Angry White Kid

Four times shot at - Nabi Saleh Friday protest - March 9, 2012

Some of my footage from Nabi Saleh on March 9, where “dozens marched at Nabi Saleh this week, marking Women’s Day and calling for the release of political prisoner Hana Shalabi. One activist was injured by a tear-gas canister, leading to fracture in his knee. Three were injured by rubber coated bullets.” One solidarity activist from the U.S. was arrested.

Women played a lead role in the demonstration and succeeded in repelling one of the army’s invasions of the village. Large amounts of tear gas was fired, as well as rubber coated steel bullets and concussion grenades. On several occasions, soldiers cocked their rifles loaded with live ammunition and aimed directly at demonstrators. Skunk water was sprayed at demonstrators, as well as directly into villagers’ homes.

Footage from Open Shuhada Street Protest

Some of my footage from February 24, 2012, when thousands of Palestinians, joined by solidarity activists, gathered in Al Khalil (Hebron) in occupied Palestine for the 3rd Annual Global Day of Action to Open Shuhada Street. The central road in the heart of the Old City of Al Khalil, Shuhada Street has been closed to Palestinians since 1994, when Brooklyn-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians while they were praying at Ibrahimi Mosque on February 25, 1994.

Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the peaceful marchers with tear gas (including high-velocity rounds), concussion grenades, pepper spray, LRADs, and chemical water cannons (skunk spray). Six demonstrators were arrested and more than 80 were injured.

Footage from protest at Ofer prison for Khader Adnan

My footage from the Wednesday, February 15, 2012 National Day of Protest for Khader Adnan at Israel's Ofer Military Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. As of Feb. 15, Adnan, a Palestinian political prisoner, had been on hunger strike for sixty days. He is on hunger strike to protest his torture at the hands of his jailers and Israel's practice of administrative detention, where detainees can be held for up to six months without charge and without being allowed to see the evidence against them. After six months, the administration detention order can be renewed indefinitely.

At Wednesday's demonstration, Israeli forces indiscriminately fired concussion grenades, tear gas, plastic-coated metal bullets, chemically-treated water cannons and live ammunition at the hundreds of Palestinians gathered to protest. Some demonstrators responded by building barricades and throwing rocks. More than 20 demonstrators were injured.

Statement from the Communal Autonomous Council of San Juan Copala on the Caravan and Negotiations

While many events have occurred since this statement was issued, I've translated and posted it as it offers helpful insight as to the "official" stance of the Copala displaced regarding the caravan and negotiations. For more info on recent events, see this article on El Enemigo Común.

Statement from the Communal Autonomous Council of San Juan Copala on the Caravan and Negotiations
February 3, 2012
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

TO THE MEDIA
TO THE OTHER CAMPAIGN
TO THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA AND MEXICO
TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES

Sisters, brothers, painful is the path of return to our village from which we were displaced by the rancor and hate of those who from afar send the owners of power to our region, but we know well that reconciliation can and should come to our lands. More than 500 years of resisting exploitation, repression and misery have given the indigenous of this country the wisdom necessary to resolve their problems through the word. It is because of this that the displaced communicate to those who have accompanied us that we are doing everything in our power to put into action the Triqui word. We are sure that this will help to solve our differences, that it will ensure peace always exists in our region, but we want to state very clearly that we are not asking for impunity for anyone, those who commit crimes  by following the orders of the powerful should and have to pay, as our lands have been dyed with blood spilled by indigenous who have exchanged their dignity for a few coins or for promises of positions of power (in the state congress, for example) but we will speak of these individuals another time in a more detailed manner and we will do it with names and evidence.

Today we merely want to address you to tell you that we are doing everything in our power to find the path to peace through the word and we want to ask for your fraternal solidarity, which you have always shown us, so that today more than ever, the flower of the word does not die.

From Occupy Oakland to Occupied Palestine

Check out the full article at the Occupied Oakland Tribune.

