Under Lock & Key

While reading what a California prisoner said in ULK 41, I was disappointed to see that the Muslim prisoners failed to meet their obligation in supporting the solidarity movement in support of the oppressed people of Palestine. Therefore, I decided to put together a petition here in hopes that we could at least show our support by signing a piece of paper.

Although I initially drafted the petition for the Muslim community here, there were a couple of non-Muslim brothers who signed it as well. And just as the California brother was met with some opposition, I too encountered quite a few "brothers" who were either afraid to sign or just didn't care about the plight and fight of the Palestinian people.

However, I collected thirty signatures and I do believe that I could have gotten more, but I really don't have access to the yard as some other prisoners do. There are a few of us here that are true and tested soldiers and we are trying to bring forth some political and social awareness, though most of us are learning as we go.

The petition reads:

A Statement of Unity and Solidarity with the Palestinian People, from Muslim Prisoners in South Carolina (Note: Non-Muslims signed as well)

As prisoners of good conscience we reject the genocide and slaughter which has hystorically been imposed on the people of Palestine and which is currently being played out by the Jewish state ever since the creation of I$rael in 1948. And while the Amerikan imperialists and their general citizenry and population have found us guilty of crimes against civil society, we prisoners likewise find them guilty of crimes against humynity for their collusion with the state of I$rael to exterminate the Palestinian nation.

Within these walls we are as yet powerless to tap into the potential of the imprisoned lumpen, but we are not yet powerless to sign a piece of paper to denounce the state of I$rael and their support in the United $tates. Therefore with this declaration we angrily express our indignation with the state of Israel for committing genocide, and the Israeli people for allowing it to happen in the 21st century after vowing "never again."

MIM(Prisons) adds: We had previously reported on the relative success of a campaign to support Palestine led by United Struggle from Within following the latest flurry of attacks by I$rael. Due to timing and mail issues only a small number of USW leaders were notified of the campaign at first. It is good to see that the campaign continues to gain support across the U.$. prison population. This is internationalism in action, recognizing the interconnectedness between all oppressed nations under imperialism.

This comrade wrote that they are "as yet powerless to tap into the potential of the imprisoned lumpen." Yet it is actions just like the Palestine petition which help open the door to develop the potential of our imprisoned comrades. Even having access to a small number of people, as in this author's case, we can start the very first steps toward building a bigger movement against oppression and imperialism. Discussing an international act of imperialist aggression with others, and asking them to take a small step toward making a statement against it, is valuable for laying the foundation for bigger things to come.

"According to the United Nations, 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, leaving 600,000 Palestinians — nearly one in three of Gaza's population — homeless or in urgent need of humanitarian help. Roads, schools and the electricity plant to power water and sewerage systems are in ruins."(1)

It is not too late to rally in support of the Palestinian struggle! As of the beginning of November, USW comrades have gathered over 60 signatures to this petition in at least seven different prisons. Signatures are still coming in and a number of comrades have reported to still be working on collecting signatures in their latest communications.

While the numbers may not be overly impressive, to date only 17 of those comrades originally sent the petition have even reported receiving it. One Texas comrade who gathered 9 signatures reported doing so despite the prison being on lockdown (no one being able to leave their cells) and the recent cut off of fishing (sending notes between cells by string). At least one comrade could not get any other signatures due to the risk of political repression as a validated "gang member" in the control unit where he is held. It is no coincidence that many of our most active and politically conscious comrades find themselves in such conditions.(2)

This campaign to support the people of Palestine is significant in that it is the first USW-initiated campaign around an issue not related to the immediate conditions of prisoners themselves since MIM(Prisons) has been around. The campaign was launched without a lot of preparation, and despite the inherent limitations imposed on those in prison, we got good participation. As one California comrade recently reported, the petition was a tool for outreach that led to many political dialogues and lessons learned that will contribute to the building of the anti-imperialist movement in U.$. prisons. Their efforts to collect signatures reached beyond just those who signed the petition.

The need for these types of agitational campaigns is one of the lessons that we can take away from this experience. The barriers among much of the prison population to supporting the Palestinians' right to survival are built on a combination of Amerikan patriotism, misinformation and apathy. However, to sum up the reports we have received, we'd say that fear of repression is the number one barrier being faced, which is a problem USW faces with all its campaigns. One comrade reported setbacks due to fears around hysteria surrounding the Islamic State.

