Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
December 10, 2018
Hello All – At last week's meeting of the Hastings Board of Trustees, CFOW brought forward a draft Resolution condemning US support for the Saudi war in Yemen. The Resolution is directed to our congressional representatives, Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey, who will soon be the Chairs of important committees in the House of Representatives. We are optimistic that, at the next Board meeting on December 18th, the Hastings Village Trustees will pass the Resolution and send it on to Engel and Lowey.
While it is unusual for a local government to speak up about national and international affairs, the crisis in Yemen makes a compelling case for action. Moreover, the Trump administration could, if it chooses, pull the plug on the Saudi war. Indeed, the Saudis could not fight the war without US bombs and ammunition, in-air refueling of bomber aircraft, and targeting intelligence. Also, the United States protects Saudi Arabia from international condemnation in the United Nations and similar arenas. There are many cases where the United States has little power to affect a war or similar horror, but in this case we can, and so not to do so would be immoral, enabling War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
Our Resolution will soon be posted on the Village website – https://www.hastingsgov.org/. It is a simple Resolution, stating how and why the situation in Yemen is so important (14 million civilians at risk of starvation); the critical role that our government plays in the slaughter; and what our congressional representatives Engel and Lowey could do, such as holding hearings, subpoenaing documents and witnesses, investigating arms sales and civilians casualties, and giving a voice to critics of the war. Needless to say, there will be a strong pushback against any such congressional action; and one thing that we in the Rivertowns can do – in our Village governments, places of worship, organizations, neighborhoods, and businesses – is to pass similar resolutions or send letters to let Lowey and Engel know that we want them to strongly oppose the war in Yemen, and will support them when they do so.
On Mis-Remembering George H. W. Bush
The death pageantry surrounding former president George H. W. Bush was revealing of so much about America. Like the earlier pageantry surrounding the passing of Sen. John McCain, the accolades bestowed on Bush reflected the alleged difference between the "civility" of the time of Bush and the chaos of our present era, the Time of Trump. Yet as I note in a selection of articles about the Bush presidency linked below, the career of this man – Director of the CIA, Reagan's Vice-President, and then President – was one of lawlessness and Murder, Inc. While a few critics made it to the mainstream news to mention "Willie Horton" or Bush's do-nothing posture toward the AIDS crisis, the Iran-Contra affair was barely mentioned, nor were many other crimes. To me, this amnesia, this elite-level whitewashing, is deeply revealing of how our national myths are forged, and why Americans are then so clueless when the crimes of a mere decade or two ago come back to haunt us. Check out the sampling of dissenting articles linked below about Bush and his deeds; and for a good introduction to this national mythmaking, read "The McCain and Bush Death Tours: Establishment Rituals in How to be a Proper Ruler," from Counterpunch.
News Notes
The "Green New Deal" is the progressive wedge in the Democratic Party's agenda. Last week climate expert Naomi Klein interviewed Bernie Sanders on where the fight against climate chaos fits into his vision of the Democratic agenda. See the video here.
Last week a jury in Charlottesville, Virginia found the driver of the car that killed Heather Heyer during the fascist demonstrations two years ago guilty of murder. Juan Cole posted some interesting news about what the survivors of the murder-by-car attack are doing now to continue their fight for justice.
In the rush to finish up business in the last days of a session of Congress, many bad things happen. This useful article follows the rumors and alarms suggesting that the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and similar legislation will be smuggled into "must-pass" bills and become law.
President Trump has chosen William Barr to be his next Attorney General. Barr, who worked in the Justice Department for President Bush Sr., fits the Trump nut-case mould perfectly. One of his proposals, for example, urged Bush Sr. to launch military strikes on drug traffickers. I'm sure we will learn much more in the weeks to come.
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.
