July, 08 2016, 01:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Shannon Craig Straw, West End Strategy Team
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Responds to Tragic Gun Violence of Last 72 Hours
Mourning the tragic deaths of five Dallas police officers, the executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Josh Horwitz, issued the following statement noting the role of the gun lobby in perpetuating the cultural climate of circular fear in which guns, including highly lethal assault weapons, have become ever-present in this country:
WASHINGTON
Mourning the tragic deaths of five Dallas police officers, the executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Josh Horwitz, issued the following statement noting the role of the gun lobby in perpetuating the cultural climate of circular fear in which guns, including highly lethal assault weapons, have become ever-present in this country:
"Today my heart is breaking for the law enforcement community in Dallas as we struggle to grapple with the deaths of the five officers who were shot and killed, and the wounding of nine other individuals, including two civilians, after a peaceful protest.
The tragedy in Dallas comes as we all continue to struggle to understand the circumstances that led to Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota being shot by police.
Everyday we struggle to understand how elected officials idly sit by as 90 more Americans are killed with guns.
There is one thing that I am not struggling with today, however. One thing that I know for sure and that is this: The ubiquitous presence of firearms in our society, brought to us by the NRA, is a disaster.
Over the next hours, days and weeks, we will learn more facts about all of these incidents, the broader systemic problems that create the space for these incidents, and debate what needs to change. We look forward to that discussion, but for today we mourn for the American family that has lost so many members because of easy access to lethal firearms."
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) is a 501(c)(4) organization that was founded in 1974. We seek to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective policy advocacy. Our organizational structure is unique among national gun violence prevention organizations. CSGV is composed of 47 national organizations working to reduce gun violence.
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The United Nations' top humanitarian affairs officials on Friday called for an immediate deescalation of hostilities in Sudan, where rival factions in the military government have been fighting for a year and where an attack on the city of El Fasher is reportedly imminent.
About 800,000 people in the city, the capital of North Darfur state, are in "extreme and immediate danger," U.N. aid operations director, Edem Wosornu, told the U.N. Security Council earlier this week, as she reported that clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are nearing El Fasher.
Fighting between the two groups has intensified in recent weeks, forcibly displacing an estimated 40,000 people.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday that the security situation in North Darfur has left more than a dozen aid trucks with relief supplies for 122,000 people stranded in neighboring Northern state, unable to proceed into the only capital city in Darfur that is not controlled by RSF.
"A patchwork of armed actors, including the Darfur Joint Protection Forces, the SAF, and the RSF control different parts of the El Fasher area," Human Rights Watch reported this week. "Tense calm alternating with episodic fighting has prevailed for months."
Since April 14, when RSF began to push into El Fasher, at least 43 people—including women and children—have been killed due to fighting between the SAF and RSF.
"Civilians are trapped in the city, afraid of being killed should they attempt to flee," said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk. "This dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies as deliveries of commercial goods and humanitarian aid have been heavily constrained by the fighting, and delivery trucks are unable to freely transit through RSF-controlled territory."
The lack of humanitarian aid in North Darfur has pushed the state toward a famine, with one child dying of starvation every two hours, according to a February report by Doctors Without Borders.
In December, the U.S. State Department announced an $85 million sale of radar and other military equipment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which The New York Times reported last year has been covertly supporting the RSF.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) proposed a joint resolution to block arms sales to the UAE in January, in light of its support for the paramilitary group.
Omar was among several lawmakers who wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week, urging them to "deliver urgently-needed humanitarian assistance" and to help end the hostilities.
Sudanese-Australian writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied urged Americans on Friday to pressure lawmakers and the White House to take more action.
"There is a tiny window of opportunity for us to find a way to get the UAE... to make the RSF to stop in their tracks," said Abdel-Magied. "Maybe there's a way that we can avoid this massacre."
OCHA called on the warring parties to "take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations."
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The Tennessee win "is breaking the brains of Republicans in that region. They're truly astonished that workers might not trust their corporate overlords with their working conditions, pay, health, and retirement," Thom Hartmann wrote in a Friday opinion piece.
"The problem for Republicans is that unions represent a form of democracy in the workplace, and the GOP hates democracy as a matter of principle."
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As workers gear up for the election, the Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 72-30 for a bill that would withhold future economic incentive money from companies that voluntarily recognize unions rather than holding secret ballots. The state Senate previously passed a version of the legislation but now must consider it with the lower chamber's amendments.
The Associated Pressnoted that "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed similar legislation on Monday" and that Tennessee already has one on the books.
With his signature on Senate Bill 362, "Kemp's aim is to thwart future organizing attempts by workers at automotive plants in Georgia, such as those operated by Hyundai Motor Group," according toThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
As the newspaper detailed:
Georgia has been a right-to-work state since 1947, when Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, allowing workers to refuse to join a union or pay dues, even though they may benefit from contracts negotiated by a union with their employer. Just 5.4% of workers in the state belonged to a union in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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The new Georgia law is expected to be challenged in court, labor experts have said.
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su told the AP on Thursday that she is not sure if the department will challenge the laws, given the National Labor Relations Board's responsibilities, but she stressed that "there are federal standards beneath which no worker should have to live and work."
In terms of joining a union, "that choice belongs to the worker, free from intervention, either by the employer or by politicians, free from retaliation and threats," Su said. "And what we are seeing is that workers who were thought to be too vulnerable to assert that right are doing it, and they're doing it here in the South."
The U.S. labor chief also slammed "unacceptable" union-busting efforts by companies and suggested that protecting the right to unionize is part of President Joe Biden's "promise to center workers in the economy."
"He has said he's the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history, and we are going to make good on that promise. And that includes making sure that workers have the right to join a union," Su said of the president.
Biden's commitment to workers and unionizing rights has caught the attention of GOP leaders. The governors' joint statement nodded to the UAW's January endorsement of the president, who is seeking reelection in November, and South Carolina's leader attacked the administration earlier this year.
During his January State of the State speech, McMaster declared that "we will not let our state's economy suffer or become collateral damage as labor unions seek to consume new jobs and conscript new dues-paying members. And we will not allow the Biden administration's pro-union policies to chip away at South Carolina's sovereign interests. We will fight. All the way to the gates of hell. And we will win."
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Observers say these attacks—which include the infamous " Flour Massacre" and the drone strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen staffers—were deliberate, which Israel denies.
The blocking of humanitarian aid is a key component of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa and supported by more than 30 nations. On January 26, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling that found Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza and ordered it to prevent future genocidal acts. Critics argue Israel has ignored the order.
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Last month, the Biden administration
said that Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons complies with international law, an assessment lambasted by many observers including Palestinian American political analyst Yousef Munayyer, who called it "absolutely scandalous."
Palestinian and human rights advocates and more than two dozen congressional Democrats have challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law, pointing to the use of 2,000-pound bombs—which can wipe out an entire city block—in densely populated areas and other potentially illegal actions. In December, Biden acknowledged that Israel's bombing was "indiscriminate."
Critics including progressive members of Congress have called for an arms embargo on Israel. However, Biden this week signed the biggest-ever U.S. aid package for Israel and has
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