Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
May 13, 2018
Hello All – The coming week may well be a "perfect storm" for war and violence in the Middle East. Protests may take place on Monday, when the US embassy in Israel is officially moved to Gaza. On Tuesday, the "Great March of Return" will culminate with an attempt by people in Gaza to return to the homes from which they were expelled 70 years ago; the "Nakba" or Disaster. And hanging over both these events are the turmoil unleashed by President Trump's announced intention to violate the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and by Israel's declared intention to wage war in Syria.
Over the last several weeks, CFOW has held three rallies against the continued blockade of Gaza and the killing of nonviolent protesters along the border fence with Israel, and we held a rally last Wednesday against Trump's insane withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement. In both arenas of crisis, CFOW's protests were (sadly) the only protests in Westchester. It's time for all stalwarts for peace to speak up. Please join us in the coming weeks to oppose war.
Gaza's "Great March of Return," which culminates on Tuesday, may well be heading for a bloodbath. So far, over seven weeks of protests, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,000 have been wounded by bullets. [Link]. On the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were evicted from their homes and their homeland, it is the intention of protesting Gazans to symbolically attempt to return to their family's place of origin. There appears to be no negotiated, non-violent alternative in the works; and Israel has given every indication that they will attempt to kill anyone crossing the border into Israel.
Not surprisingly, mainstream media has covered the Gaza protests primarily from the front lines, featuring the tire-burning and kite-flying of the Gazans, and the tear gas and bullets of the Israeli sharp shooters. But there are other stories as well. The Great March of Return grew out of non-governmental organizations, and has framed the protests as non-violent alternatives to either fruitless negotiations or symbolic violence. Much of the activity of the protest days has taken place away from the frontlines and in the organizing for each week's protest. Some of this story is told here, along with many behind-the-scenes photos. Another important aspect of the Great March of Return is that it is an attempt to overcome the factionalism and infighting that has crippled the Palestinian resistance. Ramzy Baroud has written an illuminating essay about this here. As indicated in two very good articles linked below ("Israel/Palestine"), whatever happens on Monday and Tuesday will not be the end of the Palestinian struggle, and it is likely to shape its future.
The US withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement may well be remembered as the crowning disaster of the Trump regime, as the invasion of Iraq is remembered for the Bush#2 presidency. A selection of good/useful readings is included below, outlining the reasons/forces that pushed US policy in its current direction and suggesting some of the likely outcomes. While President Rouhani of Iran has vowed that Iran will remain committed to the Nuclear Agreement [Link], this is clearly subject to Iran's internal politics; and many commentators believe that if Trump is successful in forcing economic hardship on Iran by way of economic sanctions, the conservatives in Iran, who opposed the nuclear agreement as it was being negotiated, may gain the upper hand. Much depends on European resistance to US dictates – a weak reed. Peace stalwarts in the USA have a role to play also, in pushing Congress to resist further sanctions and push the media debate towards peace. Rep. Eliot Engel has announced that he is opposed to Trump's action; to my knowledge, we have not heard from Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, or from Rep. Nita Lowey, on Trump's actions or the possibility of additional economic sanctions on Iran.
News Notes
"Arise then … women of this day / Arise, all women who have hearts!" Thus begins the original "Mother's Day Proclamation," written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870. Howe was a poet and had been an abolitionist stalwart ("Battle Hymn of the Republic"). She wrote the Proclamation to rally mothers against war – at that moment the idiotic Franco-Prussian war, but the proclamation was against all wars. During the 20th century, Mother's Day has morphed into a commercial, Hallmark ritual; but the original spirit of Mother's Day has not been completely forgotten.
Media pundits often describe Islam matter-of-factly as a religion that encourages violence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Recently a conference of Muslim clergy issued a fatwa, or jurisprudential ruling, against suicide bombing and targeting civilians with violence. [Link]. And what about Christians? Last year Pope Francis called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. [Link]. It would be nice if some of the Christian churches in Westchester would start to speak out against war, as the Muslim clergy have done.
This just in from Andy Borowitz: "Trump Considering Pulling U.S. Out of Constitution" [Link].
