Welcome to Deep Dish TV’s News Archive!

Deep Dish TV is the first national satellite network. It was launched in 1986 by Paper Tiger TV as a distribution network, linking independent producers, programmers, community-based activists and viewers who support movements for social change and economic justice. Deep Dish TV is committed to democratizing media by providing a national forum for programming created by community-based organizations and independent producers. To this end, we have employed all the technology we can get our hands on, and fought for space on the public airwaves to reach television viewers throughout the U.S. Our programs are shown on over 200 public access cable stations around the country, on selected PBS stations, and received by thousands of satellite dish viewers nationwide on Free Speech TV channel 9415 on the DishNetwork. We are also committed to reaching student and community groups through screenings the distribution of DVD copies of our programs.

Deep Dish TV has also published news on its website from time to time. We have archived these news items here for your convenience. Click on the link to the article you’d like to see, or click on any of the months and years to the right to pull up an article from a specific time period.

Celebrate the Life and Mourn the Death of Marilyn Clement

Originally Published: 8/4/2009

“…working for the common good is a wonderful way to live – a wonderful way to spend a lifetime.” – Marilyn Clement, June 7, 2003

Eulogy from Heathcare-Now:

Marilyn Clement, founder and National Coordinator of Healthcare-NOW!, passed away on Monday, August 3 surrounded by her children, Scott and Pam, her daughter-in-law Liz, and the caring thoughts of all of us who knew her, worked with her, and had come to love her.

Marilyn’s life and work was dedicated to social justice. She worked tirelessly to build, speak, and spread the word about meaningful civil rights and healthcare reform. Her leadership, vision, and passion helped to strengthen the recognition of healthcare as a human right throughout the nation.

Born in Tulia, Texas, and educated at McMurray College in Abilene, Marilyn’s spark for social justice ignited in West Texas. “My parents were sharecroppers and people of faith. They were also gospel singers in the tradition of West Texas. The United Methodist Church challenged me as a youth and trained me to work for the common good,” she reminisced in one of the many talks she gave, this one in 2003. She began her career in the 60s with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta. The War on Poverty and preparing for the DC civil rights protests filled her days, and she was blessed to know and work directly with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When Dr. King was under heavy criticism for speaking out against the war in Vietnam, his words made it clear to Marilyn that we cannot stand silent in the face of such injustice. “There is nothing to fear. We have drawn the line. And we have chosen to be on this side, on the side of justice. There is nothing to be afraid of. What can they do? They can kill us, yes. But still they cannot kill the justice that we stand for.”

In 1968, she and her family moved to Queens in New York City, where she connected with life-long friends and fellow activists Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr. and Peggy Billings. The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) had just formed in 1967, and Marilyn served as its Associate Director from 1968-1975. IFCO was the first and only national ecumenical foundation committed exclusively to the support of community organizing, targeting oppressed communities and people of color. IFCO’s commitment to racial justice and community organizing was a perfect match for Marilyn. Rev. Walker describes Marilyn as “a friend and inspiration. She was prophetic, demanding justice without fear or inhibition.”

Much later, in 2003, Marilyn delivered a talk entitled “How I Came to Work for the Common Good.” She explained that working for the common good “is a wonderful way to live – a wonderful way to spend a lifetime. I entered that work through no virtue of my own, but through the mentoring and nurture, support and inspiration of a whole community of people all over the world… A community that taught me not to be afraid, but to live with a sense of fearlessness. It included the movement for justice in my town, my country and around the world … all taught me to be unafraid.”

From 1976-1989, Marilyn served as the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. As a featured speaker at CCR’s 35th anniversary event in 2002, Marilyn reflected on her time as Director. “The proudest achievement for me was the creation of the Ella Baker Student Program. I thought of it in the midst of Miss Baker’s funeral in Harlem. I was deeply moved by the dozens of leaders of the civil rights movement arrayed together all on one platform telling the story of this unsung hero, this tiny powerful woman.” Ella Baker encouraged students to lead the nation in the struggle for civil rights, sowing the seeds for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Marilyn envisioned how CCR’s intern program could teach legal skills and pass on the history Marilyn learned at Ella Baker’s funeral. Marilyn summed up its progress, “The Ella Baker Student Intern Program succeeded and still succeeds, magnificently. Hundreds of students have trained in the program … they are scattered throughout the progressive legal landscape.”

While at CCR, and working with her friends at IFCO, Marilyn helped found the National Anti Klan Network, combining legal cases and organizing work to counter Klan and Nazi terrorism. This work brought her to John Conyers’ Judiciary Committee, where CCR’s founder, Arthur Kinoy, testified about Klan violence.

During the 1992-94 round of health care reform, Marilyn formed “Health Care: We Gotta Have It,” an organization of women advocating for single payer health care. It was a forerunner to Healthcare-NOW!, a broader network, formed in 2003, involving thousands of single payer activists working in local coalitions all over the country.

Marilyn’s next challenge put her in charge of the US Section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, headquartered in Philadelphia, where she lived from 1994 to 1997. Always concerned about human rights on an international scale, WILPF provided the opportunity for international organizing. She helped organize the WILPF Peace Train to the IVth International Women’s Congress in Beijing in 1995.

WILPF shared the Peace Train story On June 7, 2009 when many of us celebrated Marilyn’s work at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. “Marilyn’s enthusiasm and determination in promoting the 1995 Peace Train brought a delegation of 230 women (and 10 men) on a three week journey across Eastern Europe, Russia and the Great Steppes of China to the UN Conference on Women after stopping all along the way, meeting women of different cultures, listening to each others’ stories, then to carry the message to a gathering of women in Beijing who worked together to construct a Platform of Action which has resonated as a touchstone of activism for almost 15 years.”

She assisted the African National Congress in organizing its largest national congress just prior to the first universal suffrage election in South Africa in 1994. “We at WILPF are proud of the work Marilyn has done for the world from both inside and outside WILPF, and we celebrate her brilliance and all of her successes…..”

