Ayman

Ayman is a co-founder of Existence is Resistance, an organization that recently traveled to besieged Gaza and the West Bank and links progressive hip hop artist from the US with those in Palestine to raise awareness against the occupation. Growing up in both New York and war-torn Lebanon shaped his outlook on the world. Over the past ten years he has been an anti-war activist and a supporter of freeing political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal. He has also organized against police brutality and cuts to CUNY.

Fasting in Solidarity with Hunger Striker Khader Adnan grows. Participate in Fasting4Freedom Campaign.

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Feb 202012
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Existence is Resistance calls upon all people of conscience to join us in our Fasting4Freedom campaign, to call for the release of and show support for Khader Adnan and ALL political prisoners (from Mumia Abu Jamal to Oscar Lopez-Rivera).

 

Khader enters the 65rd day of his hunger today and doctors say “he could suffer from a heart attack or from the failure of other internal organs and die at any moment”.  Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both called on the Israeli authorities either to release Adnan or immediately charge him with criminal offenses and have him tried.

 

He was arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces on December 17, 2011, one day after which he began his hunger strike to ask for an end to the “humiliation and policy of administrative detention”.

“I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.”  – Khader Adnan

How to participate in Fasting4Freedom:
1. If you’re going to fast. Please hit attending/join on the Facebook Event Page.  If you would like to join us as a supporter please just click Maybe on the event page. (This will help us keep a better count of those fasting.)
2. Please email Fasting4Freedom@gmail.com to let us know that you will be joining us in this campaign.
3. We will be fasting from sunrise to sundown. This time frame will vary upon your time zone, e.g. in New York this is approximately 5:30am to 5:30pm. We will not be eating any food or drinking any beverages (including water) during this period.
4. The amount of days that we will be fasting is indefinite.
5. If you have a Twitter account please follow @Fasting4Freedom . You can also tweet with the hashtags #Fasting4Freedom#KhaderAdnan and #KhaderExists
6. PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!!!
The more people that join this campaign the more effective it can be.

 

Over 200 people around the world have joined the fasting campaign, please consider participating and spreading the word.

Facebook Event Page Link:

http://www.facebook.com/events/350938041607190/

Posted by Ayman at 10:07 am

Israelis on Facebook celebrate death of Palestinian children in tragic school bus accident

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Feb 162012
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A bus carrying Palestinian children and their teachers on a school trip to Jerusalem was hit by a truck killing 5 children and 1 teacher and injuring more then 40 people, some seriously raising fears that the death toll will rise.  Bad weather was blamed for the accident.

Walla, an Israeli news website posted the news on their Facebook page and were immediately bombarded by hateful comments from Israeli’s celebrating the tragic accident and the death of Palestinian children.

Electronic Intifada reported that editors for Walla began deleting many of the racist comments and posted this warning to it’s readers:

“Friends, Stop writing racist and irrelevant responses. Users who write racist responses to the post will be blocked from the page.”

Palestinian activist Abir Kopty took a screenshot of some of the comments and translated them from Hebrew, she also pointed out how many ‘likes’ the hateful comments had.

Benny: Calm down, they are Palestinian Children.

Tali: Its seems like they are Palestinian children.. Thank God..

Tal: Thank God they are Palestinians

Ajala: Great less terrorists!!!!

Eliya: Only Palestinian children were injured about ten.

Itai: Thank God its Palestinians, let it be such bus every day.

Aleyah: calm down, Its a bus with Palestinian children, lets pray there will be deaths, or at least severe injuries, this is great news to start the day with.

 

Posted by Ayman at 2:59 pm Tagged with:

Shit Zionists Say [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

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Feb 122012
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Existence is Resistance participated  in the BDS conference last weekend at the University of Pennsylvania and decided to make one of our own Shit _____ Say.

Thank you to all those who participated: Ali Abunimah, Max Blumenthal, Sherry Wolf, Ryan Green, Anna Baltzer, Rae Abileah, Radio Raheem, Rich Seigel, Katie Halper, Abe Greenhouse, Dalit Baum, Laura Durkay, Jesse Bacon, Nicole Gervirtz and Joe Biden.

 

 

Posted by Ayman at 4:45 pm Tagged with:

Press Release - UK - Jersey Takes Initiative to Limit Vulture Funds - OWS's EIR and Friends of the Congo Applaud Effort

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Feb 062012
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Photo by Zach Roberts © 2011

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UK – Jersey Takes Initiative to Limit Vulture Funds – EIR and Friends of the Congo Applaud Effort

New York City, NY, February 6th, 2012 – Jersey’s Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, announced plans to outlaw vulture funds that have been using court systems to capitalize on the economic vulnerabilities of poor nations.  Senator Gorst explained that this initiative “demonstrates Jersey’s commitment to play its part in the global effort to support measures which assist the world’s most heavily indebted poor countries.”

