimpse into its own strength which will have powerful implications for the future.

On New Years Day 1994, the first day NAFTA took effect, the Zapatista National Liberation Army rose up and took over municipalities throughout Chiapas, birthing a movement which today continues not only to resist the theft of their resources but is also creating alternative autonomous governing bodies, schools, clinics, cooperatives and means of communication. On December 29 to January 2 the Zapatistas invited internationals from around the world to come together for an Encounter between the Zapatistas and the people of the World. The invitation stated “At this encounter the Zapatista communities will speak on the experiences we have had these past years with our autonomous governments; the challenges and problems that we have faced constructing this anti-capitalist project and we will try to, with humility and respect, to respond, speak and exchange, and above all, share our errors and stumbling, and also our modest achievements.”Haves and the have nots

The gathering took place in Oventic, one of the five caracoles (municipal seats) of the 32 Zapatista municipalities. On the way to the gathering, driving through the rural villages one can clearly see that very little money is making it to these communities. Federal and state government policies have benefited the foreign investors that exploit resource rich Chiapas and in turn line the pockets of the politicians and Mexican elite. With this setup, the indigenous people are losing land and many have been forced to migrate to the North, relocate to the urban centers or work on large agribusiness farms to provide low wage labor. Racism from the government is also clearly at work in Chiapas as shown in the poverty statistics. In a community where the indigenous population is less than 10 percent, 18 percent of the people are at or below the poverty line; for municipalities where the indigenous population is between 10 and 40 percent, 46 percent of the people are poor; and for those where the indigenous make up more than 70 percent of the population, over 80 percent are poor. The majority of the Zapatistas are Mayan Indians who live in wood slat and mud houses with dirt floors and do not have running water even though Chiapas provides close to 90% of the water consumed by the rest of Mexico.

Encounter begins

Recognizing the reality most of the Zapatistas live in it is clear where the fuel came from to ignite this struggle, and yet with access to so few resources it is hard to imagine what alternatives they could be capable of creating. On the first day of the encounter thousands of Zapatistas who attended the conference set up stick structures covered in black plastic sheeting to sleep in for the duration of the encounter. In sharp contrast, the 2,000 internationals from 44 countries began to set up fancy tents. The structure of the encounter included a series of workshops providing updates on the progress of the autonomous governments, schools, health care systems, and cooperatives in each caracol as well as the struggles for land and for equality for women. I could feel such strong unity and pride in the Zapatistas who attended the encounter and it was an incredible experience to sit with them as the leaders they selected laid out their accomplishments throughout the workshops.

The tactics of the Zapatistas have been extremely diverse throughout the thirteen year struggle from the initial armed uprising and government negotiations to the creation of the autonomous communities. The Mexican government response has been fairly consistent and limited to the use of force and intimidation mixed with rhetoric and promises never fulfilled. Even within this climate, much has been accomplished as in achieving autonomy as highlighted by the workshops. As one of the representatives explained “Because we can not change the world we struggle so that the world will not change us.” Reports from three of the workshops are included below.

Autonomous education

From the internationally recognized health clinics to the primary and secondary schools, many of the communities are receiving services they never received from the government, often with support of NGOs and internationals. The Zapatista educational promoters, who are chosen by their communities to develop schools and train teachers from within the community, explained that the government schools their children used to attend were staffed mostly by teachers from the city who spoke only Spanish. “The government schools discriminated against the indigenous culture, language and traditions of our youth. They did not respond to our realities in the villages. They prepared our kids for the city, not to stay in our communities.” Many parents decided to pull their students out of the government schools with the hopes of creating autonomous schools that “teach liberation, not domination” and “the value of being not having.” Schools have been constructed in all five of the caracoles and many recently celebrated the graduation of their first class. Although the teachers are not paid, the community provides them with food. Each region also expressed a lack of resources to train future promoters and to build new schools. Their eyes lit up as they shared the largest dream of one day establishing an autonomous university.

Autonomous Governments

The representatives of the caracoles are selected through their community for a three year term. They can not run again to give all opportunity for leadership and to prevent people from becoming disconnected from the community and power hungry. They too do not receive payment but the community also provides them with food. Initially when the government councils were first created they were male dominated but today there are six women and seven men. Although clearly they have the capacity to govern themselves, the representatives explained that they have faced many challenges with few resources and villages with great need. The leaders stressed the huge contrast between themselves and the bad governments, those who run the state and country. For example, unlike the corrupt justice system throughout Mexico, the caracol representatives deal with conflicts by first attempting to find a solution through dialogue and compromise and if no compromise is reached the one who is found wrong must complete work to benefit the community, like the construction of a bridge. Repeatedly the representatives stressed that they “lead by obeying” and “propose not impose” with “humility and no self promotion.”

Struggle for land

Due to armed uprising in 1994 many wealthy landowners abandoned their land. The Zapatistas have reclaimed much of this land to work collectively to sustain their communities. “The land belongs to those who work it” and “to sell the land, would be to sell our mother.” Each region faces different struggles over land. The threat of losing land remains strong and paramilitary activity continues with intimidation and even the murder of Zapatista community members. Currently in the Aguazul region the government is attempting to force a Zapatista community off the land by the creation of an ecotourist destination, which will also allow the government to exploit water reserves and other resources. Also the implementation of neoliberal programs by the government, such as PROCEDE, also work to destroy the possibility of collectively worked lands. “Today we are living a global offense of exploitation, of being kicked off our lands, and of a development of politics that will destroy us. The only way to confront this is by struggling for the impossible, or in other words, the necessary,” explains Sergio Rodriguez from the Zapatista Rebeldía magazine. The lands that they have recuperated are farmed organically without the use of genetically modified seed. Agro-ecology promoters have recently been selected to educate themselves and then their community on sustainability practices.

Life of resistance

On January 1 at close to 2 am in the morning, Subcomandante Marcos and many members of the Zapatista National Liberation Army arrived to celebrate the thirteenth anniversary of the rebellion. The cultural event lasted for hours with music and dance. In the indigenous language of Tzotzil, Marcos stated, “What we have learned on the road of our struggle is that we could not win unless we united with the people who struggle everywhere.” The Zapatistas need the support of internationals to achieve their goals in the face of a system that continuously tries to eliminate them. As they establish stronger and stronger concrete alternatives their threat to the system grows. The eyes of internationals are critical in preventing the human rights abuses the Mexican government is notorious for. We have a long way to go to cross the cultural barriers necessary to provide the ultimate in solidarity, but on the last night looking through the mist out on to the basketball court where thousands of internationals and Zapatistas were dancing together to traditional music, it felt possible. As I watched the dancers, many in their early twenties, I realized that the rebellion began for many of these Zapatistas when they were less than ten years old; they have truly lived a life of resistance. Throughout the length of the encounter I was struck by their humble spirit mixed with the depth of their accomplishments, not only the autonomous governments, schools, clinics, radio stations, coffee and craft collectives but also the incredible wealth of beauty in their vision and their unity.

Running as fast as I can, surrounded by hundreds of others, I can hear screams behind me. Glancing back, through the darkness of night I can only differentiate between the masses running with me and the federal police by the light reflecting off their shields and face masks. They are still advancing. A hand pushes my left shoulder and I realize there are medics behind me trying to run from the police while carrying a man on a stretcher clasping a bloody cloth to his head. The medics are trying to reach the makeshift clinic that the movement set up in a building just a few feet ahead. I continue to run block after block as more people pour in from side streets. The police are obviously advancing on multiple streets simultaneously. Panic is starting to set in. Rushing through my mind are the stories I have listened too over an over in the past two weeks while interviewing those who have suffered human rights violations at the hands of the federal police; the stories of sexual assault, of beatings, of psychological torture, of death threats. A few men duck in to an alley, I follow unsure if I am escaping the danger or running directly into it. A woman and her daughter, who recognize me from the internet cafe, motion us into their home. Inside I lean against the wall and slide to the floor. Immediately I think of those who were unable to find a place to hide, of those who could not run, people of all ages had been in the streets all day. I hear gunshots.

7th Mega March Turned Confrontation
Saturday, November 25th, had begun with the 7th Megamarch. Thousands had marched from the outskirts of Santa María Coyotepec to the Oaxaca City center. It was yet another incredible showing of support for the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). The march was calling for the removal of both the corrupt governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, and the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) who have been in Oaxaca for almost a month now. The demonstrators were a highly diverse group, including people of all ages, from various indigenous groups, unions, social organizations and rural villages. People gathered along the streets applauding as the march passed. Many handed out tangerines, water and sandwiches to the crowd.

