2008: A New Year of Struggle

Fri Jan 4 11:00:34 EST 2008

International Action Center <http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml>

Founded by Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General

December, 2007

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are writing this at a critical time in the struggle for justice and 
peace, but one in which there is also great potential. The war in Iraq 
drags on towards a fifth year, despite a clear mandate from the people 
to bring the troops home now. The Bush Administration is still 
threatening the people of Iran with ominous sanctions and a new war. 

An estimated two million people will lose their homes from the 
foreclosure crisis. Racist attacks are on the rise, from the injustice 
in Jena , Louisiana , to CNN's Lou Dobb's virulent anti-immigrant crusade.

Millions of people, one-fourth of them children, have no health 
insurance, while affordable housing and access to education soars out of 
the reach of many.

On every front, we face new challenges--and new opportunities to reach 
out to more people and build the movement for peace and social justice. 
*It is vitally important that we mobilize from an independent grassroots 
perspective. *To do this, we need to maintain and strengthen independent 
organizing centers like the International Action Center .  *You can help 
by donating at http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml *

The IAC's most important contribution in its 16-year history is in 
creatively linking opposition to U.S. wars abroad and support for the 
struggles here at home. We are an ongoing force for unity and solidarity.

*The IAC is a home and an essential meeting space *for youth groups, 
such as Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST); emergency efforts 
opposing racist attacks, police brutality and immigrant round-ups; as 
well as groups organizing against the imprisonment of political 
prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal, noted African-American journalist on 
Pennsylvania's death row; Native American leader Leonard Peltier; and 
the Cuban 5, jailed for opposing attacks on their country, and many others.
*Help the IAC continue as a center for independent grassroots organizing! *
*
*
Donate online at http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml

Solidarity committees for struggles in the Philippines , Palestine , 
Pakistan , Haiti , Zimbabwe, Korea , and Cuba and immigrant rights' 
organizations rely on our support and active assistance. There are daily 
requests for help in making banners and signs, designing web sites, 
laying-out posters and leaflets, and circulating  petitions. Our 
computers, phones, fax machines, copier, sound and video equipment are 
in constant demand.

*It is time to step up the pressure--*

In 2006, voters by the millions showed that they wanted an end to the 
brutal and illegal U.S. occupation of Iraq .  Many thought that the 
newly elected representatives would end the war and bring the troops 
home. But in the last year, the war budget has soared, the war is still 
raging and it is clear that that voting alone will not stop the war. It 
is time to step up the pressure. The leading Democratic presidential 
candidates say they can't commit to withdrawing troops before 2013. This 
means years of war, tens of thousands of Iraqis dead and injured, many 
more U.S. casualties, with soldiers returning to inadequate medical care 
and disability benefits.  It means billions of dollars more that are 
desperately needed here for healthcare, housing, education, food 
programs, and to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast , will be spent 
on war and occupation.

*"Stop the war" protestors camp-out on East and West Coasts *

The past year has been an active period of grassroots organizing against 
war and occupation abroad. In March, IAC activists, working with the 
Troops Out Now Coalition, staged a week-long, vibrant Encampment to Stop 
the War. We erected tents, canopies, and billboards in Washington , D.C. 
On giant banners, visible to thousands of people, we demanded an end to 
the war and war funding, and called for *"Money for Jobs, Education and 
Healthcare, not War."**
*
Encampment to Stop the War
Youth  organizers at the Encampment in Washington

In late September, the Encampment returned to Washington, with support 
and participation from the Iraq Veterans for Peace; Green Party; Common 
Ground Collective from New Orleans; New York Solidarity Committee for 
Katrina/Rita Survivors; Artists and Activists Against the War; 
BAYAN-USA; May 1st Immigrant Rights Coalition; International Friends and 
Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal; People's Organization for Progress; and many 
other national and local organizations.

Lively workshops, cultural events, press conferences, and protests went 
on all week, followed by a mass march of many thousands, then a sit-in 
by youth activists on Constitution Avenue for several hours. Activists 
traveled from across the U.S. to join in; one family bicycled from 
Washington State to participate. 

On the West Coast, scores of anti-war and social justice organizations 
organized teach-ins and actions at a one-week tent city in Los Angeles 
culminating in a march on September 29.

