Protecting The Children Of Palestine When It Cannot Be Done

Schools in Jerusalem are often targets for harassment by Israel's military.  Photo of students in occupied Hebron by Wisam Hashlamoun / APA Images.

The distraction machine known as the demagogue with bad hair has caused a furor by announcing that the embassy of the U.S. will be moved to Jerusalem.

Long coveted as the capital of Israel, Jerusalem is a flashpoint of Zionist ambition.

Leaders in the region have warned that the move would be a disaster. Hanan Ashwari of the Palestine Liberation Organization reportedly commented that the move risks "annihilating the chances of peace and destroying the stability and security of the entire region, proking violence and playing into the hands of extremists."

How might this affect the long suffering children of Palestine?



Here's a video of Israeli soldiers harassing teenagers at their school, made by Jewish Voice for Peace and posted by activist Zelda Edmunds with the comment:

...The daily challenges of being Palestinian in H2 area of Hebron... It's unimaginably horrific that people live like prisoners in their own neighborhoods because of the ongoing occupation, apartheid and colonization taking place. So many kids put their lives at stake everyday just to go to school, go home, or simply walk on their own streets.

Here's a video of Israeli soldiers harassing an 8 year old.




Here's a video of Israeli soldiers harassing a 7 year old.

And here's an account of life for children in Gaza by Khulud Jaber. Her kids (depicted above) may live their whole lives in a-Nuseirat refugee camp as their family home has been occupied by Israel:

Lately, we’ve been getting power for fewer and fewer hours. At first, we were getting electricity for six hours, with 12-hour blackouts, then for four with 12-hour blackouts. Now it’s gotten even worse and the blackouts last for 18 hours every day. Also, the power does not come on at regular hours, so sometimes there’s electricity only when we’re asleep at night, or when we’re out of the house. My husband has lymphatic cancer and has been out of work since 2007...

Without electricity, the children really suffer from the heat, and you can’t turn on a fan.  

How to protect the children of Palestine?

Share information about the reality of their existence under occupation.

From an account of night raids on Palestinian homes, September, 2016
"Israeli soldiers invade Bil'in in attempt to break the people's spirit" 

Contact your elected representatives to demand they stop funding Israel's military occupation of Palestine. The current administration has pledged to give $38 billion of U.S. taxpayer-funded military "aid" (mostly credits to buy weapons) over the next ten years.

Donate to human rights organizations like B'teslem that document abuses of children by Israel's government.

Palestinian Children Will Share Their Visions Of Peace With Congress On Sep. 19

To save homes, Palestinian children share visions of peace with Congress 

September 19^th International Peace Day Senate Briefing

10:30am in the Capitol Bld. SVC 212-10, and House Reception

Sept. 15, 2017,  Washington, DC — Palestinian children from West Bank villages and from Gaza will share their vision of peace with Congress, to commemorate International Peace Day. Joining the children will be human rights defenders including Rabbi Arik Ascherman from the Israeli human rights group, Torat Tzedek. On behalf of their villages of Susiya, Al Aqaba, and Gaza City, the children are asking Americans to urge their Senators and Representatives, as friends of Israel, to press the Government of Israel to stop the demolitions of Palestinian communities, recognize Palestinian planning rights, assure due process, and turn on the lights in Gaza.

•       Please join them on Tuesday, September 19^th at 10:30-11:30am for a pubic briefing in the Capitol Building SVC 212-10 (Senate side).
  
•       Following the briefing, all are invited to the Rayburn House Office Building, Rayburn Foyer from 1:00-5:00pm for the U.S. premiere of the art exhibition, We All Live in Gaza: Art Under Siege. The reception will begin at 1:30pm with a presentation by curator Maurice Jacobsen and a few words from the children. Light refreshments will be served.

June 2, 2004, Palestinians look on as Israeli authorities demolish a house in the West Bank village of Anata near Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

“Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently stated that he intends to 'wipe Susya and Khan Al Akhmar off the map.’ So I come to Washington to plead for the lives of these Palestinian villages," said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, founder of Torat Tzedek, an Israeli human rights organization. “This year, International Peace Day coincides with Rosh HaShana. Jewish tradition teaches that God decides the fate of every human soul for the coming year on this day and ‘Who shall live and who shall die’ also applies to villages. I urge the U.S. administration to safeguard the furture of Palestinian communities such as Susiya.”