When they arrived in the city the plan was to encircle the center square for 48 hours. This is the square where striking teachers from all over the state of Oaxaca created an encampment which led to the beginning of the movement over 6 months ago. The federal police have occupied it since they entered Oaxaca on October 29th. As the people began the circle, the police in full riot gear, refined their formation at each of the entrances backed by a police officer armed with live ammunition on top of an armoured vehicle. Although APPO had made it clear that the plan was to remain completely non-violent, within half an hour street battles broke out between the movement and the police in at least two of the entrances. Some members of the movement, armed with rocks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks, faced off with the police who used an incredible amount of tear gas, rocks and marbles shot with slingshots. Also, according to LIMEDDH, the Mexican League in Defense of Human Rights, state government backed paramilitaries were seen on the roofs of buildings helping to provoke the confrontations. Earlier in the day the radio station affiliated with Ulises political party (Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI) had called for people to dump boiling water and acid on the demonstrators.

Federal Police Advance
After awhile the police pushed the people north up the hill, at one point taking over the Santo Domingo plaza where the movement has been centered since the police forced them out of the main square. The police continued to fire teargas into the crowd and burnt the tarps and other belongings of the movement and vendors in the Santo Domingo plaza. The report from APPO’s most recent Constitutive Congress were scattered all over the ground. During this time plain clothed police were detaining people in the streets. After the police retreated back to the main square, many movement members regrouped in Santo Domingo as night was falling.

Suddenly the police advanced over eight blocks forcing the crowd to continue running north of the main square. Paramilitary groups also arrived on the scene shooting into the crowd as people ran for their lives. Movement members attempted to set up barricades, I witnessed many women scrambling to gather rocks for defense, breaking stones off the fancy plazas were Ulises has squandered the states money. Cars and government buildings were lit on fire. Throughout the next few hours federal police and plain clothed gunmen continued to attack members of the movement who had taken cover in various locations. Three movement members were killed, 39 disappeared, 149 detained, and over 140 injured (20 with live ammunition), not including the hundred people the medics assisted who were overwhelmed by the gas and pepper spray. And this is just on November 25th.

The people of Oaxaca who are facing this fate are guilty of the crime of demanding justice and trying to organize a democratic alternative to the corrupt and repressive leadership that governs their state. The Mexican federal government’s response, supposedly to restore order, has instead attempted to maintain the exploitive status quo through further repression and with no regard for the true root causes of this conflict, the extreme poverty and unjust government policies that benefit a few at the cost of the majority. According to Yessica Sanchez of LIMMEDH, “It is clear that the PFP are not interested in instilling peace, what they come to do is intimidate and try to criminalize the social movement in Oaxaca.” If the federal police had come to Oaxaca with the true intention of restoring order, those who have committed the violence in the last 6 months of the struggle would be brought to justice. Nowhere are movement members safe from the threat of armed attack. Members of the movement have been killed while handing out coffee to late night barricades, while participating in a march, or while leaving a neighborhood APPO meeting. Their murderers still walk the streets, now with the added protection and assistance of the PFP.

Ulises Claims Victory
On the morning after the mass repression, standing in the very spot where hundreds had run for their lives less than 18 hours before, Governor Ulises claimed victory. It had been months since he had been able to show his face in the city. As helicopters flew overhead, Governor Ulises, surrounded by plain clothed police, explained that now Oaxaca belongs to the true Oaxaqueños. “We who love Oaxaca, its history and its traditions feel profoundly offended and attacked by the vandals’ actions on Saturday. The responsible are being arrested and should be held accountable for their actions in the face of justice. Today with the help of the PFP and the state forces we have recuperated the heart of Oaxaca for the Oaxaqueños and for all Mexicans.” For hours prior to this press spectacle workers had cleaned up the remains of the police repression, they has picked up the tear gas canisters, the graffiti and stencils had been painted over. A large water truck has sprayed away the dried blood and burnt remains of the movement from the square.

Since November 25th the federal police have surrounded the Santo Domingo plaza and most large parks in the city, they are routinely patrolling the streets of Oaxaca. Reports of people being taken out of their homes or picked up off the streets by armed gunmen are being called in to Radio Universidad regularly. The station has once again called for support in fear that the police will manage to ignore the autonomous nature of the university and destroy the station, the primary means of communication remaining for the movement. Students of the College of Medicine at the Benito Juárez Autonomous University organized a press conference to share their testimonies of witnessing municipal police kill three demonstrators during Saturday’s repression, taking their bodies with them. During the press conference armed gunmen fired into the building and took one student. There were 60 more detentions on November 27th. The PRI radio station has called for the burning of EDUCA offices, a well respected social organization that operates throughout the state. The station has also been reading on the air the addresses where suspected movement members and internationals are hiding. Over 140 of the movement members detained by the police have been transported far from their families, out of the state of Oaxaca, to federal prison.

Those in power continue to try to suppress this movement with intimidation, with violence, with murder because change is in motion. According to Cesar Chavez, “once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.” On November 10th-12th, the movement held a Constitutive Congress where they elected 220 representatives from all seven regions, formalizing the popular governance structure of APPO. 3000 people attended the forum further defining their program of struggle and creating a true bottom up alternative to the corrupt political parties that run the state. I still fear for the people, how much suffering they will have to face. On November 20th there were an incredible number of actions worldwide in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca but there needs to be an even larger outcry. Please consider getting involved in solidarity actions. This is not simply to support the people of Oaxaca achieve self determination and social justice. They are providing a model for the rest of Mexico to also stand up in the face of poverty estimated at over 50 percent of the population, of losing their land and resources to foreign corporations, of having to flee to the US illegally to be able to provide for their families.

On the national level, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held his own swearing in ceremony on November 20th as the “legitimate president” of Mexico in front of hundreds of thousands of supporters. Two days prior he told his supporters “Those neo-fascist reactionaries better not think they’ll have room to maneuver, we’re going to keep them on a short leash.” Massive civil disobedience is planned for December 1st, the date of the inauguration ceremony for Felipe Calderon, who “won” the presidential election by less than one percentage point with clear evidence of fraud. The trend of electing leftist leadership continues in Latin America, confronting the injustice of neoliberal policies and beginning to unravel the exploitive policies that have left the majority of their population in immense poverty. At the same time, President Bush has quietly dropped the ban on training the militaries of Latin America. As our country readies itself to carry on our legacy of genocide to prevent the much needed changes the people are demanding, we must become active. Not only for the people of Oaxaca, or Mexico, or Latin America but for the global struggle that is taking root.

A popular uprising, shaking the roots of a long held exploitive power dynamic, is occurring in Oaxaca, Mexico. Not only is it threatening the corrupt and repressive government that has held control of the region for years, the movement is also creating an alternative structure for popular governance. Beginning as a teacher’s strike and evolving into a full scale popular struggle, the movement has relied on creative nonviolent direct action to stop the state government from functioning and to demand the resignation of the current Governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. The impact of the struggle is reaching beyond the state of Oaxaca, adding strength to movements rooted in the poorest classes throughout Mexico.

Extreme inequality combined with a history of exploitation and resistance has made the Oaxaca community ripe for revolt. A system of popular education providing widespread understanding of the roots of the situation has helped lay the groundwork for today’s mass upsurge. But what takes a movement over that edge, where the status quo of society is interrupted, and those involved are willing to sacrifice everything for change?

Indigenous Roots

Seventy percent of the 3.5 million people who live in the state of Oaxaca are indigenous. Over half live in poverty, 35 percent do not have piped water in their homes. In 46 percent of the households there is at least one person who has had to migrate to the United States due to government reforms which have destroyed the economy in their community through the implementation of free trade agreements and other neo-liberal policies. These policies have removed subsidies for basic needs and have forced Mexican farmers to lower their prices to compete with U.S. farm exports. Publicly owned enterprises have been privatized and sold to foreign investors, destroying unions and jobs opportunities.

The right-wing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has held control of Oaxaca for the past 80 years. The current governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, a carbon copy of the most corrupt PRI leadership, has worked hard to implement these neo-liberal projects, lining his own pockets while repressing all public opinion against them.

Unable to be elected democratically, Ulises was forced to steal his position through vote buying, ballot box tampering and computer fraud. On December 1st 2004, his first day as Governor, 40 armed men occupied the offices of Noticias, the states largest daily newspaper which had documented the election fraud. After six months in office Ulises had already received warnings from eight international and national human rights organizations. The exact numbers are hard to determine but it is estimated that 38 people have been killed and 130 have been imprisoned for political reasons since he came to power.

The murder and imprisonment of social leaders has been used to silence the opposition against Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), a neo-liberal development project strongly supported by the United States. The PPP states as one of its main goals to improve the conditions for the people of the region, however, in actuality, it will steal land from indigenous people for infrastructure projects and commodify their culture
for the tourist industry. One of the plans with huge implications for Oaxaca is the creation of a super
highway at Mexico’s skinniest point, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in order to move resources more
readily across the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific and into the hands of multinational corporations.
This transportation corridor will be surrounded by sweatshops, maquiladoras, free of labor and environmental laws. According to Florentino Lopez Martinez, a member of the movement, “For all of these objectives, the government of Oaxaca is key, so that these projects can be realized.”

Teacher’s Strike

For the past 26 years Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers has held an annual statewide strike. The Mexican constitution demands that all children have the same access to education, and yet today in Oaxaca the average person spends only 5.6 years in school, two years less than the national average. Rural schools lack basic infrastructure. Children often come to school hungry and barefoot and have to work without desks, books and pencils.

Section 22 has had a strong and radical history standing up to the privatization of education and has become a powerful force in the state-wide struggle for social justice. The teacher’s themselves are often community leaders, in the unions history over one hundred teachers have been killed standing up for much needed change in Oaxaca. The demands for this year’s strike include raises, basic supplies and breakfast for the students. Each year the teachers camp out in the main square of Oaxaca city until an adequate compromise is reached.

This year, rather than continuing negotiations, the government chose repression as a means to end the strike. At 4:30 a.m. on June 14th while 40,000 teachers and their families were sleeping, thousands of police raided the encampment, burned the teacher’s belongings, injured 100 people and fired teargas into the crowd from police helicopters. During the attack the teachers resisted with sticks and rocks, reclaiming the square later the same day.

Formation of the Popular Assembly

Outraged at the repression, two days later 400,000 people participated in a mega march to show support for the teachers and to call for the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruíz Ortíz. A new entity, the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), was formed of the 350 social organizations that mobilized alongside the teachers’ strike, soon to include Section 22 itself. “APPO does not set out to impose any decisions,” Florentino explains, “what we want is to integrate all the people so that together we can organize and govern the state.”

The primary strategy to achieve the resignation of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz has been to create a state of ungovernability through non-violent direct action. To stop the current state government from functioning encampments of hundreds of teachers and supporters have been established outside government buildings preventing employees from entering. Without any other choice, the state government has attempted to meet outside the city in fancy hotels, but the movement has been quick to organize and prevent such gatherings. Additionally, government vehicles have been “reclaimed” by the movement, state-wide strikes have been orchestrated, banks have been shut down and major highways have been blockaded. Radio and TV stations have been taken over to provide a means of communication and coordination for the movement with encampments set up around the stations and their transmitters to protect them from government forces.

Resorting to the usual tactics, Ulises’ government issued arrest warrants for at least 80 movement “leaders,” including members of the teachers’ union. Five have been abducted from the street by unmarked vans, photos of two severely beaten were seen in the local news, and plain clothed state police and soldiers have killed fifteen, attempting to instigate fear and intimidation. Publicly Ulises has tried to play down the impact of the movement and claims to rely on peaceful dialogue to solve the conflict.

Nowhere are movement members safe from the threat of armed attack. Alejandro García Hernández was killed while handing out coffee to late night barricades, Jose Jimenez Colmenares while participating in a march against repression, and Panfilo Hernandez Vasquez while leaving a neighborhood APPO meeting. On October 27th, the largest single day of murders, three people were killed including Brad Will, a New York City Indymedia journalist while filming a barricade attack by plain clothed police. Death threats are not uncommon. A website called Oaxaca en Paz shows the faces of APPO members with their names and home addresses, encouraging people to “find and detain them.” Those already killed were marked with a large red X across their faces. Remarkably, through all of this the movement remains strong and dedicated to not taking up arms.

Federal Intervention

The threat of a large scale federal repression has been looming throughout the length of this struggle. As the media repeated President Fox’s reassurances that the federal government will not resort to violence, thousands of soldiers and police have been relocated to the region. Attempts have been made to create justifications and to garner support for federal intervention. Men claiming to be guerilla resistance fighters (in their oddly shiny new boots and uniforms) were reported to be gathering in the Northern mountain villages. As expected the federal government has found support from the upper classes for intervention, although some members of the business community have made a stand against such actions. “We, the business community, have been asked to support the entrance of government forces with the pretext of re-establishing law and order,” explained Luis Hogarte Chea, however he can not support federal action “knowing full well that these laws have been violated and broken on many more occasions and in ways much more grave, by the government itself.”

Recognizing Ulises as an illegitimate power, APPO has refused to negotiate with the state government since the 14th of June. Federal government negotiations have failed repeatedly as government officials have offered only minor compromises, refusing to address the demand that Ulises resign. The Mexican senate, sticking to party lines, also refused to remove him from power, just after 5,000 teachers walked the entire 280 miles from Oaxaca City to Mexico City with this demand

On October 29th, the day after the three murders by Ulises’ gunmen, 4,000 Federal Preventative Police entered Oaxaca to “restore order.” Rather than remove Ulises from power and arrest those who have murdered movement members, the police forced teachers out of the main square and attempted to destroy the barricades. As Left Turn goes to print the federal police remain in Oaxaca, they have killed two people and have detained over 60. Ignoring the autonomous nature of the local university where the current APPO radio station is located, the federal police surrounded it. People came out in large numbers to protect the station surrounding the riot police and forced them to retreat, using maltov cocktails, fireworks and rocks against arms, water canons and teargas. On Sunday November 5th hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets calling for the federal police to leave and remaining strong in their continuing demand for Ulises to go.

Creating Alternatives

Whether or not Ulises leaves office, the achievements made for the people of Oaxaca by Section 22 and APPO can not be underestimated. APPO has moved full speed ahead on creating a new structure of governance, a means for millions of new voices to be heard. “It is necessary to have a government that is more inclusive, plural, just, respectful of constitutional guarantees and human rights, more transparent, with more input and participation from the citizens, respectful of culture, languages, traditions and symbols of identity” states the summary from one of their initial forums.

Multiple dialogues and forums have been held throughout the struggle to increase national and international solidarity with the people of Oaxaca and to continue to formalize APPO’s plans to create a Constituent Assembly. This assembly will be made up of democratically elected delegates from communities, neighborhoods and workplaces throughout the state of Oaxaca. The indigenous people of the region have a long familiarity with this type of consensus based organizational structure; many municipalities are still run by the general assemblies under the traditional native customs of “usos y costumbres.” According to resolutions from the first state assembly, “The character of APPO should be broad, popular, inclusive, democratic, anti-imperialist, anti-fascist and anti-capitalist.”

Although APPO’s program of struggle is still in its initial stages of development, insight can be gained on the change of direction they have in mind for Oaxaca’s future. The four main components of APPO’s current program are “the defense of national sovereignty,” “a new model of economic development,” “popular democracy” and “social justice.” The recognition of self determination is stressed as well as the elimination of the “political, economic, and military subordination of Mexico to the US empire and to the international financial centers.” The program also calls for the cancellation and rejection of all future “pacts of subordination,” such as the PPP and free trade treaties. Instead, APPO calls for community based economics and an equitable distribution of wealth for all, as well as the nationalization of natural resources, energy, monopoly businesses and banking institutions. Their alternative vision also includes redistribution of land from wealthy land holders to poor farmers, the move toward food sufficiency and organic agriculture, and the development of worker created small businesses in the rural communities.

Point of reference

Clearly the time has come for change in Mexico, and Oaxaca is serving as an incredible model of a people demanding change and creating a new structure of popular governance in the face of repression. The depth of need for this sort of grassroots alternative can be seen in the recent creation of assemblies modeled after APPO in 11 of the 33 states in Mexico. Each assembly has its own name but uses a similar structure, aiming to address manmy of the same social problems and create alternatives. Four have been created in the US, in New York, California, Illinois and Texas.

The globalization of our economic systems is nothing new; the structures of exploitation and of control are well established. Struggles, like the one in Oaxaca, are eroding these relationships, attempting to return power to the people and prioritizing the needs of the community and human rights rather than profit margins. And these struggles too are beginning to globalize. Mass migration and means of global communication, both created by global capitalism, are now being used to increase cross border solidarity. No wall between the US and Mexico can separate the millions marching for US immigrant rights from the people struggling here in Mexico. The scope of change required may seem unattainable and utopian in the current political climate, but so many lessons can be gained from the people in Oaxaca, from the teachers who have slept on the street since May, from the neighbors who created and tended to over a thousand nightly barricades to protect them, and from the sea of fists held high as yet another casket passes through the center square. As Howard Zinn eloquently puts…

“after recognizing we are bound,
to act as if we we’re free,
leaps in social evolution have come this way.”

