It would seem like a no-brainer for the Senate Majority Leader to fall in line with the leadership of his party in backing a modest bill that would ban the sale of weapons that are only good for mass murder. Unfortunately, Reid’s senior policy advisor Kasey Gillette was unable to give an answer.

While there is a lot of talk in Democratic circles about Republicans standing in the way of sensible gun laws, a hidden secret is that the Democratic Senator leader from Nevada, who is key to getting gun control legislation passed in this country, has been as pro-gun as most Republicans.

In the past, Reid has touted the rights of gun owners and eagerly sought the NRA’s endorsements, contributions and praise. In 2004, Reid was one of the rare Democrats to be endorsed by the NRA. In 2009 he sought to please the powerful lobby by supporting a controversial bill to allow gun owners with concealed weapon permits to cross state lines. The legislation, which was vehemently opposed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, fell just two votes short of the 60 votes needed. The NRA, however, was delighted that Reid had supported the bill and allowed it to be brought to the floor for a vote.

In 2010, when Reid was engaged in a bitter re-election campaign against Republican Sharron Angle, the NRA refrained from endorsing, but contributed to Reid’s campaign and reminded voters of his pro-gun record. An NRA letter to its Nevada members touted that Reid “opposed the Obama administration’s interest in reinstating the assault weapons ban, halting momentum; helped pass a law that allows gun owners to carry firearms in national parks; voted against the District of Columbia’s gun ban; voted for legislation to allow pilots in commercial airline cockpits to be armed.” It also noted that Reid was instrumental in passing legislation halting lawsuits that were attempting to hold gun manufacturers and dealers responsible for weapons used in criminal acts.

NRA head Wayne LaPierre called Senator Reid “a true champion of the Second Amendment” and said “no one has been a stronger advocate for responsible gun ownership than him.”

After the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings in July 2012, Senator Reid blocked any debate about gun control, insisting that the Senate schedule was “too packed” to spend time on it.

After this latest tragedy at Sandy Hook that left 20 children dead, Reid took a timid step forward, saying it was time to “engage in a meaningful conversation and thoughtful debate about how to change laws and culture that allow violence to grow.” Hinting at a softening of his position, he said that as we discuss how best to protect our nation’s children, “every idea should be on the table.”

But for the gun control advocates in his office on Tuesday, Reid’s faint-hearted call for reform was not nearly enough. With alarm clocks in hand, they said the time for discussion was long past; they wanted action. They said it was time for Senator Reid to stand up to the NRA and to use his leadership to protect our children, not the gun manufacturers.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been making the same demand. “Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough,” he said. “We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership — not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response.”

In a move that seems to heed the call for action, President Obama just appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead a task force on new gun laws. Senator Dianne Feinstein said she will introduce legislation early next year to ban the sale of new assault weapons, as well as big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets. Even Virginia’s Mark Warner,
one of the few staunch pro-gun Senate Democrats, reversed course to back restrictions on assault weapons, declaring that “the status quo is not acceptable anymore.”

With 20 children dead, President Obama insisting that preventing gun violence will be a second-term policy priority, and Harry Reid not facing re-election until 2016, perhaps the Senator will now be willing to stand up to the NRA? The clock is ticking.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of www.codepink.org and www.globalexchange.org. She is author of the recent book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

Also see December 1, Truth and Trauma in Gaza and December 2, We Want It to Stop.

Eman El-Hawi, a smart and perky 24-year-old business student from Gaza got teary when she told our delegation about what she witnessed during the eight days that Israel pounded Gaza. “I saw the babies being brought into the hospital, some dead, some wounded. I couldn’t believe Israel was doing this again, just like four years ago. But at least this time,” she said with pride, “we struck back.”

The fight was totally disproportionate. Israeli F-16s, drones and Apache helicopters unleashed their fury over this tiny strip of land, leaving 174 dead, over one thousand wounded, as well as homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and government buildings damaged and destroyed. On the Palestinian side, crude Qassam rockets left six Israelis dead and caused little damage. But for many Palestinians, it was a perverse kind of victory.

If the Israeli government was trying to teach the Palestinians a lesson with this latest pummeling, the unfortunate lesson many learned was that the only way to deal with Israel is through firepower. We asked people why this round of violence lasted only eight days, unlike the 22-day attack in 2008. Some credited the Arab Spring that has created a new wave of pro-Palestinian public sentiment that governments have to respond to—especially in Egypt where the ceasefire was brokered. But others believed the Israelis backed down because Palestinian rockets had reached into the heart of Israel.