An abridged version of the following article appeared in the print edition (issue 3) of the Occupied Oakland Tribune.

by Scott Campbell

Sitting in solitary in Glenn Dyre jail after being arrested during the first raid on the Occupy Oakland camp at Oscar Grant Plaza, I had no idea what was playing out on the streets just blocks away. Not until getting out the following day did I see footage of the massive police violence that was unleashed on the evening of October 25.

As someone who has worked in solidarity with Palestinians for years, that footage reminded me of scenes that play out frequently in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Villages there whose land is being taken for the construction of Israel’s illegal separation wall hold weekly nonviolent protests against their continued dispossession. As happened on October 25 in Oakland, these peaceful rallies are met with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets from Israeli forces. Often live ammunition is deployed and since 2004, 22 Palestinians, almost half children, have been killed by Israeli forces while protesting against the usurpation of their lands and livelihoods.

 

The Caravan of the Displaced Returns to Yosoyuxi

UPDATE - February 1:

• After being arrested outside of Copala on Sunday, today David Venegas was released without paying bail and with all charges dropped, again emphasizing the false and illegal nature of his detention.


• Today at 1pm, a delegation from the displaced was to meet with government officials in the city of Oaxaca regarding the implementation of protective measures for the displaced families ordered by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. The government was mandated to implement these measures by January 20, yet has still failed to do so.


• The displaced have agreed that ten of them would enter Copala under government protection to meet with 10 of the occupiers to see if the displaced would be allowed to enter. This meeting was to occur on Sunday as has still not happened, with the government continually postponing. The displaced have given the government until 2pm on Thursday to facilitate their entry. If the government does nothing by then, the 10 representatives will enter without government protection.

More information at El Enemigo Común.

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The Caravan of the Displaced Returns to Yosoyuxi
January 30, 2012
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

As a security measure and to avoid the great risk that remaining isolated and out in the open near La Sabana (UBISORT territory), four kilometers from San Juan Copala, represented, the displaced from San Juan Copala, members of the Autonomous Municipality, and solidarity organizations returned to Yosoyuxi near nightfall.

We woke up here and the displaced and the autonomous authorities decided to establish a blockade of the highway the runs from Juxtlahuaca to Jalatlaco, at the turnoff for Yosoyuxi, while a commission of 20 compañeras and compañeros traveled to the city of Oaxaca to demand information as to the location of David Venegas Reye “Alebrije” and his immediate release. 

We again condemn the state government authorities (deputy secretaries) for their inability to facilitate the arrival of the commission of the displaced, to which they had already agreed, to the assembly that took place this Sunday in San Juan Copala, and who were only able to manage the deceitful and illegal arrest of David Venegas.

It was agreed upon that 10 representatives of the displaced would be at the assembly, but something very shady happened with the government “negotiators,” as with the arrest they prevented the meeting that would have occurred in said assembly.

The displaced have agreed to give the government’s representatives until Thursday one final chance to mediate. If, upon receiving no response, the displaced will enter San Juan Copala that morning, knowing that they are risking their lives and that this is due to the irresponsibility of the government, which has only managed to maintain checkpoints on the highway from Juxtlahuaca to Yosoyuxi, in order to keep watch, as a means of intimidation and surveillance. 

Communal Council of the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala

Police stop the caravan of the displaced from San Juan Copala

UPDATE - January 30 - See new post.

UPDATE - January 30 - El Enemigo Común has several new statements and communiqués posted regarding the caravan and the arrest of David Venegas. In brief:

• David Venegas is being held at the State Attorney General's Office, falsely charged with "assault, threats and bodily harm to public officials." Supporters will hold a protest in front of the Cathedral in the city of Oaxaca today at 5pm.


• Solidarity reinforcements for the caravan of the displaced will be departing Mexico City at 8pm on February 1.


• Through negotiations with the government, the displaced agreed to send ten representatives to the assembly being held in San Juan Copala to determine whether or not the displaced will be allowed to enter their own town. Aside from the ten displaced, the participants in the assembly will be made up of the paramilitaries currently occupying the town.


