Attacking the United States Border Patrol with such wild and fictitious allegations is totally irresponsible. The fact is that this action is merely a smoke screen to divert attention from their illegal activities.

They claim to be faith-based humanitarians, except by the social and cultural standards of the United States they are just antigovernment anarchists.

This new book, Culture of Cruelty by No More Deaths is no better than the previous one in that it is entirely based on hearsay information from a biased source. Not independent moderation of oversight, they just wrote it.

Hear say evidence has never been admissible in a court of law. Even if you swear that the story you heard is correct and you swear that you have not embellished it for you own gains. Interview techniques are the same as surveys you can prove anything by the way the question is asked and then recorded and then presented. This applies to both sides of the coin. If you are going to put on the gloves lets be honorable, fair in our presentations and professional and objective in the information gathering.

It is called the “chain of evidence”  (physical or real property) Interviews, statements confessions, etc, must be recorded or signed and notarized and the victim must be available to testify under oath in a court of law. There are many criminal cases that are dismissed because this chain was broken or not conducted properly.

If law enforcement where allowed to collect evidence in the manner that NMDs did in their new book, we could just wing our constitution out the window and embrace a dictatorship.

As quoted in part from the 6th Amendment:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Border Patrol Agents must be allowed the same rights as all United States citizens.

Excerpt from “Living on the Border” Documentary 

Controlling the media was very important, so not only did they bring in their own international media teams sympathetic to their cause but they began carefully screening journalists who wanted to cover their work in the field and any that are approved, are assigned special media persons and given a false tour with no interaction with volunteers who have not been briffed or illegal migrants.

They also realized that right wing conservative news won’t criticize faith based humanitarian groups and left wing liberals are supportive of it with out asking to many questions. This puts government officials and politicians in an uneasy spot.  So with decades of experience No More Deaths and the Samaritan’sleaders who were no strangers to organizing anti government tactics, began their new agenda by first creating a cloud of false government persecution in which to operate under.

First there is “Abuse Documentation” or stories they have heard or made up that will foster sympathy for their cause and open a can of worms for any government agency that takes to close a look at their activities. Playing this abuse documentation angle also keeps them very well funded, with large grants from the Unitarian Universalistic Funding Program and tens of thousands of tax free dollars from other churches and non profit activist groups under the disguise of the Social Justice Ministry. The term they like to use for their actions is “Civil Initiative”, nothing more than a gentle  for euphemism for revolutionary or anarchist.  To give this trump card an air of validity, they even published a book.

Feature length documentary is available on DVD at www.livingontheborder.com

Karl W Hoffman

Documentary Film Producer

Freelance Photojournalist

Multimedia Reporter

For information on photography exhibits and prints, lectures, interviews, photo usage, border tours and to order the documentary on DVD and view Living on the Border documentary trailer please visit: www.skullcreekmedia.com

The self proclaimed faith based humanitarian group No More Deaths (Truth about No More Deaths) ludicrously assaults Border Patrol in their new book “A Culture Of Cruelty”. Hear say stories and foundation less accusations take aim at Border Patrol Agents and supervisors in all areas of this government organization and at all levels.

A rally to celebrate the release of the new book was held at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Tucson. Then a fired up group headed to Customs and Border Protection Headquarters to hold a demonstration in hopes of giving their cause some validity and gain some attention.  They got neither.

Arriving at BP Headquarters one could only chuckle at the circus like procession with actors dressed in costumes. Led by the famous instigator, John Fife, of course today he was the Reverend John Fife, dressed in his black shirt and white collar. Then came the “Professionals”  lady attorneys in their suites, hippies, volunteers in earth clothing, activists in all their glory, doctors and nurses in scrubs and lab coats complete with stethoscopes around their necks and followed by minstrels playing guitars and singing, but there were no jugglers just a gaggle of amateur photographers and videographers recording the debacle.

Border Patrol gates where closed to the dismay of the procession.  Heads where hung, signs and posters were rolled up, camera crews packed it in, and the activist left in a very anticlimactic exit. What ever their grand plans were, they never came to fruition.

Of course the liberal bloggers have claimed it a great success and major media this time of year is always looking for a filler.

Excerpt from Living on the Border Documentary series 

With decades of experience dating back to the Sanctuary movement,  No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s leaders who are no strangers to organizing anti government tactics. They began their new agenda by first creating a cloud of false government persecution in which to operate under. First there is “Abuse Documentation” or stories they have heard or made up that will foster sympathy for their cause and open a can of worms for any government agency that takes to close a look at their activities.

