[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:7081] STATEMENT on Bangor Incident from GPUSA Media Coordinator

[Al Kagan]

Follow-up to previous discussion.

>Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
>Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:11:37 -0500
>To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
>From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra at earthlink.net>
>Subject: [SRRTAC-L:7081] STATEMENT on Bangor Incident from GPUSA 
>Media Coordinator
>Cc: plgnet-l at listproc.sjsu.edu, srrtac-l at ala.org, jberry at cahners.com
>Reply-To: srrtac-l at ala.org
>Sender: owner-srrtac-l at ala.org
>Status:  
>
>In an effort to shed some light on this matter, which is being obscured by
>the circulation ofof a great deal of mis/disinformation and confusion on
>matters of principle which have *nothing* to do with disputed details:
>
>(FWD) from: Mark Rosenzweig
>
>>Subject: CORRECTED STATEMENT from GPUSA Media Coordinator
>>Mime-Version: 1.0
>>
>>Online 11/5 audio interview with Nancy Oden on Democracy Now! in Exile:
>>http://www.webactive.com/ (click on the words Democracy Now! in
>>Exile, scroll the the bottom of the page & click on the Archives link).
>>
>>Interview with Nancy Oden
>>http://www.wartimeliberty.com/article.pl?sid=01/11/03/1813233
>>
>>C.
>>=========================================================
>>
>>To: "actiongreens at yahoogroups.com" <actiongreens at yahoogroups.com>,
>>"gpusa-talk at greens.org" <gpusa-talk at greens.org>
>>From: "mitchelcohen at mindspring.com" <mitchelcohen at mindspring.com>
>>Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 13:16:03 -0500
>>Reply-To: mitchelcohen at mindspring.com
>>Subject: [ActionGreens] CORRECTED STATEMENT / Please Repost
>>
>>CORRECTED STATEMENT
>>PLEASE REPOST EVERYWHERE
>>
>>GREEN PARTY USA BLASTS REPRESSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES
>>IN THE US
>>
>>From: Mitchel Cohen, Media Coordinator
>>Green Party USA  www.greenparty.org
>>1-866-greens-2
>>
>>
>>Dear Greens and friends,
>>
>>The subject heading of a press release issued by a rival Green Party
>>organization (ASGP, which has recently changed its name to GPUS --
>>DIFFERENT organization than GPUSA, for those who have not been
>>following these sordid details) says: "Correction of erroneous
>>information" of a press release  issued by the Green Party USA.
>>But the text points to NO erroneous  information in the GPUSA press
>>release, which I wrote (with the assistance of several others) as
>>media coordinator of GPUSA.
>>
>>The authors say they are "attempting to confirm a report", but they
>>offer no  timeline nor indicate any means by which they are doing so.
>>(A phone call to Nancy Oden would be a start. Anyone wanting
>>details can call her at  1-866-greens-2.)
>>
>>I would hope that the first thing Greens would do when their fellow
>>Greens or  anyone else are subjected to the repressive apparatus of
>>the state would be  to support them and get the victim a good lawyer,
>>raise money for their defense, join forces to condemn the violations
>>of civil liberties that are taking place, etc., and not challenge the
>>story of the victim unless they  have substantiated evidence that
>>the victim is lying.
>>
>>In any situation, there will be discrepancies between accounts of
>>people involved. When I was arrested at the Liberty Bell in 1999
>>in a nonviolent  civil disobedience action calling for a new trial
>>for political prisoner  Mumia Abu-Jamal, police "witnesses" at the
>>scene gave testimony that  contradicted each other in the tiniest
>>details: Who said what to whom, what I  was wearing (this was an
>>interesting point, as I was wearing a clown outfit  -- hard to miss!),
>>whether an area had been cleared or not, etc. By the time  my case
>>came to court I was charged with blocking a police van when I was
>>actually around 20-30 yards BEHIND the van and walking in a
>>completely  different area. It turned out that the US Attorney
>>prosecuting my case was  actually PRESENT at the scene -- we only
>>found that out from still photos  demonstrators had taken, as the
>>video did not show him in any of the frames.
>>
>>The point here is that even folks on the same side disagree on details
