https://www.newsghana.com.gh/viewpoint-towards-a-sustainable-peace-in-the-horn-of-africa/

Sep 26, 2018

Despite negotiations and agreements imperialist military forces set to remain in region

Another agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea signed in Jedda, Saudi Arabia on September 16 represents a new page in the shifting political alignments in this area of East Africa.

Previously on July 9 a document was signed by the leaders of the Horn of Africa states in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. This most recent agreement is designed to expand the initial understanding between Addis Ababa and Asmara leading to greater cooperation in the efforts to put an end to the state of war which has lasted for twenty years.

Military conflict erupted in 1998 after a dispute over Badme on the border of the two countries resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in several major battles over a period of two years. In 2000 the Algiers Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities was brokered by the-then Organization of African Unity (OAU, now the AU), the United Nations, European Union (EU) and the Algerian government.

The Algiers Agreement established a Boundaries Commission and a Claims Commission aimed at working out the disagreement over Badme. Although the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundaries Commission (EEBC) issued a ruling in 2003, the decision was rejected by the Ethiopian government. Although there was relative peace over the issue for the last decade-and-a-half, the overall situation remained tense until the diplomatic offensive which has been in the works since July.

This latest accord is framed as a peace and friendship treaty which was brokered by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. As of July it appears as if Ethiopia has relinquished its claim to Badme….

Ethiopia Oromo population greet returning OLF members in Addis Ababa in Sept. 2018

https://portside.org/2018-09-18/after-florence-gullah-could-face-new-threats

“….So far, 10 states, including South Carolina and Georgia, have passed the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, a law partly crafted by Pollock’s group that slows down the process and makes these types of sales harder for developers to achieve. But that protection does not exist in North Carolina, where heir’s property is also extensive, and where Hurricane Florence is now claiming lives and causing catastrophic flooding. One real estate data company estimated the storm’s worst-case scenario could cost $170 billion in damage.

In the midst of a natural disaster, these dynamics can leave heir’s properties uniquely threatened. When an owner goes to apply for disaster relief for her damaged home, but discovers her name isn’t on the deed, she will likely struggle to meet deadlines for state and federal assistance. Approximately 20,000 heir’s property owners were denied FEMA or HUD assistance following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, because they weren’t able to show clear titles to their property, according to a 2017 study by the USDA.

It is possible for heir’s property owners to gain control over their land, but it requires legal action—and that demands financial resources that many heir’s property owners do not have. Stephens’ organization, the Center for Heir’s Property Preservation, extends pro-bono legal assistance to families who must go to court to prove ownership. It generally takes a minimum of six months, and sometimes several years, to get everything in order—perform title searches, find heirs, pay for a land survey. “Usually FEMA has a window in which you can apply for relief funds,” Stephens said. “You can’t resolve heir’s property in a matter of weeks. So what does that do for a family who can’t access those funds?”

In the coming weeks, Stephens expects an uptick in requests for help from heir’s property owners affected by Hurricane Florence. On Monday, when her team returns to the office, they’ll be blasting out notices about their services on social media.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina shone a light on how many heir’s properties there are in the Southeast. Nearly 25,000 residents in New Orleans lacked a clear title to their home, according to a 2012 report by the Appleseed, a network of public interest legal service centers in the US and Mexico. Because it was so challenging for these largely low-income owners to qualify for FEMA and long-term recovery aid for storm repairs, many of them stopped paying taxes on their homes, and then lost them at public auction—another way that heir’s properties wind up slipping out of the hands of occupants. “It’s common to see a cascade of issues for low-income disaster victims,” said Laura Tuggle, the executive director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. “Everyone gets impacted by flooding, but not equally….”

https://tinyurl.com/yad2jtld

September 25, 2018

We, the undersigned alumni of the University of Michigan, write to express our strong support for John Cheney-Lippold in his refusal to support Israeli academic institutions in solidarity with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and to express our opposition to the University of Michigan’s longstanding position on this issue, a position that puts it at odds with international law, the constitutionally protected right to boycott, and its own non-discrimination policy.

