Military Resistance: thomasfbarton@earthlink.net 5.31.14 Print it out: color best. Pass it on.

Military Resistance 12E15

[Thanks to SSG N (retd) who sent this in. She writes: The rats will leave a sinking
ship.]


Abkhazia Leader Flees Uprising
In Sukhumi:
Protesters Storm Presidential
Administration Building;
Thousands Of Demonstrators
Gathered Outside The Presidents
Office Demanding Reforms And The
Dismissal Of The Government
Allegations Of Government
Mismanagement And Corruption

Raul Khadzhimba addressed protesters in front of the presidential office in Sukhumi on
Tuesday. BBC

[ We recognize our old friend, our old mole, who knows so well how to work
underground, suddenly to appear: the revolution. - Karl Marx]

**********************************************************

May 28, 2014 By Lukas I. Alpert, Wall Street J ournal & BBC [Excerpts]

MOSCOWThe government of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia was
plunged into disarray on Wednesday after protesters stormed the presidential
administration building demanding the resignation of the regions leader in what he
called a coup attempt.

The president of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia is said to have fled
the capital Sukhumi after opposition protesters seized his office.

The turmoil led to calls for calm from Russiaone of the few countries that recognizes
Abkhazia as an independent stateand local officials said the Kremlin had dispatched
representatives to the Black Sea region to negotiate a peaceful solution.

Opinion among the opposition is said to be divided between those who want
Abkhazia to rely less on Russia and those who instead want it to become part of
Russia.

Public frustration with President Alexander Ankvab has been building in recent months
over allegations of government mismanagement and corruption. The uprising was
sudden, though, and hadnt been precipitated by previous protests.

The unrest in Abkhazia began late Tuesday when thousands of demonstrators gathered
outside the presidents office in the regional capital of Sukhumi, demanding reforms and
the dismissal of the government.

The crowd remained peaceful while opposition party members negotiated inside
with Mr. Ankvab, who they accused of corruption and misrule. He said he had
agreed to dismiss cabinet officials before the crowd, unhindered by police,
stormed the building and disrupted the meeting around 11 p.m.

"Harsh demands were voiced that I should resign. Then we came back to the issues that
possibly the whole cabinet should resign and the prosecutor general should be
dismissed," Mr. Ankvab said Wednesday in an interview with Abaza-TV.

The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Mr. Ankvab then left the capital for his
home district, while opposition leader Raul Khadzhimba told the crowd that he was
taking command.

Khadzhimba defended the protests, saying: " Over all the years of his rule the
president did not allow anybody in his circle to do their work.

" He took upon himself everybodys responsibilities on their behalf, whether he
should or should not have been doing this. That led to our country in fact
becoming an authoritarian regime.

The region, along with the disputed territory of South Ossetia, was the focus of a 2008
war between Russia and Georgia and has effectively been a Russian client state since,
falling firmly within what Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev once called Russias "zone of
privileged interests."

Mr. Ankvab denied he had fled from Abkhazia and said he had been in touch
Wednesday with the regional security council, defense minister and parliamentary
leaders to discuss how to resolve the situation. The heads of the regions security forces
said in a joint statement that they took no political stand but "categorically reject
unconstitutional means which destabilize the country."

Opposition forces on Wednesday remained in control of the presidential
administration building.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was concerned about the political
unrest in the region and urged that an orderly solution be reached.

"Russia is closely watching with alarm the events in the friendly republic and thinks that it
is important that the public and political process there progress solely along legal
avenues," the ministry said in a statement.

A new government for the breakaway region wouldnt likely change much in terms of its
political situation with the outside world. Aside from Russia, only Nicaragua, Venezuela
and the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru have acknowledged Abkhazia and another
Georgian breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent.

Moscows focus on the expensive task of incorporating the formerly Ukrainian Crimea
into Russias economy and infrastructure threatens to put Abkhazia at an economic
disadvantagegiven its heavy dependence on Kremlin aidand feed frustration with
the regions government.

South Ossetia also fell into a period of political unrest in 2011 and early 2012 as
elections there dissolved into chaos.

Authorities at the time declared the vote invalid after a pro-Kremlin presidential
candidate was defeated.