In 1999, Marilyn joined the Economic Justice Office – Women’s Division, of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. She continued her international work, connecting United Methodist women in the US with those in Burma. She worked with Methodist women to act on their commitment to social justice, especially health care. One of Marilyn’s colleagues at the United Methodist Women, Lois Dauway, extolled her organizing skills. “Marilyn was a well-organized, creative-thinking, determined fighter for justice. She was truly a trouble-maker in the name of the Lord. United Methodist Women were blessed to count Marilyn as one of us.” Marilyn retired from the United Methodist Church’s Women’s Division in 2003, but continued to work with the Women’s Division to build support for single payer health care.

Although not new for Marilyn, healthcare organizing moved front and center when Marilyn learned that Congressman John Conyers, Jr. would introduce far-reaching single payer legislation at the start of the 108th Congress in 2003. Congressman Conyers knew that universal healthcare legislation could not advance in Congress at that time. He knew a movement would have to grow behind it. Marilyn took that call to heart. As Mark Dudzic from the Labor Party, a close friend and ally, explains it, “Back in 2003 Marilyn took this on. She knew then that this would be her legacy, advancing the fight for guaranteed national health care as far as possible for as long as she was able. We can’t thank her enough for all she gave to this cause.”

Marilyn served as the National Coordinator for Healthcare-NOW until her death. Doctors diagnosed her with multiple myeloma in June of 2008, and Marilyn had to step back from her leadership role at Healthcare-NOW to undergo extensive and painful treatments. A tribute to her organizing skills, a group of nine committed activists responded to her call, and stepped up to form a Steering Committee to assume leadership during her illness.

At the June 7, 2009 event at Judson Memorial Church, Marilyn’s consistent optimism rang loud and clear as she remarked to the crowd, “We are on the verge of winning something that is so desperately needed for all of our people… Love to all of you. Keep up the fight… And we are going to win single-payer healthcare.”

Michael Lighty, Public Policy Director with the California Nurses Association, came from California to attend the June 7 event, representing one of the largest national organizations supporting single payer health care. “Nurses and patient advocates mourn the passing of Marilyn Clement, who will continue to inspire us to organize for single-payer healthcare. Marilyn combined a passion for justice with the organizational skills that are necessary to turn our moral imperative into the reality of healthcare for all. We promise to keep her spirit alive as we fight for HR 676/S 703 in Congress and wage our struggles in the states for single payer.”

Reflecting on her life, her life long friend and colleague, Peggy Billings put it this way, “ She was a great woman and the struggle will miss her. Her loss will encourage all of us to step up and work harder for single payer and to honor her memory. I love her dearly; she was a great friend and pal.” ?

We remember Marilyn’s words as she commented on her lifetime of organizing for social justice: “Being an organizer is an honorable profession… Spending my life as an organizer for change in this world has been a fantastic way to spend a life, and doing it with all of you is a great way to live. As Doctor King said, the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Healthcare-NOW! recognizes the great loss to everyone in the single-payer healthcare and human rights communities that Marilyn’s passing represents. Our resolve to continue and strengthen the movement she started is stronger than ever. As we mourn her loss, we also celebrate the amazing gifts she has given to us all. ? ?

Marilyn is survived by her brother, Les Boydstun; her children Pam and Scott; her daughter-in-law Liz Arwine, widow of her deceased son Mark; and three grandchildren – Kendall, Chelsea and Alex. Following Marilyn’s wishes, the family is planning a memorial service to be held at Judson Church on Washington Square later this fall. We will provide details when they are available.

The family suggests that those who wish to donate in Marilyn’s memory should do so to the Center for Constitutional Rights or to Healthcare-NOW!

A Report from Gaza

Originally Published: 7/26/2009

In May and June, 2009 sixty-six people organized by Code Pink attempted to break the ongoing Israeli siege and blockade of the 1.5 million Palestinians imprisoned in the Gaza concentration camp. They attempted to bring in toys and playground equipment for the children of Gaza in response to Israel’s the devastating month long bombardment and shelling of Gaza that began in December 2008. That savage attack reduced much of Gaza to rubble: homes, schools, playgrounds, fields, workshops, mosques. Part of the delegation attempted to enter Gaza from Israel. They were refused entry. The majority, after much delay by the Egyptian government were finally able to enter through Rafah on the Egyptian border. On June 14th 5 members of the delegation reported what they had seen and learned to a standing room only audience at the Brecht Forum in New York City. Delegation members speaking were: Felice Gelman of WESPAC and a co-organizer of the delegation; Sammer Aboelela of the Progressive Muslim Association, Phil Weiss of the blog Mondoweiss, Norman Finkelstein, author,professor, reknown opponent of Zionism; and Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, a tireless peace activist and fighter for global justice. Video Reports below

You can read the Code Pink Gaza Digest online at If you would like to add your name to the mailing list to receive 3-5 posts per week, send a note to Nancy K at codepinknyc@gmail.com.

Common Dreams recently published a very good article by Suzanne Morrison, entitled “International Movements Breaking the Siege on Gaz0a.“

In January 2009, in the wake of the Israeli massacre of Gaza, Deep Dish TV produced Gaza A Call To Act featuring presentations by Chris Hedges, Adam Shapiro, Vanessa Redgrave, Andy Zee, Najla Said, Cynthia McKinney, Alan Goodman and Peter Weiss. Deep Dish TV is also distributing a powerful series, Chronicles of a Refugee on the Palestinian Diaspora. We highly recommend this remarkable work by filmmaker Adam Shapiro with Perla Issa and Aseel Mansour. Proceeds from this documentary series go to Palestinian refugees.

REPORTS FROM GAZA – The Code Pink Delegations

Felice Gelman of WESPAC reports: “What did I learn in Gaza? I learned that there is no cease fire in Gaza. Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza and shooting its farmers and fishermen.”