Under multicolored tarps, thousands of teachers are asleep on the streets of Oaxaca City, Mexico. Their bodies lie within inches of one another in a sea of blankets, the sleeping figures separated from the pavement with only pieces of cardboard. The sounds of guard shift changes occur every two hours throughout the night. Small hand-held radios hum “Friends, compañeros, its exactly 17 past 1 in the morning on this Friday the 21st of September 2006. Another day of struggle, another day of advancement. At a winners pace.” The radio has become the life blood of this teachers strike turned popular movement in Oaxaca. Not only giving voice to the traditionally voiceless, the radio also serves as an organizing and coordination tool. It is the main communication between the tens of thousands of teachers who began in one encampment on the main square and who are now blockading over 20 government buildings, have exiled the state government from Oaxaca and are creating a democratic alternative.The state of Oaxaca is 70 percent indigenous and over half the population lives in poverty. The people are not poor in culture or in biodiversity but both of these are being eroded at the hands of corrupt governments. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has ruled the state for eighty years. Comprised of wealthy elites, the current and past governors of Oaxaca have lined their party’s pockets by collaborating with multinational corporations and promoting neoliberal economic policies. This has resulted in the theft of indigenous land, mass migration and the exploitation of resources and labor. Any resistance through social organizing has been met with severe governmental repression. In spite of this, Oaxaca has a strong and courageous history of resistance.

For the past 26 years, Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers has been a powerful force working for social justice state-wide. The Mexican constitution demands that all children have the same access to education, and yet today in Oaxaca the average person spends only 5.6 years in school, two years less than the national average. The conditions in the rural schools are extremely poor, with a lack of basic infrastructure. Children often come to school hungry, barefoot and are without desks, books and pencils.

Each year Section 22 has held a statewide strike during which teachers from all over the state descend on Oaxaca City to make their demands for the following school year. They remain camped out in the center square, or Zócalo, until a suitable compromise is reached with the government. Recognizing the role of the media in discrediting the union and spreading disinformation, Section 22 decided to create their own means of communication during the encampment in 2005. A low frequency radio station, Radio Plantón, was created with community support. The station was so popular that after the encampment ended, it continued its diverse community-based programming.

This year, after the demands of Section 22 were not met, 40,000 teachers came to Oaxaca City and began the encampment on May 22nd. At 4:30 a.m. on June 14th while the teachers and their families were sleeping, over 1000 state police raided the encampment, burned the teacher’s belongings, injured 100 people and fired teargas into the crowd from police helicopters. During the attack the teachers resisted with sticks and rocks, reclaiming the square later the same day.

During the attack Radio Plantón was destroyed. In response, within two hours, students at the Autonomous University of Benito Juarez took over the university station, claiming it for the movement. Outraged at the repression, two days later 400,000 people participated in a mega march to show support for the teachers and to call for the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruíz Ortíz. A new entity was formed of the 350 organizations that mobilized alongside the teacher strike called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO). According to Florentino, a member of the press committee, “APPO does not set out to impose any decisions, what we want is to integrate all the people so that together we can organize and govern the state.” Relying on radio for communication, without leaders and using collective decision making, APPO has advanced daily with announcements of new actions and strategies to force out the current governor. The indigenous people of the region have a long familiarity with this type of organizational structure; many municipalities are still run by the general assemblies under the traditional native customs of usos y costumbres.

On August 1st, a 3000-strong women’s march was held to continue the call for the resignation of the governor. After the march ended in the Zócalo, a contingent of 500 women went to CORTV, a statewide television station with two affiliated radio stations, to ask for some time on the air. “We asked for a space, they said no. Peacefully we demanded time to speak. We have a right to the time, the station had been involved in lying about us. They didn’t want to give us time, they cut off the signal, so we decided to take it over” explained Leila, a founder of the women’s coordination committee of APPO. After taking over the station the woman got the station back on the air. Then they immediately ran footage of the June 14th repression, which had been ignored by the mass media in Mexico and elsewhere. Their station became even more important on August 7th when the Radio Universidad transmitter was destroyed by infiltrators. Channel 9 and the affiliated radio stations became the means temployed by APPO to hold discussions, to announce upcoming marches, to provide alerts and to draw support to particular locations.

Numerous acts of repression occurred in August. Arrest warrants were issued for at least 80 movement “leaders,” including members of the teachers union. Four were abducted from the street by unmarked vans, photos in the local news of one, a biologist, indicated he had been severely beaten. In response 20,000 people attended a march against repression with only one days notice. The march was cut short when, half way through the march, plain-clothed government forces began shooting into the crowd, killing José Jimenez Colmenares, a mechanic and the husband of a teacher. In spite of these actions, the movement remains dedicated to non-violent protest and refuses to take up arms.

On August 21s police and government hired guns attacked the transmitter control room for Channel 9 successfully taking it and its two affiliates off the air. A previously created contingency put the movement members in control of 11 radio stations within hours, many of them women from Channel 9. The movement members currently retain control of 4 of the radio, including a new Radio Plantón. Encampments and street blockades have been set up to protect the new stations from attack. One movement member was killed while guarding a radio station bringing the total deaths now to eight.

These acts of repression have not led to the apparent goal of disabling the movement with fear and intimidation. To the contrary, the determination of the people seems stronger and stronger. APPO has attempted to negotiate with the federal government without success but this has not effected their determination either. On September 3rd APPO declared the governor banned from the state. And on September 21st, 5000 teachers began a 13-day march all the way to Mexico City to spread the word about their movement on the way and to start an indefinite encampment in front of the state Senate.

Just as the radio has played such a central role in the creation and maintenance of the popular struggle, we in the international community must use alternative media and the internet to stay informed and act, if we choose to do so, against the repression faced in Oaxaca. APPO has recently called for “international solidarity” and actions at Mexican consulates throughout the world. Former Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruíz García, a long time advocate for the poor and indigenous communities, attended a recent APPO forum and stated in the closing ceremonies, “…it might be that we are standing in two time dimensions, the past and the future. In these days we are living something that we are leaving, and cement is being placed beneath something that doesn’t come automatically but is the result of working together, of our construction.”

Graffiti calling for the ousting of the Governor of the state covers almost every blank wall as I wander through the historic district of Oaxaca City. The Zócalo, or main square, and the 50 blocks that surround it have become the home of the statewide teachers strike since the end of May. Sliding through makeshift blockades of metal sheeting and barbed wire, large pieces of concrete and in some cases reclaimed government cars and buses, I enter the encampment. On either side of the street multicolored tarps cover blankets and cardboard used at night to sleep on by the thousands involved in the struggle. In the center square a community kitchen gathers donations and prepares large pots of beans and rice. A clinic is set up by supportive workers in the medical field to serve those who have left their villages and homes and are living in the encampments. Many teachers embroider, read the latest movement communiqué, and gather in circles holding meetings. Banners from unions and municipalities from all over the state supporting this popular struggle hang between trees and light posts. Stencils depicting Mexico’s revolutionary heroes, calling for the people to rise up and demanding the release of political prisoners are everywhere. All of the amazing art of resistance reminds me of the anti-WTO actions in Seattle. This encampment in the main square marks where the movement began last May, but it has since expanded and encampments can now be found throughout the city. They now surround all government buildings in the city and protect the four radio stations and their transmitters that have been taken over and are currently held by the movement. These four channels air march and meeting announcements, discussions, alerts and calls for backup at the scenes of government repression of the movement. This is just within Oaxaca City. At least 200 villages in the state have joined in and reclaiming their town halls.

How the Movement Began
Seventy percent of the 3.5 million people who live in the state of Oaxaca are indigenous. Over half live in abject poverty, 35 percent do not have piped water in their homes. You can’t spend a day

in Oaxaca City without seeing poor native women with barefoot children in tow who have come from the surrounding villages to try and make money selling gum and cigarettes. Many of the rural communities are empty of men who have fled to the states to try and make money filling the low pay, harsh labor jobs the U.S. economy depends on. The Mexican constitution demands that all children have the same access to education. And yet today in Oaxaca the average person spends only 5.6 years in school, two years less than the national average. The conditions in the rural schools are extremely poor, with a lack of basic infrastructure. Children often come to school hungry, barefoot and are without desks, books and pencils. For the past 26 years Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers has held an annual statewide strike. Some of the demands this year included raises, basic supplies and breakfast for the students. Each year the teachers camp out in the main square of Oaxaca city until an adequate compromise is reached. This year things played out a little different. At 4:30 am on June 14^th while teachers and their families were sleeping, 3000 police raided the encampment, a helicopter fired teargas from the sky, cops beat people, burnt their belongings leaving over 100 people injured. The teachers resisted with sticks and rocks, reclaiming the square later the same day. And they have remained ever since.

