Good News!
by Judith Anthony and Polly Mann, WAMM

White House Scales Back TIPS

After an outpouring of criticism, the Bush Administration has modified plans for “TIPS,” the Terrorism Information and Prevention System. They will no longer seek the participation of the postal service or utility companies that have access to private homes. The program, which was to begin in August, has been postponed until fall so that the Department of Justice can consult with Congress. The program has been criticized by civil libertarians and lawmakers concerned that it might lead to spying on Americans in their homes.

Federal Judge Rules Against Secret Arrests

U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler did not hesitate in ordering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reveal the names of almost 1,200 people it jailed after September 11, 2001. Kessler gave the DOJ fifteen days to hand over a list of those jailed. Attorney General John Ashcroft is likely to appeal, as he has in response to orders by federal judges in Detroit and New Jersey to end secret deportation hearings, and by a Manhattan federal judge to limit the government’s use of federal material witness law to hold suspects indefinitely and secretly. Nonetheless, these recent rulings indicate an unwillingness of the courts to justify long-term changes that would extinguish core U.S. values of “openness, government accountability, and the rule of law.”

U.N. Torture Treaty Approved

The United States was unable to block a U.N. vote on a plan to strengthen a treaty on torture and was widely criticized by allies for its attempt. The objective of the protocol is “to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment.” The protocol passed by a 35-8 vote with ten abstentions in the U.N. Economic and Social Council. The U.S. abstained.

Majority of Israelis Favor Unilateral Withdrawal

According to findings in June by Mina Zemach, Israel’s foremost pollster, 63 percent of Israelis are in favor of “unilateral withdrawal” from the occupied territories. In addition, 69 percent call for evacuation of “all” or “most of” the settlements. Tami Steinmitz of the Peace Index of Tel Aviv University found that 65 percent of Israelis “are prepared to evacuate the settlements under a unilateral separation program.” Also according to that poll, 60 percent of Israelis believe that Israel should agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of a peace agreement.

Nobel Laureates Criticize Arms Proliferation

Recently a group of 100 Nobel laureates, including Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu and Mikhail S. Gorbachëv, issued a statement identifying two chief problems facing the world. First, the dispossessed of the world will experience greater and greater injustice. Second, the proliferation of all kinds of modern weaponry will present a nearly unprecedented means to create destruction. The statement said that by allowing this proliferation into the “combustible human landscape [of the world’s dispossessed] we invite a conflagration that can engulf both rich and poor.”

British Churches Oppose War on Iraq

In August, 3000 British church leaders, including both Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops, questioned the legality and morality of an American-led assault on Iraq in a strongly worded declaration, which was sent to the prime minister.

Natalie Johnson Lee Awarded for Courage

The twelve-year-old Women's Political Alliance will award Minneapolis Councilwoman Natalie Johnson Lee its first “Speak Truth to Power” award for her courage in reminding Twin Cities residents of their common humanity.

Jews Relinquish Rights to Israeli Citizenship

Forty-five British Jews born and raised outside Israel, who, under Israel’s “law of return” have a legal right to Israeli residence and citizenship, have renounced this privilege. They consider it unfair to those who have been forced or terrorized into fleeing and who are not extended the right of return.

Israelis and Palestinians Appeal for Peace

In March 2002, a group of parents who have lost children to the violence of the Middle East—the Israeli/Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace—made a dramatic and forceful appeal for peace at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations. They are also responsible for 800 billboards scattered throughout Israel and Palestine bearing the words of the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, “Better have the pains of peace than the agonies of war.”

War Times Hits Newsstands

A new publication, entitled War Times, has emerged from San Francisco, CA. Published monthly in both English and Spanish, it addresses the current “War on Terrorism” through informative articles, interviews, political cartoons, and commentary, peppered with accompanying photographs. Check it out at www.war-times.org.