Sammer Aboela is one of the leaders in Faith House community of communities. He is a Community Organizer with the NYC Community of Muslim Progressives. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Muslims for Progressive Values. He told the story of the teacher in Gaza who said to her inattentive students: “Your sleeping. Wake up! There is no freedom in sleep!” Sammer commented: It was poignant and instructive to both them and us.

Phil Weiss, is the co-founder of the Mondoweiss blog. Speaking of the Palestinians he met in Gaza, Weiss commented: “Our knowing their story has given us a great deal of power over here. because we can’t change our society on these issues without knowing their experience. Similarly, they will never change their conditions without us being about to change our society.”

Norman Finkelstein spoke to the audience of his optimiism, that “we can do something practical to effect change. Maybe not to end the occupation, but to at least make significant inroads in ending the occupation.” He spoke of the “most remarkable aspect of the Gaza massacre of December 2008-Jan 2009 is that for the first time there is an unprecedented consensus of International outrage at what happened.(View Norman Finkelstein’s Blog)

Medea Benjamin, Code Pink co-founder, asked the question: “What is the biggest obstacle for us in our organizing.” She called on people to support Norman Finkelstein’s call for a massive march of tens of thousands of people from the United States in Gaza at the end of December 2009.

Reports from Gaza; Audience Discussion

Pakistan & Afghanistan: Battleground of Empire

Originally Published: 9/21/2009

The media in the United States continuously speaks of the Taliban as only a fundamentalist religious sect intent on reestablishing an anachronistic, misogynist feudal regime in Afghanistan. They are said to be evading U.S. military efforts to crush them by seeking sanctuary on the Pakistan side of the mountainous boarder that divides the two countries. This is the Obama administration’s rationale to legitimize the drone planes that are bombing Pakistan and the U.S. engineered Pakistani army’s attack on the Swat valley that has driven 3 million people from their homes.

David Barsamian describes quite a different reality. And one almost never mentioned in the U.S. media.

The area in contention is the traditional territory of the Pashtun people, whose population of close to 50 million makes it one of the largest ethnic groupings in the world without its own state. He describes the British division of the Pashtun territories in 1893, the infamous Durand Line, part in Afghanistan and part now in British India. When the British were forced to abandon their Indian colony in 1947, after more than 200 years of exploitation, they divided this vast region into the modern states of India and Pakistan. The Durand Line was made a permanent boarder separating Pakistan and Afghanistan. Again, a current conflict that has its roots in the machinations of British imperialism. The support and the sanctuary the Taliban enjoys on both sides of the boarder has much to do with the fact that they are operating among their own people. Below we reproduce a map of the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan that shows the presence of the Pashtun people in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. In addition to the Barsamian interview, there are also four maps of the region posted below as well as the text of the actual Durand agreement dictated to Afghanistan by the British:

Deep Dish TV Interview With David Barsamian

Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan

Swat Valley Area in Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Northwest Frontier Province

The Durand Line Dividing the traditional Pashtun territory

The Durand Line Agreement – The British Empire Dictates Borders and Divides the Pashtun People.

Agreement between Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, G. C. S. I., and Sir Henry
Mortimer Durand, K. C. I. E., C. S. I.

Whereas certain questions have arisen regarding the frontier of
Afghanistan on the side of India, and whereas both His Highness the Amir
and the Government of India are desirous of settling these questions by
friendly understanding, and of fixing the limit of their respective
spheres of influence, so that for the future there may be no difference of
opinion on the subject between the allied Governments, it is hereby agreed
as follows:

1. The eastern and southern frontier of his Highness?s dominions, from
Wakhan to the Persian border, shall follow the line shown in the map
attached to this agreement.

2. The Government of India will at no time exercise interference in the
territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan, and His
Highness the Amir will at no time exercise interference in the
territories lying beyond this line on the side of India.

3. The British Government thus agrees to His Highness the Amir
retaining Asmar and the valley above it, as far as Chanak. His Highness
agrees, on the other hand, that he will at no time exercise
interference in Swat, Bajaur, or Chitral, including the Arnawai or
Bashgal valley. The British Government also agrees to leave to His
Highness the Birmal tract as shown in the detailed map already given to
his Highness, who relinquishes his claim to the rest of the Waziri
country and Dawar. His Highness also relinquishes his claim to Chageh.

4. The frontier line will hereafter be laid down in detail and
demarcated, wherever this may be practicable and desirable, by joint
British and Afghan commissioners, whose object will be to arrive by
mutual understanding at a boundary which shall adhere with the greatest
possible exactness to the line shown in the map attached to this
agreement, having due regard to the existing local rights of villages
adjoining the frontier.

5. With reference to the question of Chaman, the Amir withdraws his
objection to the new British cantonment and concedes to the British
Governmeni the rights purchased by him in the Sirkai Tilerai water. At
this part of the frontier the line will be drawn as follows:

From the crest of the Khwaja Amran range near the Psha Kotal, which
remains in British territory, the line will run in such a direction
as to leave Murgha Chaman and the Sharobo spring to Afghanistan, and
to pass half-way between the New Chaman Fort and the Afghan outpost
known locally as Lashkar Dand. The line will then pass half-way
between the railway station and the hill known as the Mian Baldak,
and, turning south-wards, will rejoin the Khwaja Amran range,
leaving the Gwasha Post in British territory, and the road to
Shorawak to the west and south of Gwasha in Afghanistan. The British
Government will not exercise any interference within half a mile of
the road.

6. The above articles of’ agreement are regarded by the Government of
India and His Highness the Amir of Afghanistan as a full and
satisfactory settlement of all the principal differences of opinion
which have arisen between them in regard to the frontier; and both the
Government of India and His Highness the Amir undertake that any
differences of detail, such as those which will have to be considered
hereafter by the officers appointed to demarcate the boundary line,
shall be settled in a friendly spirit, so as to remove for the future
as far as possible all causes of doubt and misunderstanding between the
two Governments.