Code Pink has put up an "Open Letter to the people of Iran from the American people." It is apology for the actions of President Trump, and a pledge to "…do everything in our power to stop Donald Trump from strangling your economy and taking us to war with you. We will ask the UN to sanction the United States for violating the nuclear agreement. We will urge the Europeans, Russians, and Chinese to keep the deal alive and increase their trade relations. And we will work to rid ourselves of this unscrupulous president and replace him with someone who is trustworthy, moral, and committed to diplomacy." So far more than 6,000 people have signed the pledge; you can do it too, here.
Christiane Collins died last week. Who was she? She was a true stalwart; and her obituary in The New York Times brought to mind the conclusion of George Eliot's great novel Middlemarch, as she remarks about the resting place of her heroine, Dorothea: "We insignificant people with our daily words and acts are preparing the lives of many Dorotheas… For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
Coming Attractions/Things to Do
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!
Tuesday, May 15th – The admirable organization "Justice for Farmworkers" will be in Albany on this day to demonstrate in support to advocate for the thousands of New Yorkers who work in agriculture but do not get equal and fair treatment in the workplace." The action starts at 10 a.m. For more information about the issues and about buses to Albany, go here.
Sunday, May 20th – Hudson Valley Sally, with special guest Jenny Murphy, will provide the music for a CFOW fundraising house concert and pot luck. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., the music starts at 4, and the put luck dinner (please bring a dish to share) will be at 5. Suggested donation is $15, and reservations are required (email jennyboydmurphy@gmail.com). The critic (Sonny Ochs) says, "Hudson Valley Sally is a delightful group of activist musicians who will have you smiling and clapping. Most of all, they'll have you thinking about the content of their songs. They have something relevant to say." Check out their website at www.hudsonvalleysally.com.
Tuesday, May 22nd – The League of Women Voters will hold a forum at the Hastings Community Center (44 Main St.) on "How Secure is Your Vote?" The program starts at 7:30 p.m. The speakers include Allegra Dengler, founder of "Citizens for Voter Integrity"; Virginia Martin, Democratic Commissioner for the Columbia County Board of Elections; and Lulu Friesdat, a journalist specializing in election reform. The program will also have a short from, "I Hacked an Election: So Can the Russians." IMPORTANT!
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 tax cut legislation 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" and the extended section of articles about Iran and the nuclear agreement, I especially recommend the article by Joe Cirincione and Guy Saperstein on the popular appeal of attacking the Pentagon budget; the powerful article by Tina Vasquez on the sadistic rampage of immigration-enforcer ICE; and two useful articles about Puerto Rico and two more about the Poor People's Campaign. Finally, an arrest of a village leader in the West Bank (Palestine) gives me an excuse to link once again the fabulous documentary film "Budrus." Read on!
Rewards!
As always, stalwart readers are here offered a chance to take a rest before plunging into Serious Matters. First up this week is a surprising interview with New York's clown prince, Rudy Giuliani. And here is a peace wish for Mother's Day, from John Lennon. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
Enough Is Enough. The Time Has Come To BDS The US.