Playing this abuse documentation angle also keeps them very well funded, with large grants from the Unitarian Universalistic Funding Program and tens of thousands of tax free dollars from other churches and non profit activist groups under the disguise of the Social Justice Ministry. The term they like to use for their actions is “Civil Initiative”, nothing more than a gentle  for euphemism for revolutionary or anarchist.  To give this trump card an air of validity, they even published a book in September of 2008, “Crossing the Line” with over 100 pages of the most horrendous accusations, in the form of written accounts and affidavits, based solely on hearsay, against U.S. Border Patrol Agents working in the field and detention facilities that had never been visited. Down load PDF version of the book “Crossing the Line” This hearsay documentation was actually presented at Congressional briefing in Washington D.C., hosted by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). The U.S Border Patrol says that these allegations are false. Rep. Grialva has long been a supporter of No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s work as well as their cause.

If something works, why not try it again?  So another book is published and a larger smoke screen has been created to operate an illegal smuggling operation.

For more information on the subversive antigovernment history of No More Deaths: When Humanitarian Aid Really Does Become a Crime

Artist John Gourley’s studio is in the hills outside of Arivaca just 10 miles from the American Mexican Border. John is a metal artist and has recently been added to the very prestigious group of artist at Metal Arts Village in Tucson.  A semi retired ranch broker, John has lived an interesting life, but chose the tranquility of the Sonoran desert to call home.  John has a unique way of seeing life which is reflected in his eclectic style from small table top pieces to life size sculpture. To talk with John one will learn that each piece is a narration of individual ideas meticulously welded together bringing dreams to reality through steel. As a fellow metal sculptor I highly  recommend a visit to Metal Arts Village and these two links, John Gourley Metal Art and Karl W Hoffman’s fabricated steel sculpture.

John A Gourley with Metal Sculpture, Photo by Karl W Hoffman

 

Photo and Graphics by Karl W Hoffman

The New Metal Arts Village

 

A Thriving Arts community Has Been Forged in The New Metal Arts Village

In the most unlikely of times, a new arts community has been forged at 3230 North Dodge Boulevard, attracting some of Tucson’s most renowned metal artists as well as other long-established custom art businesses.

 

Southern Arizona native, Steve Kimble, of Art Inc. built his very own field of dreams, designing and forging an architecturally-striking collection of  twelve working artist studios surrounding a central gallery and sculpture garden.  Almost entirely steel fabrication, The Metal Arts Village, is located at 3230 North Dodge Boulevard, between River and Fort Lowell, in the heart of the Fort Lowell Furniture District.

 

The Metal Arts Village has sprung to life, now that all twelve working artist studios are occupied with a variety of metal, glass and wood artisans, offering a vast array of products and services.  The Metal Arts Village gives visitors the opportunity to come see the artists at work as well as view and choose finished original art pieces in the central gallery and sculpture garden.  It is a one-stop destination where custom art creations are being designed and fabricated in metal, glass and wood.

 

Kimble’s dream project gained momentum three years ago when he shared it with Tucson’s own world-renowned artist Lynn Rae Lowe, who joined forces as marketing maven for the Metal Arts Village and made a commitment to relocate her Metal Arts Gallery to the space when completed.  Together Kimble and Lowe have created a new village of artisans working together to create some of the area’s most unique original and custom artworks for residential, commercial and liturgical applications.  In times like these, Kimble and Lowe have managed to create a highly functional and attractive space that entices artists to join forces to serve their art patrons.

 

“Metal art has a great history in the Southwest both functionally and decoratively and now area visitors and residents have a place to come to bring friends and family to see metal and glass art as its being made,” explained Lynn Rae Lowe, who also serves as Resource Director for the Village.  “We’ve created a true artist’ guild here where the artist share their knowledge with one another to the customer’s benefit.  It’s been my experience that it can be a cumbersome process for both artisan and patron to get a custom piece of art designed and fabricated.  At the Metal Arts Village that process is seamless, creating a better relationship with the customer and furthering artisan development, providing a great community resource,” Lowe said.

 

The Metal Arts Village is the new home of some Tucson’s most established metal, glass and wood artist including Lynn Rae Lowe’s Metal Arts Gallery, Everett Grondin’s Doglix Studios, Steve Kimble’s Art Inc., Antonio Falcon’s Finxsculpture, Andrea Islas’ Appaloosa in the Wood Custom Fine Furnishings, Altenburg Kraftwerks, and Genia Parker’s Ochoa Stained Glass. It has also enticed two long-established fine monumental sculptors to Tucson, Mark Wallis of MAW Studios of Indiana, and Al Glann Sculptor from Scottsdale, Arizona.  The Metal Arts Village is now the home of the latest Spill the Beanz Coffee Teaque.

