If you look up "moral queasiness" in the dictionary you'll likely see a picture of some U.S. government official or other spinning support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. Above, we see how Security Council spokesperson John Kirby looked when journalists asked at a White House press briefing on January 26 about whether the ICJ ruling would affect U.S. policy.
Short answer: not at all.
Reactions to the ICJ ruling have ranged from squirming while delivering weasel words to thundering jeremiads, such as this one from Shahid Bolsen of Middle Nation which includes his bottom line: "Anything that discredits western colonial institutions is a good thing."
My friend Janet Kobren put together this nifty side by side comparison chart to help us sort through the provisions the ICJ ordered versus those South Africa asked them to order.
That the ICJ has not affirmed Israel’s right to self-defence is perhaps the most important point in this interim order. It is the dog that did not bark. The argument which every western leader has been using is spurned by the ICJ. [emphasis mine]
No wonder the White House spox is squirming.
Moderates found the ICJ ruling encouraging despite the fact that its opening paragraph condemned Hamas but nowhere in the document was there mention of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israel's prisons. You know, the prisoners that Hamas wants to swap for the hostages taken on October 7.
In case U.S. taxpayers weren't thoroughly nauseated yet, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) was defunded by the western axis of evil for supporting Hamas.
Not to worry, though. Court cases against Israel and also the U.S. for supporting Israel's genocide abound. Here's news of a promising suit filed in on behalf of surviving family members heard in federal court in California last week:
A scroll of all the names of Palestinians killed since Oct is rolled outside the Oakland Federal Courthouse
Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed with 60,000+ wounded.
Collectively, 150 family members of the plaintiffs suing Biden admin have been killed. #WeChargeGenocide
If 11,000 Gazan children slaughtered in four months while Biden and Congress cheer from the sidelines doesn't induce moral queasiness, there's probably not much hope for humanity. Will Israel and the U.S. refrain from unleashing the horror of nuclear weapons? Do government officials of those nations have a shred of conscience left to inform this existential decision?
I often experience a push-pull between organizing and writing; both are time intensive and, for me, best done earlier in the day. Yesterday was a case in point. I had two unwritten blog posts cued up, one about the moral queasiness of U.S. government responses to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling against Israel's genocide in Gaza and one about the pernicious lie that eternal wars are a good jobs program.
But then the efforts of many organizers in a statewide coalition here in Maine paid off and my husband and I spent the day in Farmington near the U Maine campus at a rousing protest for Gaza.
All four corners of a downtown intersection were filled as more than 50 people showed up. Several of the students said some version of, This never happens in Farmington. About half of those who came were students, the result of fantastic organizing by the new Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on campus. They did this despite their fears of losing financial aid for speaking up against genocide -- yes, we are in that world.
In contrast to other Saturday afternoon protests around Maine, no passing cars honked. One rolled down the window to yell, You are supporting people who rape their own babies -- showing that propaganda works, especially on people who want to hate and don't want to examine actual evidence. Farmington is less of a college town and more of an economically struggling former mill town. Left-leaning students say they feel isolated on campus and that most students are apathetic.
Well, they weren't isolated yesterday and many reported that made them feel hopeful.
Students who spoke after we reconvened in a nearby park gazebo shared that they will be pressing UMF and other U Maine campuses to divest from apartheid Israel. This is the D in BDS, a highly effective way to bring pressure and the reason that many U.S. states have outlawed it at the bidding of the Israel lobby.
Other notes: a student who'll be interviewed soon on radio about this work got some support and coaching from a young teacher who often acts as an articulate spokesperson for the Maine Coalition for Palestine. Yay!
Two students from the far away University of Southern Maine had driven up from Biddeford to attend the protest after they heard about it through SJP on their campus and also Healthcare Workers for Palestine.
Would it surprise you to know that even though a press release with powerful quotes from students went out to all media in Maine, not a single reporter showed up?
We didn't attempt our usual group picture but I did try to take a panoramic shot when most of us were in the gazebo for cookies, tabling, and speeches.
When it was my turn, I spoke about the ICJ case -- subject of my recorded interview the previous day in response to a blog post "If Gaza Were In Maine.." That post shared an powerful map analogy that I expanded on but did not create.