After several months of uncertainty, another pro-Russian candidate was declared the
winner in a rerun of the election in which the original two candidates didnt participate.

MORE

[Next Mole Stop Ukraine, Again?]
Relatives In Kiev Say Bring Our Troops
Home; 99.9% Of The Media Ignore It

Holding up banners reading "Bring back my son", relatives of Ukrainian soldiers took to
the streets of Kiev to protest against the deaths of 12 Ukrainian soldiers killed by
seperatists in Donetsk. BBC May 29, 2014

Comment: T
Nothing more about this to be found in any news reports; just one photo in a BBC
news story about separatists fighting Ukrainian soldiers in East Ukraine.

One would think that relatives of Ukrainian soldiers taking to the streets to
demand the Kiev government of oligarchs get the troops out of Eastern Ukraine
would be startling news, wouldnt one?

Obviously it doesnt fit the cardboard media narrative about heroic U.S.
government backed Ukrainian soldiers fighting pro-Russian terrorist separatists
in Donetsk.

" Something is happening here
But you dont know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?"
-- Bob Dylan; " Ballad of a Thin Man"

MORE:

[Or Maybe Catalonia?]
Three Nights Of Violent Street
Demonstrations
Sparked By A Police Operation To
Evict A Squatters Group From A
Community Center It Had Long
Occupied
Residents Soon Ran Out To Support
Them

Protesters on Wednesday demonstrated against the eviction effort. Reuters

May 29, 2014 By Matt Moffett, Wall Street J ournal

BARCELONAGovernment authorities met with neighborhood leaders Thursday
in an effort to end three nights of violent street demonstrations that were sparked
by a police operation to evict a squatters group from a community center it had
long occupied.

The protests, among the worst incidents of public disorder in Barcelona since the
start of Spains economic crisis in 2008, have highlighted allegations of excessive
force by Barcelona police as well as the increasing frustration felt by urban youth
over Spains extended economic slump.

The conflict started Monday when a police contingent backed by a bulldozer
attempted to evict the occupants of the Can Vies community center and knock the
building down.

About a half-dozen members of the center, which had been a fixture of the middle-class
Sants neighborhood since squatters occupied it 17 years ago, holed up in the building
and resisted.

Scores of residents soon ran out to support them, witnesses said.

The protests widened Tuesday and Wednesday night, with hooded demonstrators
throwing rocks, burning trash bins and torching a television van.

Several offices of the governing Convergence and Union coalition have been
vandalized.

Dozens of people have been arrested.

" We were frankly surprised by the intensity of the reaction," said Lucas Soto, a
Can Vies leader. " But Can Vies is deeply embedded in the community."

Leaders of Can Vies disavowed the violence and blamed the government for having
started the conflict.

Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias offered to negotiate "everything and for as much time as
they want," but said he wouldnt stand for protesters "blackmailing us with fear." He
expressed a willingness to accept mediators to end the conflict over the building, which
belongs to the metropolitan transportation authority.

"There cannot be concessions while the violence continues," said Francesc Homs,
spokesman for the regional government of Catalonia, echoing the mayor.

The protests come as the regions police force is already under fire for several
controversial incidents, including the use of rubber bullets against activists in
previous demonstrations.

On Tuesday, police Chief Manel Prat resigned, just as the regional parliament was
set to debate police performance.

Analysts said the authorities made a miscalculation with their frontal assault on a
squatter movement with strong historical roots in Barcelona.

"The government might have the letter of the law on its side, but obviously Can Vies has
acquired a certain moral authority by giving the building a socially useful purpose," said
J osep Roca Cladera, an urban expert at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

The center ran a host of activities, ranging from martial arts to cinema.
Neighborhood residents say it was a source of pride in a neighborhood hard hit
by unemployment, which affects half of Spanish young people who are in the
workforce.

" I ran over as soon as I heard this was going on," said Elba Mansilla, a journalist
and community member. " What could the authorities be thinking of by doing
this?"



ACTION REPORTS


Wrong Venue?
[Outreach To New York Army
National Guard]

From: Alan S
To: Military Resistance Newsletter
Sent: May 29, 2014
Subject: 5/17 Outreach To New York Army National Guard

Wrong Venue?