 

This announcement comes as welcome news to advocates for debt-relief who have been crying out and campaigning against predatory vulture funds, a practice where international debt speculators buy the poorest country’s debts and then sue for 10 to 100 times the amount of purchase, driving countries further into debt and stalling development that would enable them to recover.

 

Targeting companies that do business with heavily-indebted nations, fund holders attempt to claim profits on the basis of debt collection.  The Democratic Republic of Congo, ranking last at 187 on the United Nations Development Programme 2011 Human Development Index, has been a victim of this practice since 1996. The collections are aimed at companies but ordinary citizens clearly bear the cost of economic stress and stalls in development.  According to the 2011 Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute, Congo has the highest proportion of undernourished people – about 70 percent of the population – and one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.  Vulture funds exacerbate the conditions that entrench a struggling nation further into debt and dependency on international aid.

 

New York-based hedge fund FG Hemisphere Associates LLC, owned by Brooklyn Financier Peter Grossman, is currently suing the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) for $100 million in the Jersey courts. The claim is based on a $30 million loan given 30 years ago to Zairian dictator Joseph Mobutu by Yugoslavia’s (now Bosnia) Energoinvest for a failed hydro-electricity project. Energoinvest sold its Congo debt to FG Hemisphere (now FG Capital Management Ltd.). According to the BBC, The Guardian, Democracy Now, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Peter Grossman’s hedge fund purchased the loan from Bosnia’s former Prime Minister and former director of Energoinvest, Nedzad Brankovic, for only $3 million. The Bosnian Chief of Financial Police claims that Brankovic acted illegally in selling the debt, which was owned by Bosnia, but sold personally, and has recommended Brankovic be charged.

 

Since 2005, FG Hemisphere has tried to seize Congo’s assets in the Bahamas, Europe, Hong Kong, South Africa and the United States. In 2009, FG Hemisphere brought the case against Congo to the island of Jersey in the United Kingdom. In December of 2011, the Jersey Court awarded FG Hemisphere $100 million. Senator Ian Gorst’s plan to outlaw vulture funds in Jersey will save the Congo from losing $100 million to FG Hemisphere. The final appeal in the FG Hemisphere vs. D.R. Congo case is expected to be heard in the next few months.

 

Jersey’s efforts are laudable and have been praised by advocacy groups like Friends of the Congo and Existence Is Resistance, who have undertaken a continuous protest since the end of November to expose the players behind the pilfering of the Congo. Encouraged by Jersey’s initiative, members of these groups are calling for more people to join them as they gather every Sunday at 5 PM at Peter Grossman’s residence in Brooklyn at the corner of Dekalb and Washington avenues in Brooklyn, NY.

 

About Friends of the Congo and Existence is Resistance

The Friends of the Congo is a grassroots advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.

Existence Is Resistance is an internationalist organization determined to promote non-violent resistance through cultural arts.

 

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact:

Kambale Musavuli, 646-571-8312, info@friendsofthecongo.org

Ryan Green, 917-284-5343, questions@existenceisresistance.org

Posted by Ayman at 2:24 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Commemorate the Assasination of Patrice Lumumba: A Benefit Concert to Support the Congo Movement

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Jan 122012
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Congo Week 2012 Events Print
Lumumba 51: A benefit Concert to Support the Congo Movement

 

As a kick-off to the 2012 calendar, Friends of the Congo invites our supporters to join us on January 17, 2012 at the Taj Lounge. The evening will commemorate the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Congo’s first democratically elected Prime Minister, Patrice Emery Lumumba.

Purchase Tickets!

Everyone can lend their strengths to this critical movement – activists, socialites, musicians, community leaders and organizers are welcomed to join-in. Attendees will be engaged in live DJ, musical performances, a film and introduction of the 2012 events calendar. This premier location will set the standard for the caliber of events people can expect from FOTC and highlight previous moments in a visual presentation.

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Time: 6:00 pm –     12 midnight
Venue: Taj Lounge: 48 W. 21 st Street, New York, NY Website: tajlounge.com
Turnout: Space Limited: Purchase Tickets Now! Tickets : $20 advance / $25 door

Email: events@friendsofthecongo.org
Key Components of The Evening:

Posted by Ayman at 4:02 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,
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