Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
February 26, 2023
Hello All – Concerned Families of Westchester was born in the shadow of 9/11 and vigorously opposed the war in Iraq. Now, 20 years later, we confront what may be the most dangerous war in our lifetimes, the war in Ukraine. Yet there is little organized opposition in the USA to this war, and not even a clear consensus about how the war happened, who is "winning" and "losing," and how it might end. Over the course of the last year, the several dozen "stalwarts" in CFOW have worked together to make sense of the war and to be responsible advocates for peace. It is evident that these tasks are far from finished.
There is no question that Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago constituted what the UN Charter calls "an act of aggression." As such, it should be condemned by the whole world. But those who trace the origins of this war back more than 12 months – to 2014, or even to the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 – understand that "the West" shares responsibility for many events that led up to this war. Indeed, it is more apparent every day that the USA and NATO are becoming Ukraine's co-belligerents in the war. The arming, training, advising, and financing of Ukraine's government and war-making capacity has transformed the war and entangled the USA not only in the war itself, but in bearing some responsibility for trying to end it.
Yet there is no apparent movement by the Biden administration or NATO (except perhaps for France) to press for negotiations. Indeed, the emerging record indicates that the USA and the UK worked to forestall negotiations last March, and now the former leaders of Germany and France have stated that their support for the Minsk and Minsk II agreements, which had ended an earlier round of fighting in Ukraine, were not sincere, and were only meant to give Ukraine time and space to prepare for renewed fighting. The instant rejection by the USA/NATO of China's 12-point peace proposal/framework confirms that diplomacy is not a near-term option.
It seems that we are at a point where the options for ending the fighting await the outcome of the "spring offensives" that both Ukraine and Russia are supposedly planning. In the meantime:
· Ukraine will press the USA/NATO for more advanced weapons – now fighter jets are on the table – which will be seen by Russia as threatening attacks on Russian territory;
· Ukraine will press the USA/NATO to support an offensive to re-take Crimea, considered a core objective by Ukraine and a "red line" by Russia; and
· And the chances of the use of tactical nuclear weapons – quickly escalating, most analysts agree, to an unstoppable nuclear war -- will be heightened by this expansion of the scope and intensity of the war.
As we begin a second year of war in Ukraine, it is obvious that we are all – everyone – trapped by a cataclysm that can have no "winners" and possibly a great many losers. In the coming months, Concerned Families of Westchester will advocate for whatever steps might end the fighting and/or prevent the war from escalating further. A first step, as always, will be to acquire and share accurate information about the war, and what our own government can and should do to work towards ending it.
Some useful video discussions/perspectives about the Ukraine war
(Video) "A War of Imperial Aggression": How Russia's Invasion One Year Ago Changed Ukraine & the World
From Democracy Now! [February 23, 2023] – 27 minutes
---- Over the past year, at least 8,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations, but the true death toll is believed to be higher. The U.N. refugee agency said this week that more than 8 million refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine. We begin today's show looking at the war's impact and future with Nina Krushcheva, a professor of international affairs at The New School and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. [See the Program]
(Video) One Year of Ukraine War: How Far Will it Go?
From Breakthrough News [February 25, 2023] – 21 minutes
---- Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute, discusses the multipolar challenge to US power and the possibility of the war escalating into a much greater conflict with catastrophic global implications. [See the Program]
(Video) How Will the War in Ukraine End? – Boris Kagarlitsky
---- With Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky, a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union. He is coordinator of the Transnational Institute Global Crisis project and Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements (IGSO) in Moscow. [See the Program]
(Video) Russia Out! Solidarity with the Ukrainian Resistance
From the Ukraine Solidarity Network [February 25, 2023]
---- From this long program with several speakers, I suggest esp. the video presentation from Ukrainian scholar and activist Yulia Yurchenko, which begins at 16:40 into the program and runs about 6 minutes. (Other parts are interesting too.) [See the Program]
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Weather permitting, we meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil is held (winter schedule) on the first Monday of each month; the next vigil will be March 6th, from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. Another Facebook page focuses on the climate crisis. If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email for the link. If you would like to support our work by making a contribution, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
CFOW Weekly Reader
Featured Essays
Danger at Indian Point - "Experts explain how tritium in water impacts health and safety"
By Regina Clarkin, The Peekskill Herald [February 20, 2023]
---- With Holtec's announcement earlier this month that it plans to dump a million gallons of contaminated wastewater from the Indian Point nuclear power plant into the Hudson River sometime this summer, the latest Critical Public Health & Safety expert panel, organized by a coalition of environmental advocacy groups, took on new urgency amid calls for action on the part of citizens. A Thursday, February 16th seminar on Zoom featured three experts in the fields of medicine and science who walked the 265 viewers through the ramifications of radioactive hydrogen or tritium entering the water that is a drinking source for seven communities. The webinar was the second in a series on the topic, following an initial session on January 26th. … Dr. Courtney Williams, a Peekskill resident and cancer researcher, moderated the call and began by giving a historical overview. "The goal of this speaker series is to become educated and arm ourselves with information for the advocacy to help shake the decision makers out of complacency," said Williams who is the co-founder of Safe Energy Rights Group (SEnRG). … Williams ended the call with some take-home lessons from the experts: "Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's safe. The legal limits are based on outdated science. Legal limits are based on industry standards, not public health and safety. Radioactivity cannot be filtered out of the water. Feasible alternatives to dumping exist. Holtec is motivated by profit, not public good. Once the water is dumped, it cannot be undone. You must take action." Visit here to learn more and listen to a recording of the session. [Read More]