 

This collection of artists provides a diverse selection of products and services including indoor and outdoor sculpture, garden art, fences, gates, fountains, privacy screens, wall décor, mirrors, furniture, home enhancement products, cabinetry, counter fronts, entryway doors, sidelites, transom, and clerestory custom glass art windows, signage, awards, lighting, jewelry, liturgical art and other art installations made from stainless steel, mild steel, copper, brass, iron, aluminum-glass, silver and more, fabricated and cast, as well as original designs in CAD (Computer Automated Drawings).

 

“It’s so nice to be able to collaborate with a talented group of artists on-site, in the moment, exchanging ideas and information.  It allows me to expand my capabilities and serve my customers on another level,” said Ochoa Stained Glass Custom Glass Art Studio Owner/Artist Genia Parker.  Ochoa Stained Glass has been creating custom glass artworks for more than 35 years for homes, businesses and places of spiritual worship.

 

“This is the perfect place for Appaloosa in the Woods Custom Fine Furnishings,” according to Owner Andrea Islas.  “We are thrilled to join this collection of fine artisans and craftspeople and are so happy to be a part of this thriving arts community,” she concluded.

 

Young man at the border fence attempting to return to his family. Photo by Karl W Hoffman

The Obama administration has already deported more than 1 MILLION people.

So I went to the border, not just a border crossing but the border between America and Mexico deep in the Sonoran Desert to personally ask an illegal border crosser, why?

The answer I got;  This young man said he had been working in a restaurant in Illinois. He has been in the US for over 15 years, originally coming across as a child with his parents. Juan (not his real name) has a wife and children he is supporting. He was stopped for a tail light out and arrested for being in this country illegally. Juan spent the next few months in a detention facility and then was transported to Arizona and deported at Nogales.  His entire family had to contribute to raising the $2,000 it would take to pay for the Coyote to get him back into the US plus travel expenses.

Separate the issues of drugs and criminal actions, forget your party or your stand on border security and immigration and lets look at this from a purely logical and objective viewpoint.  Lets forget that Juan is here illegally and how and why he got or came here and whither or not he should be here. It is a case of human nature and the bonds we adhere to.  Just the fact that a man or women is separated from his or her family and transported several thousand miles away in another country does not mean he or she will not return to his or her family.  This is who we are as people! Holocaust victims have spent their entire lives searching for their lost loved ones. Every one of us would do the same thing.

Taxpayers are going to pay for a public defender and the prosecution, plus the court costs, inflated incarceration fees, transportation and deportation, then of course for the family to go on welfare. The icing on this cake is that the Cartels laugh all the way to the bank with the family’s savings. So is deportation a great idea?

Even if one has no compassion for families being torn apart or the immense financial burden on U.S taxpayers, how hard is it to see some simple solutions that even a politician could understand?  Secure the Border by any and all means, and then repair the country through comprehensive immigration reform by whatever the citizens of the U.S deem to be fair and compassionate. I do have great faith in the humanitarian and civil rights directions that our country eventually takes but immigration reform will not happen over night.

There should be plenty of fodder for liberals, humanitarians and open border activist to keep them busy away from the border, anti government types can sign up for voluntary deportation, the Sierra Club has enough to do in their own back yard, and No More Deaths can concentrate on their Middle East projects, conservatives can quit worrying about the foreign invasion and the high cost of ammo, and the minutemen can go home and drink beer knowing they helped defend our country.  Did I leave anyone out? Oh yea, Russell Pierce and Raul Grijalva can please just fade away and empty the prison space can be used for a new reality show “Break Out.”

Karl W Hoffman

Documentary Film Producer

Freelance Photojournalist

Multimedia Reporter

Reporting from the field not the desk

For information on photography exhibits and prints, lectures, interviews, photo usage, border tours and to order the documentary on DVD and view Living on the Border documentary trailer please visit: www.skullcreekmedia.com

Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a key member of  the subversive anti government organization, No More Deaths and the founder of the NMDs U of A Chapter.  Schivone is also the founder of the initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus, started in the spring of 2010 – one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country now collecting donations, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix.

Soliciting donations from a broad base of humanitarian organizations Schivone  flew  to Greece to join the USTOGAZA Freedom Flotilla, aboard the U.S. Ship, The Audacity of Hope. The mission was to bring aid and uncensored communication in the form of over 3,000 letters gathered internationaly to the Humas holding up in Palestine.