We admire the incredible courage that University students, faculty and staff show when they refuse to capitulate to the dominant U.S. legal, political and social institutions that coerce support for the illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine and the Golan Heights region of Syria. Palestinian civil society organizations first called for others to adopt the non-violent strategy of boycott against Israeli academic institutions in 2004. Israeli universities have been directly complicit in the ongoing occupation through their development of military and surveillance technologies and through their regular violation of the academic freedoms of Palestinians living in Israel, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in diaspora. For example, many Israeli universities suppress Palestinian identities and history in their curricula, repress political activism regarding the occupation, and discipline Palestinian students who speak out. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip face substantial barriers to accessing education as a result of the brutality of the occupation. In addition, study abroad programs in Israel effectively have de facto racial and national discrimination as a pre-condition for participation, as Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim travelers are routinely interrogated, detained, and deported by Israeli authorities upon entry into the country. As David Lloyd writes on Mondoweiss.net, “any Study Abroad program that sends students to Israel openly violates anti-discrimination and equal opportunity policies,” including the University of Michigan’s own non-discrimination policy, which prohibits discrimination “in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.”

As graduates of the University of Michigan, we assert that the University does not speak for us when it expresses its “opposition to any boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education.” We laud and encourage University of Michigan students, faculty and staff who act in solidarity with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and we pledge to support them however we are able.

We call on the University of Michigan to reverse its longstanding position on this issue and instead join us in boycotting and divesting from Israel.

Toward a better University and a better world,

Sincerely,

The Undersigned Alumni of the University of Michigan, https://tinyurl.com/yad2jtld

Hosted by Milwaukee Area Labor Council

Young Worker Committee Monthly Meeting

633 S Hawley Rd., Milwaukee, 7 P.M. 

Hosted by Milwaukee IWW

814 W Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee Public Library, 5 – 6:30 P.M.

CLOSEmsdf Picket

901 N 9th Street, Milwaukee County Courthouse, 11:30 A.M. – 1 P.M. 

Come contribute to the continuous visible opposition to MSDF. We will be outside the west entrance to the courthouse, and if we have enough people elsewhere around the building and at the MSDF entrance. Help us spread information to and collect petition signatures from people targeted by and doing business with Milwaukee’s criminal legal system.

If you haven’t signed the petition yet yourself, please do here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf

Parking is metered or nearby public lots. If you don’t mind walking a couple blocks, its often easier to find free parking on the other side of the freeway.

A coalition of Milwaukee organizations have joined up to shut down MSDF. This facility is a building within a building, where captives have no access to fresh air or sunlight. They are triple bunked in lockdown cells for over 20 hours a day. There is no outdoor rec. The facility was built and is run using funds that should be used for diversionary programs to keep people out of jail, instead it’s being used to keep them on supervision under arbitrary and vindictive probation and parole officers.

We are organizing this protest on every 23rd (unless that lands on a weekend, when there’s less foot traffic). The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has called for actions on the 23rd of every month (to bring attention to 23 hour a day lockdowns). http://www.nrcat.org/about-us/take-action-current-legislation/563-together-to-end-solitary

Hosted by Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association and Riverwest Public House Cooperative

Fight Back Friday!

815 E Locust Street, Milwaukee, 4 P.M. / Free and Open To the Public

We love working in Milwaukee Public Schools, but know our days are also challenging and stressful. That’s why Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) welcomes all MPS educators and education workers to the Riverwest Public House Cooperative for “Fight Back Friday.” This event will be held on the first Friday of every month from 4pm to 6pm, and will offer local educators and education workers a space to connect, rejuvenate, and advocate for our students and profession.

Every month we will feature a different activity or speaker to keep the event fresh. Come and join others fighting to make our public schools the best possible place for our students.

We will be discussing a submission process to create a new logo for the event at our first event so come and enjoy a beverage (Public House will offer a drink special), catch up on union and public education advocacy, and meet other awesome MPS folks! This event is free and open to the public.

Fight Back Friday!

Educators Amplified – Live Radio Broadcast

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/panafricanjournal/2018/09/24/pan-african-journal-special-worldwide-radio-broadcast

Listen to the Sun. Sept. 23, 2018 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the recent attacks on military forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) carried out by rebel groups; Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta is travelling to New York City to participate in the 73rd ordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly this coming week; Ethiopians have been demonstrating against ethnic violence taking place near the capital of Addis Ababa; and the Horn of Africa state of Somalia has been bombed by the United States under the guise of a war against the Al-Shabaab Islamist organization. In the second and third hours we continue our focus on the literary contributions of African Americans. The second hour presents two speeches by James Baldwin discussing the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and other regions of the country, Finally we hear the last speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Los Angeles on March 16, 1968. James Baldwin introduces Dr. King in this appearance.