How ironic. We noted in August that ex-Israeli security chief Uza Dayan was warning the US against emulating Israeli strategies in securing the Mexican border. Now it appears that Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm which is building the "Aparthied Wall" in occupied Palestine, has been awarded a contract, along with Boeing, to build the wall on the Mexican border. From Israel21C, Oct. 15:

There have now been 84 "arbitrary detentions" by the Mexican federal police in Oaxaca, according to the Miguel Augustin Pro-Juarez Human Rights Center (PRODH), which has dispatched a team of investigators to the besieged city. The group also reports 59 "disappearances," in which the whereabouts of the detained is unknown, since the city was occupied by 4,000 Federal Preventative Police on Oct. 29. (La Jornada, Nov. 5)

Bombs exploded at three high-profile targets in Mexico City early on the morning of Nov. 6, causing property damage but no injuries. A door was damaged and windows blown out at the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE), a body which had angered leftists in September for ruling that conservative candidate Felipe Calderon won July's disputed presidential race. Glass and ceiling panels covered the floor of an annex building at the headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), now embroiled in a bitter conflict in the state of Oaxaca. An explosion also tore apart the metal and glass facade of a branch of Canada's Scotiabank. A fourth bomb at another bank failed to detonate. (Reuters, Nov. 6)

From Gush Shalom, Nov. 3:

Gaza: Stop the Siege! Stop the War!
A month of protest: November 4—December 2, 2006

The situation in Gaza has reached emergency levels—inadequate water, electricity, and medicine; widespread hunger, poverty, and unemployment; schools and other services out of operation; and constant bombardments and attacks by the Israeli military. The problem is the siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel and the sanctions imposed by the international community, made worse by ongoing IDF attacks. If this siege continues, we will see spreading disease, malnutrition, and anarchy.

Mexican federal police pushed through barricades on roads leading to Oaxaca's state university Nov. 2, firing tear-gas canisters and water cannons at protesters, who fought back with rocks, slingshots and molotov cocktails. But the police stopped short of crossing onto the campus. At least eight people were injured in the fighting, including a newspaper photographer who was "hit by fireworks" launched by protesters, according to the New York Times. Flavio Sosa, a leader of the Popular People's Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) pledged "we will not surrender." (WP, NYT, Nov. 3; La Jornada, Nov. 2)

From LA's NBC4-TV, Nov. 2:

FORT HUACHACA, Ariz. — The federal government has unveiled a new multimillion-dollar gadget to patrol and protect the U.S.-Mexican border.

From Turkey's Zaman, Nov. 2:

A 92-year-old retired Turkish archaeologist has been acquitted in a rights trial in which she was accused of "inciting hatred by insulting people based on their religion.”

Our October issue featured the story "Save Darfur: Zionist Conspiracy?" by Ned Goldstein, exploring propaganda exploitation of the genocide in Sudan by Israel and US imperialism. A companion feature by WW4 REPORT Editor Bill Weinberg, "From Darfur to Mauritania," noted the survival of slavery and persecution of Black African peoples across the entire Sahel region—while also noting how the region's conflicts are exploited by rival multinational oil interests. The October Exit Poll was: "Should the UN intervene in Darfur, or is it all a Zionist/imperialist conspiracy for 'regime change' in Sudan?" We received the following responses: