Media Release: National Orgs. Call on Obama Admin. Not to Veto Palestine UN Membership

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

Media Release: National Orgs. Call on Obama Admin. Not to Veto Palestine UN Membership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2011

Washington, DC -- The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation launched today an open letter with 10 additional national organizations calling on the Obama Administration not to veto Palestine's United Nations membership application in the Security Council.

The letter cites a 1949 pledge made by the U.S. Representative to the General Assembly "that the United States would not use its right of veto in the Security Council on any membership application."  The signatories reminded the Obama Administration that "Palestinians have waited more than 63 years for their human rights. We urge you--do not set a timetable for Palestinian freedom by vetoing Palestinian membership in the United Nations."

The US Campaign is seeking 100 organizational endorsements and 10,000 individual petition signatures on the letter before delivering it to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice. (Click here to view the letter.) Palestine's UN membership application could come up for debate in the Security Council as early as July 25.

Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of the US Campaign, stated:

"Rather than arm twist Palestinians to return to the biased and fundamentally flawed U.S. negotiating table in exchange for giving up their UN membership application, the Obama Administration should stop obstructing and undermining Palestinian efforts to attain their rights. Palestinians are determined to seek UN membership as a way toward achieving freedom and self-determination and it is wrong for the United States to stand in their way."

Joining the US Campaign as original signatories of this open letter are: the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; American Jews for a Just Peace; American Muslims for Palestine; CODEPINK Women for Peace; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Friends of Sabeel—North America; Interfaith Peace-Builders; Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)—USA; Jewish Voice for Peace; and Peace Action.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is a national coalition of more than 350 organizations working to end U.S. support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid and change U.S. policy toward Palestine/Israel to support human rights, international law, and equality.

For additional information see www.endtheoccupation.org.

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Sri Lanken women allegedly abused at Jordanian factory which supplies Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's Kohls and Landsend

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2011
Contact: Amanda Kloer, Editor, Change.org amanda@change.org
Barbara Briggs, Assistant Director, Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights bbriggs@glhr.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

CONSUMERS OUTRAGED OVER REPEATED RAPES AT “PRISON-LIKE”

MACY’S AND WALMART FACTORY

Shoppers demand justice for victimized Sri Lankan women at factory in Jordan sewing for major brands, including Target and Hanes

WASHINGTON, DC – More than two thousand shoppers have signed an online petition on Change.org asking Walmart, Hanes, Target, Macy's, Kohl's, Jones Group and Lands' End to intervene in the ongoing sexual abuse, rape, torture, and beatings of the young women guest workers at the Classic Factory in Jordan, which supplies the companies.

Scores of young women have reported being violently raped by the factory’s manager in the past few years, as reveled in a recent report by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

“Classic is in a prison-like lockdown,” said Charles Kernaghan, Director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. “The young women rape victims are terrified that they will be tracked down and punished. We have never met women workers more frightened, alone and with nowhere to turn, as Wal-Mart and Hanes sit back to watch the repression unfold.”

Classic workers have reported being tortured and bitten during sexual assaults and beaten or deported if they fight off the managers’ sexual advances. Some women have reported that on the weekly Muslim holiday, one manager sends a van to bring four or five young women to his hotel, where he abuses them. In a video interview, another victim alleges that upper factory management knows of the ongoing abuse.

In response to these claims, the petition on Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change, asks the companies making clothes at Classic Factory to pay compensation to the women raped on the job, ensure compliance with Jordanian law and the labor rights provisions of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, and protect the workers by permanently removing the abusive factory managers.

“Thousands of consumers are letting Macy’s, Walmart, and the other companies making clothes at Classic Factory know it is absolutely unacceptable for widespread rape allegations to go unaddressed,” said Change.org Editor Amanda Kloer. “This campaign is an example of consumers’ power to protect women’s rights.”

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, formerly National Labor Committee, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1981. The Institute is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the United States with offices in El Salvador and Bangladesh.

Live signature totals from The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights' Change.org campaign:

https://www.change.org/petitions/tell-walmart-to-stop-rape-and-torture-of-young-women-in-its-factories

Video interview with Kamala, alleged rape victim and former Classic Factory employee:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNQdriLXJCI&feature=player_embedded#at=64

Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights report on Classic Factory
http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0632

For comments from Classic Factory brands:

For comments from Walmart: Press hotline at 1-800-331-0085
For comments from Macy’s: Holly Thomas, Vice President, 646-429-5250 or Holly.Thomas@macys.com,
For comments from Target: Press hotline at 612- 696-3400 or Press@target.com.
For comments from Hanes: Matt Hall, 336-519-3386 or Matt.Hall@Hanesbrands.com

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

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Amanda Kloer
Editor, Change.org
http://humantrafficking.change.org
@changeslavery
@endhumantraffic

--
Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. We send announcements about innovative, compelling or successful social change campaigns we think may be of interest to the media no more than twice a week. We try our best to inform you about campaigns that fit your beat and/or geographic region. If we got it wrong, please click reply to let us know and we'll set you up to receive announcements that match your beat. If you simply wish to unsubscribe, please email mideast+unsubscribe@change.org.

CPJ calls on Jordan to prevent attacks on journalists covering protests

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

Committee to Protect Journalists 330 Seventh Avenue, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10001 Phone: +1 (212) 465-1004 Fax: +1 (212) 465-9568

Contact: Mohamed Abdel Dayem, program coordinator. Phone: (212) 465-1004; E-mail: m.abdel.dayem@cpj.org

CPJ calls on Jordan to prevent attacks on journalists covering protests New York, July 18, 2011-The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the government of Jordan to do more to prevent attacks on journalists who cover demonstrations and other forms of civil unrest. On Friday, security forces beat 16 journalists in identifying orange vests during a demonstration and planned sit-in that rapidly devolved into clashes between security personnel and government supporters with demonstrators. The injured journalists, numbering 16 according to the Jordanian Journalists' Syndicate, included two who suffered broken bones, one of whom had to undergo surgery, according to news reports. The assaulted journalists work for a variety of local and international news organizations, including Al-Jazeera and The New York Times.   An unnamed Agence France-Presse photographer reported that journalists "were beaten by police, although we were wearing special press vests." The bright orange vests were meant to distinguish media from demonstrators. The vests were provided by the Public Security Directorate (PSD) in coordination with the journalists' syndicate as one of multiple measures taken to ensure journalists' safety and to facilitate coverage.   On Saturday, Lt. General Hussein al-Majali, PSD director, launched an investigation into the incident to be led by his deputy for legal affairs, Al-Jazeera reported. The PSD also announced on Saturday that four policemen had been suspended, noting that the investigation's conclusions would be announced within 72 hours (Tuesday). Jordan's royal court announced that it would cover the cost of medical treatment for the injured journalists, according to the same news report. On Sunday, the journalists' syndicate announced that it plans to pursue legal action against the PSD, news reports said.   "While the measures undertaken by Jordanian authorities are commendable, they are by no means sufficient to reverse an entrenched pattern of systematic targeting of journalists," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "The latest assault on journalists, as unfortunate as it is, provides authorities with an opportunity to unambiguously demonstrate that they will no longer tolerate attacks on members of the media who report on politically sensitive topics. Those who ordered and executed this assault must be held to account." CPJ has documented several assaults on the press in Jordan since March, including attacks against news bureaus, threats against media staffers, assaults on journalists covering demonstrations, and thehacking of news websites. In April, CPJ said that government failure to take decisive legal measures against those who physically assault journalists in Jordan amounts to a tacit endorsement of such attacks.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.