South Dakota ANSWER

Past Events in 2009

Palestine, Israel & the U.S. Empire
National Book Tour: Chicago Event
Featuring author Richard Becker

Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 pm
Oak View Branch Library
3700 East 3rd St.
Sioux Falls, SD
For more info call 605-310-6085 PalestineBook.org

Join us for a discussion and book signing.

Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire provides a sharp analysis of historic and current events in the struggle for Palestine—from the division of the Middle East by Western powers and the Zionist settler movement, to the founding of Israel and its regional role as a watchdog for U.S. interests, to present-day conflicts and the prospects for a just resolution.

The book’s narrative is firmly rooted in the politics of Palestinian liberation. Here is a necessary introduction to the heroic efforts of the Palestinian people to achieve justice in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

You can get a copy of this important book at the event, over the phone by calling 605-310-6085 or online at PalestineBook.org.

Protest on 8th Anniversary of War on Afghanistan in Sioux Falls!

As the war on Afghanistan & Pakistan escalates and the casualties mount ...

U.S./NATO Out! Bring the Troops Home Now!
End Colonial Occupation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Haiti . . .
Money for Healthcare, Jobs, Housing, Education, Not for War!

Wednesday, October 7 - 1 pm
41st and Louise Avenue.

sodak@answercoalition.org for more info.

October 7, 2009 marks the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. On that day, there will be anti-war actions in cities and towns throughout the country, including Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sioux Falls and Seattle ...

In the Fall, there are a variety of protests being planned in Sioux Falls to protest the war on Afghanistan. Along with October 7, there are actions scheduled for September 26th and October 17th.

The war and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq are both colonial-type wars. Bush used the “War on Terror” as a pretext for the escalation of imperialist intervention. Bush is gone but the brutal occupations continue.

Now, eight long years after the invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. and its NATO allies are vastly expanding the war, doubling the numbers of troops. Casualties on both sides are soaring. Resistance to foreign occupation is growing rapidly inside Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan. The war is a disaster for the peoples of those countries, just as are the occupations of Iraq and Palestine. It is also a growing disaster for the people here— not only the soldiers and their families, but the tens of millions of people suffering from the economic crisis.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost more than $14 billion per month, $160 billion every year, nearly $1,000,000,000,000 ($1 trillion!) since the start. At the same time, we are told by the politicians—who never say no to the military-industrial complex and have given away more than $10 trillion to the big banks— that there’s no money for real health care reform, single payer health care. They have proven that the money is there. The problem is that the politicians are dedicated to protecting the interests of the military and health insurance corporations, not of the people.

We are calling on everyone who is opposed to endless war to join us by endorsing, organizing for and supporting the October 7 protests that will be taking place in many cities across the country. On October 7, 2009, we will be rallying and marching just as we did on October 7, 2001, the night the war began.

South Dakota ANSWER Film Series

"The Greening of Cuba

Tuesday, July 14 - 7PM

Black Sheep Coffee House

1007 W. 11th St. Sioux Falls

Witness an entire nation transforming its agriculture using organic techniques.

The Greening of Cuba profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture, without the benefit of imported machinery and agro-chemicals.

When trade relations with the socialist bloc collapsed in 1990, Cuba lost 80% of its pesticide and fertilizer imports and half of its petroleum - the mainstays of its highly industrialized agriculture.

Challenged with growing food for 11 million people in the face of the continuing U.S. embargo, Cuba embarked on the largest conversion to organic farming ever attempted. The Greening of Cuba is told in the voices of the campesinos, researchers, and organic gardeners who are leading the organic agriculture movement.

This moving video reminds us that entire nations can choose a healthier environment and still feed their people.

38 minutes. Spanish with English subtitles.

End the Siege of Gaza!!

Saturday, June 6 - 1pm

Corner of 14th and Minnesota

Solidarity Day on the 42nd Anniversary of Israel's seizure of Gaza

Organizations and individuals in solidarity with the people of Palestine will be taking to the streets once again to demand: End the Siege of Gaza!