There was more conversation/interaction at the Armory this time than memory serves
(12 years and counting). Several National Guard troops/officers took the time to give us
their opinion of our presence while others asked questions.

While two of us distributed 72 handouts, 37 DVDs of Authority & Expectations
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyfkLubnyBw] and 35 baked snacks over a period of 1
hours we also had lots to talk about.

A sergeant, taking a handout while entering the armory, muttered we were pursuing the
wrong venue and should be approaching Congress instead. A high ranking officer
nearby agreed.

When I mentioned a lack of civilian support for U.S. troops he immediately called over a
soldier he commanded on commuter terminal patrols who said 8 out of 10 people were
supportive.

After being told the anti-war movement has all but disappeared the officer wondered
what a definition of anti-war would be. He seemed to enjoy the dialogue and went on
about just wars such as the American Revolution and current day Nigeria. I raised
Vietnam as an unjust war which he dismissed as a cultural and political anti-war
movement.

Since he told us hed seen all our materials I was about to ask him about Sir! No Sir!
[http://www.sirnosir.com/the_film/storefront.htm] the well known film about GI resistance
in Vietnam of which we have passed out thousands of DVDs. Instead, he responded to
a question by another outreacher whether troops have any autonomy at all by walking
into the armory and saying that question shows complete ignorance to even say that.

Later, a young soldier looking at the cover story of the handout wanted to know if we had
disdain for us, since that articles headline expressed disgust with the Army over letting
a general get away with sexual misconduct. He was told our position was just the
opposite in that we felt the officer should be held accountable for his actions and not be
judged by a slap on the wrist.

2-3 other troops politely asked for explanation of the outreach and were given a brief
outline of our history where we consistently show support for troops by bringing them
information they would otherwise not receive concerning their service, which includes
the unjust war in Afghanistan.

Finally, another officer told us he was anti-war but cut short further conversation as he
had to prepare for a speech he was making in five minutes.

All in all an eventful outreach that otherwise was standard in the amount of turn-downs
(all courteous) although there seemed to be a significant amount of new troops.

MORE:

ACTION REPORTS WANTED:
FROM YOU!

An effective way to encourage others to support members of the armed forces
organizing to resist the Imperial war is to report what you do.

If youve carried out organized contact with troops on active duty, at base gates,
airports, or anywhere else, send a report in to Military Resistance for the Action
Reports section.

Same for contact with National Guard and/or Reserve components.

They dont have to be long. Just clear, and direct action reports about what work
was done and how.

If there were favorable responses, say so.

If there were unfavorable responses or problems, dont leave them out. Reporting
what went wrong and/or got screwed up is especially important, so that others
may learn from you what to expect, and how to avoid similar problems if possible.

If you are not planning or engaging in outreach to the troops, you have nothing to
report.

NOTE WELL:

Do not make public any information that could compromise the work.

Identifying information locations, personnel will be omitted from the reports.

Whether you are serving in the armed forces or not, do not identify members of
the armed forces organizing to stop the wars.

If accidentally included, that information will not be published.

The sole exception: occasions when a member of the armed services explicitly
directs identifying information be published in reporting on the action.

MORE:

The Military Resistance Organization:
Military Resistance Mission Statement:

1. The mission of Military Resistance is to bring together in one organization
members of the armed forces and civilians in order to give aid and comfort to
members of the armed forces who are organizing to end the war of empire in
Afghanistan. The long term objective is to assist in eliminating all wars of empire
by eliminating all empires.


2. Military Resistance does not advocate individual disobedience to orders or
desertion from the armed forces. The most effective resistance is organized by
members of the armed forces working together.

However, Military Resistance respects and will assist in the defense of troops who
see individual desertion or refusal of orders as the only course of action open to
them for reasons of conscience.


3. Military Resistance stands for the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all
U.S. and other occupation troops from Afghanistan.

Occupied nations have the right to independence and the right to resist Imperial
invasion and occupation by force of arms.


4. Efforts to increase democratic rights in every society, organization, movement,
and within the armed forces itself will receive encouragement and support.

Members of the armed forces, whether those of the United States or any other
nation, have the right and duty to act against dictatorships commanding their
services, and to assist civilian movements against dictatorship.