Please Support CFOW
CFOW's expenditures are very small, but our Treasury is now pretty low. If you would like to support our work financially, please end a check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
This Newsletter
Articles linked in the CFOW newsletter are intended to illuminate some of the main action-issues about which we are concerned. Coming mostly from the "dissenting media," they provide an alternative to the perspectives of the mainstream media. In addition to the excellent Featured Essays, I especially recommend Diana Johnstone's essay about the "Yellow Vest" turmoil in France; Stephen Cohen's essay on "War with Russia?" and John Pilger's interview on the topic of "War with China?"; a timely article about "The Linked History of Privacy and Surveillance in
America"; several in-depth articles about what strategies are open for progressivism among the congressional Democrats; the selection of articles on the real George H. W. Bush; and a magnificent article by Noam Chomsky from 1967 ("Our History") in the question of pacifism or anti-fascist war in the Pacific War after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, whose anniversary was this past week. Read on!
America"; several in-depth articles about what strategies are open for progressivism among the congressional Democrats; the selection of articles on the real George H. W. Bush; and a magnificent article by Noam Chomsky from 1967 ("Our History") in the question of pacifism or anti-fascist war in the Pacific War after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, whose anniversary was this past week. Read on!
Rewards!
CFOW is now in our 18th year. Many years ago, founding member Melissa Rosen organized some great fund-raising concerts for us; and one of my favorite groups from back then was/is Dave's True Story. Check out Kelly Flint and the band with "Marisa"; and there are lots more good numbers on YouTube. And while we're bringing back old favorites, here are the Puppini Sisters with "I Will Survive," and the Speakeasy Swing Band with "I Found a New Baby." Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
With a Green New Deal, Here's What the World Could Look Like for the Next Generation
By Kate Aronoff, The Intercept [December 5, 2018]
---- It's the spring of 2043, and Gina is graduating college with the rest of her class. She had a relatively stable childhood. Her parents availed themselves of some of the year of paid family leave they were entitled to, and after that she was dropped off at a free child care program. Pre-K and K-12 were also free, of course, but so was her time at college, which she began after a year of public service, during which she spent six months restoring wetlands and another six volunteering at a day care much like the one she had gone to. Now that she's graduated, it's time to think about what to do with her life. Without student debt, the options are broad. … That's the world a "Green New Deal" could build, and what a number of representatives and activists are pushing Congress to help set into motion. Led by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., 17 representatives and counting have signed on to a measure that would create a select House committee tasked with crafting, over the course of a year, a comprehensive plan to move the U.S. away from fossil fuels by 2030 and accomplish seven goals related to decarbonizing the economy. [Read More]
Neoliberalism Is Destroying Our Democracy: An Interview with Noam Chomsky:
By Christopher Lydon, The Nation [June 2, 2017]
[FB – Noam Chomsky turned 90 last week. This interview from last year gives some insights into not only what he thinks but how he thinks. Read on!]
---- The New York Times calls him "arguably" the most important public thinker alive, though the paper seldom quotes him, or argues with him, and giant pop-media stars on network television almost never do. And yet the man is universally famous and revered in his 89th year: He's the scientist who taught us to think of human language as something embedded in our biology, not a social acquisition; he's the humanist who railed against the Vietnam War and other projections of American power, on moral grounds first, ahead of practical considerations. He remains a rock star on college campuses, here and abroad, and he's become a sort of North Star for the post-Occupy generation that today refuses to feel the Bern-out. [Read More]
Anti-Zionism Isn't the Same as Anti-Semitism
By Michelle Goldberg, New York Times [December 7, 2018]
---- The conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is a bit of rhetorical sleight-of-hand that depends on treating Israel as the embodiment of the Jewish people everywhere. Certainly, some criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, but it's entirely possible to oppose Jewish ethno-nationalism without being a bigot. Indeed, it's increasingly absurd to treat the Israeli state as a stand-in for Jews writ large, given the way the current Israeli government has aligned itself with far-right European movements that have anti-Semitic roots. … Israel has foreclosed the possibility of two states, relentlessly expanding into the West Bank and signaling to the world that the Palestinians will never have a capital in East Jerusalem. As long as the de facto policy of the Israeli government is that there should be only one state in historic Palestine, it's unreasonable to regard Palestinian demands for equal rights in that state as anti-Semitic. If the Israeli government is going to treat a Palestinian state as a ridiculous pipe dream, the rest of us can't act as if such a state is the only legitimate goal of Palestinian activism. [Read More]
EUROPE ON THE BRINK?