By David Swanson, WorldBeyondWar.org [May 11, 2018]
---- The recent U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran is not an aberration. It parallels the U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and numerous other disarmament agreements, the U.S. opposition to the International Criminal Court, its record-setting use of the veto in the United Nations Security Council, and its unique status outside the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Paris Climate Agreement (which it withdrew from) and other fundamental treaties. Of the United Nations' 18 major human rights treaties, the United States is party to 5, fewer than any other nation on earth, except Bhutan (4), and tied with Malaysia, Myanmar, and South Sudan, a country torn by warfare since its creation in 2011. There is a reason that most countries polled in December 2013 by Gallup called the United States the greatest threat to peace in the world, and why Pew found that viewpoint increased in 2017. Since World War II, the United States military has killed or helped kill some 20 million people, overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in at least 84 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders, and dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries. [Read More]
The Game Never Named, the Addendum Never Spoken
[May 11, 2018]
---- Remember that silly game we used to play with fortune cookies from Chinese restaurants? Maybe people still play it. It's the one where you read your fortune and tack on "… in bed" to the end of the sentence – like, "You will soon meet a mysterious stranger … in bed." The supplemental phrase usually fits fairly smoothly onto the given fortune, and generates a few chuckles from listeners. Here's a new game in a similar vein, but this one doesn't engender much laughter. First, take a look at the statements below. See if you can identify which are true versus which are false. So, our unnamed, unknown game consists of adding this unspoken phrase to every aforementioned statement. The phrase is "… if we are to preserve capitalism." [Read More]
We Are Living Through a Golden Age of Protest
, The Guardian [UK] [May 6, 2018]
---- We are in an extraordinary era of protest. Over the course of the first 15 months of the 45th presidency, more people have joined demonstrations than at any other time in American history. Take a minute and digest that: never before have as many Americans taken to the streets for political causes as are marching and rallying now. Protest numbers are always difficult to pin down, but thanks to researchers from the Crowd Counting Consortium and CountLove, we have very solid data on demonstrations since Donald Trump took office, and the numbers are huge. The overall turnout for marches, rallies, vigils and other protests since the 2017 presidential inauguration falls somewhere between 10 and 15 million. (Not all of these events have been anti-Trump, but almost 90% have.) That is certainly more people in absolute terms than have ever protested before in the US. Even when you adjust for population growth, it's probably a higher percentage than took to the streets during the height of the Vietnam anti-war movement in 1969 and 1970, the previous high-water mark for dissent in America, though the data for that era is much less comprehensive. What's even more significant than the scale of these contemporary protests is their ubiquity. A few individual demonstrations under Trump have been very large, rivaling the biggest protests in American history, but the overall numbers are so high because protests have been happening everywhere: in all fifty states, and in many places where marches and rallies have rarely been seen before. [Read More]
Two Interrogations, Gina Haspel and Adolf Eichmann
By Brian Terrell, Voices for Creative Nonviolence [May 12, 2018]
---- On May 9, Gina Haspel, Donald Trump's choice for head of the Central Intelligence Agency, testified at her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington, DC. Some senators questioned her about her tenure, in 2002, as CIA station chief in Thailand. There, the agency ran one of the "black sites" where suspected al-Qaida extremists were interrogated using procedures that included waterboarding. She was also asked about her role in the destruction of videotapes in 2005 that documented the torture of illegally detained suspects. Her evasive answers to these questions, disconcerting and unsatisfying, are also hauntingly familiar. In 1960, Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli spies in Argentina and brought to trial in Jerusalem for his part in the extermination of millions of European Jews during Germany's Third Reich. In his interrogation with Israeli police, published as Eichmann Interrogated, Eichmann stated that in the intervening years since the acts in question his own view of them had evolved and before the Senate on May 9, Haspel expressed herself similarly. … Not to compare the evil of the holocaust with the CIA rendition and torture (as if evil could be measured by quantity) but the evasions and obfuscations of these two willing technicians of state terror are chillingly similar. [Read More] John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer who spent 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration's torture program, writes: "Gina Haspel Debate Spotlights America's Soul Sickness" [Link].
---- On May 9, Gina Haspel, Donald Trump's choice for head of the Central Intelligence Agency, testified at her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington, DC. Some senators questioned her about her tenure, in 2002, as CIA station chief in Thailand. There, the agency ran one of the "black sites" where suspected al-Qaida extremists were interrogated using procedures that included waterboarding. She was also asked about her role in the destruction of videotapes in 2005 that documented the torture of illegally detained suspects. Her evasive answers to these questions, disconcerting and unsatisfying, are also hauntingly familiar. In 1960, Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli spies in Argentina and brought to trial in Jerusalem for his part in the extermination of millions of European Jews during Germany's Third Reich. In his interrogation with Israeli police, published as Eichmann Interrogated, Eichmann stated that in the intervening years since the acts in question his own view of them had evolved and before the Senate on May 9, Haspel expressed herself similarly. … Not to compare the evil of the holocaust with the CIA rendition and torture (as if evil could be measured by quantity) but the evasions and obfuscations of these two willing technicians of state terror are chillingly similar. [Read More] John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer who spent 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration's torture program, writes: "Gina Haspel Debate Spotlights America's Soul Sickness" [Link].
