[pjw] REPORT BACK: 70 years of war: Friday rally #174 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi again supporters of the Iraq Affinity Group

We had six people at the Friday Rally for Peace and Justice, five who went 
on the march, on a muggy evening yesterday. We had a lot of support 
including one Black woman who drove by repeatedly honking her horn and 
yelling "PEACE!!"

We were competing a little bit with the World Cup which was being 
projected on a giant screen in the Square. There was a live TV crew 
covering that. Hmm, people kicking around a ball for fun vs a 21+ year old 
rally talking about the fate of the world, what's the bigger news? I don't 
know maybe I'm being cynical. Making matters worse, Senator Ron Wyden 
appeared on the jumbo screen to welcome people, probably in a recorded 
message, so he didn't see our signs about ending the Israeli occupation.

Anyway, here are some of the week's headlines we talked about at the 
rally:

--A US service member who was facing disciplinary charges after being 
jailed in South Korea dashed across the border while on a tour of the 
demilitarized zone.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/us-national-crosses-military-demarcation-line-into-north-korea-yonhap-2023-07-18/

---Also, a US nuclear sub docked in the South, prompting a warning that is 
a reason the North thinks they can use nuclear weapons.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/07/20/north-korea-issues-warning-over-us-nuclear-armed-submarine-in-south-korea/

---This all comes as the 70th anniversary of the armistice that put a hold 
on (but didn't end) the Korean War is coming up next Thursday, July 27. I 
brought with me fact sheets we made on the 50th anniversary in 2003. Its 
up on our website (with pages 1&2 reversed):

  https://pjw.info/korea_facts072503.pdf

For some reason it's not linked on our fact sheet page, I'll try to fix 
that....

--The US has announced it wants to add even more fuel to the fire of the 
war in Ukraine by sending F-16s by the end of the year.

  https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-could-getting-f-16s-way-ahead-schedule-1814468

---They already did so by sending cluster bombs, claiming they were out of 
other munitions. Apparently the White House pondered that Russia using 
cluster bombs in Feb. 2022 could be considered a war crime. Huh.

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/20/cluster-munitions-ukraine-war-russia/
  https://archive.is/Rwi3c
  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/02/28/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-28-2022/#:~:text=MS.%20PSAKI%3A%C2%A0%20It%20is%20%E2%80%94%20it%20would%20be.%C2%A0%20I%20don%E2%80%99t%20have%20any%20confirmation%20of%20that.%C2%A0%20We%20have%20seen%20the%20reports.%20%C2%A0If%20that%20were%20true%2C%20it%20would%20potentially%20be%20a%20war%20crime.%C2%A0

--China's ready to exploit the tons of lithium lying under the soil in 
Afghanistan, one of the many natural resources the US had hoped to get its 
hands on by invading and occupying that country for 20 years.

  https://archive.is/CjWiD
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/ev-lithium-afghanistan-taliban-china/

--The US conducted another airstrike in Somalia, killing five people. 
That's thirteen times so far this year. But don't worry, we're not at war 
anywhere.

  https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2023/07/africom-launches-self-defense-airstrikes-against-shabaab-in-somalia.php

--On that note, the House voted to reject ending emergency declarations 
made (over and over again) by 3-4 Presidents about the situations in 
Libya, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. So, endless war is still all the rage.

  https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/20/resolutions-emergency-iraq-syria-libya-yemen/

--Iraq has asked the Swedish ambassador to leave over another Quran 
burning following the one that led to Iraqis storming the Swedish embassy 
last week.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-sweden-sadr-supporters-embassy-storm-ablaze

--The US in its magnanimity (?) has agreed to let Iraq deposit money into 
a third country's banks so they can buy Iranian natural gas and avoid 
people dying from extreme heat. This was to undercut Iraq's plan to send 
crude oil in exchange for the gas, that would have violated US sanctions.

  https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-issues-new-waiver-allowing-iraq-pay-iran-electricity-2023-07-18/

In local news, a man is expected to get a $95,000 settlement for bodily 
injuries caused by police during an "encounter" during a 2020 protest. 
This brings the total paid out of the City's self-insurance fund (AKA your 
tax dollars at work) to at least $1.3 million for police violence at 
protests between 2018 and 2020.

  https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/settlement-logan-coldwells-bodily-injury-lawsuit

Along the march route I told the story of how Rep. Jayapal from Washington 
had called Israel a racist apartheid state and suffered much backlash, 
then said she meant it was Netanyahu's government and not the state. She 
joined a vote in the House declaring Israel is not a racist apartheid 
state that passed 412-9 with one member voting "present." 44% of 
registered Democrats think Israel is an apartheid state, so... why was 
this vote so lopsided?

  https://mondoweiss.net/2023/07/vast-majority-of-house-dems-back-gop-resolution-saying-israel-isnt-an-apartheid-state/

And while the planet's on fire and people are living in the streets, the 
US is planning to spend $117 billion to upgrade its nuclear weapons in the 
coming years. Weapons they will never use and which could destroy the 
world. Makes sense. If you're a sociopath.

  https://www.defensenews.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2023/07/18/us-projected-to-spend-117b-on-nuke-command-and-control-in-next-decade/

This week the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign made it around the corner 
again to Yamhill but went out by the first junction box. I may double back 
to Trimet, who I called three years ago, and march that area with them.

While it can be a little tiring, the Friday rally really lasts for less 
than an hour and the march only about 20 minutes. Come by sometime if you 
are able and willing. We're still masked up and distanced... another local 
activist I know came down with COVID just this past week.

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