Inside, Outside: Confront The Sock Puppets, Or The Puppetmasters?

If you want to end genocide by Israel in Gaza or other forms of state-sponsored violence, where best to apply pressure? Answers differ from place to place and especially from generation to generation here in the U.S. 

Disrupt the White House correspondents dinner? Met Gala? Halls of Congress? Biden and other genocidal clowns' fundraisers and speaking engagements? Boomers who thought they were living under a representative form of government tend to favor these. They just can't get over the convictions of their youth that the constitution means something.

Pro-Palestine Harvard graduates lead a walkout of the University's commencement ceremonies. By Jina H. Choe  Source: Harvard Crimson

Chevron investors meeting? Universities with money in Israel bonds? Corporate war profiteers at home and at work? Gen Z and millennials tend to favor these types of targets. They believe their government is captured by big money so their conclusion is: follow the money. 

They're probably too young to remember Frank Zappa's pithy summation, but are nonetheless guided by it: Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.

Without the tongue in cheek of Zappa, the seriously insightful views of Shahid Bolsen on Middle Nation have been stuck in my craw since viewing this video a couple of weeks ago. It's worth listening to his whole 15 minute talk about how the genocide in Gaza is the thread that is being pulled to unravel Western "civilization", but the specific part of his analysis I keep thinking about is this:

[Student] protesters are focusing on the private sector, they're focusing on businesses, on investments, on financial partnerships, on funding. They're not focusing on politicians. You're supposed to direct all of your outrage and all of your anger and all of your grievances and all of your opposition at the decoys, at the effigies, at the fake representatives of power, the expendable puppet politicians dangled in front of you by the real private sector ruling class. 

So it's unforgivable that those protesters have torn down the curtain around real existing power and exposed the fallacy of democracy. Those protesters have started a fire that's going to burn straight through the whole system.

I have lots of friends who think the a good application of their energy is to call their congresspeople and demand a meeting with low ranking functionaries, or to call their offices on the phone to voice concerns. I used to be among this group but I have given up unless I occasionally stumble over my senator out in public and have a chance to charge him with genocide.

Passing ceasefire resolutions at the local level is also attractive to many. Passing divestment resolutions is also a path, as when the Representative Assembly of my state's teachers union directs the MEA to instruct our pension fund to divest from "any corporation, state-owned entity, or financial product identified as being complicit in the violation of the human rights guaranteed to Palestinian civilians under international law.”

Others think working to elect better candidates, especially non-corporate sponsored candidates like Dr. Jill Stein, are the best use of their time and resources. (I am not even going to consider the claim that electing Democrats and then pushing them left is anything more than an elaborate ruse to waste time. Ditto keyboard warriors who think posting and retweeting is meaningful political action.) Electoral politics is incredibly labor intensive because the game is so rigged by corporate parties in power who control things like ballot access to exclude 3rd parties and independent candidates.

Between the barricades at the main gate, looking at Raytheon in the distance [in El Segundo, Calif.] Source: website, crimethinc.com

Folks like those in Palestine Action or locals waging the "Stop Arming Genocide" campaign feel that throwing a spanner in the works of the war machine is the best thing to do. Disrupting their work, costing them money, or screwing up their public relations celebration events as when General Dynamics "christens" war ships to great fanfare.

Of course some of these efforts overlap. If we block the road at a warship celebration, we can be certain that our state's governor and all our congressional delegation will be there, too.

How much of your comfort are you willing to forego to act in the face of ongoing genocide? If I showed you a picture of a 7 month old in Gaza who died of starvation this week, would that change you? 

I have limited time left on this planet. I'm determined to make the most of it. I don't need it to feel good, I need it to be effective. How about you?

The Ovens This Time: Israel Firebombs Rafah Tents In Safe Zone Trap

Martyrs of the Rafah Massacre (Photo shared by Mondoweiss)

Israel responded to the ICC ordering it to stop committing war crimes by fire bombing Gazan refugees in tents in "safe" zones the Israeli government sent them to. Many children were among those burned to death in the bombings. The horror is beyond words, only pictures can really convey it.

