Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
July 16, 2018
Hello All – Those working for peace/no war find themselves in an extraordinary political vise. Even the days when the John Birch Society accused President Eisenhower of being a card-carrying Communist cannot compare to our present moment, when a broad swath of the country believes that the President of the United States is "working for" Russia. Moreover, one of the indications of President Trump's perfidy is his refusal to be as aggressive towards Russia as heretofore liberals would like. Instead, Trump criticizes the European Union and NATO, says that the United States and Russia can be friends, and rejects the indictments of Russian intelligence officers on the basis of President Putin's assurances that the charges are false. Which way does peacemaking lie?
Several links to news articles and programs noted below in this newsletter try to regain some perspective on what's happening between the United States and Russia, and within the United States between those supporting President Trump and his opponents. They remind us of the mainstream media narrative that framed the forthcoming Summit in recent weeks was one which was already "won" by President Putin, simply by gaining a meeting with a US president. They remind us of the call by leading Democrats to cancel the Summit, in light of the indictments by the FBI of Russian intelligence officers. And they remind us that so many of the aggressive calls to "confront" the Russians are coming from used to be liberal media outlets like The New York Times and MSNBD. To illuminate the context in which the Summit is taking place, please look at the Democracy Now! debate linked below.
An underlying issue in the debate about the Summit and around Trump's performance in Europe is the question of Russia's role in "meddling" – or not – in the 2016 election. In its extreme version, the prevailing argument among Democrats and much of the mainstream media is that the Russians attempted in multiple ways, including "hacking" of the emails of the Democratic party and leading officials, to tip the election in favor of Donald Trump, on whom they may or may not have "compromising" information that they could use to blackmail him. While the recent FBI indictments of Russian intelligence officers was presented without any supporting evidence, the mere announcement of the indictments gives support to both the Russian "meddling" hypothesis as well as to the theory that there is a conspiracy by the US intelligence agencies to nullify the 2016 election in favor of Hillary Clinton. Again, I've included below a useful debate about the "meddling" evidence and what it means.
Amidst the sound and fury over Trump and his presidency that is certain to ensue in the coming weeks, I hope that we peace and justice stalwarts can keep our eyes on the important developments going on in the world of economic predators, warlike power politics, and white supremacy that have been our focus since we started this CFOW project in 2001. This is a moment when our most useful "work" may be to understand and explain what's going on.
News Notes
Did you know that Congress has a Progressive Caucus? You certainly might have missed it, for all the media it gets. So check out this short, informative interview with Mark Weisbrot about the Caucus, its 78 members, and what it does. And next time you run into Nita Lowey or Eliot Engel, ask them why they aren't part of it, as they are so progressive.
It's hard to satirize America, when reality itself is so loopy. But Sacha Baron Cohen has done it, with this episode of his new Showtime series, "Who Is America?"
A bill now in the House of Representatives is called the "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act." As this useful article from The Forward explains, the Bill would put into stone a definition of anti-Semitism that equates criticism of Israel or its government with anti-Semitism. This kind of legislation is also happening at the state level. I have no information about the positions of Nita Lowey (202 225 6506) or Eliot Engel (202 225 2464) on this legislation; but call them and find out!
Things to Do/Coming Attractions
Ongoing – CFOW holds a vigil/rally each Saturday at the VFW Plaza in Hastings (Warburton and Spring) from 12 to 1 p.m. Everyone invited; please join us!
Ongoing – Added to the Hastings farmers market on Saturdays is the opportunity to recycle food scraps, including meat and anything that was once alive, according to coordinator EZ. Look for the big bin at the market; and for more info email hastingscompost@gmail.com.
Friday, July 27th – On the 65th anniversary of the Armistice of the Korean War, the Korean-American organization Nodutdol for Korean Community Development invites us to a teach-in/forum on the United States and the Korean peninsula, and what peace activists need to do now. At the Nodutdol office, 112 W. 27th St., 6th floor, NYC, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 5th – The next CFOW monthly meeting will be held at the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society, 12 Elm St. in Dobbs, from 7 to 9 p.m. Everyone is invited to these meetings. In addition to reviewing our work of the past month, current events, and plans for the next monthly, we can pause to remember the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings of August 6th & 9th, 1945.