A number of comrades reported not being able to get any signatures yet, and one wrote from California:

"My focus thus far has been on the socially conscious Muslim prisoners, whom I guessed would be the most willing out of everyone to sign the petition. But I'm starting to see more and more that the overwhelming majority in Amerikkka just ain't willing to take a stand against these racist imperialist idiots in no way shape or form. Not one of the Muslims, out of the around 25 prisoners I approached, would sign the thing. The excuses ranged from, 'We need to worry about fixing 'home' first...' to just flat out 'The Jews have too much control in this country for me to sign some paper and get on their shit list.' ... so far everybody but me has been too scared to sign it."

A few weeks later this comrade submitted h petition with 25 signatures. This fear of signing is a common problem in prisons where all mail is read and punishment for activism can be severe. A comrade in Colorado wrote:

"I read the last issue of ULK and I want to say that the U.S. policy against Palestine has long been underrepresented and ignored. Amerikkka is telling the people of Gaza and Lebanon that it will allow Israel to murder and justify it in the name of 'peace.' I feel that the greatest threat to world peace is the U.S. foreign policy. As prisoners we all should stand with the people of Gaza and their right to self-defense and self-determination. Progress is being made here as far as the petition goes. Many are in solidarity against amerikkkan imperialism as it stands with Israel yet many are afraid to sign."

One letter from Virginia described the difficulty promoting internationalism:

"I have been having trouble convincing prisoners here to sign the Palestine USW petition. The fear of institutional retaliation keeps a majority of them from involving themselves in any type of radical struggles or demonstrations. Compounding the problem is the fact they cannot grasp the concept of 'internationalism.' The dominant question was, 'what do the Palestinians have to do with me?' I tried as hard as I could to convince them that all struggles against imperialism abroad are a reflection of the non-ruling class struggles here in the Empire. So please do not construe the lack of signatures as an indicator of my lack of organizing skills."

This question of "what the Palestinian struggle has to do with me" is a manifestation of the relative wealth and privilege of Amerikans as a whole. In reality the Palestinian struggle is counter to the material interests of the petty bourgeois majority in the United $tates which enjoys a supply of cheap gas ensured by Amerikan military presence in the Middle East. Like the struggle of oppressed people around the world, the Palestinian people's fight for national liberation threatens Amerikan imperialism and its ability to control and exploit the labor of Third World peoples. Any successful revolt against Amerikan imperialism and its allies/puppets (such as I$rael) will destabilize that power and may inspire others.

But when building public opinion with the lumpen in prison we can at least draw some connections to national oppression within U.$. borders and the national oppression of Palestinians. One researcher has claimed that Palestinians are the most imprisoned people in the world, based on the percentage who have been in prison (the United $tates is still #1 in the number of prisoners it holds at one time). New Afrikans and the original inhabitants on North America are potential rivals for this title. In both places, the dominant nation, with the weapons and wealth, is denying the oppressed nations independence and self-determination. And the cause of the Palestinian people is allied with the cause of oppressed nations everywhere in the world; the common enemy is imperialism.

Another persyn wrote about some more reactionary responses to h attempts to collect signatures.

"I attempt to discuss issues raised by MIM, but I'm completely lacking in knowledge. For example, prisoners here state that the Palestinians deserve the bombing because Hamas fired rockets into Israel. They say the land of Israel is not occupied by foreigners — that it belongs to Jews. They (prisoners here — a large number) say that there has never been a nation called 'Palestine' and that the people who today label themselves 'Palestinians' are simply Arabs mostly from the Trans Jordan area. So what is the correct response?"

These positions raise the important question of how we define a nation. Stalin gave us guidance on this point, describing a nation as a group of people with a common language, culture, territory and economy (which is different than a nation-state). The Palestinian people certainly meet these requirements. Nations can arise and fall over time, as humynity evolves and conditions change. While I$rael has evolved into a nation today, Stalin was correct to argue that there was no Jewish nation in his day. It was only after WWII and a mass migration of Europeans to Palestine, and the genocide that cleared the previous inhabitants of that land, that I$rael began its formation.

