A Leter from Ben Price:

Friend,

Here in South Central PA we continue to believe in an America that responds to human needs and treats all people with justice and fairness. We still believe that "if you're not with us" you still have a right to speak, be heard, and participate in community decisions, because that's what democracy is all about.

We're not persuaded by arguments that "for the security of the Homeland" some who may potentially pose a threat can be locked up like criminals before they commit a crime, or before it's been proven that they have. And we're not at all convinced that treating immigrants like criminals will make the rest of us safer. In fact it concerns us greatly that the human and civil rights protected by the constitution can so quickly become debatable issues in the new
atmosphere of what this administration promotes as "domestic security policy."

On Saturday, December 6th, I hope you'll join me and many other
concerned people who still believe in America's potential to become what it has
often proclaimed itself to be: the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
We'll be rallying in York, PA to ask our neighbors to think hard about the
ramifications of taking federal money to incarcerate more than 800 immigrants right
here in our community. The INS is treating people who have not been charged
with a crime as though they are convicted criminals. This is not tolerable in
America! As Free people with the Courage to say what we know is right, it's time
for us to stand and be heard!

On Saturday, December 6th, I hope you will join us as we rally at the
York Prison to express our dissent against the desecration of the American
tradition of justice. Some people cry out against the desecration of the flag, a
symbol of America's ideals. How much greater should be the outcry against the
desecration of the ideals themselves?

Also on Saturday, December 6th, I hope you will join us as we turn our
attention to the irresponsible profiteering of some American corporations
that support the inhumane policies of their international trading partners.

We will follow-up our rally at the York Prison with a march to and
rally at the Caterpillar parts plant. Why? Because the Caterpillar corporation
manufactures armored bulldozers (D9's) that are used by the Israeli Defense
Force to demolish Palestinian homes. One such bulldozer was used to crush the life
out of Rachel Corrie, a young rights activist trying to protect a Palestinian
family from becoming instantly homeless.

It has been said by some that to oppose the Israeli Defense Force's
use of this machinery of destruction is anti-Jewish and supports the Palestinian
violence of suicide bombers against Israelis. I do not think so. If a
corporation manufacturing the explosives being used by suicide bombers was doing
business in our community and I knew about it, I would insist we include a rally
at their doorstep in our planning! Our rally is FOR JUSTICE, not against any
group of people. I hope no one will stay away because they worry about a bias in
our message. Our only bias is against the violence of intolerance and the
special pleading of privilege.

The unifying theme of the December 6th Free The Detainees! End The
Occupations! rally is this: as people of conscience, we have to consider the
effect of our community's participation in the escalation of human misery around
the globe. It's not enough to say we benefit from jobs at the prison or at the
factory. What are we accepting money to do? Should we be pleased to receive
federal dollars that certainly lighten the local tax burden but at the same time
change a local prison meant to hold dangerous criminals into a detention
center for immigrants innocent of criminal behavior?

And should we be pleased to support with our labor, our tax breaks,
and our community reputation a corporation that blithely profits from policies
that use construction equipment for the deconstruction of homes and villages?

When the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked and thousands
killed by militant criminals on September 11th 2001, Americans and friends
around the world asked each other what they could do to help. The Bush
administration told them all to go shopping and leave the "anti-terror" campaign to the
experts.

Since then, our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters have been sent
to invade and occupy two countries. Our children and grandchildren have been
recruited to finance no-bid contracts granted to Bush political contributors to
rebuild what shock and awe brought low. Meanwhile, we're supposed to go to
work, shop, watch propaganda like the Jessica Lynch TV movie and not notice that
a politically incorrect (not "right" enough) TV movie about Ronald Reagan can
be blacklisted via right-thinking pundits, radio shock troopers and the Fear
and Unbalanced News Channel's unrelenting partisanship.

This is not the America we once knew, and it's not the America we
aspire to.

So I ask you to begin the redemption of America from its right wing
handlers. I ask you to withdraw support for the downsizing of constitutional and
human rights. I ask you to make a stand with friends and neighbors who still
believe we can build on America's aspirations toward liberty and justice.
Please start now by joining us on December 6th. We've taken our message to
Washington. We've taken our message to the halls of Congress. It's time to take our
message to the heartland!

Join us!

Ben Price

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FREE THE DETAINEES! END THE OCCUPATIONS!

On December 6, 2003 people from around the country will converge in York,
PA to demonstrate against the secret arrests and detentions of immigrants
and to protest Caterpillar Corporation's support of the Israeli Occupation
of Palestine. This demonstration will begin at the York County Prison
then march to the nearby Caterpillar Parts Distribution plant. The York
County Prison is one of the largest BICE detention centers in the country.

The Caterpillar Parts Distribution plant in Springettsbury Township, PA,
has had the highest volume of shipping parts which is sent to Caterpillar
and other corporations world-wide. These parts are used to manufacture
armored bulldozers that are used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). The
IDF uses these bulldozers to demolish homes of Palestinian families and
were used in the death of US citizen Rachel Corrie, a Palestinian
solidarity activist who was murdered by the IDF last spring, while
non-violently trying to prevent a home demolition. Rachel, while in plain
sight, was viciously run over and then backed over again, by a bulldozer
manufactured by Caterpillar.

The Convergence for Human Rights is calling on all who believe in human
rights to join us for a nonviolent, legal rally and march in York, PA on
December 6th, 2003. Our goal is to bring nationwide attention to the
arrests and detentions of immigrants and Caterpillar's involvement with
the oppression of the Palestinian people.

