[pjw] REPORT BACK: Everyday is Earth Day: Friday rally #161 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

At last night's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice, nine of us rallied 
and eight marched. We handed out a bunch of fact sheets, but not as many 
as the last two weeks as foot traffic seemed lighter than usual for some 
reason. We did get a lot of support from people driving vehicles, 
including a prominent community activist who stopped on the way to another 
event to say hi. Also, a Kuwaiti man who took a fact sheet came back to 
thank us for writing what we did. (Remember, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, 
so this person supporting our anti-war stance on Iraq is great!)

We got approached by a security guard near the start of the rally who told 
us we couldn't carry signs. A few of us said "well, we've been allowed to 
for the last 21 and a half years, so why not?" He came back to apologize 
for being new.

What did we talk about this week? Here's a sampling.

--Probably everyone knows the link between militarism and climate change 
that the US military is the largest non-state polluter on the planet. With 
the planet in peril we should not only celebrate Earth Day today but every 
day.

--Of great concern, four African People's Socialist Party members were 
indicted by the US DOJ for allegedly manipulating a 2019 election using 
pro Russia views. The Party has been around since the 1970s and says they 
don't need Russia to tell them how bad US policy is.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/04/19/bidens-doj-indicts-four-americans-for-their-political-views-on-russia/

--Brazil's president said the US should stop encouraging the Ukraine war, 
to which the American establishment took great offense. But what else do 
you call it when you discourage peace talks and throw weapons (which may 
now include fighter jets alongside tanks and missiles) into a conflict?

  https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/world/brazil-president-ukraine-war-intl/index.html

---Speaking of not wanting to negotiate, Urkaine rejected an offer from 
the Iraqi government to mediate between them and Russia.

  https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/ukraine/2023/04/17/ukraine-rejects-iraqi-offer-to-mediate-talks-with-russia/

--To the US' other modern "enemy," as part of the effort to encircle (and 
irritate) China, America flew B1 bombers over India for the first time 
ever.

  https://www.airandspaceforces.com/usaf-b-1b-lancers-india-exercise/

--The United Nations says US sanctions are pushing Afghanistan to fail, 
citing among other things the $7 billion of Afghan funds that are still in 
US banks.

  https://thecradle.co/article-view/23818/us-blockade-on-afghanistan-pushing-nation-into-abyss-un

--The Saudi Foreign Minister traveled to Syria to meet President Assad, 
showing that their efforts to make peace with Iran may help de-escalate 
tensions across the region. I hope?

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-president-assad-meets-saudi-minister-damascus

---Along those lines, Yemen and the Houthis exchanged 90 prisoners as part 
of peace talks, so there's also hope that conflict will soon formally end.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-houthis-government-free-prisoners-last-day-exchange

--Showing that all warfare is madness, the fighting between the government 
of Sudan and a paramilitary group led to a US convoy being fired upon 
(with no casualties). All we need is for the US to get drawn into another 
war.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/blinken-warns-sudans-rivals-after-attack-us-convoy

--And there are once again no repercussions for Turkey for killing two 
people in northern Iraq with an airstrike (much like there are no 
consequences for either Turkey or Israel killing people in Syria).

  https://www.newarab.com/news/iraqi-kurdistan-two-killed-strikes-blamed-turkey

In local news, the Portland Police Association worked out a deal with the 
city where they agreed officers will give a statement before looking at 
footage from the new body cameras. It's a lot more complicated than that, 
but the bottom line is that the program is now moving forward for what 
it's worth. We'll see if anyone tracks how many people from overpoliced 
communities get convicted due to body cams vs. how many cops get 
disciplined. If you're interested, the policy goes before City Council 
Wednesday afternoon.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/04/city-portland-police-union-reach-compromise-agreement-on-body-worn-camera-policy.html

Also, officer Brian Hunzeker, who released an unconfirmed report about 
former City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty being involved in a hit and run 
(she wasn't), wasted a lot of our time and money pushing to get reinstated 
to the PPB. On Friday morning, Willamette Week told the City Attorney 
Hunzeker was also working full time for the Clark County Sheriff in 
Washington. On Friday evening, the City said Hunzeker had resigned. BUT IT 
GETS BETTER. Now Hunzeker's being investigated by Clark County for not 
revealing he had two jobs at once, so maybe he has no jobs.

  https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2023/04/14/recently-reinstated-police-officer-brian-hunzeker-resigns-after-city-learns-he-was-moonlighting/
   https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2023/04/17/clark-county-sheriffs-office-puts-brian-hunzeker-on-administrative-leave/

Along the march route I talked about two headlines about Israel/Palestine:

First, China has offered to mediate between the Israelis and Palestinians. 
Remember, they helped broker the Saudi-Iran agreement.

   https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-offers-facilitate-israel-palestinian-peace-talks-98659427

and

Israeli soldiers disguised as telecom workers conducted a raid in the West 
Bank, shooting a man in the leg (I said they beat him... sorry for 
under-estimating their propensity to violence).

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-undercover-broad-daylight-military-raids-west-bank-cities

As we headed back to the Square I noted that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy 
has proposed limiting all spending increases to 1%-- including the 
military. Even though this doesn't mark the cuts needed to redirect money 
to human needs, it's a step forward since the latest military budget 
request is at least 3% more than last year's.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-mccarthy-unveil-plan-lift-us-debt-ceiling-by-15-trln-source-2023-04-19/
  https://www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2023/03/15/one-highest-military-budgets-history/

There are these two weird metal boxes lined with yellow reflective tape on 
the south side of the Pioneer Place Mall. It appears to be as we pass by 
the first of these two that the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign has been 
going out these last five weeks, though I think it made it a little past 
there once or twice.

This week we had a few folks who have only attended occasionally in the 
past say they think they will be at Friday rally more often. If you want 
to join us please do. We're still masking up-- here's the latest from the 
World Health Organization on COVID.

  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-covid-pandemic-volatile.html

peace
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group