These Palestinian children are among thousands of children in the U.S. and around the world who are making Pinwheels for Peace, writing what peace means to them and drawing what peace looks like, then forming a pinwheel that turns in the wind.  This is the third year Rebuilding Alliance, an American non-profit dedicated to rebuilding war-torn communities and bringing the world together to keep them safe, is holding the #ICareAboutPeace Congressional Briefing.

“I want Congress to keep my village safe and standing,” said Aysar, age 15, from Susiya, “Because a brave Senator took action, Susiya’s demolition orders were put on hold.”

As soon as October 1^st,  Israel’s Minister of Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, will state the Government of Israel’s position to Israel’s High Court as the justices consider the Palestinian Village of Susiya’s petition to overturn the denial of their master plan. Despite the villagers’ undisputed title to their land, the Israeli High Court will then decide Susiya’s fate, either recognizing their right to plan and build on the land they own or ordering demolition of their homes.  Senator Feinstein’s letters to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have been instrumental in keeping Susiya standing so far.

###

About the Delegation:

Aysar (15) has lived his whole life in Susiya. Since he was little, he always accompanied his uncle Nasser Nawaja, who works with the Israeli Human Rights group, B’Tselem, to help film the incidents with the Israeli army and the settlers in the South Hebron Hills. Despite Aysar's young age, he has a deep insight into the local situation, and he is also a huge help for both his parents. He gets up at five o'clock in the morning to feed all the animals, herd the sheep, and help his father with his daily chores, since he is undergoing cancer treatment. Due to Susiya being surrounded by both settlements and a military camp, when the children walk to school they are under constant risk of harassment by the Israeli army and settlers. Aysar always stands up for the other children and does his best to protect and comfort them on the daily 1.5 mile walk to school.

Palestinian school children at a checkpoint with Israeli soldiers

Tia (12) is a 12-year-old student from Gaza City. She is currently in the seventh grade at the American International School in Gaza, where she is getting straight A’s. Tia likes horseback riding, basketball, and swimming. All families in Gaza are experiencing massive rolling blackouts for up to 22 hours per day in an extreme energy crisis that has grown progressively worse over the past 10 years.

Shadi (10) is in the fourth grade and plays violin as part of the Collective Song Music Program in Al Aqaba under the direction of teachers from the Edward Said National Music Conservatory. Shadi and his family live in one of the first “Rebuilding to Remain” homes, designed with the returning villagers and crowd-funded by Rebuilding Alliance under building permits issued by the Al Aqaba Village Council.  Al Aqaba is the first Palestinian village in Area C to issue its own building permits. Though the Israeli Army issued demolition orders in 2004 against Al Aqaba’s kindergarten, the medical clinic, and most homes in Al Aqaba and a stop-work order on their water system, the Israeli High Court ruled that ‘for the time being, the center of the village will remain standing’ and because of that the new homes are standing, free of demolition orders.

August 11, 2017 post on Arik Ascherman's Facebook page: "The Yoav Unit informed the Abu Sneineh family in Tel Sheva that on Sunday or Monday they are going to demolish their tent housing 13 souls for the 9th time since 2014. If you can stand with them, call me after Shabbat..."

Rabbi Arik Ascherman is the founder of Torat Tzedek, a new Isaraeli human rights organization founded to (1) strive for a society that honors God's Image in every human being, and for the human rights that this necessitates; and (2) educate our society that honoring God's image in every human being, protecting human rights and taking concrete action to further these goals is a human and religious obligation in general, and in particular a Jewish religious obligation. Rabbi Ascherman is internationally recognized as leading advocate for human rights and social justice. He served as co-director of Rabbis For Human Rights, executive director from 1998-2010, and co-founder of Haqel and has received numerous awards and recognition for his human rights work.

Donna Baranski-Walker is Founder & Executive Director of Rebuilding Alliance , and an MIT engineer with an M.S. from the U. of Hawaii. Rebuilding Alliance and Donna have been awarded Special Congressional Recognition by Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Anna Eshoo. In April 2016, Donna was awarded Rotary District 5150’s Service Award, and will soon be receiving the Rachel Corrie Conscience And Courage Award, from American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Orange County. In 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Solidarity movement, Donna was awarded the Medal of Gratitude. She began her work in the Middle East in 1990 with a New York Times oped, “Small Lights in the Darkness ,” which was translated into Arabic and presented to the Iraqi Women’s Federation just before the First Gulf War began.

----

For more information:

Contact: Tamsin Avra Phone: (650) 651-7165 Email: tamsin@rebuildingalliance.org

Maine BDS Coalition Win As RE/MAX Announces End To Illegal Land Sales

BDS actions outside Maine have included disruptions at RE/MAX events, most recently at the annual shareholders meeting
at RE/MAX LLC headquarters in Denver in May.

Activists in Maine and around the globe were cautiously optimistic at news delivered by RE/MAX real estate CEO Dave Liniger this week. Liniger, a co-founder of the company, sent a letter stating that RE/MAX had “recently taken action to ensure that RE/MAX, LLC will no longer receive any income from the sale of Jewish settlement properties in the West Bank.”

Maine BDS Coalition member and former candidate for the U.S. Senate Bill Slavick responded, “It remains to be seen what ‘receives no income’ means and whether RE/MAX will continue real estate activities in the Occupied Territories.”

RE/MAX agents and franchise holders in Maine have been the recipients of hundreds of letters and emails asking them to bring pressure on their head office to divest from the sale of property and homes stolen from Palestinian families living under Israeli occupation. RE/MAX franchises in Portland and Ellsworth have also seen actions outside their offices with activists displaying banners and “settlements” to call attention to the unethical business practice. Letters to the editor and op-eds published in several Maine newspapers have also been part of the campaign.

Other companies which have responded to international BDS pressure to divest from doing business in occupied territories include Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, SodaStream, Veolia, and G4S.

Aside from these successes, a further indication of the perceived power of BDS is the backlash against it. New York Governor Mario Cuomo recently issued an executive order prohibiting state agencies from doing business with organizations engaged in BDS targeting Israel’s human rights violations. While probably unconstitutional, the order nevertheless indicates that the pressure of groups like the Presbyterian Church, which received Mr. Liniger’s letter, is having an effect. Likewise, the state of Israel has made BDS a criminal offense, and several nations, including the U.S., have attempted to pass legislation outlawing BDS.

Boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent campaign initiated by Palestinian civil society to bring pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territories left for a Palestinian state when hostilities ended in 1948 but were occupied by Israel during the 1967 Israeli war on Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.

Under international law, Israel was obliged to reach a peace settlement and, in the interim take possession of no land or natural resources and assure the wellbeing of residents of the Occupied Territories.  

Instead, Israel has confiscated much of the land, 8o% of the water and engaged in myriad forms of repression and harassment of the population, from arbitrary killings and maimings to home demolitions, destruction of over a million olive trees, poisoning of farm animals, military checkpoints, indiscriminate searches, arbitrary imprisonments, torture of prisoners, and construction of walls and fences separating farmers from their land and West Bank residents from mosques, hospitals, and schools.

The BDS strategy is patterned after a tactic used successfully in the international effort to  end apartheid in South Africa.

Maine’s BDS Coalition will meet this summer to consider further actions for continued pressure on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. Airbnb is another company doing business in both Maine and the Occupied Territories. As it profits from the renting of homes stolen from Palestinian families, Airbnb has been the recipient of attention from BDS activists and may become a focus for the Maine BDS Coalition if RE/MAX does, indeed, divest from selling real estate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem per Mr. Liniger's statement.

"We Don't Get Into Politics" Say Empire's Citizens Choosing To Ignore The Dangerous Path They Travel

Boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) are efforts to bring pressure on the state of Israel to stop occupying Palestinian land, stop bulldozing Palestinian homes, and stop building apartheid walls and roads that cut Palestinians off from their agricultural land.

Here in Maine a coalition of activists -- most of whom have visited occupied Palestine and observed these human rights violations in person -- joined an international effort to put pressure on the real estate company RE/MAX LLC.   Below you can read the letter and information currently going out to many RE/MAX offices and agents around our state. 

Our assumption was that it would be unfair to target RE/MAX in Maine without giving agents information they may be lacking. 

Here is the response we received from one of the RE/MAX agents in Maine:

"We make people happy selling houses and do not get into politics."

One can only imagine the happiness of a Palestinian family evicted from their home watching it be sold to ultra-right Zionist settlers.  

The agent's response exemplifies the know-nothing mentality of today's citizens of the empire that rules the globe. In the information blackout masquerading as 24/7 "news," most hard working business women and men are indeed ignorant of the violence and human rights violations they fund as taxpayers. 

Source: Electronic Intifada, "Why Obama's military aid to Israel is breaking all records" by Ali Abunimah

They "do not get into politics" as their government sends the very wealthy state of Israel $3 billion a year in military aid. 

