Green Party Watch

From Cynthia McKinney, July 27, 2010 on the Bike4Peace ride across the US (http://b4p.bbnow.org)….

Bike 4 Peace is still in need of hosts for potlucks and warm showers, and also sag vehicles by state because I’m the one who’s sagging behind the rest of the bikers–yesterday, by one hour and a half!!!  We’re available for radio interviews–especially me–because I’m definitely a better talker!!!

Malik Rahim, who is riding up solo from New Orleans to meet up with us on September 22 in Washington, DC needs hosts on the route outlined below.  He is especially interested right now in Mississippi and Alabama hosts.  Malik can be contacted at 504-252-3743.

Here’s my update by day.  Very brief updates will come as telephone and internet allow: read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders and candidates are urging Congress to pass House Resolution 301 to remove US forces from Pakistan.  The privileged resolution was introduced by Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.) and Ron Paul (R-Tex.), who said that President Obama’s plans for an increase of US troops in Pakistan violate the 1973 War Powers Authorization (http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/23-7).

The Green Party supports an end to the US war on Afghanistan, which the Obama Administration has escalated by deploying more troops and ordering air attacks across the border in Pakistan.  The party opposes the current war escalation supplemental bill and all proposals to increase war funding. read more »

Colia Clark, the New York Green Party nominee for the US Senate seat presently occupied by Charles Schumer, said today that she was appalled by recent statements by Schumer supporting the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is causing a humanitarian crisis there.

Schumer, speaking last week at an Orthodox Union event in Washington, D.C. said he supported the blockade out of the need “to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense.”

“How can it be that a US Senator is calling for economic genocide against the People of Gaza and Palestine when he states that the besieged and endangered people of Gaza should be, “strangled economically”? It’s urgent that the people of New York stand up to Senator Schumer for his violent speech. Senator Schumer must be sent a clear message that New York State is not in favor of any form of violence against those who seek to lift the weight of oppression from their backs. The people of New York abhor genocide through naked violence or economic genocide,” said Clark.

“As US Senator from New York, I propose to wage a campaign for a peaceful settlement of the Gaza crisis that respects the legitimate claims of the Palestinian Peoples and the right of the People of Israel to statehood. A Two State solution is the only way out of the present crisis. This means Israel dismantling all settlements in Palestinian territory and discontinuing the naked violence against Palestine in Gaza and on the open seas. Palestine must halt unprovoked assaults on the State of Israel. In the interest of the Middle East and world peace, Israel and Palestine must resolve this 62 year old dispute by uncovering ways to live in mutual harmony,” added Clark. read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — The Green Party of the United States condemns the attack by the Israeli navy on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ships in international wates near Cyprus, which have left at least 19 human rights activists dead and at least 50 wounded.

“The attacks on the aid boats is a criminal act of piracy and a deliberate provocation,” said Dr. Justine McCabe, co-chair of the Green Party’s International Committee (http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).

“We demand immediate action from the US, including emergency orders from President Obama to cut off all aid to Israel.  The policies of the US regarding Israel and Palestine up to now have convinced Israel that it can act with impunity in committing massacres and massive human violations against Palestinian civilians.  These illegal and atrocious actions now include the murder of other countries’ citizens in international waters,” added Dr. McCabe, who recently returned to the US from Haifa, where she participated in a coalition of over 400 Jewish and Palestinian Israelis and internationals who met to promote the growing call for the one democratic state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel had earlier threatened to seize the Freedom Flotilla ships and arrest the activists when they entered Gaza coastal waters, but instead executed a surprise maneuver at night in international waters that resulted in death and mayhem for nonviolent activists attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of supplies to the people of Gaza.

2008 Green presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney has released a statement on the massacre (“Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: People of the US and the world must end Israeli impunity now!,” http://gp.org/cynthia/display.php?ID=36).  Ms. McKinney, a former member of Congress from Georgia, was one of 21 human rights activists on board the Free Gaza relief boat seized by the Israeli navy in international waters when it tried to deliver medical and other humanitarian aid to Gaza in June 2009, in the wake of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Ms. McKinney and the other activists were held in an Israeli jail for several days.  See Green Party press releases issued between June 25 and July 14, 2009, on the party’s media page (http://www.gp.org/press.php).

“The US government’s lack of response to the seizing of the Free Gaza boat and jailing of a former member of Congress was interpreted by Israel as a license for even more extreme illegal actions,” said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the Lavender Green Caucus (http://www.gp.org/caucuses/lavender/index.php).  ”We urge all Americans who value justice, human rights, and peace to put pressure on the White House and on their Representatives and Senators to move right now to stop all aid to Israel and seek international condemnation of these acts.”