[FB – The economic crisis of the European Union (the crisis of "neo-liberalism"), the continent-wide revolt against the de-democratization of their nations, and the exacerbating impact of the flood of immigrants and refugees reaching their shores and their suburbs have thrown much of Europe into near-chaos. The relative success of fascist movements is one symptom of this. Below I've linked two good articles about this week's crisis – the national revolt against the elites in France, and the imminent collapse of the British government over its inability to find a way out of the corner into which it was painted by last year's Brexit vote – the 51 percent vote to leave the European Union. In the coming months, I think it is possible that the incipient crisis of the world financial order will see the emergence of novel forms of struggle in what used to be the "stable" nations of advanced capitalism.]
Les Gilets Jaunes – A Bright Yellow Sign of Distress [France]
By Diana Johnstone, Unz Review [December 3, 2018] [h/t broWarren]
---- Every automobile in France is supposed to be equipped with a yellow vest. This is so that in case of accident or breakdown on a highway, the driver can put it on to ensure visibility and avoid getting run over. So the idea of wearing your yellow vest to demonstrate against unpopular government measures caught on quickly. … This is not a movement that seeks to take power. It simply seeks redress of its grievances. The government should have listened in the first place, accepted discussions and compromise. This gets more difficult as time goes on, but nothing is impossible. As everybody knows, what set off the protest movement was yet another rise in gasoline taxes. But it was immediately clear that much more was involved. The gasoline tax was the last straw in a long series of measures favoring the rich at the expense of the majority of the population. That is why the movement achieved almost instant popularity and support…. For some two or three hundred years, people one could call "left" hoped that popular movements would lead to changes for the better. Today, many leftists seem terrified of popular movements for change, convinced "populism" must lead to "fascism". This attitude is one of many factors indicating that the changes ahead will not be led by the left as it exists today. Those who fear change will not be there to help make it happen. But change is inevitable and it need not be for the worse. [Read More]
Britain May Be Headed for a Constitutional Crisis Over Brexit
By Rachel Shabi, The Nation [December 6, 2018]
---- Brexit has jammed up British politics, consumed it—and broken it. [Prime Minister] May's just-announced EU-withdrawal deal is so bad that everyone hates it, albeit for different reasons. British commentators are suggesting she must have a rabbit up her sleeve, because there is no other explanation for her insistence on going through a parliamentary vote on this lambasted deal, in full knowledge that swaths of her own party could help to crush it. Nobody knows what will happen if this deal is defeated next week: government meltdown? a general election? another referendum? a national nervous breakdown? Politics has been so paralyzed by Brexit that it sometimes feels as though only a sense of British understatement, combined with a dogged determination to hang on to a reputation for orderliness, is keeping things from collapse. [Read More] For some up-to-date gossip/analysis on the turmoil inside the Conservative government, read "Brexit: May's cabinet splits over second referendum on deal," The Guardian [UK] [December 8, 2018] [Link].