7. Being fully satisfied of His Highness’s goodwill to the British
Government, and wishing to see Afghanistan independent and strong, the
Government of India will raise no objection to the purchase and import
by His Highness of munitions of war, and they will themselves grant him
some help in this respect. Further, in order to mark their sense of the
friendly spirit in which His Highness the Amir has entered into these
negotiations, the Government of India undertake to increase by the sum
of six lakhs of rupees a year the subsidy of twelve lakhs now granted
to His Highness.

H. M. Durand,
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.

Kabul, November 12, 1893

“A Summer Not To Forget” Wins Jury Award at Sole Luna Festival in Palermo, Italy

Originally Published: 7/13/2009

Carol Mansour’s film is one of the five documentary films in the Deep Dish TV series Nothing Is Safe – Israel’s 2006 War on Lebanon .

Sole Luna (www.soleelunadocfest.com) is a Mediterranean and Islamic International Documentary Festival in Palermo. It presents the world’s best documentary films dealing with the Mediterranean region, Islam, nature, adventures, and travels to the Middle East and to the East.

This year (July 6-13, 2009), the festival screened films from Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Slovakia, Spain, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. Carol Mansour was there to receive the Jury’s Award. A Summer Not To Forget was screened in the closing ceremony to a wide international audience.

About the Film
On July 12th, 2006, Hezbollah captured 2 Israeli soldiers. For the following 34 days Lebanon witnessed continuous Israeli bombardment.

This documentary takes you beyond the news headlines into the harsh realities of war. It explores the devastation of a nation and a people caught under the siege.

Through powerful and often disturbing images, this documentary tells the story of yet another war on Lebanon: 1200 civilians killed and 4,000 injured, more than one million people displaced, 78 bridges destroyed, 15,000 homes damaged, the environmental disaster of 15,000 tons of oil spilled on 80 km of Mediterranean coast, and many more catastrophes. In footage not shown by the Western media, the film also exposes the devastation of 57 collective massacres in an attempt to capture the horror of its victims and their families.

Click here to purchase a copy of A Summer Not to Forget

Click here to purchase the entire series

Speech by Carol Mansour at the Closing Ceremony of the Film Festival

Good evening everybody,

I would like to thank you all for giving my documentary a chance to be seen here in Palermo.

A Summer Not to Forget is a documentary on the Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Israel bombarded Lebanon for 34 consecutive days; 1,200 civilians were killed and 4,036 injured, more than one million people displaced, 78 bridges destroyed, 30,000 homes damaged, 57 collective massacres carried out and many more atrocities; while the international community of politicians, the so-called leaders, was watching and while we were waiting for the Israelis to put an end to this horrific war.

The western media failed to tell the story the way it happened so it was the anger of not seeing the truth that pushed me to make this film. It was my way of resisting and protesting the condition of war that was imposed on us.

I am not involved in any political party; I am just a human being who wanted, through this documentary, to show the world the horror of the Israeli war on Lebanon.

What happened in Lebanon in 2006 has been happening everyday for decades in Palestine. It is difficult to accept that despite all the advancement in science and technology, everyday, somewhere, the most cruel brutality is committed. It is not acceptable that in 2009, we are allowing all those crimes of war to happen in front of our own eyes.

I want to thank the festival to have had the courage to show such a documentary. I want to thank the jury for giving it an award and I thank you all for being here.

View the trailer:

Israeli Soldiers Testify to War Crimes in Gaza Invasion

Originally Published: 7/13/2009

Israeli Soldiers Testify to Violations of Internatonal Law and War Crimes Committed During Invasion of Gaza.

On January 13th, 2009, an emergency town hall meeting was convened at the New York City Society for Ethical Culture to discuss the tragedy unfolding in Gaza. Over 500 people packed the hall to listen, and plan actions to stop the attacks. Speakers: Andy Zee, Abdeen Jabara, Adam Shapiro, Chris Hedges, Peter Weiss, Vanessa Redgrave, Najla Said, Cynthia McKinny. Deep Dish TV produced a video documentary of the event: Gaza: A Call To Act The atrocities reported and predicted by the speakers have now been confirmed in great detail by Israeli soldiers. Fifty-four testimonys by participants in the military assault has been published in a booklet by Breaking The Silence, an organization founded by and composed of Israeli soldiers. A report by the world’s most prestigious human rights group, Amnesty Internatonal also accuses Israel of war crimes in its 22 day invasion of Gaza.

The report covers 10 areas of criminal behavior by Israeli soldiers. Each area of testimony is broken into specific testimonies.

Vandalism
*the family will return * grenade practice * clearing the building * who will tell us no* the house was a mess * remorse and looting.
Bombardment
*on the roof * suspects * nothing to prevent * we didn’t see an enemy * unarmed * every house is a small outpost * bombs for scattering and softening.
Rabbiniate Unit
* returning to Gush Katif * No Accounting for Sins.
Briefings
* Words I didn’t expect * the commanders allowed more * no civilians * x’s for all * the problem with democracy * best arabic translator * Not a massacre, but… * Don’t let morality become and issue.
Use of White Phosphorus
umbrella of fire * phosphorus as a lighter * somewhat unfair.
Atmosphere
* apathy * all that power in your hands.
Home Occupation
* feasible military use.
Rules of Engagement
House Demolitions
Human Shields
*evading responsibility * Johnnie.

Winter Soldier
The testimonies of the Israeli Soldiers follows the courageous testimonies of active duty and veteran solderies at the Winter Soldier – Iraq and Afghanistan hearings, held at the National Labor College in Silver Springs Maryland in March 2008. Deep Dish TV worked with other independent media to produces live television broadcasts and Internet streaming of all 3 days.

A video report from Al Jazeera news agency follows the Breaking the Silence’s press statement.

Breaking the Silence Pres Statement
Fifty-four testimonies of Israeli combat soldiers who participated in Operation Cast Lead reveal gaps between the reports given by the army following January’s events; the needless destruction of houses; firing phosphorous in populated areas and an atmosphere that encouraged shooting anywhere.