In a Haaretz piece, Schovone writes of his participation in the pro-Hamas flotilla debacle, to his deep sense of  commitment to his jewish faith and heritage.

Gabriel Matthew Schivone writes:

We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions, while holding Israel to the same standard as any other state in the international system – no more, no less. Before JVP, there was nothing on my campus that was critical of Israel from an American Jewish perspective. Zero. The group’s success demonstrated that young Jews – moved by their cultural or religious values, which include a belief in universal human rights – have been on campus all the while, ready and willing to join a human rights-based cause for justice in Palestine/Israel. All it took to gain support on campus and elsewhere in the state was a potent sprinkling of opportunity, initiative and political will.

In Athens, as I write, waiting to board the Audacity of Hope, I am wearing a Star of David amulet around my neck, which was given to me the night before I left Arizona by a dear friend and fellow JVP organizer. She got it from a silversmith in Haifa while on a “Birthright” trip as an adolescent. For her, it had always been the reminder of the crude brainwashing she felt she had encountered on that trip. But when she came across the star recently, she decided it might be put to good use if I were to wear it on my journey. And so that’s what I’m doing.

I wear it as a symbol of the basic values of Judaism that I feel are not emphasized sufficiently today: the imperative to welcome the stranger as you would want to be welcomed; and of helping to free the slave from a bondage that you would not wish to suffer.

Schivone represents himself as a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson, Founder and coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona and a key member of No More deaths.

Hamas preaches and engages in violence and terror in order to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. Its virulent hatred of Jews and Judaism is deeply rooted in the anti-Semitic writings of Muslim Brotherhood theologians

Now for the real story, Gabriel Matthew Schivone is not Jewish. He apparently has a very distant Jewish relative, but has only adopted a Jewish identity in order to promote his politics and boost donations.

Valerie Saturen in Haaretz says:

In his editorial about joining the flotilla to Gaza, Gabriel Schivone represented himself as a Jewish college student. I feel I must point out that this not his true identity, but one he has created in order to generate insider credibility, shield himself from accusations of anti-Semitism, and resonate with a target audience.

…

Gabriel is not Jewish, whether in terms of ethnic ancestry, religious belief, or cultural identity. He has never identified as a Jew until it became useful in advancing his political agenda. During the High Holiday season of 2007, Gabriel told me that he discussed Israel with campus representatives of Chabad, identifying himself as a Jew. When asked why he did this, he explained that he has a distant Jewish relative and that “you use what you have.”

So who is Gabriel Matthew Schivone? We  already know he can lie, but what is his real identity and his true agenda with, the Jewish Voice for Peace,  No More Deaths, and aiding the brutal terrorists group Humas?

Other Sources: Harry’s Place

SOUTH WEST BORDER TOURS

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

American/Mexican Border in Arizona. Bring your cameras and your questions! Join internationally recognized photojournalist, lecturer and documentary filmmaker, Living on the Border, Karl W Hoffman, on a personally guided tour limited to 4 clients. You will experience the border wilderness by 4×4. This is a total emersion into the border arena with hikes and evening discussions. Learn the truth about the border, first hand in the field from one of the leading experts on border dynamics. Customized tours are available to fit educational and media agendas including local interviews. Photo and audio/video services are available. Tours include lodging, meals, and transportation from Tucson International Airport. 520-820-9630 www.southwestbordertours.com

The main part of the one day tour is through the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert to the walls, fences and barricades that mark the border and the migrant trails where the media never gets to. Tours and expeditions can be tailored to your needs and the area of border issues that you are most interested in. Guided tours include explanations on sites and terrain with all the information contained in my lectures about the dynamics of the border phenomenon with in depth discussion. This is a total emersion into the border arena with late afternoon hikes and evening discussions. Evening workshops in postproduction editing, photography, audio and video are also available.

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Both Israel and the U.S. have urged the flotilla not to violate the Gaza blockade. The mission is a dangerous attention getting stunt.

The United Nations and European Union have backed Israeli and the U.S. in their position, which calls for the flotilla to dock in an Israeli or Egyptian port and transfer their cargo to Gaza legally over land. Activists reject this peaceful solution for getting aid into Gaza, and say that the blockade is illegal and immoral. Breaking the blockade and drawing international attention to themselves seems to be the activists’ highest priority and not actually getting aid and medical supplies to the people in need.

Speaking from Athens, Greta Berlin says the mission to Gaza will go ahead.