“It’s not that we want to kill Israelis but we want them to know we are not helpless,” said Ahmed Al Sahbany, an engineering student. “We want them to know that when they attack us mercilessly, when they treat us like animals, we will fight back.” A rap song by a West Bank group called “Strike, Strike Tel Aviv” that came out during the fighting was a hit among many of the Palestinian youth.

Many young people we talked to were dismissive of peace talks with Israel. They say the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank has been talking to the Israelis for 18 years and all they have achieved is a new brand of apartheid, with bypass roads, separation walls, expanding settlements, Jerusalem ethnically cleansed, 500-600 checkpoints, and the continued siege of Gaza.

This latest round of attacks is just a continuation of the daily attacks we live with here in Gaza every day,” said youth leader Majed Abusalama. “Israeli soldiers shoot at our fishermen and confiscate their boats just for fishing in waters that belong to us. Israeli soldiers shoot at our farmers when they try to farm their lands that are close to the border, lands that belong to our farmers—our land!” In fact, a week after the ceasefire, our delegation visited a group of farmers in Rafah who were still unable to farm a good portion of their land. One of them, hobbling around in a cast, had just been shot in the leg, without warning, for venturing too close to the fence that separates Israel and Gaza.

Raji Sourani, a lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a group that meticulously documented the crimes committed during the 8-day war, lost his normally calm demeanor when speaking to our delegation about Obama and the US Congressional support for what they called Israel’s right to defend itself. “How can Obama say Israel is defending itself when we are the real victims? We are the target of this dirty war, just like we were the last time in 2008, just like we are every day,” Sourani shouted. “The Israelis practice the law of the jungle with full legal immunity and no accountability.”

Sourani was happy with the vote that gave Palestine a seat at the UN because it showed that Israel and the US were opposed by most of the rest of the world. But he said the UN seat would only be meaningful if the Palestinian Authority used it as an opportunity to take Israel to the International Criminal Court, something the Western powers are pressuring them not to do.

The most poignant indictment of Israel and the Western powers came from Jamal Dalu, the shopkeeper whose home in Gaza City was demolished by an Israeli bomb that left 12 dead, including his wife and four children. Looking around at the wreckage that was once his home and family, he faulted President Obama for giving Israel the green light to carry out its attacks. “Obama, you say you want to teach us about democracy and the rule of law. Is this what you mean by democracy? Is this the rule of law?” he repeated over and over.

“I really don’t understand what the Israelis and their backers in the United States want,” said Sourani, throwing up his hands in despair. “They want us to vote, and when we do they refuse the recognize the winner. They say they want a two-state solution, but keep building settlements that make two states impossible. But if we say we want to live in a single, democratic state, they say we want the destruction of Israel because we produce lots of babies and will outnumber them. Honestly, I don’t know what they really want, but I can tell you this: the way things are right now can’t last forever, and time is running out.”

The delegation brought funds from Americans to support the Shifa Hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent, and took up collections to help the Dalu family and a disabled group called the Al Jazeera Club whose building had been destroyed. The funds, and the gesture of solidarity, was much appreciated, especially since the US government is giving $3 billion a year to support Israel’s militarism. Also appreciated is the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign that is providing a nonviolent means for people around the world to challenge Israeli policy.

“Please don’t wait for the third Israeli round of attacks,” said Hala Ashi, a 24-year-old whose home was badly damaged and whose neighbor was killed, “and help show us, the youth of Gaza, that violence is not the answer.”

Photo Credit: Code Pink

The following update is based on a press release issued by Code Pink. You can read the entire press release here.

CODEPINK Group Travels to Gaza to Bring Aid and Witness Devastation From Israeli Assault

In the wake of the ceasefire brokered by Egypt, a 20-person delegation of American journalists and peace advocates is traveling to the decimated territory to witness the hardships now facing the 1.7 million residents, deliver emergency aid and call attention to the need for a longer-term strategy to achieve peace and justice for Palestinians.

The delegates include CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin; former State Department official and retired Col. Ann Wright, and Voices for Creative Nonviolence co-coordinator Kathy Kelly.

“The U.S. government allowed Israel carte blanche for eight days while it pounded more than 1,000 sites in Gaza, disproportionately killing civilians,” noted Wright. “Americans of conscience must witness and report back on the heavy price exacted by our support of Israel, so that taxpayers back home will call for a more humane, productive use of their hard-earned dollars.”