TRUMP, THE IRAN DEAL, AND WAR
[FB – It is likely that the events initiated by President Trump's announced withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement will dominate the remainder of his presidency. Strongly recommended to prepare for this eventuality is a new book by Code Pink's Medea Benjamin called Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The roots of this drama go back for decades. For example, Iran's nuclear program began in 1957, when President Eisenhower helped the Shah of Iran to get one started. As an introduction to today's good/useful reading on this topic, here's an overview of "Major milestones of Iran's nuclear program."]
Is Trump's Abandonment of the Iran Nuke Deal a Prelude to War?
By Phyllis Bennis, The Nation [May 11, 2018]
---- President Trump's decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal ranks as his most reckless policy move yet. It is also his biggest triumph so far in his continuing bid to reverse or shatter every one of his nemesis-predecessor's major accomplishments, regardless of the consequences. And there will be consequences. Some may turn out to be rather narrow, while others could have a global impact. Some may emerge as the direct result of US actions, while others will depend on how other governments and nongovernmental actors respond. Life will almost certainly become more difficult for ordinary Iranians, who are still coping with crippling US-imposed economic sanctions unrelated to the nuclear deal. … Beyond the various US initiatives that could threaten war, Israel continues its direct provocations, including military attacks against Iranian targets in Syria, one of them reportedly just hours after Trump announced he was abandoning the JCPOA. The Israeli moves are even more threatening to Iran because of the growing and increasingly public alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a US-backed partnership designed precisely to build a regional front against Iran. … So far, the European signers of the JCPOA, as well as China and Russia, have made it clear they intend to continue abiding by the terms of the agreement. That means they intend to continue trading with Iran. The crucial question now is how aggressively Washington intends to punish, through secondary sanctions, those European countries and businesses that insist on continuing to trade with Iran—and how aggressively Europe will resist such secondary sanctions. [Read More]
Trump's Ineptitude on Iran: policy burns with fury as well as utter incoherence.
By Reza Marashi, The Cairo Review [May 12, 2018]
[FB - Reza Marashi is research director at the National Iranian-American Council. He previously served in the Office of Iranian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.]
---- Does Trump's team have an Iran policy? At first glance, it looks like they do. Dig a bit deeper, however, and dangerous strategic incoherence bubbles to the surface. If we take the Trump administration at face value, its Iran policy seemingly consists of three broad-based pillars: viewing Iran as a zero-sum adversary in the Middle East; pushing Europe to adopt a more confrontational Iran policy across the board, and that doing so is important and achievable; pursuing regime change in Iran. Each of these pillars has been tried and failed by Trump's predecessors dating back to 1979. There is no reason to believe they will succeed today. However, the demise of diplomacy and rising risk of war puts the cost of Trump's likely failure at an all-time high. … The Trump administration's efforts to "roll back" Iranian influence in the Middle East appear even more strategically incoherent when America's traditional partners in the region are factored into the equation. Since entering office, Trump has green-lighted the Saudi-Emirati blockade of Qatar; Riyadh's holding the Lebanese Prime Minister hostage; Israeli gambits on Jerusalem and the peace process; and deepening the depth and scope of Riyadh's humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. In each of the aforementioned theaters, Iran is more influential today than it was prior to Trump's presidency. Perhaps more troubling is the increasingly apparent reality that Trump has given the Saudis, Emiratis, and Israelis a blank check to pursue their Iran-obsessed agenda without much criticism from his administration—or consideration of American interests. [Read More]
If Europe wants to remain relevant on the world stage, it must resist the US on the Iran nuclear deal
By Patrick Cockburn, The Independent [UK] [May 9, 2018]
---- The US will rely at first on the reimposition of economic sanctions on Iran to force it to comply with US demands and hopefully bring about regime change in Tehran. But, if this does not work – and it will almost certainly fail – then there will be a growing risk of military action either carried out directly by the US or through "green-lighting" Israeli airstrikes. Iran is for the moment reacting cautiously to Trump's denunciation of the 2015 accord, portraying itself as the victim of arbitrary action and seeking to spur the EU states into taking practical steps to resist imposing draconian sanctions along the lines of those that were imposed before 2015. Even if this does not happen, it will be important for Iran that the Europeans should only grudgingly cooperate with the US in enforcing sanctions, particularly on Iranian oil exports. …If the European leaders now go along with sanctioning Iran, there will be even less reason for Trump to take their views seriously in future. They have already seen their attempt to appease him on climate change fail to produce anything, so they either have to accept that they have less influence and a reduced role in the world or make a serious attempt to preserve the nuclear accord. [Read More] For more about Europe, read "EU Moves to Defend Companies From US Sanctions Against Iran" by Jason Ditz [Link].