This applies whether a political dictatorship is imposed by force of arms or a
political dictatorship is imposed by those in command of the resources of society
using their wealth to purchase the political leadership.


5. Military Resistance uses organizational democracy.

This means control of the organization by the membership, through elected
delegates to any coordinating bodies that may be formed, whether at local,
regional, or national levels.

Any member may run for any job in the organization. All persons elected are
subject to immediate recall, by majority vote of the membership.

Coordinating bodies report their actions, decisions and votes to the membership
who elected them, and may be overruled by a majority of the membership.


6. It is not necessary for Military Resistance to be in political agreement with
other organizations in order to work together towards specific common
objectives.

It is productive for organizations working together on common projects to discuss
differences about the best way forward for the movement.

Debate is necessary to arrive at the best course of action.


Membership Requirements:

7. It is a condition of membership that each member prioritize and participate in
organized action to reach out to active duty armed forces, Reserve and/or National
Guard units.

8. Military Resistance or individual members may choose to support candidates
for elective office who are for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, but do not
support a candidate opposed to immediate, unconditional withdrawal.

9. Members may not be active duty or drilling reserve commissioned officers, or
employed in any capacity by any police or intelligence agency, local, state, or
national.

10. I understand and am in agreement with the above statement. I pledge to
defend my brothers and sisters, and the democratic rights of the citizens of the
United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

----------------------------(Signed

(Date)

----------------------------- (Application taken by)

Military Resistance: Contact@militaryproject.org
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657

MORE

You Can Take Action That Makes
A Difference:
Join The Military Resistance
Organization:
MILITARY RESISTANCE MEMBERSHIP
APPLICATION

Name (please print): __________________________

Armed Forces? (Branch) ____________

Veteran? Years: ____________

Union: ____________________

Occupation: _________________________________________

Mailing address: ______________________________________

E-Mail:_____________________________

Phone (Landline):_______________________________________

Phone (Cell):___________________________________________

$ dues paid _________________________
(See next: Calendar year basis.)

Armed Forces Members @ Dues waived
Civilians @ $25
Students/Unemployed @ $10
Civilian/Military Prisoners @ Dues Waived


Comments:


NOTE: Civilian applicants will be interviewed, in person if possible, or by phone.


Military Resistance: Contact@militaryproject.org
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657

MORE

People Need Not Be Helpless
Before The Power Of Illegitimate
Authority

MILITARY RESISTANCE:
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657
Contact@militaryproject.org

[Based on a statement by David Cortright, Vietnam Veteran and armed forces resistance
organizer.]

In the final analysis the stationing of American forces abroad serves not the
national interest but the class interest of the corporate and political elite.

The maintenance of a massive, interventionist-oriented military establishment is
based on the need to protect multinational investment and preserve regimes
friendly to American capital.

Imperialism is at the heart of the national-security system and is the force
fundamentally responsible for the counterrevolutionary, repressive aims of U.S.
policy.

Only if we confront this reality and challenge it throughout society and within the
ranks can we restore democratic control of the military.

Of course nothing can be accomplished without citizen involvement and active
political struggle.

During the Vietnam era enlisted servicemen created massive pressures for
change, despite severe repression, and significantly altered the course of the war
and subsequent military policy.

To sustain and strengthen this challenge we must continue to build political
opposition to interventionism and support those within the armed services,
including national guard and reserves, who defy the goals and program of Empire.

The central lesson of the GI movement is that people need not be helpless before
the power of illegitimate authority, that by getting together and acting upon their
convictions people can change society and, in effect, make their own history.

The Military Project

Military Resistance: Contact@militaryproject.org
Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657



AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS


U.S. Soldier Killed By Copter
Crash In Maruf District:
Nationality Not Announced;
15 More Injured

05/29/2014 Mirwais Khan and Amir Shah Associated Press & May 30, 2014 U.S.
Department of Defense News Release No: NR-274-14 [Excerpts]

Officials reported that a U.S. soldier died in a helicopter crash in Kandahar the previous
day.

Pfc. J acob H. Wykstra, 21, of Thornton, Colorado, died May 28, in Kandahar Province,
Afghanistan, of injuries sustained as a result of an aircraft accident. The incident is
under investigation.

