Say no to militarisation and war - 4th July at Vicenza

Opposition to war and militarisation is a founding principle of the Women in Black.

For this reason we respond to the appeal of the women and men of the Permanent Protest No Dal Molin to return to the streets of Vicenza to take part in the construction of "a free territory that does not welcome the military". We know that this is not just an aim of the citizens of Vicenza, but of all those who are following nonviolent ways to exit the culture of arms and war.

THEREFORE WE WILL BE THERE AT THE 4th JULY DEMONSTRATION

Donne in Nero - Italia




4 July: Independence ? It must be won

"a victor is merely a dreamer who never gave up. " Words of Nelson Mandela, Nobel peace laureate, but also for tose who wanted to continue with the politics of Apartheid, words of an extremist who deserved to be imprisoned for his opposition to the state ideology, the imposed racial segregation on South Africa in the 20th century.

Dreamers too are the people of Vicenza who oppose the will of the greatest world power and its vassal in Rome - the Italian government - to obstruct the realisation of a new, devastating military servitude. Because, even when due distinctions are made between a Nobel laureate subjected to a long imprisonment for actions of sabotage, and citizens put on trial for having chained themselves to a government building, they still have something in common, the everyday irrationality that is called dreaming.


Vicenza is a territory that stubbornly refuses to surrender to the cement and steel of the 173th Airborne Brigade that would like to make its nest among the Palladian villas, because surrender would mean accepting the devastation of their territory and of the underlying aquifers. And it would also mean a loss of dignity as citizens.

"Pull up the local dissent by its roots": those are the words of Commissioner Paolo Costa – he who followed the Vicenza problem for the Italian government. These words contain the will to transform citizens into subjects, canceling, at a stroke, every democratic principle to make way for an oppressive "reason of state" that would impose on the community the acceptance of any sacrifices on ethical and moral bases that no one really understands.

Between perseverance and surrender, we choose to continue to dream, because we believe that the route we have have begun in our city leads to a collective dream that speaks of a community that governs itself, based on its own needs, refusing to delegate decisions to someone else, because we do not accept the order to host a base of war that we do not want, because we despise those who for economic or military interests buts at risk our territory and the safety and health of its inhabitants. Because we want to feel free to live our daily life in our own land, free of the presence of thousands of soldiers and their instruments of death and destruction.

On July 4th, we want to construct our independence, not as a formal bureaucratic act, but as a process of participation, action and re-appropriation. Because independence must start with ourselves, with our ever-changing being, and our claim to the land that is ours in that it is where we live.

So, to the words of Nelson Mandela, we can add those of Marcos with which we started our journey more than 2 years ago: because if it's true that "a victor is simply a dreamer who never gave up " and it's also true that "If one dreams alone, it's only a dream, if one dreams together, it's the start of reality". On July 4th, we will continue to dream of independence, of dignity, of participation. The Other Comune wants to construct the other world that is possible.
Thursday 18 June 2009

http://www.nodalmolin.it/spip.php?article284

An evening for the women of L'Aquila

Wednesday 24th June, 21.00, TEATRO DELLE MUSE via Forlì 43 ROMA

A subscription concert to support the reopening of the Women's antiviolence centre in L'Aquila, following the earthquake.


With the women of l’Aquila there will be

Concertinas, guitars, drums, harps, mandolins, bouzoukis, voices and colours.

With...
Letizia Aprile - Angelina Arru-Roberta Bartoletti - Riccardo Battisti

Claudia Boncompagni - Sabina Cascino-Nadia Cervoni - Giuliano Gangemi

Anna Maria Giordano - Francesco Gramazio-Maria Olga Greco - Massimo Greco

Valeria Landolfi - Silvana Marconi-Massimo Moraldi - Patrizia Nasini-Antonia Panico - GiselaTheye-Olivia Zaccagnini & Micaela Serino

With
SLABoratorio

Popular music and more
directed by Roberta Bartoletti

LABoratorio del Canto
directed by Patrizia Nasini
from the
Circolo Gianni Bosio




INFO: DLF 348 3505463 CPO 329 4159514

Only hatred will remain here

These are the words of Ezra Nawi arrested during the demolition of a Bedouin house by the Israeli army.


Every so often someone comes along who is so brave and so inspiring that you just can't sit by and remain silent when you learn they need your help. We are writing today to tell you about one of these special people.

His name is Ezra Nawi.

You've probably never heard of him, but because you may know our names, now you will know his name

Ezra Nawi is one of Israel's most courageous human rights activists and without your help, he will likely go to jail in less than 30 days. His crime? He tried to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region.

These homes and the families who live in them have been under Israeli occupation for 42 years. They still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. They are continuously harassed by Jewish settlers and the military



Nawi's friends have launched a campaign to generate tens of thousands of letters to Israeli embassies all over the world before he is due to be sentenced in July. They've asked for your help.
His name is Ezra Nawi.

We keep saying his name because we believe that the more people know him and know his name, the harder it will be for the Israeli military to send him quietly to jail.

And Ezra Nawi is anything but quiet.

He is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic.

He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade.

He has dedicated his life to helping those who are trampled on. He has stood by Jewish single mothers who pitched tents in front of the Knesset while struggling for a living wage, and by Palestinians threatened with expulsion from their homes.

He is loved by those with little power, to whom he dedicates his life, and hated by the Jewish settlers, military and police.

Now that you know Ezra you've got the chance to stand up for hime and for everthing that he represents. Especially now as Israel escalates its attacks on human rights and pro-democracy activists.

He needs you. His friends need you. The people that he helps every day need you. Please send letters to the consulate, to the media, to your friends and family. Just take a moment to write a letter. Do it now and them share is name with a friend. Do it for Ezra Nawi.

Noam Chomsky
Naomi Klein
Neve Gordon

---

Send this letter to the Israeli embassy in Rome and to the Italian consulate in Tel Aviv.

Click on the link and a mail window will open. Copy the following letter and send it.

Please do everything you can so that Ezra Nawi doesn't go to prison. His crime was to defend the human rights of the bedouins in South Hebron.

It's hard to understand how a person like Nawi, who represents the best of Israel, can be persecuted by the Israeli army because he tried to defend the rights of others.

I pledge myself to tell everyone I know about Ezra Nawi's couragious work and about the injustice of his arrest. I will invite my friends to watch the video, to write letters, and to talk about Ezra at every opportunity, and I will tell everyone about Israeli repression of human rights activists, be they Israeli, Arab or international.

We await his release.