Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
July 15, 2019
Hello All – The main focus for peace & justice stalwarts this week was on the horrible ordeal of immigrants and refugees at our southern border, and the threatened raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that were supposed to begin on Sunday. Perhaps the main story – the dog that didn't bark in the night – was the failure of ICE to launch their massive sweep, either on Sunday or today. Naturally we ask why this didn't happen. Until proven otherwise, I prefer the answer that points to the huge outpouring of opposition to the raids and the spike in organizing that brought information about legal rights to immigrant communities.
Below I've linked several good articles and some insightful Democracy Now! segments addressing many facets of what's happening at the border, what people are doing to resist, and what – if any – logic there is behind Trump's rants and attacks. I think the most compelling framing of our manufactured immigrant crisis is that the plan is Terror. If something can be done to make would-be immigrants or refugees miserable, that's the Plan. Trump hopes that news of the Terror will reach Central America, and people will decide to stay home.
I'm particularly moved by the actions of the Jewish group IfNotNow and similar groups, which consciously draw on the concentration camp analogy and similar actions by the Nazis against the Jews in the 1930s to shame the people behind the border terrorism. John Carlos Frey, author of a recent prize-winning book about the history of US immigration policy, told Democracy Now! on Wednesday that what is happening at the border now can reasonably be called genocide.
Going forward, we will see if the legal action legal action brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups can put a stop to the ICE raids. The main legal issue being advanced is that it is well known that ICE routinely determines that a person has exhausted their legal options when it is the failure of ICE itself to properly notify people about court appearances, etc. Thus a large share of people on ICE's deportation list have not been heard by a judge, through no fault of their own. The ACLU action attempts to return ICE and its deportations to the framework of the rule of law: good luck with that.
Trump's terrorist attacks against some of the poorest and most miserable people in the world should be viewed against the background of the US assaults on their places of origin. For example, the largest number of people now seeking refugee status are said to be from Honduras. We are now marking the 10th anniversary of the US-supported coup in Honduras that turned one of the poorest countries in the Americas into a violent, gangster state. On Friday, Democracy Now! interviewed former president Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in the coup. His remarks illuminate why Hondurans are fleeing to save their lives.
And this just in. Starting Tuesday, immigrants attempting to enter the United States from the Mexican border will be denied asylum protections. The new policy says that immigrants who passed through another country (e.g. Mexico) and failed to apply for asylum there would not be protected by international laws about refugees when they get to the USA. The New York Times article reporting this new policy affirms that "the new rule was expected to be immediately challenged in court." The Terror continues.
Happy Birthday, Atomic Bomb
Tuesday is the anniversary – 1945 – of the first test of the atomic bomb. A day that will live in Infamy. Even today, despite all that the historians have done, most people believe that The Bomb saved thousands – nay, a million – lives by ending the Pacific War without an invasion by US soldiers. The truth is that President Truman and his Secretary of State James Byrnes did all they could – and were successful – to prevent Japan from surrendering until the Bomb could be used. And it was. The reasons behind this are complex, and will be written up for a later newsletter that commemorates Hiroshima (August 6). But we shouldn't let this birthday go by without a notice.
Please Help Our Friend
Our friend and CFOW colleague Joanna Oleson was burned out of her home two weeks ago. She lost everything. As part of our support for Joanna, we have set up a donation page. Please check it out and help her if you can. Thanks.
News Notes
Some important antiwar measures have been amended to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was passed last week by the House of Representatives. One of them, passed 251 – 170, forbids Trump from launching a war on Iran without explicit congressional approval. Some two-dozen Republicans joined in support. This and other antiwar items were not included in the Senate version of the NDAA, and so it remains to be seen if the "reconciled" legislation includes them. NB the point of including don't-attack-Iran language in the NDAA is that Trump would be unlikely to veto the main Pentagon money legislation because of one item. For more on this, go here.
The Extinction Rebellion, based in Europe but now part of the USA climate fight, plans a "Summer Uprising" in 5 cities in the UK starting soon. For more about this important movement, read their latest press release celebrating their 25th newsletter and many other things, go here.
For those still curious about the details behind "Russiagate" and how it was put together by the CIA and the FBI, this article on Concord Management and the alleged Russian Internet/bot campaign has lots to keep you interested.
Today's peace & justice stalwarts are familiar with Noam Chomsky's cogent video/speech-warnings about nuclear war, climate disaster, fascism, etc., in which he appears as Father Time and speaks in simple sentences that we can all understand. So I was fascinated (and almost understood) this short talk by Chomsky on the "Limits of Knowledge and Thought" given in 1978. I was fortunate to live in Boston during the 1970s, one of thousands who benefitted from the many speeches of this great man.