He was assigned 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th
Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

The crash, in which 15 U.S. service members were injured, happened after the
helicopter accidentally struck a communications antenna on Wednesday, an Afghan
official said.

An Afghan police officer, Atta Mohammad, said the crash occurred in Maruf district
around midnight on Wednesday. Along with the soldier killed, 15 service members were
also hurt, he added.

Mohammad said the helicopter accidentally struck the districts communication antenna,
which caused the crash.


POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE
BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP
THE WAR


Resistance Action

05/29/2014 Mirwais Khan and Amir Shah Associated Press

In northern J awzjan province, a roadside bomb hit the car of the intelligence chief of
Aqcha district on Thursday morning, police officer Faqir Mohammad J awzjani said.

The explosion killed the district chief, Manzurullha, and his bodyguard, and wounded
three other officials who were travelling with them, J awzjani said. Like most Afghans,
Manzurullha used only one name.

J awzjani blamed the Taliban for the attack, saying the bomb used in Aqcha district was
very powerful and completely destroyed Manzurullhas vehicle.

Also on Thursday, two roadside bombings minutes apart killed an Afghan policeman and
wounded four others in the city of Kandahar, said police officer Shamsullha, who also
uses one name.

The first explosion struck a police car as it drove down a street, killing one officer and
wounding two.

Then, as other policemen who were nearby rushed to the site of the blast, a second
explosion went off, wounding two more policemen, said Shamsullha.


Military Resistance In PDF Format?
If you prefer PDF to Word format, email:
contact@militaryproject.org


FORWARD OBSERVATIONS




At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh had
I the ability, and could reach the nations ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream of
biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppose.

Frederick Douglass, 1852


The past year every single day of it has had its consequences. In the obscure
depths of society, an imperceptible molecular process has been occurring
irreversibly, like the flow of time, a process of accumulating discontent,
bitterness, and revolutionary energy.
-- Leon Trotsky, Up To The Ninth Of January


The New Logo at the Phoenix VA

At the "Moving Wall" in Salem, Oregon 1988. Photo by Mike Hastie

From: Mike Hastie
To: Military Resistance Newsletter
Sent: May 29, 2014
Subject: The New Logo at the Phoenix VA (see photo)

The New Logo at the Phoenix VA


Your call is important to us...


Thank you for waiting...


And thank you for your service...


Your call to duty (was) important to us...


Here Rests In Silence An American Soldier Known But To God
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


If this is an emergency, call 911


Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
May 29, 2014

Postmortem:
You cant afford to take care of your sick and wounded vets
if your government is involved in war after war after war for
the corporate rich who could care less about its cannon fodder.
W A R----------> Wealthy Are Richer

Photo and caption from the portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam
1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work, contact at:
(hastiemike@earthlink.net) T)

One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head.
The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a
so-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen
of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.

Mike Hastie
U.S. Army Medic
Vietnam 1970-71
December 13, 2004


Senior Officers Boldly Echo Meaningless
Nothings During Staff Meeting


May 14, 2014 by J uice Box, The Duffel Blog

HEROES CONFERENCE ROOM

In an audacious display of professional cunning and original thought, that major in the
corner with the hooah-haircut just flatly agreed with the senior officer across the table
that spoke before him.

Broadly concur on all points, sir, the intrepid major reportedly voiced to a visibly
pleased lieutenant colonel. That reflects very much how we see things at our level.

The majors comment marked just one of many daring contributions in a meeting that,
according to non-commissioned officers everywhere, bears no consequence whatsoever
outside of the participants own imaginations.

I think you hit the nail right on the head, Steve, said another sniveling, silver-haired O-
5, who peers say constantly knocks it out of the park with insightful comments like this.
Thats a good roadmap for the way forward and a lot of outstanding work by you and
the guys.

I also want to highlight something the general said a moment ago that was really
crucial, the star-chasing fuck continued, going on to repeat nearly verbatim the series of
platitudes spoken aloud just minutes before by the bloated one-star at the head of the
table.

Good input, Ken, the general croaked. J oe, does that lineup with what your guys are
telling you?