”Our intent is to sail; it’s always been our intent,” Berlin added.  “And we don’t give up very easily. We will continue to sail until Gaza is free.”

Israel has warned the flotilla that if it does try to break through the blockade to Gaza, the Navy will intercept. The naval blockade is necessary to prevent weapons and outside communication, which the activists are also carrying, from reaching the Palestinian militant group Hamas that rules Gaza. Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist organization and a threat to world peace.

The Greek government has stepped to the front by curbing tempers, preventing an international incident and ultimately saving the activists from themselves

July 2, 2011

 

U.S. Boat to Gaza Seized by Greek Authorities

and Captain Jailed

Passengers Determined to Free Captain

and Set Sail Again

Athens–After a two hour stand off at sea, the U.S. Boat to Gaza - The Audacity of Hope - was seized by the Greek Coast Guard and forced to return to the port of Piraeus under military escort. The boat’s captain has been put in jail, charged with disturbing sea traffic–which includes endangering the lives of those on the ships– and disobeying a police order to remain at dock. The crew is being detained on the boat, which is being held at a military dock just outside Athens. Most of the 36 passengers remain on the ship in solidarity with the captain and crew.

Earlier today the U.S. Boat to Gaza - The Audacity of Hope – was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard. After a stand off that unfolded over several hours a 2nd Greek Coast Guard boat arrived. This boat carried heavily armed Greek commandos and this shifted the dynamic. Soon after a decision was made to bring the boat back to a dock in Athens, not the same one the boat had previously been at.

Once docked the flotilla learned that the Greek authorities are most likely going to bring some type of charges against the captain of the boat, and that should happen tomorrow (Saturday) morning. In solidarity with the captain, most of the activists and crewmembers decided to spend the night on the boat. It is reported that they do not yet know what their plans are for tomorrow, or what the next steps in all of this will be. Up dates will be posted as they come in.

Of course the activists feel that the good news today was not that they were turened back, but that there was a tremendous outpouring of calls and emails sent to the Greek Embassy in Washington, DC as well as Greek consulates around the country. According to the activists on the flotilla with limited communication, they state that many people have also contacted the U.S. State Dept. urging them to stop supporting the Israeli efforts to undermine the flotilla.

Currently detained by the Greek Coast Guard with a second, more heavily armed ship arriving, the Flotilla humanitarian aid ship named, The Audacity of Hope, has now agreed to return to the Greek port.

USTOGAZA

Who we are;

We are a coalition of organizations and a grassroots campaign of individuals who together are joining to launch a U.S. BOAT TO GAZA. When the U.S. boat, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, sails it will take its place in the next Freedom Flotilla to participate in the great international effort to break the blockade of Gaza and to end the occupation of Palestine. From the deck of The Audacity of Hope, we will be in a powerful and unique position to challenge U.S. foreign policy and affirm the universal obligation to uphold international law and human rights.

We agree to adhere to the principles of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance in word and deed at all times.

 

Humanitarians claim there has been pressure put on Greece by Israel and the U.S. to block the flotilla. They further claim Israelis have threatened economic sanctions if Greece did not cooperate in preventing the flotilla from leaving Greek ports. Greek authorities have blocked the boats from leaving by levying unwarranted administrative burdens. A complaint against The Audacity of Hopeboat turned out to have been filed by a Jerusalem based organization called the Israel Law Center, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu publicly acknowledged the Greek prime minister’s cooperation in efforts to stop the flotilla.

The issues involving Israel and the Gaza Strip are complex and have been at the center of social and religious conflict for centuries

Involved in anti American and international affairs it is not surprising to find the subversive anti government group No More Deaths behind this international demonstration, with several of their members aboard the Ship.  It is interesting that this group will use the American Flag to give a false impression of sanction and validity.

“The U.S. Boat to Gaza, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, is committed to breaking the siege of Gaza by sailing a U.S. flagged ship in the International Freedom Flotilla this summer.” Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson. He is the founder and coordinator of the initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus, one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix. Schivone is also a member of No More Deaths and a passenger on the flotilla.

The risk of an Israeli attack on the flotilla is real. Israeli commandoes assaulted a similar flotilla in international waters on May 31 of last year, killing nine people on board one of the vessels, including Furkan Dogan, a 19-year old activist and U.S. citizen. Scores of others, including a number of Americans, were brutally beaten and more than a dozen others were shot but survived their wounds. The Obama administration never filed a complaint with the Israeli government.