A total of 162 Palestinians were killed during the attack. An estimated 73 percent were civilians, including more than 25 children. Five Israelis were killed. “We mourn the loss of lives on both sides,” said CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin, “but we think it’s important to recognize the that the Palestinians have suffered much greater losses, and that the Israeli armaments used in the attack were financed largely by the United States, which sends Israel $3 billion in military funds every year.”

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Continue here to read the complete Press Release.

TAKE ACTION!

• Follow along: Delegation members will post reports on twitter, facebook and on www.codepink.org.
• Support GAZA! There are a number of actions you can take to support Gaza listed here.

Global Exchange and CODEPINK co-founder, Medea Benjamin is embarking on a delegation to Pakistan to protest drone strikes that have killed innocent Pakistanis over the past eight years. If you would like to send a message to the US Ambassador to Pakistan, sign here. Medea also released a book earlier this year called 

“You’re not really going to Pakistan, are you?” “You’ve seen the State Department travel warning?” “Don’t they hate us over there?”

These are questions our friends and relatives are asking as we embark on a delegation to Pakistan to protest the drone attacks that have killed so many innocent Pakistanis over the past 8 years.

But the Pakistanis have been asking us very different questions. “Why do the American people support these barbaric and cowardly drone attacks?” “How would you like it if foreigners flew death machines into your airspace, murdering innocent men, women and children?” “Don’t you know that these attacks are counterproductive, driving locals into the hands of extremist groups out of a desire for revenge?”

When it comes to drones, Americans and Pakistanis see the world through different lenses. Americans are looking through the eyes of remote-control pilots safely ensconced in bases in the United States, while Pakistanis are at the receiving end of the bull’s eye. Polls show to the two peoples as polar opposites: 83% of Americans support the use of drones against “terrorist suspects overseas”; in Pakistan, among those who say they know something about drones, virtually all—97%—oppose them.

Many Pakistanis who raged against the “Innocence of Muslims” film were venting long-held resentments towards the United States stemming from drone attacks (along with other policies such as the US mishandling of the war in Afghanistan, the disastrous US invasion of Iraq, and the US pro-Israel bias in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict).

A newly released study Living Under Drones, written by human rights researchers from Stanford and New York Universities, details hundreds of Pakistani civilian casualties and the devastating effects of drone strikes on the local population. “In the United States, the dominant narrative about the use of drones in Pakistan is of a surgically precise and effective tool that makes the US safer by enabling ‘targeted killings’ of terrorists, with minimal downsides or collateral impacts. This narrative is false,” the study asserts.

Instead, the study concludes that the CIA drone program in Pakistan has not made America any safer and instead has turned the Pakistani public against the United States. Indeed, 80% of Pakistanis have a negative opinion of the United States and three-in-four Pakistanis consider the United States their enemy.

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s famous cricket player turned politician—and the country’s most popular figure, has been championing the cause of drone victims, describing the U.S. use of lethal drones as “immoral and insane” and “a clear violation of international laws and fundamental human rights.”

On October 7, Khan will be leading a peace march to Waziristan, a poor, dangerous, isolated tribal area of Pakistan where drones have killed so many people. “The people of Waziristan stand isolated, infrastructure has been destroyed, people have been displaced, their children haven’t gone to schools in years and economic activities stand paralyzed,” Khan explained.

He expects some 50,000 Pakistanis to join the march to this area where entry by non-residents is normally prohibited. “We believe that continued reliance on military strategy will push the people of the region towards the terrorists. We want to give them hope and show the world that the way to win this war is to isolate the terrorists and win hearts and minds of the people,” said Khan.

Human rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar, who is fighting for compensation for the families of drone victims, said “People in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas think that no one cares about their sufferings. This visit and march will be a chance to show them that we care.”

Among those marching will be the U.S. delegation organized by the peace group CODEPINK. The delegates, ranging in age from 23 to 85, are paying their own way and putting themselves at risk out of conviction that Americans must do more to stop the killing. Many of the delegates have already been actively involved in educating, protesting and mobilizing Americans against drone attacks. They have been vigiling—and getting arrested—outside air force bases, at the headquarters of drone manufacturers, at drone lobbyist events, in Congress and outside the White House.

In addition to the October 7 march, delegates will be having one-on-one meetings in Islamabad with people who have been injured by drones and people who have lost loved ones in drone attacks, as well as government officials, women’s group, human rights organizations and think tanks. The group has also raised funds to help victims with their medical needs, since the U.S. government pays no compensation to people it has mistakenly harmed. One of the people they will be helping is Sadaullah, a 16-year-old who lost an eye and two legs in a drone attack.