Absolutely, sir, some dickhead apparently named J oe replied. In fact, the only thing I
have to add is a forced and muddled paraphrasing of Kens exact comment.

Hours later, the self-important pricks stood to shake hands and congratulate each other
on another solid meeting that, according to captive underlings seated away from the
table, accomplished nothing.

I think were all on the same page here, which is a real testament to how far weve
come in the past few months of working together, the general concluded. Lets take all
of this back to our people and get to work.



CLASS WAR REPORTS


Locals Rally To Repel Military
Attempt To Retake Town,
Blaming Government For
Bloodshed:
Anger Toward The Government In
Kiev Became More Deeply
Entrenched
Many Locals Blame The
Government For Provoking Fighting
By Sending In Troops
" We Knew We Couldnt Let Them Across
The Bridge And Into Town. My Wife And
Daughters Are Here

Coffins of pro-Russia rebels killed in fighting this week for control of the regional airport
in Donetsk are lined up at the city morgue Thursday. Associated Press

May 29, 2014 By J ames Marson, Wall Street J ournal [Excerpts]

NOVODRUZHESK, Ukraine

Coal miner Andrei Sharenko never fired an automatic rifle in his life, he says, until he
saw a Ukrainian army column emerging from the woods across the river from his
hometown early one morning last week.

"We knew we couldnt let them across the bridge and into town. My wife and daughters
are here," said Mr. Sharenko, a tough-looking 42-year-old with a buzzcut and scars on
his hands from years of toiling underground.

By the end of the day, on-and-off fighting had left several people deadwith no gain in
territory for either side. A railway station was shot up, windows and nerves were
shattered and anger toward the government in Kiev became more deeply entrenched.

The government has sought to calm the crisis with measures that would allow the east
and other regions to take greater charge of their own affairs.

But in Novodruzhesk, a ramshackle town of about 9,000 people where sewage runs in
the street, many locals blame the government for provoking fighting by sending in
troops.

Ukraines army is taking on an amorphous enemy that is often well-armed and
enjoys plenty of support.

Mr. Sharenkos ragtag unit was reinforced by a mix of enthusiastic amateurs, local
men with military experience and Russian irregulars from places such as
Chechnya.

The unit sent to clear the checkpoint was a poorly trained, hungry group of 100
mostly reservist soldiers riding on aging armored vehicles.

This account of the fighting on May 22 was based on interviews with two dozen local
residents, rebel fighters, soldiers and government officials.

The dozen or so men at the checkpoint on the river bridge hadnt seen any action since
theyd thrown the checkpoint together out of concrete blocks and tires a week earlier.

Most of their weapons came from the armory of the state security service in the regional
capital of Luhansk, which was seized in early April.

Men who took part in that raid later fanned across the region to command local "self-
defense forces."

The rebels around Novodruzhesk answer to a 31-year-old electrician and former
border guard from Lysychansk, a nearby industrial hub.

Around 4 a.m., as the armored vehicles rolled from their base to the north into Rubizhne,
the town across the river, a lookout at the railway station there warned them to get
ready.

When the soldiers emerged from the woods a few hundred yards away, Mr. Sharenkos
unit started firing. As he and his comrades, armed with seven automatic rifles and one
rocket-propelled grenade launcher, held them off, other men hurtled down the slope from
Novodruzhesk on bicycles and on foot to join them.

More reinforcements soon came from nearby towns.

A man in his mid-30s called Stas from the town of Stakhanov was the first to die on the
slope. No one is quite sure what his surname was.

As the men dug a trench and set up sniper positions, women set up a makeshift kitchen
not far from the front line to supply porridge and other food.

After four hours of shooting, Ukrainian forces began to fall back along the dirt track
toward Rubizhne, a mile away.

But when they reached the railway station there, their path was blocked by felled
trees and a crowd of residents urging them to put down their weapons and leave.

Alexander Khomenko, secretary of Rubizhnes town council, rushed to the spot
and started talks with the soldiers. " We dont want shooting in our town," he told
them.

An agreement for the soldiers, thirsty in the spring heat, to put down their weapons and
leave on trucks was reached by midafternoon.

It isnt clear exactly what happened next, but the result was the kind of deadly mayhem
that is becoming routine in these parts. Some said the soldiers came under attack from
rebels in the woods. Others said the troops had opened fire to simulate combat.

