President Barack Obama made clear yesterday that the U.S. will continue to support Israel. At the same time, the president said his "heart goes out" to the the families of the more than one thousand Palestinians killed during Israeli's recent bombardment of Gaza. Obama said that for the fragile cease fire to continue it would be necessary for the ruling Hamas Party to immediately halt any further smuggling of arms into Gaza via Egypt. Obama stressed that humanitarian aid to the Palestinians would be contingent on Hamas meeting U.S. demands. What the president failed to acknowledge is that the bombs dropped by Israel on the Palestinians were very likely supplied by the U.S. In September, the U.S. Defense Security Coordinating Agency announced the proposed sale to Israel of 1,000 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs at a cost of $77 million. The armaments are manufactured under government contract in St. Louis, Missouri by Boeing Corp. read more at http://survivethejivealive.blogspot.com

In the next month or so, Unity is hoping to get permission to start a new charity called ‘Unity in the Community’ so that we can extend the support we provide for asylum seekers in Glasgow.

As part of this we have managed to rent the old Govan Integration Network offices at Govan Cross (pictured) to use as a charity shop selling clothes, toys, small household goods, books and videos and CDs.

Quite a lot of work is needed to make the offices ready to open as a shop and we hope to start work there on Wednesday 28th January from about 10.00am.

Don’t worry – the Unity Centre is NOT going to close and we plan to keep it where it is at the moment – less than 100 metres from the main entrance of the Home Office reporting centre in Glasgow.

We hope though, that the new ‘Unity in the Community’ shop in Govan is going to be used for the collection, storage and distribution of free clothing to asylum seekers and other people in need, as well as a venue for cultural events such as food tastings, film shows, fashion shows, etc as well as for meetings, ESOL classes and so on.

If you are interested in getting involved in the new Unity in the Community project or want to help with getting the shop ready on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week then please get in touch with us.

Alternatively please just stick your head through the door at the shop anytime over those three days between 10.00am and 6.00pm – we’d love to see you.

How to find the Unity in the Community shop:

The old Govan Integration Network offices are located at 794 Govan Road, Govan Cross. It is the red shop next to the Royal Bank of Scotland and directly opposite the Govan Underground station and the bus station.

Google map: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=794+Govan+road+glasgow&ie=UTF8&ll=...

If you have clothes, books, toys, videos, CDs or DVDs and small items of household items or bric-a-brac you would like to donate for the shop we can collect. Please phone the Unity Centre at the address below.

Please note however that unfortunately for health and safety reasons and because of a shortage of storage space we can not take electrical items or large items of furniture. If you do have these we suggest you contact the Starter Packs people (www.starterpacks.org.uk at 41 Burleigh St Glasgow, G51 3LA 0141 440 1008) or their sister organisation: Glasgow Furniture Initiative on 0141 336 6286.

Cheers!

The UNITY Centre

30 Ibrox Street Glasgow

G51 1AQ

0141 427 7992

www.unitycentreglasgow.org

info[at]unitycentreglasgow.org

‘SEVER TIES WITH WAR CRIMINALS’ SAYS GROUP 13 January 2008: Carrying a giant eviction order and a mock padlock, the broad anti-war group, Stop the War Coalition-Philippines, went to the Israeli embassy today to symbolically order its closure. The group sought to express its opposition to Israel’s ongoing aggression in Gaza which has already killed more than 800 people, a third of which are children. (Note: according to the latest report there are now 1,300 Palestinians killed, including 410 children and 100 women. Another 5,300 people were wounded. The statistics bureau reported 4,100 homes totally destroyed and 17,000 others damaged. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians. http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5274506/last-israeli-soldier-pulls-ou... - Note and photos added by the poster) The coalition had earlier called for the Philippine government to sever its ties with Israel and to expel the Israel ambassador to express its rejection of Israel’s aggression in Gaza. For three weeks, Israeli bombs and rockets have pounded the Gaza strip placing almost 1.5 million fearing for their lives and have shunned initiatives by the international community to put an end to the attacks. “We want to drive home the point that no country and no people should tolerate Israel’s barbarity,” said Atty Corazon Fabros, one of the group’s spokespersons. “Israel is guilty of war crimes and we should not have diplomatic relations with criminals,” she added. “The world has to sanction and isolate Israel otherwise its mass murder of the Palestinians will continue.” Israel, the group says, is guilty of violations of international law such as collective punishment, targeting of civilians, and disproportionate military response. “The embassy should only be re-opened and diplomatic ties should only be restored once Israel complies with international law,” said Fabros.