Welcoming the New Year Saturday January 1, 2011 nine women from Vermont and Massachusetts were arrested as they blocked the driveway leading in to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant owned by Entergy.
On a May 29th national day of action, Burlington, Vermont residents came together to protest SB 1070, a racist law in Arizona that allows and encourages racial profiling. This act requires law enforcement officials to check the documentation of any and all persons who look suspicious and or look like immigrants. Protest participants in Burlington wore signs, chanted and publicly spoke out against the Arizona law.
The humanitarian aid ship, Mavi Marmara, set off toward Gaza from Cyprus on Sunday, May 30, to deliver much-needed aid supplies. The following day, the Israeli military violently seized the ship in international waters. The Israeli government said the ship was embarking on "an act of provocation" against the Israeli military, stating the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza. In response to this assault, dozens of people gathered in Burlington, Vermont on May 31 to express their sadness and outrage over Israel’s blatant lack of respect for international law.
In Burlington, Vermont over 100 people gathered on December 12 to say "No more war in Afghanistan" and to denounce Barack Obama's 30,000 person troop surge to Afghanistan. The rally took place one day after 350 members of the Vermont National Guard departed for training before deployment to Afghanistan early next year. Vermont is sending more than 1,500 National Guards people to Afghanistan - the largest deployment of Vermont's National Guard since World War II. Joseph Gainza, VT Action for Peace
Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied territories of Palestine is about more than constructing houses for Jewish settlers. Palestinian farmland is being turned into industrial space and illegal outposts on Palestinian land are protected by Israeli military. Roads, if Palestinians are allowed to drive on them, are often blocked without warning. In this video, Sam Mayfield tours Illegal settlements and outposts in the West Bank with Dror Etkes.
In this interview, Bethlehem Mayor Victor Bartarseh speaks candidly about what life is like for the citizens of this West Bank city. Bethlehem has the highest rate of unemployment in the West Bank and is entirely surrounded by the separation wall. Mayor Bartarseh describes the physical and psychological impact of living with the wall.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019