As for the question of Hamas firing rockets into I$rael, this certainly has happened. And we uphold the right of people to defend themselves. This is simply a question of incorrect facts. The Palestinian people are righteously defending themselves against a much more powerful oppressor who is constantly threatening their lives and taking over more of their land. A cursory study of history shows who is the agressor in this conflict. Even numbers from the end of July on this recent battle demonstrate this: while I$rael reported 56 deaths (53 soldiers), in the Gaza Strip 1,170 had been killed, many of them civilians in their homes.(3) For those who are serious about studying the history of Palestine and I$rael we can offer reading material, but for those who just want to support the imperialists and accept their lies and propaganda, it's probably best to just move on and look elsewhere for supporters. Let them eat their Thanksgiving turkeys and celebrate the superiority of Europeans over the indigenous people of the lands they occupy and destroy.

I write this in support and in reply to the couple articles regarding Support for the People of Palestine I recently read within ULK's September/October 2014 issue #40.

A little over a month ago, I awoke to a PBS early morning segment concerning the struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate themselves and their land from Israeli occupation and oppression. In this documentary I witnessed personnel of the Israeli military serve eviction notices to Palestinian people in Palestinian housing on Palestinian land, claiming to be taking control of the housing under the authority of the state of Israel. I also witnessed the recently built Israeli settlements being moved into by Israeli civilians as flustered Palestinian fathers, seemingly not 100 yards away on the opposite side of some sort of security fencing, had to attempt to explain to their children how it was no longer their (Palestinian) land, one even pointing to where his store used to be. Imagine trying to explain imperialism to a child who is barely old enough to tie his own shoes.

The United States and Israel, the Middle East's neighborhood bullies, seem to think it acceptable to propose 'peace' and 'tolerance' while they exploit a people and their land. They seem to think the victims should 'get over' the loss of their lands and the heartless slaughter and oppression of their people. When the victims wage armed struggle the oppressors scream "foul/self-defense" as if to say "why do you hate us so?" And in keeping with the bully analogy, of course, when a bully has historically, and is continuously oppressing a people, the bully always has to worry about retaliation. Israel has no moral ground in this scenario, at all. You stole their land and oppress their people, therefore the Palestinian people reserve the moral right to liberate themselves when and how they see fit. Trip off of this: while the U.S. feeds Israel arms as Israel takes Palestinian land, the U.S. condemns Russia for absorbing Crimea. On behalf of New Afrikans, I declare solidarity with the righteous Palestinian people!

And, of course, some Zionist Jews shall read this and cry "anti-Semitic," because to them such a claim trumps truth. Well, let me remind them ahead of them proclaiming such a factoid, the Palestinians are semites too! The definition of semite is "a member of any group of peoples (as the Hebrews or Arabs) of Southwestern Asia."

Warmongering propaganda is at high levels in the United $tates, as it seems no positive lessons were taken from September 11, 2001. It took about a decade for Amerikans to lose interest in the U.$. occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This contributed to almost two-thirds of Amerikans opposing Obama's push to invade Syria less than a year ago. Yet already, about two-thirds of the population now agrees with Obama that they would rather control the government in Syria than keep Amerikan journalists' heads attached to their bodies.

Militarism is driven by an economic system that is built around arms production and requires war to keep up demand. Arms shipments have increased recently to I$rael, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq where the U.$. has resumed bombing campaigns that are destroying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of American military equipment now in the hands of the Islamic State. Every strike made by either side in that war is a boon to Amerikan business.

Meanwhile, Russia has been clear that they will not let Ukraine join NATO. The United $tates and Russia are the two biggest nuclear powers in the world. Yet Obama is pushing to have Ukraine join NATO, and Amerikan anti-Russian sentiment is on the rise in support of him. Open conflict with Russia would greatly increase the already unacceptable risk of nuclear catostrophe due to militarism.

The last 15 years have proven that U.$. militarism cannot be stopped by the Amerikan anti-war movement. Rather, revolutionaries in the United $tates must focus on pushing the national liberation struggles of the internal semi-colonies in solidarity with the Third World. Campaigns like the one in support of Palestine by California prisoners are good for building anti-militarism in the United $tates.

Currently the media and Western politicians are promoting the line that the Islamic State is the biggest threat to peace globally. They are way off the mark. That role has long remained in the hands of the United $tates and its military industrial complex.

I have been a loyal supporter of the oppressed Palestinian people for over 20 years now, when I was at liberty and since I've been an unwilling guest of the Amerikan gulag system. I had a Palestinian instructor in college and she really opened my eyes to the high-handed imperialist tactics of the United States government.