On the dirt track that links Rubizhne and Novodruzhesk through the woods, the shooting
went in all directions for hours.

The ragtag locals were reinforced by irregulars, including some of those who seem to be
flooding across Ukraines porous border with Russia.

Firing from grenade launchers, they destroyed an armored vehicle about 200 yards from
the station near a 10-foot wooden Orthodox cross bearing the inscription "Save and
Protect."

Rubizhnes railway station is now pockmarked with bullet holes and strewed with debris
blown from walls. Inside, a pool of blood marked where one man died after being shot
and dragged inside.

One video posted on a local news Website shows a half-dozen men in shorts running
along the dirt track carrying a limp body, apparently a rebel fighter, as gunfire crackles
close by.

"Hes finished," says one of the men as they drop him to the ground. A second covers
his face with a Nike cap.

Government forces sent in at least two helicopters to fire at rebel positions, some in a
group of houses overlooking the bridge.

The soldiers burned three vehicles to stop them falling into rebel hands. Ultimately, they
returned to the town theyd set out from that morning.

Both sides claim victory, and present wildly different death tolls. Militants say they killed
14 soldiers and lost seven of their own; the Defense Ministry says the army killed 20
militants and lost only two men.

Whatever the toll, locals say it already feels like war.



DANGER: CAPITALISTS AT WORK






OCCUPATION PALESTINE


I Can Coexist With Israelis But
Only When I Return Home, Says
Nakba Survivor
I Am Still Dreaming Of Going Back
To Zarnuqa
I Am Not Going To Compromise My
Village And Farmlands, Even In Return
For The Holy Shrines In The City Of
Mecca

Our life was great. We lived in peace, working in our own lands, Um al-Walid Eid says
of Zarnuqa village before the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine. (Shadi Alqarra)

15 May 2014 by Rami Almeghari, The Electronic Intifada. Rami Almeghari is a journalist
and university lecturer based in the Gaza Strip.

Maghazi refugee camp, Occupied Palestine

Kadima! a Hebrew word meaning advance quickly is one of the words that Um
al-Walid Eid still remembers from the day she, her husband and their two small children,
along with the approximately 2,600 other Palestinian inhabitants, were forcibly expelled
from the village of Zarnuqa.

Beginning in late 1947 and throughout 1948, Zionist militias and later the Israeli army
began the organized expulsion of Palestinians. Some 750,000 Palestinians fled or were
expelled from more than 450 from villages, towns and cities in Palestine; the violent
dispossession has since been called the Nakba.

This catastrophe is marked each year on 15 May Nakba Day.

The expulsion of the residents of Zarnuqa in J une 1948, by the Israeli armys Givati
Brigade, was part of Operation Barak.

Today Um al-Walid and her husband Abu al-Walid Muhammad Eid, both in their
eighties, live in the Maghazi refugee camp in the occupied Gaza Strip, where they still
carry many memories of their expulsion and their life before it.

I remember that day well. I was so frightened that I forgot to pick up my son, Walid,
who was only ten days old and wrapped in swaddling clothes. My sister helped me by
picking him up and we all headed for Gaza to begin living far away from our homes,
farms and lives. As we left, one of the J ewish militia members shouted at us Kadima!

Um al-Walid is now in frail health and spoke from her bed from which she can only move
with difficulty. She recalled some of the horrors perpetrated by the invaders.

What had intimidated and terrorized us, forcing us out of the village swiftly, was the
Zionists killing of a chaplain and a woman, right at a local small mosque that belonged to
Sheikh Issa Shurbaji.

We heard that the Zionists stormed the mosque and threw a grenade inside, instantly
killing Sheikh Ahmad Abu Shawish as well as Sheikh Shurbajis wife. This was the most
heinous crime that forced us to flee for our lives.

Despite her poor health, Um al-Walid remembers better days when she was young and
worked with her husband on the farm. Our life was great. We lived in peace, working in
our own lands. The day we were forced out we had about 600 Palestinian pounds in
savings.