Construction of the Popular Assembly
Immediately after the government repression a mega march was held where 400,000 people came to show support for the teachers. A new entity was formed of the 350 organizations that mobilized alongside the teacher strike called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO). Through hours of meetings this organization has come to represent not just the voice of the striking teachers but also the voice of all those in the state who face oppression and injustice. According to Florentino, a member of the press committee, “APPO does not set out to impose any decisions, what we set out to do is to integrate all the people so that together we can organize and govern the state.” Without leaders and using collective decision making, APPO advances daily with announcements of new actions and strategies. The indigenous people of the region have a long history with this type of organizational structure; many municipalities are still run by the general assemblies under the traditional native customs of usos y costumbres. These assemblies are not affiliated with political parties and select the municipal presidents who then lead by following, accountable to those who selected them.

On August 16^th and 17^th APPO held a forum entitled “Building Democracy and Governability in Oaxaca,” with sessions covering the design of a new state constitution, creating democracy from below, movement inclusion and respect for diversity. The rich history of the people organizing in this fashion was clear to me as I sat in the back row in a room of over a thousand, watching decisions being made efficiently. Since the formation of APPO, a clear consensus decision was made to change the primary demand from those of the teachers’ to the resignation of the Governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Not only because of his responsibility in the violent repression of their democratic teachers’ strike but because he was brought to power through fraud, and since the beginning of his term he has favored corporate interests and undermined social organizations.

Corrupt Governments and their Development Plans
Corrupt exploitive governments are nothing new to Oaxaca or to Mexico. In fact the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), made up of the conservative right, light skinned, wealthy class, has held the position of governor of Oaxaca for the past 80 years and all of Mexico for over 70 years, previous to the current President Vicente Fox’s rule. There were hopes for Fox to step out of the traditional exploitive role but his party, the National Action Party (PAN), has carried on the PRI legacy of neoliberal expansion, corruption and repression of social organizations.

With help from the leaders of the Central American countries, Fox initiated Plan Puebla Panama, PPP, a neoliberal development mega project, praised by the United States. This project, claiming one of its main goals is to improve the conditions for the people of the region, in actuality is stealing land from indigenous people for infrastructure projects to move resources more quickly into the hands of multinational corporations and commodifying their culture for the tourist industry. One of the projects with huge implications for Oaxaca is the creation of a super highway at Mexico’s skinniest point, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in order to move resources more readily across the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This transportation corridor will be surrounded with sweatshops, maquiladoras, free of labor and environmental laws. “For all of these objectives, the government of Oaxaca is key to the realization of the project,” explained Florentino.

Ulises Ruiz Ortiz is a carbon copy of the most corrupt PRI leadership which exploits and represses the majority indigenous population to serve the interests of foreign corporations and maintain nationwide PRI control, a perfect match to prepare the region for the implementation of the PPP. Unable to be elected democratically, Ulises was forced to steal his position through vote buying, ballot box tampering and computer fraud. On December 1^st 2004, his first day as Governor, 40 armed men including PRI municipal leaders with police support occupied the Noticias, a major newspaper for the region which covered illegitimacy of the election. The newspaper has been operating out of a different location ever since. In the 21 months that Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz has been in power 37 people have been killed for political reasons. With this record his response to the democratic teachers strike on June 14^th comes as no surprise.

Government Repression Continues
The repressive tactics against the movement have continued since June 14^th. Arrest warrants have been issued for at least 80 movement “leaders” including members of the teachers union. Four have been abducted from the street by unmarked vans, photos of one, a biologist, severely beaten were seen in the local news. The faces of the four political prisoners and a strong call for their freedom can be seen wheat pasted throughout downtown. In response to that repression a march was held on August 10th. With only one days notice, I was shocked to find over 20,000 people at the starting point. Half way through the march I had decided to skip over a few blocks and try to get further ahead, closer to the front of the march. As I ran around the block to rejoin the masses I heard shots ring out, I was suddenly joined by others who were also running to get closer to the front. When I arrived, the march was at a standstill and chaos abounded. In front of me a 50 year old woman picked up a piece of concrete and was dropping it on the curb to make smaller rocks. I realized people were scrambling to pick up sticks and rocks for defense, some were running for cover in a nearby church. A man lay dead in the street. Government goons had shot randomly into the crowd killing José Jimenez Colmenares, a mechanic and the husband of a teacher. Clearly this was a tactic to intimidate and create fear. Yet the movement remains dedicated to not taking up arms. Instead APPO has used the main strategy of creating a situation of ungovernability in Oaxaca preventing the state government from meeting, orchestrating state wide strikes, blockading bank and wealthy business, and controlling transportation through highway stoppages.

In late August the federal government finally agreed to negotiations with APPO and 28 representatives, half teachers, went to Mexico City. These negotiations are not likely to go anywhere because the federal government refuses to back down and the movement is unwilling to compromise on the resignation of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. A teacher living in an encampment outside one of the radio stations explained “Some compañeros want to accept the crumbs that the federal government is offering us and say that maybe we better return to class so that this can end peacefully, as if nothing has happened, but there are a lot of us that say no, because this would imply forgetting the reality that we have been living until now. I insist this type of repression before has not been seen in Oaxaca and if we allow it, believe me when I say, that we would condemn the state of Oaxaca to live like this. Something that would not only affect the teachers but every social group that would want to rise up in the future.”

Power of Community Radio
Radio has played a very significant role in this movement, giving new voice to the voiceless. A radio station, created by the striking teachers with community support was destroyed by the police during the June 14^th repression. In response, students from the Autonomous University of Benito Juarez reclaimed their radio station, Radio Universidad, and it became the means of communication for the movement. It too was shot into by government goons and acid was poured on the transmitter, destroying the station. On August 1^st a 3000 strong women’s march moved through downtown clanging pots and pans, in the spirit of the march of “cacerolas” in Chile, and calling for the resignation of the state governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Leila, a member of the women’s coordination committee of APPO explained, “The pots and pans reflect that in Oaxacan homes, there is no food. In a country where there is no justice, no equality, where there is no respect for human rights, these pans are not only empty of food but also of these basic principles.”

After the march ended in the main square, a contingent of 500 women decided to take over Channel 9 CORTV, a state wide television station and its two affiliated radio stations. After a few hours the women got the channel back on the air. They began to express many reasons for the takeover, to continue the pressure for the governor’s resignation, to reclaim the space for the community, to air the news that is not getting covered and to use the mode of communication for organizing and spreading word of the needs of the movement. On August 21^st police and government goons attacked the transmitter control room for Channel 9 taking it and two affiliated radio stations off the air. A contingency plan had been created and within hours 11 radio stations were under the control of movement members, many of them women from Channel 9.

Encampments and street blockades were set up protect the new stations from plain clothed cops and paramilitaries who appear at night and fire into the encampments. One movement member guarding a radio station was killed bringing the total deaths to eight. This repression has had the opposite effects of its apparent goals to disable the movement with fear, instead, more and more people can be found sleeping in the encampments outside the radio stations and the determination of the people seems stronger and stronger. On September 3^rd APPO declared the Governor banned from the state and have essentially taken over control of the state. Florentino explained, “For us the process of destruction of the government and the resignation of Ulises has already ended so that a phase of construction can begin, of creating governability, of showing that we are capable of governing ourselves.”

In this National Climate the Winds of Oaxaca Reach Far and Wide
While the people have managed, at least for the time being to reclaim Oaxaca from the hands of the corrupt and repressive leadership, on the national level Felipe Calderon, with the help of the conservative Federal Election Commission (TRIFE), has managed to fraudulently steal the national presidency. On September 6^th TRIFE unanimously handed the presidency of Mexico to Calderon even though he had only half a percent lead out of 41.6 million votes over the left PRD candidate Manuel Lopez Obrador amidst an immense amount of evidence pointing to fraud. Obrador, who some on the left have criticized as a moderate, has campaigned on helping the poor and is refusing to back down, mobilizing millions against the fraud in Mexico City.

In preparation for the his final State of the Union address on September 1^st, President Fox planned to keep the Obrador supporters at bay with 10 foot tall metal barricades, thousands of armed federal police, water cannons and military snipers stationed on rooftops of surrounding buildings. He did not foresee the 155 senators and congress members who felt the election was fraudulent and who prevented the speech from the inside by taking over the podium. Fox ended up giving a televised address. On September 16^th at a National Democratic Convention for the people voted Obrador as President of a “parallel government” with plans to prevent Calderon from taking office on December 1^st. Those in power continue to try and carry on with business as usual. According to a White House spokesperson, two days after Calderon was handed the presidency, George Bush expressed the desire to “meet at the earliest mutually convenient opportunity” especially to move forward on Plan Puebla to Panama. Try as they might, they can not continue to ignore what is being created in the poor and indigenous communities in Oaxaca and throughout Mexico.