The group is already receiving an outpouring of support from Pakistanis via twitter, Facebook, email and radio shows. “I didn’t know that there were Americans willing to speak out against your government’s policies. Your gesture has helped change my opinion of Americans,” said one Facebook comment.

“We want to show Pakistanis that there are Americans calling for an end to the CIA’s killer drone strikes, and insisting that our government apologize and compensate the families of innocent victims,” said former diplomat and retired Army Colonel Ann Wright. “We travel as ‘citizen diplomats, apologizing, providing support, and calling for peaceful solutions that we would like our government to adapt.”

Hurricane Isaac has certainly been a wildcard for everyone gathered on Florida’s west coast for events related to the Republican National Convention. Officials cancelled the Monday’s opening hoopla and pushed the start of the convention back a day.

Speakers from the Coalition to March on the RNC lead the first of many marches in Tampa toward the Times Bay Forum on Monday, August 27, 2012.

This is ironic, because for all of the green zones, police presence, and over-the-top militaristic protest ‘control’ measures put in place to ‘zone’ free speech, the one Tampa visitor that officials couldn’t control – nature’s course – was the force that had the final say in impacting the RNC most significantly. Many people didn’t miss the irony here: Hurricane Isaac had the impact of forcing the 1% and those that do their bidding to adopt a more humble/realistic position of adjusting their own behavior due to the circumstances beyond purely themselves and their own interests… isn’t that almost exactly what all of us gathered to protest here in Tampa have been demanding?

Elect Democracy’s Hillary Lehr in Tampa

Once Issac passed to the west of Florida’s coast and barreled toward the northern Gulf Coast, the RNC and smaller-but-still-passionate protests got underway. So did the lavish corporate and lobbyist-sponsored parties designed to win cozy spots in the hearts of political hopefuls. Well, as you can probably guess I wasn’t invited to those parties, so I can’t tell you what happened there. I think you get the picture.While in Tampa, Elect Democracy brought our message: “Stop Wall Street from Burning Our Democracy” straight into the streets. Dozens of event happened throughout the area designed to call attention to the real threats to democracy in the US. Here is Global Exchange’s slideshow from Tampa demonstrations such as the March on the RNC, March for Survival, March to Stop Voter Suppression, and Rally for Women’s Rights.

Elect Democracy teamed up with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign to offer workshops about Wall Street’s $4.2 billion investment in political influence and to discuss how this directly impacts our lives. When participants were first meeting one another, I asked people if they or anyone close to them was impacted by home foreclosure. Everyone raised their hand. I asked people if they or anyone close to them was struggling with student debt or unable to afford to continue their education. Everyone raised their hand. I asked people if they or anyone close to them was laid off or had trouble finding work in the past three years. Everyone raised their hand. A common response to protestors is (and has been for years), “Get a Job!” But the truth is, there aren’t enough jobs to go around, and Wall Street has played a direct role in shaping that economic reality. It seems like for more and more of us, one of our many ‘jobs’ is getting to work on put out the fire that the 1% has set to our democracy.

Elect Democracy workshop participants and members of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign in Romneyville, Tampa, FL.

Next stop: North Carolina. Let’s see what we find on the podiums and in the streets in Charlotte.

Last week, we were honored to host a panel with speakers from Code Pink, Oil Change International, and Public Citizen at the legendary Busboys and Poets in Washington DC.

Panelists from left to right: Rae Abileah from CODEPINK, Karen Showalter from Oil Change International, and Aquene Freechild from Public Citizen.

The speakers joined Global Exchange to compare notes on how undue corporate influence impacts the ability of these groups to carry out their positive missions, and share inspiration about how people are standing up to protect and reclaim democracy.

Global Exchange convened a dedicated group of activists and members to strategize about challenging corporate money in politics beyond the issue silo in which our organizations often carry out much of our work.

By speaking openly and sharing stories, we can collectively gain a more full understanding of two things: a) what’s at stake with the increasingly corporate-dominated political atmosphere and b) what’s working to take the power back.

One new tool we’re excited to share with you is our just-released legislative scorecard.

Since the Elect Democracy campaign is focused on getting the F.I.R.E. money out of our democracy, we conducted extensive research to show how members of the Senate Banking, Senate Finance, and House Finance committees voted on key issues such as the bailout, Wall Street reform, healthcare, credit card regulation, and free trade.