The world looked on in horror this past winter as Israel mercilessly starved and bombed the people of Gaza, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians (at least a third of whom were children).

The Arab world now refers to the dark days from the end of December to mid-January “The Gaza Massacre.” Although the mainstream media no longer focuses on Gaza, the suffering continues there nonetheless.

Using the pretext of combating terrorism, Israel has refused to allow in even one truckload of cement into Gaza. In other words, the city that was reduced to rubble still lies in rubble today.

All these months later, people are still living in tents and are scarcely able to secure the necessities of life.

Pro Gay Marriage Rally

Saturday, May 16th - 1PM

Centers for Equality

3600 S. Minnesota Ave., Sioux Falls

Let Iowa only be the beginning of equality. Come out and show your support for equal marriage rights.

Here is what Senator John Thune thinks about a gay Supreme Court nominee: “I know the administration is being pushed, but I think it would be a bridge too far right now. It seems to me this first pick is going to be a kind of important one, and my hope is that he'll play it a little more down the middle. A lot of people would react very negatively.”

South Dakota ANSWER Film Series

"The Battle for Whiteclay"

Thursday, May 7 - 6PM

(This second date has been added due to high interest in the movie)

Black Sheep Coffee House

3720 N. Cliff Ave, Sioux Falls

Discussion Afterward

View the official website

The State of Nebraska’s refusal to halt alcohol sales to the dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from its border town of Whiteclay gets an in-depth look in this new documentary about a century-old problem. Four off-sale beer stores in this 14-person hamlet sell over 11,000 cans of beer a day to an Indian clientele with virtually no legal place to drink it. Struggling with crippling poverty and epidemic alcohol abuse that afflicts 4 out of 5 families, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has for decades banned the sale and possession of alcohol on their reservation.

The Battle for Whiteclay follows Indian activists Frank LaMere, Duane Martin Sr. and Russell Means through the streets of Whiteclay to the halls of Nebraska’s State Capitol in their efforts to end alcohol sales in the place many have dubbed “skid row on the prairie.” Here is an inside look at an important contemporary conflict pitting American Indian rights against state and local governments in the United States.

South Dakota ANSWER Film Series

"Milk"

Thursday, April 9 - 6:30 PM

Centers for Equality

3600 S. Minnesota Ave., Sioux Falls

His life changed history. His courage changed lives.

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum.

From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk's life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics.

Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk's actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White.

But as White and Milk's political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge. Milk's platform was and is one of hope--a hero's legacy that resonates in the here and now.

From Iraq to Afghanistan to Palestine

We need Jobs and Education Not Wars and Occupation

In Sioux Falls -

the Battleship Memorial in the West Parking Lot at Noon

W. 12th St. and Kiawanis Ave.

In Sioux City -

As of now: The North side of the Federal Building 11am

316 6th St.

Siouxlanders rally for peace on war anniversary

7 Reasons Protests Happened on March 21, 2009

The war in Afghanistan is expanding and widening. President Obama announced last week that another 17,000 troops are on their way to Afghanistan. Only 18 percent of Afghanis support this escalation and only 34 percent of the people of the United States approve of the added troops despite the president’s popularity, according to the Washington Post/ABC poll announced on February 17, 2009. This is a colonial war. The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, was not involved in the decision to add more occupying troops into his country. Rather, he was “informed of the deployments in a telephone call with Obama” on February 17, according to the Washington Post (February 18, 2009).

About 350,000 U.S. troops and U.S.-paid private contractors (mercenaries) still occupy Iraq. The Iraqi people want the occupation to end. Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is insisting that only two of the 14 combat brigades in Iraq exit in 2009. The war and occupation of Iraq costs $430 million each day. If the U.S. government were to end the military occupation, any and all future Iraqi governments would return to a position of political independence from the economic and political dictates of the United States. Iraq’s anti-colonial legacy has created a political reality that prohibits the country from becoming like Kuwait or Saudi Arabia--an out-and-out dependency on U.S. imperialism. That is the real reason that the U.S. government fears a complete disengagement from Iraq and an end to its military occupation.