Fire rages following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 26, 2024. (Reuters TV / Reuters)

Or maybe videos. Like this one shared on Twitter, compelling evidence that eradicating Hamas is the least credible rationale for Israel's industrial scale slaughter of children.

https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1795105646435549359

It was with Rafah burning in my brain that I encountered Maine's Zionist cheerleader Senator Angus King at a Memorial Day parade in his hometown of Brunswick. I shouted: "Free free Palestine!" which got his attention and then: "Angus King, you can't hide, I charge you with genocide! Stop arming genocide with my tax dollars, Angus!" He made no reply. There is really no place he can go now without facing protesters, even though the parade had banned Palestinian flags or even keffiyehs.

My granddaughter and I decided to wear watermelon clothing to be in the parade, an expression which some people noticed. In these times amid galloping suppression of dissent we will nevertheless find ways to speak our truth.

Driving home my son shared an analysis that made me feel a little hopeful. He noted that genocide is Biden's legacy for certain, and that ordinary people (he is in his 30's) are not at all sympathetic with war in general or with Israel's treatment of Palestinians. His view was not that the tide is turning, but that it has turned. The war on terror is now totally defunct as a concept anyone can support, and he predicted that slavish loyalty to Israel now will eventually hurt politicians. 

I'm always interested to hear from other generations about their zeitgeist. I just hope humans survive long enough for younger, better people to rise up and do what they need to do. I'm fearful that in the European and East Asian regions the U.S. and its gang are inching us closer to nuclear war with each passing day. For example, U.S./NATO dba Ukraine just bombed three space early warning facilities that are key to Russian missile defense and understood to be a red line. 

I didn't say that in the car, because there was a child present. 

How heart rending for Palestinian parents and grandparents to be unable to protect their little ones from genocide at Israel's hands, while the world looks on and makes a tidy profit. 

Time for this grandma to throw a spanner in the works.

Statewide Coalition Demands No More $$ For Israel's Crimes

Our monthly antiwar coalition protests have now been seen at big intersection all across Maine. Yesterday was Waterville, next month Saturday  June 8 will be in Wells -- our first foray into conservative, populous York County. Previously we've been seen in Belfast, Topsham, Ellsworth, Skowhegan, Portland, Brunswick, Freeport, and probably a few other places I can't recall at the moment. Since I write a blog post reporting on each one, my archive here will tell the tale.

Yesterday was a strong turnout with about 10% new people including several who saw/heard us marching on Maine Street and joined in. A reporter for the Waterville Morning Sentinel did a great job of covering the full spectrum of opinion and took some good photos which made the front page: "Protesters hold pro-Palestine rally in downtown Waterville."

I was most pleased with the rich commentary in our final circle where we passed the mic and explained why we had joined the protest. New participant River shared that they had researched Israel's treatment of Palestinians during 2021 as a school assignment and then been told by their teacher, "You cannot share this with the class." This experience radicalized them (my description) and created incentive to raise their voice louder, in public.

Able leadership from our Maine Party for Socialism and Liberation coalition members included leading the march and chanting, providing signs for participants to borrow, and bringing a portable sound system. Zach and Ash do this work at risk of their ability to earn their living as teachers in the area, and I have great respect for their dedication and courage.

A heckler who drove around us at the intersection of Maine Street and College Avenue screaming, among other things, "What Jew would rape women?" waited until we marched and then cut down the iconic banner created by the Maine Union of Visual Artists AART! group back in 2014. 

Iconic banner displayed in Skowhegan earlier this year provides evidence that attempted genoicide in Gaza did not begin on October 8, 2023 as many in the U.S. seem to believe.

When the thief stopped to talk with the reporter, our intrepid Mary Beth said, "This is our property. I'm taking it back now," so thankfully I will not have to explain to Natasha Mayers how I had lost it. 

Join us in Wells next month if you're able! Saturday June 8 intersection of Routes 1 & 9, at 1:30pm.

Democratic Process Returns Support For Palestinians, How Inconvenient

Massive walkout at Harvard graduation yesterday

My union, the Maine branch of the National Education Association (MEA), is owned and operated by the Democratic Party and has been the whole time I have belonged. The NEA/MEA will oppose no wars despite chronic school underfunding, because wars are the business of the Democratic Party.