The Tragedy of Till [the film] is Our Failure to Grasp its Radical Politics
By Robin D.G. Kelley, The Nation [February 24, 2023]
---- Mamie's political "awakening," as it were, derived not from the NAACP but from her capacity to turn grief, 34 years' experience as a Black woman in America, and 14 unbroken years of maternal love ("He was a perfect baby") into strength and insight. Deadwyler carries this swirl of emotion and knowledge throughout the film, erupting most forcefully from the witness stand where she juxtaposes her son's humanity and innocence with the state-sanctioned barbarity of white Mississippians. … Mamie's goal to "incite activism" stands in stark contrast to the liberal ideal that progress comes slowly by adjusting the law to make it consistent with the nation's creed. [Read More]
(Video) Angela Davis on Assassination & Legacy of Malcolm X, Her Exclusion from AP Black Studies and More
From Democracy Now! [February 21, 2023]
---- We speak with renowned scholar and activist Angela Davis on the 58th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. Davis is delivering a keynote address Tuesday at the Shabazz Center in New York, formerly the Audubon Ballroom, where the iconic Black leader was killed on February 21, 1965. Davis says Malcolm is still vital to understanding racism, power and justice in the United States and beyond. "Malcolm always placed these issues in a larger context, and I think that we can learn a great deal from that legacy today," says Davis. She also responds to recent moves by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others to restrict the teaching of African American history, calling it an effort to "turn the clock back" on racial progress. [See the Program]
War & Peace
(Video) As Putin Suspends New START Treaty, Is There Still Hope for Nuclear Disarmament?
From Democracy Now! [February 22, 2023]
---- Russian President Vladmir Putin's announcement that Moscow would suspend its participation in the New START treaty threatens to end the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. Putin made the pledge during his annual State of the Nation address on Tuesday, when he accused Western nations of provoking the conflict in Ukraine. The treaty limits the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapon stockpiles and gives each country opportunities to inspect the other's nuclear sites. Russia says it will continue to respect the caps established by the treaty, but that it will no longer allow inspections. For more on the treaty and the wider challenge of nuclear proliferation, we speak with Dr. Ira Helfand, a longtime advocate for nuclear disarmament, who says the need to end nuclear weapons "transcends" all other issues between the U.S. and Russia. [See the Program] Also of interest is "There is no alternative: US-Russian nuclear arms control must restart. Now," by Connor Murray, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [February 6, 2023] [Link].
Strengthening the Nuclear Taboo in the Midst of Russia's War on Ukraine
From the Arms Control Association [February 22, 2023]
[FB – The Arms Control Association is one of our main sources of accurate nongovernmental information about nuclear weapons. This is a substantial, in-depth report; but under the circumstances (Ukraine, etc.) we need to become knowledgeable about this subject.]
---- One year ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a massive invasion on independent, democratic, non-nuclear Ukraine that has killed thousands, displaced millions, and created economic, social, and political disruption on a global scale. Putin's war, along with his implied threats of nuclear weapons use against any who would interfere, has also raised the specter of a nuclear conflict in ways not seen in the post-Cold War era. It has also derailed bilateral U.S.-Russian talks on implementation of existing and new arms control measures. If nuclear weapons are used in this conflict or any between nuclear-armed adversaries, we are in uncharted territory. Theories that a nuclear war can be "limited" are just theories. Once and if nuclear weapons are used in a conflict involving the United States and Russia, there is no guarantee it would not quickly become an all-out nuclear conflagration. … So far, the 78-year-old taboo against the use of nuclear weapons has held, but we cannot take for granted. Tragically, the end of the war is nowhere in sight, and the danger of nuclear escalation still looms. To preserve and strengthen the consensus against nuclear weapons use and threats of use, civil society and the international community must sustain pressure against those who might try to break the nuclear taboo. [Read More]
Media Ignore Seymour Hersh Bombshell Report of US Destroying Nord Stream II
By Alan Macleod, Mint Press News [February 15, 2023]
---- It has now been one week since Seymour Hersh published an in-depth report claiming that the Biden administration deliberately blew up the Nord Stream II gas pipeline without Germany's consent or even knowledge – an operation that began planning long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. … Despite this, corporate media have overwhelmingly ignored the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter's bombshell. A MintPress News study analyzed the 20 most influential publications in the United States, according to analytics company Similar Web, and found only four mentions of the report between them. [Read More]
The Climate Crisis
The Green New Deal – The Current State of Play
By
----While the national media have largely gone silent on the Green New Deal, evidence shows that its vision remains vibrant with much of the public – and that it is being implemented all over the country at a community, local, and state level. For the past year I have been researching and writing about initiatives around the country to implement the core ideas of the Green New Deal at a community, state, and local level – what I call the "Green New Deal from Below." I have discovered hundreds of projects, policies, programs, and new laws that embody the principles of the Green New Deal at a sub-national level. [Read More] Also important/of interest is "The Renewable Energy Transition Is Failing," by Richard Heinberg, Independent Media Institute [November 21, 2022 [Link].
