Strike updates EMERGENCY PROTEST

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Gaza Emergency Protest, 29 December

The Israeli bombing of Gaza has killed more than 270 people over the weekend, the bloodiest attack since 1967. Ehud Barak, Israeli Defence Minister, has threatened further attacks on Gaza, one of the most impoverished places on earth.

Below is a notice of a protest tomorrow (Monday) from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Please circulate this notice as widely as possible.  If you are not in London, please consider local actions.

Gaza massacre - Emergency Protest

Monday 29 December 4.00pm – 6.00pm 

Opposite Israeli Embassy  - Kensington High Street

Please monitor news channels and call BBC and ITV every day to ask for accurate figures of numbers killed and injured. We will not accept Israeli
spokespersons – we want Palestinian commentators.

Betty Hunter
General Secretary
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
www.palestinecampaign.org

Nationwide DOMA Protest

On September 21st, 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed into federal law. DOMA, wrote discrimination into the Constitution with two strict regulations:

1. No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.

2. The Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

To drive the point even further, 37 states slowly but surely adopted DOMA as a state-wide regulation further amending state Constitutions. This appalling law tells the American people that it is OK to discriminate. That it is OK to recognize the LGBTQ community as less than equal. This same law, that the California Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional set the precedence for Proposition 8. This same law has nullified many rights that come with Domestic Partnerships. This law has nullified the heterosexual rights that come with Common Law Marriage. This law blurred the lines of separation of church and state even further. And this law, is one of many that President Elect Barack Obama has PROMISED to repeal in his "Open Letter to the LGBTQ Community."

On January 10th, we will come together as one UNITED FRONT
asking the LGBTQ community to join us in signing an Open Letter to President Barack Obama, during a NATIONAL DOMA PROTEST.

This letter will remind President Elect Barack Obama of the promises he made to us. It will also serve as a pledge from our community that we will hold him to his promises and help him achieve them.

We can’t just put a letter online and ask that people sign it.
We need to take to the streets. As we all know…

VISIBILITY IS THE KEY TO EQUALITY!
Outreach & Education Will End Discrimination.
We MUST Infiltrate, to Educate, and Stop Hate!

This is why we CONTINUE to come together as a community and
speak out about the injustices that exist nationally AND locally.

What you can do

Find out who is organizing a DOMA Protest in your area. (Quick Link to State Page) If there isn't one, then volunteer to organize, or at least get signatures!

Grab the Open Letter (Check back here for the letter coming soon) and take to the streets to gain signatures.

Get one million signatures (in total) by the end of the day on January 10th! Once we have a minimum of one million signatures, we will make certain that President Elect Barack Obama receives our letter on DAY 1 of his presidency!

If you can't organize a protest or one is not organized in your city (understandable with the holidays and all), then don't worry, you can still participate:

Sign up to organize a carpool in your area that gets everyone to the closest protest

Get a group of friends together to canvas your neighborhood & streets to get signatures for the open letter.

The event itself will vary by location depending on organizers availability and local sense of how to best do it. Please make posts below to discuss ideas...

Join Us on January 10th for 1 Million Signatures to Repeal DOMA!