Women Nobel Peace Laureates & Women’s Rights Leaders Urge Secretary of State Clinton to Condemn Violence Against Women in Honduras

— For Immediate Release —

More than 175 human rights and feminist leaders–including three Nobel Peace Prize winners and leaders of national and international women’s organizations—today sent an Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today, urging her to condemn widespread violations of women’s human rights in Honduras.

“In the lead up to the November 29 elections, we are extremely concerned about the increase in a pattern of repression and abuse of women at the hands of the de facto regime, especially women who form part of the opposition to the coup,” said Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. “Recent reports that the deployment of troops and police has intensified, and women opposition leaders are being targeted, should give the US government ample reason to reconsider its apparent willingness to endorse the elections as legitimate.”

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On January 15th 2009, Israeli tanks destroyed the Peace Park in the city of Gaza, which was built in cooperation with the city of Barcelona. The documentary exposes neighbour’s testimonies some hours after the attack. If they need to recover their public spaces, should we limit ourselves to pay back what Israel destroys? This documentary video was produced by the campaign Amb Palestina al Cor (Palestine in our hearts)

by Wits Concerned Staff and Students

Some, including the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, were quick to respond to an abridged version of Advocate Budlender’s investigations into the Limmud saga, claiming it vindicated Limmud (SAJR, 13 Nov 2009). On the contrary, however, the complete report, released yesterday, clearly reveals the SAJBD’s reading to be incorrect. The report unequivocally condemns Limmud’s actions.

Specifically, Adv. Budlender identified the security-marshals appointed by Limmud, most of whom were from the Community Service Organization (CSO), a voluntary Jewish community organization which provides security at Jewish community events, as a main cause of the tensions on the day. These security men were severely criticized in the report:

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REPORT ON AN INVESTIGATION INTO EVENTS SURROUNDING THE LIMMUD CONFERENCE AT WITS MEDICAL SCHOOL ON 9 AND 10 AUGUST 2009 (.pdf)

Helena Cobban, Fair Policy, Fair Discussion, 20 November 2009

Our ‘Political Pilgrimage’ group got back to Washington DC Monday night; we had CNI’s annual dinner Tuesday night; and I’ve been catching up on numerous things since then.  But I do want to share some intriguing good news that came in during our 17-day absence on the PP tour.  (Also, be assured that we are planning to put a lot more items here on the blog about what we learned on the tour– in written, photographic, and also videographed form…. This will happen throughout the coming weeks.)

Meanwhile, the good news.

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By Adam Shapiro

One year ago, I watched election results coming in for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, where my friend and colleague Tom Perriello was challenging incumbent Virgil Goode, Jr. CNN kept flipping the winner because the vote was close. Finally, Tom emerged with a 727-vote victory. I was elated, because I knew Tom and knew his deeply rooted principles. And daring to accept that there might be something to this overall atmosphere of change and hope espoused by the President-elect, I felt encouraged by the seemingly new direction and new leaders the country was embracing.

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