“The worry that is maybe the biggest of all is the fear of being repressed, the fear of being incarcerated, the fear of being harshly beaten, and of course, the fear of dying because that is what we are exposed to,” states a teacher afraid to share his name. Yet the dignity and courage in his eyes and in the eyes of so many suggests to me that perhaps the strength of this mass mobilization of people with justice in their hearts and a clear understanding of the roots of their exploitation in their minds can withstand this brutal repression. As Slingshot goes to press we are in a period of calm in Oaxaca but repression could come at any moment. The largest defense against this repression is international solidarity as we have seen throughout the Zapatista uprisings in Chiapas. APPO has recently called for international solidarity, for actions at Mexican consulates throughout the world.

This struggle for human rights and self determination is not new and what they are resisting is clearly not confined to Oaxaca. In fact Oaxaca is simply another front in this global struggle for social justice. And we, in the U.S., in the belly of the beast where it is the easiest to carry on and maintain the status quo, we must stand tall and not let a single casualty in this struggle go unnoticed. We gain strength with each exploitive act and development plan that increases the distance between the very rich and the growing poor. Throughout the Americas things are changing. In South America the grassroots movements are expanding, electing left leadership. And in the states the immigrant rights movement is on the move. The potential for solidarity is endless. The Former Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruíz García, a long time advocate for the poor and indigenous communities, attended an APPO forum. In the closing ceremonies he stated, “…it might be that we are standing in two time dimensions, the past and the future. In these days we are living something that we are leaving, and cement is being placed beneath something that doesn’t come automatically but is the result of working together, of our construction.”

For up-to-date info on Oaxaca and Mexico in English and Spanish www.narconews.com/en.html

The sounds of gun shots echo through the streets of Oaxaca and bounce off the mountains that surround the city. It’s three a.m. and the members of the movement who are camped out in the streets huddled under tarps armed only with rocks and pipes are facing these bullets from government forces. Church bells begin to ring to signify where the attack is occurring and call for support. This movement, which began with teachers camped out in Oaxaca city’s main square, has now grown to a full fledged popular struggle including farmers, union members, street vendors social leaders camped 24 hours at all major government buildings, road blockades, 20 rural town halls and radio stations.

On August 1^st a 3000 strong women’s march moved through downtown clanging pots and pans and calling for the resignation of the state governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. After the march ended in the main square, a contingent of 500 women decided to take over Channel 9 CORTV, a state wide television station and its two affiliated radio stations. After a few hours the women got the channel back on the air. They began to express many reasons for the takeover, to continue the pressure for the governor’s resignation, to reclaim the space for the community, to air the news that is not getting covered and to use the mode of communication for organizing and spreading word of the needs of the movement. One woman expressed that they will not let those “…from high society intimidate us by calling us tortilleras (women who sell tortillas in the street), we are and with much dignity” another exclaimed “it is time to wake up, time to stand up and say enough.”

Community radio has been a very significant part of this mobilization, giving new voice to the voiceless. Beginning in May 2005, at the annual strike and encampment of Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers to call for pay raises, desks, books and breakfasts for their students, the teachers created a pirate radio station called Radio Planton that communicated the situation for the teachers encamped in the main square and much more. During the June 14^th repression, now known as the “desalojo,” the station was destroyed. In response, students from the Autonomous University of Benito Juarez reclaimed their radio station, Radio Universidad, and it became communication for the movement. It too was shot into by government goons and acid was poured on the transmitter, destroying the station. On August 21^st police and government goons attacked the transmitter control room for Channel 9 taking it and two affiliated radio stations off the air. A contingency plan had been created and within hours 11 radio stations were under the control of movement members, many of them women from Channel 9.

The movement seems so strong and widespread, it feels unstoppable. However, at the same time that Governor Ulises Ruíz Ortíz speaks on mainstream news about creating a “dialogue for peace,” plain clothed cops and paramilitaries appear at night and fire into the encampments. Two movement members guarding radio stations have been killed this week bringing the total deaths to four. In response to Wednesday nights shooting a teacher explained, “In truth after last night we are afraid even though we don’t say so. No one wants to be exposed but we are aware that we have to go forward until this is finished. The consensus without a doubt was that we go together to the end.” Arrest warrants have been issued for 50 movement “leaders” including members of the teachers union. Four have been abducted from the street by unmarked vans, photos of one, a biologist, severly beaten were seen in the local news. Last week, with one days notice a march against repression was held, 20,000 attended. Half way through the march to Channel 9 government goons shot into the crowd killing José Jimenez Colmenares, a mechanic and the husband of a teacher.

The movement faces these acts of repression with resilience. I have watched two caskets carried through a sea of raised fists in the main square with thousands in attendance. The Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, APPO, the main organizing structure made up of a coalition of the striking teachers and 150 social organisations, seems to advance daily with announcements of new actions and strategies to shut down the government of Oaxaca. On August 16^th and 17^th they held a forum entitled “Building Democracy and Governability in Oaxaca,” with sessions covering the design of a new state constitution, creating democracy from below, and movement inclusion and respect for diversity. Oaxaca may be one of the poorest states in all of Mexico but the people are aware of why and the direct role neoliberalism plays in their lives. On August 18^th, APPO called for a statewide general strike and 80,000 people participated. Banks and wealthy businesses have been blockaded. APPO is organized into various committees, including security, which is currently blockading many streets and trying to protect the encampments from the nightly attacks by government forces.

There are clear connections between this movement and the ongoing national battle to reclaim democracy as the right wing candidate Felipe Calderón, with the help of the conservative Federal Electoral Commission, becomes closer and closer to stealing the presidential election through fraud. Change is coming to Mexico, and it is the unity, organization, sacrifice, courage, creativity and perseverance found in this grassroots struggle that has the potential to end to the rampant inequality fostered by free trade and the other exploitive policies that have ruled Mexico throughout history. The Former Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruíz García, a long time advocate for the poor and indigenous communities, attended the APPO forum. In the closing ceremonies he stated, “…it might be that we are standing in two time dimensions, the past and the future. In these days we are living something that we are leaving, and cement is being placed beneath something that doesn’t come automatically but is the result of working together, of our construction.”

The day after arriving in Mexico City, as I stood in a crowd of a half a million Mexican supporters who had travelled from all over the country, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador made his demand for a vote by vote recount of the July 2nd election. According to journalist John Ross who has covered Mexico for many years “This country is absolutely divided right down the center, between the industrial north and the indigenous, impoverished, but resource-rich south. It’s an election that has split the county right down the line geographically, politically, economically and racially.” Obrador has represented a shift to the left, supporting the poor, in alignment with the new left democracies in Latin America, although some members of popular movements consider him more to the middle. His opposition, Felipe Calderón, represents neoliberalism and continued alignment with George Bush and Washington. Obrador has refused to concede defeat in the July 2nd election where Calderon led by little more than half a percentage point amidst claims of ballot stuffing and corruption. Speaking to the crowd Obrador stated, “I have the deep conviction that despite all the machinery of the state, and all the money of a privileged group, they will not be able to stop the free will of millions of Mexicans,” he said. “That is the greatest force of a democracy.” A call was made for peaceful civil disobedience in defence of democracy and another rally on the 30th of July. The electoral court, itself accused of being in the hands of the right-wing parties, is reviewing the accounts of fraud and corruption and has until September 6th to certify a winner.

In Oaxaca, the fifth largest state in Mexico, Obrador received the vast majority of the votes, a surprising loss for a traditional conservative party stronghold. This upset is being credited primarily to a growing popular movement currently represented by a state wide strike of the democratic teachers union SNTE Section 22 in Oaxaca. On May 22nd the union declared the strike and established an encampment of 70,000 teachers in the center of the city taking over the Zócalo, the main square, and almost 50 surrounding streets to publicize and emphasize their demands. These demands include an increase in salaries to reach the same level as teachers in the neighboring states of Chiapas and Veracruz as required by the Mexican constitution, equal salary for equal work and that all children receive breakfast, school uniforms, shoes, books, writing implements and minimally adequate school buildings. The Mexican constitution demands that all children have the same access to education. This is not the case today where children come to school hungry, barefoot and without desks, books and pencils.