Being a homosexual in Amerika during the 1980s and forced to confront the atypical everyday injustices co-opted from oppressive world religions and given the wink and nod by various White House administrations and Congress, I thus opposed the despotic and dictatorial government whose flag I am unfortunate to be forced to live under. Unfortunately these revelations robbed me of my adolescence at 12 and 13 years of age.

My people have suffered and died under this regime since its inception over 200 years ago. But even more tragic, we have suffered, as have the Palestinian people, the consequences of the Hebrew/Jewish religious and cultural influence that have poisoned the earth now for thousands of years with its Zionist agenda.

Make no mistake, I have no quarrel with the common Israeli citizen nor the adherents of Judaism. I am not anti-semitic in any way. But I do however dream of a day when the food and destructive influences of radical religions are all eliminated.

I wish these religious zealots no evil end or personal ill will. Only that they could learn to live in peace and harmony with those of us who simply want to live our lives as we choose as equals along with the rest of the world. Not as half-men, half-women, freaks or outcasts. We only ask equal rights and to benefit from equal justice.

Our people too suffered in places such as Bergen-Beese and the like. Our extermination has been sought by all cultures and ethnicities since the dawn of time. Mostly in the name of one God or another. And Yahweh - the god of the Jews - seems to be the most bloodthirsty of all.

Our children have the basic human right and reasonable expectation to grow up as homosexuals or heterosexuals without their fears and insecurities being created as a result of the hatred and intolerance of a sheep-like population that has been brainwashed by government stooges through the world. Religion truly is the opiate of the masses. Sadly though, these puppeteers sit, primarily in London, Washington and, yes, Jerusalem.

We homosexuals in the United States and throughout the world have the human right, as do the Palestinian people, to self-determination notwithstanding the dictatorial influence of world religions propped up by hypocritical governments seeking only to control the masses.

Sadly, we do not live in a true democracy. We live under an authoritarian government. A democracy is a nation governed by the will of the people that seeks social equality. No, friends, we live in a theocracy that masquerades as a democracy.

It is also sad that Palestine - primarily a Muslim, heterosexual nation - do not enjoy even the limited human rights the vilified homosexual minorities of the western world do.

It is my sincere hope that my homosexual brothers and sisters throughout the world, those not brainwashed by the Israeli propaganda machines, would stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people in opposition to the jackbooted Israeli thugs in Jerusalem.

The Amerikan government stands behind and actively supports the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel through her leaders by financing this obvious extermination attempt of an ancient people and culture with Amerikan tax dollars and military aid, thus forcing all tax paying Amerikan citizens to be unintended co-conspirators in these crimes against humanity.

This purportedly is to defend a peace-loving nation claiming only to want to exist. Yet that same nation actively seeks the utter annihilation and complete extermination of a legitimate ethnic group of human beings, with ancient ties to the disputed land in question, from the face of the earth.

Amerika has demonstrated they are a nation of liars and hypocrites. We have known since 1967 that Israel always has been. Never again, indeed!

MIM(Prisons) responds: This comrade correctly ties the struggles of one oppressed group (gays) to the struggles of another oppressed group (Palestinians) by noting one common source of oppression in bourgeois culture in the form of religion. And further s/he correctly points out that Palestinians enjoy even fewer rights than most gays in imperialist countries, a point that is crucial for us to understand because it underscores the relative wealth and power of those living in oppressor nations compared to the oppressed nations like Palestine. In fact, tax-paying Amerikans mostly support the U.$. government and the I$raeli regime it supports, and so they don't mind being party to these crimes funded by U.$. military aid. In the arena of international politics it is important that we are able to distinguish our friends from our enemies. We do not want to create false unity with our enemies, nor do we want to divide unnecessarily from those on the anti-imperialist side of the struggle.

El bombardeo contra el pueblo Palestino no se puede describir en palabras. Mi forma de ver a Israel a cambiado de un estado asentado a un estado terroristico. Mas de 1,000+ Palestinos han sido asesinados por Israel. La mayoría de las víctimas son civiles. Niños y ancianos descuartizados por bombas Israelíes. Esta atrocidad sigue sin ninguna palabra de los medios de comunicación Americanos crítica de parte de los portavoces contra estos actos casi no existe, pero esto no es ninguna sorpresa.

