[pjw] REPORT BACK: that holiday spirit: Friday rally #249 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again peaceful people

Well, in addition to the rather belligerent news you'll be reading about, 
we had a few angry comments tossed our way last night at the Friday Rally 
for Peace and Justice, where six of us rallied and four marched.

One was a pair of Transit Security guards (so, not actual cops) who 
approached, seeing our signage, and said "f*ing idiots." (They said the 
whole word, you don't need to hear it.) I said "Did you just call us 
idiots?" and they said "Yes." And I immediately said "can I have your 
badge number?" Now, being security they probably don't have badge numbers 
but likely to have DPSST (Department of Public Safety, Standards and 
Training) numbers, but this happened in a few seconds as they walked by 
and crossed the street. They said nothing else and were gone before I 
could follow up.

Also, a person got in the faces of those folks carrying "Free Palestine" 
signs, asking what it meant and why we weren't pushing to make things 
right for the indigenous people in America first. When the person came 
over to harangue me I said "we do talk about 'land back' here, but why 
can't we ask for justice for everyone at once?" The response? A grunt and 
more ranting as the person walked away.

We did have quite a few horns honking, maybe that holiday shopping anxiety 
was the cause of the last few more silent nights so to speak, and some 
thankful pedestrians. At the end as I was readying to roll away the wagon 
a man offered to amplify our message on social media and gave me two 
"spirit sticks" which look a lot like cheap plastic colored pieces of 
Rotini meant to be hung on a holiday tree. Still, the thought matters.

  https://pjw.info/spiritsticks.jpg

I was able to recite all the news this week without interruption from 
quasi-hecklers. Here's what came up:

--The US-backed Israeli Defense Forces raided and set fire to one of the 
last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, claiming it was a stronghold 
of Hamas. Um, Hamas is technically the government in Gaza, and 
international law says you can't attack civilian targets. Oh, I forgot, 
Israel doesn't care.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-army-sets-fire-to-north-gazas-last-functioning-hospital

---The US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is often 
linked to pushing imperialist policies, actually posted a report on its 
website about the famine in Gaza. But the Israeli government blasted it as 
untrue so while USAID tried to do the right thing at first, they took down 
the report under pressure.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-famine-warning-withdrawn-after-us-diplomat-scolds-usaid

--The US has admitted that there have been 2000 troops in Syria, 1100 more 
than the 900 they've been reporting for years, and well more than the 2500 
they say they have in Iraq, but didn't give a firm number. They feared 
telling the truth would present security problems. That seems right, a 
transparent democracy lying to its own people and the world. ???

  https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2024/12/23/pentagon-quietly-increases-us-troop-level-in-syria-iraq

--The US bombed Somalia on Christmas Eve, the first such airstrike since 
July, killing two people.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/12/26/us-launches-airstrike-in-somalia-claims-2-al-shabaab-fighters-killed/

--Israel bombed Yemen's airport the day after Christmas, killing six 
people. The World Health Organization chief was at the airport at the 
time. Israel said the were unaware, which is unlikely given their track 
record of killing people connected to the United Nations.

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/26/middleeast/israeli-strikes-yemen-sanaa-houthis-intl/index.html

---The US also bombed Yemen again, and in the chaos they helped create (by 
continuing to support Israel), shot down an American fighter jet (the 
military people on board ejected safely).

  https://nypost.com/2024/12/24/us-news/second-navy-jet-nearly-brought-down-by-friendly-fire-in-red-sea/

--In Syria, a former member of Al Qaeda blacklisted by both the UN and the 
US was announced as the intelligence chief. Let's see how far the US is 
willing to go in their "enemy of my enemy is my friend" stance to 
hypocritically back the people they are claiming they started the "War on 
Terror" to defeat. Probably pretty far since there's still oil in Syria.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/hts-names-un-designated-terrorist-as-syrias-new-intelligence-chief

--Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones hit apartment buildings in Russia.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/22/russias-putin-pledges-destruction-on-ukraine-after-kazan-drone-attack

---And instead of warning them against hitting civilian targets, President 
Biden announced a "surge" in weapons being sent to Ukraine.


  https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-to-continue-surge-of-weapons-deliveries-to-ukraine-biden/3434489

--Iraq's intelligence minister went to Syria to discuss border security 
and their shared dislike of the Islamic State.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/high-level-iraqi-delegation-makes-first-visit-to-syria-since-turkish-backed-coup

In local news, the man who died in police custody on December 11 (see the 
report back from December 14) was named Matthew Greer. The two officers 
who came upon him recorded his death on body cameras, with Greer 
complaining of pain in his legs and arms and thinking he was about to die. 
Rather than call for medical, they cuffed him on suspicion of stabbing a 
convenience store clerk, then noticed he wasn't breathing, THEN called for 
medical, but it was too late. (I forgot to mention that the two officers 
involved also shot and wounded a suicidal man living in his van back in 
2017.)

  https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/12/stabbing-suspect-muttered-im-going-to-die-before-he-stopped-breathing-in-portland-police-custody.html


Along the march route, I said that a commonplace piece of news happened in 
the West Bank, where the US-backed IDF killed one person in a drone 
strike, but the unusual news is that Fatah banned Al Jazeera for 
reporting badly on their governance. It seems the occupied are taking on 
traits of the occupier-- remember, Israel banned AJ from Gaza...

  https://thecradle.co/articles/tulkarem-jenin-under-attack-as-fatah-bans-al-jazeera-in-west-bank

And as we came closer to the Square again, I noted that President Biden 
signed the obscene $895 billion defense bill. While he expressed his 
opposition to its suppressing humane policies-- it prohibits transgender 
care for children of military personnel and the use of funds to transfer 
people out of Guantanamo, he still signed the thing.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/biden-signs-defense-bill-despite-objections-to-ban-on-transgender-health-care-for-military-children/ar-AA1woU3U

The Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign froze up on the words "US Out" as 
I "checked my watch" in front of the Apple store, and then went out 
directly across the street from there during the march.

It was pouring rain, and I think I only handed out one flyer-- to the 
spirit stick blogger-- about the special Friday Rally in two weeks on Jan. 
10 about 23 years of Guantanamo.

  https://pjw.info/guantanamo23yl.html

If you feel up to it come on down that day at 4:30 or any other Friday at 
5 PM and join us to educate the public about focusing on human needs and 
not war!

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