The huge encampment and the growing social movement pose a threat to the far right conservative Oaxacan government and the industries it represents. On June 14th they responded to the strikers with repression. At 4:30 in the morning more than 3000 armed police officers attacked the sleeping teachers and families with helicopters, teargas, stun grenades, rifles, and clubs. Many tents and teachers’ belongings were burnt. The grassroots radio station Radio Plantón was destroyed. Support for the teachers spread quickly and a march was held on June 16th with over 400,000 in attendance. They teachers and their supporters quickly reclaimed the center square and although many teachers recently returned to their regions briefly to assist students in fulfilling their academic requirements so they can continue to the next grade, the encampment continues. A new entity was formed of the 350 organizations that mobilized alongside the teacher strike called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) and through consensus they have decided to change the primary demand to the resignation of Governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Not only because of his responsibility in the violent repression of their democratic strike but because he too was brought to power through fraud, and since the beginning of his term he has favored corporate interests and undermined social organizations.

The violent repression did not succeed in forcing the teachers out of Oaxaca City, so the tactics used to discredit the movement were expanded. Businessmen closely allied with the Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz sponsored the “March in Defense of Education” where workers were threatened with the loss of their jobs if they did not attend and many reported promises of money, eyeglasses, cement, mattresses and food. The march was attended by less than 10,000.

In order to pit tourists against the union, Governor Ulises announced on July 17th that he was suspending Guelaguetza, an internationally popular cultural festival that draws over 20,000 tourists each year “because of fears that thousands of striking teachers will threaten tourists.” As I walk through the sea of artistic banners and tarps that make up the encampment I feel no threat, rather I am greeted with many signs hung by the teachers union in English stating “Sorry for the annoyances. What is happening is that we are busy making our history. As soon as Ulises gets out of here, we will welcome you again with open arms – the Citizens of Oaxaca.”

The teachers had called for a boycott of the festival prior to the Governors suspension in opposition to the high costs of the festival, to the profits benefiting only the travel agencies, transnational enterprises, wealthy hotel and restaurant owners. The ethnic groups of the region express concern over being reduced to mere tourist and folk merchandise. Rather than posing a threat to tourists, the teachers have planned an alternative popular, free and inclusive festival to occur on July 24th.

Although this is my first trip to Mexico, in the last week I have felt the tremendous strength of the popular movement – the spirit, solidarity, creativity and persistence. Whether or not justice is served in the presidential election or in the meeting of the Oaxacan teachers’ demands it is clear to me that no amount of corruption or repression will stop the momentum that is building. As Ana, a member of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, explained to me, “…wherever there is misery living together with wealth – extreme poverty and extreme wealth – there will always be social conflict. It is hard to have a situation of peace when people are hungry, when they don’t have access to even basic services.”

Standing at the window of my Gaza Strip apartment, having heard the Apache helicopter circle a time or two around the block, I watched it drop a missile, glowing red, two blocks away. It was just past dark, people were still in the street. I grew up in the United States, I can’t begin to count the number of Hollywood renditions of such an act I have watched on the big screen, but nothing prepares you to see a piece of machinery, manufactured in your own country, drop a bomb in the neighborhood where you are living. Earlier that day on the same street, I watched children play and women weave their way through the crowd with baskets of fresh herbs balanced on their heads.

Rachel Corrie, a skinny creative free spirit entered my life right after the twin towers came down on September 11th. She contacted me while looking for others to organize with in opposition to the bombing of Afghanistan. We organized a contingent made up of grey haired grannies, a peace scout troop of hippie kids, our hesitant friends and at the last minute, a few drunks from the local bar. The thirty of us made peace dove costumes from worn out hotel sheets and danced down the street in an annual community parade. Far from having a direct impact on the reality of the Middle East it was an exercise in the power of community creativity, with lots of late nights, papier maché, and glue guns. Two years later, the bombing of Afghanistan was still under way and the attack on Iraq imminent. Rachel, armed with a new understanding of the situation in Israel and Palestine from her college studies, took off for the region to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, ISM. ISM is a rag tag crew of internationals from all over the world who descend on occupied Palestine to take part in non-violent actions against the Israeli occupation. In various villages the locals have called for support, for eyes and the protection that comes free with our western skin.More…

It is impossible to look at the situation in the Middle East without starting with Israel and Palestine. The names Bin Ladin and Al Zarqawi have become household names, for many American families the only Arab names they know. Both leaders of armed networks have released several videos defining the reasons for their actions, in almost all cases the demand for Palestinian freedom is made clear. Noam Chomsky pointed out in a recent interview on Democracy Now! that most analysts agree due to the timing of the recent kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah that it was at least partly an action to reduce the Israeli attacks on Gaza by forcing them to fight on two fronts simultaneously. In order to ever envision peace in the Middle East it is critical to understand the situation in Israel and occupied Palestine.

Israel was created in 1948 on land that was already inhabited by Palestinians. This came to be through a Jewish nationalist movement called Zionism which, in the early 20th century, had gained momentum due to the atrocities of the Holocaust and the growing persecution of Jews all over the world. Countries like our own, were not accepting Jews as they fled Germany, ships were even sent back at the border. Britain was in control of the Palestinian territories at the time and facilitated the creation of the state of Israel. So that’s where the conflict begins, two people and one land. Possible solutions could have included the creation of two states where both people would each have their own government or the creation of one state where they would share a government made up of representatives of both people. Instead, 750,000 indigenous Palestinians were forced off the land where their families had lived for hundreds of years by powerful militias that soon became the Israeli military. The Israeli government currently controls all the land and the Palestinians live under military occupation with no country of their own. The majority of Palestinian people do not even live in the occupied Palestinian territories; many still live in refugee camps on the borders of the surrounding Arab countries. Those who remain in the occupied territories have been without rights, living under military law for almost 40 years. Today, many are still being forced off more and more of their land. At this point the occupied Palestinian territories cover 22% of what used to be their original homeland.

In January 2003, Rachel Corrie stepped foot in the Middle East. She had heard the call for internationals to come to Rafah, the poorest community in all of occupied Palestine and one that has suffered enormous loss at the hands of the Israeli Occupation. Rafah is in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, a tiny 25 by 7 mile strip of land with 1.5 million inhabitants, one of the most densely populated pieces of land on earth. Rafah was under intense siege by the Israeli military at this time, similar to what we have seen the last few months, in fact, consistently for the past 5 years. Rachel wrote home often:

“I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for me to think about what’s going on here when I sit down to write back to the United States. Something about the virtual portal into luxury. I don’t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me – Ali – or point at the posters of him on the walls.”

She spent a majority of her time in Rafah along the border area with Egypt. This area is made up of UN built refugee camp concrete homes crammed together into very tight blocks, often with more than 10 people sharing two rooms. Rafah is a town of 160,000, and in the last five years more than 500 civilians have died at the hands of Israeli soldiers, 150 of them children. The constant attacks on all elements of life in Rafah have resulted in the collective punishment of the entire community. Rachel was working with a group of internationals walking children to school, sleeping at water wells and homes along the border to prevent the Israeli Military from destroying them, and attempting to bring media attention to the situation. On March 16th, while attempting to defend the Nasrallah family home from being demolished, a US made Caterpillar bulldozer of the Israeli Military ran her over, and then backed over her again. I found out on National Public Radio that she died within an hour. She was 23. The US has refused to complete a formal investigation into her death.

After Rachel’s death, occupied Palestine spiraled into my life changing overnight from a far off concept of a mythical religious war zone to a land of people who have been forced to live under inhuman conditions at the hands of the Israeli military for forty years. As Rachel had explained to me before she left, this occupation could not exist without the 4 billion plus dollars that our country gives Israel each year. Israel has been the largest receiver of US foreign aid for decades. 75% of this money must be spent on US made weaponry. After Rachel’s death, I went to Gaza as a delegate for a sister city project between Olympia, Washington, and Rafah. What I saw did not in any way resemble what the media says about the region – a perpetual cycle of violence from a 1000 year old religious conflict where Israel is defending itself against hate filled Arabs. The reality I discovered more seemed more like a modern day version of the ethnic cleansing of the Native Americans that occurred last century here in the states. When you walk down the street in Israel it feels like you could easily be in the States, cross an arbitrary line in the sand, marked by large concrete walls and military checkpoints, and you find yourself in the occupied territories where poverty prevails. The contrasts are tremendous.

The difference between what I would witness living in occupied Palestine and how the events were portrayed in the media displayed an elaborate system of misinformation. The missile I saw fall in my neighborhood in Rafah resulted in the killing of a twenty year old man and the wounding of ten civilians, five of which were children. This was described by Israel as a “counter terrorist action.” The man who died may have been suspected of a crime but he had no trial, no justice. The use of words to disguise the reality I was experiencing is common practice. “Destroying access routes for terrorists” means bombing major roads, bridges and neighborhood streets. “Creating a wider border zone” means the arbitrary shelling and eventual demolition of the homes of 16,000 people, most made refugees already once in their lifetime. “Destruction of terrorist infrastructure” means the bombing of power plants, schools, and civilian homes. “Preventing terrorists from smuggling weapons from Egypt” means surrounding Gaza with walls, making it a virtual open air prison, suffocating the economy and preventing access for basic UN food supplies and medicine. “Having no negotiating partner for peace” means the kidnapping of over 35 democratically elected Palestinian Parliament Members and 10 cabinet ministers and the bombing of the Palestinian Prime Ministers Headquarters. And it reaches absurd levels, these war crimes are carried under military operations with names such as “Operation Rainbow” and “Operation Summer Rain.”