So with amazement I read that the Representative Assembly (RA) of the MEA passed a resolution instructing our pension fund to divest from "any corporation, state-owned entity, or financial product identified as being complicit in the violation of the human rights guaranteed to Palestinian civilians under international law.”

Which is a long way of saying Israel -- which they of course did not say, because you can't say that anymore. Just like you can't wear a keffiyeh in a Memorial Day parade (better make it a watermelon).

Washington University commencement protest

Or wear one to attend your own graduation that you and your family invested in. Or even be prevented from receiving the degree you earned, for nonviolent protesting.

The RA brought the voice of the people into the MEA and that's inconvenient for the owner/operators of the union. Democrats in Congress have been cheerleading Israel's genocide gleefully for months now. So where does a dinky state representative assembly get off voting to use the second plank of the BDS strategy? It's almost like teachers can think for themselves! 

I grudgingly admire the dark art on display here, that of finely slicing and dicing language as fascism creeps over the land. Here's the MEA president's letter in its entirety.

Dear Members,

MEA wanted to brief you on an item that passed at the MEA Representative Assembly (RA) last weekend. The MEA RA is the democratic governing body of the union. Every year, MEA members submit New Business Items (action items) concerning a wide range of issues. Some are intimately tied to MEA operations and others reflect policy positions delegates would like the union to take. MEA is committed to democratic processes and open debate. These values are fundamental not just to MEA’s vision as a union but to our functioning as a democratic body.

MEA delegates adopted NBI 11, which states, “The MEA will urge trustees of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to develop a cost-effective and financially sound investment portfolio that does not contribute to any corporation, state-owned entity, or financial product identified as being complicit in the violation of the human rights guaranteed to Palestinian civilians under international law.”

 A New Business Item (NBI) is NOT an official belief statement or position taken by MEA or its membership. As directed by the delegates at the assembly, MEA staff will reach out to MainePERS and notify them of the NBI passed by the delegation.

While MEA will notify MainePERS of this, the New Business Item, as approved by the delegation, does not reflect the Union’s position. As educators we have a responsibility to speak out against injustices and respect differing opinions. Our members and the students we serve represent diverse groups, and we value each and every one of their opinions.

Please do not hesitate to reach out, and our deepest apologies for any pain caused by any misrepresentation in the media

In Unity,

Grace Leavitt, President

Maine Education Association

Don't you love the slightly desperate In Unity as her sign-off? Can you hear Zionists howling in pain and crying antisemitism in the final paragraph?

Which side are you on, Grace, which side are you on?

I'm pretty sure that civil unrest will be fomented in the U.S. to stave off the revolution we need. It's why we have such a proliferation of guns. What I did not foresee is that opposition to or support for genocide in Palestine would become the litmus test for our political affiliations. 

So be it. When it comes to genocide, I know which side I'm on.

Notes From An Imperial Outpost Down Under

Bravest woman in Australia, Senator Fatima Payman (scroll down to read more).

Because of my focus on resistance to imperial domination it’s been really interesting to see this from a flipped perspective i.e. from Down Under. Some of my anecdotal impressions may be of interest to readers.

Liberals are the same everywhere, except here they’re called Labor and Liberals are the conservatives (don’t ask). For example, they love to hate bad guys on the other team while making excuses for the bad guys on their team. And most of the focus is on personalities. So, if Trump and former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have a meeting in the U.S., this is of great negative interest. (Morrison is a religious fanatic infamous for vacationing in Hawaii while bush fires swept Australia a few years ago.)

Excuses for bad guys on the Labor team are she’s not so bad, he seems like a decent bloke, he’s a good speaker, etc. Similar to defenses of the UK royal family such as, the former queen was a good sort who really cared about people. 

The royals happened to come up because Charles’ tampon-themed official portrait was unveiled back in the UK while I was here.

Further parallels include a devotion to lobbying elected officials who clearly don’t represent their constituents -- unless you consider the coal mining industry a constituent -- and a consistent failure to connect dots like warfare with climate crisis, or erosion of civil liberties with billionaire-sponsored government. And mum’s the word on the proto-WW3 military alliance AUKUS which I only heard mentioned once on the news in passing when Trump and Morrison were seen together.

