Bereket - University of Texas - Austin Middle Eastern Ensemble

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Middle Eastern Ensemble takes a journey through time and look at the interconnections from traditional to popular music from the Middle East. Featuring the UT-Austin Arabic and Hebrew Language Students, Chorus.

This event was on April 24th, 2010

Protest Against Gables & 21Rio for Wage Theft! - Workers Defense Project - Direct Action

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Remembering fallen comrades:
Workers demand better wages & safer conditions

By Alice Embree / The Rag Blog / April 29, 2010

AUSTIN -- Luxury condos were the backdrop for two protests yesterday, April 28, in Austin. The Workers Defense Project, also known as Proyecto Defensa Laboral, brought 120 workers and supporters into the streets at two different sites demanding wages and safe working conditions.

Three of my co-workers were killed, and the rest of us are still owed our money. When is it enough? said Gumercindo Rodriquez, who performed plaster work at 21 Rio and Gables Park Plaza. Gumercindo, along with two dozen other workers are owed over $120,000 in wages by a Dallas-based contractor, GMI (Greater Metroplex Interiors).

Protesters focused attention on Gables Park Plaza, a high-end condo on the north side of Town Lake in Austin. At that site, wages have gone unpaid. Later, demonstrators moved into the West Campus where 21 Rio has also refused to pay final wages. It was at this luxury high rise that three workers died last summer when faulty scaffolding collapsed.

A recent study by the Workers Defense Project and the University of Texas found that workers who are denied payment are most likely not to receive appropriate safety training or equipment. The report also found that Texas leads the nation in construction deaths, with a worker dying every 2.5 days in the state and that Austin construction workers have a one in five chance of not being paid their wages.

The issue of immigrant rights has once again captured media attention as debate heats up over Arizonas recent draconian legislation. Show me your papers or go to jail is an approach that collapses civil liberties.

In this atmosphere, the organizing work of the Workers Defense Project brings humanity back into the discourse. The plaster and stucco of luxury condos depended on immigrant labor. For the workers who toiled 70-hour work weeks, six days a week, without rest breaks or overtime pay, the human issue is simply to be paid for their work. For the three men who lost their lives at 21 Rio, the human issue is a safe working environment.

The protestors remembered those who died at 21 Rio by calling out their names.

Wilson, Presente!
Raudel, Presente!
Jesus Angel, Presente!
No los vamos olvidar.
We will not forget.

Visit www.WorkersDefense.org to learn how you can help bring justice for workers in Austin!

This is a ZGraphix production. Produced by Jeffry Zavala.

Boycott ULTA for Selling AHAVA: Protesting Israeli Cosmetics Made in Occupied Palestine

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Austin Activists Protest Material Support of Genocide in Palestine: Ahava cosmetics produced In illegal Israeli settlements.

More than 30 people carried picket signs in front of the Gateway Shopping Center in Austin on Saturday, April 24, urging shoppers to boycott ULTA Beauty for refusing to take Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics off their shelves.

The Austin protests, which began the previous week at the Sunset Valley ULTA store, are part of an international campaign to call attention to resources taken from illegal Israeli settlements. The UN has declared the Israeli settlements in Palestine to be a violation of international law and Ahava violates the fourth Geneva Convention by exploiting Palestines natural resources.

Bernice Hecker, a member of the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, said:
"Weve joined this international campaign to call attention to the illegal Israeli settlements and the theft of Palestinian resources. By telling shoppers to boycott ULTA, we are calling attention both to the occupation and to the fact that Ahava is marked as made in Israel when it is really made in occupied Palestine."
The boycott efforts have been organized by the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, CodePink, and the UT Palestinian Solidarity Committee. Members of the groups have approached the managers of four ULTA stores and asked them to remove Ahava products but they refused.

On April 17 the groups held an in-store action at Sunset Valley ULTA followed by a picket on the sidewalk of the shopping center. On April 24 there was a brief in-store action at the Gateway Ulta with a picket line on the sidewalk. These actions were in response to ULTA's refusal to remove these illegal products from their stores.

More on the boycott campaign can be found at www.StolenBeauty.org

This is a ZGraphix production.

The Youth of American Empire - National March on Washington DC

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Ayesha Fleary from Black Is Back speaks out against the continuation of a history of terror carried out by the U.S. Government against indigenous tribal groups as well as others around the world. Kim Baglieri from The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines passionately speaks out against the true costs of war and how the blood of the Filipino people is on U.S. hands through the support of the corrupt Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regime. Stephanie Diaz, a 10th grader at the Facing History School explains how the 700 million dollars taxpayers spend every day on the criminal war in Iraq results in a class war here at home waged by the rich against the poor. She has a message for the leaders of the nationGo Fight Your Own Wars!


To learn more about this event go to:

http://www.answercoalition.org

The Supreme International Crime = American Wars of Aggression

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In Washington DC on March 20th, 2010 as part of the National March on Washington DC, Ramsey Clark spoke about how the imperial presidency of America is destroying any chance for peace in the world and what we can do the change that. Then Cindy Sheehan talks about how to bring about real change and quotes Mario Savio from the 60s in his speech about putting your body upon the gears and making the war machine stop.

For more information about this event go to:
http://answercoalition.org

Ralph Nader Speaks on Shutting Down The Empire - National March on Washington DC

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In Washington DC on March 20th, 2010 as part of the National March on Washington DC, Ralph Nader spoke about how to shut down the imperial presidency and hold congress accountable for the funding of the military-industrial complex.

He also mentions how Obama shares a lot in common with Bush regarding foreign police including refusing to stop funding for Israeli occupation of Palestine and the siege of Gaza.

To learn more about this event go to
http://www.answercoalition.org

We The People vs American Empire - National March on Washington DC 3/20/10

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Lynne Jackson with Project SALAM (Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims) speaks out on how Muslims are treated in American society today, followed by Mickey Huff from Project Censored talking about how people in America can't get factual knowledge about what is going on in the world. Gene Bruskin from U.S. Labor Against the War speaks on Iraqi Unions.