These measures are taken by Israel most often in the name of security against the armed resistance to the occupation. There are militant factions of religious extremists within Arab society who shoot homemade rockets into Israel and vow to use violence to wipe out Israel. Looking out my balcony in Rafah I would often see armed men driving through the streets representing a specific faction within Palestinian society. Violent extremist elements can be found throughout almost all societies. In the United States we have right wing religious anti-abortion groups who have murdered doctors or the Minute Men who shoot Mexicans attempting to cross our border. In Israel the religious extremist groups take the form of Settlers who against international law, choose to live inside the occupied Palestinian territories. This would be similar to moving Americans into Iraq and setting up gated communities. I traveled to three different villages in the West Bank as an international to witness the constant attacks on Palestinian families by Israeli settlers who live in the outlying areas, who use intimidation and violence to clear out the villages to claim “their divine right to the land.” I harvested olives in the West Bank where the previous year settlers killed two villagers while they were harvesting on their own land, walked with Palestinian girls to school as settler youth threw stones at them, and spent the night at a rural village where settlers have poisoned their sheep, cut down their olive trees and beat up the elders. So what is it that defines Hamas and Hezbollah as “terrorists” and Israeli settlers and right wing Christian groups not terrorists? Arundhati Roy explains that “terrorism is the symptom not the disease” and the term as it is often used today means victims who refuse to be further victimized.

On January 25th, I was able to observe one of the most democratic elections ever to occur in the Middle East. Hamas, considered a “terrorist organization by the US” for its violent resistance to the occupation and participation in sending suicide bombers into Israel, swept the parliamentary elections. The US and Israel responded immediately but cutting off funds to the Palestinian Authority including tax money paid by Palestinians. A close friend and pharmacist in Gaza has not been paid in 6 months due to these sanctions. I spoke to many Hamas supporters who expressed that they were voting for change, that the Fatah leadership focused on negotiations and Israel refused to talk. Instead the occupation has taken a stronger and more violent hold on their communities. I also heard hopes that a lot of the government money that had ended up in the pockets of corrupt Fatah leaders would return to the communities. Hamas runs numerous social service programs throughout the territories including women’s clinics and children’s centers.

Now that I have returned, the time I spent in the territories has given me a fresh perspective to filter through the news that flows from the region. This most recent escalation was portrayed by the media as beginning with the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of Gilat Shalit, while they were on duty. What was missing from most of the coverage I received were the names of the two brothers, charged only with being members of Hamas, who were taken from Gaza by Israeli forces the previous day. Very little was said about the 9000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, 1000 of which have never been charged, including women and children. Israel responded to the kidnapping with collective punishment from the first day by bombing the main electrical plant in Gaza impacting over half of Gazas residents and the local hospitals. Mona Al-Farra, a physician in Gaza City gives this report of the current situation,

“Gaza became a big prison for its’ citizens, especially during the last 5 years. We have faced different episodes of violence, but this time is the worst, these atrocities have left one third of the population suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS), as an outcome of going through traumatic experiences of home demolition, killing of family members, being at a site of shelling, assassination, and having the feeling of living in a big prison. The borders are closed most of the times which means we are not allowed in or out of our country, it has been closed completely for more than a month . And there is economic hardship, with high unemployment that reaches to 70%. Most people live under poverty levels in crowded towns, villages and refugee camps where the housing conditions are very limited and lack basic infrastructure.”

There are clearly militant groups who are a threat to the security of Israel but punishing all civilians in an attempt to reach the small violent extremist sectors of society is not working. Just in my four months I witnessed daily acts of intimidation, illegal arrest and imprisonment by Israeli soldiers, the suffocation of the economy, the blocking of medical aid and basic food supplies, the destruction of infrastructure, assassinations without trial, and the murder of innocent civilians. I witnessed the construction of the massive wall that is currently being built to completely enclose the West Bank and even to divide it internally into three sections. The construction of the wall, or “Security Fence” as it is referred to by Israeli leaders, is stealing Palestinian land and resources, including water. I spent time in Bil’in, a small village in the West Bank, that is losing sixty percent of its agricultural land so that the wall can annex a settlement into Israel. These acts of collective punishment are the true threats to Israel’s security. The majority of Palestinians want the same thing the average Israeli, that the average American wants: a home, an education, an ability to provide for their children. But for the average Palestinian family these things are at perpetual risk of being taken away. These policies are leading to insecurity and pushing people to take more extreme measures to attempt to survive and maintain their dignity. They may benefit the weapons industry and certain strategic resource goals but they are making no one safer. In fact I can’t think of a policy that could more readily build hatred and push a society in the direction of violent response than Israel’s perpetual acts of collective punishment.

As far away as the Middle East may seem, it is the United States who has the power to change this situation. Our government makes its supportive stance clear, not only through the billions of dollars of aid, but also through our consistent approval of Israel’s actions, and our constant veto of any resolution brought to the UN criticizing Israel. George Bush spouted “Israel has the right to defend itself” as we rushed an order of precision satellite and laser-guided bombs to Israel one week into the attack on Lebanon. According to Noam Chomsky, “the United States regards Israel as virtually a militarized offshoot, and it protects it from criticism or actions and, in fact, overtly supports its expansion, its attacks on Palestinians, its progressive takeover of what remains of Palestinian territory.” Grassroots efforts are growing to change our government’s response but more people are needed to really have an impact.

Standing in my brown hoodie holding a fancy digital camera next to a woman with her head covered who is picking her ancestors olives and loading them on to her donkey is a bit of a culture shock. But we are able to communicate and the look of appreciation in her eyes makes it clear that her struggle to pick these olives and to stay on her land is the same struggle as ours in the States for an end to US military domination. According to the International Solidarity Movement

“International citizens have played a key role in the Palestinian nonviolent resistance over the last 6 years. It is vital that this worldwide support for Palestinians continue so they are able to challenge the illegal Israeli occupation with dignity, strength and nonviolence. The International Solidarity Movement renews its call for international civil society to act when the governments of the world will not and join the Palestinian nonviolent resistance!”

Even though the media never covers the village wide marches, the strength of Palestinians choosing to remain on their land against all odds, and the weekly actions against the Wall, nonviolent resistance is alive and well in the occupied territories. Dr. Mona Al-Farra explains “Israel aims to break the Palestinian people’s will and determination to achieve their inalienable national goals. I said before they will not succeed and I am saying it again and again. It is impossible to control an entire nation using collective punishment and continuous occupation. It is impossible to confiscate am entire nation’s right of freedom and self-determination.” Palestinian society has been under siege for so long and Israel, even with the forth largest military in the world for a country the roughly the size of New Jersey, has not been able to destroy its foundations. This is simply because the human potential for unity, sacrifice, organization, determination and patience will always prevail over missiles and tanks, no matter how large or how many. And there are so many opportunities to support them in their struggle. Through our sister city project we have shown art made in Rafah, sold embroidery made by women in the refugee camps in our local fair-trade store, fundraised for playground construction and medical supplies and most importantly simply connected people in our two communities. So many social organizations have been created within Palestinian society to help it remain intact in the face of occupation, volunteer opportunities abound. Numerous organizations provide two week educational delegations to the occupied Palestinian territories, from the Middle East Children’s Alliance to Christian Peacemaker Teams, giving Americans the opportunities to see the situation with their own eyes.

On February 27th of 2003 Rachel wrote,

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just want to write to my Mom and tell her that I’m witnessing this chronic, insidious genocide and I’m really scared, and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature. This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it.

The morning after I saw the missle fall, when I was sitting at breakfast with the family whose home Rachel died defending, I asked if they had heard all the F16s and seen the attack. The father smiled with his usual cynical twinkle in his eye, “it’s normal, this is nothing unusual.” Attempting to remain uninvolved in these realities is an impossibility. Whether I chose to come to Rafah or not, simply by being an American citizen I am impacting this family. Not only the foreign policies, but also simply maintaining the status quo here in the United States is supporting Israel’s human rights abuses; it is having an impact on individuals worldwide. If we don’t support the current situation then we have to take an active role in globalizing an alternative, and I believe that getting to know one other and our realities is a powerful way for this to grow, we may be a bit behind but the globalizing of popular struggle is clearly underway.