There are many problems with the Trans- Pacific Partnership trade deal being negotiated by the Obama Administration, and the consequences for working families in the United States will be devastating. But as bad as TPP will be for the US, the consequences pale in comparison to what will happen if the US removes Malaysia from its official list of the world's worst human trafficking offenders. According to the Huffington Post, “The maneuver would allow the administration to continue negotiating a controversial trade agreement with Malaysia and 10 other Pacific nations. Legislation authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) effectively bars the U.S. from enacting trade deals with countries deemed ‘Tier 3’ violators of human trafficking standards -- the worst of the worst in the State Department's formal reckoning of governments that facilitate modern-day slavery. “Malaysia earned its spot on that list, alongside Iran and North Korea, from years of human trafficking, including rampant sex slavery and forced labor in the agriculture and the textile industries, according to 2014 State Department documents. Malaysia's electronics industry also is rife with forced labor. This year, mass graves for trafficking victims were discovered in Malaysia near its northern border with Thailand.”

On July 2, Hillary Clinton sent a letter to Haim Saban, a major Clinton donor and fundraiser, expressing her “alarm” over the “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement,” which she called “a global effort to isolate the state of Israel by ending commercial and academic exchanges.” Clinton asserted that “we need to make countering BDS a priority.” Clinton’s letter failed to make any distinction between Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. [1] The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is campaigning to erase the distinction in U.S. policy between Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank, under the guise of “combatting the global BDS movement.” As part of this campaign, AIPAC recently pushed language through Congress that defines the “global BDS” which the U.S. should oppose as including boycott, divestment, and sanctions against enterprises in “Israeli-controlled territories” – that is, enterprises in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. J Street and Americans for Peace Now opposed the AIPAC provision. [2] The Obama Administration denounced the provision, saying, “by conflating Israel and 'Israeli-controlled territories,' a provision of the Trade Promotion Authority legislation runs counter to longstanding U.S. policy towards the occupied territories, including with regard to settlement activity…The U.S. government has never defended or supported Israeli settlements and activity associated with them and, by extension, does not pursue policies or activities that would legitimize them.” [3] By condemning “BDS” without distinguishing between Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Clinton is supporting – whether intentionally or not – the AIPAC campaign to erase the distinction between Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It is unlikely that major media will successfully press Hillary to clarify her position unless the issue is raised by another candidate. A recent study found that 45% of Democratic “opinion leaders” said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who criticized the Israeli occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians, while only 23% said they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate. [4] Urge Bernie Sanders to say that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not Israel by signing our petition. References: 1. “Clinton 'alarmed' over calls for Israel boycott, urges bi-partisan action,” Barak Ravid, Haaretz, July 6, 2015, http://www.haaretz.com/1.664694 2. “Inside AIPAC's Quiet Campaign To Blur Israeli Settlement Lines,” Jessica Schulberg, Huffington Post, 5/28/2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/28/aipac-israel-settlements_n_7461038.html 3. “White House Blasts Trade Bill Provision That Aims To Protect Israeli Settlements,” Jessica Schulberg, Huffington Post, 6/30/2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/trade-bill-israel-settlements_n_7700814.html 4. “Israel losing Democrats, ‘can’t claim bipartisan US support,’ top pollster warns,” David Horowitz, Times of Israel, July 5, 2015, http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-losing-democrats-cant-claim-bipartisan-us-support-top-pollster-warns/

In a referendum on July 5, Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected demands from the “troika” of its official creditors for even more austerity measures. [1] But the question of whether there can be a fair agreement and an end to the financial chaos being imposed on Greece now hangs crucially on whether the European Central Bank will support Greece’s banking system while negotiators try to reach an agreement. [2] Members of Congress are speaking out about what is being done to Greece, including Senator Bernie Sanders [3] and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva and House Democratic leaders Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky. [4] Urge President Obama and Members of Congress to demand that the ECB support the Greek banking system while negotiations continue to achieve a fair agreement by signing and sharing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/opinion/paul-krugman-ending-greeces-bleeding.html 2. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/eyes-ecb-greek-no-vote-092209741.html; http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/now-destiny-of-struggling-greece-banks-lies-in-the-hands-of-european-central-bank/articleshow/47956280.cms; http://news.yahoo.com/greece-still-cash-starved-decisive-no-bailout-vote-050303610--finance.html 3. http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-greek-austerity-vote 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-weisbrot/congress-imf-greece_b_7716422.html

Greece is experiencing a financial crisis imposed by the hardline austerity demands and dangerous brinkmanship of its official creditors, especially the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. The IMF is a US-taxpayer financed institution. President Obama [1] and US Nobel-prize winning economists Paul Krugman [2] and Joseph Stiglitz [3] have criticized the IMF policies which have led to this crisis, which is coming to a head this week with threats that Greece may be forced to default on its debt and leave the Euro if Greek voters don’t approve new austerity demands, including cuts to public pensions and raising the retirement age. Urge your Representative and Senators to make a public statement against what the IMF is doing to Greece by signing our petition. References: 1. “Obama joins ally list on Greek austerity relief,” http://news.yahoo.com/obama-joins-ally-list-greek-austerity-relief-033040983.html 2. “Greece Over the Brink,” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/opinion/paul-krugman-greece-over-the-brink.html 3. “Europe’s Attack on Greek Democracy,” http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/greece-referendum-troika-eurozone-by-joseph-e--stiglitz-2015-06