They "do not get into politics" as their government maintains more than 800 military bases in other people's countries, and drops tens of thousands of bombs per year on civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. 

Image source: Organizing Notes, "My View from Ukraine" by Bruce Gagnon

They "do not get into politics as the U.S. (and NATO) menace Russia by supporting neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine and installing missiles aimed directly at Moscow from sites in Europe.

Real estate agents may not have studied much history when they were in school. Or maybe they did and then forgot most of it in the subsequent barrage of messaging about how exceptional "Americans" and their global empire are. 

Really, we are not that exceptional. We are just the latest in a long list of empires that overspent on their military, over reached in their expansion, and crumbled into dust after a bloody period of disintegration. 

Think Ottoman Empire here if you don't want to go any further back in history than the 20th century. 

Ok, so not everyone thinks about the big picture. Here, then, are the nitty gritty details of RE/MAX's Palestine problem:

Dear Maine RE/MAX realtor,

RE/MAX’s good name is at risk, but you can take action to protect it. Here's how.

You may not be aware that RE/MAX profits from the sale of homes in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. While we recognize that your office promotes the sale of local homes here in Maine, we ask that you, as a RE/MAX agent, consider the effect of being associated with a brand that participates in apartheid and human rights violations. RE/MAX is facing scrutiny from the United Nations and human rights groups around the world. For example, a recent report from Human Rights Watch entitled “Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights” directly indicts RE/MAX LLC. Many world leaders, including Secretary of State Kerry, have named the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements as a serious obstacle to peace in the region.

Please consider sending a message to your corporate headquarters letting them know that you do not wish to be associated with RE/MAX Israel’s illegal activities. Pasted in below is the text of a “realtor of conscience” letter you may use for this purpose.

If you have questions about this matter or would like to discuss it, we would be glad to speak with you or meet with you in person.

Sincerely,

Maine BDS Coalition

Attachments:

"The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement Colonies" United Nations report
"The Occupation of the American Mind, Documented" Mondoweiss article
"Israeli Settlements Explained" video, Institute for Middle East Understanding 

SAMPLE LETTER OF CONSCIENCE

Dear RE/MAX International,

As agents currently employed by a RE/MAX franchise, we have recently had it drawn to our attention that several national organizations are organizing a boycott campaign against RE/MAX. We are deeply concerned about RE/MAX operations in Israel/Palestine and how a boycott of this scale could impact our business and thus our livelihood.

RE/MAX is a corporate leader in the real estate market with a presence in over ninety countries totaling more than 7,000 offices and 100,000 agents. With its status as a corporate leader, RE/MAX is in a unique position to set an example of ethical business practices worldwide. Yet our current operations in the occupied territories of the West Bank violate fundamental human rights and international law.

RE/MAX Israel has a commanding presence in the Israeli real estate market, referring to itself as “the number one company in Israel.” Disturbingly, RE/MAX is also the leader in selling land in the occupied Palestinian West Bank to Israeli settlers and operating in settlements condemned by international law and human rights organizations. As licensed realtors employed by RE/MAX, we have found that our customers are deeply opposed to these operations. We ask you to address the issues brought up by the boycott campaign before it grows and impacts our business.

We urge you to take action to demonstrate RE/MAX’s commitment to ethical business practices worldwide by ending RE/MAX Israel’s illegal and unethical practices in Israel/Palestine.

Sincerely,

(Your name here)

We Are Now In A Long Era Of Taxation Without Representation

The ongSyrian refugee crisis is epic, and the U.S. had a large hand in creating it.

I just read this excellent report back from a delegation that met with Maine's alleged representative to the U.S. Senate, Angus King.

Meeting with Sen. Angus King on US Syria Policy

A group of Maine peace activists met with Sen. Angus King (I-ME) on March 11 at the public library in Brunswick.  The 45 minute meeting to discuss Syria was attended by Rosalie Tyler Paul (Brunswick), Mary Donnelly (Brunswick), Joanne Hardy (Brunswick), Dud Hendrick (Deer Island) and Bruce Gagnon (Bath).

Sen. King sits on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees in Washington and was a former governor in Maine.  King told us that he spends 60% of his time on these issues.  He is an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate.

Rosalie began the meeting saying, "I want to speak to the opportunity that awaits our country to move beyond this very adolescent period. We have all the power to lead, we have the money and the muscle but not yet the moral leadership. If there is ever to be a coming of age for our species, we must stop killing each other and begin to cooperate."