Im not going to accept any compensation for my hometown and lands, says Abu al-Walid
Muhammad Eid. (Shadi Alqarra)

Abu al-Walid, who wears dark glasses and a white beard, sat on his own bed, near his
wife. A retired employee of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, he and his
wife live with their children and grandchildren in a modest house with a small yard where
an olive tree is planted.

Visibly emotional, he recalled the day he went back to Zarnuqa as a visitor in 1973. That
was six years after Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Palestinians
could travel to see their former homes with relative ease. Today, with the Gaza Strip
virtually sealed off, such a visit would be all but impossible.

My friends and I took a cab to visit Zarnuqa, Abu al-Walid said. While we were
looking for our abandoned homes, an Israeli man and his wife came up to us and
asked us what we wanted. We said we were going to see those old homes and the
man responded by saying, You should first ask permission from the
homeowners. I felt extremely sad and wondered how fate had turned us from the
owners of the houses into mere visitors.

A suburb of Rehovot, a town in the center of present-day Israel, is built on much of
Zarnuqas lands today. According to All that Remains, Palestinian scholar Walid
Khalidis seminal volume on the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the few original village
houses that remain standing are either occupied by J ewish inhabitants or fenced in and
used for storage.

After this episode, Abu al-Walid decided not to go back to Zarnuqa except when
Palestinians as a whole are allowed to return to their original lands and homes.

I am still dreaming of going back to Zarnuqa and I am not going to compromise my
village and farmlands, even in return for the holy shrines in the city of Mecca, he
declared.

Asked if he would accept financial compensation instead of return as many
peace plans have proposed Abu al-Walid insisted: Over my dead body. Im not
going to accept any compensation for my hometown and lands. My family and I
owned about twenty acres where we produced many vegetables that we used to
sell in the city of Ramle just a few miles away.

Abu al-Walid said he hoped that Palestinian negotiators would never renounce the rights
of refugees like him. But he sees no contradiction between his right to return and the
possibility of the kind of peaceful coexistence he remembers from his youth.

I remember that very close to my village there was a J ewish neighborhood. I used to
exchange morning and evening greetings with a J ewish farmer while he and I were
bending down in labor on our separate farms. I only exchanged greetings with him and I
have no problem to exchange greetings and to coexist again when I return home to my
village of Zarnuqa.


Nakba Commemorations From Gaza To
The Galilee
May 16, 2014 Photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz, Mustafa Bader, Keren Manor, Ryan Rodrick
Beiler, Yotam Ronen, Omar Sameer, and Oren Ziv; +972 Magazine [Excerpts


Children from Aida Refugee Camp carry keys symbolizing the right of return toward the
Israeli separation wall during a Nakba commemoration event, Bethlehem, West Bank,
May 14, 2014. (Activestills.org)


Palestinians march toward the Green Line in a Nakba Day protest in the West Bank
village of Al Walaja, May 15, 2014. (Activestills.org)


Palestinians demonstrate on the 66th anniversary of the Nakba in the West Bank city of
Nablus, May 14, 2014. (Activestills.org)


Israeli border policemen grab a Palestinian boy during a protest commemorating the
Nakba at Damascus Gate, outside J erusalems Old City, May 15, 2014.v


Zionist Occupiers Shoot Unarmed
Palestinian Fisherman In North Gaza, As
Usual

05/19/2014 Maan

GAZA CITY -- A Palestinian man was shot and injured by Israeli forces while he was
fishing on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, medics said.

Medics in the besieged coastal enclave told Maan that the fisherman was in the area of
al-Sudaniya in the northern Gaza Strip when he was shot.

They added that he was shot in the leg by Israeli forces stationed at the Gaza Strips
northern border, and that the victim was subsequently transferred to the Shifa Hospital.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that "two Palestinians approached the security
fence, and the soldiers operated in order to distance them."

When they refused to comply, she added, the soldiers "opened fired towards the lower
extremities of one of them."

She said that the two were about 50 meters from the border at the time of the shooting.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at Palestinians if they approach large swathes of land near
the border that the Israeli military has deemed a "security buffer zone," and thus off-
limits to Palestinians.

According to UNOCHA, 17 percent of Gazas total land area and 35 percent of its
agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and
livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded
by foreign terrorists, go to:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx and
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16
The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.


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