Italians Advance Czech Hunger Strike

Say No to Star Wars
Sunday, June 22, 11am to ...
Piazza Navona, Roma, Italia
Dear peace activists,
This Sunday, June 22, there will be a one-day global hunger strike to protest the proposed U.S. military base in the Czech Republic, and what is seen as the first step in creation of the U.S. Missile Defense System in Europe, aka the new Star Wars. The Missile Defense System is destined to antagonize Russia (and other countries suspicious of U.S. motives) and ultimately create a dangerous new arms race. Its only beneficiaries will be defense contractors such as Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, as well as European weapons manufacturers. In February 2007, under the Prodi government, Italy secretly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. to participate in the program.
In Rome, Italian activists of Mondo senza guerre are supporting the struggle in the Czech Republic, where there is tremendous opposition to the new base, with an all day event in Piazza Navona, starting at 11am. They'll make use of everything they can -- from street theatre to flyers -- to inform Italians and tourists of the dangers of this multi-billion dollar program described as "a solution that technically does not work being applied to a problem that does not actually exist."
They will be collecting signatures for a petition against the new base, with the aim of reaching the goal of 200,000 signatures before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Prague on July 10 to sign an agreement between the U.S. and the Czech Republic. Over 120,000 signatures have already been collected (http://petice.nenasili.cz/?lang=en). [see post of June 9, 2008, International Hunger Strike to Stop US Space Shield]
USC4P&J fully supports this initiative, and we plan to show our solidarity and lend a hand by joining them in the afternoon, from 4:30 on. Please do try to join us, even if only for a short while, and if only to add your name to the signatories of this important petition, in person!
Please note: You don´t have to participate in the hunger strike to take part in the activities! However, if you would like to join the hunger strike, you can sign up at: http://tinyurl.com/5mvqyn

**Join us on June 22, 4:30pm to say NO to Star Wars!

For more information, contact us at: info@peaceandjustice.it
For more information on the Missile Defense System, see:
US Pushes Pie-in-the-Sky Missile Defense in Europe
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=10593
US taps Lithuania as alternative to Poland for missile shield plan
http://tinyurl.com/5jygs7
Priceless propaganda video from the US Missile Defense Agency
http://tinyurl.com/3ova44 [too weird & too long to watch at work, but if you have 30 minutes, it’s probably worth watching – with friends, not alone – your brains might explode!]
Anna, Gene, Maria, Maria Chiara and Stephanie
---U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome
info@peaceandjustice.it
http://www.peaceandjustice.it

Gay Pride, Italian Style

Italy gay pride march protests against government and Church
Sat Jun 7, 2008 12:46pm ED
ROME (Reuters) - Some 10,000 dancing and singing homosexuals and gay-rights supporters marched through Rome on Saturday, many of them chanting slogans against the Vatican and Italy's conservative new government.
The yearly Gay Pride march took on added political significance because city officials denied a request for the march to end with a rally near the Basilica of St John's in Lateran, the pope's cathedral in his capacity as bishop of Rome.
[...] The new conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has made it clear it has no intention of passing legislation that would give gay couples some sort of legal recognition.
That promise had been made by the previous centre-left government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi but was blocked by opposition from the Vatican and the Italian Catholic Church.
Berlusconi and the Vatican see eye-to-eye on many issues and his government's relationship with Church is much more cordial than that of the previous government.
"Berlusconi kisses the pope's slipper and says 'yes' to everything. We risk a theocracy and clerical dictatorship," said Franco Grillini, a homosexual who was a parliamentarian in the previous government.
Mock marriages were performed on some of the floats drawn through the city as scantily clad homosexual men danced on other floats.
Some of the demonstrators carried placards accusing conservative politicians of being "hypocritical slaves" of the Vatican. Several of the gay men were dressed in papal masks or bishops' garb.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella, editing by Mary Gabriel)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL078594220080607

Tough Times Ahead for Italia

Cari amici, now it is up to you to bring some sense back to Italians and make Berlusconi listen to you! Turn off your TVs, go to the Internet for news, not Berlusconi's hysterical media which uses fear tactics worthy of FAUX News. Now they're going to convince you to send more troops to AFGHANISTAN? Will you buy it? I also have a very nice bridge, right nearby, very well known, and you might like to purchase it?
Bush to press Berlusconi on Iran and Afghanistan
Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:35pm EDT
By Matt Spetalnick and Stephen Brown
ROME (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will urge Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as an old ally on Thursday to take a tougher stand over Iran's nuclear program and expand Italy's military role in Afghanistan
[...] But beyond the smiles and handshakes, Bush will be looking for concrete signs that Berlusconi, whose previous government supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, is bringing Italy's foreign policy back closer in line with Washington's.
[...] Berlusconi's admiration for Bush runs counter to public sentiment in Europe where he is widely reviled for the Iraq war.
While Berlusconi and Pope Benedict prepared to roll out the red carpet for Bush over the next two days, about a thousand leftists and anti-war activists staged a peaceful protest in the centre of Rome after his arrival on Wednesday.
Bush's bid to ratchet up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program is expected to be high on the agenda with Berlusconi, as it has been since the start of his European trip on Monday.
[...] Italy, one of Iran's top foreign investors, could have an impact should the European Union carry out a threat to impose new measures on Tehran beyond existing U.N. sanctions if it keeps defying demands to stop uranium enrichment.
Washington had urged the centre-left government of Berlusconi's predecessor Romano Prodi to take a harder line with Italian companies doing business in Iran but to little avail.
Signalling a stronger stance, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in a television interview the "path of sanctions should be resumed more firmly than ever" if Tehran rejected a revised incentives package it would soon be offered.
Bush wants a firmer commitment from Berlusconi to the war effort in Afghanistan. He has pressed NATO allies, so far with limited results, to increase troop levels and lift bans on deployment of forces to places where fighting is fiercest.
Italy has about 2,700 troops in Afghanistan, mostly off the front lines.
Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday he had agreed to a "limited" deployment of Italian troops to combat zones.
[...] Bush's critics say he has been so distracted by Iraq that he has neglected the Afghan war. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was opposed by Germany and France and sowed division in Europe, but bitterness has gradually subsided.[...]
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GCA-iraq/idUSL1157145920080612