Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
March 16, 2017
Hello All – Federal courts delivered a great victory for American democracy yesterday, striking down Trump's second executive order that would have prevented people from five predominately Muslim countries from entering the United States, and putting refugees from Syria on indefinite hold. While the judiciary deserves full credit for coming to the rescue in the 9th inning, ALL of America should be proud of itself for its tumultuous rejection of the basic ideas behind Trump's ethnic cleansing agenda. I think the anti- anti-immigrant rallies, protests, and agitation have brought out the best in our national culture, challenging – and for the moment defeating – hate-filled efforts to restore white supremacy in America. To be sure, there is a long way to go before a multicultural "new normal" is firmly established, but I think we may look back on this moment as a turning point in our history, in the same way that we now see the sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960. Nothing could be the same after that.
The cover article in this week's Nation magazine is titled "How to Revive the Peace Movement in the Trump Era." [Link] This comes up at each CFOW monthly meeting; we are an anti-war group, what should we be doing about all the wars? The Nation article surveys the range of issues both motivating and inhibiting a strong antiwar movement, and finally proposes a focus on "Empire" and "anti-imperialism" as likely to encompass opposition not only to wars but to the "military-industrial complex," including repression at home. The author proposes that this focus would be more likely to engage young people and people of color than the traditional antiwar activities of mainstream antiwar organizations. – I think the article provides a lot of food for thought and good discussion, and I hope antiwar stalwarts will give it a try.
News Notes
Lynne Stewart, "the People's lawyer," died last week at the age of 77. Her death followed by two years her release from prison on compassionate grounds, where she was serving a ten-year sentence for allegedly "aiding terrorism" by her interactions with one of her imprisoned clients. For a sketch of her life and how she came to be "the People's lawyer," go here.
Rev. William Barber, who initiated the now-famous "Moral Mondays" rallies in North Carolina, speaks on the subject of "We will never give up the heart of this democracy" in this inspiring short video.
We just passed the sixth anniversary of the meltdown of the nuclear plant in Fukishima, Japan. Here is a clear and very useful article about the status of the nuclear clean-up, with tons of radioactive stuff sitting around in storage tanks and many tons still to be removed from the radioactive, damaged plant.
One of the most useful models for understanding how our "free market" media can act as a state propaganda machine is contained in the book by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent. For busy people whose reading time is limited, here is a concise and entertaining video from Democracy Now! that explains the media "filters" between the world outside and the news that reaches us, the consumer.
Israel just enacted a law that essentially prevents noncitizen critics of Israel from entering the country. In this short video, Jewish American Simone Zimmerman, now living in Israel, reflects on what the ban means to her and how it may affect her.
"DeSmogBlog" is the go-to website for news about corruption in the fossil fuel industries and the government "regulation" bureaucracies. In this short video from The Real News Network, investigator Steve Horn says "federal agencies are now being staffed by advocates of clean coal, expanded fossil fuel drilling, and hunting of endangered animals."
The immigrant/ethnic-cleansing process is just getting started. Only occasionally is this visible to those beyond the circle of the family and friends of the person being deported. Therefore, this video from Democracy Now! about the near-deportation of an immigrant rights leader is a useful reminder of what's going on everyday in the Land of the Free.
For decades the people of Okinawa have protested the many US military bases on their island. Many people feel their island has been used by the main-island politicians of Japan as a sacrifice area, giving the Americans what they want, but far away from the politically influential and affluent parts of Japan. Last October an Okinawan leader of the fight against the US bases was arrested and is still "detention." This is his story, from "Waging Nonviolence."
Things to Do
"Community Supported Agriculture" is a food co-op in which members pay farmers at the beginning of spring and then receive an ample allotment of fresh in-season vegetables once a week. The Hastings CSA is managed by CFOW stalwart Elisa Zazzera. You can sign up for the 2017 season (and learn more) here. and see inspiring pictures of vegetables growing at Stoneledge Farm here. For a personal consultation, call Elisa at 212-247-5988.