WAR & PEACE
Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal
By , Foreign Policy in Focus [December 7, 2018]
---- In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger ― exemplified by the collapse of arms control and disarmament agreements, vast nuclear "modernization" programs by the United States and other nuclear powers, and reckless threats of nuclear war ― has stirred remarkably little public protest and even less public debate during the recent U.S. midterm elections. … In these circumstances, what is missing is a strategy that peace organizations and activists can rally around to rouse the public from its torpor and shift the agenda of the nuclear powers from nuclear confrontation to a nuclear weapons-free world. [Read More]
The War in Afghanistan
America Is Headed For Military Defeat in Afghanistan
By November 30, 2018]
---- The U.S. military has advised, assisted, battled, and bombed in Afghanistan for 17-plus years. Ground troop levels have fluctuated from lows of some 10,000 to upwards of 100,000 servicemen and women. None of that has achieved more than a tie, a bloody stalemate. Now, in the 18th year of this conflict, the Kabul-Washington coalition's military is outright losing. … All this proves that no matter how hard the U.S. military worked, or how many years it committed to building an Afghan army in its own image, and no matter how much air and logistical support that army received, the Afghan Security Forces cannot win. The sooner Washington accepts this truth over the more comforting lie, the fewer of our adulated American soldiers will have to die. Who is honestly ready to be the last to die for a mistake, or at least a hopeless cause? [Read More]
War with Russia?
War With Russia?
By Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation [December 2018]
---- The new US-Russian Cold War is more dangerous than was its 40-year predecessor that the world survived. The chances are even greater that this one could result, inadvertently or intentionally, in actual war between the two nuclear superpowers. Herein lies another ominous indication. During the preceding Cold War, the possibility of nuclear catastrophe was in the forefront of American mainstream political and media discussion, and of policy-making. During the new one, it rarely seems to be even a concern. [Read More]
War with Iran?
Trump's international anti-Iran coalition looks like it's falling apart.
By Trita Parsi, National Iranian American Council [December 5, 2018]
---- President Donald Trump set out to pick a fight with Iran from the early days of his administration. But a set of astonishing developments has pulled the rug out from under his feet, and the next three months will determine whether Trump will opt to escalate his provocations or find a face-saving exit from his bravado. … Fast forward five months, though, and all three pillars of Trump's policy of strangulating Iran are at risk. … But the most important indicator of the eventual failure of Trump's Iran policy lies not with the health of the pillars, but what the current sanctions policy failed to produce before it was at risk. Trump promised that the Iranian currency would continue to fall and that Tehran's oil exports would go down to zero. Yet, though the Iranian economy certainly is hurting, the currency has stabilized and Trump was himself forced to issue eight sanctions waivers to European and Asian countries, undermining the policy from the get-go. [Read More]
War With North Korea?
After More Than 6 Decades, It's Time to End the Korean War
By Korea Peace Network and Peace Treaty Now Network [December 6, 2018]
[FB - A joint statement of US civil-society groups in support of the current peace process in Korea]
---- For the Korean Peninsula, 2018 has been a year of historic change. The leaders of North and South Korea met three times, and President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also held their first summit in Singapore in June. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has invited Chairman Kim to visit South Korea, and President Trump has expressed willingness to meet Chairman Kim in a second summit. We welcome these positive developments for permanent peace in Korea. In particular, we support the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration signed between the leaders of South and North Korea, as well as the June 12 Singapore Summit Joint Statement signed between the leaders of the United States and North Korea. … In line with the important steps North Korea has taken toward peace and denuclearization and in support of unprecedented peace-building engagement between North and South Korea—including the demilitarization of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, the preparations to reconnect highways and railroad lines across the DMZ, and the establishment of a joint liaison office in the northern city of Kaesong—we urge the US government to take the following steps to further build confidence with North Korea… [Read More]
War With China?
New Cold War and Looming Threats
[FB - An interview with Australian journalist and filmmaker John Pilger, Frontline (India) (December 9, 2018)]
---- [Q] - Your recent documentary, "The Coming War on China", exposes how the U.S. is at war with China. Could you explain the mechanism of this secret war? Do you think that the Asia-Pacific will be the next region of imperialist intervention? How will this intervention unfold and what will be the fallout?