You will search in vain for mention of Aussies Julian Assange, or Dan Duggan. There was a little bit on Army whistleblower David McBride being sentenced to 5 years in prison for revealing war crimes in Afghanistan for which no one has been punished.

That said, corporate news in Australia has a much more international focus than in the U.S. where Mark Twain once observed that wars were God’s way of teaching Americans geography. I saw lots about the revolt of the indigenous Kanak community in New Caledonia, one of France’s few remaining colonies, located in the South Pacific region. France is trying to impose new voting rules there such that French residents get a vote in local elections. The Kanak’s aren’t having it and have shut the roads and airport down.

Nightly reports on the color revolution in Georgia and on the Ukraine war depicting victimhood at the hands of the dastardly Russians but without a hint of the fact that Ukraine has already lost and just won’t admit it. We saw Putin received with fanfare by Xi in Beijing, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken introduced in a Kyiv nightclub inexplicably playing “Rockin' in the Free World,” a song he clearly doesn’t understand. (We did not see him eating neo-Nazi pizza.)

Coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza each day interviewed Palestinian refugees but without a whisper of Australia’s role. That is until extensive coverage of the "scandal" of a Labor member of Parliament saying her conscience was bothering her and asking PM Albanese on Nakba Day how many more deaths it would take before he condemned genocide. 

https://youtu.be/fqBFopusBzc?si=yv601M8vuE1Yb8Nt

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” concluded Senator Fatima Payman, an Afghan Muslim immigrant who was the first to wear the hijab in Parliament when her term began in 2022. 

Warmongering Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong joined 55 other senators in condemning the phrase as allegedly “antisemitic.” No one appeared to remember that Zionists coined the phrase back when they still called the land they coveted Palestine. TV news reported one Jewish organization in Australia objected while another organization lauded Payman’s statement (sorry, I cannot remember which was which).

Nightly reporting on students protesting genocide in both Australia and around the globe continued throughout my stay. Actually, protests of all sorts got a lot of coverage including Israelis protesting the Netanyahu government. 

Australian protests receiving coverage demanded more protection for domestic violence survivors, more crackdowns on teenage crime sprees, and reinstatement of a book about same-sex marriage that was removed from a local library.

One person interviewed for that story noted that they don’t want to see U.S.-style culture wars breaking out in Australia. Good luck with that.

Domestically, the high cost of living and related dearth of affordable housing were themes familiar to this USian. How will corporate overlords keep Australia from having the revolution it needs to reorient public policy toward meeting people’s needs? Foment civil strife, probably.

Or they could just let nature take its course and hope to reap the benefits of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Managing Our Grief Over Gaza

This sounds like the most privileged title ever, doesn’t it? Families in Gaza or elsewhere with loved ones anyplace in Palestine are overwhelmed with grief as they watch little children being torn to shreds, burned beyond recognition, or exhumed from having been buried alive. Buried alive in mass graves at hospitals where they had taken refuge.

Those of us in other places differ markedly in our belief that these truths are self-evident depending on where we get our news. I gave up consuming U.S. corporate news decades ago, peeling off television early on to protect my children from it, and then eventually shedding the liberal print news and opinion sources I’d grown up on. Who wants to subscribe to or even read a publication that signals Donald Trump’s ascendance by putting him on their cover over and over again?

But right now I’m in Australia responding to a family medical crisis and so have been keeping folks company while watching corporate t.v. news in the evenings.

Latest emblem of the resistance? An empty water carboy as was wielded by students at Cal Poly Humboldt to successfully to ward off police rioting.

Last night I was brought to tears several times as the mangled bodies of children in Gaza were rushed to makeshift medical facilities (all the hospitals were long since destroyed by Israeli bombs). The ambulances of Gaza are now the able-bodied men who carry wounded kids while running as fast as their malnourished legs can go. Those horrific scenes – are they shown on corporate t.v. in the U.S.? You tell me.

