Editorial Note: The
following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may
also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology.
Comments are in parentheses.
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Retake
Liberty Square, Celebrate 6 Months of Protests
UPDATE: March tonight (3/18) in NYC!
Converge at 8pm at the red cube across from Liberty Plaza. Show
support for the dozens arrested and those beaten by police last
night. We will not let police repression stop us! COME and share
widely!!!
Yesterday, on the 6-month anniversary of the original Occupation
of Wall Street, #OWS went back to our origins. After a weekend of
marches on Wall Street complete with spring training exercises, a
St. Patrick´s Day march, street theater, floating tents, and dancing
in the intersections, Liberty Square was re-occupied by thousands of
Occupy supporters. Unfortunately, bringing back memories of November
15th, NYPD violently evicted us from our home once again while
Occupiers were hugging old friends and celebrating the coming of
spring in the park.
According to the New York Times, ¨scores¨ were arrested, and more
injured, during the attack. Police used city buses to corral
mass-arrested protesters. Media were not allowed to cover the
events. After clearing the Square, NYPD placed barricades around the
area - an act specifically barred by previous legal action. At least
one person was taken to the hospital on a stretcher. We have also
heard reports of seizures and broken bones. On Livestream, peaceful
protesters are seen being tackled, punched, stomped, choked, hit
with batons, and thrown against cars for no reason other than
sitting down to peacefully protest inequality in a public park. At
around 3:40 minutes into the following video, watch as NYPD slams a
medic´s head against a glass window and shatters it.
On Friday, March 16, 2012, at 2PM, Occupy Wall Street will
converge in the streets once again and launch the first in a series
of spring training marches from Liberty Square to Wall Street in
preparation for May Day, a day of massive economic non-compliance
and strike. These marches will occur weekly and will allow
occupiers to practice various street tactics and theatrics. For the
first march, participants are encouraged to wear athletic gear, don
their game face, and prepare to make the 1% feel the burn!
Organizers say besides growing comfortable employing various
tactics with each other in actions, the intention of these marches
are to strengthen the community to make upcoming campaigns and
efforts, like reoccupation, as successful as possible.
After organizing, training, learning, growing, and working
together for the winter months, Occupy is returning back to the
basics as done in September: accessible direct actions to strengthen
our community and voice our grievances to the 1%. Crimes by Wall
Street brought us here and the 99% will continue to drive the
message home and make civil unrest tangible.
The schedule is as follows: Meet at 2 PM in
Liberty Square for sign making and a short march tactics training.
At 3 PM occupiers will march to Wall Street and descend on the New
York Stock Exchange to counter the closing bell with “The People’s
Gong.” Following the march there will be a potluck dinner at 60 Wall
Street.
Posted 4 days ago on March 14, 2012, 12:03 p.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
This newsletter includes a partial listing of events related
to the Occupy Movement in New York City. To receive these
notifications via e-mail, and to find full meeting listings and
group information, register online at
www.nycga.net.
Occupy these Upcoming Events!
Wednesday, March 14, 11:00am-2:00pm 1%ers for Romney
Rally Outside Fundraiser Luncheon for Romney Outside Waldorf
Astoria Hotel 301 Park Ave (at 50th St) This will be a
fun filled 1%ers for Romney rally with people dressed to the nines,
ball gowns, suits, top hats and tiaras – and signs that echo
Romney’s own words, “Corporations are People too!” as well as “Buy
Your Own Politician. Romney’s Mine.” We’ll highlight the nightmare
of corporate personhood and the selling of our democracy to the top
bidder.
http://www.nycga.net/events/event/mr1-action-against-mitt-romney-fundraiser
Saturday, March 17, 11:00-1pm Parents for Occupy Wall
Street - #M17 Call to Action: The Children´s Chalkupation Liberty
Plaza / Zuccotti Thursday March 8th, around 11pm, 3
occupiers were arrested and detained for over 20 hours for the
heinous acts of criminal trespass, trespass and graffiti. What
specifically was their criminal activity? - 2 were arrested for
drawing on the ground with sidewalk chalk, the 3rd for watching
them! This latest example of the NYPD subjecting outrageous
oppression on peaceful OWS protestors, and suppression of first
amendment free speech in a 24 hour public park is disgusting, petty
and a blatant waste of time and police resources. Immediately
following the arrests @OWSTactical called for a 'Chalkupation' to
show solidarity with the arrested. On Saturday March 17 at 11 am,
Parents for Occupy Wall St. and their children call for all of New
York's children and parents to join to take colored sticks of
calcium carbonate in their hands and defiantly 'Chalkupy' Liberty
Plaza for the right to play freely in public space! We plan to cover
the park with vibrant chalks of 99% Super Heroes, OWS Kids
Characters, and 1% Meanies.