We compiled not only an easy-to-reference voting record, but also included data that traces how much F.I.R.E money each Congressperson received in campaign contributions, and a percentage rate to the F.I.R.E sector lobby on each bill. It is stunning to see just how much money Wall Street is pumping into our political system. How much money are committee  legislators from your district taking from the F.I.R.E. sector? Find out.

During the panel, each of our speakers shared some of the raw numbers of corporate campaign donations and lobbying coming  from the F.I.R.E. sector, war profiteers, AIPAC, oil companies, fossil fuel industries, and other sectors to foster an environment in which regulation and even plain legal accountability are difficult to achieve.

The speakers also discussed how the revolving door of industry insiders rotating into political office and back out into industry have become the new norm. A panel attendee from Occupy Monsanto gave another example of revolving door politics in the January 2012 appointment of former Monsanto vice president Michael Taylor to be Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

Though the stakes are high and the corporate pockets deep, there are still many forms of resistance bubbling up all over the country.

Dozens of groups will be mobilizing at the upcoming conventions and other events to challenge corporate ‘sponsorship’ of Congress. Through organizing protests, boycotts, days of action, and non-violent direct action, organizers are taking strong, collective action to confront and stop everything from foreclosure evictions to fossil fuel subsidies.

This increasing rancor has significant political ramifications during and beyond election season.  Several states (including California) along with dozens of towns, cities, and counties are standing up in favor of a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling and perhaps extend an amendment to further curb corporate abuse of our political system. That would be a good start!

Another lesson from the panel: it is increasingly important for our organizations to amplify our message and get our (shocking) facts and tools about money in politics as far out into the public sphere as we can. As the tentacles of greed squeeze tighter, the numbers of people ready to take action and stand up for real democracy increase proportionally. It’s going to be an exciting rest of the year.

Since we were in Washington DC, we decided to meet up with our friends from CODEPINK and do a mini ‘Reality Tour’ of Washington DC and follow the money around town. Below is a sampling of our photo album documenting what we found.

Note: Unfortunately, our panelist from 350.org couldn’t make it due to illness. Hope you feel better soon, Jason.

TAKE ACTION: Leave a comment or tweet to @ElectDemocracy about how much democracy is worth to you: be creative! There are no wrong answers except ones that start with a $….

The following is a guest post by Rae Abileah with contributing writers Sharon Shay Sloan and Eva Lyons. An uplifting and timely read, especially for those who’ve been following our various Occupy Wall Street West posts.

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A day of hard rain and wind could not dampen the spirits of activists representing the 99% as they gathered at Justin Herman Plaza (dubbed Bradley Manning Plaza by locals) in San Francisco on Friday, January 20^th, 2012, to mark the dark anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision with a day of action. Organized by a coalition of over 55 Bay Area organizations and dozens of OccupySF affinity groups, protestors disrupted business as usual with demands that banks end predatory evictions and foreclosures and that corporations lose the rights of personhood.  

The day was called Occupy Wall Street West (OWSW), alluding to the power of the SF financial district and state in the global market – California is the 9^th largest economy in the world.  Activists executed plans for traditional nonviolent direct action to block the doors to big banks, effectively shutting down Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters and occupying Bank of America’s main branch.  And then came a surprise tactic: dance.

A flash mob called “One People” converged on the plaza affront the building that houses Bank of America and Goldman Sachs and commenced with a freeze.  A single dancer called out “Mic check!” and the group responded, “Mic check!” and commenced a piercing scream of anguish, which collapsed into a die-in and then transformed into an upbeat dance.  The dance gave a positive message for our collective future with creative prowess, illustrating a cry of pain against oppression and injustice, and, through street theater, invoking a powerful bridge of reconciliation between the 1% and the 99%. This is a bridge that can only span the chasm of class divide through significant financial reform and the recognition of shared humanity.  The dance finished with a chorus singing “Now is the Time,” words from Dr. Martin Luther King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, apropos to the actual time, since Dr. King’s birthday was observed a few days earlier.

“The flash mob gives the opportunity for people across generations and walks of life to voice their rage and dreams for the future through public art,” said Magalie Bonneau-Marcil, who produced the flash mob and founded Dancing Without Borders.  Former world-class athlete Bonneau-Marcil is using the organizing skills she learned from collaborative training for the Olympics to work for social justice.  She started Dancing without Borders in August, 2011, to reclaim the healing and unifying power of free-form dance and flash mob as a ritual, community-building and empowerment vehicle for real change.