Next came something sure to appear on “news” throughout the evil empire: Joe Biden claiming that U.S. weapons aren’t killing Palestinians. Did Australian newscasters call him out on this giant lie? Nope. And me yelling, “Liar!” in the privacy of the home where I’m staying is just venting on my part.

So, I turn to social media platforms run by Zionists where a little truth and the scorching eyewitness videos out of Gaza and the West Bank can still be found. Twitter is complicit, Instagram is complicit, and still I continue to guiltily use them. I’ve never really invested time in building up a news feed on TikTok, but I probably need to do that soonish. Telegram overwhelms me but again it’s probably my ineptitude as a user that creates the attempting to drink from a firehose effect.

My email inbox is also a good source for real news. As are certain substacks, MintPress News, Popular Resistance, Black Agenda Report, and many more I’ve named before.

How soon before all my access to authentic information is blocked? Time will tell.

These bullying Zionists (redundant, I know) do NOT represent me. How about you?

To return my original question, how or even why shall we manage our grief over Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people?

Speaking for myself, I can’t dwell on my emotional response or I become incapacitated. Turning angry grief into action feels like the right thing to do. Diverse actions present themselves and not only provide an outlet but they put me in touch with other people I can trust and respect. I met my husband while protesting the impending Shock and “Awe” attacks on Iraq in 2003, and together we’ve met many kind souls who sincerely engage in resisting imperial warmongering -- and not just when the Republican Party controls the White House.

Many people use their creativity to remain sane in a genocidal world. One example: the keffiyeh sticker cropping up in random places.

Another example currently going viral: rapper Macklemore's "Hind Hall." The artist has pledged to donate all proceeds to UNRWA.

A person I respect a lot recently revealed that they had neglected a peripheral task associated with our work and that this might cost them a lot of money. We’re all in this together so others in the group consoled them and offered monetary support while awaiting the outcome of skilled negotiators working on our behalf. One said, “Hope you are all giving yourselves grace.”

And that is as good an answer to my original question as any.

Police State Repression Adds Fuel To Flames Of Protest -- Who Could Have Guessed?

I'm traveling and not able to post as often as usual, so please bear with me. Just keeping up with current events is impossible as developments in the global resistance to Israel's genocide in Gaza are constant and rapid these days.

A few of the items that stood out in my news feeds:

https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785427534898737304

This comment nails why I felt that this event in particular was significant. Taxpayers employ police to block a major New York City train station in order to preemptively silence 1st amendment protected political speech?

Here's another one that has stayed with me:

It is a companion to the many posts on social media right now by parents of high school seniors saying some version of: I see you called the police to violently attack peaceful student protesters on campus. We are crossing (Columbia, NYU, Emory, UT Austin, etc.) off our list. 

What's that old saying, money talks and bullshit walks? Parents expressing these opinions are looking at shelling out a quarter to half a million dollars so their kids can earn degrees from these schools. Also, if they're white boomers like me they may remember when their own college protected students from police, not allowing cops on campus at will, and certainly not calling in stormtroopers to suppress dissent.

I don't know about President Roth of Wesleyan's conscience, but I do know a smart marketing move when I see one.

As I've noted before, commencements are going to be wild this year. I wish I was going to be back in time to post up at the University of Vermont in Burlington where students are planning to protest keynote speaker Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for her complicity in no less than three vetoes of a ceasefire in Gaza.

You remember Burlington, right? That's where three Palestinian college students were gunned down last Thanksgiving weekend wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic while walking down a street (off campus).  

Cue the constant corporate media stories about "Jewish" (they really mean Zionist) students claiming they feel unsafe on campus. Then maybe check out the news from UCLA where Zionist mobs descend at night to attack the encampment there while police stand by and watch.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives in its wisdom just passed this mess. From Associated Press:

Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestinian encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.

Also, have you been wondering why pitching tents on the quad of so many universities is against regulations? To keep unhoused people out of course.

All these items add up to a sea change for post secondary education as we've known it, and that is fitting as a consequence of the genocidal horrors that our elected officials and university administrators and boards are supporting. 

One last tweet with my prediction that Columbia can kiss being the "top journalism school" in the U.S. goodbye.

https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1785781719603273893