Yo sigo en lo que puedo, la guerra Israelí contra los Palestinos desde este campo de muerte llamado Pelican Bay SHU. Lo que veo mas que nada es que Israel ataca a niños y hospitales. La gente quedan enterradas en sus hogares y cuando se hace atentos de rescate, los tiradores escondidos disparan contra los rescatadores. Los militares Israelíes convierten los hogares Palestinos en nidos para los tiradores escondidos después de botar a los Palestinos. Están disparandole a mujeres y niños para infligir terror a las vidas de los Palestinos que nunca van a parar su lucha por su liberación.

Yo saco mucha fuerza de los Palestinos y aprendo mucho de sus ejemplos concretos de lo que es luchar contra un ocupador terroristico. Pienso que el mundo entero esta aprendiendo lo que es la resistencia. Los Palestinos de hoy son un ejemplo en que podemos aprender. Están sin asistencia económica pero siempre encuentran la manera de pelear contra los tanques y misiles sufriendo de hambre, descalzos solo con AKs y puños cerrados.

El estado terroristicos Israelí es un ejemplo audaz de colonialismo que tiene que ser eliminado de la humanidad. Los Palestinos son rehenes cuales son bombardeados al gusto de los Israelís. Pero la mayoría de los asesinados son civiles y no se oye ni una palabra de los gusanos Amerikkkanos. No dicen nada porque en muchas maneras el estado terroristico Israeli es como un espejo de el estado terroristico Amerikkkano. Todavía no nos atacan en esta escala en este pais, pero las semi-colonias internas estan teniendo sus tierras ocupadas y estamos siendo asesinados selectivamente. Amerikkka usa el terror "blandito" con la tortura de el SHU, la pena de muerte y los guardias "cochinos/puercos/marranos/cerdos/lechones." En Palestina el terror no es "blandito," los misiles, tanques, y aviones de guerra masacrana la gente.

Estos actos terroristicos desatados por los perros Israelíes son los que me inspiran a propagar el anuncio que Palestina tiene que ser libre. Este avance militar me ha educado más que todos mis años de estudio. Después de ver el trato barbárico de los Palestinos lo único que puedo decir es que nunca más los Palestinos estarán solos peleando el colonialismo.

¡Viva Palestine Libre!

In August 2014, United Struggle from Within launched a petition campaign against the I$raeli settler state and to support the people of Palestine against the recent violent attacks. A petition was circulated to prisoners in many states and this is a report back from one persyn's efforts to collect signatures.

I was surprised to get as many signatures as I did, and most prisoners didn't have to hear much more than the basic thrust of the document to know that they wanted to sign. I offered everyone the petition to read for themselves so that they could be sure of what they were signing. For most people I broke the document down into three points. The first was simple opposition to the purposeful targeting of civilians by I$rael. Indeed most of the people who signed had very strong feelings about seeing wimmin and children being killed. The second point was our agreement that Israel's bombing of Gaza had to stop. The third was that even as so-called "thugs and criminalsm," even we know there are lines to be drawn in combat, and civilian deaths are a big no no. Therefore all signatories were united on one basic premise: no to the killing of wimmin and children.

Most prisoners quickly signed after hearing what I had to say, while two people just refused to sign. I was actually surprised since they were both "born again Christians" and part of the social base I'd thought would've been easiest to organize. One of them said he was currently in the process of reading something on that topic and would get back at me once he was thoroughly informed. I told him that I had already outlined everything he needed to know, but still he was hesitant. I then went into explaining the basics of the document but still he was unsure. He also seemed nervous for some reason at which point I thanked him and walked away.

The second "Christian" is a Vietnam veteran so I anticipated his hesitance but thought his so-called spiritually would transcend the political. Instead he quickly put on a look of disgust and kindly declined. I tried pushing him some based on his religious beliefs but still looking annoyed he once again declined, instead telling me that he would pray for the wimmin and children of Gaza but would not sign the petition. Of course I had some choice words for his bombastic air of superiority as he is one of those Christians who walks around with bible in hand, head to the sky as if he's superior or has reached some type of Nirvana to which none of us are privy; yet he cannot sign the petition.

Then there was someone else, another older gentleman who expressed something of shock and irritability at what I was proposing. Who was I to organize a petition for Palestine? And why should he sign it if no Amerikan lives where involved? I recited my script and basic points of unity to which he was still "confused." At this point I began to sense something of a chauvinist attitude emanating from his line of questioning. Finally I told him that if he didn't want to sign then that was fine as he was beginning to take up too much of my time.