Representative Barbara Lee has introduced legislation into the House of Representatives that would prohibit the deployment of US troops to engage in ground combat in Syria. For more information, and to sign the petition, go here.
Further down in this newsletter is an article about the famine in Yemen, which affects millions of people. The main cause of the famine is the Saudi war against the rebellion in Yemen; and Saudi Arabia is supported by the United States in preventing food shipments from reaching Yemen through the port of Hodeida. This petition asks Congress to block further arms sales to Saudi Arabia until they have ended the blockade of Yemen's port.
Coming Attractions
Saturday, March 18th – The MLK Institute for Nonviolence is offering a workshop called "Introduction to Active Nonviolence." It will take place at the First Baptist Church in White Plains from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost of participation is $20, with lower rates for students and the unemployed. For more information and to RSVP (a must), go here.
Saturday, March 18th – "Hacking Capitalism" is the name of an interesting-looking program sponsored by an ad hoc group called "Bankers." The program will walk us through how "to divest into banks that are more ethical, deal with debt, and think about your finances from a holistic, movement-inclusive perspective." The program takes place in Lower Manhattan from 2:45 to 4:15 p.m at a location that will be revealed to you when you register for the event.
Sunday, March 19th – Presentation on the lives of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, by Julie Leininger Pycior. At St. Matthews Church, downstairs meeting room. 3 p.m.
Monday, March 20th – The weekly "Justice Mondays" continues with a rally in White Plains focused on supporting public education. The rally begins at noon at the Renaissance Plaza fountain, which is at the corner of Main St. and Mamaroneck Ave. To learn more, go to the Facebook event page.
Tuesday, March 21st – The Westchester chapter of SURJ ("Showing Up for Racial Justice") meets at the South Presbyterian Church, 343 Broadway in Dobbs Ferry, from 7 to 9 pm. To learn more about SURJ, go to their Facebook event page.
Wednesday, March 22nd – The Greenburgh Human Rights Committee presents a screening of the excellent film "13th: From Slave to Criminal with One Amendment" at the Greenburgh library, 300 Tarrytown Rd. in Elmsford, from 6 to 8 p.m. For details and more info, go here.
Friday, March 24th – There will be a screening of four short film segments from The Hudson: A River at Risk at the James Harmon Community Center, 44 Main St., starting at 6:30 pm.
Sunday, March 26th – Hastings RISE ("Racial Inclusion and Social Equality"), a new organization that recently held an important rally in Hastings against "white supremacist" posters targeting young people, will hold its first big meeting at the Hastings library at 1:30 p.m.
Rewards!
This newsletter has required quite a bit of reading so far, so it's time for some rewards. First up is the great clarinet player Sidney Bechet, with "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me." And now try a musical hit from the International Women's Day march in Washington, the performance of "Quiet" by MILCK, with the GW Sirens and Capital Blend. And for a feel-good finale, check out the statue of Wall Street's "Fearless Girl."
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
Protest and persist: why giving up hope is not an option
By Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian [UK] [March 13, 2017]
---- Hope is a belief that what we do might matter, an understanding that the future is not yet written. It's informed, astute open-mindedness about what can happen and what role we may play in it. Hope looks forward, but it draws its energies from the past, from knowing histories, including our victories, and their complexities and imperfections. … For many groups, movements and uprisings, there are spinoffs, daughters, domino effects, chain reactions, new models and examples and templates and toolboxes that emerge from the experiments, and every round of activism is an experiment whose results can be applied to other situations. To be hopeful, we need not only to embrace uncertainty but to be willing to know that the consequences may be immeasurable, may still be unfolding, may be as indirect as poor people on other continents getting access to medicine because activists in the USA stood up and refused to accept things as they were. Think of hope as a banner woven from those gossamer threads, from a sense of the interconnectedness of all things, of the lasting effect of the best actions, not only the worst. Of an indivisible world in which everything matters. [Read More] And for more from Rebecca Solnit, read this interview with her by Jon Wiener of The Nation, "How Women Are Changing the World" [March 10, 2017] [Link].