[Pilger] In 2011, President Obama declared a "pivot to China". This signaled the transfer of the majority of U.S. naval and air forces to the Asia-Pacific region, the biggest movement of military material since the Second World War. Washington's new enemy—rather, renewed enemy—was China, which had risen to extraordinary economic heights in less than a generation. The U.S. has long had a string of bases around China, from Australia through the Pacific Islands, to Japan and Korea and across Eurasia. These are currently being reinforced and modernised. Almost half of America's worldwide network of more than 800 bases ringed China, "like the perfect noose", commented a State Department official. Under cover of "the right of freedom of navigation", U.S. low-draught ships intrude into Chinese waters. U.S. drones overfly Chinese territory. The Japanese island of Okinawa is a vast U.S. base, with its contingents prepared for an attack on China. On the Korean island of Jeju, Aegis-class missiles are aimed at Shanghai, 400 miles away [640 kilometres]. The provocation is constant. [Read More]
GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHAOS
Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Are Pushing a Bold New Plan to Tackle Climate Change
BY Miles Kampf-Lassin, In These Times [December 4, 2018]
---- In a live-streamed town hall event, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez laid out the best hope yet to stave off climate disaster and transform our economy: A Green New Deal. And now it's gaining support in Congress. …. Last week, Donald Trump offered a perfect encapsulation of the political Twilight Zone that is his presidency when he dismissed his own administration's dire report on climate change, claiming simply, "I don't believe it." But while President Trump glibly writes off the predictions of over 1,000 experts spanning 13 federal agencies, a newly ascendant progressive cohort in government is rallying support for a bold alternative: A Green New Deal. … That proposal, which calls for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy through a colossal jobs creation program, has been championed by two of the most well-known insurgents in Congress, incoming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The progressive stalwarts shared the stage together Monday night at a packed town hall event entitled "Solving Our Climate Crisis." [Read More]
Reading About the Climate Conference and Climate Chaos – "A Conference on Climate Change Became a Conference on Coal," by Daniel Judt, The Nation [December 6, 2018]
[Link]; "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a 'Speeding Freight Train' in 2018," by Kendra Pierre-Louis, New York Times [December 5, 2018] [Link]; and ""The World Still Isn't Meeting Its Climate Goals," b[Link].
CIVIL LIBERTIES/"THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR"
Always Watching: The linked history of privacy and surveillance in America.
By Katie Fitzpatrick, The Nation [December 6, 2018]
---- In her new book, The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America, historian Sarah Igo uses examples like the SSN to examine how generations of Americans have responded to new forms of public visibility. From her engaging and wide-ranging study, a central lesson emerges: Technologies of surveillance that seem relatively innocuous at first can take 20, or 40, or 100 years to reveal their more insidious potential—by which point they have long since insinuated themselves into our daily lives, so that there is often very little we can do about them….Progressives hope to use state power to create a more just and equitable society, but they also fear the erosions of privacy that something as simple as a Social Security number eventually made possible. For this reason, we need to couple our calls for increased state programs with a forceful opposition to the institutions and practices that threaten our privacy. [Read More]
THE STATE OF THE UNION
The Best Strategy for the House Dems? Fight for Major Reforms.
By Robert L. Borosage, The Nation [December 6, 2018]
---- With the Republican monopoly on power in Washington broken, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives can now advance a bold agenda for the country. To do so, progressives inside and outside the House will need to force hearings and floor votes on signature reforms, from Medicare for All to a Green New Deal. … Progressives are now poised to drive this process. A significant number of Democratic candidates this fall—including several who won in red districts—embraced progressive ideas. The Congressional Progressive Caucus gained at least two dozen new members; now, with nearly 100 members total, it will comprise about two-fifths of the House Democratic Caucus. CPC members will chair over a dozen full committees and nearly three dozen subcommittees. New progressive stars Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley upset powerful Democratic incumbents in their primaries, putting other party members on notice. Independent progressive groups—new and old—demonstrated a growing electoral capacity in fund-raising, organizing, and communications. https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/
And two more good (and in-depth) essays on the changing Democratic Party – "A Mandate for Left Leadership: Lessons from the neoliberal revolution," by Kate Aronoff, The Nation [December 5, 2018] [Link]; and "Midterm America: A Blue Wave From Another Universe," by Ben Fountain, Tom Dispatch [December 2018] [Link].
