Hi All – This is an experiment of sorts. The Concerned Families of Westchester newsletter comes out (with any luck) on Sunday. Here is a mid-week mini-newsletter that focuses on “what to do” and some context behind the issues or movement problem. I hope people find it useful
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
#1 - “Hands Off” and Beyond
Last Saturday we had a successful “Hands Off” rally in Hastings, drawing a crowd far larger than expected. This seems to have been a common experience across the USA. Additionally, protests were held not only in major cities, but in small cities and towns like Hastings. What to do next? is a question that CFOW and I imagine hundreds of other peace & justice groups are discussing. More big rallies? Leading to …?
Here is an interesting Zoom discussion about our strategy going forward:
"Trump's Hammer, Our Hope: An Emergency Town Hall," sponsored by Haymarket Books. The Zoom discussion brought together Naomi Klein, Keeanga-Yamhtta, and others to talk about the success/limitations of the “Hands Off” rallies and where we might go next. – 60 minutes.
One of the issues raised in this Zoom discussion is the importance of the organized labor movement and the possibility of a general strike. Bill Fletcher Jr. and a writer for Labor Notes have useful assessments of labor unions as a focus for push-back on the Trump agenda:
Unions as a 21st Century Anti-Fascist Force
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. , In These Times [April 8, 2025]
---- One of the principal difficulties facing the Democratic Party establishment and most leaders of organized labor is a failure to accept a fundamental reality: there is no normality. The failure to grasp this state of affairs has led to strategic paralysis and a tendency to believe that by being the “adults in the room,” the Democrats — or the trade union leadership — can embarrass the Republicans and force them to engage in good faith behavior. That is not the case. … Yet while MAGA can be defined as fascist (or postfascist), what we do not yet see is full fascism in power. Rather what we are now witnessing appears to be something along the lines of Viktor Orbán’s regime in Hungary and, ultimately, a Putinesque regime, i.e., increased rightwing authoritarianism. Still, the aim of the Trump regime remains to destabilize all real and potential opposition. [Read More]
Ten National Unions Call for Anti-Trump Resistance
By Natascha Elena Uhlmann, Labor Notes [April 8, 2025]
---- Ten national unions and dozens of locals representing more than 3 million members have issued a joint statement demanding the release of immigrant workers recently snatched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement…. The unions are also calling on employers, university administrators, and local governments to refuse to cooperate—and demanding that elected officials “find their spines.” [Read More]
A General Strike? – During the Zoom discussion mentioned above, and on many other platforms, the ultimate (?) destination of anti-Trump agitation is a “general strike.” But what does this really mean? How would it come about? Jeremy Brecher, author of Strike! and many other writings, has addressed these questions in a detailed essay titled “What would a general strike in the US actually look like?' He writes:
Something is in the air: A perception that American democracy and livable conditions for working people may only be saved by the kind of large-scale nonviolent direct action variously called “general strikes,” “political strikes,” or, as I will refer to all of them, “social strikes.”
And he says there are at least three reasons why the time may be soon:
1. The wide range of people being harmed by the MAGA juggernaut gives credibility to actions based on wide public participation.
2. The demolition of key institutions of democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law is threatening to leave few alternatives to popular uprising.
3. The fecklessness of the leadership of the Democratic Party, as sublimely illustrated by Sen. Chuck Schumer’s passage in March of the devastating MAGA budget, has led to despair about resistance within the institutions of government.
Talks about “what next” are starting now. What else should we be thinking about?
#2 - Doubling Down on Genocide in Gaza
We do not know very much about what Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed during the latter’s visit to Washington last weekend, but we can assume that assurances (asked for and given) about US support for Israel’s war on Gaza was part of the mix. Indeed, Trump restated his vision of a Gaza cleansed of Palestinians and transformed into another Riviera-on-the-Mediterranean was still on his mind. And another giant arms shipment is on its way to Israel. With our Congress fixed on domestic issues and Europe busy rearming, there seems to be little interest from political leaders in even speaking out against Israel’s slaughter. How can we change this? – BELOW I’ve linked an interview Aljazeera’s senior political analyst about what’s new and what’s not re: Israel’s renewed military offensive.