Facebook
event
Saturday, March 17, 1:00pm Silent Procession American
Spring - Sowing the Seeds of Change March from Liberty Square to
Hunger Memorial A Call to Action on our six month
anniversary: Laying to rest hunger and greed, welcoming a new
season, celebrating our resilience and determination. Join a silent
procession to bury hunger, greed and grief, of ritual burial and
re-birth. Speakers will address issues of food sustainability,
housing, health care, and the economy.
http://www.nycga.net/events/event/m17-march
Saturday, March 17, 2:00pm Celebration and 24-hour
Reoccupation Liberty Square As part of the American
Spring, OWS Direct Action will make an effort to liberate space for
24 hours for the people and by the people. We will gather all
afternoon at Liberty Square, and at 5pm march to the re-occupation.
http://www.nycga.net/events/event/m17-24-hour-reoccupation
Saturday, March 17, 3:00pm - 4:50pm Left Forum Panel -
Occupy Your Work Place 1 Pace Plaza, 5th floor, room W503
Occupy Your Workplace is interested in exploring diverse ways to
build workers’ power. This panel will explore larger questions
regarding the contemporary working class and discuss various forms
of worker organization that are promising.
http://www.nycga.net/events/event/left-fourm-pannel
Saturday March 24, 10:00am Disrupt Dirty Power!
United Nations Plaza, 405 E. 42nd Street Occupy Wall
Street and allied organizations will kick off a global month of
action leading up to Earth Day, April 22, to connect the dots
between the 1% and the destruction of the planet. Mock corporate
polluters will set up shop, and the 99% will take them on!
http://www.nycga.net/events/event/disrupt-dirty-power
**Sunday, March 25, 11:00am-7:00pm Occupy Town Square IV
Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn Occupy Town Squares are daytime
occupations held in parks and other public spaces around NYC. With
info tables, teach-ins, and political discussions, each event seeks
to recreate the spirit of occupation and reclaim our public commons.
Come share your ideas and stories, learn about the movement, argue
with us, debate with us, collaborate with us.
https://www.facebook.com/events/182968688482467
Every Day in March, 11:30-2:00pm Cultural Occupation
Of Liberty Square (COOLS) Liberty Square OWS inspired
the world by maintaining a presence in Liberty Square – creating a
viral action that spread across the country and the globe. COOLS
brings, food, discussion, education and fun to the park every day.
Bring your appetite and light the fire in your belly that will
ignite our actions going forward. Join us – we need each other. Do
it now! Tweet using #ows and #CultureOcc and find a full schedule of
special events, speakers and performances at
http://www.cools.nycga.net
SAVE THE DATE: May 1 Call to Action: May Day 2012
If you’d like to be added to the announcement and/or discussion
listserv or have any questions regarding meeting time, location,
structure, please contact mayday@nycga.net. http://www.maydaynyc.org
Occupy Everything
Don’t know where to begin? Want help connecting to specific
groups and projects? Join us at the next OWS Orientation on our six
month anniversary, this Saturday March 17, at noon, in the Atrium at
60 Wall Street. Email Tascha at orientation@nycga.net. For more
ideas check out Check out
The Occupy Wall Street Project List and
classifieds.occupy.net.
This week’s featured Occu-Project: Help plan the Occupy Town
Square events, including the next one in Fort Greene Park. Occupy
Town Square is looking for creative and hard working people to help
with event promotion, scheduling, visual identity for spaces, and
connecting to community groups throughout the five boroughs. To get
involved, email occupytownq@gmail.com, join
occupytownsquare@googlegroups.com, or attend the weekly meeting
every Wednesday, 8pm, in the Atrium at 60 Wall Street.
Posted 5
days ago on March 13, 2012, 5:54 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
OccupyWallSt.org is partnering with
The Occupied Wall Street Journal
to syndicate these weekly reports from Occupations across the world.
YOUR WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF OCCUPY MOVEMENT NEWS
"For Real, Dude?" A woman stares down a Virginia state policeman
during a peaceful International Women's Day demonstration. Photo:
Style Weekly/Buzzfeed
This week in Occupy, International Women's Day was #occupied,
the bill for NYPD misbehavior came due, the CEO of B of A was mic-checked
and New York City lined up for unemployment on Super Tuesday.
On March 8, International Women's Day, more than a thousand
demonstrators
gathered at the Virginia State Capitol
to protest
a new amendment that passed the Virginia House requiring women to
have an ultrasound before having an abortion.
31 people were arrested by the State Police Tactical Team, which
arrived fully armed and brandishing plastic shields at the behest of
Governor Bob McDonnell.
Also on that day, CODEPINK protesters wearing superhero costumes
ralliedoutside a Beverly Hills Bank of America branch in support
of women and families who have lost their homes due to bank
foreclosures. CODEPINK activists in New York, joined by members of
the Church of Stop Shopping,
protestedinside a Bank of America branch near Zuccotti Park.