This administration appears to have given a green light to Israel to defend them selves from activists who seem bent on aiding and supporting their enemies. Either at our own borders or internationally there should be no sanctions or support from the U.S Government for those taking the law in to their own hands even if it is passive and non violent.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

June 23, 2011

 

SECRETARY CLINTON: “Well, we do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza. Just this week, the Israeli Government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza and we think that it’s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves.”

 

 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs

Israel, the West Bank and Gaza

June 22, 2011

Currently detained by the Greek Coast Guard with a second, more heavily armed ship arriving, the Flotilla humanitarian aid ship named, The Audacity of Hope, has now agreed to return to the Greek port.

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

USTOGAZA

Who we are;

We are a coalition of organizations and a grassroots campaign of individuals who together are joining to launch a U.S. BOAT TO GAZA. When the U.S. boat, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, sails it will take its place in the next Freedom Flotilla to participate in the great international effort to break the blockade of Gaza and to end the occupation of Palestine. From the deck of The Audacity of Hope, we will be in a powerful and unique position to challenge U.S. foreign policy and affirm the universal obligation to uphold international law and human rights.

We agree to adhere to the principles of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance in word and deed at all times.

 

Humanitarians claim there has been pressure put on Greece by Israel and the U.S. to block the flotilla. They further claim Israelis have threatened economic sanctions if Greece did not cooperate in preventing the flotilla from leaving Greek ports. Greek authorities have blocked the boats from leaving by levying unwarranted administrative burdens. A complaint against The Audacity of Hopeboat turned out to have been filed by a Jerusalem based organization called the Israel Law Center, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu publicly acknowledged the Greek prime minister’s cooperation in efforts to stop the flotilla.

The issues involving Israel and the Gaza Strip are complex and have been at the center of social and religious conflict for centuries

Involved in anti American and international affairs it is not surprising to find the subversive anti government group No More Deaths behind this international demonstration, with several of their members aboard the Ship.  It is interesting that this group will use the American Flag to give a false impression of sanction and validity.

“The U.S. Boat to Gaza, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, is committed to breaking the siege of Gaza by sailing a U.S. flagged ship in the International Freedom Flotilla this summer.” Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson. He is the founder and coordinator of the initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus, one of nearly 30 JVP chapters throughout the country, which has a mailing list of 100,000 – and thereafter branches in the general Tucson and Northern Arizona communities, and at Arizona State University, in Phoenix. Schivone is also a member of No More Deaths and a passenger on the flotilla.

The risk of an Israeli attack on the flotilla is real. Israeli commandoes assaulted a similar flotilla in international waters on May 31 of last year, killing nine people on board one of the vessels, including Furkan Dogan, a 19-year old activist and U.S. citizen. Scores of others, including a number of Americans, were brutally beaten and more than a dozen others were shot but survived their wounds. The Obama administration never filed a complaint with the Israeli government.

This administration appears to have given a green light to Israel to defend them selves from activists who seem bent on aiding and supporting their enemies. Either at our own borders or internationally there should be no sanctions or support from the U.S Government for those taking the law in to their own hands even if it is passive and non violent.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

June 23, 2011

 

SECRETARY CLINTON: “Well, we do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza. Just this week, the Israeli Government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza and we think that it’s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves.”

 

 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs

Israel, the West Bank and Gaza

June 22, 2011

The Mexican Cartels are in a feeding frenzy.  No crime is beneath them, no person beyond exploitation, and now no industry is safe from the race for money at all costs.

The drug business in Mexico is booming but so is the jobless rate.  Desperation is gripping this country as organized crime takes over government enterprises. There is an army of street thugs stealing every thing and any thing to survive and hyaenas crimes are rampant. Violence has spilled over, exploiting illegal immigration, people smuggling and armed robberies of drug shipments on the US side and it is not just limited to the border areas any more, but at destination points through out our country.

At the top, cartels are expanding into large scale theft of Mexico’s natural resources by strong arming their way into the lumber industry with armed caravans invading timber rich areas with every intention of clear cutting. With money, there comes corruption and the ability to buy technology, so taping into pipelines to steal huge quantities of fuel should be of no surprise. Cutting into the government budget will have a catastrophic affect on the government’s  ability to keep what little control it has over the federal police or the army. The  take over of the cell phone business, one of the only privately owned monopolies in Mexico will be a prize for sure.  Its a dangerous free for all down there, its right next door and incase any one hasn’t noticed, the doors are wide open.

Mexican Gangs Stealing Growing Amounts of Fuel

 

Published June 19, 2011

| The Wall Street Journal

No More Deaths Statement:

No More Deaths community is fulfilling its commitment to “Global Movement Building.”

