This protester is struck hard with a police baton after being pepper sprayed at 4th and Plum, Nov. 10. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

After police pepper sprayed her, knocked her to the ground with a baton, and stepped on her ankle, this terrified injured protester crawled to escape, Nov. 10. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

by Rochelle Gause

For three days in early June, the leaders from the USA, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, Russia, Japan and Germany gathered for the 33rd G8 Summit in Heilingendamm, a small German resort town on the Baltic Sea.

The G8 was created in 1974 to protect the interests of the world's most wealthy and powerful countries in the face of the oil crises and recession of that time. In the last decade the annual G8 summit has become subject to an increasing number of demonstrations. These protests are a rejection not only of the highly undemocratic nature of the 8 wealthy leaders . . .

June 2: Creative street art and theater was on display everywhere on the first day of demonstrations prior to the G8 Summit. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

G8: Numerous protest clowns were on hand to reduce tension on Migration Action Day, June 4. (Photo Rochelle Gause)

June 6, Opening Day of the G8 Summit: Demonstrators walked for miles through fields and forests in a decentralized manner, making it impossible for police to prevent everyone from reaching the four blockade destinations. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

G8: Each affinity group had chosen a color and at the start of the event, as the police lined the street to block the demonstration, one of the five colors, led by a flag, headed directly into the waist high wheat fields. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

G8: The police clearly felt overwhelmed and unsure of how to proceed as demonstrators walked right into the "No Demonstration Zone." (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

G8: Helicopters buzzed overhead quite low and brought police reinforcements. Nevertheless, three groups who numbered over 10,000 proceeded towards the fence. By late afternoon all four entrances were blockaded, including the train track that was to bring in the mainstream press to cover the opening evening event. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

A successful blockade! Once demonstrators had taken over the street, it was announced that all four roads leading into the fence were blocked by demonstrators. Delegates and journalists were advised to stay in their hotel rooms during the opening of the G8 summit. (Photo by Rochelle Gause)

by Rochelle Gause

Prior to the Zapatista uprising, for generations, the 900,000 indigenous people of Chiapas have lived in oblivion. From the perspective of the global economy, being neither large consumers or producers, they have been ignored and simply in the way. The endless appetite of the global economy has resulted in, according to Subcomandante Marcos (leader of the Zapatista Army), "the destruction of our land, our culture, our collective way of working, the destruction of our women, the lack of appreciation for our elders, and the merchandising of our youth. All of this, including the . . .

Children in Chiapas. Photo by Rochelle Gause.

by Rochelle Gause

Running as fast as I can, surrounded by hundreds of others, I can hear screams behind me. Glancing back, through the darkness of night, I can only differentiate between the masses running with me and the federal police by the light reflecting off their shields and face masks. They are still advancing.

A demonstrator calls for Ulises' ouster during the Nov. 19 Women's March in Oaxaca. Photo by Rochelle Gause.

Nov. 19 Women's March. Leila, a member of the APPO women's coordination committee, explains the objects carried by the women: "The pots and pans reflect that in Oaxacan homes, there is no food. In a country where there is no justice, no equality, where there is no respect for human rights, these pans are not only empty of food but also of these basic principles." Photo by Rochelle Gause.

Delegates from Chiapas traveled to Oaxaca to show solidarity. The delegates included survivors of the 1997 Acteal massacre. Photo by Rochelle Gause.

Sixth mega-march, Nov. 5. More people have been covering their faces amid the increasing number of arrests and disappearances caused by the federal police. Photo by Rochelle Gause.

"P.F.P (Federal Preventative Police) take Ulises with you." Photo by Rochelle Gause.

by Rochelle Gause

Email from Rochelle Gause in Oaxaca, October 30:

So today is day two of the federal troops' entry into Oaxaca. The people put up incredible nonviolent resistance. Folks were laying in front of bulldozers and other military machinery to prevent it from entering the city. They held them off for hours. The barricades were reinforced with many people. A friend that came into town by bus on the first day said he saw a march of 2,000 people walking in to the city by foot from their rural village to show support. They were over an hour away at the time so who knows how far they . . .

Federal police in Oaxaca, October 30. "Asesinos" -- murderers. (photo by Rochelle Gause)

Federal police enter Oaxaca, October 29. (photo by Rochelle Gause)

"Police, you are the people, too!" October 29. (photo by Rochelle Gause)

by Rochelle Gause

The sounds of gunshots echo through the streets of Oaxaca and bounce off the mountains that surround the city. It's 3:00 am, and the members of the movement  --  who are camped out in the streets, huddled under tarps, armed only with rocks and pipes  --  are facing these bullets from government forces. Church bells begin to ring to signify where the attack is occurring and to call for support. This movement, which began with teachers camped out in Oaxaca City's main square, has now grown to a full-fledged popular struggle including . . .

On August 10th, APPO (the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca) called for a march against repression. More than 20,000 people joined with one day's notice. The march was cut short when gunmen fired into the crowd, killing one, injuring three. Photo by Rochelle Gause.

by Rochelle Gause

The day after arriving in Mexico City, as I stood in a crowd of half a million Mexican supporters who had travelled from all over the country, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador made his demand for a vote-by-vote recount of the July 2 election. According to journalist John Ross, who has covered Mexico for many years, "This country is absolutely divided right down the center, between the industrial north and the indigenous, impoverished, but resource-rich south. It's an election that has split the county right down the line geographically, . . .

A crowd of over one million converged in the center square of Mexico City in support of Obrador on July 16.

(photo by Rochelle Gause)

by Rochelle Gause

Looking out over the Rafah skyline at dark from the roof of my apartment building, most families are sleeping. The flicker of a few late night TVs can be seen through an occasional window. The street lights shine down on the sidewalks, highlighting mounds of sand and scattered trash. Laundry and the tattered edges of Palestinian flags blow gently in the wind. Things are peaceful, mostly quiet with the sporadic calls of roosters and donkeys.

by Serena Becker and Rochelle Gause

Ten hours difference, some 6,800 miles away from Olympia, we are staying in the home of a Palestinian family in Rafah and it feels like an extension of our own families. We are part of a group of four, hopefully five soon, who have traveled to the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a delegation of the Olympia Rafah Sister City Project. After Rachel Corrie was killed, our hearts and minds were drawn to this place. We have come in the hopes of connecting with the community and creating lasting ties through tangible projects and cross-cultural exchanges. . . .

by Rochelle Gause

Since 1967 the Caterpillar Corporation has been providing equipment to the Israeli military for use in its illegal occupation of the Palestinian people. Since the second intifada began in 2000, the Israeli military has created a human rights crisis in the Occupied Territories. Three specific incidents have recently highlighted the role Caterpillar is playing in these human rights abuses: the 2002 destruction of the Jenin refugee Camp, the 2003 killing of Rachel Corrie, as she nonviolently defended a Palestinian home, and last May's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah where . . .

by Rochelle Gause

"We stand in the path of the bulldozers and are physically pushed with the shovels backwards. The bulldozers then proceeded on their course, demolishing one side of the houses with the protesters inside. The drivers sometimes drop a sound grenade out of the cab of the bulldozer, and continue to demolish the houses, at which point the activists are able to escape, amid gunfire from the tanks. We can only imagine what it is like for Palestinians living here, most of them once-or-twice refugees already, for whom this is not a nightmare, but a continuous reality from which . . .