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. We meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, from 12 to 1 p.m., at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) Our leaflet and posters for our rallies are usually about war or climate change, but issues such as racial justice or Trump's immigration policies are often targeted, depending on current events. We meet on the first Sunday of each month, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society. Our weekly newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. If you would like to make a financial contribution to our work, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
This Newsletter
Articles linked in the CFOW newsletter are intended to illuminate some of the main action-issues about which we are concerned. Coming mostly from the "dissenting media," they provide an alternative to the perspectives of the mainstream media. In addition to the excellent "Featured Essays," I encourage you to read/view the debates linked below about the Trump-Putin Summit, about the evidence or lack of evidence re: Russian hacking and "meddling"; and about what has happened to the Nicaragua regime in the last two decades. I also recommend Gareth Porter's excellent analysis of the media/US political elite attempt to sabotage peace negotiations between the United States and North Korea; a set of very good articles about US immigration policy; and a powerful article by Israeli reporter Gideon Levy about Gaza. Read on!
Rewards!
As this is a full-size newsletter, reading stalwarts might want to pause and check out the Rewards! before chugging on. Saturday was Bastille Day, the anniversary of the French Revolution (1789). Each year this newsletter celebrates The Day with a re-run of a wonderful scene from the most romantic movie ever. And for more fun, here's an Old Favorite from Frank Turner. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
(Video) Bodies, Borders, Resistance, Rebirth: Arundhati Roy
From Democracy Now! [July 12, 2018]
---- India in the throes of a fascism that echoes what we have in America. The country is undergoing a political upheaval with PM Modi at its front, and fueled by increased violence towards Muslims, queers, Dalits, women, and more. Our returning guest, Arundhati Roy, covers this vast breadth of ground in her second novel in 20 years, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness,' now out in paperback. [Read More]
(Film) How a Brutal Immigration Raid Devastated an American Small Town — And How It Bounced Back
By Alice Speri, The Intercept [
---- It doesn't get more American than Postville, Iowa. The small rural community looks like countless others across the country: tidy lawns lining anonymous streets around the one big business that keeps the town employed, teenagers working shifts at the local YMCA, families sharing frosted cake in a church basement after service, dressed up kids dancing in front of their parents in a school gym. Postville's youth, too, is as American as it gets: Minority students, from about 14 different countries, make up well over half the local high school's student body. When visitors come to the school and see Somali girls in their hijabs, "their heads turn so fast … I'm afraid they're hurting their neck," the principal said. "That doesn't faze our kids." … These and other stories from Postville are explored in "America First: the Legacy of an Immigration Raid," a new documentary from Univision, published in partnership with The Intercept, which tells the story of the small Iowa town a decade after a massive raid on the local meatpacking plant. The diversity and resilience of Postville's residents are a reflection of the country's strengths, just as the deep-seated racism, both casual and systemic, that shaped the town's story is a ubiquitous reality of American life. [Read More]
The Jewish Revolt [A profile of the new Jewish organization "IfNotNow"]
---- For IfNotNow … disrupting the Jewish community is arguably the whole point. Formed during the 2014 conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza, the group has experienced a stunning rise in prominence in the past year and a half. Their public demonstrations have drawn thousands of participants across the U.S., but they've recently moved into a new phase, one in which they emphasize pointed online campaigns that accuse the Jewish institutions their members emerged from — religious organizations, summer camps, youth groups, Birthright — of lying to them and supporting injustices against Palestinians. In response, critics from the right and (perhaps more notably) the center-left have become increasingly aggressive in their attacks on IfNotNow, inadvertently raising the group's profile and making it a candidate for the new face of the American Jewish left. Their criticisms are as potent as their goal is nebulous. "The occupation is a daily nightmare for those who live under it and a moral disaster for those who support and administer it," screams bold text at the top of their homepage. "Ifnotnow is working to transform the American Jewish community's support for occupation into a call for freedom and dignity for all." [Read More]
THE TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT
Summitgate and the Campaign vs. 'Peace'
By Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation [July 11, 2018]
---- As a rule, American presidents have departed for summits with bipartisan support and well-wishes. Trump's upcoming meeting with Russian President Putin, in Helsinki on July 16, is profoundly different in two respects. US-Russian relations have rarely, if ever, been more dangerous. And never before has a president's departure—in Trump's case, first for a NATO summit and then the one with Putin—been accompanied by allegations that he is disloyal to the United States and thus cannot be trusted, defamations once issued only by extremist fringe elements in American politics. Now, however, we are told this daily by mainstream publications, broadcasts, and "think tanks." According to a representative of the Clintons' Center for American Progress, "Trump is going to sell out America and its allies." The New York Times and The Washington Post also feature "experts"—they are chosen accordingly—who "worry" and "fear" that Trump and Putin "will get along." The Times of London, a bastion of Russophobic Cold War advocacy, captures the mainstream perspective in a single headline: "Fears Grow Over Prospect of Trump 'Peace Deal' with Putin." [Read More]