Read More...
Posted 6 days ago on March 12, 2012, 11:52 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
Bank of America has stolen millions of homes. It's time to turn
the tables! Watch a crew of Occupiers set up their new living room
in a New York City branch of Bank of America, which is being rented
by the taxpayers at a cost of $230 billion in bailouts from the U.S.
government:
If you are asking yourself, "Why Bank of America?", please visit
F(oreclose) the Banks!
Posted 1 week ago on
March 11, 2012, 7:57 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
Yesterday, 60,000 marched on Madison to mark the one-year
anniversary of the passage of Governor Scott Walker's drastic
dismantling of collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Last year, Walker's attacks on labor rights sparked massive protests
that saw hundreds of thousands occupy the Wisconsin capital
building. Their actions prefigured Occupy Wall Street and inspired
countless others to take a stand against economic inequality,
political injustice, and the tyranny of the 1% enforced through
politicians and banksters alike.
This is just one example that people across the globe are
actively resisting attacks on the 99%. This year has already seen
the largest-ever strike on record in India, hundreds of thousands
marching for democracy in Bahrain, general strikes in Montreal and
Spain where students once again occupied public space in protest of
the austerity measures and spending cuts being enforced by the
European banking elite, massive uprisings in the streets of Moscow,
and more. Even in the United States, the movement grows. The
corporate media claims that Occupy's strength is waning, but they
are merely in denial. During the coldest months of this year, the
United States has already seen more revolutionary momentum than it
has in decades.
This winter, we refocused our energies on fostering ties with
local communities, saving homes from corrupt banks and jobs from
greedy corporations, and building and expanding our horizontal
infrastructure. This #GlobalSpring, we will take the streets again.
On May 1st, Occupy Wall Street has called for a General
Strike. We are calling on everyone who supports the cause
of economic justice and true democracy to take part: No Work, No
School, No Housework, No Shopping, No Banking - and most
importantly, TAKE THE STREETS!
We are getting ready. Planning is already underway in dozens of
cities. Labor organizers, immigrants’ rights groups, artists,
Occupiers, faith leaders, and more have all joined in the discussion
to get ready. Now, all we need is you. Keep reading
to find out how you can get involved!
PTH and members of Occupy Wall Street will be holding a
Sleepout on March 15th, 2012 in Erik Martin Dilan's Council
District!
Who is Erik Martin Dilan? He is the Chair of the City
Council's Housing and Buildings Committee. Why is this
significant? Our legislation, "Annual Census of Vacant Buildings
and Lots", aka Intro 48 has been sitting on his desk since it
was introduced, February 11th, 2010, which means it has been
held hostage for 2 years, 27 days as of this writing. Until he
calendars (schedules) a hearing, the bill cannot be voted on by
the City Council. 10 members of his committee are co-sponsors as
well as 29 members of the council as a whole. Picture the
Homeless counted vacant property in 20 Community Boards this
Summer, representing a third of the City. We found enough space
to house 199,981 people. Imagine what we would find in the other
two-thirds.
This issue is beyond Intro 48 not being called for a hearing.
The fact that a bill so overwhelmingly supported by members of
the City Council has yet to pass committee sheds light on the
problems in our legislative and democratic process. This is an
example of what the Occupy Wall Street movement has been
highlighting.
Come join us help Erik Martin Dilan do the right thing, his
job and calendar Intro 48 for the long overdue hearing it
deserves. There will be a 4:00pm press conference, followed by a
series of Teach-ins discussing:
· Vacant Properties in New York City · Community Land
Trust · A tour of 212 Unit Complex that is 75-85% vacant
In the meantime, call his offices and tell him so. His
District Office number is 1-718-642-8664, his legislative office
number is 1-212-788-7284. For further information contact Adrian
Antonio Paling at adrian@picturethehomeless.org.
Click the following link to view our report identifying the
shocking results of our vacant property count:http://picturethehomeless.org/
Posted 1 week ago on March 8, 2012, 10:21 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
Last Saturday, a group of protesters including veterans of Occupy
Richmond gathered peacefully on the steps of the Virginia State
Capitol to protest the state's latest assault on women's rights.
They were surrounded by riot police and dragged away under the guns
of a SWAT team armed with automatic weapons - a startling reminder
that the "War on Women" is not simply empty rhetoric.
Across the United States, women's rights are under attack. In a
desperate ploy to distract public attention from the growing divide
between rich and poor, agents of the 1% in government and media are
crusading with fresh fervor against abortion, birth control, and gay
marriage. By launching a renewed culture war on women, LGBT people,
and other vulnerable communities, they hope to divide the 99%.