With each new generation there are those youth who aspire to change the world and bring peace to humanity through their own actions. With each new generation we as the human race actually get just a little closer.  As a nation we should admire our youth for not accepting the media representation at face value and praise them for taking the initiative to get their hands dirty learning about the border issues first hand in the field. Unfortunately our youth are at the mercy of a well established and very manipulative group called No More Deaths

So lets take an in depth look at this particular group, No More Deaths. Many of this organization’s key members go back decades to the earlier Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s involving El Salvadorian political refugees whom the Regan administration refused to give asylum. They took the law into their own hands, and led by the Reverend John Fife (also a reported instigator in the 1960s university anti war demonstrations and riots), the Sanctuary Movement began at the South Side Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona. Its purpose was to smuggle undocumented immigrants from El Salvador in to the United States. Gorilla fighters, rebels and criminals, who were fleeing to escape execution were included in this literal underground railroad, that smuggled illegal immigrants not just from El Salvador, but it gathered immigrants along the way through Central America and Mexico. Then through a network that stretched all the way to Canada, it eventually provided safe haven to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants and involved over 500 churches and synagogues nationwide.  This movement would create a foothold for illegal immigrant families and provide a destination point for other family members and continue to attract illegal immigrants for a generation.

With out any screening process or controls over who was being smuggled into the United States, another one of the adverse effects was a large very undesirable element that was relocated to our inner cities and formed the most notorious street gang in the history of our world. The Salvadorian gang MS13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13) is one of the most violently dangerous gangs and one of the most organized. This gang has grown to international proportions, with an estimated number of 70,000-gang members today, in the US alone and is a direct result of the Sanctuary Movement.

Although the article below states that all members were acquitted of federal charges, it neglects to say that recent charges were only reversed on a technicality and in the past many of the original group in the Sanctuary Movement, were convicted.

Including the arrest of the Reverend John Fife, eight activists where convicted on various federal charges in the 1990s. Several years ago, these same individuals resurfaced to form the group No More Deaths. This group is now walking a fine line between humanitarian aid, which should not be a crime, and indiscriminate but organized smuggling, which is a crime even if you are a church or a university. Considering the past and the present, it is of no surprise that contemporary government agencies are reluctant to work with groups that have such a subversive past and thrive on illegal activity and anti government agendas.

The war on our border has catapulted  activists and subversive antigovernment groups such as No More Deaths into powerful positions progressing at an alarming rate through internet channels and social networking sites and they are rapidly gaining a foot hold on many college campuses. Creating a serious threat to national security, No More Deaths is also attracting the attention of global intelligence agencies.

Israel’s harassment of US-Mexico border human rights activist raises many questions
by GABRIEL MATTHEW SCHIVONE on JUNE 14, 2011
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On May 16, a 19-year-old American student from a Southwest university was stopped by Israeli security agents and held for several hours as she attempted to enter the occupied Palestinian West Bank with 17 other schoolmates and two professors. At one point in a grueling interrogation that lasted until 2 am, she was harassed about her affiliation with No Más Muertes/No More Deaths, a humanitarian group that operates along the U.S.-Mexico border.

No More Deaths is a prominent U.S. humanitarian group, well known for its numerous volunteers who have been indicted over the years by the federal government (though all acquitted) for advocating fundamental change in U.S. Immigration and Border Enforcement policies and, in the process, helping save the lives of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. So why is Israel so concerned about a human rights group that operates in a humanitarian border crisis zone several thousand miles away?

A report in recent weeks by Israel’s leading newspaper, Ha’aretz, suggests a possible answer, or at least provides some interesting insight on Israel’s efforts to deal with what it perceives as “delegitimization”: people and groups around the world opposing Israeli state crimes, organizing a mass withdrawal of support for them, and attempting to press accountability for such crimes under international and domestic law.
Following “an upsurge in worldwide efforts” of these sorts, according to Ha’aretz which cited senior Israeli officials and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officers whose Military Intelligence (MI) research division “created a department several months ago that is dedicated to monitoring left-wing groups” overseas and that “will work closely with government ministries.”

The Israeli officials were not reluctant to admit that the monitoring unit was created in the wake of a supposed intelligence failure prior to Israel’s lethal raid on the humanitarian convoy “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” last May in which nine international civilians were shot to death “in the manner of summary execution” and dozens were seriously injured, according to a UN fact-finding mission that investigated the attack.

