Today, the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on a proposal regarding sanctions on Iraq. On Wednesday, talks begin between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syria’s foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa. These are among the analysts available for interviews: RANIA MASRI Founder of the Iraq Action Coalition, Masri said: “A year ago, UNSCOM head Richard Butler pulled the weapons inspectors — which the U.S. had used for espionage — out of Iraq just before the U.S. began Desert Fox…. The continuation of sanctions against the people of Iraq — as well as the continued U.S. bombings — further erode…

NASEER ARURI Professor at the University of Massachusetts, former board member of Amnesty International and author of “The Obstruction of Peace: The U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians,” Aruri is among over 1,000 who signed a petition against Yaser Arafat’s November 28 jailing of scores of political dissidents. Aruri commented today: “Clinton said he stood against those who are opposed to the current agreements between Yaser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Barak. That seems to be a tacit backing of the extraordinarily repressive measures taken by Arafat against those who are noting that the agreements are exceedingly unfair to the Palestinian…

ROBERT WEISSMAN Editor of Multinational Monitor and co-author of “Corporate Predators: The Hunt for Mega-Profits and the Attack on Democracy,” Weissman said: “The protests in Seattle contributed significantly to the failure of the WTO negotiations, dealing a major blow to the ambitious corporate agenda of expanding the trade agency’s reach. The challenge before public interest activists now is to develop institutions, mechanisms and rules to rein in the corporate activity that has been plundering the planet under the banner of economic globalization. The delegates from the poorer countries were emboldened by the protesters and for virtually the first time resisted…

The following analysts, many in Seattle, are available for comment on the World Trade Organization: LORI WALLACH Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, Wallach said: “President Clinton’s PR stunt on the child labor treaty is the height of hypocrisy, given he knows that absent major WTO changes – which he has refused to demand – countries are explicitly forbidden from prohibiting child labor products from entering their markets.” More Information More Information MICHAEL ALBERT An editor at Z Magazine, Albert said: “Politicians quite generally say one thing, for appearances’ sake, and then do other things, for the sake of…

JUDITH BARISH An editor of the World Trade Observer and former communications director for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Barish said: “In 1994, Clinton promised not to support the establishment of the World Trade Organization unless it addressed labor standards, but that was forgotten. Now the administration is again talking up labor standards. But their proposals don’t measure up – for example, giving the International Labor Organization only observer status in the WTO. Of the seven ILO conventions supporting workers’ rights, the U.S. has signed just one. This argues that the Clinton-Gore administration is only paying lip service to workers’…

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH A letter to President Clinton initiated by Rep. Kucinich (D-Ohio) and signed by 113 House Democrats says: “The WTO infringes on the sovereignty of nations to enforce worker rights. A proposed bill to ban products made with child labor is WTO-illegal…” Speaking to World Trade Watch, a daily national radio program co-produced in Seattle this week by the Institute for Public Accuracy, Kucinich stressed “how important it is for the people to stand up for their rights.” The congressman said that a basic issue is citizens’ “control over civic institutions and over their own government… that people…

SEATTLE – Since its founding five years ago, the World Trade Organization has consistently settled trade disputes in favor of corporate interests, frequently deeming labor and environmental regulations “non-tariff trade barriers.” Conflicts between countries are decided by three unelected WTO officials in Geneva in secretive proceedings. With each nation challenging or threatening to challenge each other’s regulations on labor, environment, human rights and consumer protection, many see a “race to the bottom” – with WTO rules compelling each country to shed their best attributes and promote their worst. Among the cases WTO rules have affected: Sea Turtles and the U.S.…

WASHINGTON — In the lead-up to the World Trade Organization ministerial summit in Seattle next week, U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky spoke at the National Press Club today. But critics charge that she is speaking on behalf of discredited U.S. trade policies. SCOTT NOVA Director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, Nova said Tuesday afternoon: “Barshefsky can’t see the forest for the trees. The fundamental issue in Seattle is not the bickering between the U.S., the European Union and Japan over the scope of a new trade round. The issue is the massive public opposition, in the U.S. and around the…

JUDITH BARISH An editor of the World Trade Observer and former communications director for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Barish said: “There will be thousands of people protesting in the streets in Seattle, but not because we oppose trade and economic globalization. We want to see the rules written to protect workers and citizens as well as corporate interests.” More Information ELLEN FRANK Associate professor of economics at Emmanuel College in Boston and a member of the editorial board of Dollars and Sense magazine, Frank said: “The big concern with WTO is that the way it is structured is that…

STEVEN KULL Director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes and co-author of Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism, Kull said: “When pollsters ask Americans how they feel about spending — on, for example, defense and foreign aid — they say to keep defense where it is and cut foreign aid. However, when we told respondents how the budget was presently distributed, on average they cut defense by 42 percent and doubled spending on foreign aid. Respondents wanted to quadruple spending on the UN and peacekeeping. Domestically, they want to nearly double education spending.” MIRIAM PEMBERTON A…