Israel’s Siege of Gaza remains in place, with the full backing of Washington. The U.S. government has continued to fund Israel’s war and blockade against the people of Gaza. The Pentagon provided the funding, and technical and logistical support for the establishment of the Israeli war machine, including its massive cluster and white phosphorous bomb arsenal, and the country’s large cache of nuclear bombs.

The new Justice Department has announced that it will continue the policy of renditions, meaning the CIA and Pentagon will capture and kidnap individuals anywhere in the world and transfer them to other countries. “The Obama administration appears to have determined that the rendition program was one component of the Bush administration's war on terrorism that it could not afford to discard.” (LA Times, Feb. 1, 2009)

The new administration has stepped up the air strikes that are killing an increasingly large number of Pakistani civilians. Unmanned drone bombing attacks violate Pakistani sovereignty and are creating an ocean of resentment and anger inside of Pakistan. The U.S. government has no right to carry out these drone bombing strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The people of the United States would not accept the legitimacy of other governments ordering air attacks in the United States. We must openly and loudly reject such tactics by the government that speaks in our name and spends our tax dollars for such aggression.

The real Pentagon war budget is over $1.3 trillion annually. This is greater than the combined total of most of the other countries in the world, including all the NATO countries, and Russia and China. Some label this “waste spending” because it spends precious resources to build exotic and high cost weapons, a new generation of nuclear weapons, and space-based war fighting capabilities, while filling the coffers of the big investors (i.e., the biggest banks) in the war corporations. Pentagon contracting is often based on guaranteed “cost-plus” contracts that reward price gouging since corporate profit is based on a fixed percentage above their expenses. Another label for this process is “extreme corruption” and theft from the public treasury.

More than 20 million people are now unemployed and under-employed. Nine million families are either in foreclosure or are at risk of foreclosure this year, according to the statistics just released by the government. Forty-seven million people are without health care. College tuition hikes are soaring and millions of students are at risk of being forced out of school. The people want change. They don’t want a simple tweaking of Bush’s criminal foreign policies. They want to put people's needs before corporate greed. They want an end to wars of aggression that are wreaking havoc, death and destruction abroad, and diverting urgently needed resources in the service of semi-colonialism and Empire.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

See the video

On March 14, Sioux Falls had its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. About 15 people came out to march for peace during the warm, sunny day. The crowds showed their support for the cause along the route with clapping and cheers. South Dakota ANSWER featured a new banner and Pax Christi led the walkers with a banner of their own.

COME OUT... AND JOIN US!!

Protest for Full LGBT Rights

February 14, Saturday - Noon

39th and Minnesota Ave.

Defend love for everyone on the day of love.

Over the past three decades or more, there have been important partial gains toward equal rights achieved through mass struggle by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. A battle is currently raging over same-sex marriage and the entitlement of same-sex couples to equal rights and benefits.

The government resistance to extending basic civil marriage rights to same-sex couples is not based only on reactionary ideology. Even where domestic partnership exists, more than 1,000 rights and benefits extended to heterosexual couples are denied to same-sex partners. Denial of these same benefits gives a material basis for reactionary anti-gay ideas.

South Dakota ANSWER Film Series

"Black Gold"

Thursday, January 29 - 6PM

Black Sheep Coffee House

1007 W. 11th St. Sioux Falls

Multinational coffee companies rule shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the $80-billion-plus coffee industry. But while Americans continue to pay for luxury lattes and cappuccinos, the prices paid to coffee farmers remain so low that many have been forced to abandon their fields. BLACK GOLD tells the complex story behind an attempt to make globalization work for the producers of the second most traded commodity in the world, after oil.

Nowhere is the disparity of the coffee industry more evident than in Ethiopia , the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela manages the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union, representing over 74,000 coffee farmers. BLACK GOLD follows Meskela on his mission to save struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his union’s farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Meskela travels the world to find buyers willing to pay a fair price—a better price than the one set by the international commodities exchange.

