[pjw] REPORT BACK: no solutions: Friday rally #224 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Iraq Affinity Group supporters

It's been a week of many developments, so we couldn't address everything 
that happened in war, human rights and regional news, but some highlights 
are below. Seven of us rallied and almost all made it on some or all of 
the march this week. I don't remember a lot of honks, and I'm not sure 
what may have been different, maybe a general malaise after Thursday 
evening's CNN event? One person came to look at the literature and 
literally took multiple copies of almost every one... didn't seem really 
interested in them, more seemed to be testing what they could get away 
with. (I didn't let them take the ziploc bag with every remaining 
Guantanamo fact sheet.) I mention this in part because, for instance, 
updating the Noor Ghazi flyers from saying "Livestream" to "watch the video 
at" youtube.com/peaceandjusticeworks has to be done by hand with tiny 
stickers and I'd have preferred to hand them out one at a time to people 
who may have actually read them.

Another person stopped by and started asking pointed questions about what 
we do. In a rare instance, they actually texted to be in touch after 
getting a flyer.

And a petition signature-gatherer came by stating they had no idea the 
rally had been at this corner for 22+years, a typical reaction.

OK, here's some of the interconnected news we talked about.

--Yeah, that Thursday CNN thing was called a "debate" between just two of 
the many people running for President this year. This article in 
Responsible Statecraft notes that neither of those two laid out a clear 
plan to fix foreign policy and stop the US war machine.

  https://responsiblestatecraft.org/presidential-debate-foreign-policy/

--Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear he will not accept any ceasefire plan 
that includes ending the war on Gaza permanently. That's not a 
negotiation, that's obstruction. So on the horrors go.

  https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-mideast-latest-06-24-2024-02725bcefa1d1498bbb836b9a5d4a210

---In the latest pseudo-dirigible news, someone (probably right-wing 
Israeli settlers) sent balloons over the border into Lebanon with warning 
leaflets claiming it is Jewish land. I don't remember any time that Israel 
was granted or seized Lebanese land, maybe I'm missing something. But it's 
just ratcheting up tensions unnecessarily.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/belongs-jews-israeli-balloons-warn-lebanese-flee

---The House voted 269-194 to bar the State Department from using Gaza 
health ministry statistics. Since the UN, news outlets and most 
countries accept those data, it seems like just more suppression of 
the truth. The good news? No Democrats from Oregon voted for it.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/27/house-votes-to-bar-state-department-from-citing-gazan-health-ministry/

---Two people were killed by an  Israeli airstrike on Syria.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-launches-air-attack-syrias-southern-region-killing-two-people-state-media-2024-06-26/

--Not to be outdone, a US drone strike killed three people in Syria.

  https://shafaq.com/en/Iraq/Russia-confirms-US-airstrike-in-Syria-s-Al-Bukamal-following-Global-Coalition-denial

--In more ratcheting up the tensions news, the US is putting new sanctions 
on Iran for refining uranium to 60% even though they still are not 
developing nuclear weapons and would need 90% enrichment to make such 
weapons.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-issues-fresh-sanctions-against-iran-over-nuclear-escalations-2024-06-27/

--And also, US missiles were used by Ukraine in Crimea, leading Russia to 
summon the US ambassador for an explanation. Now, Russia took Crimea by 
force in 2014 so it wasn't technically US weapons on Russian soil, but 
it's another way things seem to be boiling overseas.

  https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-us-missiles-2d2632712540897e2161f72c14bae44f

---Speaking of making things worse in Ukraine, the US is now going to 
allow military contractors to head over there. What could possibly go 
wrong.

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/politics/biden-administration-american-military-contractors-ukraine/index.html

--Back in the States, you probably heard that the Supreme Court ruled 
against houseless people, saying that fining or jailing people who have 
nowhere to go but public property is not cruel and unusual. The Oregon 
statute affirming such rights is still on the books (for now) so Portland 
can enforce its mildly-anti-rights ordinance starting Monday but not worse.

  https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2024/06/28/47279529/what-the-supreme-courts-ruling-against-homelessness-means-for-portland-and-oregon

--OK, let's cleanse the palate a bit by talking about how Julian Assange 
is finally free! Unfortunately to head home to Australia he had to plead 
guilty to violating the Espionage Act of 1917 (!), which ha admits but 
notes the law doesn't allow journalists to publish so-called military 
secrets and so the law itself is wrong.

  https://apnews.com/article/julian-assange-australia-parliament-wikileaks-5193e593e48022dd82a118d552a50718

In local news, the City has released a new version of its proposed code to 
implement the new oversight system for police. The version they adopted in 
November was made a little bit worse in negotiations with the Police 
Association (which, for instance, now can help pick the Director of the 
community-led system), but a tiny bit better by giving complainants a 
"Complaint Navigator" upon their first contact instead of waiting to have 
their complaint accepted for investigation. There's a community forum on 
June 15.

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

About halfway along the march, I noted that a West Bank raid led to 
the death of a member of the US-backed Israeli Defense Forces. I think 
that is the first such casualty since October 7, whereas at least 536 
Palestinians have been killed in that occupied territory since then.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-soldier-killed-during-west-bank-raid/ar-BB1oZeDR

OK, stick with me on this one. I don't put much faith in the International 
Monetary Fund, and this article is from a conservative news source which 
proposes capitalist-friendly ways to address the problem, but the IMF has 
warned that the US debt and deficit ar a threat to the global economy. Now 
if only they'd realize how much of that is due to spending money on war 
instead of human needs, maybe we'd get somewhere...

  https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/newsletter/20240627-IMF-Sends-Urgent-Warning-US-Debt

I ran a few extra feet past the mystery spot but couldn't keep the Ann 
Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign going further than that. I guess the good 
news is that it's being more consistent about WHERE it goes out, but we 
still don't know WHY.

If you're ever downtown, heading downtown, crossing through downtown or 
willing to make a special trip downtown on a Friday night at 5 PM, we'll 
be on the corner of SW Yamhill and Morrison, and would enjoy your company. 
A shout out to one of our regulars who's recuperating in the hospital... 
best wishes for a quick recovery.

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