[pjw] REPORT BACK: give peace some chants: Friday rally #193 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi again peaceful people

The Friday Rally for Peace and Justice was an unusual experience last 
night, with the holiday tree lighting going on in Pioneer Square 
populated by pro-Palestine protestors whose chants of "ceasefire now" and 
more at times were louder than what was going on at the stage. Our 
protest was diagonally across the street from the Square, with a total of 
just five people across the hour we were there, no more than four at one 
time. We did not march. Perhaps one of the weirdest things was being right 
next to the police car that was the home base for the PPB's b*mb-sniffing 
dogs. They didn't seem too concerned about our little wagon of peace, but 
instead were busy talking about the burritos they had for dinner.

Because of the narrative spun by the FBI that the gathering is a potential 
terror target, there were once again giant dump trucks shutting off the 
streets, so there was no car traffic and just on occasional MAX train. We 
did get about a dozen people overall thanking us for being there, asking 
about our signs or just giving a thumbs up. We also got our requisite 
foul-mouthed heckler, who said, and I believe this is a direct quote, "F* 
you and your f*ing liberal signs." I quickly replied "Thank you sir and 
Merry Christmas to you too." Their holiday spirit was, shall we say, a bit 
off-kilter.

I was surprised that the protestors down in the Square itself weren't 
forcibly ejected, booed or dragged away by police. KGW, which sponsors the 
holiday tree lighting ceremony, ran a short story on the 11 PM news, which 
did not pop up when I did a search. Instead here's the Oregonian's 
coverage.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/11/holiday-tree-lighting-at-pioneer-courthouse-square-kicks-off-holiday-season-in-portland.html

The first focus of last night's news was this being the 13th anniversary 
of the above-hinted-at FBI sting that entrapped 19 year old Somali 
immigrant Mohammed Mohamud in 2010. Mohamud was attending school at Oregon 
State University when the FBI set him up with an apartment and used 
informants to convince him he was going to set off an explosive at the 
tree lighting. As we were protesting that night we saw the Portland Police 
hopping in and out of traffic to ensure Mohamud's van would have a parking 
space. He pressed the buttons on a cell phone and nothing happened, 
because of course there was no real explosive. Then he was convicted and 
sent to jail for 30 years. He's now 32 but will be 49 when his sentence 
ends.

Mohamud filed an appeal earlier this year because the judge in the case 
had relatives who attended that tree-lighting. It was thrown out in 
September.

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/09/man-sentenced-to-30-years-in-prison-for-tree-lighting-bomb-plot-in-portland-loses-bid-to-throw-out-sentence.html

It's was also reported this month that he's renounced violence and is 
teaching other prisoners in Minnesota ways to de-escalate.

https://www.portlandmercury.com/holiday-guide-2023/2023/11/15/46854036/the-terrorism-trap

Portland Copwatch updated its fact sheet on the case here:

https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/endFBIstings_facts.pdf

Not sure if it was the "Free Mohammed Mohamud- End FBI stings" or another 
sign that set off the heckler.


OK, here are some other headlines we talked about, again with 
Israel/Palestine in the forefront. Oh, which reminds me we had another 
person who was angry at the sign we had that said "Free Palestine," asking 
"What about Ukraine?"

--Friday morning Israel and Hamas entered a cease-fire and began releasing 
people held captive. Language matters folks: Why are those held in Gaza 
called "hostages" while the Palestinians held in Israel without charge on 
administrative holds called "prisoners"? And how is nobody talking about 
how the US took nearly 800 people from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba 
and is still holding 29 of those people?

  https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/24/middleeast/israel-hamas-hostage-release-deal-intl/index.html

---Senator Elizabeth Warren is now one of three Senators, along with 
Oregon's Jeff Merkley, and 47 congresspeople total who have called for a 
ceasefire.

  https://workingfamilies.org/ceasefire-tracker/

---A former Obama National Security Advisor was arrested for 
harassment after telling an Egyptian food cart owner that killing 
4000 Palestinian children was not enough. PEP? (Progressive except 
for Palestine)? or just par for the course with a drone bombing 
administration?

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-stuart-seldowitz-former-state-deparment-arrested-for-racist-tirade

---Iran has told the US it doesn't want escalation in the region, but 
said that's not possible without a cease fire. It's not clear if this 
helped Qatar negotiate the current lull in fighting.

  https://archive.is/VWear
  https://www.ft.com/content/e296eb62-cd36-4945-80c2-1ca3a6b79259

Two stories I didn't relay because I couldn't read my own handwriting (the 
kitty-corner has poorer lighting than our usual spot):

----Israel opened fire on Palestinians trying to return to northern 
Gaza during the ceasefire.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2023/11/24/israeli-forces-open-fire-to-stop-people-returning-to-north-gaza

----The Associated Press described northern Gaza as an "uninhabitable 
moonscape."

  https://apnews.com/article/palestinians-gaza-israel-bombing-destruction-hamas-reconstruction-f299a28410b70ee05dd764df97d8d3a0

Also in the news:

--Iraq vehemently condemned two US strikes on Iran-backed militias this 
week, protesting that it is against Iraq's sovereignty. Remember, the US 
troops in Iraq are supposedly only there as "military advisors."

  https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/221120232

--The US deployed missiles banned under a treaty (until the US decided 
to stop honoring that treaty in 2019) toward China.

  https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/11/us-deploy-new-land-based-missiles-armys-pacific-commander-says/392137/

In local news, the City's rewrite of the Police Accountability 
Commission's proposal for the oversight system is even worse than I first 
reported. Because the City wants to keep the Police Internal Affairs unit 
investigating about half (or more) of community complaints, and the power 
of the previous oversight systems dating back to 1982 to oversee Internal 
Affairs isn't part of the new system, there will be nobody checking when 
police investigate other police.

Comments are still being taken at
  doj-comments at portlandoregon.gov
until December 15 about the City's "feckless" plan.

Since we didn't march, I just noted as we were getting ready to end the 
rally that:

--Israel is cracking down on those protesting their warmongering, 
including former Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament (Knesset), 
and, for instance, threatening to prosecute a Jewish anti-war activist as 
a traitor.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-cracks-down-anti-war-jewish-israelis-palestinians

--When the US pushed the 30 members of NATO to spend 2% or more of their 
Gross Domestic Product on their military spending, it seemed that other 
countries might follow America's example of letting people starve, go 
houseless and lack education and medical help. But while the US and Greece 
spend over 3.5% of their GDP and six others spend more than 2%, the vast 
majority (22 countries) are more reasonable.

  https://en.mercopress.com/2022/04/29/only-eight-out-of-30-nations-comply-with-nato-s-spending-target-of-2-of-gdp

Glad to say that the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign stayed on the whole 
time, since we didn't leave our corner at all. There was a message from 
previous "Black Fridays" saying "No Lies: End FBI stings, free Mohammed 
Mohamud."

At least one person had a problem getting to the Square, and I suspect one 
or two hung out with the Palestine protest leading to the 
smaller-than-usual turnout this week. Feel free to join us any Friday at 5 
PM (OOPS, I did write "4 PM" last week as another sharp-eyed reader 
noticed).

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