But now he was the one who didn't want to let me go. He said he was only trying to understand my motivations. He said that during Hurricane Katrina he saw no petitions to help the people of New Orleans, that America has its own problems and that we should focus on that first instead of organizing for Palestine. Finally, he caught me off guard when he cited the many wars in Africa currently taking place and why wasn't I organizing for that? I was left speechless for about a second or two but then quickly recovered by telling him that he was right and that was a good point he made about Africa. I told him that if he wanted we could both put something together and start a petition. He quickly refused and then retreated to his second line of defense. He didn't understand the point of the petition. He said it wasn't gonna solve anything, therefore what was the point? I told him that he was wrong and that the purpose of the petition was to help build public awareness of the atrocities and to help build public opinion so as to hopefully put additional pressure on Israel. Furthermore if people on the streets who have the freedom and liberty to organize for Palestine saw that prisoners were circulating and signing a petition for Palestine then perhaps they'd be moved to do more.

He disagreed and instead proposed that I initiate a fundraiser/food drive here in which we can get a outside vendor to sponsor us and all money collected from prisoners could go to Palestine. (Various self-help groups here such as AA, NA, Anger Management, etc. have raised funds in the past thru these fundraisers with proceeds going to Locks of Love, cancer research, etc). I told him that we needed the administration's permission for such a drive and that they would never sanction us sending money to Palestine since they were a tool of the state. He vehemently disagreed.

He then went back to his point about Africa, and why did I choose Palestine over Africa? He said the only reason I chose Palestine was because I too was Middle-Eastern. I told him I was not, and he was more confused. I then told him that Palestine is a flash point on an international level compared to the civil wars in Africa and thereby more people would be easier to organize around this platform. I once again offered to work with him on an Africa project. He again refused. By this time I again offered to take my petition somewhere else but after a little more struggle he begrudgingly signed. I told him that if he was still pessimistic about it that I didn't need his signature as I wanted everyone's signature to be sincere, but he said he was good and I accepted.

As the day went on I got more signatures and had a couple interesting political conversations as a result. You can be sure that everyone who signed did so out of a sense of injustice in Palestine. My small petition drive was a good learning experience and helped me exercise my political speaking abilities.

Like many other people in here, as I was watching the situation in Gaza steadily worsen, so did my anger. One day I was nose-deep in a Che Guevara book with my TV on CNN in the background when breaking news of live footage of Israeli bombs targeting civilians came in. After a few minutes of cursing the United Nations, I$rael and the United $tates, I calmed down feeling somewhat demoralized at the fact that there was nothing I could do. Defeated, I sat back down and tried to temporarily put out of my head what I had just seen.

I dove back into the Che book when I immediately got my orders from "the commandante" himself, or his ex-wife rather. There is a chapter in the book about Che's time in Guatemala during his formative years and his work with the Arbenz government when the U.$.-backed coup took place and the country was in chaos. Revolutionaries and other activists were in the process of fleeing the country and hiding in various Latin American embassies. Che and his soon-to-be wife were among the last to seek shelter from the political repression, instead opting to continue their work in semi-underground fashion. Che's partner Hilda Gadea was in a somewhat tight bind at the time where her actions and movements were both limited and scrutinized by the new government. She was not able to do everything she wanted to do but she was at least able to start a petition denouncing the coup. Upon reading this I had something of a eureka moment and knew what I had to do, or what I could do.

It's now over a decade that U.S. military intervention has plagued the Middle East. U.S. imperialism invaded Iraq for supposedly having nuclear weapons, intervened in Lybia's civil strife blaming its government for mass murder, it sent troops into Afghanistan claiming it was a terrorist training camp for Al Qaeda, and it internationally denounced Syria for its use of chemical weapons against its own citizens and Russia for intervening in Ukraine's politics. U.S. imperialism has sharpened the antagonism in this region, intervening in one way or another in the pursuit of economic interests, disregarding this region's culture and these nationalities' own path of existence.

