[pjw] REPORT BACK: Just four words: Friday rally #159 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi again--
I accidentally left off this week's money for human needs, not war news! 
Which, sadly, goes like this:

--The Air Force is requesting an ongoing appropriation to get 72 new 
fighter jets _every year_ with (as best as I can tell from this article) 
brings up their spending by about $9 billion a year. While people are 
living in the streets, have no education or healthcare, etc....

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/04/06/us-air-force-plans-to-request-72-fighters-every-year/

Sorry for the omission!
dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

On Sat, 8 Apr 2023, Peace and Justice Works wrote:

> Iraq Affinity Group supporters:
>
> Last night our peaceful presence brought out a break in the 
> on-again-off-again showers and we were able to gather for the Friday Rally 
> for Peace and Justice under at least partially blue skies. There were eight 
> at the rally and six who went on the march. There were a significantly large 
> number of positive responses from people, mostly those in cars. It was hard 
> to tell but some singled out the "free Palestine" sign as an area of 
> agreement. One driver read every sign and cheered their content, asking what 
> they get in return? So we got him a fact sheet. Overall, at least 45 fact 
> sheets went out last night.
>
> One semi-detractor said he generally agreed but thought WWII was a "good 
> war." Well, we can talk about how the US and its allies' interactions with 
> Nazi Germany helped foment that war in the first place, including such keen 
> policies as turning away Jewish people fleeing persecution and having 
> corporate ties even after the European war began (Ford, GE, IBM and others), 
> but that will have to wait for another day.
>
> What did we talk about at the rally?
>
> I began by noting there was a big story that so saturated the media, these 
> were the only four words worth saying:
>
> Trump went to court.
>
> (No, I'm not linking to any of the 24 hour news coverage, saying that name 
> three times is like summoning Beetlejuice.)
>
> --A drone strike in Iraq did not hit three US military personnel accompanying 
> a Syrian Kurdish leader. But that collaboration and the US presence provoking 
> such actions are a remnant of the US invasion.
>
> https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/04/drone-strike-targets-us-syrian-kurdish-ally-mazlum-kobane-turkey-suspected
>
> --On the other hand, the US killed at least one person in a drone strike in 
> Syria, which as we've established never invited the US to have a military 
> presence within its borders.
>
> https://news.antiwar.com/2023/04/04/centcom-says-us-strike-killed-isis-leader-in-syria/
>
> --After being the country pushing NATO for a timeline to get Ukraine to join, 
> the US now opposes such a timeline. Likely because that lets the war continue 
> endlessly, making big bucks for weapons manufacturers.
>
>  https://www.ft.com/content/c37ed22d-e0e4-4b03-972e-c56af8a36d2e
>  https://archive.is/dptCI
>
> ---However, Finland has now formally joined NATO, pushing the Alliance even 
> more in Russia's face rather than de-escalating a conflict that could spiral 
> out of control.
>
> https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/04/europe/finland-joins-nato-intl/index.html
>
> --Taiwan's president met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, 
> prompting more pushback from the Chinese government. It's almost as if the US 
> enjoys perpetual conflict.
>
> https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3216119/us-house-speaker-meets-taiwanese-president-california?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage
>
> --North Korea called US-South Korea military drills provocative toward a 
> possible nuclear war, which is potentially real since they (and we) have 
> nukes. I'm hoping it's just bluster, but again, CUT IT OUT USA!
>
> https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/6/brink-of-nuclear-war-north-korea-warning-on-military-drills
>
> --Past articles about the US' renewed presence in the Philippines made it 
> sound as if they were building their own new bases, which is not allowed by 
> agreement. Instead they're now expanding to four more bases after having been 
> granted access to five others, to, y'know, confront China.
>
> https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/3/philippines-announces-locations-of-4-bases-to-be-used-by-us-army
>
> --As Congress investigates the evactuation of Afghanistan, which you may 
> remember was negotiated by President Trump (Beetlejuice), the administration 
> agreed they should have evacuated earlier. I was looking for the phrase "20 
> years earlier" but I don't see that in the article.
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/us/politics/evacuations-afghanistan-war-biden.html
>
> --In slightly hopeful news, the US may offer a deal in which Iran can have 
> sanctions lifted if they take certain actions around their nuclear program. 
> This means the Iran "nuclear deal" isn't 100% dead, I think.
>
> https://www.axios.com/2023/04/03/iran-biden-proposal-freeze-nuclear-activity-deal
>
> --In annoying news, administrators from Reporters without Borders were denied 
> access to Julian Assange because the British government decided that since 
> they represent reporters, they are reporters.
>
> https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/04/04/reporters-without-borders-barred-from-visiting-julian-assange/
>
> In local news, a brother and sister and four children who were living at a 
> motel got evicted with the help of the Portland Police. The law considered 
> them tenants since they'd lived there over 6 months, but the cops didn't ask. 
> In voting for the $15,000 settlement, the Mayor talked about how the police 
> are in a tricky situation being asked by a property owner to trespass people, 
> but "the law is the law." An important part of this story: The settlement 
> would have been on the "consent agenda" if Portland Copwatch had not pulled 
> it for discussion, and the Mayor would not have heard the City Attorney admit 
> that no training or policy has occurred for the PPB despite this being 
> flagged as an ongoing problem.
>
> https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/passed/191227
>
> As best as I could keep up with the escalations in Israel by 5 PM Friday, 
> here's what I talked about along the march route:
>
> Israeli soldiers beat mosque-goers at Al Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest 
> sites in Islam during one of the holiest times of the year (Ramadan, 
> coinciding this year with Passover and Easter). This led to rockets being 
> fired from Lebanon and Gaza, and Israel bombing back in retaliation. Rockers 
> in, rockets out.
>
> https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-bomb-lebanon-rockets-fired
>
> Then, Israeli police cracked down on Palestinians who were protesting within 
> Israel's original internationally recognized borders.
>
> https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-police-assault-protesters-1948-palestinian-towns
>
> For the third week in a row, the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign stayed on 
> past the Gucci store but went out as we rounded the corner by the Apple 
> Store.
>
> Although the new masking policies have taken effect for Oregon's health care 
> facilities, following the lead of several such facilities asking people to 
> mask up, PJW is still asking that people wear masks at our indoor and outdoor 
> events; we'll revisit the policy again next month when the national emergency 
> ends pandemic support, and probably regularly again after that. If you feel 
> up to it, come on down and see us some week!
>
> peace
> --dan handelman
> peace and justice works iraq affinity group
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