Also useful/illuminating about the USA and Iran – Juan Cole, "Trump Warmonger Moves on Iran are from Iraq Playbook," Informed Comment, [Link]; Peter Beinart, "Abandoning Iran Deal, U.S. Joins Israel in Axis of Escalation," [Link]; William D. Hartung, "Trump Trashes Diplomacy, Opens Path to War with Iran," Lobe Log [Link]; Mike Klare [interview] "Trump Has No Plan Left on Iran Other Than War," Nation [May 10, 2018] [Link]; Dahlia Scheindlin, "Out of Iran deal, into war? Either way, Netanyahu's popularity soars," +972 Magazine [Israel] [Link]; and "Trump Ends the Nuclear Deal with Iran – What's Next?" Moonofalabama.org [Germany] [Link].
Covering Trump and Iran: A Media Tutorial
Media Debate Best Way to Dominate Iran
By Gregory Shupak, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting [FAIR] [May 12, 2018]
---- The debate in the New York Times and Washington Post over President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran deal, revolves around which tactics America should use to dominate Iran. At one end of the spectrum of acceptable opinion is the view that President Trump was correct to withdraw from the deal because it supposedly failed to handcuff Iran to a sufficient degree. At the other is the far more common perspective, which is that Trump should have remained in the deal because it is an effective tool for controlling Iran. … Commentators who differed on Trump's decision nevertheless shared the premise of those in favor of taking the US out of the deal, which is that Iran belongs under imperial stewardship. … Rarely allowed into the debate is the notion that Iranians have the right to chart their own course free of US interference, or any accounting of the harm US sanctions inflict on the people of Iran–views that exist on the far fringes of respectable analysis, appearing in limited ways just once in each paper amid the deluge of opinion pieces written about the nuclear deal in recent days, and drowned out by the chorus calling for Iran to be held beneath the American boot. [Read More]
WAR & PEACE
Progressives Need a New Way to Talk About National Security
By Joe Cirincione and Guy T. Saperstein, The Nation [May 10, 2018]
---- By lavishing billions of dollars on hundreds of weapon systems, the defense budget has itself become a weapon of mass destruction, decimating our social programs and infrastructure. Republicans have no problem with this arrangement. Democrats, though, are afraid to challenge these military costs for fear of being labeled "soft on defense." They need not worry. Our latest research shows that not only can Democrats oppose excessive defense spending, but they will benefit politically by doing so. The progressive position on America's wars, military spending, and nuclear weapons outpolls the conservative position as much as three to one. We, not the conservatives, have the winning message. [Read More]
The War in Yemen
U.S. Moves Forward With Multibillion-Dollar "Smart Bomb" Sale to Saudi Arabia and UAE Despite Civilian Deaths in Yemen
By Alex Emmons, The Intercept [May 11, 2018]
---- Last month, warplanes belonging to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen repeatedly bombed a wedding party in the northern part of the country, killing more than 20 people, including the bride, and injuring dozens of others. In the days that followed, local media published a photograph of a bomb fragment with a serial number tying it to the U.S.-based weapons manufacturer Raytheon. Now the State Department is taking preliminary steps toward a massive, multibillion-dollar sale of similar weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, three congressional aides, a State Department official, and two other people familiar with the sales told The Intercept. The State Department has yet to announce the exact details and dollar value of the package, but it is said to include tens of thousands of precision-guided munitions from Raytheon, the same company that was involved in producing the weapons used in last month's strike. [Read More] For an update on this US-supported slaughter, read "UN: 60% of Yemen casualties caused by Saudi coalition," The Middle East Monitor [Link].