Map created by Will T of the Maine Coalition for Palestine
So the synergy between writing and organizing is a thing. Even though one makes me feel like my head is going to explode while the other reduces the pressure (I'll let you guess which is which), they're both things I can do on behalf of those living under siege and watching their children die of dehydration.
I still want to write that post on the ICJ decision once I've had time to consider the varied responses I've seen and heard so far.
But first, there's some organizing that needs my immediate attention.
As the old (circa 2000) saying goes, the election's not over until your brother counts the votes. In this case, the New Hampshire primary isn't over until we find out how many of the "unprocessed write-in" plus "other write-in" votes are counted to see if "Ceasefire" pulled in 20.5k votes or fewer than that. Of total votes cast, that would be 20.3% or slightly more than 1 out of 5.
Now do you see why Democrat Shenna Bellows, Maine's Secretary of State, is trying to kick Donald Trump off my state's ballot?
The crocodile tears of Trump haters ignore so many things, like the steadily eroding mind of the incumbent, and the steadily escalating mediocrity of Democratic machine candidates. Unpopular president in office? No problem. Just skirt the primaries and don't hold a nominating process. This is to ensure that you nominate a candidate unappealing to the majority of voters in your party.
Because who cares what voters want? As in 2016, the liberal press has long since signaled that our corporate overlords would prefer Trump as the next celebrity spokesman who explains their decisions to us.
That way they can continue to fan the flames of Russophobia as the U.S./NATO loses its proxy war in Ukraine and Europe lurches toward fascism.
But wait -- maybe we won't see a tally of those 20.5k write-in votes, because Israel doesn't want us to. Seeing a large number there would be evidence of the deep unpopularity of its genocide on Gaza.
Democratic Majority for Israel PAC letter source on Twitter
Never mind the millions upon millions of world citizens shutting down ports to Israeli shipping, or interrupting Biden's campaign speeches, or blocking roads to demand an immediate ceasefire and opening Gaza to receive shipments of humanitarian aid before its surviving children starve to death.
Hey Israel, guess what? If you have to have your agents in the U.S. send a letter like that, or suppress pro-Palestinian content on social media platforms -- you are losing.
Unlike Donald Trump. I'm not a fan but, at this particular juncture in the decline of U.S. empire, he's the candidate that doesn't have the blood of Gaza's children on his hands.
Graphic created & shared by Will, Maine Coalition for Palestine (corrected Jan 23 to more accurately compare Gaza’s population with Maine’s)
While noting the incredible outpouring of support for Palestine globally I've heard several friends ask, How can people in the U.S. go about their business with genocide ongoing in Gaza?
Probably because it's far away and the mainstream news/analysis they rely on deliberately fails to bring the facts to their attention.
But what if it weren't far away?
If Gaza were in Maine, Israel would have eliminated more than half of our working journalists (200 as of May 2022 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
If Gaza were in Maine, these hospitals would have been bombed beyond usefulness: Maine Medical Center (Portland), Northern Light Mercy Hospital (Portland), New England Rehabilitation Hospital (Portland), and Spring Harbor Hospital (Westbrook).
If Gaza were in Maine, the Portland campuses of these universities would already be bombed to rubble: University of Southern Maine, University of Maine School of Law, USM Muskie School of Public Service, and the University of New England College of Dental Medicine. Also UNE's Westbrook College of Health Professions.
It may be hard for people in Maine to see the suffering of Gaza, but it shouldn't be hard for them to figure out who's paying for it via "military aid" to Israel, one of the wealthiest nations on the planet.
Perhaps best perceived as what $11 million a year isn't paying for in Maine: universal health care, free public education K-grad school, or bridge and road repairs.
Join us in Farmington next Saturday January 27 at 1:30pm to protest these bad spending priorities. We'll be at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway standing with UMaine Farmington students who helped create our event poster:
Co-sponsored by: Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine Natural Guard, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Communist Party of Maine, Maine Green Independent Party, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Party for Socialism & Liberation Maine, Libertarian Party of Maine, People’s Party of Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Veterans for Peace - National, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights (MVPR).
Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights worked with the Union of Maine Visual Artists' ARRT! to create this puppet of Gazan journalist Bisan Owda sharing her quote: "My job is to document our stories. Your job is to end this genocide."