*Healthcare not Warfare--*

IAC activists, working with cast members from Michael Moore's movie 
SiCKO, organized the Healthcare Not Warfare Campaign, demanding that the 
billions in war funding instead be used to provide care for the 47 
million people here who lack health coverage and the 17 million who are 
underinsured for catastrophic illnesses. During the September protests, 
we held a candlelight vigil with the SiCKO cast to remember all those 
who have lost their lives due to lack of adequate medical care.

*Stop War On Iran--*

Two years ago, the IAC launched *StopWarOnIran.org,* a global campaign 
to expose and speak out against increasing U.S. threats against Iran . 
Initial signers included Howard Zinn; Bishop Thomas Gumbleton; George 
Galloway, MP; Michael Parenti; Margarita Papandreou, the former First 
Lady of Greece; Tony Benn, MP; Denis J. Halliday, former UN Assistant 
Secretary-General; Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature; and 
Ardeshir Ommani, American-Iranian Friendship Committee co-founder. 

The Stop War on Iran campaign has collected tens of thousands of 
signatures on the online petition. It has held public speak-outs and 
teach-ins in many cities to educate and oppose U.S. threats on Iran . 

Placards protesting U.S. intervention in Iran have been a significant 
presence at anti-war marches.

Meanwhile, the standard of living here is falling, layoffs continue, 
medical benefits and pensions are in jeopardy. With the humongous war 
budget, directly taking money from human needs, many families go without 
healthcare.  Students face high tuitions and cuts in student loans. 
Millions face losing their homes due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

*Housing is a right from Detroit to New Orleans--*

IAC activists in Detroit , one of the areas hardest hit by the 
foreclosure crisis, initiated an exciting new campaign calling upon 
Michigan 's governor to declare a state of emergency and freeze all 
foreclosures immediately.

Since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the federal government has done 
almost nothing to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast areas where 
poor and working people, mostly African-American, lived.  Public housing 
is now being threatened with demolition in New Orleans .

The IAC endorsed an International Tribunal on Katrina and Rita in New 
Orleans last August and sent a national delegation there to help present 
its important findings. Hurricane survivors and experts testified for 30 
hours on government neglect in 15 areas. The international panel of 
jurists from eight countries and the U.S. found that the U.S. 
Government  "committed crimes against humanity" by failing to "maintain 
functional levees" that should have protected New Orleans from flooding 
and that it was their "reckless disregard" and "negligence" that 
"created the devastation" we see today.  The IAC maintains that those 
forced out of New Orleans have a right to return with housing and jobs. 

*NO to U.S. intervention abroad--*

The IAC has been involved in countless activities protesting U.S. 
intervention abroad, including in Afghanistan, and U.S. support for 
Israel 's aggression against the Palestinian and Lebanese people. We 
oppose interference in Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, Middle 
East, Asia and the Balkans.  We are in solidarity with peoples worldwide 
struggling against militarism, globalization, and poverty.  We oppose 
threats against the Venezuelan government led by President Hugo Chavez 
which is building better lives for their people while it says NO to U.S. 
globalization, free trade policies and military intervention on their 
continent. We solidarize ourselves with the Cuban people who are 
building a better society in spite of a decades-long U.S. blockade and 
U.S. base on their soil. We support the Haitian people in the aftermath 
of a U.S.-backed coup while we oppose U.S. military presence in the 
Philippines and Korea .  

*Stop racist attacks--*

*The IAC firmly opposes all discrimination against immigrants, including 
the growing racist attacks by the corporate media. *We protest  their 
detentions and deportations, denial of legal rights, jobs, medical care, 
education, and separation of their families by government agencies. The 
IAC was one of the initiating organizations in the May 1 Coalition for 
Immigrant Rights, and in the March 25th Coalition in Los Angeles . This 
is an important priority for us.

The IAC protests racist injustice from coast-to-coast, from racial 
profiling to unfairness in the criminal justice system. Our activists 
joined the massive protests for justice for the Jena 6 in Jena , LA on 
Sept. 20th. The Jena 6 are young Black men wrongfully arrested and 
prosecuted in Louisiana for defending themselves against racist attacks.

*Whether it's affirmative action, the death penalty, curtailment of 
civil liberties, women's rights, student, youth, and worker organizing, 
or opposing bigotry against the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities, 
the IAC is there.
*
Clearly, the Bush Administration continues to try to squash political 
opposition and actions, and to subvert civil liberties. In protest, IAC 
activists have worked with attorneys to bring lawsuits against 
Washington D.C. and New York City agencies and Republican National 
Convention officials over illegal arrests, surveillance, and other 
government misconduct.