Half a year after Operation Cast Lead, the organization “Breaking the Silence” is announcing the release of a new booklet today (Wed. 7/15) that includes numerous testimonies by soldiers who participated in the operation. The testimonies expose significant gaps between the official stances of the Israeli military and events on the ground.

Among the 54 testimonies are stories revealing the use of “accepted practices,” the destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose, the firing of phosphorous gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims with small arms, the destruction of private property, and most of all, a permissive atmosphere in the command structure that enabled soldiers to act without moral restrictions. The booklet compiles the testimonies of about 30 reserve and regular combat soldiers from various units that participated in the fighting. The testimonies demonstrate that the soldiers were not given directives stating the goal of the operation and, as one soldier testifies, “there was not much said about the issue of innocent civilians.”

Many soldiers said that they fought without seeing “the enemy before their eyes.” “You feel like an infantile little kid with a magnifying glass looking at ants, burning them,” one of the soldiers testified that “a 20-year-old kid should not have to do these kinds of things to other people.”

“The testimonies prove that the immoral way the war was carried out was due to the systems in place and not the individual soldier,” said Mikhael Mankin from “Breaking the Silence.” What was proven yesterday is that through the IDF the exception becomes the norm, and this requires a deep and reflective discussion. This is an urgent call to Israel’s society and leadership to take a sober look at the foolishness of our policies.”

Honduras: Military Coup and the Fight for Land and Liberty

Originally Published: 7/13/2009

The Military Coup in Honduras and the Fight for Economic and Social Justice

On June 28th, 2009, the military and oligarchic elite of Honduras, Central America’s poorest country, overthrew the elected government of Manuel Zelaya. The Obama administration offered tepid rejection of the coup, and it has been reported that the U.S. blocked of 16.5 million military aid in the wake of the coup. However, the overthrow of a democratically elected government did receive the open support of the Wall Street Journal and several U.S. senators.

In 1993 Deep Dish TV distributed Elvia The Fight For Land and Liberby, a portrait of Elvia Alvarado, a campesino leader in Honduras who dedicated her life to organizing. Produced by Laura Rodriguez and Rick Tejada Flores The video aired in 1988 on PBS as part of the VISTAS series. We’ve featured the program on our front page this week. Elvia is exactly the kind of person who is in the streets organizing and opposing the coup today. When President Zelaya attempted to return to Honduras last week, the military not only prevented his plane from landing, it opened fire on demostrators who had come to the airport to support his return. A young boy was killed and his father was arrested when he tried to speak to the press.

But opponents of the military coup have continued their open defiance. Xinhua, the China News Agency, reported on July 9th that as President Aria held talks in Costa Rica with Zelaya and the coup leaders, workers and teachers set up road blocks on major highways in Hoduras. “… Eulogio Chavez, leader of the Honduran Front of Teachers Organizations, which has 48,000 members, said they support Zelaya and will not return to schools in protest of the interim government.”

The Honduran coup d’etat was the first time in 30 years that a military coup has unseated an elected government. In a statement quoted by Bloomberg news on July 11th, Cuban President Fidel Castro warned that “Honduran President Manuel Zelaya’s ouster could be the first in a series of upheavals in Latin America if he isn’t returned to power. A successful coup would set a precedent putting the region’s governments at the mercy of military leaders trained by the U.S., Castro wrote in comments posted on the Web site of the state-run Juventud Rebelde newspaper. ‘A wave of coups threatens to sweep away many Latin American governments,” Castro wrote. “The authority of many civilian governments in Central and South America will become weakened.’”

Castro’s warning and the article we post below by David Wilson from Monthly Review raise sharp questions for the struggle against injustice and economic exploitation in Latin America. The revolutionary government Castro led in Cuba came to power by force of arms and mass support. It immediately set out to break the power, economic and military, of the old regime. Wilson points out that Zelaya’s reforms in Honduras were quite mild and hardly challenged the power of the Honduran oligarchy. Nevertheless, even his mild reforms, and his efforts to conduct a plebiscite to determine if the people wanted to write a new constitutions were too much for the elites. There is no question about the courage and resistance of the people. There is a question of how popular power can be be ensured.

It’s Not about Zelaya
by David L. Wilson

Manuel “Mel” Zelaya is a rancher and business owner who wears large cowboy hats and, in November 2005, was elected president of Honduras, an impoverished Central American country with a population of 7.5 million. On June 28 of this year the Honduran military, backed by the country’s elite, removed Zelaya from power. He instantly became a focus of attention for the U.S. media — his statements were examined, and his appearances at the United Nations and regional meetings were dutifully covered. Most media depicted him as a major “leftist strongman” seeking to extend his term of office in the style of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

U.S. journalists generally present world events as the actions of a few important individuals, a sort of Greek drama without the chorus. Latin American politics especially are viewed as a parade of good guys and bad guys — Fidel Castro, August Pinochet, Hugo Chávez, Alvaro Uribe. Which is good and which is bad depends on your perspective.

The current Honduras coverage is no exception. Most working people in this country, pressed by the worst economic crisis of their lifetime, understandably change the channel or click on another website. If you want celebrity news, the death of Michael Jackson is far more gripping than the overthrow of Mel Zelaya.

“No Revolutionary”

But was this coup really about a leftist strongman?

“What Zelaya has done has just been little reforms,” Rafael Alegría, the leader of the local branch of the international group Vía Campesina (“Campesino Way”), explained to the Mexican daily La Jornada on June 29. “He isn’t a socialist or a revolutionary, but these reforms, which didn’t harm the oligarchy at all, have been enough for them to attack him furiously.”

The local elite and the U.S. media insist that the nonbinding referendum Zelaya wanted to hold on June 28 was a power grab. In reality Hondurans would simply have been asked whether they wanted to vote in the November general elections on a constituent assembly to rewrite the 1982 Constitution. If this actually came about, the new Constitution might well allow presidential reelection, but it’s not easy to see how any constituent assembly could finish its work in time to keep Zelaya in office after his term expires on January 27, 2010.

