Deborah James and Medea Benjamin pushing Starbucks to go Fair Trade, 1999.

We’re going to raise $25,000 by midnight on Dec. 31st.

Over the past 25 years, you have helped Global Exchange:

• transform the unfair practices of corporate giants like Nike, GAP, and Starbucks;
• build a thriving Fair Trade movement;
• monitor elections in Colombia, Mexico, and the U.S. and;
• build the Green Festival – the nation’s largest sustainability event.

Your support made all this, and much more, possible. Renew your commitment to social justice by making a donation today.

As we set our sights on the next 25 years, with your support we will reform U.S. gun laws, force Hershey’s to go Fair Trade, and continue to oppose unjust policies in the U.S. and abroad.

Your continued support will help us build an unstoppable movement for change.

Please donate today and make great things possible:

• One Hundred $25 gifts will cover the cost of a trip to Ethiopia to meet with Fair Trade cooperatives and develop increase relationships with local artisans.

• Fifty $100 gifts will tour a speaker from the frontlines of the drug war in Mexico, educating and inspiring thousands across the U.S. to change the broken policies that are fueling this tragic war.

• Five $250 gifts will sponsor a year-long youth fellowship to inspire and train the leaders of tomorrow.

• Twenty-five $1,000 gifts will support all creative actions we have planned in 2013 to expose the havoc that lobbyists are wreaking on our democracy.

Want to see what we have accomplished in 2012? Watch this video (or re-visit our winter, spring, summer and fall roundups) to find out:

If we can accomplish all that in one year, think of what we have in store for the next 25 years!

Give today and ring in another year full of social justice victories.

Here’s a very special video with highlights from our year, and we do mean “our” because we cannot do the work we do without YOU!

Please consider this your official invitation to JOIN US in this unstoppable movement for change. Together we are strong.

Global Exchange Gift Membership Package

We all have our own ideas on what the Holidays are all about. Family. Laughter. Good will.

Corporate greed and commercialization? They certainly don’t make the list.

It’s time to take back the Holidays.

The true meaning of the season cannot be packaged in a box. Instead of taking part in the corporate craziness, why not get the loved ones on your list something that brings them the true meaning of the holiday season?

A Global Exchange Gift of Membership is the perfect gift! You can give the gift of Fair Trade, peace, justice, people power, and human rights. You pick the gift and we’ll take care of the rest.

6 Gift Memberships to choose from:

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When your family and friends unwrap their Global Exchange Gift Membership, they will join a compassionate community of dedicated activists working for peace, justice and human rights.

We’ll send out the membership card and gift package, plus keep your recipient in the loop about Global Exchange programs and events with our newsletter and e-mail action alerts.

Order your gifts by December 14th at midnight to guarantee delivery by December 24th 2012.

Wishing you joy, justice, and peace this Holiday Season!

Now to set the mood, here’s a little poem written by Global Exchange Generation for Justice member Andy Klase:

Click on the poem to see larger version on Facebook

P.S. If you live in the Bay Area or DC, please be sure to join us for our Fair Trade Store holiday event on December 6 from 5pm – 8pm. Shop for all your Fair Trade gifts, meet our staff, and if you’re a member double your discount (20% for one night only.)

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.

Knowing about how the global economy works is key. In 1999 Global Exchange worked with hundreds of national and international groups and organizing spaces to mobilize tens of thousands of nonviolent protesters to converge and challenge the WTO in Seattle. This now-legendary meeting and protest has become known as “The Battle in Seattle” and inspired generations of activists to fight for a better global and local economy, better planet, and better conditions for workers and the global citizenry.

The first “Most Wanted” list appeared shortly after the Battle in Seattle and was intended to check the power of corporations—and provide a tool for citizens around the world to do it. The list included such odious offenders as Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin and Nestlé to illustrate that corporations are responsible for assassination and torture, kidnapping, environmental degradation, huge campaign donations, violently repressing political rights, releasing toxins into pristine environments, destroying homes, discrimination, and causing widespread health problems.

The 2012 “Most Wanted” list is updated to include some of the world’s worst (and current) corporate abusers including Bank of America, Chevron, Monsanto, Pacific Rim and TransCanada. Now we need you to take action!