We will not be divided. Occupy Wall Street
stands in solidarity with women and all oppressed people targeted by
government control and economic violence.
Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day. International
Women’s Day has been rooted in the struggle for economic justice,
growing out of local demonstrations by women workers demanding
shorter hours, better pay, voting rights, and an end to
discrimination. Thousands of events will be taking place across the
globe. Occupations in cities and towns across the world are marking
the event with a variety of events, from discussions on
women,
capitalism, and the state to
marches for reproductive justice and against cuts to public school
and transportation funding.
In the United States and across the globe, women, transgender
people, and gender non-conforming people still face a host of
barriers that make survival in this economy even more difficult.
Women make up 51 percent of the world’s population but 70 percent of
the world’s poor. They perform 66 percent of the world’s work,
produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income
and own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. Women and trans
people suffer disproportionately under a system of economic
inequality, and are also at the front lines of social justice
struggles.
Women Occupy has called on
the Occupy movement to rise up and occupy Bank of America in support
of women-led campaigns to stop its ecological and economic violence.
The policies and actions of BoA, such as racist predatory lending,
investment in environmentally destructive practices like mountaintop
removal, and the foreclosure crisis all disproportionately impact
women and trans people. It's time to fight back against Bank of
America and the patriarchal economic system it represents! For more
information on why women and allies are targeting Bank of America,
or to get involved, see
Women Occupy's Resources for International Women's Day:
This International Women’s Day, Women Occupy calls on women
across the globe to rise up against the big banks that have
caused the current economic crisis. Women Occupy is a coalition
of activists who are joining forces to coordinate powerful
actions across the Occupy movement, starting with International
Women’s Day. In the United States we are supporting collective
efforts initiated by Occupy activists, particularly the
women-led campaigns of Public Citizen and Rainforest Action
Network, to hold Bank of America – the biggest of the big banks
– accountable for the predatory economic policies that are
destroying our families and communities.
In New York, the International Women's Day march will
begin at Liberty Square at 1pm this Saturday (March 10th)!
via
CodePink:
This is in observation of International Women’s Day
Celebration. We will be marching up Broadway to Union Square. We
are doing it on Saturday so all hard working women, stay at home
moms and unemployed and all self identified women can join us.
This is a celebration of women globally and for what women have
fought for. Bring your voices, your signs, your music whatever
makes you happy. We are a powerful force. We can change the
world. Women have the power to stop war, end corruption in our
governments and economic systems. We will continue to fight for
equal rights and our right to our bodies. History has proven
that women get it done so lets all unite and celebrate what we
have fought for and cherish. Let us unite and have our voices
heard! This celebration includes all self identified women!
Russian feminist punk band
Pussy Riot leading
mass protests against Vladimir Putin and election fraud. Band
members have been arrested during protests related to International
Women's Day and are currently being held by the Russian regime,
where two are on hunger strike.
Posted 1 week ago on March 7, 2012, 6:27 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
Spring is in the air, and Occupy momentum is growing. We invite
you to join the upcoming events contained in this inaugural
Occupy Wall Street newsletter. This newsletter includes a
partial listing of events related to the Occupy Movement in New York
City. To receive these notifications via e-mail, and to find full
meeting listings and group information, register online at
www.nycga.net.
Posted 1 week ago on March 6, 2012, 5:19 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
OccupyWallSt.org is partnering with
The Occupied Wall Street Journal
to syndicate these weekly reports from Occupations across the world.
This week in Occupy, more than 80 Shut Down the
Corporations actions on #F29 signaled a spring resurgence, student
activists across the nation marched for an affordable education and
the Occupy movement introduced the mainstream media—and the
country—to the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The NYPD shut down Zuccotti Park just minutes after midnight on
February 29 in a strong yet baffling show of force that saw 40 cops
monitoring 30 protesters. The eight resulting arrests were seemingly
arbitrary and incidental, spurred after several protesters brought
backpacks and sleeping bags into the park—and occurring just hours
after
a leaked internal memo revealed that Bloomberg’s “private army”
had done its homework and knew many details about the following
day’s New York-based actions. (For a full wrap-up of the day’s
events, go
here.)
Later that day, a 200-strong march through the rain-slicked
streets of midtown Manhattan
snaked past the headquarters of Bank of America, Pfizer and the
New York offices of Koch Industries, hitting a Wells Fargo or two
along the way. They were joined by the political journalist
Matt Taibbi.
(Video)
In Riverside, California, Occupy LA shut down
three Wal-Mart distribution centers after occupying the immediate
area all morning, only to be met by aggressive police officers who
forced demonstrators to retreat. “This is the evolution of humanity,
and sadly this is what we must do to get to the other side,”
observed independent video journalist Freedom, who operates
Occupy Freedom LA.
This site contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for
in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Opinions
expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors
and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah & ccun.org.