The One People flash mob appealed to many who felt an urge to support the message behind Occupy but were not inspired by picketing and marching.  It brought together dozens of dancers between 8 and 80 years old, of all socio-economic backgrounds. For many, this was their first direct action and their first time dancing in the streets.  It also brought together three women-led organizations: Dancing Without Borders, CODEPINK, and the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).  Leaders of these groups believe that the power of the feminine is essential in cultivating this new movement, and sought to emphasize the role of women’s creative leadership through their collaboration on this project.  CODEPINK has started a network of women across Occupies to weave this connection even further (see www.womenoccupy.org).

“Dance illustrates that it will take creativity and collective action to uplift American society and redirect our precious financial resources away from corporate greed and war profiteering and into green jobs creation, education, health care and renewable energy,” said Rae Abileah, co-director of CODEPINK Women for Peace.   “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  And we’re not waiting anymore!”

Flash mobs leverage the power of social media, art and collective participation, drawing attention to the essential messages of Occupy. A film showing footage of a recent performance of the One People flash mob had 150,000+ views on YouTube within a mere few weeks. Queer activists with SF Pride at Work created the “Occupy Telephone” flash mob in the lead-up to OWSW, to protest Wells Fargo’s role in the economic and housing crisis, and their video has also been seen by thousands on YouTube. From the massive “I Will Survive Capitalism” parody flash mob during the Occupy Oakland General Strike to the “Democracy is Dead” shopping mall die-in flash mob from Occupy Sydney, Australia, footage of flash mob actions is creating a visual declaration of accessible, celebratory, and action-oriented art.

“The Occupy Movement is not a war against evil,” said Bonneau-Marcil. “And if that’s how we frame it, it will never produce the results that we seek. This is a movement that’s about accelerating the shift of consciousness away from separation and scarcity.” The OWSW Day of Action raised awareness by engaging hundreds of people in action; generating major mainstream media coverage of the myriad of colorful protests, arrests, and creative disruptions; and putting big banks and investment firms on red alert.  Many reporters and politicians have asked what the demands of the Occupy Movement are; this flash mob responded to those questions by embodying solutionary thinking and revealing a new narrative of reconciliation.

Dancing is not the answer, but it is an important tool to reveal and amplify the vitality, dignity and resilience of this growing global movement.  As Bonneau-Marcil proclaimed, “You can’t evict an idea that has been embodied.”

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This article was written by Rae Abileah, codirector of CODEPINK, rae@codepink.org, with contributions by Sharon Shay Sloan, Eva Lyons, and Magalie Bonneau-Marcil.  The One People flash mob was organized by Magalie Bonneau-Marcil, founder of Dancing without Borders, who lives in El Cerrito, CA and can be reached at m@dancingwithoutborders.org.

Rainy, wet and fabulous.

1/23/2012 Update: Watch the new video “Embody the Movement” of J20 & the One People Flashmob just added towards the end of this post.

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On January 20, Occupy Wall Street West made ‘business as usual’ uncomfortable in the financial core of  San Francisco. Despite copious rain, protests began at 6am, continued at Wells Fargo and Bank of America branches, moved to the courts, back to Bechtel and the banks, labor and immigrant rights marches targeting I.C.E offices and culminating with a huge and spirited march up Market St as night fell. Occupy SF later held a General Assembly on the top of the vacant Cathedral Hill Hotel and dropped the ‘People’s Food Bank of America banner off the side of the building.  Read a report back from the morning’s actions here.

Disrupting business at three banks or more was no small feat.  Kudos to those that peacefully blocked the doors by locking arms inside PVC pipes and sat there for over 8 hours, preventing the banks from opening. Rainforest Action Network was hard at work looking for the corporation/person Mr. Bank O. America, highlighting the result of the FEC vs Citizens United Supreme Court ruling which prohibits governments from placing limits on corporations or unions on independent political spending. Throughout the day people carried signs and chanted, “Corporations are not  people”, “Money is not speech” and “People before profit”.

Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Global Exchange, Fellowship of Reconciliation, New Priorities Campaign and others were present outside the Bechtel headquarters all day, protesting Bechtel’s practice of greed and destruction. A record of the day, as well as links to Bechtel facts is at the @bechtelaction twitter feed. Bechtel spends millions on campaign contributions and lobbyists who secure war contracts, undermining democratic process, while directing billions of public dollars to build nuclear weapons and make its CEO a billionaire. Bechtel received more than $2 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds to fund infrastructure rebuilding projects in Iraq. Its Pentagon contracts increased $700 million in 2009 after heavy lobbying on the military spending bill, and rose to $2.49 billion in 2011. Kirsten Moller describes the morning’s events here.