In conjunction with slaughtering or detaining a record number of Palestinian journalists, and barring foreign reporters from entering Gaza, our corporate overlords have tightly controlled the flow of information via legacy media. For example, by covering only Israel's refutation of charges at the International Court of Justice but not the presentation of the case by South Africa the preceding day.
Here are just a few current events that you probably don't know about if all your information comes from corporate sources like the New York Times, NPR, CNN, et al.
Protesters shut down the entire port of Oakland, California for a day on January 13. Big support from workers who refused to cross the picket lines!
Source: ANSWERcoalition.org "National March For Gaza Brings Giant Crowd To Joe Biden's Doorstep"
400,000 in Washington DC on Saturday in a Muslim-led demonstration with terrific speakers, signage, and an after dark visit to the White House fence.
Screenshot from Alice Rothchild's newsletter
Interstate-5 in Seattle was shut down for 4 hours to protest genocide in Gaza.
But how can we know about these things if billionaire Jeff Bezos' Washington Post and the like leave us in the dark? Social media, of course. Journalists like Bisan and Motaz Azaiza have huge followings on Instagram eager for their reporting. Never have people been so empowered to document their own collective punishment. When Israel cuts the power and internet to Gaza, it's these reporters they are trying to silence. That's why we like and reshare any news that leaks out from reliable sources.
Did you know that there are still two Palestinian journalists missing in Gaza since October 7? Haitham Abdelwahed and Nidal al-Waheidi were detained by Israel's military and have not been heard from since. Their families fear they may have been tortured or even executed. You can send a letter to support them via Amnesty International who will then convey your message to the Israeli authorities, the Embassy of Israel in the U.S., and the U.S. State Department.
You know those nights when you go to bed wondering if you'll wake up amid your loved ones or in a pile of radioactive ash?
Despite reading escapist fiction before turning off the light I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. The U.S. and UK began bombing Yemen in retaliation for their brave stand as the only Arab nation to defend Palestinians being massacred in Gaza. Emergency protests took place outside the White House and in Times Square in NYC. I'm in neither of those places, so instead I read Old Rock is Not Boring to a two year old.
Is it still possible to care about teaching geological time to children as WW3 looms?
Israel's "defense" in the International Court of Justice is being widely covered by corporate media while South Africa's excellent presentation of the case yesterday received little to none despite Irish lawyer Blinne Ni Ghralaigh making a strong case for genocidal intentions and actions by Israel in Gaza.
Iran has seized an oil tanker in retaliation for the U.S. stealing a million gallons of crude from one of their oil tankers last year. Iran is on Team Yemen.
The death rate in Gaza continues to soar. A child dies or has limbs amputated without anesthesia several times a day. Starvation looms.
Lots of my buddies will be boarding a bus at midnight to travel to the belly of the beast (Washington DC) in a mass action calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I am too old to find the courage to push my physical stamina to that point. Yes, grandmothers my age and older in Gaza are suffering immensely with no way out. Meanwhile, I'll keep organizing to confront the war machine right where I find it, here in Maine.
A friend advises that Maine Public Radio will take up the subject of my state's space industry today at 11am. I'm trying to stay focused on offering at least some resistance to the building of a rocket launch site off the coast near Acadia National Park. This polluting, disruptive site will undoubtedly be used for military purposes as a similar site in Kodiak, Alaska is used by Israel's military to launch satellites. They were promised "only civilian use" too. Will this struggle become moot as world war spreads?
Will the U.S. and its minions take down humanity in their doomed quest to maintain economic dominance by the continued use of brute force?
Screenshot from "Mapping the Business of War" by Christian Sorenson
Today I am reposting my Op-Ed published by Maine Morning Star January 6:
Does Maine profit from genocide in Gaza?
Quite simply, the genocide in Gaza is good business for General Dynamics, which employs thousands of Mainers. How are we to feel about that blood money fueling our economy?
by Lisa Savage
Demonstrators, led by the Maine Coalition for Palestine, protest at a General Dynamics factory in Saco, Maine Jan 3
(courtesy of Schaible, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights)
Saco students and parents arriving at school on Jan. 3 saw protesters demanding that General Dynamics stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It was an unintended consequence of the company locating their bomb factory — that sounds like hyperbole or an exaggeration, but I assure you it’s not — across the street from an elementary school. Maine law won’t let you have a gun on school property or discharge one within 500 feet of a school, but it says nothing about making bombs across the street.