“We also urge Americans to be wary of the justifications for Israel’s crimes that will come from politicians, media commentators, AIPAC, and other apologists for Israel.  These justifications are meant to cover up atrocities, including yesterday’s murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla,” said Ms. Rankin. read more »

Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent, makes favorable mention of the Green Party in his recent column for Truthdig about the state of the peace movement, “No One Cares”.

We sustain these wars, which have no real popular support, by borrowing trillions of dollars that can never be repaid, even as we close schools, states go into bankruptcy, social services are cut, our infrastructure crumbles, tens of millions of Americans are reduced to poverty, and real unemployment approaches 17 percent. Collective, suicidal inertia rolls us forward toward national insolvency and the collapse of empire. And we do not protest. The peace movement, despite the heroic efforts of a handful of groups such as Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Green Party and Code Pink, is dead.

Greens: President Obama must press Israel to end East Jerusalem settlements

• Green Party urges divestment as Israeli outrages mount

WASHINGTON, DC — President Obama must put pressure on Israel immediately to stop the construction of settlements and displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Green Party leaders and candidates said today.

“President Obama should send Prime Minister Netanyahu a message: enough is enough.  If Israel continues to violate Palestinian human rights, the US must cancel the $30 million military aid package pledged to Israel for 2009-2018.  The plan to build 1,600 housing units for Israeli Jews in East Jerusalem is the latest outrage.  Although a rumored US abstension from a possible UN Security Council resolution against the settlements would be an improvement over its usual veto on Israel’s behalf, this would still be an act of moral cowardice,” said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.  read more »

Hank Bardel, the New York Green Party’s candidate for US House of Representatives, 13th district, recently posted a note on facebook with the title “Peace and the Military-Industrial Complex”. In the note, Bardel alludes to Dwight Eisenhower’s famous warning:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

Here is the text of Hank Bardel’s note:

I think that we Americans have failed and have let down our guard against the unwarranted influence of the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power is not potential anymore. It exists now and has persisted now in 2010 for 50 years. read more »

Fayetteville, AR – On Friday March 19, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in front of the Fayetteville Town Center at 15 West Mountain Street, U.S. Senate candidate John Gray will lead a Peace Prayer rally to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Iraq War. There will also be wonderful socially conscious folk music by Still on the Hill, and perhaps others as well. read more »

Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 candidate for president of the United States, has published an article in the UK Independent entitled “Leaders’ lack of respect for rule of law makes us all victims of 9/11″.

The war on terror did not go away with George Bush. When President Barack Obama came to power there was so much hope, but as the US Green Party presidential candidate I did not share it.

I heard candidate Obama’s speeches and knew that he would be a War President. What I did not realise was the extent to which the policies of President Obama would mirror those of his predecessor, including the renewal of the Patriot Act and commission of war crimes. Sadly, President Obama’s Justice Department is now in US courts defending the criminal acts of the Bush administration.

In his State of the Union address to the nation, President Obama defended war, erosion of civil and human rights, creation of the police state, ignoring the US Constitution and the norms of international law, by invoking the tragedy of 11 September, 2001. read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party candidates, leaders, and other members will participate in the ‘US Out of Afghanistan and Iraq Now’ march in Washington, DC, on Saturday, March 20.

Greens will join hundreds of thousands of others to demand an end to the wars and occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Haiti and threats of war against Iran. March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the invasion launched by the Bush-Cheney Administration against Iraq, in which hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died and tens of thousands of US troops have been killed or been maimed.

For more information on the march, which has been organized by the ANSWER Coalition, visit March20.org (http://www.march20.org). read more »

Over 100 leading peace activists have announced an ‘Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally’ at the White House on December 12, from 11a.m. to 4 p.m., to reject President Obama’s planned military escalation in Afghanistan. The rally is organized by End US Wars, a newly formed coalition of national and grass-roots antiwar organizations, with endorsements from leading peace leaders.

Rally organizers are calling for the left wing to end its support for Obama if he declares a surge in troops, and for condemnation of Obama’s war policy by his own party faithful. In addition, efforts will begin to cut short his term in office, along with Congress; and protests will intensify against U.S. war involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and any other countries.

Speakers include Green Party members Cynthia McKinney, Lynne Williams, Marian Douglas and others including Sen. Mike Gravel, Kathy Kelly, Chris Hedges, David Swanson, Phyllis Bennis, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Coy McKinney, Debra Sweet, Brian Becker, Mathis Chiroux, Hon. Betty Hall, Elaine Brower, Michael Knox, Ralph Lopez, Ron Fisher, and statements from Col. Ann Wright, Stephen Zunes and Granny D. read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders called on President Obama to reverse his Afghanistan policy by pledging an immediate cease-fire in the Afghanistan war and a complete withdrawal of US troops and military contractors, when he addresses the nation on Tuesday, December 1.