A more likely motive for the coup lies in the Honduran oligarchy’s fear of what would happen if the people got a chance to write their own Constitution.

Not many people in the United States are aware that over the past few decades Hondurans have created, under very adverse circumstances, a vibrant grassroots movement: campesino organizations like Vía Campesina; three labor confederations, often competing, sometimes cooperating; a strong indigenous movement; Afro-Honduran groups like the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH); human rights monitoring groups like the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH); environmental groups; community radio stations; an anti-militarization movement; women’s groups; student groups; and a nascent LGBT movement.

Early this year, Honduran teachers went on strike for back pay and held a sit-in at the education ministry. In February the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) organized a 12-day mobilization to protest the destruction of forests. In April hundreds of indigenous Chortí blocked access to the Copán archeological park, probably Honduras’ most important ancient Mayan site, to press demands for land.

None of these were one-time protests — they continued long-term struggles, some going back for years. And these same groups, which frequently support each other and coordinate their actions, are the ones that have confronted the coup and the subsequent repression with massive and spirited protests throughout the country.

The Chorus Takes the Stage

The growth of social movements in Honduras reflects a pattern. Everywhere you look in the hemisphere, the protagonists of the drama are increasingly “the people from below” — los de abajo, as Mariano Azuela called the subjects of his novel of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

In the first months of 2009, general strikes by virtually the whole population of the “French overseas departments” of Guadeloupe and Martinique forced President Nicolas Sarkozy to agree to an increase in the minimum wage — and inspired workers’ struggles in European France. Starting in April, militant protests by indigenous Peruvians in the Amazon region, backed by urban unionists, shook the pro-U.S. government of President Alan García. In June students battled United Nations troops in Haiti, the only country in the Americas more impoverished than Honduras, in support of workers’ demands for a higher minimum wage.

These struggles get little media attention here, but they have a direct bearing on los de abajo of our own country. Working people in the United States understand the effects of outsourcing industrial work to other countries, and they know about the pressure undocumented workers put on the wages of the native born. What they don’t know is how these phenomena are linked to U.S. foreign policy.

Some 100,000 Hondurans now work in their country’s maquiladora sector, which assembles apparel and automotive parts largely for the U.S. market. About 300,000 Hondurans live and work in the United States itself, according to the 2000 census. Hondurans don’t actually want to do backbreaking labor for minuscule pay in maquilas in San Pedro Sula, much less risk their lives crossing the border to work in the sweatshops of Los Angeles and New York. It is repression by the U.S.-backed military and oligarchy and the hardships resulting from US-promoted economic policies and U.S.-dominated trade deals like the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that have forced Hondurans into these jobs.

It doesn’t do U.S. workers any good to rail against foreign countries and “illegal” immigrants. If people here are serious about defending their standard of living, they have no choice but to oppose their government’s foreign policies and to support their counterparts in countries like Honduras. Unions like United Electrical Workers (UE) and organizations like the National Labor Committee, US LEAP, Students Against Sweatshops, and the Maquila Solidarity Network are already active in this work. We need to back them — and maybe learn some lessons from Latin America about how to fight for our rights.

Laughing all the Way to the Bank

Originally Published: 7/10/2009

In April 2000, less than six months after thousands of people took to the streets of Seattle to shut down a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WT), thousands again mobilized in Washington DC to confront the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Indymedia movement founded in Seattle had in the following months begun to spread throughout the world. The Indymedia Center in Washington DC was the hub and nerve center for scores of independent journalists reporting on the street action exposing and opposing the activities of the IMF that had savaged so many countries of the developing world. The confrontations, analysis, theater and art of the movement opposing corporate globalization was powerfully captured in the Indymedia video Breaking The Bank. now available to watch online or purchase on DVD from Deep Dish TV

Al-Jazeera’s resident economist Samah El-Shahat, comments in the article posted below, that the current economic crisis has been used by the bankers and leaders of the powerful countries to reinforce the destructive capacity and financial legitimacy of the IMF. Looking at Breaking The Bank and the five part Indymedia series Showdown In Seattle document the exhilaration and hopefulness of the massive and successful confrontations with the institutions of financial domination. But the absence of such a movement in today’s economic meltdown pose sharp questions. Recently Deep Dish TV published Many Yesses, One NO – Confronting Corporate Globalization the third in its series DIY Media-Movement Perspectives on Critical Moments. Included in the 2 disc program is a panel discussion held in April 2009 that addresses many of these pressing questions.

Samah El-Shahat
Al-Jazeera Online
July 9, 2009

The G8 summit will likely examine exit strategies, but what will the new financial order look like?

Samah El-Shahat, Al Jazeera’s resident economist, will be writing a regular column analysing key elements that have contributed to the global financial downturn and its impact across the world.

If you have any questions on the G8 summit in L’Aquila (July 8-10), Samah will be hosting a live debate on Livestation on Thursday, July 9 at 16G.

Download the console player at Livestation.com to join the discussion.

Business as usual, but even better!

Roll up. Roll up. Roll up.

Wall Street and the City of London – the world’s two major financial centres – declare it is “business as usual” again… They are hiring, poaching each other’s staff and their profits are soaring.

“Even the Bank of America’s investment banking arm, which includes the once very sick Merrill Lynch, is expected to make good money this year,” reports the Wall Street Journal this week.

And, of course, bonuses are back. Even at the supposedly UK government-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland; the bonus is back with a vengeance. Stephen Hester, chief executive since November, is believed to be getting $16 million per year alone. And that is in a government quasi-nationalised institution – imagine what is happening elsewhere.

Is this not the pre-crisis era all over again?

Actually, let me answer this. It isn’t the pre-crisis era. It’s WAY better than that for banks.

This is “back to business as usual” with bells on. The financial crisis has been the best thing that could happen for these banks. Yes, even I can’t believe it.

