Current Issues

JENIN, West Bank – Despite Israeli government success in blocking a United Nations fact-finding team, eyewitness reports from international religious groups and other observers tell of massive destruction at the Jenin refugee camp. Fifty bodies have been recovered but many remain unaccounted for.

WASHINGTON – Pennsylvania Avenue became a river of humanity April 20 as nearly 100,000 chanting demonstrators marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol Building demanding an end to the Bush administration’s “war at home and abroad.”

Judith Le Blanc, PWW reporter, has been travelling in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel with the 16-member delegation of the Fellowship of Reconcilliation (FOR).

We are proud to present the first streaming audio report of this series. Go to www.pww.org for the link!

In this 32 minute interview, Le Blanc gives background to the occupation, the situation in the occupied territories, at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, the humanitarian crisis caused by the occupation, the mood of the Palestinian people in Gaza, etc.

Le Blanc also comments on various effects of the Israeli policy of settlement, the status of the peace movement in Israel, and what can be done to help bring a peaceful resolution with Israel and Palestine living side by side.

From the lead story of The People's Weekly World:
EAST JERUSALEM -- Last night, April 16, helicopters were heard overhead as Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) entered neighborhoods here and curfews continued in Ramallah and Bethlehem. Heavy shelling near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and heavy restrictions on travel for Palestinians were visible.
To read the full story, click here.

From The People's Weekly World: At the heart of any viable solution to the present conflict in the Middle East lies the issue of full national rights and statehood for the Palestinian people. Peoples and governments worldwide increasingly recognize this fact.
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From the lead story of The People's Weekly World:
WASHINGTON -- Nearly 500 women, representing women's organizations across the country, met here April 8-9 and vowed to "stand up and fight" for women's needs. Speakers at the Women's Equality Summit and Congressional Action Day discussed policies and organizing strategies focusing on key issues of concern to working and low-income women: stopping the privatization of Social Security, protecting reproductive rights, guaranteeing and expanding the social safety net for poor and working women, pay equity and achieving real economic and political equality.
To read the full story, click here.

From the lead story at The People's Weekly World: In response to the Bush administration's approval of escalated military actions in the West Bank by the Sharon government, religious, peace and solidarity activists organized marches, press conferences and emergency phone calls to the White House. They called for an immediate cease fire, a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the occupied areas of Palestine and the beginning of political negotiations for a Palestinian state that would peacefully coexist with the state of Israel.
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­The reports from occupied Ramallah speak for themselves. The live reports I receive by phone or e-mail from friends and colleagues in Ramallah, Bir-Zeit, Tulkarm and other Palestinian cities are dreadful.

From The People's Weekly World:
At a movie theater turned convention hall, the Communist Party of India ? (Marxist) [CPI(M)] held its 17th Congress here, March 19-24. The hall was adorned with banners quoting from Marx, Engels, Lenin and Che Guavara. Outside life-size portraits of CPI(M) leaders welcomed the 750 delegates and guests. The CPI(M) is one of the largest Communist Parties in the non-socialist world with 700,000 members.
For the full story, click here.

From The People's Weekly World:
Earlier this month, a Communist Party USA delegation ? National Chairman Sam Webb, Vice Chairman Scott Marshall, African American Equality Commission Chairwoman Debbie Bell and International Secretary Marilyn Bechtel ? visited China for a week on invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The group was the first official party delegation since long-time National Chairman Gus Hall visited China with a delegation in 1988.
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From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: President Bush told the U.N. International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, March 22 that only nations that bow to his administration's political and economic agenda will be approved for meager handouts of U.S. aid. His position, reflected in the barebones "Consensus of Monterrey" drew sharp criticism from delegates as well as from demonstrators in the streets.
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From The People's Weekly World: A spectre is haunting the world -- the spectre of nuclear war. Does this sound like rhetorical exaggeration? Perhaps, but the leaking of the Nuclear Posture Review offers a sobering glimpse into the Dr. Strangelove mentality that now inhabits the White House.
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From the lead story at The People's Weekly World: The Bush administration, faced with international pressure and opposition by peace, labor and civil rights activists at home, has been forced to retreat on its policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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The crimes are legion: massive corporate fraud, insider trading, price fixing, influence peddling, tax evasion, obstruction of justice. Already the signs of a coordinated cover-up are becoming clear. The first priority is to protect George W. Bush, whose "good ole boy" ties to Enron's former CEO Ken Lay are as fresh and malodorous as a steaming cow pie.

From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: A story in the March 10 edition of The Los Angeles Times revealed that the Pentagon has drawn up a list of seven countries who are prime targets for U.S. nuclear weapons in the event of undefined ?surprising military developments.?
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From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: On Feb. 28, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) brought thousands to Washington, D.C. to press the Bush administration to take action to save their jobs and retirees healthcare by implementing the International Trade Commission?s (ITC) recommendation to impose a 40 percent tariff on imported steel.
To read the full story, click here.

The People's Weekly World has been covering the Enron debacle since the beginning. For a list of articles and their links, please click the headline above.

From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: The day before the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) descended on the White House to fight for jobs and retiree benefits industry-wide, a deal was announced that will save the jobs of many workers at LTV. On Feb. 27, union leaders said that WL Ross & Co. agreed to acquire all the facilities of LTV's steel division and "is committed to engaging in collective bargaining with the union."
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From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: As the Supreme Court heard arguments on Cleveland?s private school voucher program Feb. 20, Cleveland parents and hundreds of other public education advocates rallied outside chanting, ?Kids yes, vouchers no!?
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From the lead story of The People's Weekly World: A committee of the California State Senate has demanded that Kenneth Lay and other Enron officials be brought to California to stand trial for contempt for refusing to testify before a California Senate Committee investigating “manipulation of the energy market.”
To read the full story, click here.