A Partial Peace in Colombia
By Kevin Young, Solidarity [March 14, 2017]
[FB – The "peace process" in Colombia is important not only because it may end a 50-year civil war, but it may also provide a model or template useful in other countries that must – sooner or later – end their civil war and establish some way to live-and-let-live.]
---- In November 2016 the Colombian Congress approved a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, potentially ending a 50-year armed conflict that has killed at least 220,000 people--82 percent civilians--and displaced almost seven million. The accord includes mechanisms for disarmament and reintegration of guerrilla fighters, lenient sentencing for those who confess to committing acts of violence, and an allotment of ten congressional seats for FARC politicians for eight years. Separate peace talks with the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla force are now underway. Most of Colombia's independent progressive movements support the accord but also stress its limitations. [Read More]
ACLU Launches Massive Local Resistance To Trump's Agenda
By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, Huffington Post [March 14, 2017]
[FB – Simply involving tens of thousands of people in "resistance training" makes this an important event in US history. One report from a local training described it as large and enthusiastic. Let's pay attention to what the ACLU is doing here, especially when the defense of immigrants and civil rights are on the front-line barricades of our defense of democracy.]
[FB – Simply involving tens of thousands of people in "resistance training" makes this an important event in US history. One report from a local training described it as large and enthusiastic. Let's pay attention to what the ACLU is doing here, especially when the defense of immigrants and civil rights are on the front-line barricades of our defense of democracy.]
---- The American Civil Liberties Union wants to get people to mobilize against President Donald Trump's policies ― and it's looking for people who are serious about local activism. On Saturday, the ACLU gathered thousands of people in Miami for what it called "The Resistance Training" to launch its activism platform, People Power, which seeks to mobilize Americans against Trump's discriminatory policies. About 2,300 "watch parties" nationwide followed the event via live stream, and 1 million people have watched the event's video since. … For its first action, the ACLU is setting its eyes on defending immigrants through what it calls "freedom cities." The group is asking followers to make appointments with local law enforcement or city officials to demand that they implement immigrant-friendly policies, including not allowing officials to inquire about someone's immigration status unless it's legally relevant and not interrogating or detaining people based on race or ethnicity. [Read More] To see the ACLU Town Hall – "Resistance Training" - go here.
"HEALTHCARE CHAOS" v. "IMPROVED MEDICARE FOR ALL"
Twenty-Four Million Reasons the G.O.P. Health-Care Bill Is No Good
By John Cassidy, The New Yorker [March 14, 2017
---- The main thing driving its conclusions wasn't changes to the individual market but the House Republicans' reckless and deliberate assault on Medicaid, the federal program that provides health care for the poverty-stricken and the working poor. In estimating that twenty-four million people stand to lose their insurance coverage, the C.B.O. said that fourteen million of this total would be accounted for by reductions in Medicaid rolls. It is important to understand how this estimate was arrived at, and why it is reasonable. … The drop in spending on Medicaid helps explain why the C.B.O. estimated that the G.O.P. reform would reduce the deficit by three hundred and thirty-seven billion dollars—a fact that some Republicans seized upon. But why, you might ask, would the deficit be reduced by just three hundred and thirty-seven billion dollars over ten years when spending on Medicaid would fall by eight hundred and eighty billion dollars? The answer is that the bill would take most of the money that is saved from reducing Medicaid and hand it out to rich people in the form of tax cuts. [Link].
Also useful/interesting on the healthcare disaster – Ellen Brown, "'Ryancare' Dead on Arrival: Can We Please Now Try Single Payer?" [Link]; Zoë Carpenter, "The GOP's Health-Care Plan Could Strip Addiction and Mental-Health Coverage From 1.3 Million," The Nation [March 10, 2017] [Link]; and RoseAnn DeMoro, "The Republican House of Horrors Offers a Terrifying Health Care Vision," AlterNet [March 11, 2017] [Link].
WAR & PEACE
Dreams of 'Winning' Nuclear War on Russia
By Jonathan Marshall, Consortium News [March 10, 2017]
---- With almost no public awareness, the Pentagon's nuclear program has achieved unprecedented capabilities that once again raise the possibility that a U.S. first strike could cripple Russia's nuclear arsenal and "decapitate" its leadership. Such capabilities all but ensure that hawks will begin lobbying for more aggressive measures toward Russia, based its growing vulnerability to U.S. nuclear weapons. A frightening new analysis for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists — by three eminent strategic arms experts at the Federation of American Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, and MIT — provides evidence that U.S. nuclear planners have "implemented revolutionary new technologies that will vastly increase the targeting capability of the US ballistic missile arsenal," giving it for the first time in decades "the capacity to fight and win a nuclear war by disarming enemies with a surprise first strike." [Read More] To read the original article from The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, go here.
Trump Administration Is Said to Be Working to Loosen Counterterrorism Rules
---- The Trump administration is exploring how to dismantle or bypass Obama-era constraints intended to prevent civilian deaths from drone attacks, commando raids and other counterterrorism missions outside conventional war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. … Mr. Trump is also expected to sign off soon on a similar Pentagon proposal to designate parts of Somalia to be another such battlefield-style zone for 180 days, removing constraints on airstrikes and raids targeting people suspected of being militants with the Qaeda-linked group the Shabab, they said. Inside the White House, the temporary suspension of the limits for parts of Yemen and Somalia is seen as a test run while the government considers whether to more broadly rescind or relax the Obama-era rules, said the officials, who described the internal deliberations on the condition of anonymity. [Read More]
Also useful/interesting – Stephen F. Cohen, "While Neo-McCarthyism Spreads, US-Russian Détente May Be Unfolding," The Nation [March 15, 2017} [Link]; Carey Wedler, "U.S. Drone Strikes Have Gone Up 432% Since Trump Took Office," ActivistPost [March 8, 2017] [Link]; and Gary Legum, "Trump's dangerous, irrational military buildup: Expensive solution to a nonexistent problem[Link].
War with North Korea?
(Video) How to Remove a President: Mass Protests Force Out South Korean Leader Amid Corruption Scandal
From Democracy Now! [March 13, 2017]
---- On Sunday, ousted South Korean leader Park Geun-hye left the Blue House presidential compound and returned to her private residence in southern Seoul two days after South Korea's Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to remove her from office over charges of graft and corruption. The unanimous ruling strips Park of immunity from prosecution, clearing the way for her to face criminal charges. The ruling followed months of mass protests. Park's power had been sharply reduced since December, when South Korea's parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach her. We speak to University of Chicago professor Bruce Cumings and Christine Ahn, founder and international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ. [See the Program] Several other segments of this day's Democracy Now! program are also relevant.
Also interesting/useful on the US and the Koreas – The New York Times' Korea correspondent had this to say last week: "Ouster of South Korean President Could Return Liberals to Power" [Link], and "Park Geun-hye, Ousted South Korean Leader, Leaves Presidential Palace" [March 12, 2017'] [Link]. The website ZoominKorea is very useful on these issues, and their March 10th essay was "South Koreans Celebrate Court's 8:0 Ruling to Impeach Park Geun-hye." Another aspect of US military escalation is found in Julian Borger, "US to deploy missile-capable drones across border from North Korea," The Guardian [UK] [March 14, 2017] [Link]. A good example of what peace forces are up against re: Korea is this New York Times op-ed by a former Obama administration official working on "the North Korea problem," "Will Rex Tillerson Pass North Korea's Nuclear Test?" For this author, and for the establishment policy makers focused on Korea, negotiations with North Korea are simply off the table, period.