(Video) "How Israeli bombing of Gaza today differs from before" [April 9, 2025]
---- Al Jazeera's senior analyst Marwan Bishara describes Israel’s latest bombing of Gaza’s Shujayea neighbourhood, which killed at least 29 Palestinians, as part of a broader strategy of “industrial-scale killing” aimed at ethnically cleansing Gaza. He argues that, unlike earlier phases of the war, current attacks are emotionless, calculated, and without military targets. Global public opinion, particularly in the US, is shifting against Israel, but governments remain inactive. Bishara claims Israel acts with impunity, emboldened by US support, as Netanyahu reportedly seeks further backing from Trump to expand regional ambitions.
Also of interest - "An ode to Rafah, as Israel orders the city to evacuate once again," by Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, +972 Magazine [April 7, 2025].
---- I am from Gaza, from the south, specifically from Al-Zawayda Al-Sawarha, approximately 25 kilometers north of Rafah. My first journey to Rafah started on December 30, 2023. That day was a living nightmare, an uprooting from a place of safety and belonging. Leaving was not a choice; it was a forced separation. I only had minutes to decide what to take. In the end, I carried one bag with essential items and one notebook — the one where I documented my journey with the English language, my progress, my efforts, my dreams. It felt like the last thread connecting me to my past life.
AND “'The Gates of Hell Are Open Night and Day': Malnutrition, Illness and Lack of Drinking Water Plague Gaza,” By Nir Hasson, Haaretz [Israel] [April 9, 2025]
----It has been five weeks since Israel started blocking all food and aid from entering Gaza, leading to a worsening humanitarian crisis. Many residents of Gaza have lost their homes, while others are facing a severe shortage of food and water. Medical teams struggle to provide assistance due to insufficient medications and medical equipment. Furthermore, international humanitarian organizations are increasing their warnings regarding the health conditions of the people in the Strip. According to the United Nations, since the cease-fire ended and fighting resumed on March 18, approximately 390,000 Palestinians – about 18 percent of the population – have been forced to leave their homes once more and are now living in tents. … [Read More]
#3 - Will Trump and Israel Declare War on Iran?
During Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, he and Trump presumably talked about Iran and its nuclear program. To over-simply, Iran has stated repeatedly that it does not want to build nuclear weapons, but since Trump walked out of the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018 and resumed economic sanctions against Iran, the latter country has resumed enriching uranium, now to a level of enrichment much higher than that needed for nuclear power or medicine, and approaching the level of enrichment used in nuclear weapons. – In the last week or so, Trump and his national “security” people have been saying that if Iran does not agree to US demands, “all hell will break loose,” etc. etc. (In fact, “an unprecedented number of B-2 bombers are amassed for an Iran strike.")
What are the US demands? In fact, conflicting statements have been issued. One line of thought says that Iran must return to a regime of nuclear safeguards, inspections, etc. similar to that itemized in the 2015 treaty. The other line is that Iran must totally abolish its nuclear program, destroy its stock of enriched uranium and dismantle the nuclear enrichment infrastructure. And the US has not been clear if and how it would remove economic sanctions against Iran if US demands were complied with. BELOW is a useful summary/overview of the US-Iran standoff and what will/might be discussed at Saturday’s negotiations in Oman.”
(Video) “Trump Threatens Joint U.S.-Israeli Attack on Iran If Talks on Iran’s Nuclear Program Fail”
From Democracy Now! [April 10, 2025]
---- As the U.S. and Iran prepare for talks this weekend in Oman to discuss Iran’s nuclear weapons program, we speak to journalist Negar Mortazavi about the Trump administration’s negotiation strategy of “threats and pressure” and his diplomatic doctrine of “peace through strength.” Mortazavi is skeptical that the talks will result in Iran giving up its nuclear weapons program, as Trump’s team is demanding, and comments on the impacts of severe sanctions on Iran, which have devastated the country’s fragile economy. [See the Program]