The cry of "Save the Whales!" has become something of a barb/joke directed against environmentalists. But check out this interesting review of some writing/film about whales and whales in captivity, and perhaps you will agree that it's something we all should support.
Finally, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was interviewed by New Yorker editor David Remnick recently. In the first half of the interview she speaks about politics, etc., but in the second half she talks about the trip she and other congressional representatives had taken to investigate conditions for immigrants and refugees at our southern border, from which she had just returned. Very interesting, imo. [Link]
Climate-Fight Update
Thanks to Iris Hiskey Arno for the following reports. Those wishing to join the fight to save the humans please attend the next meeting of the Indivisible Environment Committee at the James Harmon Community Center (Main St. in Hastings) next Wednesday, July 24th, at 7 p.m.
Climate Debate: There's a growing push for the DNC to hold a climate debate and word has it that two resolutions are circling in the DNC--one to hold a formal climate debate and one to arrange a more informal forum like the abortion rights forum Planned Parenthood hosted with 20 candidates attending. The DNC will vote on these resolutions at a meeting in San Francisco on August 22. Here's a link (through Greenpeace) for sending a message to NY's DNC delegates: and another the Sunrise Movement, which also is encouraging letters to the editor on the topic.
Off Fossil Fuels: The period for written comments on the Williams NESE fracked gas pipeline proposed to run across NY harbor has officially closed, but calls to Cuomo are still a good idea. Next up: fighting the Danskammer Power Plant proposed to be opened on the Hudson River in Newburgh. Since the recently passed climate legislation (CLCPA) did not ban new fossil fuel infrastructure, we will have to fight these projects one at a time. – Thanks, Iris!
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 (usually) 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. The next CFOW monthly meeting will be on Sunday, August 4th, at 7 PM, at the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society, 12 Elm St. in Dobbs.
Donations, please.
CFOW runs on a shoestring – about $100 a month. But we are now down to our last shoestring, and if you would like to support our work and are in a position to make a donation, please end 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. As always, we have some excellent "Featured Essays," I also highly recommend the set of Democracy Now! programs about the crisis at our southern border; the article by Michael Klare about the role of OIL in Trump's war against Iran; an excellent article by economist Robert Pollin about our climate crisis and the Green New Deal; and – on the anniversary of the first test of an atomic bomb in 1945 – some reflections on what this horrible event cost those living downwind from the blast.
Rewards!
As always, the Newsletter provides a pit stop – Rewards! – before trudging on to reviewing the news of the week. Yesterday, July 14, was Bastille Day, France's national holiday and the commemoration of the work of fired-up, discontented citizens in bringing down the hated King. Soldiers marching from the city of Marseille to Paris to support the Revolution brought with them a marching song that became "La Marseillaise," the anthem of the Revolution. During World War II the Germans occupying France forbade the playing or singing of La Marseillaise; and so the turning point in the war involved playing and singing it, as is shown in this rare, documentary footage. And for those who think La Marseillaise is a bit too slow, check out this fine version by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. Enjoy!
Best Wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
A Crime Scene at the Border
By Teju Cole, New York Times Magazine [July 10, 2019]
---- He lies face down in water, his black shirt more than halfway hiked up his back. A toddler, also face down, is tangled up in his shirt. They lie side by side, her arm draped across his neck. He wears black shorts. On her, red pants pulled up past the calves, the telltale bulge of diapers, tiny shoes. Blue beer cans bob in gray-green water around them. The rushes on the riverbank grow profusely. The bitterest truth might be to show that the crime was committed by the viewers of the photograph — that this is not news from some remote and unconnected reality but that it is rather something you have done, not personally but as a member of the larger collective. It is you who have undermined their democracy, you who have devastated their economy, you who have denied their claim to asylum. These are not strangers requesting a favor. They are people you already know, confronting you with your misdeeds. That is not how such images are typically presented or understood. So, what happens if evidence of your crimes is presented to you over and over again but you do not accept culpability? What happens is that your assessment of this evidence becomes ever more disingenuous. It's a pity, you say. It's unfortunate, outrageous, heartbreaking. You make these declarations — which are partly true but mostly false — and life goes on. [Read More]
Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy Exposes Migrants to Rape, Kidnapping, and Murder in
Dangerous Border Cities
By Debbie Nathan, The Intercept [July 14, 2019]
---- In Juárez, Franklin joined thousands of other migrants waiting for their own numbers to come up. His finally did, almost three months later, in early June. He eagerly went back to the bridge. But when he got there, he was devastated to learn that he still would not be allowed into the U.S. Instead, he was enrolled in a new Trump scheme for asylum-seekers. By the end of June, almost 17,000 asylum-seekers up and down the border had joined him. They have been booted out of San Diego, Calexico, and El Paso and sent to nearby Mexican border cities to wait. Juárez, across from El Paso, has received the largest number: almost 8,000 people. The new program, commonly referred to as "Remain in Mexico," is called MPP, short for the Migrant Protection Protocols. 
