Weekly SF ANSWER Meet{Jena 6 Protest Panning>Anti-War Update}

A.N.S.W.E.R. Activist Meeting — San Francisco
Iran: Same Lies, New Target

As catastrophic as the Iraq war has been, the U.S. government is now planning a new attack on Iran.The propaganda against Iran today sounds just like the propaganda issued before attacking Iraq.

For over a decade, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II deionized Saddam Hussein and claimed to be saving Iraqis from his "tyranny," while starving them through sanctions. Today, the president of Iran is being deionized. Bush now claims to want to save the people of Iran from Mahmood Ahmadinejad.

Join us for a report and discussion of the heightened threats and economic sanctions against Iran. Also, an update on the case of the Jena 6 and preparations for the Nov. 7 protest to Free the Jena 6. Volunteer now!

Call 415-821-6545 for more info or to get involved.


Drop All the Charges! Free the Jena 6! — San Francisco
The Jena 6 Are Back in Court

Wednesday, November 7, 5 p.m.
Federal Courthouse
7th and Mission

Last week, the racist judge that originally presided over Mychal Bell's conviction sent him back to jail for 18 months for "violating probation" from an earlier conviction. The precise violation was his arrest in the Jena 6 incident. While the racist thugs who started this cycle of events continue to walk free, the Jena 6 are still facing long prison sentences.

On Wednesday, Nov. 7, the growing movement to free the Jena 6 will face an important challenge. On that day, four of the Six—Theodore Shaw, Robert Bailey, Bryan Purvis, and Mychal Bell—are expected in court for pre-trial hearings. The ANSWER Coalition is calling on all progressive and anti-racist forces to come together for rallies in front of local courthouses across the country with the demand to free the Jena 6, and drop all the charges. Demonstrations are already confirmed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and New Haven (CT).

The case of the Jena 6 has garnered international attention, and shone a spotlight on the racist nature of this country's criminal "injustice" system. Without activists taking action across the country, however, it is certain that their case—like so many others—would never have received the attention that it has. Mychal Bell's original conviction never would have been overturned; instead he would have become just another statistic.

On Sept. 20, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jena, Louisiana and in other cities around the country to demand the complete freedom of the Jena 6, and the release of Mychal Bell. A week later, after 10 months in prison, he was granted bail and released. But shortly afterwards, the Louisiana judge that originally convicted Bell struck back, ordering him back into custody.

The spirit and determination of Sept. 20 protest in Jena has to be replicated over and over across the country on November 7th. The movement is locked in a tug-of-war with the racist Louisiana justice system. Now we have to dig in our heels and until all charges against the Six are dropped, we have to keep on pulling! All out for November 7th to Free the Jena 6!

Below is a listing of cities that are organizing rallies on November 7th. To be listed as an endorser of this national call, click here. To let us know about a Nov. 7 action that you are organizing, email us at info [at] answercoalition.org.

Download flyer PDF

Contact 415-821-6545 to get involved or for more information.


A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Film Series: 'Grapes of Wrath' — San Francisco

Thursday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.
ATA
992 Valencia St (at 21st St)

Bay Area Events Reminders http://groups.yahoo.com/group/comcampusgreens/message/2195

"Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beating up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready. And when people are eating the stuff they raise...living in the houses they build.... I'll be there too." —Tom Joad, "Grapes of Wrath"

Driven off their Oklahoma farm during the dust bowl days of the Great Depression, the Joad family loads its belongings into a truck and joins thousands of other dispossessed farmers in the trek to California. The sharecroppers of the time faced mass evictions as wealthy landowners moved to large-scale mechanized farming. The film captures an important period of U.S. history and shows how the workers' political development was advanced by their collective struggle for survival. The extreme exploitation of Depression-era farm workers has comparisons to the struggle of immigrant workers today. Starring Henry Fonda, 1940, 128 minutes, B&W.

Sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. Call 415-821-6545 for more info.


DVD available for purchase: 'Palestine, Sudan and the Myth of a Humanitarian U.S. Foreign Policy'

At exactly the same time that the U.S. government is pretending to be concerned about suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan, it has joined with the European Union (EU) and Israel in seeking to strangle the Palestinian people. While calling for armed intervention to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the U.S. and EU have cut off food, medicine and other critically needed materials to the Palestinian people. Israel has sealed off Gaza, one of the most densely populated and impoverished parts of the world; hospitals have run out of many medicines, malnutrition is spreading rapidly and poverty is soaring. Now, signs have begun to appear at anti-war demonstrations reading, "Out of Iraq In to Darfur."

What are the common aims that link together these seemingly contradictory U.S. policies? What should the position of the anti-war movement be?

Speakers include Jess Ghannam, Free Palestine Alliance and A.N.S.W.E.R.; Isma'il Kamal, co-founder, Sudanese-American Society, and Richard Becker, Western Regional Coordinator, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.

The video will also air this Friday, July 7 at 8:30 p.m. on Access SF— Cable Channel 29 "We, the People Television"

$15 — DVD (28 min) To purchase a copy, call 415-821-6545 or email answer [at] actionsf.org.
Statements of Five Cubans Sentenced in Miami for Defending Cuban and U.S. Citizens From Terrorism — A Must Read!
Full text (English and Espanól)

Free the Cuban Five flyer PDFs
English Espanól

Petition to President George W. Bush

President Bush,
We call on you to release the Five Cubans: Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, Fernando González Llort, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar and René González Sehwerert, unjustly imprisoned in the U.S. for defending the Cuban people against terrorist acts.
Petition PDF (English and Espanól)

Latest Updates and More Background on Case of the Five Cubans
Visit http://www.freethefive.org

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