On Saturday, June 27 at 4AM Gaza time, international peace advocates aboard the Freedom Flotilla III announced their departure from European ports to the port of Gaza via international waters to protest the illegal blockade of 1.8 million human beings in Gaza. [1] Former US Army Col. Ann Wright and USS Liberty veteran Joe Meadors are on board. [2] The UN recently called for the end of the Gaza blockade. [3] Retired IDF Major General Shlomo Gazit, who was head of IDF military intelligence, has called on the Netanyahu government to leave the flotilla activists alone. [4] Haaretz – the “New York Times of Israel” – has defended the right of Knesset Member Basel Ghattas to participate in the flotilla as a nonviolent political protest against the Gaza blockade. [5] Urge Secretary Kerry to stand with General Gazit and Haaretz and press Netanyahu to let the flotilla pass from international waters to Gaza unmolested, by signing our petition. You can follow the flotilla on twitter on #FreedomFlotillaIII and @GazaFFlotilla. References: 1. https://www.freedomflotilla.org/coalition-statements/19-freedom-flotilla-iii-sets-sail-nextportgaza 2. https://ff3.freedomflotilla.org/sailors-to-gaza/ 3. http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2015/06/22/un-gaza-war-report-skewers-israel-on-targeting-ops/29109875/ 4. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.662626 5. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.662903

President Obama recently announced that he would send 450 more American service members to Iraq. They will join the 3,000 troops already there, risking their lives in a sectarian civil war that has no U.S. military solution. Republican war hawks in Congress and on the campaign trail are calling for a massive escalation in U.S. troops being sent to Iraq. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is also running for President, has called for 10,000 troops to be sent back to Iraq. Others have called for even more. These dangerous calls for more war are gaining ground in Washington. Two Iraq War veterans in Congress are standing up to calls for even more war. Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Mark Takai (D-HI) are organizing a sign-on letter against escalating the U.S. military mission in Iraq. [1] Urge your Representative to sign the Gallego-Takai letter against escalating the war in Iraq by signing our petition. 1. http://thehill.com/policy/defense/245450-two-iraq-veteran-democrats-urge-obama-to-limit-ground-troops

The TPP is a trade agreement that was forged in secret and signed without the public's consent during a time of distraction. It can and will wreck the economy further. Demand that Congress and Senate revoke the TPP immediately - or we all could stand to lose our homes, jobs, and freedoms.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership will affect everyone in the U.S. as well as everyone on our precious planet. It is dangerous. Its damage can't be estimated at all - to humans, to all forms of life, and to the environment. Its effects on climate change are potentially disastrous.

This petition is for our U.S. Government to get involved - STOP ignoring this devastating tragedy and stop the killing of innocent Haitians. Haitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent will be deported back to Haiti, or worse could be killed. Haiti has not yet recovered from the devastating earthquake of 2010. Some will die from diseases from starvation; these are women, men, children, elderly. Countless Haitians have been and will continue to be killed in the Dominican Republic; there is a CRISIS going on. This affects me greatly; my son is a U.S. Citizen. He is of Haitian descent, and the thought of my child or a family member to be taken away from me and the only home they know is outrageous. To be treated inhumanly because you are Haitian or of Haitian descent - it has to stop. Next time you have your sugar, think about where it may have come from - Haitians working on the D.R. fields working low-wage jobs and some not even getting paid at all.

The Dominican Republic has arbitrarily, capriciously , and summarily stripped its Black citizens of their citizenship BECAUSE they are Black leaving them stateless with no rights and no protection. Their objective is to drive Black people out of the Dominican Republic. This policy of the DR is as bad, if not worse than South Africa's former practice of apartheid, and the entire world is in agreement that THAT was intolerable and well outside acceptable practices in the community of nations. As a country with a substantial Black population, it is unconscionable for the United States to tolerate such practices in a country with whom we maintain diplomatic relations. We must take the lead in isolating the DR , bringing these practices to the attention of the world., and implementing appropriate sanctions. Our country is weary of racism. We are working to eliminate it from within our own borders, and we don't want to provide support for it elsewhere.

It is unacceptable that the Dominican government has constitutionalized the denationalization of Dominicans who are of Haitian descent. Furthermore, it is a grave injustice to go a step further in planning out deportations of darker skinned Dominicans, many of whom are of Haitian descent, to Haiti, a country foreign to them in land and in language, in addition to the maltreatment of Haitian migrant workers.

The government of Sudan has launched a series of devastating attacks in Darfur, at least 78,000 people have fled their homes this year. Emboldened by the lack of international attention, Sudan is hoping to remove the last line of defense for the people of Darfur, demanding an "exit strategy" for UN peacekeepers. The UN Security Council will vote on the fate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur by the end of June. If peacekeepers are forced to leave, the lives of 4 million people will be at risk. President Obama, the Unites States and the world cannot abandon Darfur. By ignoring the violence and postponing justice, conditions have gotten much worse for the victims of Sudan's genocidal regime. It must stop.