Climb Down From the Summit of Hostile Propaganda
By Norman Solomon, ZNet [July 16, 2018]
---- Throughout the day before the summit in Helsinki, the lead story on the New York Times home page stayed the same: "Just by Meeting With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead." The Sunday headline was in harmony with the tone of U.S. news coverage overall. As for media commentary, the Washington Post was in the dominant groove as it editorialized that Russia's President Vladimir Putin is "an implacably hostile foreign adversary." … A bellicose stance toward Russia has become so routine and widespread that we might not give it a second thought — and that makes it all the more hazardous. After President George W. Bush declared "You're either with us or against us," many Americans gradually realized what was wrong with a Manichean view of the world. Such an outlook is even more dangerous today. … For human survival on this planet, an overarching truth appears in an open letter published last week by The Nation magazine: "No political advantage, real or imagined, could possibly compensate for the consequences if even a fraction of U.S. and Russian arsenals were to be utilized in a thermonuclear exchange. The tacit pretense that the worsening of U.S.-Russian relations does not worsen the odds of survival for the next generations is profoundly false." [Read More]
---- Throughout the day before the summit in Helsinki, the lead story on the New York Times home page stayed the same: "Just by Meeting With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead." The Sunday headline was in harmony with the tone of U.S. news coverage overall. As for media commentary, the Washington Post was in the dominant groove as it editorialized that Russia's President Vladimir Putin is "an implacably hostile foreign adversary." … A bellicose stance toward Russia has become so routine and widespread that we might not give it a second thought — and that makes it all the more hazardous. After President George W. Bush declared "You're either with us or against us," many Americans gradually realized what was wrong with a Manichean view of the world. Such an outlook is even more dangerous today. … For human survival on this planet, an overarching truth appears in an open letter published last week by The Nation magazine: "No political advantage, real or imagined, could possibly compensate for the consequences if even a fraction of U.S. and Russian arsenals were to be utilized in a thermonuclear exchange. The tacit pretense that the worsening of U.S.-Russian relations does not worsen the odds of survival for the next generations is profoundly false." [Read More]
A Useful/Interesting Debate on Today's Summit Meeting
(Video) Debate: Is Trump-Putin Summit a "Danger to America" or Crucial Diplomacy Between Nuclear Powers?
And a debate on the significance of Mueller's indictment of the Russians
Indictment of Russian Intelligence Operatives Should Quell Harebrained Conspiracy Theories on DNC Hack
By James Risen, The Intercept [[Link]
Memo to the President Ahead of Monday's Summit
WAR & PEACE
War with North Korea?
Media, Hardliners Play Up North Korean Nuclear 'Deception' Claim
July 11, 2018]
---- Just as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was about to leave for denuclearization negotiations in Pyongyang, a spate of media stories reported that North Korea is deceiving the Trump administration by seeking to hide some of its nuclear facilities. Those stories suggest an effort by some Trump administration officials, led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, to derail the US-North Korea negotiations by pressuring Trump and Pompeo to embrace the narrative that Kim Jong Un is deceiving the US. Before becoming national security adviser, Bolton had made no secret of his opposition to any Trump effort to reach an agreement with North Korea. … The timing of the two stories, appearing within hours on June 29 and 30, suggests that the decision to leak the intelligence assessment to the two news outlets was part of an effort to create pressure on Trump to integrate the narrative of deception by Kim Jong UN into his negotiating policy. [Read More]
The War in Afghanistan
17 Years Into War, U.S. Opts for Direct Talks With Taliban
By Mujib Mashal and Eric Schmitt, New York Times [July 15, 2018]
---- The Trump administration told diplomats to seek direct talks with the Taliban, which could grow into broader negotiations. It's a significant shift in policy in Afghanistan. [Read More]
The War in Syria
Horror in Southern Syria, as 300,000 Flee a Government Assault
By Loubna Mrie, The Nation [July 11, 2018]
---- The Dera'a region was facing the worst military attack since the rebels took over in 2012. By the beginning of July, dozens of people had been killed, including children. Most health and educational facilities in Dera'a, which is in the southern part of Syria bordering Jordan, were either closed or entirely out of service due to the widespread airstrikes. According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the assault had forced more than 271,800 people to flee their homes as of July 2: 164,000 moved toward Quneitra, near the Israeli border, and 60,000 others ended up, like Saeed and his family, at the Jordanian border, hoping they would be allowed to cross (eventually, well over 300,000 fled). But officials in Jordan, which already hosts more than 650,000 Syrian refugees, will not allow any more to enter because of security and economic factors. … On July 4, a truce between the Syrian government and the rebels was brokered by Russia. The Syrian government issued a statement asking people to leave the borders and go back home, claiming it will not arrest anyone. Saeed, like thousands of other Syrians on the Jordanian border, drove back with his family to his half-standing house, which he'd fled nine days earlier. Today, of the 60,000, only some 150–200 Syrians remain on the Jordanian border. … Now Dera'a, which was one of the first cities to rebel against the government, is showing its loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad—at gunpoint. The Syrian government has indeed won. It has won the war against its own people. https://www.thenation.com/article/horror-southern-syria-300000-flee-government-assault/
War with Iran?