To call that phrase Orwellian is a gross understatement. The MPP, rather than protect migrants, puts them in grave danger. It mandates that they remain in crime-ridden Mexican border cities for months, even years, waiting for U.S. courts to decide their asylum claims. Every few weeks, refugees enrolled in the MPP are brought into U.S. border cities such as El Paso to see an immigration judge. But after their hearings, they are sent back to Mexico, to cities so violent that the U.S. State Department recommends that Americans limit travel to them, or avoid travel entirely. [Read More]
To call that phrase Orwellian is a gross understatement. The MPP, rather than protect migrants, puts them in grave danger. It mandates that they remain in crime-ridden Mexican border cities for months, even years, waiting for U.S. courts to decide their asylum claims. Every few weeks, refugees enrolled in the MPP are brought into U.S. border cities such as El Paso to see an immigration judge. But after their hearings, they are sent back to Mexico, to cities so violent that the U.S. State Department recommends that Americans limit travel to them, or avoid travel entirely. [Read More]Trump's Tweets Prove That He Is a Raging Racist
By Charles Blow, New York Times [July 15, 2019]
----But, this is the most important fact: They aren't white, and they are women. They are "other" in the framing of the white nationalists. They are descendants of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The central framing of this kind of thinking is that this is a white country, founded and built by white men, and destined to be maintained as a white country. For anyone to be accepted as truly American they must assimilate and acquiesce to that narrative, to bow to that heritage and bend to those customs. It sees a country from which black and brown people come as deficient — "a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world" — because, at its base, it sees black and brown people as deficient. [Read More] And this evening, the four women attacked by Trump talk back to the Godfather. See it here.
DESPERATE TIMES FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
[FB – It is not a coincidence that so many useful/insightful reports and appraisals of the immigrant and refugee crisis at our southern border are broadcast on the daily news program Democracy Now! The program segments below were broadcast over the last few days. Several more incisive reports are archived and can be read on-line at www.democracynow.org. I recommend checking out Democracy Now! daily; they have a 10-minute summary of news items and then several interview segments – on many topics -- similar to the ones linked below.]
(Video) Know Your Rights: How Immigrant Rights Activists Are Preparing for Looming ICE Deportation Raids
From Democracy Now! [July 12, 2019]
---- Immigrant communities across the country and their allies are preparing for nationwide raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to begin Sunday that will target undocumented members of immigrant families in at least nine major cities. The cities where raids will take place are said to be Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. New Orleans had been on the list, but the city announced this weekend that ICE was temporarily postponing the raids due to Tropical Storm Barry. We speak with a roundtable of immigrants' rights activists: Adelina Nicholls, the executive director of Georgia Latino Alliance of Human Rights in Atlanta; Shannon Camacho, the Los Angeles County Raids Rapid Response Network coordinator for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights; and Natalia Aristizabal, co-director of organizing at Make the Road New York. Camacho says, "We tell our community members that no matter what ICE does, don't open the door." [See the Program]
(Video) Cruelty Is the Point: Communities Fight Back as Threat of ICE Raids Terrorize Immigrant Families
From Democracy Now! [July 15, 2019]
---- This weekend, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched a handful of raids across the country as part of President Trump's push to detain and deport thousands of undocumented migrants in 10 major cities. Agents in Chicago reportedly arrested a mother and her children only to quickly release them. Arrests were also attempted in New York City, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Harlem, where immigrants reportedly refused to open their doors to ICE agents because they did not have warrants. Authorities say more raids are planned this week, prompting fear but also generating mass protests on the ground. We speak with Elora Mukherjee, a professor of law and director of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. She has spent the past 12 years representing immigrant children and adults along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The raids will leave children without their parents. The raids will leave children without their caregivers," Mukherjee says. "The raids will leave U.S. citizen children without anyone in America to care for them. It is a heartbreaking situation." [Read More]
(Video) The Inhumane Treatment of Migrants Is Not New. It's a Key Part of a Decades-Old Bipartisan Policy
From Democracy Now! [July 10, 2019]