The War in Yemen
(Video) Aid Worker Decries U.S.-Backed "Relentless War" in Yemen Causing Widespread Threat of Starvation
From Democracy Now! [March 15, 2017]
---- The United Nations has warned that the world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War. Nearly 20 million people are at risk of starvation in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Last month, the U.N. declared a famine in parts of South Sudan. Earlier this week, aid officials said they're in a race against time to prevent a famine brought on by a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war and blockade. Almost 19 million people in Yemen, two-thirds of the total population, are in need of assistance, and more than 7 million are facing starvation. For more, we speak with Joel Charny, director of the Norwegian Refugee Council USA. [See the Program] "Obama's war" is now "Trump's war": Shuaib Almosawa and Ben Hubbard, "Yemen Market Airstrike Kills at Least 16 People," [Link].
The War in Afghanistan
The Never-Ending War in Afghanistan
---- As with budget deficits or cost overruns on weapons purchases, members of the national security apparatus — elected and appointed officials, senior military officers and other policy insiders — accept war as a normal condition. Once, the avoidance of war figured as a national priority. On those occasions when war proved unavoidable, the idea was to end the conflict as expeditiously as possible on favorable terms. These precepts no longer apply. With war transformed into a perpetual endeavor, expectations have changed. In Washington, war has become tolerable, an enterprise to be managed rather than terminated as quickly as possible. Like other large-scale government projects, war now serves as a medium through which favors are bestowed, largess distributed and ambitions satisfied. [Read More]. For more on the Afghanistan war treadmill, Mehdi Hasan, "Trump Has Called the Afghan War a "Mess." His Generals Want to Escalate It," The Intercept [March 15, 2017] [Link].
The War in Syria
For Children Caught in Syria's War, 2016 Was Worst Year Yet, U.N. Says
---- Children suffered a "drastic escalation" in violence from the Syrian civil war in 2016, the United Nations said Sunday in a report that showed child deaths jumped at least 20 percent from the year before and recruitment of child combatants more than doubled. … At least 652 children were killed from attacks in the country, the most since formal verification of child casualties began in 2014, the report said. At least 255 of them — more than a third — were killed in or near a school, a reflection of how all sides in the conflict have disregarded schools as a safe haven in the war. [Read More].
CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING
As Climate Alarm Bells Ring, Trump Poised to Decimate Regulations
By Nika Knight, Common Dreams [March 14, 2017]
---- President Donald Trump is poised to unleash a sweeping anti-climate executive order to repeal major regulations enacted by the Obama administration, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. "The directive will instruct members of the Cabinet to rewrite regulation restricting carbon emissions from both new and existing power plants, lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing, and revise the way climate change is factored into federal decision-making—all key elements of the Obama administration's effort to address climate change," the Post writes. [Read More]
Planet Will Burn Before Corporate Media Covers Climate Change as Existential Threat
From The Real News Network [March 11, 2017]
---- Paul Jay says that the elites and their corporate media are not dealing with the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves because they think they will be ok and live by the philosophy of 'to hell with what comes tomorrow' … How is the media covering this? Well, so corporate media is just not covering it. Media Matters did a study for 2015 that showed there were 149 minutes of coverage of climate change on the main television networks and that included FOX and those numbers were mostly saying there's no such thing as human-caused climate change. Other polling has shown that when asked will the effects of global warming affect you and your family, only 16% of people thought it would directly affect them. There is a complete lack of sense of urgency. [Read More]
---- Paul Jay says that the elites and their corporate media are not dealing with the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves because they think they will be ok and live by the philosophy of 'to hell with what comes tomorrow' … How is the media covering this? Well, so corporate media is just not covering it. Media Matters did a study for 2015 that showed there were 149 minutes of coverage of climate change on the main television networks and that included FOX and those numbers were mostly saying there's no such thing as human-caused climate change. Other polling has shown that when asked will the effects of global warming affect you and your family, only 16% of people thought it would directly affect them. There is a complete lack of sense of urgency. [Read More]