Our watershed moment to change the world economic system has not just been squandered, we have inadvertently reinforced the same structures and institutions that have created the mess in the first place.

Firstly, in our rush to regulate our financial system we have created a system that is much worse than before.

How?

Well, we rewarded the ‘zombie’ banks by making them too dead to die… oops, sorry, too big too fail. The new regulations give them legitimacy and protection, as well as failing to curb just how much debt they can take on relative to their assets.

Taxpayers’ cash

As Robert Hunter Wade, professor at the London School of Economics, told me this week; regulation is now coming into play that will allow banks to become even more reckless with taxpayers’ money, because they have become too big for any government to allow them to fail.

There were 15 big global banks before the financial crisis hit. During the crisis, however, the collapse of Lehman Brothers led governments to encourage other banks – by means of large amounts of taxpayers’ cash – to buy up the not-so-well banks.

The Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch is a case in point.

So we went from having 15 banks to having around six. And these remaining banks have more power as their importance is now set in regulatory stone – and they know it.

Instead of bringing the banking sector to heel – we have given it a kiss of life and pumped it with steroids. And these steroids are financed by the taxpayer.

Secondly, we have strengthened that other financial institution that directly affects almost every home and every individual in the developing world – the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

G20 consensus

“IMF policies have been, despite the heartache, the wrecked lives, the savaging of countries’ agriculture, education and institutions, granted legitimacy during this crisis”
During the G20 meeting held in London in April, the one consensus all the countries could reach, beside agreeing on regulation that led to the “too big to fail” disaster, was to provide a lifeline to the IMF that it didn’t deserve.

We bolstered IMF funds by something close to $1 trillion. This call for fortifying the role of the IMF will be repeated in this week’s G8 summit.

The IMF was used to force neoliberalism – that poisonous cocktail of financial deregulation, free markets, privatisation and the rolling back of the state – on developing countries.

IMF policies have been, despite the heartache, the wrecked lives, the savaging of countries’ agriculture, education and institutions, granted legitimacy during this crisis.

So, all in all, our leaders multilateral solutions to the crisis have been about entrenching the existing world economic order rather than changing it.

But where does this leave us? You know, us in the real economy.

Well, the banks haven’t yet started lending. All the money, as you will see from my previous posts, remains constipated within the new banking behemoths.

The level of toxic debt on their balance sheets is still unknown and, because of that, we will never get a recovery.

Prolonged recession

It is becoming obvious that this is going to be a prolonged recession, as indicated by last week’s US employment report.

Half a million Americans lost their jobs in the month of June alone. This was much worse than anticipated.

Manufacturing output is still dropping in America, Britain and elsewhere. And please disregard those people who are high on the idea of economic “green shoots” – mostly bankers and their spokespeople, aka the governments of the world’s G8 these days.

Around half a million Americans lost their jobs during the month of June alone [EPA]
They are seeking to convince you that unemployment is a “lagging indicator” – meaning its takes a longer to catch up with the good news that the economy is actually rebounding.

No. Unemployment levels are not the party poopers here, serving only to rain on the financial sectors’ good news and our leaders’ attempts to inspire “confidence”.

Unemployment is adding a dose of much needed reality into their very convenient delusion. And why wouldn’t they be deluded, they’re doing pretty well feasting on taxpayer’s money.

We need our governments to agree a better stimulus package to stem this unemployment haemorrhage, otherwise, as the economist Paul Krugman predicts, this global recession could turn into the Great Depression all over again.

At the same time, for people in less developed countries, the IMF is stopping them from even contemplating fiscal stimulus packages.

Armenia, Latvia, Romania and Guatemala – who are all in receipt of IMF loans – have been told to roll back the state and reduce their budget deficits.

And before you say it, I know it is the direct opposite of the advice the IMF is giving America and others.

Could these decisions that have simply reinforced the old guard, possibly lead to such a ferocious tipping point that real change in the way the IMF does business in the future is inevitable?

That depends on how much you and I – the taxpayers – are willing to stomach.

The Women Of Afghanistan

Release Date: 7/8/2009

Brave New Films, in conjunction with the Revolutionary Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) has just release a powerful new video on the reality of life for the women of Afghanistan today. It is the 5th in Brave New Films ongoing series Rethink Afghanistan. In a letter accompanying the release, Sonali Kolhatkar, Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission writing on behalf of the Brave New Foundation team says:

Eight years have passed since Laura Bush declared that “because of our recent military gains, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes” in Afghanistan. For eight years, that claim has been a lie. The fact is that life for women in Afghanistan has gotten worse since the Taliban were removed from power.

Read her full letter below.

Eight years have passed since Laura Bush declared that “because of our recent military gains, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes” in Afghanistan. For eight years, that claim has been a lie.

The fact is that life for women in Afghanistan has gotten worse since the Taliban were removed from power. Once they chafed under the slavish conditions the Taliban imposed on their daily lives. Today they suffer under the exact same conditions, this time under the rule of the regime of warlords put in place by the U.S.-led coalition. And in addition to this oppression, women in Afghanistan are forced to cope with war.

Share this video with others by Digging it and Re-Tweeting on Twitter: RT @afghanistandocu Bombs wont liberate #Afghan women http://bit.ly/NxmBW Give RAWA $15 for 1 family’s food, blankets http://bit.ly/4BrUBm

Some well-meaning Westerners believe that the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan benefits Afghan women. But the truth is that American military escalation will not liberate the women of Afghanistan. Instead, it will bring only more war – the hardships of which are always suffered disproportionately by women. With the risk of death outside their doorsteps, Afghan women are confined to their homes to an even greater extent than under the Taliban. More and more women are being forced by war into prostitution, often for a clientele of foreign troops. Self-immolation among Afghan women today is at an all-time high. This war is doing more to destroy women’s lives than the Taliban ever was able to.

For years, the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan has raised funds to help relieve Afghan families from the violence and displacement of war. There are 1,000 displaced families in a refugee camp in Kabul. It costs US $15 per family for each to receive the minimum relief necessary for their survival. In total, that adds up to $15,000 to help all of these families.

