Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

Instead of pouring rain, Thousands of Anti-War Activists were greeted by sizzling temperatures at todays downtown rally. It's plain to see, NOTHING CAN STOP THIS HISTORIC GLOBAL DRIVE FOR PEACE! Support the young men and women in the military -- Bring Them Home! A Report from the rally.
Photos from the Rally: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Southland Anti-War Rallies: Leimert Park March 29: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Westwood Federal Building March 29, Pico Union March 28th, Mar Vista Park
Misc.: A commentary, What about the WMD's?, Stop the War, Butoh Performances for Peace.

In 1915, an ethnic cleansing progrom was instituted by the Turkish government against its minority Armenian population - an act considered to be the first genocide of the twentieth century. By the time the Ottoman Empire dissolved in 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were dead as a direct result of the progrom. Surviving Armenians were ejected from their homeland in Turkish territory, resulting in a diaspora that brought many to America, and especially to Los Angeles - home to the largest Armenian population outside Armenia itself.

The Genocide has been continually denied by the Turkish government. Although several countries (most recently, Greece), and several US states have passed resolutions recognizing it, Turkey continues to use political and economic pressure on the US to perpetuate its denial, despite a recent resolution presented in Congress. Last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz had praised Turkey for its treatment of minorities.

The survivors and their descendants, however, remember and will continue to remember the Armenian Genocide. Every April 24, the Armenian community comes together to commemorate this tragedy, educate their community and others about the Genocide, and call for an end to crimes against humanity.

photo credit: Armin T. Wegner, Armenian National Institute
A History of Armenia
Remembering the Armenian Genocide: LA-IMC Interviews People in the Armenian Community
The Museum of Amnesia opens on the Web - Curing Curatorial Oversight at the Museum of Tolerance
Armenians march and rally - 10 AM at Hollywood and Hobart to commemorate Armenian Genocide - add your reports here - Turkish Embassy Protest

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UPDATE! Civil Liberties Defense Coalition Meeting!
This Thursday, at 7pm, the Civil Liberties Defense Coalition, including the ACLU, the Librarian's Union, anti-war and immigrants rights activists, will meet to discuss what to do about the encroachment of our civil liberties by the Patriot Act. Some in the group are calling for the Los Angeles City Council to make a bold and clear statement for a repeal of the Patriot Act. They will meet at this Thursday, July 24th at 7pm at the ACLU building on 1616 Beverly Blv.

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"The FBI has the right to obtain a court order to access any records we have of your transactions." Those words mark notices posted by conscientious Santa Monica, California librarians. Similar notices have been posted in several other libraries across the southland. Those signs may be the only avenue of free expression left to our cities' curators when the inappropriately named USA PATRIOT Act rears its ugly head into the picture. Section 215 of the Patriot Act paves the way for law enforcement to peer into our reading habits and internet activity, not only at our nation's libraries but in bookstores as well. Furthermore, the act criminalizes anyone at any of those institutions who reveals that a warrant has been served on their patrons.

The Patriot Act, of course is far more of a threat to our civil liberties than the invasion of our privacy at libraries.

Ann Arbor, Michigan has recently joined 137 other cities and municipalities that have passed resolutions against the Patriot Act. A coalition of local activists are organizing the first candle light vigil in honor of our dead and dying liberties. Join together for an evening of resistence in a candlelight vigil Saturday July 19th 2003, 7:30 pm Hollywood and Highland, Hollywood

For further information on this issue and the candlelight vigil contact: Refuse & Resist! (323) 962-8084, RandRLA@aol.com; South Asian Network (562) 403-0488; Not In Our Name, lanotinourname@hotmail.com, International ANSWER (213) 487-2368

More Info

The intersection of Hollywood and Highland was glowing with the light of candles and the voices of the people as aproximately 250 protestors stepped out to say no to Bush's war on our civil liberties, and the ongoing repression of immigrants and people of color in the United States.

Their messages rang out loud and clear:
Stop the Round-ups, Detentions, and Mass Deportations!
Stop Racial and Religious Profiling!
Repeal the Patriot Acts I and II!
Defend our Civil Liberties!

Speakers ranged from labor, lawyers, and librarians, to eyewitness acounts of the terror our government has unleashed on immigrants and their families, as well as anyone else with a voice of dissent.

See photos from the event: 1, 2, 3
For information on upcoming events around these issues contact Not In Our Name at (323) 462-6263, International ANSWER LA at (213) 487-2368, Refuse & Resist-LA at (323) 962-8084, or South Asian Network at (562) 403-0488.