CIVIL LIBERTIES/"THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR"
Will Congress Authorize Indefinite Detention of Americans?
May 10, 2018]
---- Under the guise of exercising supervisory power over the president's ability to use military force, Congress is considering writing Donald Trump a blank check to indefinitely detain US citizens with no criminal charges. Alarmingly, this legislation could permit the president to lock up Americans who dissent against US military policy. The bill that risks conveying this power to the president is the broad new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), S.J.Res.59, that is pending in Congress. … Congress has thus far resisted enacting a new AUMF that could be seen in any way to limit the president's military authority. Ironically, however, the enactment of this new 2018 AUMF could both enshrine the president's unlimited power to wage war and also provide the president with a basis for indefinitely detaining US citizens in military custody without criminal charges. If this bill were to pass, it would imperil our right to speak out and challenge whatever military adventures the president decides to undertake. [Read More]
THE STATE OF THE UNION
The New ICE Age: An Agency Unleashed
By Tina Vasquez, Rewire [May 2, 2018]
---- Trump is giving ICE the tools, financial resources, and presidential backing to go after immigrant communities as never before. While John Kelly and Stephen Miller may be the main architects of Trump's nativist anti-immigration policy, they are not its most important and powerful supporters. For that, look to the labor union that represents ICE's agents. … As the American Immigration Council explains, "the enforcement of US immigration laws has historically been guided by policies that emphasize prioritization": an undocumented immigrant who committed a violent crime or an immigrant believed to be a threat to national security was prioritized for enforcement and, eventually, deportation. … The former senior DHS official I spoke with said his "overarching fear" is that, with Trump's help, ICE is laying the groundwork for institutionalizing its independence, making it immune from Washington oversight: in essence, each ICE field office would operate as its own district with its own rules. If ICE acquires that sort of autonomy and power, it will be incredibly difficult to restore oversight, control, and accountability to the elected federal government in Washington, D.C. [Read More] Also useful is this article by Alice Speri, "Mass ICE Raids Leave a Trail of Misery and Broken Communities" from The Intercept [Link]. Illustrative of the sadism of the Trump regime is "[John] Kelly's "Family Separation" recalls Slave Era practice of Selling Parents down the River," from Informed Comment [Link].
Get Ready for the Poor People's Campaign
By Greg Kaufmann, The Nation [May 13, 2018]
---- This Mother's Day, at a moment when people in poverty are facing unprecedented attacks on their basic living standards, a new Poor People's Campaign launches. It is reminiscent of the campaign Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began developing in 1967, five months prior to his assassination. King made his intention clear in his last sermon: "We are coming to Washington in a poor people's campaign. Yes, we are going to bring the tired, the poor, the huddled masses … We are coming to demand that the government address itself to the problem of poverty." More than 50 years later, the new Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is coming to Washington. But it will be taking action in 39 states across the country, too. The first phase will be 40 days of direct actions, teach-ins, cultural events, and more. The campaign will then transition into voter registration and mobilization. Many people are familiar with campaign co-chair Reverend Dr. William Barber II, through his leadership of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina. (Barber is also The Nation's Civil Rights correspondent.) Less well known is his co-chair, the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis. Theoharis is the co-director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. She has worked as an organizer with people in poverty for the past two decades, collaborating with groups like the National Union of the Homeless, the National Welfare Rights Union, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. [Read More]. For a useful critique of the shortcomings of the Campaign, related to its alleged failure to address structures of capitalism, read "Barber Sermon On Militarism Reveals Philosophical & Political Limitations Of The Poor Peoples Campaign," by Bruce A. Dixon, Black Agenda Report [Link].