We handed Sen. King two recent important articles on Syria and urged him to take the time to read them.  The first one is written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called Why the Arabs don’t want us in Syria: They don’t hate ‘our freedoms.’ They hate that we’ve betrayed our ideals in their own countries — for oil. We briefly shared the findings from this excellent piece that ran in Politico with Sen. King - particularly this bit:

Our war against Bashar Assad did not begin with the peaceful civil protests of the Arab Spring in 2011. Instead it began in 2000, when Qatar proposed to construct a $10 billion, 1,500 kilometer pipeline through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Qatar shares with Iran the South Pars/North Dome gas field, the world’s richest natural gas repository. The international trade embargo until recently prohibited Iran from selling gas abroad. Meanwhile, Qatar’s gas can reach European markets only if it is liquefied and shipped by sea, a route that restricts volume and dramatically raises costs. The proposed pipeline would have linked Qatar directly to European energy markets via distribution terminals in Turkey, which would pocket rich transit fees. The Qatar/Turkey pipeline would give the Sunni kingdoms of the Persian Gulf decisive domination of world natural gas markets and strengthen Qatar, America’s closest ally in the Arab world. Qatar hosts two massive American military bases and the U.S. Central Command’s Mideast headquarters.

Of course, the Russians, who sell 70 percent of their gas exports to Europe, viewed the Qatar/Turkey pipeline as an existential threat. In Putin’s view, the Qatar pipeline is a NATO plot to change the status quo, deprive Russia of its only foothold in the Middle East, strangle the Russian economy and end Russian leverage in the European energy market. In 2009, Assad announced that he would refuse to sign the agreement to allow the pipeline to run through Syria “to protect the interests of our Russian ally.”

Secret cables and reports by the U.S., Saudi and Israeli intelligence agencies indicate that the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path to achieving the shared objective of completing the Qatar/Turkey gas link. In 2009, according to WikiLeaks, soon after Bashar Assad rejected the Qatar pipeline, the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria. It is important to note that this was well before the Arab Spring-engendered uprising against Assad.

The second article we handed Sen. King recently ran in the Boston Globe and was penned by Brown University senior fellow Stephan Kinzer entitled The media are misleading the public on Syria.
Kinzer writes:

Washington-based reporters tell us that one potent force in Syria, al-Nusra, is made up of “rebels” or “moderates,” not that it is the local al-Qaeda franchise. Saudi Arabia is portrayed as aiding freedom fighters when in fact it is a prime sponsor of ISIS. Turkey has for years been running a “rat line” for foreign fighters wanting to join terror groups in Syria, but because the United States wants to stay on Turkey’s good side, we hear little about it. Nor are we often reminded that although we want to support the secular and battle-hardened Kurds, Turkey wants to kill them. Everything Russia and Iran do in Syria is described as negative and destabilizing, simply because it is they who are doing it — and because that is the official line in Washington.

I had the occasion about 18 months ago to have a brief word with Sen. King about Syria and at that time he was holding fast to the line that the US was supporting 'moderate' Syrians in their efforts to overthrow Assad.  This time he never brought up the word - by now alternative media in the US has largely dispelled that notion.  In this meeting I focused in on how ISIS is funded which includes generous contributions of money and weapons from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Israel and the US.  I mentioned that when Russia first entered Syria to help defend that legitimate government they began bombing ISIS oil truck convoys that were carrying stolen Syrian oil and moving it into Turkey.  Once there President Erdogan's son, who runs an oil distribution company, sold the oil to Japan and Israel and then shared the profits with ISIS.

Sen. King did not dispute any of these points we made about who was funding and arming Syria although he did say that the US too had bombed ISIS oil convoys heading into Turkey with the stolen oil.  "I am not going to defend Turkey but they are a strategic ally," he said.

Mary Donnelly spoke passionately about the refugees in Syria and that greater effort must be made to ensure that supplies of humanitarian aid get through to them.  Due to the recent ceasefire (largely organized by Moscow) some of that aid was now reaching the most hard pressed people inside Syria.

Dud Hendrick shared bits from a letter he handed to Sen. King that called on the US to end its massive and aggressive military empire of more than 900 bases.  Dud graduated from the US Naval Academy and served a tour of duty in Vietnam during that ill-fated war.

Joanne Hardy, an ardent supporter of the Palestinian people, urged Sen. King to push Israel to end its illegal settlement building which continues to displace the people into ever expanding refugee camps.  Sen. King responded, "We've never done anything about Israeli settlements. I'm very sympathetic to the cause of the Palestinians.  One of the problems is that it is easy to say one side or the other is right.  But can you sign an agreement with the Palestinians?  Who do you negotiate with?"

