Shut It Down For Palestine Wherever You Are

Yesterday I had occasion to join about 50 people at a rally for Gaza in Lewiston. It's a city in Maine with a large Muslim community and many New Mainers spoke or performed and read poems. I was getting cold when the emcee announced that we would march to Rep. Jared Golden's office a few blocks away to demand he support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. That opportunity was all I needed to get fired up again!

Here's my tweet sharing a short clip of some of the people marching at Golden's office.

Actions demanding an end to U.S. support for genocide in Gaza are more or less nonstop these days. Which ones will you be joining?

In the Blue Hill area, all can join a weekly rally for CEASEFIRE IN GAZA,

12:30 to 1:00 every Saturday on Main Street near the Town Hall.

 Responses from passing cars have been largely positive.

For questions, contact Bob Jones bobjonesinnz@yahoo.com 

If you're more motivated by disruptive actions to communicate that there will be no business as usual until a permanent ceasefire is achieved, maybe this item from my inbox will inspire you.

Photo credit: Mike Hastie

Last night in Portland, Oregon, Jewish Voices For Peace completely

blockaded the Burnside Bridge, one of the busiest bridges in the entire
city of Portland. They did this for 3 straight hours, without one police
officer showing up to stop the action. The time frame was from 3:00PM
until 6:00PM. There were about 250 people there wearing mostly all
black, who sat down in the middle of the bridge, and heard several
speakers speak about the genocidal crimes being committed by the Israeli
Government and the U.S. Government against the Palestinian people in
Gaza. One speaker emphatically stated that Zionism does not define
Judaism around the world. She also stated that Judaism was 4,000 years
older than Zionism. At dark, the Menorah was lit up with nine battery
powered lights. After each light came on, which celebrated the eight
days of Hanukkah, a blessing was recited. The 9th light, or candle, is
called the Shamash, or helper, which is used to light the other eight
candles. The ceremony and singing was incredibly moving, as one could
feel the profound solidarity and love for the Palestinian people. It was
a perfect peaceful action, an overwhelming night to remember.

Mike Hastie

Also in the news this morning: the UN Security Council passed a resolution for an immediate ceasefire which was unanimous except for the U.S. veto and a UK abstention.

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts failed to pass a resolution for ceasefire. Here's a report back on that from a local resident.

Editor and Friends,

It is more than disappointing that the Cambridge City Council recently failed to endorse Ceasefire on Gaza. Most citizens testifying urged “Yes” (ceasefire). No councilmember voted “No”, but 7 out of 9 voted “Present”, thereby defeating the Order (the mayor and one other voted “yes”).

Out of order, at the end a citizen shouts “Cowards! Cowards! There’s a genocide happening!” Are the seven “present” (nonvoting) councilors cowards? Is there something wrong with this 300-year-old procedure? Perhaps expert testimony regarding the situation of these councilors should be routine---beginning with the councilors themselves, revealing the cognitive or social conflicts they have regarding this issue. Perhaps a political scientist, a sociologist, and a psychologist should hold a closed preliminary group conference with the councilors, and anonymously summarize the conflicts they face before the hearing is held and final vote taken. 

(Some likely factors of conflict may include threats from wealthy campaign donors, threats from university and corporate leaders, tips from personal investment advisers and lawyers, tips regarding campaigning for higher office, Israeli or Palestinian lobbying, dirt and slander about ceasefire advocates, bias of media editors, known trolls on social media, bleeding hearts of fellow councilors, and so on. The result may be summed up as inadvertent “corruption” and its dangers.)

..

Dave Lewit ‘47

Boston, MA

Finally, if you still need more motivation, consider the gargantuan military spending bill that passed both houses of Congress this week. After the Senate's version of the NDAA passed, AIPAC sent out this self-congratulatory press release detailing all the "aid" for Israel contained in the multi-billion dollar spending package.

I'll leave you with this ad and a translation I can't check because I don't read Hebrew. If you do and you want to correct the translation, please advise.

https://twitter.com/EpshtainItay/status/1735950943995265504

REVISED Dec 18 to correct a date discrepancy and fix a broken link.