News Releases

  • “War Culture Hates the Ethical Passion of the Young”

        “As the killing, maiming, devastation, and increasing starvation in Gaza have continued, month after month, the U.S. role has become incomprehensible — without, at least, attributing to the president and the vast majority of Congressional representatives a level of immorality that had previously seemed unimaginable to most college students. Like many others in the United States, protesting students are now struggling with the realization that the people in control of the executive and legislative branches are directly supporting mass murder and genocide.” 


  • Some Universities Negotiate with Gaza Solidarity Groups, Some Attack Them

    Cindy and Craig Corrie are the parents of Rachel Corrie who was run over by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to protect a Palestinian home in Rafah in 2003. They are the president and treasurer of the board of directors of the Rachel Corrie Foundation. They recently appeared on “Democracy Now”; NPR recently ran a story about Rachel’s killing. Rachel graduated from The Evergreen State College, which recently agreed to student demands to negotiate about divesting from Israel. See from Newsweek: “Colleges Are Moving to Divest From Israel.” While the U.S. and Israeli governments keep insisting that Israel is…


  • Israel Refuses to Stop Attacks, Escalates Against Rafah

    AP reports: “Hamas accepts Gaza cease-fire; Israel says it will continue talks but presses on with Rafah attacks.” AFP reports: “Israel Hostage Families Urge Foreign Pressure for Gaza Truce.” Common Dreams reports: “Cutting Off Lifeline for Starving Gazans, Israel Seizes Control of Rafah Crossing” Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor just released the statement: “Gaza: With its potential military operation in Rafah, Israel threatens to execute over 1.2 million Palestinians.” Norwegian Refugee Council released: “Rafah: An Israeli military offensive will lead to mass atrocities.”


  • Hidden Realities of “School Choice”

    In states where the school choice movement has been successful, voucher programs have led to huge shortfalls in education budgets.


  • “School Choice” Legislation is Reshaping the U.S.

    The number of states that are enacting “school choice” legislation is increasing. Last year, 17 states set up new programs or expanded existing ones.


  • “A Nationwide Spree of Police Violence”

    “There is only one cause for the violence taking place. It is law enforcement and the officials who have chosen to resort to state violence when faced with peaceful protests. There is no justification for police violence against peaceful protests. And there is no excuse for the college administrators who willfully chose to call the police on their own students in order to suppress their expressive conduct. …


  • “The Conflation of Anti-Zionism with Anti-Semitism is Absurd”

    “The conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is absurd. All the arguments of Palestinians against Jewish nationalist domination of Palestine were first raised by American Jewish leaders, before the ‘Zionizing’ of American Jewish organizations. Donor pressure by Zionist donors and evangelical Christian Zionists are forcing this historically illiterate declaration, independent of facts, and of the diverse positions of American Jews.”


  • Attacks on Students

        Greene is a graduate student at Indiana University. He states that peaceful protesters in a tent were met with snipers on the roof, dozens of arrests, violence by state troopers with military equipment, helicopters and drones. He said: “The real reason they repress us is that we are supporting a movement that is against genocide. The reason students are so passionate is that this is nothing compared to what is going on in Gaza. At least we have universities. Israel has blown up university after university in Gaza.” He has been suspended for five years. He was just interviewed by Katie…


  • Deceits Keep Israeli Attacks Going

    See Jewish Voice for Peace statement on university and other protests: “We’re fighting to stop a genocide. Slanders against our movements are a distraction.” The Daily Beast reports on Northeastern University going after anit-genocide protesters: “Pro-Israel Agitator Shouts ‘Kill the Jews,’ Gets Everyone Else Arrested.”


  • Homeless Targeted as Billions Go to War

    McHenry said today: “HUD claims they can end homelessness for $20 billion and we just sent” billions for war to Ukraine and Israel. “This while 78 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. We in California defeated SB 1011, the statewide ban on sleeping outside on public land. The Supreme Court will decide whether banning homeless people from sleeping outside when there is a lack of shelter space is deemed cruel and unusual punishment.”


  • Welfare Policy

    Congressional hearings are being held today on President Bush’s nomination of Wade Horn, the founder of the Fatherhood Initiative, to become Assistant Secretary for Family Support at the Department of Health and Human Services. On Friday, the National Council of Women’s Organizations will hold a briefing on “welfare reform” reauthorization. The following analysts are available…

  • A War Chest Against AIDS in Africa?

    This morning, President Bush, joined by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, announced $200 million for a new global “war chest” to fight AIDS around the world. Many activists and analysts familiar with the situation were immediately critical; some have been protesting in front of the White House this afternoon. Among…

  • Judicial Nominees: Implications as Federalist Society Supplants ABA

    As President Bush makes appointments to federal courts, the following analysts are available for interviews: JULIE GERCHIK Assistant director of the Institute for Democracy Studies and co-author of the recently-released report “The Federalist Society and the Challenge to a Democratic Jurisprudence,” Gerchik said today: “Behind the tidal wave of new judicial nominees are key organizations…

  • Rumsfeld: Lost in Space?

    This afternoon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is announcing plans for a major boost in the importance of space for U.S. military strategy. The following analysts are available for interviews: KARL GROSSMAN Author of the forthcoming Weapons in Space, Grossman is professor of journalism at the State University of New York. He has just completed…

  • Energy Policy

    WENONAH HAUTER Director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, Hauter said today: “The Bush administration’s proposal to urge federal agencies to conserve electricity is a sham, because Bush’s previous commitments to slash energy efficiency and conservation efforts in the private sector will overwhelm any gains made in the public sector…. The year…

  • Social Security Panel

    Today, President Bush named members of a new White House panel aimed at overhauling Social Security. Among those on the commission are individuals associated with AOL Time Warner, Reliant Equity Investors, Fidelity Investments, the World Bank and the American Enterprise Institute. The following analysts are available for interviews: DIANA ZUCKERMAN President of the National Center…

  • Major Military Issues: Bombing Vieques, National Missile Defense, Terrorism Report

    ROBERTO RABIN Director of Vieques Historic Archives and a spokesperson for the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, Rabin said today: “The people of Vieques, with the wide support of the Puerto Rican community, have mounted an intense campaign to end 60 years of U.S. Navy presence, exercises and destruction of the island…

  • Interviews Available: What Kind of Globalization?

    The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are holding their spring meetings in Washington. The following critics of those institutions are available for interviews: NJOKI NJOROGE NJEHU Director of the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a coalition of over 200 U.S. grassroots groups dedicated to transforming the World Bank and the IMF, Njehu testified before…

  • On Bob Kerrey and Vietnam

    Former Sen. Bob Kerrey’s public statements during the last day — prompted by revelations about to be reported by the New York Times and “60 Minutes II” about a raid he led that killed unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War — have raised important issues. This afternoon, the following statement comes from Brian Willson, a…

  • Peru Plane Downing: Broader Issues

    A front-page article in today’s Washington Post reports that the CIA was late in warning the Peruvian military not to fire on the civilian airplane carrying missionaries. The following analysts are available for interviews on broader U.S. policy questions: CECILIA ZARATE-LAUN Co-founder and director of the Colombia Support Network, Zarate-Laun said today: “The downing of…

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