A few weeks ago, Brave New Foundation supporters gave generously to RAWA’s effort to provide that relief; collectively, you gave $6,000 to families suffering from lack of food and blankets. RAWA needs $9,000 more to take care of ALL of these 1,000 families. To Make A Donation Go Here

This is what your help will buy for suffering Afghan families:

* 5 kg (11 lb) ghee = $5.00
* 4 kg (8.8 lb) rice = $3.00
* 50 kg (110 lb) flour = $22.00
* A middle quality blanket = $10.00
* A middle quality tent carpet = $40.00

You have done a great service to Afghan families by joining with Rethink Afghanistan to call on the U.S. government to bring this destructive war to an end. Now please help the families victimized by the war – give what you can.

Yours,

Sonali Kolhatkar,
Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission
writing on behalf of the Brave New Foundation team

This is Where We Take Our Stand – New Episodes

Originally Published: 8/24/2009

GIs Speak Out on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
The IVAW Winter Soldier Project

In March 2008 Deep Dish TV was privileged to participate in the live television broadcast and internet streaming of Winter Solder, three days of hearings on the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at the National Labor College in Silver Springs Maryland. Over 700 invited active duty and vertans and supporters listed while over 70 GIs recounted their experiences as “boots on the ground” in the U.S. invasions and occupations.

Now a new film series based on those hearings is being released as an online series by Displaced Films and Northern Light Productions. . Be sure to tune in to the This Is Where We Take Our Stand website or watch here at Deep Dish TV.

Watch Episode 4: Broken Soldier

Broken Soldier from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

Watch Episode 3: Why We Fight

Why We Fight from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

Watch Epidsode 2:For Those Who Would Judge Me

For Those Who Would Judge Me from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

Watch Episode 1:Rules of Engagement

http://vimeo.com/5543217

Rules of Engagement from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

Watch the Trailer for the Film:

This is Where We Take Our Stand – Trailer from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

 

The series producers write:

Where’s the debate?

Are we watching passively while Barack Obama carries out the same policies as George W. Bush?

When an American bombing raid this May killed over two hundred civilians in a village in Afghanistan, it was met with a deafening silence. When Obama’s promised “withdrawal” from Iraq leaves 130,000 troops there for at least two more years and 50,000 permanently, it’s hailed as an end to the occupation. And who is demanding to know just what the mission really is when 30,000 more troops are sent to Afghanistan?

Where’s the debate?

In March of 2008, two hundred and fifty veterans and active duty soldiers marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC, to testify from their own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It was chilling, horrifying, and challenging for all who witnessed it. Against tremendous odds, they brought the voices of the veterans themselves into the debate. That was then.

This is now. Today, we present to you This is Where We Take Our Stand, the inside story of those three days and the courageous men and women who testified. And we present this story today, told in six episodes, because we believe it is as relevant now as it was one year ago. Maybe more.

Here is our challenge to you: Watch the series; spread it far and wide; and ask yourself is this about the past, or the present and future. Then add your voice.

If you are a veteran or active duty, present your own testimony. If you are not, but you are still a living, breathing member of the human race, then do whatever you can to join and fan the flames of debate.

Displaced Films and Northern Light Productions

YES MEN Withdraw Their Film from Jerusalem Film Festival

Originally Published: 7/6/2009

The Yes Men Say No to Jerusalem Film Festival

By Staff, AlterNet
Posted on July 4, 2009,
Editor’s note: this is cross-posted from Tikkun Magazine’s blog.

Dear Friends at the Jerusalem Film Festival,

We regret to say that we have taken the hard decision to withdraw our film,The Yes Men Fix the World, from the Jerusalem Film Festival in solidarity with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

This decision does not come easily, as we realize that the festival opposes the policies of the State of Israel, and we have no wish to punish progressives who deplore the state-sponsored violence committed in their name.

This decision does not come easily, as we feel a strong affinity with many people in Israel, sharing with them our Jewish roots, as well as the trauma of the Holocaust, in which both our grandfathers died. Andy lived in Jerusalem for a year long ago, can still get by in Hebrew, and counts several friends there. And Mike has always wanted to connect with the roots of his culture.

But despite all our feelings, we cannot abandon our mission as activists.

In the 1980s, there was a call from the people of South Africa to artists and others to boycott that regime, and it helped end apartheid there. Today, there is a clear call for a boycott from Palestinian civil society. Obeying it is our only hope, as filmmakers and activists, of helping put pressure on the Israeli government to comply with international law.

It is painful to do this. But it is even more painful to hear Israeli policies described as “fascist” – not just from the ill-informed and the clueless, not just from the usual anti-semitic morons, but from well-informed Jewish activists within Israel. They know what they’re talking about, and it’s painful to think that they could be right.

As we’re sure you know and deplore, the Israeli government has recently authorized the construction of new units in an illegal West Bank outpost – one that is illegal even according to Israeli law. On Monday, nine Palestinians were injured as Israeli authorities demolished their East Jerusalem home. Tuesday, the Israeli navy stopped a ship from delivering medicine, toys, and other humanitarian relief to Gaza, and detained over twenty foreign peace activists, including a Nobel Peace laureate. Meanwhile, a UN commission was in Gaza investigating much worse abuses committed early this year.

Whatever words are applied to such actions, our film mustn’t help lend an aura of normalcy to a state that makes these decisions. For us, that’s the bottom line.

There is certainly another way to do things in Israel/Palestine, and that is what we must fight for, however feeble our means. As for our film, there is another way for it to be seen in Israel… and in Palestine, so that the people most in need of comic relief, who would never have been able to see it at the Jerusalem Film Festival anyhow, will be able to see it too. Within the next few months, we will make this happen.

To those who want to see our film, savlanut and sabir (patience)! And for all the rest of us, a little LESS patience, please.

L’shanah haba’ah beyerushalayim,
Andy and Mike

The Yes Men