In-Depth Analysis by Economists Shows Viability of Medicare For All
From Portside [December 1, 2018]
---- A team of economists from the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) has found that the Medicare for All Act of 2017, introduced to the United States `Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders, is not only economically viable, but could actually reduce health consumption expenditures by about 9.6 percent while also providing decent health care coverage for all Americans. "The most fundamental goals of Medicare for All are to significantly improve health care outcomes for everyone living in the United States while also establishing effective cost controls throughout the health care system. These two purposes are both achievable," says lead author Robert Pollin. [Read More]
REMEMBERING THE REAL GEORGE H. W. BUSH
[FB – As noted in the introduction to this newsletter, the official "remembrance" of George H. W. Bush – the Man and the President – is wildly at variance with the memories of anyone who was paying attention during the 1970s and 1980s. Many essays have been posted in the dissenting media about some of the dark and/or bloody corners of his life and work. Here are a few of them.]
George HW Bush thought the world belonged to his family. How wrong he was
, The Guardian [UK] [December 2, 2018]
---- As the world says goodbye to George HW Bush, I am tempted to add my own personal memories to the mix, and illuminate perhaps his legacy by recounting the two intense nights that my wife and I spent in close proximity to the former president at the end of October 2001…. But our aversion had more personal roots: Bush had operated as head of the CIA from 30 January 1976 until 20 January 1977. As such, he was undoubtedly privy to exhaustive information about the devastation being inflicted by the US-supported Pinochet regime in Chile, at a time when opponents were being disappeared, concentration camps were still open and torture was rampant. During his tenure, the American government facilitated the infamous Operation Condor, run by the intelligence services of six Latin American dictatorships to coordinate their repression of dissidents. Perhaps most inexcusable was that Bush remained unrepentant of his country's involvement in so much suffering. Had he not stated – when an American missile had blown up an Iranian aircraft with 290 innocent civilians aboard in 1988 – that he would "never apologize for the United States of America. Ever. I don't care what the facts are." [Read More]
The Pivotal GHW Bush Presidency: How the US Became Mired in the Mideast
---- On the occasion of the death of George H. W. Bush, I'd like to reflect on the meaning of his presidency for American foreign policy in the Middle East. Bush was the last representative of the old Republican Party of wealthy northeast businessmen and Midwestern farmers and small town dwellers, before the Religious Right took over the party. That the Southern Baptists and other Evangelicals did not form part of his base allowed Bush to view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more dispassionately than have any of his successors. [Read More]
And even more dirt on this horrible man – "How George H.W. Bush Rode a Fake National Security Scandal to the Top of the CIA," by James Risen, The Intercept [December 8, 2018]
[Link]; (Audio) "Let's Talk About George H.W. Bush's Role in the Iran-Contra Scandal; an interview with Arun Gupta, The Intercept [[Link]; "Bitter Iraqis remember George H.W. Bush as 'Mr Embargo'," from Agence France Press [December 3, 2018] [Link]; "The Vice President's illegal operations: The Dirty Secrets of George Bush" [Very Long], by Howard Kohn and Vicki Monks, Rolling Stone [November 3, 1988] [Link]; and "The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice," by Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept [December 1, 2018] [Link].