BLACK GOLD exposes how New York City commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organization all challenge Meskela in his quest for a long-term solution to pay coffee farmers a living wage.

After seeing Black Gold coffee will never taste the same again.

South Dakota ANSWER Film Series

Gaza Strip

Wednesday, January 14 - 6PM

Oak View Library

3700 East 3rd St. , Sioux Falls

“Gaza Strip” pushes the viewer headlong into the tumult of the Israeli-occupied Gaza, examining the lives and views of ordinary Palestinians.

The documentary often sees the world through the eyes of young people. The central character is Mohammed Hejazi, a 13-year-old paperboy in Gaza City, one of the young “stone-throwers” who risk their lives throwing rocks at Israeli tanks across the barbwire fences.

As the newspapers arrive announcing Ariel Sharon’s victory in the Israeli elections, Mohammed offers up tirades against Arafat and Sharon alike. We also catch glimpses of his inner world: his sense of hopelessness, his sorrow at the IDF killing of his best friend, his conception of death.

In the Khan Younis refugee camp, “Gaza Strip” documents an extremely controversial incident in February, which fell largely through the cracks of international scrutiny, when the Israeli Defense Forces used an unidentified, powerful gas during a firefight, hospitalizing over 200 Palestinians with severe recurrent convulsions.

The eye of the film is usually passive and watchful, sometimes almost invisible, even in the most intimate settings. When a Palestinian child is blown up in Rafah, we see the entire process of his internment, from morgue to mosque to grave, unblinkingly. The camera moves slowly over a Palestinian neighborhood being strafed by Israeli machine-gun fire, schoolchildren scattering.

“Gaza Strip” culminates in a nighttime raid in April, when Israeli bulldozers stormed into the Khan Younis refugee camp under the cover of tank and helicopter fire, and destroyed the homes of 450 Palestinians – the first of many such armed incursions into “Area A” by the IDF.

A day of emergency actions: Let Gaza live!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009

In cities around the country, marches call for an end to the U.S./Israeli aggression

On Sat., Jan. 10, hundreds of cities, and hundreds of thousands of people, responded to the call for an International Day of Emergency Action to support the people of Gaza. Other actions took place on Jan. 9 and Jan. 11 in response to the national call.

Outside the United States, marches took place in London, Edinburgh, Cairo, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Beirut, Seoul, Mexico City, Jakarta, Montreal, Paris, Barcelona, Marseilles, Lyon, Oslo, Berlin, Bern, Karachi, Nablus, New Delhi, Amman, Sarajevo, Ramallah, Stockholm, and Tokyo. The protests continue to grow—the following day, another 250,000 took to the streets in Spain and more than 100,000 in Algeria.

In the United States, the Day of Action was initiated on just one week’s notice by a call from the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Muslim American Society Freedom, Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda - Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

Washington, D.C.

In Washington, D.C., more than 20,000 took to the streets in the freezing rain to demand, “Let Gaza live!” The streets were so backed up that thousands of people in buses and cars were still arriving after the march had left.

The D.C. demonstration began with a rally at Lafayette Park in front of the White House. Featured speakers included former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was just on a humanitarian relief mission to Gaza when her boat was intentionally struck by an Israeli military vessel; Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom; Rev. Graylan Hagler, national president of Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice; Mounzer Sleiman, vice chairman, National Council of Arab Americans; Ralph Nader; Paul Zulkowitz, Jews Against the Occupation; Brian Becker, national coordinator, ANSWER Coalition; Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice; and others.

The spirited march then led to the Washington Post, where demonstrators denounced the paper for its biased pro-Israeli coverage of the massacre and its complete blackout of protest activities in the United States.

Los Angeles, Calif.

In Los Angeles, 10,000 people participated in a regional mass march and rally to “Let Gaza live” at the Westwood Federal Building.

San Francisco, Calif.