*NO to military recruitment--*

IAC activist youth and military veterans boldly challenge the lies of 
military recruiters. They speak out in high schools, on college 
campuses, and protest at recruiting centers. Thousands of our book, "*We 
Won't Go: a Guide to Counter-Recruiting and the Draft,"* are used on 
U.S. campuses. But we must do more---our young people deserve a better 
future than the one the military offers. 

*NO to chemical weapons--*

For 12 years the IAC has operated *The Depleted Uranium Education 
Project* to expose the radioactive and toxic long-term effects of U.S. 
weapons. Now, the DU Educators Packet, our highly effective teacher's 
curriculum, accompanies our widely-distributed film, "Poison DUst," 
produced by the People's Video Network. The DU Educators Packet has been 
used in high school classes, community colleges and in many meetings and 
forums. We're proud to say that it is used at The Different Drummer, a 
coffee house and G.I. gathering place, run by Citizen Soldier, near Ft. 
Drum , NY .

Our focus on the impact of U.S. wars long after the bombs fall means 
ongoing support for Vietnamese victims of the herbicide Agent Orange. 
We've energetically worked on speaking tours and film showings about 
Vietnamese Agent Orange survivors. The massive U.S. spraying of these 
chemicals during the Vietnam War caused widespread deforestation. The 
damage to human life was horrific, with terrible birth defects 
continuing to this day.

In June, the IAC helped organize for the U.S. Social Forum, where more 
than 15,000 activists from every state gathered with delegations from 
more than 60 countries. During this electrifying five-day conference, 
IAC activists held workshops, participated in panels and helped to link 
issues while meeting and networking with many young activists and new 
organizers.

*We need an independent movement to raise these issues...   *

*We ask you to help us!  *Donate online at 
http://www.iacenter.org/iacdonate.shtml

Looking forward to 2008, we see great challenges and great 
opportunities. The majority of the population here oppose the Bush 
agenda of endless war abroad, attacks on civil liberties, cuts in the 
standard of living, medical care, and other social programs at home.

*But we know from history that it is only when people boldly mobilize 
opposition to these policies that social and political change is possible.*

*The year of struggle will begin with major actions on* *January 
21---Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday holida*y, against growing racism 
and attacks on immigrant workers.

*IAC activists will help to organize major demonstrations in March of 
2008, the fifth anniversary of the brutal U.S. occupation of Iraq. *And 
we will be on the streets organizing at both the Republican National 
Convention in Minneapolis and the Democratic National Convention in 
Denver next summer.

*We need to mobilize and organize like never before*. The majority of 
the people are with us---against endless war and racism, and for 
healthcare, housing, and education for all. It's time to put the 
pressure on the government to get out of Iraq NOW, bring the troops 
home, and put the funding into human needs. It's time to stand in 
solidarity with immigrants and against all racist attacks.
*
We need an independent organizing center to keep fighting on these 
fronts and so many others, and with your continued help, the 
International Action Center will keep up the struggle.*

*Your generous support and encouragement has been essential in helping 
all of the IAC's campaigns against war and injustice.* None of our work 
for the past 16 years could have been done without the concern, 
involvement, and assistance of our friends and supporters. For that we 
are very appreciative. It has made our organizing, outreach, and actions 
stronger.

*Thanks for all of your help over the many years. *Now, we need your 
backing for the coming year to meet its challenges fully.

In solidarity and with our best wishes in the new year from our national 
volunteer staff,

                          Sharon Black             Teresa 
Gutierrez          Berta Joubert-Ceci      Monica Moorehead
                          Tyneisha Bowens        Larry 
Hales                Kadouri Al-Kaysi        John Parker
                          Miya Campbell           Sue 
Harris                  Dustin Langley             Pam Parker
                          LeiLani Dowell           Jesse Lokahi Heiwa    
Alex Majumder            Gloria Rubac
                          Sara Flounders           Larry 
Holmes              Dianne Mathiowetz      Arturo Pe?rez-Saad
                                                            Jerry 
Goldberg            Janet Mayes               

*International Action Center*
55 W. 17th St., #5C, NY , NY 10011
212-633-6646

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