At 3pm about 75 people gathered to hear testimony about Bechtel, the impacts of war and occupation in the US and abroad. Global Exchange’s Dalit Baum spoke about corporate profiteering from war and ‘conflict management. Watch it here. At the end, IVAW members staged Operation First Casualty – recreating the situation and conditions present in Iraq which allow US military to arbitrarily detain civilians, by abducting members of the teach in. IVAW members had staged this action at different locations throughout the day and created a loud, aggressive and frankly, scary environment that brought home the sense of terror that people in Iraq and other occupied countries experience every day. The action is captured here. It contains strong language.

The action drew attention to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that obliterates constitutionally protected due process rights, permitting the the arrest and indefinite detention of US citizens anywhere in the world, including the US. More information about the NDAA can be read here.

The People’s Food Bank of America served up food to everyone at Justin Herman/Bradley Manning Plaza and Dancing Without Borders and CodePINK staged the ‘One People’ Flashmob before we marched up Market street behind the ‘Seize the Banks’ banner. Many folks sought shelter before arriving to the Cathedral Hill Hotel to post photos (a great stream of photos from the day are here), videos and blogs, warm wet feet and reflect on the Day of Action – believing that whatever happens next – we are unstoppable.

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Added 1/23/12: Check out this new video “Embody the Movement“ of J20 & the One People Flashmob:

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This morning when, Wanda, long time Global Exchange board member, called after President Obama announced a date for the return of all US troops from Iraq my reaction was the same as almost everyone else in our office. “Is this for real? What is he not telling us?” But you can listen to it over and over again:

“After nearly nine years, the long war in Iraq will come to an end……and all the troops will home for the holidays this year.”

Why aren’t we aren’t dancing in the streets the same way we did when he was elected with the promise to end the war in his first term?

Obama announced that he and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed that the troop withdrawal marks a beginning for a “new and enduring partnership”  based on a “normal relationship between sovereign nations, an equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect.”  He said that “We’ll build new ties of trade and of commerce, culture and education, that unleash the potential of the Iraqi people. “

In fact, the two of them have been meeting to hash out the Strategic Framework for the Status of Forces since 2008 and are actually complying with a treaty that Maliki and Presisdent Bush made three years ago, which the Prime Minister is refusing to modify in order to accommodate the US’s desire to maintain a military presence beyond this year. The Status of Forces agreement eliminates immunity for military actions, making it impossible to keep US forces there since they would actually be held accountable in Iraqi courts for civilian deaths and destruction.

So yes, this Friday’s announcement is good news, and somewhere enduring peace activists should be dancing in the streets. In Iraq, I’m sure people are feeling proud of the fact that they have stood up to the most powerful nation in the world and insisted on their own sovereignty and their right to an equal partnership. Obama would not have been forced to make this announcement today, which will definitely mean less death and destruction, had it not been for the strength of the peace movement at the end of the Bush era and without the steadfast Iraqi resistance to US occupation.

The price has been high  — over 4400 US deaths, and an untold number of Iraqi deaths (over 112 000, according to Iraq Body Count), destruction of infrastructure for water, health and electricity and irreplaceable cultural and historical treasures. There are millions of refugees who have fled to all parts of the world who now have to contemplate uprooting their lives again and joining the massive rebuild effort, or remain exiles.

Questions still remain because of the murky status of “contractors” paid for by US tax payers. Thousand of these contractors will remain in Iraq to train Iraqi police. The US will continue to operate the world’s largest embassy in Baghdad. It’s not clear if these 4000-5000 trainers will have immunity from the Status Agreement.

And now 40,000 US soldiers are coming home to a country where no jobs await them. Global Exchange’s co-founder, Medea Benjamin, who has traveled to Iraq 5 times since 2003, has organized with a campaign with CodePink to “Bring the War Dollars Home” in order to draw attention to how the economic crisis in the US is inextricably tied to excessive military spending. She says,

“January 1st will be a historic moment to disentangle us from the quagmire in Iraq, but we are still left with the one in Afghanistan that is now scheduled to drag on for years to come in a statement regarding the troop withdrawal, “We call on President Obama to recognize how the unwinnable Afghan war is contributing to the economic crisis and to put a quick end the US involvement in that tragedy as well.”