Nor do these bombs just sit in a warehouse somewhere. Rather, since October, more than 5,000 of the 500-lb Mk-82 bombs, parts for which are manufactured by General Dynamics in Saco, have been given to Israel by our United States government for use in their “war” in Gaza. These munitions play a particularly direct role in what many scholars and analysts, including a professor of Holocaust studies writing in Jewish Currents, believe is an ongoing criminal genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government, for instance targeting densely populated areas such as the Jabalia Refugee Camp.
They also make 155mm artillery shells in Saco, which Oxfam has labeled, “virtually assured to be indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.”
General Dynamics Chief Financial Officer Jason Aiken told investors on a call October 25, “I think if you look at the incremental demand potential coming out of [the attacks on Gaza], the biggest one to highlight and that really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”
Up the road, in Bath, at the General Dynamics-owned Bath Iron Works, Mainers have built a number of warships currently deployed in the Red Sea — including the USS Laboon, which launched from BIW in 1993 — to protect Israeli commercial vessels from being attacked by rival nations that do not approve of its actions in Gaza.
Quite simply, the genocide in Gaza is good business for General Dynamics, which employs thousands of Mainers. How are we to feel about that blood money fueling our economy? Is it contributing to the future we want here in Maine?
Mainers are continually told that we must tolerate weapons of mass destruction being built here because we need the jobs. And it is undoubtedly true that thousands of people make a living from working for General Dynamics, Raytheon, and other contractors for the Pentagon. Some hold union jobs with full benefits, but many are increasingly out-of-state laborers working outside the contract on temporary assignments.
And we never seem to ask the question: If we’re spending U.S. taxpayer money to create jobs, why do we have to make weapons to be used by other countries to maim and kill people? Why couldn’t we use that tax money to pay Mainers to build something we actually need here in Maine?
Ironically, building weapons is not even a good jobs program. Research by economists at UMass Amherst over several years has found that a similar investment in other sectors of the economy – such as clean energy construction – would produce far more good union jobs. Workers at Bath Iron Works have tried for years to argue for conversion of the shipyard away from depending solely on contracts from the U.S. Navy, to no avail. Opportunities to build a light rail system, or offshore wind platforms, or even hospital ships are ignored while Maine’s congressional delegation accepts campaign funding from military contractors and continues to vote for sending taxpayer-funded contracts their way.
How much do people in Maine really know about the military contracting businesses in our state? If they knew that there was a bomb factory directly across the street from an elementary school, would they care?
As the genocide in Gaza continues and war in the region widens, Mainers would do well to take an honest look at their own involvement. While the war in Gaza — and Ukraine, for that matter — can sometimes seem far from our shores, there are thousands of Mainers who are intimately involved. These wars are part of their very livelihoods.
Regardless of how much money flows back to our state, do we really “profit”?
##
My additional notes to support others in discovering how their state "profits" from genocide.
Photo credit: Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights on Twitter
An eclectic two dozen protesters shut down the main entrance to General Dynamics' bomb factory in Saco, Maine yesterday before dawn and continued into the morning.
Photo credit: Tanvi
The disruption was scheduled by organizers to coincide with the start time of workers' first shift, but incidentally coincided with the arrival of school students of all ages, their parents, and several bus drivers -- including one who honked while the kids on the bus cheered.
One person who showed up later was from Saco and said she had seen social media posts grousing that elementary school kids were being kept indoors for morning recess because of our presence in view of their playground. One person who showed up later came in response to my emailing the press release for our action at the same time it began (pasted in below).
Others came because they have a history of risking arrest to oppose GD's war shipyard in Bath, including an elder recovering from shoulder surgery. But most of the protesters were connected to the Maine Coalition for Palestine, including six members of one amazing family!
Energy remained high through 9am (see video above) even though we had convened in the parking lot of a nearby business before 6am. The business owner, Saco Sports & Fitness, called the police on us and officers were waiting when we arrived at the bomb factory. Since they had already blockaded the second entrance to the factory's driveway with two cruisers, we scrapped our camping strategy and instead blocked Route 112 with a big STOP ARMING GENOCIDE banner created by the Coalition for this ongoing campaign.