Sen. King did acknowledge that Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu does not appear willing to seriously negotiate a real peace agreement.  King was reluctant to acknowledge that the US has tremendous leverage over Israel when one considers the huge amount of aid given to it every year.

(The main expression of Congressional support for Israel has been foreign aid. Since 1985, it has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004 and the largest cumulative recipient of aid ($121 billion, not inflation-adjusted) since World War II. Seventy-four percent of these funds must be spent purchasing US goods and services. More recently, in fiscal year 2014, the US provided $3.9 billion in foreign military aid to Israel. Israel also benefits from about $8 billion of loan guarantees.)

Sen. King praised the Israeli 'missile defense' program called Iron Dome as something "that likely saved my son's life" when he was in Israel during the most recent exchange of Palestinian rockets and IDF counter-attack on Gaza.  While we didn't have time to discuss the merits of Iron Dome an analysis of the system's failures has been written by Subrata Ghoshroy who is a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Science, Technology, and Society.  His article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is called Iron Dome: Behind the hoopla, a familiar story of missile-defense hype.

After Sen. King left the Brunswick library meeting room our delegation remained to evaluate the meeting.  We agreed that unless fellow concerned citizens help by following up on these issues with Sen. King then we will not be able to move things forward.  One in our group remarked that, "Sen. King is still not willing to admit Israel's criminal behavior.  I was put off by his suggestion that the complicated history of the Middle East excuses US behavior in the region."

So we urge those Mainers who care about these complex but important issues in the Middle East to contact Sen. King and share with him your concerns.  You can send him a message at his web site here  https://www.king.senate.gov/contact

Just yesterday Russian President Putin announced a pullout from Syria: "I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow,” he said.

It will be more than interesting to see what the US and their partners (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Israel) will do next in their effort to topple Assad.  In an article today Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, writes:

Jeffrey Goldberg’s newly published book-length article on Barack Obama and the Middle East includes a major revelation that brings US Secretary of State John Kerry’s Syrian diplomacy into sharper focus: it reports that Kerry has sought on several occasions without success over the past several months to get Obama’s approval for cruise missile strikes against the Syrian government. 

Goldberg reports that “on several occasions” Kerry requested that Obama approve missile strikes at “specific regime targets”, in order to “send a message” to Assad – and his international allies – to “negotiate peace”. Kerry suggested to Obama that the US wouldn’t have to acknowledge the attacks publicly, according to Goldberg, because Assad “would surely know the missiles’ return address”.

Now is indeed the right time for the peace movement around the world to call on the US to match the move by Russia to lower the military footprint on Syria.  If the world wants to bring peace to the region, and reduce the refugee crisis, then we must speak out now loudly and clearly demanding that the attempts to topple the elected Assad government must end.

Bruce K. Gagnon    Posted 3/15/16 to his blog: Organizing Notes
Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

  
After reading Bruce's report I sent King a message. You can, too:

https://www.king.senate.gov/contact

Dear Angus King,
The long U.S. campaign for regime change in Syria may not be apparent to most of your constituents, but the humanitarian crisis of Syrian refugees certainly is. When we use our influence and military power to destabilize a legitimate government seen as a threat to U.S. economic interests -- or the economic interests of U.S. allies like Turkey and Qatar -- it is a disservice to taxpayers. I do not care to defend one nation's right to extract and transport natural gas or any other fossil fuel. The blind allegiance to dinosaur-like energy policies is pushing our planet toward the brink of climate disaster. and no one is the U.S. will be exempt from the negative consequences.

Who determines U.S. policy in southwestern Asia -- Israel? Continuing to arm one of the richest nations in the world as it pushes for war with Iran is dangerous and foolhardy. Continuing to enable Israel's violent occupation of Palestine is likewise dangerous and foolhardy. I have repeatedly heard you mention that your son was in Israel when rockets were being fired by Hezbollah, and Israel was responding by pounding civilian targets in Gaza resulting in the deaths of thousands of children and families. Again, the fact that most of your constituents are fooled into thinking this is a symmetrical conflict can be laid at the feet of corporate "news" media, but some of us are actually paying attention. Why you would use your own family member for propaganda purposes is your business. What you do with the taxes I work hard to pay is very much my business. A teacher and woodworker married couple in Maine pay about 30% of our earnings in federal taxes while many of the corporations who contribute to your campaigns pay nothing.