---- More than a week after lawmakers flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to observe the horrible treatment of refugee children and families in immigration jails, reports of unsafe and unsanitary conditions for asylum seekers are continuing. In Clint, Texas, the Border Patrol station that garnered international attention for jailing hundreds of migrant children without access to sufficient food, water, beds or medical care now has a spreading outbreak of scabies, shingles and chickenpox, according to border agents. In Yuma, Arizona, NBC reports that jailed migrant children have been subjected to mistreatment and sexual violence. We speak with prize-winning author John Carlos Frey, whose new book, "Sand and Blood: America's Stealth War on the Mexico Border," examines the history of U.S. immigration policies, looking at how both Democrats and Republicans laid the groundwork for the deadly system we have today. [See the Program]
(Video) Ousted Honduran President Zelaya: The 2009 U.S.-Backed Coup Helped Cause Today's Migrant Crisis
From Democracy Now! [July 12, 2019]
---- We end today's show in Honduras to look at some of the root causes of the migration crisis and how it links to U.S. foreign policy. Honduras recently marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-backed coup that ousted the democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. The coup was orchestrated by the Honduran military, business and political elite, with the support of the Obama administration. Since then, extreme poverty and violence has skyrocketed in Honduras. Tens of thousands of Hondurans have been murdered, including more than 300 LGBTQ people, about 60 journalists, hundreds of peasant rights and environmental activists. Tens of thousands of refugees have also fled Honduras, most with the hope of receiving political asylum in the United States. Meanwhile, mass protests are continuing to take place in Honduras against the right-wing government of Juan Orlando Hernández and his plans to privatize healthcare, pensions and education. Protesters have been met with violent repression from the Honduran military and police. Last week, we spoke with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. We reached him in Tegucigalpa. I spoke with him along with Democracy Now!'s Juan González. I asked President Zelaya about the 10th anniversary of the coup and the link between drug traffickers and government corruption. [See the Program]
WAR & PEACE
Remnants of War
By Kathy Kelly, Waging Nonviolence [July 12, 2019]
---- Intense fighting and hideous attacks battered Afghans throughout their country last week as negotiators in Qatar weighed the benefits and costs of a peace agreement that might stop the bloodshed. In Kabul at least 40 people, including one child, were killed in a complex Taliban attack. Dozens of children whose school was partially collapsed by a massive car bomb were injured. Of these, 21 were hospitalized with serious injuries. New York Times correspondent Mujib Mashal posted (on Twitter) a photo of an elementary school child being carried into the Italian Emergency Surgical Center for Victims of War in Kabul. "Blood on his face," Mashal writes, describing the child. "Still in shock. Still clutching that pencil." As negotiations inched forward, two Afghan government airstrikes, possibly using United States assistance, hit civilians, killing 7 members of a family in the Baghlan province and four civilians in a clinic in Maidan Wardak province. The Taliban, U.S. Government, and every other warring party in Afghanistan must be asked: "How many more civilians, including children, are you willing to kill and maim? [Read More]
The War Against Iran
Oil Is Driving the Iran Crisis
By Michael T. Klare, The Nation [July 13, 2019]
----- As things stand today, any Iranian move in the Strait of Hormuz that can be portrayed as a threat to the "free flow of commerce" (that is, the oil trade) represents the most likely trigger for direct US military action. Yes, Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support for radical Shiite movements throughout the Middle East will be cited as evidence of its leadership's malevolence, but its true threat will be to American dominance of the oil lanes, a danger Washington will treat as the offense of all offenses to be overcome at any cost. If the United States goes to war with Iran, you are unlikely to hear the word "oil" uttered by top Trump administration officials, but make no mistake: That three-letter word lies at the root of the present crisis, not to speak of the world's long-term fate. [Read More]
Lies About Iran Killing US Troop in Iraq Are a Ploy to Justify War
By Gareth Porter, Truthout [July 9, 2019]
---- One of the many myths that have been used to justify the push for war with Iran led by National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is that Tehran is responsible for the killing of more than 600 U.S. troops during the Iraq War. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, whose job is to round up international support for the Trump administration's campaign of "maximum pressure" on Iran, presented the charge at a State Department press briefing on April 2. … The myth that Tehran is responsible for killing over 600 U.S. troops in the Iraq War is merely a new variant of a propaganda line that former Vice President Dick Cheney used to attempt to justify a war against Iran more than a decade ago. Reviewing the history of that earlier effort is necessary to understand why the new myth is a palpable lie. [Read More]
The UK's Pirates Seize Iranian Tanker – "UK's Misguided Bandwagoning with U.S. on Iran," by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, LobeLog [July 9, 2019] [Link]; and ""Iran Keeps Calm While U.S. And Britain Continue Their Provocations," from Moon of Alabama [Link].