This list of “MOST WANTED” corporate criminals:

• Gives you information about the abusive behavior of this year’s worst corporations;
• Tells you who is responsible;
• Provides resources aboutd how to connect with and support people who are doing something about it.

TAKE ACTION!

We encourage you to learn about Global Exchange’s Elect Democracy campaign,  Community Rights and Mexico programs and consider joining a Reality Tour to a country impacted by atrocious corporate practices. Everything we do is aimed at building people power, not corporate power.

The more you know, the less these corporations can continue their abuses out of public eyesight: so share this information with your friends, get on the phone with the CEOs themselves, and exercise your rights as a global citizen and consumer today.

See which corporations made the list.

Tell Me What Democracy Looks Like

In the past six months, the ideas of Occupy and the 99% have revolutionized the social dialogue of the U.S. in a way that has enthralled, enraged, and emboldened. Massive marches, rallies, and protests have acted as giant mirrors in which we catch a glimpse at just how many of us are completely fed up with the corrupt exploitative politics of ‘business as usual.’

Occupy and the 99% has offered a refreshed language and analysis for how we understand power politics. We have focused on creating shared space both on and offline in which we can trace and resist a vast constellation of impacts suffered by the 99% due to corporate greed. While this movement continues to evolve strategy, tactics, consensus practices, and creative outreach, its’ impact is already clear.

Though it many not be possible to all agree on everything all the time, most of us agree that the interests of the 99% are not being effectively represented in Congress, the White House, or in the Supreme Court. This crippling problem is not divided along party lines, either. It is a deeper fissure between a) the entrenched corporate interests who have manipulated the political system for their profit, and b) the rest of us.

When we follow the money on the Congressional campaign trail, it’s easy to see a glaring example of how corporate money is drowning out the needs and interests of the 99%. The largest campaign contributions to Congressional candidates of both parties consistently come from the finance, insurance, and real estate industry (the F.I.R.E. sector, including big banks). Once in office, these bought-and-sold legislators support and approve corporate-drafted policies that whittle away at our country’s safety nets and vital programs and instead fund bailouts that end up in big boss bonuses. What public services do you think of when you justify paying your taxes each year? Which of those services has been slashed lately?

Photo: memegenerator.net

So, is voting for the lesser of two evils really going to fix this problem? I think not. As stated by Occupy activist Max Berger in today’s Huffington Post, “We won’t just win by getting new players — we need to change the game. The system is fundamentally incapable of healing itself.”

Occupy struck a chord perhaps specifically because it identified a more fundamental problem than what can be voted in or out in 4 years, and we should continue this much-needed critique. Many have made the case for Occupy becoming a “left wing tea party” but Occupy doesn’t need to be a left wing Tea Party in order to impact the election. The sheer magnitude of a cultural mic check from the far-ish left has turned heads of both voters and politicians.

Historically, large social movements inevitably enable reform simply by being what they are: a mass movement responding to the injustices of the status quo. But the 99% can’t and won’t stop there.

We need to immediately Occupy Our Elections in order to approach having the real ability to Elect Democracy. We should engage with and impact elections by providing systemic analysis and exposing the impact of corporate campaign contributions, big budget corporate lobbying, and general ALEC-type corruption and collusion. Meanwhile, we can also simultaneously be creating new methods of meeting the needs of the 99% that can help make this broken system obsolete (so plant a garden, start a community health clinic, or meet your neighbors, to start). But let’s check in with the reality that building a new system is um, going to take a while, so in the meantime, register your discontent and go vote about it.

If there was ever a time to flex our power, it’s now. For all the fire and fury, for all the marches and mic checks, we have not yet “won.” Corporations still write policy, bank executives still get bonuses, and the rest of us are still fighting to keep our homes, pay off debt, find a job, get citizenship, make our own choices, and keep our families safe and healthy. Many of us are struggling to stay afloat.

Some of us in the 99% have taken outrage and protest directly to banks and big business and we’ve have had some wins. Corporate campaigning is indeed effective, and we should keep doing what works. Meanwhile, we also must address our deflated government and stop it from enabling ever-worse forms of corporate exploitation to take hold- not only here in the U.S., but abroad.