During the speech, President Obama will announce his intention to send 30,000 more troops, raising the number of US personnel in Afghanistan to over 100,000.

“Millions of Americans voted for Barack Obama in 2008 under the impression that he was an ‘antiwar’ candidate, even though Mr. Obama supported the war in Afghanistan and favored a limited withdrawal from Iraq. Troop escalation will not ‘finish the job’ in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Unless he surprises us in his speech on Tuesday, we’ll be further mired in a war that shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party’s nominee for Vice President in 2008 (http://www.rosaclemente.com).

The Green Party of the United States will participate in antiwar protests scheduled for Saturday, December 12 in Washington, DC, and other locations throughout the US.

In Washington, Greens and other Americans who support an end to the Afghanistan war will gather for an Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally in Lafayette Park near the White House. Among the featured speakers for this rally will be Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, and Lynne Williams, 2010 Green candidate for Governor of Maine (http://www.lynnewilliams2010.org). The rally, organized by End US Wars will take place from 11 am to 4 pm (http://www.enduswars.org / contact: Laurie Dobson, 207-604-8988, contact@enduswars.org).

“This is what Obama’s fabled bi-partisanship gets us — more of the same. What we need is partisanship, with a strong Green Party presence in this country, since we are the only party that was against the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan from day one,” said Ms. Williams.

On November 25, Ms. McKinney sent an open letter to President Obama urging a reversal of his warhawk policy on Afghanistan (http://dignity.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cynthia-mckinneys-letter-to).

Nationwide rallies and protests are also planned for December 2, immediately after the President’s speech (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php).

Green Party leaders have disputed President Obama’s claims that the invasion of Afghanistan was “the right war.” The invasion has resulted in a catastrophe for Afghan civilians, with thousands killed and maimed and the destruction of property and infrastructure. The Taliban has won greater popular support because of its defiance of foreign troops, while President Karzai’s corrupt administration have betrayed any hope for democracy and regional warlords have turned Afghanistan into the world’s leading producer of opium. Human rights for most Afghans, especially women, have not advanced because of the US invasion.

Greens also asserted that the war has not reduced any real or perceived terrorist threat against the US, and its expansion into Pakistan with drone attacks inside Pakistani borders has created greater regional instability and animosity towards the US. Greens called the Democrats as much a party of war as the GOP, with both parties spending enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money to feed a military machine that bullies other nations and ultimately sustains corporate war profiteers.

“The only way to show support for US troops is to demand their safe return. As the Soviet Union’s attempt to subjugate Afghanistan proved, the US’s attempt to occupy the country means mounting US casualties,” said Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

“The Green Party — not the Democrats or Republicans — represents the will of the people, with polls showing a majority of Americans opposed to the war. We challenge all Americans who desire peace to speak out with their voices and votes, demand that President Obama order our troops home now, and call on Congress to cut military spending,” added Ms. Hakeem.

Appearing at the War Crimes Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivered a 17 minute address to the delegates. The speech, broken into two pieces to accommodate YouTube limitations is under the fold. Hat Tip to Black Agenda Report.

read more »

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders expressed puzzlement and outrage over the decision to award President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, and urged widespread demonstrations against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to take place in Oslo, Washington, and other cities on the day Mr. Obama picks up his prize in Oslo.

“The chief difference between President Obama and President Bush on war policy is one of salesmanship. The international cooperation that the Nobel Committee praises means only that Mr. Obama has had more success in selling aggressive war policies — maintaining the Afghanistan and Iraq occupations, with plans to increase troop levels in Afghanistan,” said Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States (and a Norwegian-American).

“We hope that those who support the Nobel Committee’s decision and are proud of President Obama will join antiwar protests and urge Mr. Obama to honor the Peace Prize by ending the occupations,” Ms. Grage added.
read more »

In a message today, the Reverend Billy Talen, who is running for Mayor of New York City on the Green Party line, had this to say about Barack Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize:

Now we have to change all our words around.

I never thought of Peace as a word that was moveable. All our words have been shifted by Consumerism and Militarism. Democracy is gone, America and Freedom are gone. Peace always stayed there in one place.

Peace patiently waited for us to notice the best things about ourselves. Peace always stayed with us. Peace was ignored by the governments and the powerful but it was still there – the monument that is made of the sky and the wind, our memories of a face and our loving touch. But now we have to change our words around. They have taken the word Peace and we’ll have to make up a new word, a secret signal.

Predator drones will be released tonight destroying the word we always depended on. The flying bomb will go out over the villages, sailing over the sleeping children and prayers and friends stopping for a laugh. The bombs will float and hesitate and change direction from computers in Florida and Missouri and the soldiers at the computers will know that Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And so they will be consumers of a war that is now being marketed as a product named Peace.

So – it has come to this. War has finally captured Peace.