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
We Shouldn't Lie to Ourselves: Nonviolent Resistance Is Alive and Powerful in Gaza
By Muhammad Shehada, The Nation [December 6, 2018]
---- But one lesson that has been hard for many Palestinians to escape is that, while the world shrugs at Gaza's commitment to nonviolence, its people's occasional turn toward armed-resistance with primitive homemade projectiles garners tentative improvements to their impoverished society—usually in the form of temporary increases in the flows of humanitarian aid. To acknowledge all of this is not to celebrate violence, or to minimize it, as some will no doubt claim, so much as to explain—and, in the process, to dispel an enduring myth. According to this myth, the besieged population of Gaza is often said to have a choice: either to embrace peace and nonviolent forms of expression—and thereby reap the rewards of progress and prosperity—or to continue fighting with "counterproductive" violence. But the gray reality of the last months speaks to the complexity of this black-and-white scenario. The truth is that since Israeli initiated its blockade of Gaza in 2007, Palestinians have exhausted most means of both violence and peace to earn their freedom—and neither option seems to have minimized their misery. [Read More]
From Marc Lamont Hill to the Quakers, no criticism of Israel is allowed
By Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye [December 8, 2018]
---- For 30 years, the United Nations has held an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November. The event rarely merited even a passing nod in the mainstream media. Until last week. Marc Lamont Hill, a prominent US academic and political commentator for CNN, found himself deluged by a tsunami of outrage over a speech he had made at the UN headquarters in New York. He called for an end to Oslo's discredited model of interminable and futile negotiations over Palestinian statehood – a strategy that is already officially two decades past its sell-by date. In its place, he proposed developing a new model of regional peace based on a single state offering equal rights to Israelis and Palestinians. Under a barrage of criticism that his speech had been anti-Semitic, CNN summarily fired him. [Read More] Also insightful is "The Bottomless Dishonesty of CNN on Palestine and Marc Lamont Hill Firing," b[Link].
---- For 30 years, the United Nations has held an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November. The event rarely merited even a passing nod in the mainstream media. Until last week. Marc Lamont Hill, a prominent US academic and political commentator for CNN, found himself deluged by a tsunami of outrage over a speech he had made at the UN headquarters in New York. He called for an end to Oslo's discredited model of interminable and futile negotiations over Palestinian statehood – a strategy that is already officially two decades past its sell-by date. In its place, he proposed developing a new model of regional peace based on a single state offering equal rights to Israelis and Palestinians. Under a barrage of criticism that his speech had been anti-Semitic, CNN summarily fired him. [Read More] Also insightful is "The Bottomless Dishonesty of CNN on Palestine and Marc Lamont Hill Firing," b[Link].
OUR HISTORY
On the Backgrounds of the Pacific War
By Noam Chomsky, Liberation, [September-October, 1967]
[FB – December 7th marked the anniversary of Japan's attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941. Because of this deadly attack, there was never much of a question in the USA about whether the Pacific War was a "just war"; after all, we had been attacked. And so it was not until I read this essay many years ago that it occurred to me that the "just war" dogma was not so simple. - The essay in framed as a consideration of the pacifism of A. J. Muste, a giant in the history of the US peace movement, who refused to support the war. Chomsky, who is not an absolute pacifist, wrestles with this problem: was Muste right … or not?]
---- I think that Muste's revolutionary pacifism was, and is, a profoundly important doctrine, both in the political analysis and the moral conviction that it expresses. The circumstances of the antifascist war subjected it to the most severe of tests. Does it survive this test? When I began working on this article I was not at all sure. I still feel quite ambivalent about the matter. There are several points that seem to me fairly clear, however. The American reaction to Japan's aggressiveness was, in a substantial measure, quite hypocritical. Worse still, there are very striking, quite distressing similarities between Japan's escapades and our own — both in character and in rationalization — with the fundamental difference that Japan's appeal to national interest, which was not totally without merit, becomes merely ludicrous when translated into a justification for American conquests in Asia. This essay touches on all of these questions: on Muste's revolutionary pacifism and his interpretation of it in connection with the Second World War; on the backgrounds of Japan's imperial ventures; on the Western reaction and responsibility; and, by implication, on the relevance of these matters to the problems of contemporary imperialism in Asia. No doubt the essay would be more coherent were it limited to one or two of these themes. I am sure that it would be more clear if it advocated a particular "political line." After exploring these themes, I can suggest nothing more than the tentative remarks of the final paragraph. [Read More]
