[pjw] REPORT BACK: on and on: Friday rally #226 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Iraq Affinity Group supporters

Six of us rallied at last night's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice, 
though two peeled off partway through the march so we ended with just 
four. The weather was relatively mild, down from the 100 degree area to 
the mid-80s where we were. There was a noticeably larger number of honking 
horns than over the last two weeks, though not as many people stopped to 
talk or take literature. I revamped the Noor Ghazi flyer to be in the past 
tense (so we don't have to put any more stickers on... the old ones are 
nearly all gone now!) but only handed out one, at the very end. Hmm.

Here are some of the headlines we talked about:

--Israel used a US-made bomb to hit a school in Gaza, killing 37 people, 
according to CNN.

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/10/middleeast/israel-us-munitions-school-strike-khan-younis-intl-latam/index.html

---The journal The Lancet, which helped determine how many people were 
killed in Iraq in the "Gulf War" and the 2003 invasion, believes that as 
many as 186,000 people may have already died in Gaza as a direct or 
indirect result of the fighting there.

  https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext

---Benjamin Netanyahu wants control of the Egypt-Gaza border, though the 
most recent negotiated ceasefire agreement would have left it in Egypt's 
domain. Once again Israel is thwarting the ability to end the conflict.

  https://www.barrons.com/news/netanyahu-demands-israeli-control-of-gaza-territory-on-egypt-border-5897f63a

---Israel bombed Hezbollah again in Lebanon. By the way I showed my 
ignorance within the last few weeks when I wrote about the Israelis who 
want to take over south Lebanon-- there was an entire war where Israel 
invaded in 1982. We're all learning, all the time.

  https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-kills-key-member-of-hezbollah-air-defense-in-strike-deep-inside-lebanon/

--Meanwhile, Hungary has expressed its opposition to (a) NATO being used 
to confront China (which makes sense since China's not on the North 
Atlantic) and (b) Ukraine joining NATO. This is significant because policy 
decisions at NATO have to be unanimous.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-will-not-support-nato-becoming-anti-china-bloc-minister-says-2024-07-11/

--Speaking of Ukraine, the US is deploying long range missiles into 
Germany in violation of a treaty that Trump invalidated. Russia supposedly 
violated that treaty first, but two wrongs, etc. Russia is not happy.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/07/11/russian-officials-vow-response-to-us-missile-deployment-to-germany/

--Despite a moderate being elected President in Iran, the US has 
emphatically said they will not reopen negotiations on the so-called 
"nuclear deal." Yes, another treaty that Trump trampled on.

  https://www.voanews.com/a/us-not-expecting-policy-change-from-iran-under-new-president-/7690076.html

--This week in "there are SOME limits" news, Iraq objected to Turkey's 
military coming some 15 kilometers into the northern Kurdish area. I guess 
bombs are ok, but ground troops will require checking in with the Iraqi 
government first? A most unfortunate partnership. (Oh yeah and don't 
forget Turkey's part of NATO too...)

  https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/100720243

In local news, Portland Copwatch made the news as Commissioner Rene 
Gonzalez once again talked trash about us at City Council. This time we 
were talking about the $11,500 settlement I wrote about last week, 
encouraging the City as we always do to look at the underlying policy 
issues to stop having to pay out money. Gonzalez strongly objected to this 
"abolitionist nonsense." The Portland Mercury called him out (though no 
other City Council member did).

  https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2024/07/10/47297699/commissioner-rene-gonzalez-wants-city-to-rein-in-public-comments-criticizing-police-during-council-meetings

Also, the police oversight system we've all been waiting for since 
November 2020 has made another breakthrough, as the City released a new 
version of the proposed code to run it. They negotiated with the Police 
Association and restored some good items proposed by the Police 
Accountability Commission (allowing people to have an advisor from the 
time they file a complaint, for example) but making some other things 
worse (such as doubling down on the too-vague requirement that Board 
members can't be biased for or against the police). A meeting to discuss 
the new code with the community is set for Monday July 15 at 5:30 PM.

  https://www.portland.gov/wheeler/news/2024/6/27/code-package-implement-community-board-police-accountability-advances-mayors

Along the march route I talked about the latest atrocity in the West Bank, 
where US-backed Israeli security forces shot at Palestinians who were 
throwing rocks at them. A 13 year old boy was killed. Israel's reaction: 
this was a "terrorist" and they were killed in self defense.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-boy-west-bank-says-palestinian-health-ministry-2024-07-09/

As we got back near the start point, I noted that the Senate wants to 
boost non defense spending by just $13.5B (2.7%) vs $21B (3.4% increase) 
for military. Contrast the hundreds of items included in non-defense with 
the one thing the military does: kill people, and it's no wonder people 
don't have enough health care, housing or educational opportunities.

  https://apnews.com/article/congress-spending-cuts-senate-biden-69c08a8759c7af00661f8a3950fdf5e0
The Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign acted a little bit differently this 
week-- it turned off as usual when I first arrived, but turned itself back 
on again (I normally have to reboot the generator). But then it went out 
sometime before we got to the mystery spot near the Apple store, nobody 
saw exactly when it failed this week.

I brought it once again to the Keaton Otis vigil, held on the 12th of 
every month at NE 6th and Halsey where the young Otis was killed in a hail 
of police bullets on May 12, 2010. It was appreciated there.

Another person I work with (but only meet with virtually) came down with 
COVID this week. I'm sure many of you know such people or experienced it 
yourself. So we do still encourage masking and distancing if you plan to 
come down some Friday evening at 5 PM to hang out with us to make the 
world a better place.

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