• The caravan of the displaced is currently stopped just outside of La Sabana, an UBISORT paramilitary stronghold where the ambush of the first caravan on April 27, 2010 occurred. The police have left the area, placing the caravan members at grave risk of attack from paramilitaries.

UPDATE - January 29 - (via email) - Compañerxs, the dialogue between the government and the displaced from San Juan Copala has been broken off.

The Triqui compañeras are ready to enter Copala, even without safety guarantees.

We ask you to be on alert.

As well, as a result of a direct order from Jesús Martínez Alvarez (state interior minister) the state police have just detained David Venegas Reyes without saying where they are taking him. Please update the media that the caravan to San Juan Copala today hoped to enter their town and negotiations have broken off and we hold PRI-UBISORT and PRI-MULT responsible for the attacks and murders that these organizations have carried out against our brothers and sisters from San Juan Copala.

Autonomy, Autogestion, Direct Action, For the revolution!

Long live indigenous autonomy!

Free Political Prisoners!

UPDATE - January 28 - [Spanish original] - After the caravan of the displaced, members of the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala and members from Yosoyuxi left for San Juan Copala, approximately 200 riot people blocked our way today, January 28, about three kilometers from where we had left, in a place known as Barranca de Lodo, at approximately 12:54pm.

The caravan, largely made up of displaced women and children, men, women and children from the region, as well as solidarity activists from several social, political and student organizations from Oaxaca, Mexico City, Mexico state, and other entities, had spent the night in Yosoyuxi, after having been on the highway that runs from Tlaxiaco to Juxtlahuaca, and after hours of negotiations with government authorities, finally after nine in the evening on Friday, January 27, they were able to reach an agreement that the caravan could go to Yosoyuxi, accompanied by a strong police presence.

The displaced put forward their willingness to establish a dialogue with state authorities capable of resolving the matter, such as those from the Interior Ministry, the Indigenous Issues Ministry, the Public Security Ministry, so that some conditions could be established that would begin the work towards lowering the tension in the area.

However, again the state government sided with the paramilitaries, alleging that there could be no agreement to allow the entry of the displaced until tomorrow, when an assembly will happen by those who have illegitimately and violently occupied San Juan Copala since September 2010.

As of this moment, there has been no rapprochement from the authorities, nor overtones about ending the blockade maintained by the state police. The situation is tense and we ask everyone to be alert as there is information that since yesterday, Friday, January 27, hundreds of MULT paramilitaries are occupying San Juan Copala, maintaining blockades at various points on the way to Copala, thereby blocking the entry of the displaced.

Caravan of Dignity for the Dignified Return of the Displaced from San Juan Copala

January 27, 2012
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

Approximately 200 police officers, belonging to the state Department of Public Security, blocked the path of the caravan of displaced Triquis who are trying to return to the cultural and ceremonial center of San Juan Copala. The police positioned themselves at kilometer 7, in the municipality of Tlaxiaco, to keep the children, women and men from entering the Triqui region.

In the group are traveling 71 Triqui women, 24 children and 26 men. As well, there are 47 members of non-governmental organizations, international observers, human rights defenders and members of an alternative media outlet.

Members of the caravan state that a stretch of the highway was dynamited near the village of Santa Catarina in order to block their path.

They say that the police operation is being headed by Víctor Raúl Martínez, coordinator of the advisers to Governor Gabino Cué Monteagudo.

These events occur 24 hours after the displaced were to sign a peace agreement, in the presence of the governor of Oaxaca. However, in meetings held through Thursday morning, members of the Union for the Social Well-Being of the Triqui Region (UBISORT) and the Triqui Movement for Unification and Struggle (MULT) made clear their disagreement with the displaced returning to Copala this week. Given the impossibility of arriving at an agreement, Governor Gabino Cué has said that he cannot guarantee the safety of the displaced.

We hold Gabino Cué, MULT and UBISORT responsible for what may happen to us in San Juan Copala

For more information on the current caravan to San Juan Copala, see El Enemigo Común.