OUR HUMAN-CAUSED CLIMATE CRISIS
We Need a Green New Deal to Defeat Fascism and Reverse Inequality
An interview with Robert Pollin, by Jonas Elvander, Truthout [July 10, 2019]
---- In my view, the core features of the Green New Deal are quite simple. They consist of a worldwide program to invest between 2-3 percent of global GDP every year to dramatically raise energy efficiency standards and equally dramatically expand lean renewable energy supplies. … To make real progress on climate stabilization, the single most critical project at hand is straightforward: to cut the consumption of oil, coal and natural gas dramatically and without delay, and to eliminate the use of fossil fuels altogether by 2050.. … As noted above, the whole idea behind the Green New Deal is to advance a climate stabilization program that also expands good job opportunities and raises mass living standards on a global scale. My own research and policy work with co-authors has applied this approach globally, including to low-income countries, such as India and Indonesia, and to countries living under austerity conditions, such as Spain five years ago and Puerto Rico today. Overall, the Green New Deal is precisely a project to reverse the rise of inequality under neoliberalism while also preventing ecological catastrophe. [Read More]
'Time to Act for the Future of Our Planet': Other Lawmakers Urged to Join Fight as Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Unveil Climate Emergency Declaration
By
---- After Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday introduced a resolution declaring the climate crisis a national emergency, grassroots environmental groups pressured members of Congress to back the declaration and heed its call for transformative action. "Instead of remaining complicit in worsening the effects of climate change, members of Congress in both the House and Senate must respond to this resolution with the urgency and support that this moment demands," said climate group Extinction Rebellion, which is holding a rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday evening to urge lawmakers to sign on to the emergency declaration. "Today we stand in solidarity with tens of millions of people from around the world in calling for a mass mobilization of our social and economic resources," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. "Working to solve the climate crisis will create tens of millions of union jobs, empower communities, and improve the quality of life for people across the globe. The resolution. also sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), states "there is a climate emergency which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and address its consequences and causes." [Read More] [FB - Nita Lowey and Kirsten Gillibrand have signed on as co-sponsors. No word so far from Chuck Schumer or Elliot Engel. The Climate Mobilization Movement is working hard to plan actions at representatives' offices to push them to get with the program.]
Also interesting/useful on climate chaos – "Climate Change Is a Poor People's Issue," by Mallika Khanna, OtherWords [July 13, 20109] [Link]; and "We Were Already Over 350 ppm When I Was Born," by Jamie Margolin, The Nation [July 12, 2019] [Link].
THE STATE OF THE UNION
Trump Gives Up Citizenship Question But Doubles Down on Terrorizing Immigrants
By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout [July 12, 2019]
---- On July 11, President Trump gave up his fight to ask people about their citizenship on the 2020 census. The question, which the administration has been trying to add to the census since 2017, would have resulted in a significant undercount by dissuading people in households with undocumented residents from responding to the census. An estimated 6.5 million people could be uncounted if the question were included, according to the Census Bureau. The census is used to calculate how many seats each state will have in the House of Representatives, the number of Electoral College votes each state will get in the presidential elections beginning in 2024, and how $900 billion in federal funds will be distributed to the states annually for hospitals, schools, health care and infrastructure for the next 10 years. There is no doubt the administration knew that a question asking about citizenship would result in an undercount of Latinos and benefit Republicans. GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller had urged that the question be included in the census as it would "be a disadvantage to the Democrats" and "advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites" in redistricting. [Read More]
Too Horrible to Understand, Too Horrible to Ignore
By Kathleen Wallace, Counterpunch [July 14, 2019]
---- The Lolita Express……"I'm not for impeachment. The green dream or whatever."…… "Maybe toilet water is a step up….." As if it wasn't obvious before, surely now the commingling interests of the wealthy should be evident to anyone with even rudimentary brain stem function. Like our worsening climate situation, the fact that the wealthy are simply our enemies (to those of us with a net worth under, say 200 million, that is) is becoming so clear that our very survival depends upon this realization. The false narrative that so many of us have bought into—that the current situation is an unfortunate balancing act between forces is clearly not working. Recent climate report indications are dire. Beyond dire, really, with terrifying prospects as soon as 20 or 30 years. Hell, things are going off the rails right now. There's no way to explain the every single day we have new and unheard of flooding, unheard of hail, unheard of generalized freak-out weather. And what can exemplify the fact that the wealthy simply view so many others as simple commodities to exploit better than the Epstein social sphere and filth? It should have been obvious before, okay maybe that Marx had a clue, but really how much more in your face does this need to get before most realize that none of this modern life was set up for the vast benefit of most of us? It's a trick and game all set up to delude the masses." [Read More] Also interesting/illuminating is "Jeffrey Epstein Embodies Elite Impunity," by Jeet Heer, The Nation [July 13, 2019] [Link].