Civil Liberties
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Arkansas' anti-BDS law
ByFebruary 21, 2023]
---- On Tuesday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) refused to take up a challenge to an Arkansas law that targets the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The state law requires all companies that contract with the state to sign a pledge promising to refrain from boycotting Israel…. In February 2021 a three-judge panel found that boycotts of Israel were constitutionally protected, but that ruling was overturned by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2022. That decision was written by Judge Jonathan Kobes, a Trump appointee that the American Bar Association has rated as unqualified. … According to the group Palestine Legal over 40 states have had anti-BDS laws introduced and 35 states have passed legislation targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights. Insofar as they've been legally challenged, courts tend to find that such bills unconstitutional, but the Arkansas ruling is one of the outliers. [Read More] Also of interest is "Biden Administration Takes Its Capitulation to Israel to an Absurd New Level," by [Link].
Israel/Palestine
(Video) Outrage Soars in Occupied West Bank After Israel Kills 11, Injures 500 Palestinians in Nablus Raid
From Democracy Now! [February 24, 2023]
---- Palestinians held a general strike in the West Bank Thursday after Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians and injured nearly 500 in a military raid in the city of Nablus. So far this year, Israel has killed at least 65 Palestinians, including 13 children, drawing concern and criticism from supranational actors including the U.N. and Amnesty International. We speak to Amira Hass, a correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender from Hebron in the West Bank. [See the Program] For additional insights and background, read "Nablus mourns following Israeli invasion that tore city and lives apart," by, Mondoweiss [February 24, 2023] [Link].
What's Behind the Calls for "Democracy" in Israel?
By Meron Rapoport and Oren Ziv [Israeli journalists], The Nation [February 24, 2023]
---- Before Netanyahu stands a difficult choice: If he bows and gives up on important elements in the reform, his government may quickly disintegrate, as Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and even Likud members such as Levin are committed to push it through without the slightest change. If he marches on, he may risk an unprecedented crisis, as it is quite probable that the high court will strike down parts or even the entirety of the judicial reform. The government is very likely to reject such a ruling, which will push Israel into a constitutional limbo and lead to its being nearly a failed state. What hovers above this crisis is, of course, the shadow of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is almost entirely absent from any discussions of democracy or dictatorship in the Israeli public. … This could be a beginning of a new era in Israeli politics: more liberal, less xenophobic, and maybe, just maybe, more keen on understanding that the failures of Israeli democracy cannot be mended without an end to the military rule over millions of Palestinians. But if they don't succeed, the right-wing government will have a free hand to suppress the liberal elements… The stakes cannot be higher. [Read More]
For more on Israel's "Democracy" crisis – "" by Neve Gordon, AlJazeera [February 23, 2023] [Link]; and "Israel Is Destroying the Fantasies of Liberal Zionism," by Saree Makdisi, The Nation [February 20, 2023] [Link].
Our History
Abraham Lincoln Is a Hero of the Left
By Matthew E. Stanley, Jacobin Magazine [February 2023]
[FB – Published on the occasion of Lincoln's birthday (February 12, 1809)].
---- From Karl Marx to Eugene Debs to 1930s American Communists, leftists have regarded Lincoln as a prolabor hero who played a crucial role in vanquishing chattel slavery. We should celebrate him today as part of the great radical democratic tradition. Most Americans today spend little time thinking about Lincoln, but they do carry in their minds a constellation of ideas, symbols, images, and characterizations they associate with him…. Seemingly from the moment of Lincoln's martyrdom, the nascent labor movement presented him as a workingman, an ally of labor, and a symbol of the revolutionary proletariat to organize workers and envision a more democratic future. Freedpeople, black conventioneers, postwar labor federations, early Marxists, industrial unionists, and interracial farmer-labor radicals all portrayed the uncompensated destruction of chattel bondage as the pivotal first step in a wider emancipation of labor. [Read More] Also of interest is "The Reconstruction Era Is Not Taught Well in US Schools — Here's Why That Matters," b[Link]