Puerto Rico, Our Poor Colony
How Puerto Rico's Debt Created A Perfect Storm Before The Storm
By Laura Sullivan, National Public Radio [May 2, 2018]
---- Before Hurricane Maria hit last September, Puerto Rico was battered by the forces of another storm — a financial storm. The island's own government borrowed billions of dollars to pay its bills, a practice that Puerto Rico's current governor, Ricardo Rosselló, now calls "a big Ponzi scheme." But it didn't fall into financial ruin all on its own: Wall Street kept pushing the Puerto Rican government's loans even as the island teetered on default, with a zeal that bank insiders are now describing with words like "unethical" and "immoral." NPR and the PBS series Frontline spent seven months looking into Puerto Rico's difficult recovery from Hurricane Maria. And beneath the storm damage we found the damage from those economic forces, triggered by a government desperate for cash and banks and investment houses on Wall Street that made millions off that desperation. Some of those banks found ways to make even more money that risked the financial future of not only the island but thousands of residents as well. [Read More]. Also of interest is Kate Aronff, "Top Republican Plans to Use Fossil Fuels to Make Puerto Rico 'the Energy Hub of the Entire Caribbean.'" The Intercept [[Link].
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
The Palestinians Have Not Forgotten, They Have Not Gone Away'
By Rashid Khalidi, The Nation [May 10, 2018]
---- With the replacement of Palestine by Israel and the expulsion of most of its Arab population in 1948, it appeared that the Zionist dream had become a reality. A Jewish state had arisen, and there was no competing Palestinian state; ethnic cleansing had produced a massive demographic transformation, and the land of all those "absent" Arabs could be appropriated. The Zionists' hope and expectation was that the refugees would simply disappear, and even the memory that this had been an Arab-majority country for more than a millennium could be effaced. Taking the long view, however, things look quite different. From this perspective, it is clear that for all the power of the Israeli military and its lethal security services, the vibrancy of the Israeli economy, and the aggressive potency of Israeli nationalism, this is in many ways a failed colonial-settler project. [Read More] For an extended discussion of Palestinian resistance, read "The future of the Nakba," b[Link]. Joseph Massad is Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University.
The 'One Democratic State Campaign' program for a multicultural democratic state in Palestine/Israel
By Jeff Halper, Mondoweiss [May 3, 2018]
---- As the Leonard Cohen song goes, "everybody knows" the two-state solution is dead and gone. Zionism's 120-year quest to Judaize Palestine – to transform Palestine into the Land of Israel – has been completed. Every Israeli government since 1967 has refused to seriously entertain the notion of a genuinely independent and viable Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. Any possibility of a viable Palestinian state in the OPT has long been buried under the massive "facts on the grounds… The time is far overdue to begin formulating a genuinely just and workable political settlement, then follow it up with an effective strategy of advocacy within Israel/Palestine and abroad. Over the past year I have been engaged with a number of Israeli Jews and Palestinians over the formulation of a one-state program. We call ourselves the One Democratic State Campaign, (ODSC). [Read More]
IDF arrests top Palestinian nonviolent activist in overnight raid
By +972 Magazine Staff [April 30, 2018]
---- Israeli security forces arrested Ayed Morrar, one of the symbols of the Palestinian popular struggle, along with his son, Ahmed, in an overnight raid on the West Bank village of Budrus Monday. According to Attorney Gaby Lasky, the two are suspected of incitement. Morrar was a key figure in the nonviolent protests against the separation wall, which swept Budrus during the early 2000's, after the state announced that it would confiscate 300 acres of land in order to build the separation wall. Those protests would serve as inspiration for other popular protests across the West Bank, in villages such as Bil'in and Nabi Saleh, against the wall and settlements. In film "Budrus," which tells the story of the village's struggle, Morrar says he chose the popular struggle because it was the "avenue that best served Palestinian interests." Following the protests that began in late 2003, the village succeeded in returning a large portion of its land, which would have otherwise remained on the Israeli side of the wall. [Read More] To see the fabulous film "Budrus" (2009), go here.