CIVIL LIBERTIES/"THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR"
New Anti-Protesting Legislation: A Deeper Look
By Traci Yoder, National Lawyers Guild [March 14, 2017]
---- The current round of legislation—introduced by Republican lawmakers in 19 states—attempts to criminalize and penalize protesting in various ways. Many states are drafting bills to increase fines and jail sentences for protesters obstructing traffic (Minnesota, Washington, South Dakota, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Iowa), tampering with or trespassing on infrastructure such as railways and pipelines (Colorado, Oklahoma), picketing (Michigan, Arkansas), wearing masks (Missouri), or refusing to leave an "unlawful protest" (Virginia). Particularly alarming are bills removing liability from drivers who "accidentally" hit and kill protesters (North Dakota, Tennessee, Florida). A bill in Indiana initially instructed police to clear protesters from highways by "any means necessary." [Read More]
---- The current round of legislation—introduced by Republican lawmakers in 19 states—attempts to criminalize and penalize protesting in various ways. Many states are drafting bills to increase fines and jail sentences for protesters obstructing traffic (Minnesota, Washington, South Dakota, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Iowa), tampering with or trespassing on infrastructure such as railways and pipelines (Colorado, Oklahoma), picketing (Michigan, Arkansas), wearing masks (Missouri), or refusing to leave an "unlawful protest" (Virginia). Particularly alarming are bills removing liability from drivers who "accidentally" hit and kill protesters (North Dakota, Tennessee, Florida). A bill in Indiana initially instructed police to clear protesters from highways by "any means necessary." [Read More]
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Perhaps the Messiah Will Come
By Uri Avnery, Antiwar.com [March 11, 2017]
---- If someone had told me 50 years ago that the rulers of Israel, Jordan and Egypt had met in secret to make peace, I would have thought that I was dreaming. If I had been told that the leaders of Egypt and Jordan had offered Israel complete peace in return for leaving the occupied territories, with some exchanges of territory and a token return of refugees, I would have thought that the Messiah had come. I would have started to believe in God or Allah or whoever there is up there. Yet a few weeks ago it was disclosed that the rulers of Egypt and Jordan had indeed met in secret last year with the Prime Minister of Israel in Aqaba, the pleasant sea resort where the three states touch each other. The two Arab leaders, acting de facto for the entire Arab world, had made this offer. Benyamin Netanyahu gave no answer and went home. So did the Messiah. [Read More]
"Feminism" and "Zionism"
FB – March 8th – International Women's Day – was celebrated by an International Women's Strike. The Platform for the US contingent in the strike included, along with a lengthy list of positions on other issues, this paragraph:
"Against the open white supremacists in the current government and the far right and anti-Semites they have given confidence to, we stand for an uncompromising anti-racist and anti-colonial feminism. This means that movements such as Black Lives Matter, the struggle against police brutality and mass incarceration, the demand for open borders and for immigrant rights and for the decolonization of Palestine are for us the beating heart of this new feminist movement. We want to dismantle all walls, from prison walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine."
On March 7th The New York Times published an op-ed by Emily Shire, the politics editor of Bustle, entitled "Does Feminism Have Room for My Zionism," singling out for criticism phrases in the above-quoted paragraph from the US strike platform. Several thought-provoking essays have been written in response, and in defense of including a call for Palestinian rights in the feminist platform. Among them were those by Rosalind Petchsky in the Jewish publication The Forward ("Rifts in the Jewish Sisterhood: Why Complaints About Zionism Vs. Feminism Are Beside The Point"); Donna Nevel, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace ("Zionism, The Nakba And Feminism"); and Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American feminist activist, in The Nation ("Can You Be a Zionist Feminist? Linda Sarsour Says No"). The problematic of this discussion, of course, is also present in peace movement and other activities, and deserves a lot of thought.