I wish our response to the announcement were more unqualified – that instead of questioning the meaning of “bringing the troops home”, we knew it would happen and that we would begin the process of making it right.  Iraqis deserve reparations — we should support the Iraqi economy from afar, bring our troops home from every other foreign nation as well, and use the “savings” ($3 billion a week) to begin converting our own economy to nonviolent, clean industries which create jobs for our people and stability for the region.

UPDATE ADDED 10/24/2011:

To read more on the topic, check out this article co-written by Global Exchange Co-founder Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis: “Only ‘Success’ in Iraq Is That US Troops are Leaving.”

UPDATE (Oct 13 6:30pm pst): It is now being widely reported that the New York Police Department, under orders from Mayor Bloomberg, will attempt to evict Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park tomorrow for a ‘cleaning’ at 7am est. TAKE ACTION!

1. Sign the MoveOn. org petition here.

2. Call Mayor Bloomberg 1-212-772-1081 ext 12006 and demand that the eviction be stopped. Avaaz.org asks that you post a message about what happened here.

3. If you are in the New York City area, find out about the direct action being planned for tomorrow at 6am est here.

Say what?

At noon on Thurs Oct 13, the occupytogether.org website listed 1599 cities with Occupy Wall Street protests from Iceland to New Zealand. This online hub of the movement represents a huge number of the events in solidarity with OWS concentrated in North America, and growing internationally. Other online sources include united for #globalchange and the powerful video rallying us to take action.

This leaderless, politically neutral movement is big, and growing and if you are part of the 99%, it includes you.

This Saturday October 15 join a local occupation – big or small, together we are powerful together as we raise our voices to say Enough is Enough! Enough of the bank bailouts by the taxpayers! Enough of the cuts to social welfare programs, schools and hospitals to sustain the cost of wars! Enough of non-action in Congress to address the climate crisis! Enough of the unlimited election campaign contributions by corporations thanks to Citizens United, enough of the attack on worker rights!

Endorsements and messages of support to the movement surface daily – from major labor unions, celebrities, social justice organizations, activists such as Naomi Klein, and international leaders including Lech Walesa.

Even progressive companies have expressed support. The board of directors at Ben and Jerry’s stated “… we realize that Occupy Wall Street is calling for systemic change. We support this call to action and are honored to join you in this call to take back our nation and democracy.”

Alternative media outlets such as Democracy Now! are producing amazing comprehensive reports of what is happening in this country. Initially ignored by the corporate media, the sheer number of people engaged for change has become the most important domestic story.

Through daily general assemblies, workshops and internet organizing our demands are coalescing. The folks in Freedom Plaza in Washington DC will spend the next week defining a vision on 15 key issues impacting our ‘system’ and encourage everyone to join. Go outside or go online, talk to your friends, family, neighbors and even strangers, we are the 99%.

Start here – check out this photo blog and join the 99%. Then sign the World vs Wall St petition and stand will a million others.

As GX and CodePINK co-founder Medea Benjamin stated on Democracy Now!:

“We are here to stay. We are here just like we were here yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before that. It really doesn’t matter to us that our permit has run out. We feel like this is a public square, we are the public, and we are occupying this square, so we will stay here” (the Freedom Plaza permit has now been extended for 4 months).

And although New York Mayor Bloomberg stated, “The bottom line is, people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to” plans are under way to remove the encampment at Zuccotti Park, sign this petition now!

Perhaps Reverend Billy says it best:

The change that is in the air, that we all feel. No-one really knows why we are blessed with the common feeling. This same slaughter of the innocents has gone on for so long. This same mystical financing of poisoned farms, of dead oceans, of cancerous children and national false emotions – all this comes at us now as a bad surprise. We have a fresh rage. We have a shout that is honest, thousands of us. We are occupying our civic institutions stolen so long ago by men in suits, and surrounded by confused police. All at once, we want a better life and don’t want to wait. Then this discovery: It is a better life to demand a better life! Revolujah!

At Global Exchange we’ve taken action locally and joined 2 of the Occupy SF marches and look forward to Saturday. Join us here!

In Oakland: MoveOn and its allies stand together, WORKERS and COMMUNITY UNITED for JOBS not CUTS, PROSPERITY not AUSTERITY! Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid! End the Wars! Invest in Our Communities!
1:00 PM Assemble at Laney College (1 block from Lake Merritt BART)
1:00 PM Pre-March Program
2:30 PM March Downtown
3:30 PM Rally in Frank Ogawa Plaza (12th Street Oakland BART stop)
http://www.jobs-not-cuts.org

In San Francisco:
1:00 PM Meet at Embarcadero BART

Enough is Enough!