Aid, not Occupation

As predictions for the death toll from the Haitian earthquakes rise over 200,000, ABC News have reported that planes carrying medical equipment and relief supplies are having to compete with soldiers for the valuable slots at Port-au-Prince airport which was taken over by the US military after the quake. Since the start of the great anti-slavery republican insurrection nearly 220 years ago, Haiti has been presented as a dangerous place incapable of running its own affairs and requiring foreign intervention. Yet the reality is its people were the first enslaved population to deliver themselves from slavery and also carried out what was only the third successful republican insurrection on the planet. The threat of this good example was rewarded with centuries of invasion, blackmail, the robbery of Haiti's natural resources and the impoverishment of its people. This articles summarizes that history of intervention and the resistance to it in order to put into context what is happening in Haiti after the quake

Podcast: "The Haitian Revolution"



Direct download in mp3 format (48.39mb)
Strong aftershock hits Haiti | Naomi Klien's document | has the world failed Haiti? (video) | US aid relative to other countries | The Incapacitation of Haiti | Against the grain main site

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has received word from the Irish participants on the Viva Palestina aid convoy that they crossed the border at Rafah and arrived in Gaza shortly after 7pm (Irish time). This is exactly one month after the convoy set off on its journey and despite concerted efforts by Egypt to obstruct its progress.

Related Links: Viva Palestina on Twitter | Al Jazeera report | Al Jazeera video report | Press TV report | Ireland to Gaza Facebook Page | Official Viva Palestina webpage | 'Viva Palestina Cork’ Facebook page | IPSC webpage |
Indy Links: Convoy attacked by police | Israeli kidnap kids in Bil'in | 520 activists broke down the gate at the port in El-Arish | Riot police surround activists at El-Arish | Egyptians confiscate activists passports | Convoy just hours away from breaking siege | "Defending hope in Gaza" exhibition | Interview with Derry to Gaza team |

Huge crowd welcomes Gaza convoy in Amman, Jordan

Following several months of fundraising, four teams from across Ireland departed on Saturday, 5 December, to travel 4,000 miles across land to Gaza in Palestine to deliver ambulances and humanitarian aid to the besieged people of that tiny region. Concerned Irish citizens from Cork, Derry, Dublin, Galway and Tyrone are bringing two ambulances, a mini-bus, and a truck filled with over 10 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

IPSC webpage | Latest news from Jordan | Ireland to Gaza Facebook Page | Official Viva Palestina webpage | 'Viva Palestina Cork’ Facebook page | Stranded in Jordan | Willie O'Dea gives his support | Noam Chomsky and Proinsias De Rossa give their support | Egyptian government efforts to hinder march | Youtube footage of convoy entering Turkey

Contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin are: +353-1-6606718 / +353-1-6606566 / consular@embegyptireland.ie

Contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in London are: 0044-20-7499-3304 / eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg”

Cork convoy participants with George Galloway MP in Jordan 0.05 Mb Galloway addresses the crowd in Amman 0.08 Mb

It Takes More than This to Stop Us

Every day the war machines roll through Shannon, as the innocent populations of Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere suffer the brutal consequences of neo-liberal occupation. The Gardai react by mounting public displays of strength against half a dozen innocent protestors, while claiming to have no opinions or authority over the cargos and personnel passing through the airport.

Related Links:
Making War Through Shannon Airport | Shannon Peace Vigil Among the Warplanes | Videos from Shannon Peace Conference | US Military Officers Oversee War Activities at Shannon | Hiroshima remembered at Shannon Peace Vigil

Cutting Child Benefit
Like Taking Candy from a Baby

Children face a 'Black Christmas' as Minister Lenihan slashes child benefit by 10% in the 2010 Budget. Family incomes are being attacked from every side in this Budget, but the Government has chosen to target children for the biggest cut of all. Parents' group PACUB is horrified by the Budget, and predicts that more and more families will fall into poverty as the new decade begins.

Related Links:

Protest Against Child Unfriendly Budget - PACUB's Website | PACUB's Facebook Group | Demo Against Cuts to Child Benefit on Budget Day