While we have every right to be disillusioned and skeptical, we have to take responsibility for the fact that the U.S. is driving war and destruction around the world through military romps, oil addiction, and deranged obsession with free trade at all costs. It’s time to show the 1% what democracy really looks like.

How do we create a system where it actually matters who you vote for? 

There is a reason that around the world, people have fought and even died for the right to vote. If voting didn’t matter, there wouldn’t be ongoing U.S. voter suppression issues that continue to this very day. We should trust our great grandmothers that fought so hard for this right, and honor those around the world who are still fighting.

So, let’s go for it. Occupy Our Elections. Let’s mic check media-laden debates with some real talk when talking heads are speaking for corporate funders and not for the 99%. Let’s tell politicians to spend their time in office making good policies, not fundraising for their campaigns! It’s time to go all out to fumigate corruption, pull away the smoke screens of the F.I.R.E. sector, demand accountability, utilize  transparency, and seed new, practical, short and long-term solutions.

We’ll help. Global Exchange is working on creating a toolkit where anyone anywhere can easily look up the Congressional politicians and candidates in their district and also trace their voting records on key issues. We’re researching to create a report on the Foul Five (five candidates who are the poster children for the corruption of corporate campaign contributions) and also profiling the Fair Five who are working on accountability to their constituents by not accepting finance sector contributions. We’ll be bringing the heat to bank-backed candidates on the campaign trail, and we would love for you to join us.

What else do you think we can do to Elect Democracy this year?

Global Exchange board member Ann Wright

The following guest post by Global Exchange board member Ann Wright originally appeared on MichaelMoore.com.

Bradley Manning was recently chosen as  Global Exchange’s Human Rights Awards People’s Choice Winner. The award will be presented at the 2012 Human Rights Awards gala on May 10th in San Francisco and will be accepted on Bradley Manning’s behalf by special guest Daniel Ellsberg.

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The Government’s Warning to Bradley Manning and Others: “Tell on us, and we will put you behind bars for the rest of your life”

The pre-trial hearings for alleged Wikileaks whistleblower US Army PFC Bradley Manning hold some lessons for us all.

One of the issues discussed in Manning’s April 25 pre-trial hearing has relevance for all of us. If soldiers or other government employees expose on the internet or in interviews with journalists government malfeasance, should that person be charged with “aiding and abetting the enemy?” Even if a soldier has no intent to give information to an “enemy,” no “evil intent,” but the enemy could possibly have access to the interview by buying a newspaper that contains the interview, or accesses it on the internet, should the government employee be prosecuted for “aiding and abetting the enemy?”

What if the government is more fearful of its citizens than of al Qaeda and the Taliban and attempts to silence the whistleblowers in the government who alert the citizens of the wrongdoings of its government?

What if the government does not want to hold accountable those in government who are violating regulations and laws?

The prosecution in the Bradley Manning trial is arguing that soldiers should know that the “enemy” uses the internet and can easily find derogatory or negative comments from military personnel and use them to find weaknesses in military units, strategies, policies.

Does that mean that a soldier, government employee, or for that matter, anyone not even in government who talks about the monstrously high levels of post-traumatic stress in our military or talks about 18 military and veterans committing suicide a day, or anyone who identifies cost overruns in virtually every government program is subject to the charge of “aiding and abetting the enemy.”

I recently inadvertently and fortuitously ended up at a meeting with a US State Department sponsored group of young professionals from the Middle East who were brought to the United States to learn more about our country. I mentioned that I was attending the hearings for the alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.

The reaction of the group was stunning. Immediately hands for questions went up—the questions began with a comment—“Without Wikileaks, I would never have learned what my own governments was doing, its complicity in secret prisons and torture, in extraordinary rendition, in cooperation in the US wars in the region. Wikileaks exposed what our politicians and elected officials are doing. Without Wikileaks, we would never have known!”

And that is what Bradley Manning’s trial is all about and what the charges against six other government employees who face espionage allegations for providing information the government classified to protect its own wrongdoings -to silence other potential government whistleblowers.

Only two persons in our government have had the courage to risk life imprisonment to leak massive amounts of government documents. Daniel Ellsberg leaked thousands of documents that revealed the sordid history of the US involvement in Vietnam and who President Nixon labeled for his actions “the most dangerous man in America.”

And now, Bradley Manning who is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents that reveal war crimes in the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and questionable US diplomatic policies and duplicity with governments around the world.

The charges of “aiding and abetting the enemy” and of espionage are meant to threaten any others who might find the evidence of government criminal actions and alert the American public.

The unmistakable warning is “don’t tell on us, or we will put you behind bars for the rest of your life.”

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About the Blogger: Global Exchange board member Ann Wright is a retired US Army Colonel who spent 29 years in the US Army and Army Reserves. She resigned from the State Department on March 19, 2003 in protest of the invasion of Iraq. Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. Ann has been on delegations to Iran, was in Gaza three times in 2009, and was an organizer for the Gaza Freedom March. She was on the 2010 Gaza flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli military and on the Audacity of Hope boat which was part of the Freedom Flotilla in 2011. She lives in Honolulu.

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Attend the 2012 Human Rights Awards gala: Global Exchange is proud to honor Bradley Manning as its 2012 Human Rights Awards People’s Choice recipient.

Find out all about this exciting awards event here and purchase tickets here.

Daniel Ellsberg Photo Credit: www.ellsberg.net

Daniel Ellsberg is a lecturer, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions and the urgent need for patriotic whistleblowing with an interesting background of his own. From Daniel Ellsberg’s website:

In 1967 Ellsberg worked on the top secret McNamara study of U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-68, which later came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. In 1969, he photocopied the 7,000 page study and gave it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; in 1971 he gave it to the New York Times, the Washington Post and 17 other newspapers. His trial, on twelve felony counts posing a possible sentence of 115 years, was dismissed in 1973 on grounds of governmental misconduct against him, which led to the convictions of several White House aides and figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.

Hope to see you! So, if you find yourself in the California Bay Area on May 10th, we hope you join us at the historic Green Room (401 Van Ness) in San Francisco from 6PM – 8:30PM for this fabulous Human Rights Awards Gala. Awaiting you will be drinks, passed appetizers, and the opportunity to mingle with awardees, Global Exchange staff, and other progressives.

And there’s a silent auction? Yep, for the cherry on top of this delicious evening, there will also be a silent auction featuring lots of incredible items up for auction at great prices during the awards gala. Last year’s auction included fine artwork, Fair Trade gift baskets, getaways and more. I wonder what tempting auction items there will be this year. Come out on May 10th to find out. I look forward to meeting some of you there.

That's me with a few of my personal heroes Ben & Jerry and Kevin Danaher at the 2011 Human Rights Awards

TAKE ACTION!

• Get Tix: 2012 Human Rights Awards Tickets
• Find out more: More about the 2012 Human Rights Awards
• See pics from last year: Photos from the 2011 Human Rights Awards Gala on Facebook 

There are some awesome items up for bid; one-of-a-kind getaways, fine dining gift certificates, collectable artwork, electronics, and lots more.

And the best part? New items are added throughout the auction so when you’re on the site checking your bid, don’t forget to keep your eyes open for new items. Auction ends 19th!

Here are a few of my favorite items up for bid (to get the complete picture, check out the auction online):

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Live the Story of Stuff

Go on a once in a lifetime adventure with 2012 Human Rights Award Winner Annie Leonard!  Annie Leonard, creator of The Story of Stuff video, will lead a San Francisco Bay Area tour to find out what happens to all that stuff once it’s been thrown away.  You’ll get an up-close look at the leftovers of our consumer economy, with personal instruction from an expert.

iPad 2

Are you always on the go yet still need to stay connected? Then bid on this iPad 2 (16gb with wi-fi). Features include core dual-processor, built-in cameras, and long-lasting battery. Users can take advantage of over 70,000 third party applications as well.(Psst, Mom. I don’t have one yet, and I reaallly want one.)

Green Festival VIP Passes, Tour and Lunch with Co-Founder Kevin Danaher

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the largest sustainability event in the country – Green Festival. Kevin Danaher, Green Festival Co-Founder, will personally take you on a VIP tour of the Green Festival. Introducing you to vendors, speakers and event producers. After the tour, enjoy an organic, local lunch and a private conversation with movement leader, Kevin Danaher.  Includes 2 passes to a 2012 Green Festival of your choice. (2012 Green Festivals held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.)

One Week Stay in a Paris Apartment

This amazing package is valid for a 2-4 person stay in a beautiful, fully equipped apartment for 1 week in Paris! You will be delighted to stay in a charming apartment in Montmartre, Paris (France) – and live like a Parisian while doing it. Ooh, la la!

SO LET’S GO!

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Auction: Ladies and gents, let the bidding begin!

Human Rights Awards: Join us at the 10th annual Human Rights Awards.

Man Grieves the loss of family members, Photo Credit: Outlook Afghanistan

In 2002, inspired by the NYTimes portraits of individuals killed in the World Trade Center disaster, Global Exchange published a report called “Afghan Portraits of Grief,” which profiled the innocent victims of war, to expand the picture of the cost of our response to 9/11. Making the people’s stories come alive was so important to understanding the complexities and the suffering of war.

For the past two weeks as we’ve grappled with the horror of the massacre in the Kandahar province, I’ve been dismayed at the focus of the mainstream press. The press seems to be focusing almost entirely on the mind-set of Sergeant Bales and the effect of the massacre on US/Afghan relations without much mention of the actual victims who were all Afghan citizens, including nine children.

I set out to do a short piece about who the victims were — names, ages and any other details to humanize them so that we can feel and understand the real tragedy of this war…

AND I COULDN’T FIND ANYTHING!

We know that three homes were attacked in the villages of Balandi and Alkozai, which is in the Panjway District of Kandahar, 35 km west of the city of Kandahar. Rolling those names around on my tongue, though I’ve never been there I wondered what it looks like and who the people are who live there.

It’s an area in the southern part of Afghanistan, steep mountain views, but a mild climate where farmers are famous for their delicious grapes and pomegranates – where there is major trade in sheep’s wool, cotton, silk and dried fruit. They grow wheat and mulberries for silk worms, serve dried fruit and tea to their guests.

One Kandahar massacre victim was Abdul Samad*, a 60 year old farmer and village elder with a long white beard and turban. He and his teenage son had been visiting a nearby town when Sergeant Bales, disguised in local clothing – a Shalwar Kameez – climbed the fence at the base wearing night vision goggles, walked about 1 mile, and went house by house looking for an unlocked door.

Mr Samad’s family had recently returned to the area after fleeing during The Surge when his home had been destroyed. He moved into a neighbor’s house near the US army base because he thought it would be safer.

But that night – March 11th, eleven members of Abdul Samad’s family were killed:  His wife, four daughters between the ages of 2 and 6, four sons between the ages of 8 and 11, and two other relatives. Three were shot point blank and then set on fire.

Further down the road in the village of Najiban, Mohammad Dawoud, age 55 was killed. His wife and children escaped.

In Alkozi, at the home of 45 year old laborer Hajii Sayed, who had fled Kandahar three times during the years of fighting, four more people were killed: Alkozi’s wife, nephew, grandson and brother.

In total, sixteen people were killed, including nine children, four men, and three women. Five others were injured.

And for two weeks, I couldn’t even find their names! That is, until just as I got ready to post this, I find the names on Al Jazeera in a wonderful blog piece by Quais Azimy, “No one asked their names.”

Why did it take so long for the press to release the names of the victims? Until we can relate to the people hurt by our military we will continue to have innocent victims of war.

Mr. Samad who lost nine members of his family said the lesson was clear to him: “The Americans should leave.”

So *here are the names of the victims of the Kandahar massacre – with dignity and respect for lives cut too short:

Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed JumaNazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali

The wounded:
Haji Mohamed Naim son of Haji Sakhawat
Mohamed Sediq son of Mohamed Naim
Parween
Rafiullah
Zardana
Zulheja

*It is interesting that the one name I got from the New York Times. Abdul Samad is not here and instead is listed as Mohamed Wazir.