Labor activists have been an integral part of the movements of the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia and Egypt, helping to organize and direct large portions of Egyptian and Tunisian society through existing, and often new, labor unions for democratic change. Women union members from both Egypt and Tunisia will be in Northern California the week of August 15, 2011 to discuss their experiences in building their movement, including: the role of labor movements in democracy; democracy within the labor movement itself; the hazards of labor organizing under authoritarian regimes; and the role and struggle of women in the labor movement.

Join Magda Mohammed Ibrahim and Marwa Khalil Farghali Khalil from the Egyptian Public Tax Authority Union; and Aida Zerai and Nahed Ben Dahkla from Tunisian unions for a discussion of these and other topics during this exciting time for labor both here and the Middle East.

I did not blog about my summoning to the military tribunal coz this issue was already covered extensively in the mainstream and social media circles, and I did not have more to say about that day.
But just few quick points, since there are new developments:
- I went to the military prosecutor initially as an “accused” person and Rime Maged was a “witness,” based on a complaint from General Hamdi Badeen, the head of the military police, about my “torture allegations” against his men. The tone completely changed after roughly 20 mins into the conversation with General Adel el-Morsi, the head of the military judicial branch, and the situation became different: Rime and I were invited for “coffee and chat,” and I was asked to hand in whatever information I had on abuses by the military police to the military prosecutors to investigate.

The Arab Cultural and Community Center and theArab American Union Members Council present Community Reception for Labor Union Leaders from Tunisia Wednesday March 23, 2011 The Arab Cultural and Community Center 2 Plaza Street, San Francisco, CA, 94116 5:30 PM-7:00 PM Cross Street is Laguna Honda One Block from the Forest Hill Muni Station

Supporter, The governor, his GOP Republican Guard, Tea Party Militia and Corporate Special Forces have declared war on public employees and their unions in Wisconsin. Their immediate aim is nothing less than the destruction of collective bargaining for all public sector workers. But the ultimate objective is removing all of organized labor as a force for progressive social change and an obstacle to unfettered corporate exploitation, deregulation and privatization for all American working people. Unions are a check on their power and greed. This attack is no more about fiscal responsibility or solving deficits than the invasion of Iraq was about weapons of mass destruction or the invasion of Afghanistan was about democracy and the rights of women.

Dockers respond to Israel's Flotilla Massacre and Gaza Siege http://www.labournet.net/docks2/1007/blockade1.html Blockade: Dockers respond to Israel’s Flotilla Massacre and Gaza Siege Report by Greg Dropkin Published: 09/07/10 Three weeks after the massacre on the Freedom Flotilla, ILWU dockworkers in the San Francisco Bay area delayed an Israeli Zim Lines ship for 24 hours, the Swedish Dockworkers Union began a week-long blockade of Israeli ships and containers, dockers in the Port of Cochin, India, refused to handle Israeli cargo, and the Turkish dockworkers union Liman-Is announced their members would refuse to service any Israeli shipping. In South Africa, Durban dockers had already boycotted a Zim Lines ship in response to the invasion of Gaza last year.