[pjw] REPORT BACK: evacuation amnesia: Friday rally #233 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Iraq Affinity Group supporters

Four of us rallied and marched at the Friday Rally for Peace and 
Justice last night, with a fifth person who joined briefly... and one of 
the four had to leave halfway through the march. Several people were 
unable to make it because the overall temperature reached 96... luckily 
the shade in downtown, per the bank clock, made a more livable 87 
degrees for our event.

We had a number of people who gave us support, including one early on who 
said "F* all war!" (I can explain the full word for those who can't figure 
it out). One person by the Rialto room said "if it's for peace I'm all for 
it." We also had a small number of horns honking for us-- not sure if it's 
because it's Labor Day weekend. (Notably, of course, the rest of the world 
celebrates laborers on May Day...) We did have a very polite heckler who 
quietly told one of the attendees "I'm sorry, but I'm pro-war."

Well, what could possibly have made headlines this week? Let's see.

--Former President Trump cynically went to Arlington National Cemetery on 
the anniversary of the deaths of soldiers during the evacuation of 
Afghanistan. For all the brouhaha about Biden's poor planning, Trump's 
entourage ignoring rules about photos and shoving cemetery personnel, etc, 
I only found one article (from French wire service AFP) that mentioned IT 
WAS TRUMP who negotiated for the US to pull out, during talks with the 
Taliban in February 2020, 18 months before the incident in question.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-entourage-accused-of-shoving-staff-at-hallowed-us-military-cemetery/ar-AA1pAFX6

--Anyway, back to the Middle East: The US put more warships and firepower 
around Israel, and rushed more weapons to them supposedly for fear that 
Iran will attack. Setting aside that if anyone else in the world had 
carried out an assassination inside another country the US would back the 
country against the assassins (oh, except for the US themselves), these 
weapons conveniently can help Israel massacre more Palestinians.

  https://archive.vn/yzBuw
  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2024-08-29/ty-article/.premium/concerned-about-iranian-revenge-attack-u-s-keeps-two-aircraft-carriers-in-region/00000191-953f-d302-add5-9fbf55cd0000

---In slightly more hopeful news, ten Israeli soldiers face charges for 
refusing to return to Gaza.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-soldiers-facing-trial-over-refusal-return-gaza

---As part of their expanded war, Israel managed to split the difference 
on two of the countries it's been bombing by killing four people on the 
Syria-Lebanon border.

  https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-drone-strike-on-syria-lebanon-border-kills-senior-islamic-jihad-member-3-others/

--Also in Syria this week, the US used an airstrike to kill a supposed 
terror leader.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/08/25/us-says-it-killed-senior-member-of-hurras-al-din-in-syria/

...SPEAKING OF WHICH, why is the US in Syria anyway? Help us ask that 
question at the rally on Sept 27 titled "Why is Oregon's National Guard 
Headed to Syria 10 Years into the US War?" Details and flyer link here:

  https://pjw.info/syria10yl.html

--Despite the "security agreement" we've been talking about between the 
countries, Iraq shot down a Turkish drone this week, claiming it was 
flying too close to sensitive areas.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-shoots-down-turkish-drone-over-kirkuk

In local news, quite a lot going on around the Portland Police:

--Federal Judge Michael Simon, at the end of a 5.5 hour hearing on 
Thursday, approved the not-so-great changes the City wants to make so they 
can implement the new oversight system, BUT then said they can't go into 
effect until January 2025. Thus, this Council can't create the nominating 
committee or vote on the board members. Unfortunately, Council is 
(currently) set to vote on the City Code for the watered down version of 
the oversight system this Wednesday Sept 4 at 2:45 PM. Maybe people can 
call and say "please delay the vote for 1-2 weeks" since the US DOJ 
agreement guiding the process gives them 21 days after the court hearing.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/08/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-blasts-judge-for-delaying-new-police-oversight-board-short-sighted-and-high-handed.html

(This article was published during Friday rally but I was at the 
hearing...)

---Last Saturday, the day after the previous Friday rally, the PPB shot 
and wounded Robert Seeger (not the singer), who was in mental health 
crisis. They probably should have known who he was because they previously 
abused him sometime in the early 2010s leading to a settlement of $80,000.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/08/man-shot-by-portland-police-last-week-had-made-earlier-excessive-force-complaint-against-police-and-got-80k.html

---Also on Wednesday at Council, they may be approving for the City 
Attorney to appeal the $1 million + jury award to the family of Michael 
Townsend, killed while in a mental health crisis by the Portland Police in 
2021. This is how they show their progress in using less violence toward 
people with mental illness?

  https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/resolution/townsend-appeal

Along the march route, I talked about the US-backed Israeli Defense Forces 
making raids on the Jenin refugee camp, killing at least 18 in the West 
Bank. The media seem to finally be waking up to the fact that this is an 
extension of the war in Gaza... maybe partly because the Israelis are 
saying as much.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/29/israel-ramps-up-military-assault-on-occupied-west-bank-for-second-day

Finally, the crying leadership of the military are sad because the Space 
Force's budget isn't big enough and is straining the Air Force. They only 
get a piddling $30 billion, so they can't keep up with global competition. 
How about maybe spending that money on housing, health care and the 
environment instead of filling outer space with junk weapons???

  https://www.defensenews.com/space/2024/08/27/securing-us-space-assets-is-busting-the-air-force-budget-kendall-says/

So, the theory about the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign going 
further up the sidewalk due to last week's rain was disproven because 
it went out in the same place this week. Seems the mystery spot is 
traveling west somehow.

Remember that we're out every Friday, rain, shine, hail, heat, dust or 
anything else the earth throws at us at SW Yamhill and Broadway at 5 PM. 
Join us if you can!

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