Subject:[unac] Ferguson and more

(please forward widely) Ferguson Protests planned to demand justice for Michael Brown and punishment for killer cop Please click here to see protest that will take place in your area. In expectation of the Grand Jury exonerating Darren Wilson in the murder of Michael Brown, day of/day after demonstrations have been planned in Ferguson and in cities around the country.  Law enforcement has the same expectation of an unjust verdict and is preparing for civil unrest.  The Democratic governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, has basically declared martial law in anticipation of actions that have not even happened.  Adding fuel to the flame, the FBI warns police that protests will likely involve threats and attacks against police and property and to prepare to respond in kind.   Just as the U.S. government cannot resolve international disputes without waging wars on the oppressed people of the earth, the wars at home are waged by a militarized police force against people of color and working people without any validation of their rights or concessions to their complaints.  The goal abroad and domestically is also the same – to crush resistance and to maintain domination of the military/industrial/financial capitalist system.   UNAC urges all activists to come out in a massive show of solidarity with those who suffer most by police brutality.  To find out what is planned in your area, go to the website of the Ferguson National Response Network at fergusonresponse.tumblr.com.  Click here to see the UNAC statement on Ferguson. Rasmeah Odeh found guilty – Campaign to free her continues   In a travesty of justice, Palestinian-American leader Rasmea Odeh, was found guilty of “Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization” and faces up to 10 years of imprisonment, being stripped of her U.S. citizenship, and deportation.  She was denied bail and sits in a prison with inadequate facilities and needed medical care until her sentencing scheduled for March 10, 2015.  Appeals have been filed to move her close to home and to demand a retrial to drop the charges against her.   The charge was based on a false confession and lengthy imprisonment extracted by lengthy torture and sexual assault by the notorious Israeli military system in 1969.  The biased judge allowed the Israeli conviction for which she served 10 years of incarceration to be entered in evidence for the prosecution while denying testimony about her experience of brutal torture and subsequent chronic-PTSD.   It is evident that the real reason she is under attack is because she is an uncompromising Palestinian activist and advocate.  Her work as the associate director of Chicago’s Arab-American Network that assists Arab and Muslim immigrants and her organizing efforts for Palestinian liberation and self-determination and an end to U.S. funding for Israeli occupation is what has made her a target.   For more about the trial, the case, and the ongoing campaign to free Rasmea, go to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression website at www.stopfbi.net. Framed-up young Muslim prisoner Ziyad Yaghi, jailed under harsh conditions   Ziyad Yaghi is one of many Muslim men entrapped by the FBI since 9/11 and charged and convicted for offering support to terrorism with no valid evidence of wrongdoing.  While serving an outrageous 31-year sentence, he has been confined to a Special Housing Unit (SHU) in a U.S. Penitentiary separated from the general population under harsh conditions for over a year.  Placement in the SHU involves solitary confinement and extremely limited visits and communication with the outside, including with family and legal representatives.  There is no explanation given for his isolation.  His defense committee and others ask for letters to the prison warden and to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons asking for him to be moved and to Ziyad to show that people support him and he is not forgotten.  For more information and to view a sample letter, you can go to the website of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms civilfreedoms.org and to freeziyadyaghi.blogspot.com.   Crack-down on Protests in Pakistan Labor leaders, human rights activists and others have been sentenced to life in prison for the simple act of engaging in peaceful protest in Pakistan. Please click here for details and information on what you can do to help. Victory in the Shockoe Bottom Stadium Struggle UNAC has been a supporter of the struggle organized by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality to stop the building of a stadium at Shockoe Bottom, once the center of a massive U.S. domestic slave trade.  The Richmond, VA City Council voted on November 10, 2014 to not allow the buildng of the stadium.  The Defenders and others wanted to keep this important piece of land so people will never forget this dark period of history.  Click here for a full statement from the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality.   click here to donate to UNAC Click here for the Facebook UNAC group.