Police ordered us out of the roadway several times but made no moves to arrest anyone, and once they had blockaded the highway at both ends of the factory entrance, we moved to the entrance itself. The police retreated to observe, ignoring several people who were at times actually on GD "private" property.
Photo credit: Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights on Twitter
How private is a bomb factory entirely funded by U.S. taxpayers? Oh, of course, the profits are private but the risk is public. Because isn't that how capitalism works?
We did get some reporters on the scene: WMTW Channel 8 out of Portland was first and ran a video report several times throughout the day quoting me (a limited version is available here). WGME was next and their report featured an interview with Yusuf Ebrahim, a resident physician at a local hospital and member of Healthcare Workers for Palestine, who said: "This factory is a subsidiary of Ordinance and Tactical Systems and it's a manufacturing plant for components of the 500-pound MK-82 bomb. They've been dropped on hospitals, bakeries, schools, places of worship." WGME's report in particular offered context of the overall campaign which included a shut down of the street in front of GD's Bath Iron Works shipyard last month at a rally that drew 200 people on a Friday afternoon.
Common Dreams also ran an article based on our press release, and WERU Community Radio recorded a short interview with me which ran today on Amy Browne's Around Town (available at their archive soon). The Maine Wire -- sometimes described as "one guy with a website" -- ran a critical piece claiming to side with blue collar workers, but they couldn't even get the name of their union right (probably because they are actually far right wing and anti-organized labor.)
If I missed some media coverage would you let me know in the comments?
Below, the press release that went out one minute before our action started. There are references linked at the end to research offering evidence of the connection between GD and the carpet bombing of Gaza.
I hope you'll consider joining us next time if you're distraught over U.S. support for Israel's genocide in Palestine.
------
For Immediate Release
PRESS CONTACT:
Sam Pfeifle
207-749-0298
sam@westgraycreative.com
Maine Coalition for Palestine action at bomb factory in
Saco to demand STOP ARMING GENOCIDE
The statewide Maine Coalition for
Palestine will be joined by students, peace groups, and concerned citizens in
Saco on Wednesday January 3 starting at 6am. They will hold a camp-out to
demand that General Dynamics stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza. To date,
more than 29,000 people have died, including 11,422 children, in carpet
bombings plus sniper fire in civilian residential areas, hospitals, and
schools.
Organizer Lisa Savage of Solon said, “Genocide in
Gaza is currently supported by General Dynamics. It
supplies Israel with the artillery ammunition and bombs used to kill and maim
civilians and children in Gaza – which is illegal collective punishment.”
According to research by the
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), General Dynamics is the only company
in the U.S. that makes the metal bodies of the MK-80 bomb series, the primary
weapon type that Israel uses to bomb Gaza.
Yusuf Ebrahim, an Iraqi-American
resident physician at Maine Medical Center, said, "Since October, more
than 5,000 of the 500-lb Mk-82 bombs -- some made in Saco -- have been given to
Israel by the U.S.. These munitions play a particularly direct role in the
ongoing criminal genocide of Palestinians by the IDF, targeting densely
populated areas such as the Jabalia Refugee Camp. Why do we tolerate this
massive bomb factory here in Maine, exploiting the toils of local workers to
aid with the intentional mass murder and displacement of innocent children and
families in Palestine? Meanwhile, many local community members suffer from
hunger and housing insecurity and cannot afford medical care."
GD is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm
caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to bomb Gazans. The
international aid organization Oxfam has described use of these munitions as “virtually assured to be
indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.”
GD Chief Financial Officer Jason Aiken told investors on
a call October 25, “I think if you look at the incremental demand potential
coming out of [the attacks on Gaza], the biggest one to highlight and that
really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”
Protesters against GD involvement
in supporting Israel will gather in Saco at General Dynamics Weapons Systems at
291 North Street. They will hold a camp-out protest in honor of the 2 million
people displaced by bombings in Gaza, where tent cities have sprung up in the
rubble. Supporters are urged to mask for COVID and to bring camp chairs,
sleeping bags, tents, and homemade signs and banners or use those provided by
the coalition.
Organizations in the Maine
Coalition for Palestine include Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Maine Voices
for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine from various college
campuses in the state, the Maine Party for Socialism & Liberation, Portland
CONFRONT, and the Maine Natural Guard. Members of the coalition will be
available for interviews prior to and during the camp-out.
.jpg)