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
The Book of Palestine: National Liberation vs Endless Negotiations
By Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle [July 10, 2019]
----Palestinians must write their own book, one guided by the concept of national liberation, not endless negotiations; one predicated on unity, not mortifying factionalism; one that appeals to the global community, not to American handouts. Those who are still hoping that the new American agenda on Palestine and Israel is temporary, or reversible, should abandon this false hope. Washington's complete adoption of Israel's messianic, extremist policies regarding Occupied Palestine has been a long time in the making. And it is here to stay. Despite the unmistakable clarity in the American political discourse regarding Palestine, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is still trapped in a 25-year long, ineffectual political paradigm. Unable to move past their disproportionate reliance on American validation, and lacking any real strategic vision of their own, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his men are operating within a clichés-centered trajectory of a "negotiated peace" – a discourse that was, itself, invented and championed by Washington and its allies. [Read More]
Israel's separation wall endures, 15 years after ICJ ruling
By Linah Alsaafin, Aljazeera [July 9, 2019]
---- In the occupied West Bank, the long, concrete separation wall winds through the landscape, slicing through Palestinian communities, agricultural fields and farmlands in a steady manner. The wall, which Israel began constructing in 2002 at the height of the second intifada, has been described by Israeli officials as a necessary security precaution against terrorism. Palestinians however, have decried the wall as an Israeli mechanism to annex Palestinian territory, as it is built deep within the West Bank and not along the 1967 Green Line. Tuesday marks the 15th anniversary since the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN judiciary organ, issued an advisory opinion that deemed Israel's separation wall illegal.
OUR HISTORY
The Day After Trinity
[FB – Tomorrow, July 16th, is the anniversary of the first (and successful) test of an atomic bomb. Called "Trinity," the test was the final chapter in a years-long program to develop a nuclear weapon during World War II. Not indicated in this excellent film biography of the Bomb and the atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer is that the final, "emergency" rush to finish and test the bomb as soon as possible was because President Truman and his Secretary of State James Byrnes desperately wanted to use the bomb before the war ended. As Russia planned to enter the war against Japan by the middle of August, and as virtually all American military leaders thought that Japan would give up at that point, Truman and Byrnes did all they could to extend the war, and to prevent a revision of the "unconditional surrender" doctrine that all US military and political leaders understood would end the war. So Truman and Bynes had to thread the needle: prevent the war from ending before the Bomb was ready, and to end the war before Russia joined in. All this is laid out in great detail in Gar Alperowitz's book, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth. Controversy over many aspects of the Bomb continues, as indicated in the interesting article linked below and published today in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, still going strong after all these years.]
Trinity: "The most significant hazard of the entire Manhattan Project"
By Kathleen M. Tucker and Robert Alvarez, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [July 15, 2019]
----For the past several years, the controversy over radioactive fallout from the world's first atomic bomb explosion in Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945—code-named Trinity—has intensified. Evidence collected by the New Mexico health department but ignored for some 70 years shows an unusually high rate of infant mortality in New Mexico counties downwind from the explosion and raises a serious question whether or not the first victims of the first atomic explosion might have been American children. Even though the first scientifically credible warnings about the hazards of radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion had been made by 1940, historical records indicate a fallout team was not established until less than a month before the Trinity test, a hasty effort motivated primarily by concern over legal liability. … The Trinity bomb was detonated atop a 100-foot steel tower. With an estimated explosive yield of 21,000 tons of TNT, the fireball vaporized the tower and shot hundreds of tons of irradiated soil to a height of 50,000 to 70,000 feet, spreading radioactive fallout over a very large area. Fallout measurements taken shortly after the explosion were very limited and primitive instruments were used; the data suggest no measurements regarding inhalation or ingestion of radionuclides were taken.