That's why it should come as no surprise that the United $tates has offered aid and assistance to Israel, while they are in the midst of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Some people argue that it is one-sided to just criticize the U.S. and Israeli governments for the ongoing brutal aggression in Gaza, but this is the reality of the situation in which Palestinian people live under occupied rule, denied their right to self-determination. We must also hold accountable the Amerikan masses who give favorable opinion to these governments out of "patriotic duty." Wasn't this the reason some celebrities had to recant or water down their sympathetic statements on Palestine (Rihanna and Selena Gomez among others). This is what is called First World chauvinism: believing that everything concerning the United States is righteous, and in this case also Israel by proxy. The rights of humanity should come before government patriotism.

As a USW comrade I encourage all conscious revolutionaries to expose the hypocrisy in U.S. international policies, their cronies, and the oppression of the Palestinian people. Denounce the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people.

Free Palestine!
Long live the people of Palestine!!

MIM(Prisons) adds: This is just one of a number of statements we have received from conscious prisoners outraged by the Israeli attacks on Palestine. Some prisoners have initiated a petition campaign to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people. This demonstration of internationalism from behind the bars of Amerikan prisons serves as an inspirational example for all who oppose imperialism.

Durante las pasadas semanas muchos de nosotros confinados dentro de las prisiones Amerikkkanas hemos visto, leido y escuchado acerca de los crímenes de guerra y destrucción sistemática encontra de la nación opresada de Palestina por parte del poblador blanco en el estado de I$rael. Estos eventos nos enseñan, no solo la carniceria y matanzas de una guerra de un solo lado, sino también que las personas opresas nunca serán libres para forjar sus propios destinos mientras el monstruo imperialista se mantenga intacto.

Con sus lenguas punzantes como serpientes que son, las Naciones Unidas se sientan ociosamente y virtualmente hacen nada para ayudar a la gente de Palestina mientras que el régimen Zionista intenta bombardiarlos fuera de su existencia. La llamada 'comunidad internacional' hace nada por Palestina aparte de hablar hipócritamente acerca de la necesidad de un alto al fuego de ambos lados y de la continua necesidad de encontrar una solución para ambos estados, como si el incremento en muertes (1,432 muertes hasta el día de hoy)(1) y el balance de la guerra estuviera nivelado! Mientras el mundo observa complaciente y contento mediante su pacifista, y la falta de acciones intervencionista, y mientras algunos empiezan a quejarse del incremento de muertes de civiles Palestinos, los Estados Unidos continuan armando a I$rael. Los inútiles de las Naciones Unidas enseñan su verdadero color, Cobardía! La comunidad internacional es culpable de complicidad mediante la complicidad, así la sangre Palestina esta también en las manos de las Naciones Unidas.

Como prisioneros de buena conciencia nosotros rechazamos la destrucción y matanzas que historicamente esta siendo impuesta sobre la gente de Palestina y la cual esta siendo usada por el estado Judío desde la creación imperialista de I$rael en 1948. Y mientras el imperialista Amerikano y su ciudadanía general y población nos han encontrado culpable de crímenes encontra de la sociedad civil, nosotros los prisioneros de igual manera los encontramos culpable de crímenes encontra de la humanidad por su confabulación con el estado de I$rael para exterminar la nación Palestina.

Detrás de estas parades aún estamos con falta de poder para tocar el potencial de las masas encarceladas; en particular, las minorias internas de las naciones opresas, como agentes de cambio social, pero aún tenemos el poder para firmar un pedazo de paper para denunciar el estado de I$rael y su apoyo a los U.$. Por lo tanto con esta declaración molestamente nosotros expresamos nuestra indignación con el estado de ˆ$rael y su gente por permitir la destrucción de una nación en el siglo 21 después de haber jurado 'nunca más.'

Ademas, con esta declaración nosotros expresamos nuestra preocupación, condolencias, y humanidad con la gente de Palestina. Nosotros lamentamos su perdida. I$rael debe de pagar! De igual manera que los prisioneros de guerra Palestinos han brindado su apoyo y solidaridad con las huelgas de hambre en California emitiendo un comunicado de solidaridad para poner fin al confinamiento solitario en los Estados Unidos, ahora nosotros debemos de hacer lo mismo. Nosotros debemos reconocer y admitir que su lucha es también nuestra lucha y nosotros debemos de decir no a I$rael y que no destruyan a Palestina.

Notas: El Mundo Sigue con Jake Tapper, CNN 7/31/2014.

Que Viva la Gente de Palestina!
Abajo I$rael!
Cargen y Culpen los Criminales de Guerra!