On Dec. 14, dozens of activists in Des Moines, Iowa took part in a rally protesting the arrests by ICE of some 90 immigrants at the Swift plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. The Marshalltown raid was one of six such raids on Dec. 12; in all, ICE agents arrested 1,282 workers at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in six states, claiming the sweeps were part of an investigation into identity theft. (WHBF, Rock Island, IL, Dec. 15) On Dec. 17, clergy members spoke out at an evening service in Des Moines called to protest the raids. About 200 people came to Grace United Methodist Church to hold candles and pray in solidarity with detainees and their families. The "Making Room at the Inn" event included multilingual speeches, prayers and hymns. "Jesus was not mindful of Social Security numbers, or countries of origin, or of native languages," said the Rev. Barbara Dinnen of the Las Americas Comunidad de Fe of the United Methodist Church. (Des Moines Register, Dec. 18)

On Dec. 14, more than a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the home of longtime immigrant advocate Ben Guiliani in South Portland, Maine. The agents were seen carting out numerous boxes of evidence and computer equipment, according to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. A friend and fellow activist said agents also showed up at Guiliani's office elsewhere in the city. Guiliani said he was out of state when the agents showed up at his house, but that family members were home. Nobody has been charged or arrested, he said. The immigration agency notified South Portland police of the operation shortly after 9 AM, but did not provide specifics of the investigation, said Police Chief Ed Googins.

The bishops of San Cristobal de las Casas, Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel (titular), Enrique Diaz Diaz (auxiliary) and Samuel Ruiz Garcia (emeritus) officiated at a mass in the Chiapas Highland village of Chenalho Dec. 22 in memory of the victims of the Dec. 22, 1997 massacre at Chenalho's outlying hamlet of Acteal, in which 45 unarmed Tzotzil Maya were slain. In an emotional ceremony that mixed Catholic and Maya rituals, the gathering prayed at the grave of the victims, who belonged to the civil indigenous organization Las Abejas (the Bees).

Four people were wounded in an armed clash between rival factions of Tzotzil Maya settlers in the outlying colonia (neighborhood) of Molino de los Arcos in the Chiapas Highland city of San Cristobal Dec. 21. The settlers are originally from the nearby village of San Juan Chamula, but were forced to occupy lands on the outskirts of San Cristobal after being expelled by Chamula's authorities for practicing evangelical Protestantism. One faction in the land conflict was said to be led by the Council of Indigenous Representatives of the Chiapas Highlands (CRIACH), and the other by the National Union of Agricultural Workers (UNTA). Domingo Lopez Angel, director of CRIACH, said the violence began when members of his organization, who had gathered in Los Arcos to build a church, were set upon by a group led by UNTA director Mariano Lopez Cruz, armed with clubs and pistols. Two of the injured received bullet wounds. (La Jornada, Dec. 22)

From AP, Dec. 23:

OVENTIC, Mexico - About 5,000 Zapatista rebels, many in black ski masks, gathered in this village in southern Mexico to show their support for protesters in the historic city of Oaxaca who are trying to oust the state governor.

Thousands of supporters of the Popular People's Assembly of Oaxaca again took to the streets of southern Mexico's Oaxaca City Dec. 22 to demand the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, as well as the release of "political prisoners" arrested in the protests and the withdrawal of federal police from the city. (La Jornada, Dec. 23) It was part of an international mobilization, with protests in solidarity with the APPO reported from some 35 countries around the world, including the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Argentina, Brazil and Peru. (La Jornada, Dec. 23)

This is why the European laws against Holocaust denial are completely counter-productive. They just provide a media spotlight (and therefore a voice) to these sinister charlatans—and worse, allow them to legitimately accuse the establishment of silencing them. Every turn in David Irving's legal fortunes has provided another opportunity for him to play the victim and spew his filth into extended microphones. From The Australian, Dec. 21, emphasis added (superfluously, we hope):

As Christianity and Islam vie for the title of "religion of peace"... From AP, Dec. 21:

THESSALONIKI – Rival groups of monks wielding crowbars and sledgehammers clashed yesterday over control of a thousand-year-old monastery in a community regarded as the cradle of Greek Orthodox Christianity, police said. Seven monks were injured and transported by boat to receive treatment but released after several hours, police said. No one was arrested, but three monks were banned from re-entering the Orthodox sanctuary of Mount Athos, on a self-governing peninsula in northern Greece.