This Think Tank is Pushing Regime Change in Iran—and the White House is Listening
By James Carden, The Nation [July 12, 2018]
----- Described by the journalist Mark Perry as "perhaps the most powerful outside influencer of the Trump White House today," the Foundation for Defense of Democracies FDD is credited, even by its opponents, as being among Washington's most effective proponents of neoconservative ideas. In the estimation of Trita Parsi, the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy, "FDD certainly punches above its weight." Over the past several years, FDD had helped lead the opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear agreement, and is currently spearheading a push to wage economic warfare not only against Iran, but also against European countries too should they decide to part from the Trump administration's policy on Iran. Today, FDD's chief executive is Mark Dubowitz. Dubowitz is widely seen as "the architect of many of the sanctions that we have against Iran right now, who advised Congress on how to draft that legislation and has also advised Treasury and the White House on his opinions about sanctions." The Washington Post's neocon blogger Jennifer Rubin calls him a "sanctions guru." [Read More]
Evaluating Nicaragua: A Debate
The Open Veins of Nicaragua
By Boaventura de Sousa Santos, ZNet [July 13, 2018]
---- I belong to that 1980s generation that enthusiastically welcomed and actively supported the Sandinista Revolution. The progressive drive which had been revived by Cuba's 1959 revolution had been largely brought to a halt by the US imperialist intervention. … The Sandinista revolution heralded the emergence of an auspicious counter-current, its significance stemming not only from the very concrete transformations it brought about (unprecedented popular participation, agrarian reform, a UNESCO award-winning literacy campaign, a cultural revolution, the establishment of a public health service, etc.) but also from the fact that all this was carried out under the difficult circumstances of the extremely aggressive blockade imposed by Ronald Reagan. … Democrats in general, and the political forces of the left in particular, have reason to be perplexed. But before anything else they have the duty to re-examine the recent choices of the supposedly left-wing governments of many countries in the continent and to question their silence in the face of so many and so drawn- out abuses of political ideals. That is why the present text is partly self-critical. [Read More]
---- I belong to that 1980s generation that enthusiastically welcomed and actively supported the Sandinista Revolution. The progressive drive which had been revived by Cuba's 1959 revolution had been largely brought to a halt by the US imperialist intervention. … The Sandinista revolution heralded the emergence of an auspicious counter-current, its significance stemming not only from the very concrete transformations it brought about (unprecedented popular participation, agrarian reform, a UNESCO award-winning literacy campaign, a cultural revolution, the establishment of a public health service, etc.) but also from the fact that all this was carried out under the difficult circumstances of the extremely aggressive blockade imposed by Ronald Reagan. … Democrats in general, and the political forces of the left in particular, have reason to be perplexed. But before anything else they have the duty to re-examine the recent choices of the supposedly left-wing governments of many countries in the continent and to question their silence in the face of so many and so drawn- out abuses of political ideals. That is why the present text is partly self-critical. [Read More]
Correcting The Record: What Is Really Happening In Nicaragua?
By Kevin Zeese and Nils McCune, Popular Resistance [July 10, 2018]
---- There is a great deal of false and inaccurate information about Nicaragua in the media. Even on the left, some have simply repeated the dubious claims of CNN and Nicaragua's oligarchic media to support the removal of President Ortega. The narrative of nonviolent protesters versus anti-riot squads and pro-government paramilitaries has not been questioned by international media. This article seeks to correct the record, describe what is happening in Nicaragua and why. As we write this, the coup seems to be failing, people have rallied for peace (as this massive march for peace held Saturday, July 7 showed) and the truth is coming out (e.g., the weapons cache discovered in a Catholic Church on July 9th). It is important to understand what is occurring because Nicaragua's is an example of the types of violent coups the US and the wealthy use to put in place business dominated, neoliberal governments. If people understand these tactics, they will become less effective. [Read More]
GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHAOS
This Hurricane Season, Puerto Ricans Are Imagining a Sustainable Future
By Celia Bottger, The Nation [July 13, 2018]
---- Nine months after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean island faces another potentially devastating hurricane season, while much of its infrastructure and land still remain in tatters. The Category 5 hurricane that ripped through the Caribbean last fall not only caused nearly 5,000 deaths, but also exposed the fragility of the island's social, political, and economic underpinnings. The truth behind Maria's devastation and the United States' laggard response to the hurricane lies in centuries of colonial exploitation—first by Spain and then by the United States—and in its perpetual subjugation to the whims of American elites. … Despite its catastrophic impacts, Hurricane Maria provides a kind of tabula rasa upon which a new, economically regenerative, and politically empowered Puerto Rico can be built. Several international and local organizations are already working in Puerto Rico to transition it away from an extractive and mainland-dependent economy and toward a self-sufficient, socially just, and ecologically sound one—while at the same time enhancing local economies, reclaiming sovereignty, and boosting climate resilience. [Read More]
July 9th, 2018 — New York State's Day of Fracked Gas Infamy
"I grant Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC's (Millennium) July 6, 2018 request, as supplemented on July 9, 2018, to place into service the Valley Lateral Project in Orange County, New York."
- J. Rich McGuire, Director, Division of Gas-Environment and Engineering
With this one short sentence, J. Rich McGuire, an obscure technocrat within an obscure agency — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) — just lashed the planet to 40+ years of significant climate wrecking greenhouse gas emissions, and New York State to unprecedented levels of dangerous ground level ozone and various hazardous air pollutants (HAPS). A short digest of events leading to this unmitigated disaster reveals the duplicity and unsuitability of federal, state and local agencies and actors, as well as 'big greens', in defending the public's interests caught in the path of Marcellus Shale fracked gas determined to dominate the Northeast. [Read More]
THE STATE OF THE UNION
Do You Care About the Rule of Law? Then Act Like It
By Sonia Nazario, The New York Times [July 11, 2018]
---- Opponents of immigration have long had one rallying cry: rule of law! But most of the people seeking asylum at the Adelanto Detention Facility followed the law to a T. They presented themselves at ports of entry on our southern border and asked for asylum. The Trump administration seems to be using every tactic possible to prevent them from gaining that asylum, even if they clearly qualify. … Instead of supporting people running from harm, we have built a machine designed to psychologically break them in the hopes that they will give up and go home. This gutting of our asylum system has been going on for some time. In the immigration courts, which decide asylum cases for people who are caught or turn themselves in at the border, 45 percent of applicants were rejected in the 2012 fiscal year. In 2017, asylum denials jumped to 62 percent. [Read More]
We Need to Offer More Than Asylum
By Roberto Suro, New York Times [July 14, 2018]
---- A lasting solution must recognize that these surges are not isolated events but rather desperate developments in a decades-long migration. People who make up nearly 10 percent of the populations of those countries are already living here. It is a migration with momentum, and it comes from close by. They can walk to our border. Enforcement alone won't stop them, certainly not enforcement consistent with our laws. So the root causes must be addressed. In the meantime, the families will keep coming. As we're seeing yet again, our asylum system is dysfunctional. What we need is a new visa program designed for the number and characteristics of the people arriving at the American border. [Read More]
Also useful/illuminating on our immigration crisis – Kate Aronoff, "Andrew Cuomo's Biggest Donors Rake in Millions From ICE," The Intercept [[Link]; Julianne Hing, "What Can $20 Million Buy? Activists Attempt to Post Bond for 2,500 Parents in Immigration Detention,"" The Nation [July 11, 2018] [Link]; Ashley Curtin, "Detaining Immigrant Children – A Billion-Dollar Industry," NationofChange [July 15, 2018] [Link]; and Julianne Hing, "What Does It Mean to Abolish ICE?" The Nation [July 11, 2018] [Link].
What Happens if the Gender Gap Becomes a Gender Chasm?
By Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times [July 12, 2018]
---- For nearly 40 years, the gender gap in voting has been the subject of continued speculation. How much does it matter? Would it be wide enough to put Democrats in office? Now, with President Trump ascendant, the question becomes still more urgent: What happens if the gender gap becomes a gender chasm? … The potential gender gap in congressional voting has risen from 20 and 22 points in 2014 and 2016, according to exit polls, to 33 points in a Quinnipiac Poll published earlier this month. Men of all races say they intend to vote for Republican House candidates 50-42, while women of all races say they intend to vote for Democratic candidates 58-33. Significantly, white women, a majority of whom backed Trump in 2016, now say they intend to vote for Democratic House candidates in 2018 by a 14-point margin, 52-38, according to Quinnipiac. White men say they intend to vote for Republican House candidates 56-38 in 2018. … Men's commitment to protecting their status — their dominant position in the social order — cannot be counted out in 2018 or 2020. Elections have become a sexualized battlefield, and men have repeatedly demonstrated their determination to win no matter the social cost. The outcome of the next two elections will show whether women are equally determined to fight tooth and nail. [Read More]
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
We Should Be Saluting the Gaza Strip
By
---- Were it not for the Gaza Strip, the occupation would have been long forgotten. Were it not for the Gaza Strip, Israel would have erased the Palestinian problem from its agenda and continued on blithely with its crimes and annexations, with its routine, as if 4 million people were not living under its heel. Were it not for the Gaza Strip, the world would also have forgotten. Most of it already has. This is why we must now salute the Gaza Strip — mainly the spirit of the Gaza Strip, the only one that is still breathing life into the desperate and lost cause of the Palestinian struggle for liberty. The resolute struggle of the Gaza Strip should also spark admiration in Israel. The handful of people with a conscience who still remain here should give thanks to the unbroken spirit of the Gaza Strip. The spirit of the West Bank crumpled after the failure of the second intifada, as did the spirit of the Israeli peace camp — most of which shattered long ago. Only the spirit of the Gaza Strip stands steadfast in its struggle. [Read More]
The Maps of Israeli Settlements That Shocked Barack Obama
By Adam Entous, The New Yorker [July 2018]
[FB – This useful article caught my attention, in part, because the map of Palestine/Israel that so "shocked Barack Obama" had been posted by a pro-Palestinian group as a billboard advertisement along the MetroNorth train line. What was a "shock" to Obama was part of the daily commute for thousands!]
---- One afternoon in the spring of 2015, a senior State Department official named Frank Lowenstein paged through a government briefing book and noticed a map that he had never seen before. Lowenstein was the Obama Administration's special envoy on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, a position that exposed him to hundreds of maps of the West Bank. (One adorned his State Department office.) Typically, those maps made Jewish settlements and outposts look tiny compared to the areas where the Palestinians lived. The new map in the briefing book was different. It showed large swaths of territory that were off limits to Palestinian development and filled in space between the settlements and the outposts. At that moment, Lowenstein told me, he saw "the forest for the trees"—not only were Palestinian population centers cut off from one another but there was virtually no way to squeeze a viable Palestinian state into the areas that remained. Lowenstein's team did the math. When the settlement zones, the illegal outposts, and the other areas off limits to Palestinian development were consolidated, they covered almost sixty per cent of the West Bank. [Read More]
OUR HISTORY
Two Intellectual Giants of the American Left
By Paul Buhle, Monthly Review [June 1, 2018]
[FB – This is a review of the correspondence of the founders of the venerable US/left magazine, Monthly Review, my first "radical" subscription when I was starting out. - Nicholas Baran and John Bellamy Foster, editors, The Age of Monopoly Capital: Selected Correspondence of Paul A. Baran and Paul M. Sweezy, 1949–1964]
---- A young person happening upon Monthly Review around 1960 would discover a field of thought dramatically distant from anything else then available in the United States, even within the left. That young person would possibly come to Baran's Political Economy of Growth and find the magazine's insights further consolidated, with staggering results. As Baran's book revealed, the world economy was truly a political economy, and the magic formulae of the day ("development") promoted and rationalized the domination and exploitation of the third world. In the mainstream vision, especially popular with the Kennedy administration, the United States would dictate the terms of development. Behind the seemingly kindly offer of assistance lurked the reality of counterinsurgency, with hundreds of thousands of dead and so many millions of poor left behind by the "pacification" of Latin America in the 1960s alone. Baran and Sweezy began their shared project with few illusions. The brilliance of the two men stands out in these letters, as they discuss, back and forth, agreeing and disagreeing, theories of economy and issues of contemporary society in ways then unthinkable to other commentators. [Read More]
