[pjw] REPORT BACK: b*mbing scorecard: Friday rally #201 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello Iraq Affinity Group Supporters

Here's a preview of what I mean by the subject line this week.

Countries who bombed other countries/territories this week include:

--Israel, the US, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and... Jordan???

Countries/territories who were bombed include:

--Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Iraq (x2), Syria (x4), Lebanon, Iran, 
Pakistan.

You'll note that ONLY TWO OF THE EIGHT WHO WERE BOMBED engaged in bombing 
anyone else. Three of the six attacking countries bombed in more than one 
place, another (USA-USA-USA!!) bombed one country on multiple days.

Anyway, the persistent ice in Portland (which was originally going to melt 
on Wednesday but is likely here until late tomorrow or early Monday) kept 
some folks away from the Friday Rally for Peace and Justice last night. 
Still four of us were there at the rally, albeit appearing slowly over the 
course of time. We did not march since half of the sidewalks still had 
(have?) ice on them. We wrapped up shortly after the announcements.

We had plenty of support, tough, including at least two sets of people 
taking pictures, several people thanking us. One of those was a man who 
talked to me for about 20 minutes while I was waiting for others to 
arrive. He talked about traveling the world and saying people need to 
realize what's really going on, talking about the money made by weapons 
manufacturers through war.

Here are the new signs I made:
https://pjw.info/images/yemensigns.jpg

I carried one back-to-back with the Iraq 33 years later sign that I sent 
you all on Monday.

https://pjw.info/images/iraq33ylsign.jpg

In my efforts to finish up quickly I forgot to refer to that sign and note 
that Tuesday marked 33 years since the "Gulf War" part 1, which is what 
led a year later to the creation of PJW.

OK, here are the details of the sad scorecard above.

--The US bombed Houthi targets in Yemen six times in 8 days. They also put 
the Houthis back on the "terror" list (which notably doesn't include the 
US or Israel, for instance), which can jeopardize the peace process that's 
been going on with the input of the Saudis.

  https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthis-us-military-strikes-dec1682fcb279904f84a8246e987f3fb

---However, spokespeople say these bombs don't mean we're at war, it's 
just "self defense." That's funny, I don't remember the Houthis firing 
missiles at the United States.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/19/us-says-not-at-war-with-houthis-biden-admits-strikes-not-halting-attacks?traffic_source=rss

--The Israeli government has now killed Over 24,000 people in Gaza through 
its bombing campaign and other military raids.

  https://www.ktvh.com/gaza-death-toll-tops-24-000-as-un-agencies-call-urgently-for-more-aid

---Netanyahu opposes giving the Paletinians their own state, saying Israel 
must (???) control the territory from the river to the sea. Um, that's 
called occupation and has already been deemed illegal over and over?

  https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/18/netanyahu-says-he-has-told-u-s-he-opposes-palestinian-state-in-any-postwar-scenario-00136370

---Israeli Defense forces also bombed Lebanon dozens of times.

  https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-782468

---For my follow up Israel/Palestine story, that I'm combining here for 
rhetorical purposes, Israeli drone strikes killed 9 people in the West 
Bank, meaning they've now killed over 360 there just since October.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-west-bank-strikes

--Going after the separatist Baluch movement, Iran and Pakistan bombed 
each other this week.

  https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-iran-air-force-strikes-638f2ee4ccfb1a56d26e8f28f7e91699

---Iran also bombed Iraq, which recalled its ambassador as a result, 
damaging the strong ties the two countries have forged after the US 
invasion of 2003.

  https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240116-iran-launch-ballistic-missile-attacks-a-terrorist-targets-in-iraq-syria

---Also, Iran bombed Syria.

  https://apnews.com/article/iraq-syria-iran-israel-strike-erbil-consulate-31e23813213d3069bc39b94e6e422434

--Not to be outdone, Turkey also bombed Iraq and Syria.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-bombs-terrorist-targets-iraq-and-syria

--I don't ever recall a story about Jordan acting on their own to 
bomb anyone, but this week they bombed Syria to supposedly stop 
illegal drug trading.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/at-least-10-civilians-dead-in-suspected-jordanian-air-raids-in-syria

All of this derives from the US just deciding that the way to push back 
after 9/11 was to use airstrikes and drone strikes willy-nilly around the 
globe, reaping no consequences, and then protecting Israel from criticisms 
for taking that to the extreme in Gaza.

In local news, as I mentioned last week the City paid $100,000 to the 
family of Koben Henriksen, who was killed seconds after an officer who 
should have known better came upon him while he was in crisis. Mayor 
Wheeler usually ignores our testimony, but yesterday took time to blame 
the mental health system for Henriksen's death, and he invited Marc from 
Portland Copwatch to go to Salem with him to lobby for a better system. If 
this sounds vaguely familiar, we've been hearing it for years, for 
instance when Tom Potter blamed the system, not the cops, for James 
Chasse's death in 2006.

  https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/PPR41/chasse41.html

See the Council hearing here:

  https://www.youtube.com/live/vfSVKykbHu4?feature=shared&t=8471

Upcoming this week: A settlement for $81,000 for Marisa Moon, whose wrist 
was broken by cops at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. This brings 
the total to over $2.6 million just for protests that year.

  https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/settlement-marisa-moons-bodily-injury-lawsuit-81000

In "money for human needs, not war" the military's new ballistic missile 
system is 37% over budget and will end up costing $131 billion instead of 
$96 billion. Each missile costs $162 million. How many homes can that 
build? How much health care can it provide? Not their department I guess.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/new-icbm-is-seen-going-37-over-96-billion-cost-forcing-a-us-review/ar-AA1ncKul

Because I came down on the bus, we did not have the Ann Huntwork Peace 
Memorial Sign. I strapped the "bullhorn" to a PJW-owned backpack so was 
able to tell all three other attendees and anyone in shouting distance 
this week's news.

Presumably next week things will be cleared up ice-wise, so if you're up 
for it, please join us. We continue to encourage masking-- geez people on 
the bus if you have a persistent cough at least cover your mouth!!! Sorry, 
just feeling a little anxious after 6 days on Trimet.

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