>>of an  event, even when they are standing right next to each other.
>  >That's how good  lawyers build their cases -- on those contradictions
>>in testimony among  people on the same side of a situation. When
>>we're talking about people on  OPPOSING sides, the gap can become
>>enormous.
>>
>>And yet -- and this is my point -- ALL versions of what happened at
>>the  Bangor Maine International Airport agree that Nancy Oden
>>was searched, her  bags were searched, and she was clean. NO
>>ONE disputes that.
>>
>>They also ALL agree that military personnel carrying automatic
>>weapons  ordered her away from the plane, and that she was denied
>>access to any other  flights out of Bangor International Airport.
>>NO ONE disputes that.
>>
>>They also ALL agree that she was not arrested.
>>
>>WHY NOT?
>>
>>WHY then did they detain her?
>>
>>Why did they not allow her on the plane?
>>
>>Nancy Oden reports that one of the military personnel initiated
>>an argument over the incidents of Sept. 11 and the bombing of
>>Afghanistan. No doubt this contributed to his attitude towards
>>Nancy Oden. THIS IS NOT GROUNDS FOR DENYING SOMEONE
>>ACCESS TO THEIR CIVIL LIBERTIES.
>>
>>There is no way to verify, for the time being, whether or not
>>Nancy's name  appeared on an FBI list. Nancy Oden never claimed
>>to SEE such a list; she said that the clerk TOLD her her name was
>>flagged, and that this was not a random search.
>>
>>While it is quite interesting that such a list exists and that activists'
>>names may indeed be on it, it is not relevant to opposing the ban
>>on Nancy Oden's civil liberties, although as a result of all of this
>>the FBI NOW ADMITS FOR THE FIRST TIME that it indeed has
>>compiled and circulated  such a list of individuals. Again, who is
>>on it? What are the criteria?
>>
>>Greens, and all progressive activists, are increasingly under scrutiny
>>by the  state for our strong antiwar statements and activities. The
>>fact that some  people have been able to fly freely without incident
>>only means that they are not yet being targeted. (Tariq Ali's story of
>>arrest at an airport in Germany for carrying a BOOK by Karl Marx
>>has been all over the internet for the past week, as have dozens of
>>other similar experiences.) And when they ARE targeted, GPUSA
>>will come to their defense, regardless of what faction or organization
>>they belong to. We know of HUNDREDS of stories of people who
>>have been detained  at airports, in the streets, etc. based on the
>>color of their skin, their religion, books they are carrying etc. To
>>deny without so much as a real inquiry the tale Nancy Oden relates
>>is politically irresponsible. To turn unconfirmed speculation into a
>>sectarian attack is simply immoral.
>>
>>This is a time all of us should unite in saving what remains of the
>>Bill of  Rights, and in supporting those victimized by the new
>>counter-terrorism  program.
>>
>>One of our people -- a COORDINATOR OF THE GREEN PARTY
>>USA -- is being  harassed and persecuted, and everyone should
>>come to her defense.
>>
>>If you have questions, do some actual firsthand investigation. It's
>>not hard.  Do as many of us have already done in verifying the
>>details: call the  airport, the police, the fbi, the airlines -- you will
>>be surprised at how much they ALL AGREE on the gist of it.
>>
>>Also, please note that organizations such as Reclaim the Streets has
>>been placed on the "terrorism" list. If this is any indication of the FBI's
>>careful attention to these matters, one should not be so gullible as to
>>believe the FBI version of anything, and one should appreciate that the
>>anti-terrorism legislation is aimed AT US -- not terrorists, but the
>>anti-globalization movement. Unfortunately, the authors of the sectarian
>>statement from members of the Association of State Green Parties /
>>GPUS -- the OTHER national Green organization -- don't seem to
>>understand any of this, or how COINTELPRO operated, and continues
>>to operate. In the process, they're smearing the very victims of those
>>operations that they should be defending.
>>
>>- Mitchel Cohen
>>Brooklyn Greens / Green Party USA
>>Media Coordinator GPUSA
>>

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu