Tel Aviv seals West Bank, Gaza
The Israeli government sealed off the West Bank and Gaza
Strip October 24, barring 2 million Palestinians from entering
that country. Tel Aviv militarized the entire region around the
border, claiming that Palestinians nationalists were plotting an
attack. Israeli border cops shot at least two Palestinians at
checkpoints.
One Palestinian was wounded after refusing to show an identity card and another injured when Israeli police opened fire on a van of workers at a checkpoint outside Tel Aviv. In Jerusalem, police were stationed at bus stops, on the roadways and in the streets, checking for Palestinians who might have crossed the border.
At the end of September, Israeli soldiers attacked thousands
of Palestinian demonstrators in the occupied territories,
killing at least seven, wounding over 300, and touching off
three days of street battles.
Afghan women fight exclusion
Five hundred women demonstrated at Balkh University in Mazar-
e-Sharif, Afghanistan, September 23, demanding equal rights for
women and men. The reactionary Taliban regime that recently
overran two-thirds of that country, including the capital city
of Kabul, has banned women from working. The new government has
also closed schools for young women, and imposed heavy
censorship on music, literature, and recreation. Mazar-e-Sharif,
in the north of the country, is in an area controlled by the
forces of Rashid Dostum, a rival of the Taliban.
In the Taliban-controlled areas, women are mandated to wear
the burqa, a garment that covers the body from head to toe, and
those caught not wearing it are beaten in public. Fazia Fallah,
one of the protest organizers, said that "women in Kabul should
meet and demand their freedom."
Burma youth resist cop brutality
Burmese students blocked off a major intersection in the
capital October 23, in the largest street action in several
years. Some 500 students poured into the streets in a six-hour
protest and sit-in, following the arrest and beating of several
students involved in a dispute with a restaurant owner. Only
when the nearby Yangon University authorities agreed to take
action against the police did the demonstration end.
Abortion rights victory in Poland
The lower house of Parliament in Poland approved a bill
expanding abortion rights October 24, overriding a Senate veto.
The new law allows abortion in the first three months of
pregnancy for personal or financial reasons.
Women still have to go through counseling and a three-day waiting period before they can have the procedure performed. Polish president Aleksandr Kwasniewski has promised to sign the law, which also provides for sex education in schools and less expensive birth control.
The previous regulations, adopted in 1993, only permitted
abortion in cases of threat to a woman's life, rape, incest, or
probable fetal damage. Pope John Paul II condemned the new
legislation, which he characterized as "a decisive step forward
toward the culture of death."
Austrian ultraright gains votes
The ultrarightist Austrian Freedom Party, led by Jorg Haider,
had a strong showing in October 13 elections for the European
parliament. Taking nearly 28 percent of the vote for seats in
the European parliament, the Freedom Party came in less than two
points behind the governing Social Democrats. Haider's party won
a similar percentage in elections to the Vienna city council the
same day. Ten years ago the rightists received only 5 percent.
Haider, who cultivates an image of athletic youthfulness, has
openly expressed his admiration for veterans of the Nazi SS. His
campaign combines nationalist immigrant bashing, tirades against
government corruption, and opposition to the European Union.
Colombian strike halts exports
Tens of thousands of truck drivers in Colombia, in their
second week on strike, have paralyzed transport, causing exports
to plummet 70 percent. The government declared the strike
illegal, threatening criminal charges and imprisonment if
workers don't return to work.
About 120 workers were arrested for blocking highways with
trucks. The Association of Truck Drivers, representing 35,000 of
the country's 120,000 truckers, called the strike to demand
higher wages, lower tolls, and a several other points.
Railroads merge, lay off workers
Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Rail Corporations are
merging to make the largest railroad in the country. The
combined rail giant plans to shift some operations to Nebraska
and Missouri from San Francisco and Denver, cutting more than
3,400 jobs in the process. This will bring the combined
workforce down to fewer than 50,000.
Seafarers call for safe conditions
Cutting corners and downsizing have resulted in the death of
more than 1,200 seafarers in the past two years, according to
the International Labor Organization (ILO). In the first six
months of 1996, twice as many died than in all of 1995. Today
crews work on vessels 20 times as large as in 1950, but with
half the crew. Meeting in Geneva October 22, an ILO conference
endorsed several new standards to improve working conditions and
safety for the world's 1 million seafarers.
The conference called for a normal working day of eight
hours, with a 14-hour maximum, and for a workweek of no more
than six days and 72 hours. This will help prevent accidents
occurring from overworked, fatigued crews, the ILO said, and
prevent further crew cuts.
Workers' health needs not met
Harvard School of Public Health researchers say that nearly a
third of U.S. citizens were left without health insurance or had
problems getting or paying for medical care during the last
year. The study found that 17 million uninsured adults and 17
million insured adults faced this problem. Seventy percent of
those not insured say their symptoms were `very serious' or
`somewhat serious' at the time they needed care and could not
get it.
Jack A. Meyer, president of the Economic and Social Research
Institute, said, "If this trend continues health coverage could
be priced out of range for more and more families, especially
lower-paid workers."
Homeless man convicted of murder for trying to keep warm
Edwin Smith, a homeless man, and his companion curled up to a
make-shift heating device in an abandoned building in Queens,
New York, last December 31. They were burning animal fat to keep
warm. When the heater tipped over onto a blanket it caught fire
and set the building ablaze. Firefighter John Clancy died when
he entered the burning building to look for people.
Smith, who had not intended to start a fire, was convicted of murder, arson, and criminal trespass October 22. He faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. The State Supreme Court, in response to the argument that the man was just trying to keep warm, said Smith "showed such recklessness that it constituted murder."
- BRIAN TAYLOR