Your actions and words have shown that you believe you are in the Senate to represent corporate profits, not the people of Maine. That is not what you swore to do when you took the oath of office.

We are now in a long era of taxation without representation. And I think we know where that sort of thing eventually leads.
Lisa Savage
Solon

Information Control Takes On Boycott, Divestment And Sanctions #BDS

History reminds us that lots of nasty practices were -- or still are -- legal. 

Apartheid was once legal in South Africa and is becoming increasingly so in Israel. Slavery was once legal in the U.S. and remains so in countries where consumer products are created for the U.S. market. Segregated access to public transportation was once legal in Montgomery, Alabama but it was successfully opposed by a boycott that spread like wildfire under the leadership of Rosa Park and her coalition partners. The second time Parks was arrested, it wasn't for refusing to get to the back of the bus; it was because boycotting was illegal.

Following the UK's lead, the U.S. Congress took a giant step toward protecting the state of Israel from boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) aimed at ending the violent occupation of Palestine. But you will not likely read about the special status of Israel in the corporate "news" about the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.

Nor did the public hear much about the anti-BDS provisions included in the bill signed by President Obama last summer. As reported July 2 by Josh Ruebner for Electronic Intifiada:

This provision, tucked into the Trade Promotion Authority bill — more commonly known as “fast track” authority — makes it a “principal negotiating objective” of the United States “to discourage politically motivated actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel” in current negotiations with the European Union over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. 

The law also specifically extends this US discouragement of BDS to include “Israeli-controlled territories,” a transparent ploy to put pressure on the EU to reverse nascent steps to label products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Nor, for that matter, has the public heard much about the highly toxic TTIP in any of its aspects. But that's the topic for another post.

Why is the U.S. government specifically aiming to squelch the BDS movement? 1) Because it has such a special relationship with Israel; and 2) because BDS is working.

The fizzy drink maker with the factory in occupied Palestine shut down their plant after international pressure on the SodaStream brand. That was after the actress who is the face of the brand's ad campaign was asked to resign from her Global Ambassador position with international humanitarian aid organization Oxfam. (Full disclosure: I've been boycotting her films ever since).

Source: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation facebook posted on February 24 with the comment, "Look what's in today's LA Times after we were censored by Variety! We need to continue pushing on this campaign to urge Oscar nominees to#SkipTheTrip so please find resources and actions to take here: http://bit.ly/1Tm04Gb."

And, as long as we're in Hollywood, let's note the lawsuit brought by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences against the purveyor of the "swag bag" given to Oscar nominees in certain big categories. Responding to a voucher in the bag for a free trip to Israel worth $55,000, Palestinian activists have called on Oscar nominees to "reject Israel propaganda trip" because of Israel's apartheid policies. The Academy is distancing itself from the company that distributed the bags and assembled their contents, using court filings to say loudly and clearly that the swag bags and their contents have no official relationship with the Oscars. 

Did the marijuana vaporizer or the trip to Israel inspire the lawsuit? We may never know. It's very doubtful that a journalist working for a major media corporation will delve into it.

Institutions of higher learning with active divestment campaigns include Tufts, the University of Mississippi, Harvard and MIT, Columbia/Barnard, Kansas State, Evergreen State College and Stanford among others. There are ongoing attempts to silence campus groups that criticize Israel or punish them for even debating the issues. Heard about any of that on the evening news?

Ok, then, have you heard about this? Sarah Lazare reporting in AlterNet on February 22:

The Israeli government is planning to pour $26 million this year alone into a covert cyber operation to attack and sabotage the global human rights movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), earmarking large sums for technology companies to spy on Muslim activists in the United States and Europe.

Didn't think so.

Women In Black Calling Attention To The Occupation Of #Palestine Are Under Attack In Israel

Sometimes my email brings me news of actions I can join, and sometimes it brings me news of good people under duress whom I can support. The report below came via Women in Black and Veterans for Peace members who shared it with a Codepink Maine member who shared it with me. 

I am thankful for my networks that bring me real news.

The account below was written by Hadass Gertmann who gave her permission to repost it with the note, "It happened in Gan Shmuel junction, which is near Hadera (between Tel Aviv and Haifa)... it was on December 4th, Friday. Since then we had  one more vigil that was surprisingly quiet."

Let’s begin with an event. An event that took place today, early afternoon, at Gan Shmuel Junction. At a routine vigil of “Women in Black”, between 1 and 2 p.m., myself among them.