For background on San Juan Copala and the continued impunity in Oaxaca under Governor Gabino Cué, see this previous post.

We hold Gabino Cué, MULT and UBISORT responsible for what may happen to us in San Juan Copala

January 26, 2012
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

TO THE MEDIA

TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MEXICO

TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

TO THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

TO THE OTHER CAMPAIGN

Sisters, brothers – up until yesterday a great joy filled our hearts as we were sure that this time we would be able to return to our village – San Juan Copala – from which we were displaced by criminals in the service of the wicked Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. We were content as we believed that with the exit of the PRI from the state government that things had changed and that the criminals would no longer be protected. But our pain was great when we realized that nothing changed, that governments of any stripe will always protect those who supply them with votes, they guarantee them political and economic control and allow the indigenous population to remain displaced from its land and territory; dealing with the worst criminals doesn’t matter.

Yesterday we arrived at the meeting of Triqui “authorities,” arranged by the governor, with the aim of signing a supposed agreement of peace and understanding for our region, of which we were unaware until that moment and which the event served as a pretext for the state government to use as a reason to continue postponing the date which it had promised – in writing – of January 20, for the return to our village. Despite the fact that on several occasions we made clear to representatives of the state government that our displaced village does not recognize the supposed “municipal authority” of San Juan Copala, Julio Martínez Ramírez, who was put into that position by his son, Julio Cesar Martínez, the murderer of Jyri Jaakkola and many other people, this individual occupied the most privileged seat at the meeting, at the side of Governor Gabino Cué.

Also occupying a seat at the meeting was former state representative and well-known strongman in the Triqui region, Rufino Merino Zaragoza, who has committed with his own hands or personally ordered more than 80 murders. This criminal is the cause of much of the blood that has been spilled in our region. During the course of the meeting it became perfectly clear that the supposed “social organizations” MULT and UBISORT are one and the same, given the following: Rufino Merino presented himself as the representative of MULT’s communities but through the entire meeting he defended the proposals made by the former journalist Ixtli Martínez, who is the legal representative of the paramilitaries occupying San Juan Copala. Ixtli Martínez is the representative of the group of criminals who displaced us from our community, who imposed Julio Martínez as the municipal “authority,” who call themselves UBISORT but who in reality have been absorbed by MULT.

It is clear that all the murders committed against our brothers and sisters, including on April 27, 2010, were carried out by these two groups of criminals. The municipal “authority,” Professor Julio Martínez Ramírez, is the father of Julio Cesar Martínez Morales, the right hand of Antonio Cruz García, alias “Toño Pájaro,” both of whom have several arrest warrants out against them and today we understand that they have not been arrested because they receive protection from the government palace and the impunity they have allows them to dispose of human life at whim.

Knowing he was protected and that he enjoyed complete impunity, Julio Martínez put forward useless, stupid conditions for the return of the displaced to their homes – one of those was that the entry of two displaced families per month would be allowed beginning on March 20, or rather that the complete return of all 110 families would require four years. All of these were met with complacency by the governor, who continues to maintain that we are responsible for what might happen to us should we try to enter our village. Compañeros, compañeras: We can wait no longer.

We will return to our community and we hold the governor, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, the serial murderer Rufino Merino Zaragoza, Julio Martínez Ramírez, Antonio Cruz García, Julio Cesar Martínez Morales, and the advisor and inciter of this group of murderers, Ixtli Martínez, responsible for what may happen. Finally, we say to the governor that what happens will remain in his conscience, because he could have stopped it simply by ordering that the law of the state he supposedly governs be respected.

RESPECTFULLY

THE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNAL COUNCIL OF SAN JUAN COPALA

December 12 - West Coast Port Shutdown

More info at http://westcoastportshutdown.org/

General Strike - Nov. 2 - Occupy Oakland

All out for the General Strike on Wednesday, November 2 in Oakland, CA!

More info at http://www.occupyoakland.org/strike/