Nearly 10,000 protesters rallied together at the Civic Center Jan. 10 to demand an immediate end to the Israeli massacre of the people of Gaza.

Among the numerous speakers were Palestinian youth who have recently become politically active in response to ongoing Israeli military offensive. Anti-Zionist members of the Jewish community spoke in solidarity with the Palestinian people, as did representatives from several other oppressed communities.

After nearly an hour of rallying and chanting, demonstrators took to the streets in a militant march. Israeli flags went up in flames as chants of “Free Palestine!” echoed down major San Francisco streets. The march returned to the Civic Center for an equally energetic closing rally.

The steadfastness of protesters made clear they will not leave the streets until the siege of Gaza comes to an end.

Chicago, Ill.

Jan10_Chicago_300
Chicago, IL

On Jan. 9, over 10,000 people took to the streets of Chicago to march against the U.S.-Israeli war on Gaza, which has now taken the lives of nearly 900 Palestinians and wounded several thousands more.

The Coalition for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine and ANSWER Chicago sponsored the action. Protesters gathered outside Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago, then marched to the Israeli consulate to demand an end to the slaughter and the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.

Hundreds of Palestinian flags waved in the air as marchers carried signs and banners. Protesters carried signs that read, “End the War on Gaza Now” and “Free Palestine.”

The demonstration was just the latest in a series of solidarity actions in Chicago since the beginning of the murderous Israeli military offensive. On Dec. 28, 700 peopled demonstrated with less than 24 hours notice. The day after the ground invasion, over 400 came out for an emergency protest. On Jan. 6, more than 200 Palestinian supporters picketed the Israeli consulate accusing Ehud Olmert, George W. Bush an all supporters of the Israeli onslaught in the U.S. Government and media as genocidal criminals.

The people must stand together and defend the Palestinian peoples’ right to peace and self determination. Without justice there can be no peace. End the illegal occupation now!

Orlando, Fla.

Orlando, FL

A crowd of 2,000 demonstrators confronted a heavy police presence in downtown Orlando for the “Let Gaza Live: Florida Statewide March for Palestine” called by ANSWER Florida just six days before. The demonstration is the largest anti-war demonstration in Florida in more than a decade and certainly the largest ever protest in Florida calling for a free Palestine.

Police intimidated protesters by searching bags, forcing protestors to remove sticks from placards and denying the use of amplified sound until organizers challenged their scare tactics.

Seattle, Wash.

Hundreds of demonstrators came out to the Federal Courthouse on Stewart St. to demand an end to the U.S.-backed Israeli massacre in Gaza. The demonstration was called by the Save Gaza Campaign, a coalition of many local organizations concerned about Palestine, including Voices of Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Committee, ANSWER Seattle, Arab American Community Coalition, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace.

Protestors lined the street as busy downtown traffic zoomed by. Many drivers honked in support of the slogans featured on the placards. Activists on bullhorns led enthusiastic chants of “Free, free Palestine!”

The demonstration concluded with an impromptu march to nearby Westlake Park led by militant youth ranging from elementary and middle school to college age.

Sioux Falls, S.D.

Members of South Dakota ANSWER joined members of the Islamic Center and other activists Jan.9 to protest the ongoing Israeli occupation of Gaza.

Demonstrators chanted “Free Palestine” and “Stop the War Crimes,” showing that the spirit and militancy from their previous rally had not faded one bit despite the snowy weather. Passersby slowed down to read the placards in support of the Palestinian people and an urging an end to U.S. aid to Israel.

The protest was captured on the front page of the Argus Leader and was covered by two local television stations.

ANSWER, the Muslim Community, and the Peace and Justice Center are showing two movies in Sioux Falls: “Occupation 101” and “Gaza Strip.” ANSWER and other South Dakota activists will continue to protest the great injustice perpetrated by the U.S. and Israeli governments against the Palestinian people.

Ben Becker, Chris Huska, Emmanuel Lopez, Jane Cutter, Ian Thompson, Rachel Reynolds and Sean Pavey contributed to this report.