Mar 1, 2003

Thousands of protesters, organized by the Piraeus committee of the Greek Committee for International Peace and Détente, massed for two days of demonstrations against the presence offshore of the NATO Standing Naval Force of the Mediterranean. Protesters also targeted the Greek government and the presidency of the European Union with their slogans. Other initiators included Youth Action for Peace, the Action-Thessaloniki 2003 campaign, the left-led labor federation PAME, and dozens of other organizations.

TRIPURA, India – The Northeastern section of India consists of seven states: Tripura, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. These states, known as the “seven sisters,” are rich with beauty and natural resources. Tea and jute plantations, which extend throughout this lush land, are basic to the economy there. However for the last 14 years all of these states have been facing far-right extremism and terrorism.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will present his new government to the Knesset, Feb. 26, to ask for a parliamentary confidence vote. This follows the announcement on Feb. 24, that the Likud had signed an accord with the Shinui (Change) Party to join a Likud-led coalition, composed of Likud, Shinui and the clerical-Zionist, far right National-Religious Party (NRP). These three parties control together 61 of the 120-member Knesset.

Plans the Pentagon announced last week to send 3,000 troops to the Philippines to help in efforts to eradicate the Abu Sayyaf group of Islamic militants are facing a sharp challenge this week as critics point out that the Philippine constitution bars foreign troops from fighting on its territory.

S. Africa: March to U.S. Embassy

Some 4,000 people representing 60 organizations – including the governing African National Congress, the Communist Party of South Africa and the Congress of South African Trade Unions – brought a powerful anti-war message to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria Feb. 19. Chanting, “No to war, yes to peace,” the demonstrators rallied as a delegation including ANC Secretary-General Kgalema Motlanthe, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa, Tshwane Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, COSATU President Willie Madisha, and SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande went inside to present the Declaration of South Africans United to Stop the War in Iraq. The action is part of the Stop the War campaign.

Open up the classified section in your local newspaper and you, unlike the most esteemed economic minds in the country, might notice two things. Number one, though I will not dwell on it here, is that there are not enough jobs to go around. Number two is that the amount of real estate in the market has reached gargantuan proportions.

The imperial obsessions of the Bush administration have come under increasing clinical examination. In the process the fog of war propaganda spread on radio and TV by journalistic courtiers is beginning to lift. For more and more, the impending war with Iraq has nothing to do with eliminating weapons of mass destruction (WMD), or promoting democracy, or fighting terrorism.

National religious leaders are bringing a strong message against war on Iraq to their congregations across the country. “We are taking our message to ‘middle church’ – middle America at church,” the Rev. Robert Edgar, National Council of Churches (NCC) general secretary, told the World.

Community health epidemics are now facing almost every big city in the country and some rural areas also.

Many of us sensed that there was something new on Feb. 15, when millions around the globe marched against the U.S. government’s drive to war on Iraq.