Three very young men drive by us, hurling strings of curses at us, to which we are quite accustomed. Some minutes later they come back from the opposite direction, turn left into the shopping compound behind us, yelling at us again and wishing us dead. A moment later they show up on pavement where we stand, one with an Israeli flag, the other filming. The one with the flag gets down into the road and dances in front of us, risking his life in the traffic, hopping and jumping, waving his flag and roaring "The people of Israel live!” trying to approach us up close. When I retreat, he advances even more, nearly touching me. Around us cars stand at the stoplight. At best, drivers ignore the scene. More commonly they honk, clap, cheer and yell that we deserve it, making obscene gestures. One lady, out of the ordinary, rolls down her window and says to the young man “But no violence!”

His buddy films the scene and they both scream at us that we are to blame for all the stabbings and run-overs and murders and why don’t we demonstrate against THAT and wish us dead…

I simply lose it. Out of my wits. Shocked.

One man approaches with a camera, tells them he wants to film, too. They give him a big show and then he tells them he’s a journalist and that he filmed them in order to show the police and go public that they’re violent and dangerous. He also summons the police. They evaporate immediately. The police arrive, and finally the policeman scolds us. (Got a permit? Who’s responsible? If you don’t lodge a complaint what do you want? Why are you cynical?)

I was born in 1966. One year before the Six-Day War. I grew up into the Occupation. Until I completed my military service I had no political identity. The day after my discharge the First Intifada broke out. I began to ask, understand, think, have opinions and discovered I was a leftie.

A leap in time

During Operation Defensive Shield I joined “Women in Black” at Gan Shmuel Junction. As mentioned above, every Friday between 1 and 2 p.m. It’s a veteran shift that has been standing vigil over 25 years now. We are not many and not that young. I have already disclosed my own age, and I’m one of the younger ones.

It’s not easy to stand there very week. Doesn’t much help either. So it seems. Really?

Over the years I have experienced all sorts of unpleasant moments. Eggs were thrown at me, a stone hit me in the head, we have been endlessly cursed… This is routine and familiar and we more or less brace ourselves for it. 

We answer our assailants in various ways, but at least I tell myself that our weekly, Sisyphean presence is mostly for our own sake. So we don’t forget the Occupation. So that the word Occupation would not be erased from the vocabulary of public space.

People used to ask us – What Occupation? 1948? 1967?

By now this word has been erased. Children grow up not knowing there is an ongoing Occupation. And how would they know if they’re not taught? It happened when I was a baby, and as I’ve already said, I’m no spring chicken myself. And in fact I wasn’t taught either…

At every escalation, in time, the situation is reflected at the junction. The curses get louder, anger at us seethes - as if we, by our very standing there, are the cause of terrorist attacks, violence. As if we are not citizens of this state. As if our own children are not in the same school system that sends them into the army. People wish us harmed, our families injured. Then we’ll know…! (Sadly, some of the women standing with me have experienced terrorist attacks, even been victims, and still insist on saying – enough!)

Today’s event shocked me. I was terribly scared. I was afraid they were about to lose it. Another moment and they’d have touched me. Hurt me. And I didn’t want this. Not for me, not for them. Not for whoever’s waiting for them at home, nor for those waiting for me at home.

I feel at the edge of the abyss. I am very frightened, for myself but also for all of us. How could such violence, towards an opinion and of course towards women, be accepted with such sympathy? (Would they have jumped at us like this if a man were standing with us? I doubt it. After all, when the journalist showed up and faced them, they simply evaporated).

Although I am afraid to go back there, I think I should. That this voice of ours should be present. Even if it is unpopular right now. People have to know there is still Occupation ongoing. That we are still oppressing nearly 2 million people. And that this oppression exacts terrible prices, besides being outright immoral.

It corrupts us, makes us unwillingly violent. It endangers our children and all of us on the everyday level of personal safety, as well as in the deeper sense of what kind of society we are. What happened today (and surely happens all the time to others) has revealed the face of a violent society that treats women, opinions, minorities, and weaker persons with fundamental disrespect, lack of appreciation, brutally, cruelly and roughly.

I run out of words. 

You can stand with Women in Black in Portland, Maine (pictured above) on Fridays from 5-5:30pm in Congress Square. Or join me at a weekly vigil for peace in Skowhegan on the Margaret Chase Smith Bridge every Sunday from noon-1pm. 

Or, find your own way to stand up for peace and good will toward all humankind. It's always the right season for that.