According to the Ha’aretz report, the intelligence unit has been participating in high-brass discussions preparing for Flotilla 2. The unit’s interest might well be piqued, then, by the fact that the main No More Deaths Tucson General group announced last month on its website its support for two volunteers traveling to break the siege of Gaza, one being this author and the other a Palestinian student wishing to remain anonymous.

Ha’aretz described an official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office explaining that the unit’s “quality of information” about foreign targeted groups has “improved” and the “quantity” of such information “has increased in recent months.”

One Military Intelligence (MI) official explained to that “[t]he enemy changes, as does the nature of the struggle,” and so “we have to boost activity in this sphere.” Doubtless the intelligence unit is doing its job. But whether Israel regards No More Deaths and its volunteers and supporters as enemies of the state remains unconfirmed.

What other information in the public sphere has the unit been—or would be—able to “collect” on No More Deaths in order to “adequately prepare” for challenges posed to Israeli policy by civil society actions such as the flotilla?

Probably most relevant to the case of the student who was interrogated for her involvement with the group concerns the No More Deaths University of Arizona (UA) chapter (UANMD), which has been leading the No More Deaths community in fulfilling its commitment to “Global Movement Building.”

In November 2010, UA NMD allied with fellow campus groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in organizing tours of the U.S.-Mexico border, starting with Nogales, AZ-Sonora, a border community bisected by the border wall. The effort aimed to highlight the “concrete connections” between the U.S. and Israel in their monetary and material exchanges in security technology, training and resources in maintaining state policy in both areas.

The groups followed their border tours with a national student conference, Concrete Connections, held in February, in which students and teachers from nearly a dozen states from across the U.S. attended to discuss comparisons and differences between US/Mexico border issues and the Israel/Palestine conflict and how solidarity movements can internationalize their commitment to each other’s struggle for justice in both areas.

One of the topics discussed by some activists was a “mock wall movement” to employ atcampuses across the U.S., modeled off the “mock shanty towns” that proliferated on U.S. campuses during the mid-1980s to symbolize student support for divestment from companies supporting South African Apartheid. On March 21—incidentally the same day Ha’aretz ran the above report—the largest mock apartheid wall in the U.S. was erected, dividing the 40,000-student UA campus for ten days, sponsored by numerous groups but chiefly organized by none other than the UANMD, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. Numerous other schools across the country followed suit with their announcements of erecting similar walls later in the spring and this coming fall.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent a letter of support to the students, echoing their call for mock walls to spring up across the country. In April esteemed public intellectual Dr. Cornel West echoed Tutu’s call for divestment, in particular supporting the students’ Ethnic Studies solidarity program bringing together youth from Arizona and Palestine to exchange experiences and strategies of resisting U.S./AZ and Israeli state attacks on education.

Whatever Israel’s intention, it is clear that groups such as No More Deaths pose a serious threat to Israel’s ability to carry out state crimes and policies of illegal settlement and occupation unimpeded.

Gabriel Matthew Schivone lives in Tucson, Arizona. He is a Chicano-Jewish American and native Tucsonan, a volunteer and media/policy analyst with the U.S./Mexico border humanitarian organization No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, and an AZ coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. He is a passenger and a U.S. representative for the AZ/Southwest on the upcoming “Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2″. He is also co-editor and a contributing author of the forthcoming book, Concrete Connections: Militarization, Migration, and the Political Economy of Human Rights in the Mexico/U.S. and Palestine/Israel Borderlands. Schivone may be reached at: gabrielm@email.arizona.edu Twitter @GSchivone

 

While there are many humanitarian groups and organizations involved in the border arena and doing very positive work both in the field and politically, helping people and raising awareness for immigration reform and change on both sides of the American/Mexican border. I would in no way want to cast a shadow on their work or create a stigmatism for the good they are achieving.

A faith based humanitarian organization (No More Deaths) in southern Arizona has the slogan is “Humanitarian Aid is never a Crime”. Funded by churches, they recruit volunteers who venture into the deserts along the borders of America and Mexico to give life saving aid to illegal border crossers caught in an economical and political cross fire, or so they would like you to think. What is their real agenda? Are they really a subversive anti government cult like group of smugglers using the various churches to fund their illegal operation?

The Truth about No More Deaths

Karl W Hoffman

Documentary Film Producer

Freelance Photojournalist

Multimedia Reporter

Reporting form the field not the desk.

For information on photography exhibits and prints, lectures, interviews, photo usage, border tours and to order the documentary on DVD and view Living on the Border documentary trailer please visit: www.skullcreekmedia.com