[pjw] REPORT BACK: isolated allies: Friday rally #196 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

IAG supporters

The count for last night's rally and march is mildly complex, as there 
were 7 of us at the corner and six on the march, but another person who 
was delayed by public transit was _technically_ downtown for part of the 
event but never found us.

We had a lot of support from the public after a few mellow weeks. One 
couple gave a supportive "end all wars" and a man seeing us as we were 
disbanding said "not just US out, but US stay home!"

The only piece of literature I think we gave out was one issue of the 
Copwatch newsletter, the People's Police Report (issue #90, the 30th 
anniversary issue, which is fast becoming a "collector's item).

At the very end I reminded everyone that it's just four weeks until our 
event "Guantanamo: 22 Years of Imprisonment without End... for 29 People" 
on January 12, starting early at 4:30 PM.

  https://pjw.info/guantanamo22yl.html

Here are some of the headlines we talked about this week:

--The US has told Israel to wrap it up in Gaza in a few weeks, not a few 
months as Netanyahu wants. How about this-- END THE WAR NOW, or maybe even 
8 weeks ago???

  https://www.axios.com/2023/12/14/jake-sullivan-netanyahu-israel-meeting

---Biden told people at a private event he things Israel is doing too much 
bombing, and that relying on what the allies did in WWII is not 
appropriate... that's why new rules of war were made with the creation of 
the UN. But he plans to keep supporting Israel anyway.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/12/12/biden-says-israels-gaza-bombing-campaign-is-indiscriminate-vows-to-keep-supporting-it/

---After last week's veto at the Security Council, the UN General Assembly 
voted 153-10-23 to call for a ceasefire. See if you can guess who two of 
the 10 "no" votes were. (No points for saying the US and Isreal, as that's 
almost a given any more). The other eight were: Austria, the Czech 
Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and 
Paraguay. Abstentions inlcuded the UK, Ukraine, Italy and Germany.

  https://undispatch.com/here-is-where-every-country-now-stands-on-a-ceasefire-in-gaza/

---Israel used white phosphorous in Lebanon, chemicals provided by 
the US, wounding nine people. Such chemical warfare is a war crime. But 
who will prosecute?
  https://archive.is/vuhWJ
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/12/11/israel-us-white-phosphorus-lebanon/

---Locally, in case you missed it, Jewish Voice for Peace Portland shut 
down the Burnside Bridge from 3:30 to 6 PM on Thursday. (And most of the 
media outlets covering it keep saying "Jewish VoiceS for Peace," like, 
just look it up on the internet or something!) They had a 12 foot tall 
plastic pipe menorah which looks like a variation on our Tower of Peace. 
Anyway, there seems to be some backlash against these Jewish activists 
being anti-Zionsts, but let's put this simply: Being against the policies 
of the Israeli government / state does not make you an anti-semite.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/12/protesters-to-block-portlands-burnside-bridge-to-demand-gaza-cease-fire.html

--In semi-related news, because the Houthis have been attacking ships in 
the Red Sea, the US is preparing to block the peace deal that's imminent 
in Yemen by labeling the Houthis as a "terrorist group." Great diplomacy 
(sarcasm) and hypocracy (seriously) from a country that terrorizes with 
its wars.

  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/12/yemen-peace-plan-at-risk-over-houthi-attacks-in-shipping-channels-says-us

--Ukrainian President Zelenskyy came to Congress begging for more money 
and he was told there would be no more aid without Republicans getting a
border deal. I think that's a ridiculous way to tie unrelated issues 
together but am all for finding a way to stop fueling that war.

  https://archive.is/pm3kB
  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-12/zelenskiy-s-aid-appeal-fails-to-break-gop-demand-for-border-deal

--Further showing their leadership as promoters of democracy hypocrisy, 
the US will restore ties with Niger's military-coup led government to 
ensure they can keep their drone bases around I guess.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-plans-resume-partnership-with-niger-diplomat-says-2023-12-13/

--A good article in Al Jazeera points out how emissions from military 
activity were overlooked at the COP28 environmental summit, mostly by 
design. It talks abuot how the US military puts out more carbon emissions 
than many countries.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/12/elephant-in-the-room-the-us-militarys-devastating-carbon-footprint

--With attacks continuing on the US embassy (the world's largest, don't 
forget), Iraq has agreed that the US has the right to self defense but 
they must check in first.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/us-prepared-forceful-embassy-response-iraqi-observers

In local news, City Council publishes their agendas every Friday. On 
Monday using a special maneuver, they added an item to bump up spending on 
Body Worn Cameras from the $2.6 million they just approved two weeks ago 
to $10 million, a 285% increase. They ignored Portland Copwatch's 
testimony about two cities suing Axon (the manufacturer) for monopolistic 
practices.

  https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/second-us-town-sues-taser-maker-axon-antitrust-violations-2023-10-05/

Also, the Portland Poilce Association ("union") put out a push poll trying 
to convince people that Portland is crime-ridden and needs more cops. But 
the true purpose was to undermine the new oversight system proposed by the 
Police Accountability Commission, already watered down by the City, by 
using incorrect information about the Commission's proposals.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/majority-of-portland-voters-say-they-d-consider-leaving-if-they-could-as-crime-homeless-concerns-persist-new-poll-finds/ar-AA1lsCgJ

Luckily the Portland Mercury recognized the fearmongering and posted a 
satirical counter-poll, noting that if more than 500 people take it (the 
number who took the PPA's poll) it should also get space in the Oregonian.

  https://www.portlandmercury.com/pop-quiz-pdx/2023/12/14/46930324/take-the-mercurys-the-police-union-hates-portland-poll

(Sorry that's a lot for the local news but BELIEVE ME there's a WHOLE LOT 
MORE.)

Along the march route, I supplemented the Israel/Palestine news with this 
lovely tidbit: The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed an 
anti-boycott bill 42-3, sending it to the full chamber. Of course it's 
realy against Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activism to end Isreali 
apartheid. But then the US was kind of into South African apartheid too.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-house-foreign-affairs-committee-advances-expansive-anti-boycott-legislation

Amd as we got close to our end point, I noted that the House and Senat 
have both now passed the National Defense Authorization Act (aka military 
budget), with the house voting 310-118. It incluse lovely tidbits like 
exending Section 702 of the PATRIOT act, which lets the feds spy on things 
like your library history, and prohibits a President from exiting NATO.

   https://news.antiwar.com/2023/12/14/house-passes-886-billion-national-defense-authorization-act-2/

On the bright side, I guess, three of Oregon's Reps voted no: Blumenauer, 
Bonamici, and Boyle. Not sure why Salinas voted Yea.

   https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023723

This week, the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign turned off about a 
block early-- just before we crossed the street to get to the Pioneer 
Place Mall. I wonder if they turned up their jamming signal for the 
holidays or something.

It's always great to have more people down at the Square-- our 7th rallier 
is someone who's only been once or twice in the last few years. If you are 
comfortable and up for it, come on down (but leave enough time for 
travel!).

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