The Convergence for Human Rights is calling for the Bureau of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (BICE):

1. To STOP the imprisonment of asylum seekers within the US PRISON
system. This is a violation of INTERNATIONAL LAW!
2. To release the names of all post 9-11 detainees
3. To release detainees who have not been charged with a crime
4. Stop the commingling of BICE detainees with other prisoners
5. Stop the use of solitary confinement and food loaf for BICE detainees
6. Improve/change phone system so detainees can use calling cards and not
rely on calling collect.
7. Allow contact visits and more frequent visits for BICE detainees
8. End the practice of punitive transfers of BICE detainees, especially
without notifying their attorneys and families
9. STOP the physical violence against INS detainees.

Again, these issues point to the need to either release BICE detainees, or
at the very least, NOT house them in PRISONS!

The Convergence for Human Rights is calling on Caterpillar Corporation to:

1. Halt all sales of equipment to the Israeli Defense Force.
2. Respect workers' rights,
3. STOP union busting, and
4. Respect for workers' right to organize.

Our purpose in writing to you is to request any and all of the following:

1. Endorse the march on December 6, 2003
2. Publicize the march to your constituencies
3. Encourage attendance at local teach-ins that will be
held as an educational opportunity to inform the public about the
practices of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the
actions of the Caterpillar Corporation.

By coming together in the interest of human rights and human dignity we
can defeat the on-going threats to our civil liberties here at home and
the terror exported by US companies around the world. Make your voice
heard in the struggle of human needs over corporate greed.

END THE DISAPPERANCES, US OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!

In solidarity, Convergence for Human Rights

Saturday, December 6, 2003
York, Pennsylvania - Noon

Converge at Springettsbury Park, 1501 Mt. Zion Rd., York, PA
Rally at York County Jail BICE Facility
March to Caterpillar Distribution Plant

For more information, or to endorse this call, please email contact-AT-october18.org
or visit our website at: www.october18.org

Convergence for Human Rights
418 W. Market St., 2nd Floor, York, PA 17404
Phone: 717.845.5509 Fax: 717.845.5499
List: chr_york-AT-yahoogroups.com

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To endorse, contact-AT-october18.org

Current List of Endorers:
Coalition for Immigrant Rights at the Community Level (CIRCLE) - York, PA
People for Peace & Justice - York, PA
Spanish Community Association of Central Pennsylvania. - York, PA
York College ACLU - York, PA
York County Greens - York, PA
York Anti-Racist Action - York, PA
York NEFAC - York, PA
Dauphin County Greens - Dauphin County, PA
Harrisburg Catholic Workers - Harrisburg, PA
Central Pennsylvania Anarchist Black Cross - Harrisburg, PA
Cumberland County Green Party - Cumberland County, PA
Adams County Greens - Adams County, PA
Carlisle Peace College - Carlisle, PA
Northeast Branch Group, Anarchist Black Cross Federation - Lancaster, PA
Every Church a Peace Church - Akron, PA
Pledge of Resistance Baltimore - Baltimore, MD
Baltimore City Greens - Baltimore, MD
BCDC Human Rights Network, Baltimore, MD
Hopkins Students for a Free Palestine - Baltimore, MD
Baltimore SUSTAIN - Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Anti-Racist Action - Baltimore, MD
Bad Apple Collective (NEFAC) - Baltimore, MD
Roundhouse Collective (NEFAC) - Baltimore, MD
All Peoples Congress - Baltimore, MD
Left Turn - Baltimore, MD
Anne Arundel Greens - Anne Arundel County, MD
Kazm Collective (RAAN) - Rockville, MD
DC SUSTAIN - Washington, DC
DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) - Washington, DC
Erie County Green Party - Erie County, PA
Brandywine Peace Community - Swarthmore, PA
Philadelphia SUSTAIN - Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia GMB Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - Philadelphia, PA
RASH-Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA
Anarcho-Communist Union of Philadephia(NEFAC) - Philadelphia, PA
Jamaat for Justice - Pittsburgh, PA
Zi Activist Group - Pittsburgh, PA
Thomas Merton Center - Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee - Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Organizing Group - Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Anti-Racist Action - Pittsburgh, PA
Steel Valley RASH - Wheeling, WV
Alliance for World Awareness of Rights and Equality (AWARE) - Edison, NJ
Central Jersey Jews Against the Occupation (JATO) - New Brunswick, NJ
New Jersey Anti-Racist Action (NJ ARA) - New Brunswick, NJ
One People's Project - New Brunswick, NJ
New Jersey NEFAC - New Brunswick, NJ
Ever-Reviled Records - Newark, NJ
Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti - NYC, NY
Women Against War - Albany, NY
Open City Anarchist Collective (NEFAC-NYC) - NYC, NY
Blue Triangle Network - Cleveland, OH
Burning River Revolutionary Anarchist Collective (FRAC), Cleveland, OH
Committee for Justice in Palestine, Ohio State University - Columbus,OH
Columbus Anti-Racist Action - Columbus, OH
Liberatory Projects (RAAN) - Columbus, OH
Arawak City Anarchist Collective - Columbus, OH
Burning River Revolutionary Anarchist Collective (FRAC), Cleveland, OH
St. Louis SUSTAIN - St. Louis, MO
Committee Against the U$ Empire (the CAU$E) - St. Louis, MO
Al-Awda Chicago - Chicago, IL
Blue Triangle Network - Detroit/Dearborn, MI
National Lawyers Guild (NLG)
North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists (NEFAC)
Red & Anarchist Action Network (RAAN)
Anti-Racist Action (ARA)
Freedom Socialist Party
Internationalist Socialist Organization (ISO)
American Muslim Voice
Pakistan American Alliance
Queers Against War