[pjw] REPORT BACK: take a number: Friday rally #245 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello people who are for peace

With great Goldilocks conditions-- overcast but not raining, chilly but 
not freezing, crowded but not too crowded-- we drew 10 people to the 
Friday Rally for Peace and Justice last night. This included one person 
from Beaverton who happened upon us and took a sign during the rally. Six 
of us went on a modified march, where we went counter-clockwise around 
Pioneer Courthouse Square hoping the 1000s of people there awaiting the 
lighting of the "holiday tree" could see the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial 
Sign, but they were busy listening to the questionable arrangements of 
Christmas songs.

In the past we've had a lot of anger, partly at our messages of peace (go 
figure) or the special signs we have reading "Free Mohammed Mohamud - End 
FBI Stings." There seemed to be a lot less hostility this year. One 
person got upset at the "No War on Russia" sign but then was drawn in by 
the one about ending the siege on Gaza-- a recently converted Muslim. One 
man skateboarding by stopped to say "I love you guys!" One asked who is 
Mohamud? and I said "he was set up in an FBI sting." He said "take a 
number."

During the march we ran across a cluster of cops-- security has been 
high, with roads closed off and many barricades downtown since the sting 
operation on Mohamud in 2010. One of them said "we thought you agreed to 
stay up there," gesturing toward the corner where we'd rallied 
(kitty-corner to our usual spot). People responded saying "we always go on 
a march" and "who told you that?" (This reminds me, I thought I told this 
story to you all by email but seem to have forgotten, that on the 23rd 
anniversary of the Rally in early November, a security guard came and told 
us we could not stand on the Square with our signs. I asked him to show us 
the rule he was citing and he disappeared and never came back. Newbie.)

OK, that's a long lead in to this week's news, which we had to share kind 
of quickly because the VERY LOUD sound system at the tree lighting kicked 
in a little early, before 5:30 PM....

--Retelling the story of Mohammed Mohamud, he was a 19 year old immigrant 
from Somalia whose father had called the FBI worrying he was going to join 
a "terrorist" group. Instead of giving him peaceful options, the FBI set 
him up with an apartment in Portland, asked if he'd like to do something 
(violent) for the cause, and handed him a cell phone telling him he was 
going to explode the van they had parked and kill people at the tree 
lighting. It was all a set up, and now he's in prison until 2040-- sixteen 
more years.

--The Israelis agreed to a ceasefire deal in Lebanon, and then started 
firing missiles on day 2. Kinda hard to believe people who keep pretending 
they don't have nuclear weapons.

  https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-news-11-28-2024-0ec22c89f22c471fdb44c26afc4712b2

---US mercenary firms are seeking contracts to patrol Gaza when Israeli 
troops start drawing down, including the company that absorbed the company 
that used to be called Blackwater.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/us-mercenary-firms-compete-for-huge-contracts-to-control-security-in-north-gaza-report

---On Tuesday, US-backed Israeli Defense Forces killed 22 Palestinians, 
including 11 at a school in Gaza.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/11/26/live-israel-bombards-lebanon-as-ceasefire-talks-continue?update=3349860

---With over a hundred others killed in the few days before that, the 
total number of Palestinians who've died since last October is over 
44,200.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/11/24/israel-attacks-kill-155-palestinians-in-gaza-over-72-hours/

--Meanwhile, the US and the UK dropped more bombs on Yemen. The Houthis 
say there have been a total of 844 attacks this year. Eight Hundred and 
Forty-Four. Mind-melting.

  https://thecradle.co/articles/us-uk-jets-bomb-west-yemen-as-sanaa-pledges-continued-support-for-palestine

--Seven of eight US missiles fired by Ukraine at a Russian airfield were 
shot down. So, this was already the second time they used the long 
range missiles in a week's time since being given permission.

  https://tass.com/politics/1877981

--Julian Assange pleaded guilty (for telling the truth) earlier 
this year and was freed. In a bi-partisan effort, Republican Massie of 
Kentucky and Democrat McGovern of Massachusetts urged President Biden to 
pardon Assange before he leaves office.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/11/27/reps-massie-and-mcgovern-urge-biden-to-pardon-julian-assange/

--An Iraqi militia says that the pact between the US and Iraq 
means that the Israelis will not attack them directly. I hope 
they're right, we don't need more regional conflict.

  https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/281120241

In local news, the Eugene police killed person in the 28th law enforcement
shooting this year.

  https://www.kezi.com/news/federal-law-enforcement-investigating-fatal-officer-involved-shooting-in-glenwood-area/article_3b6b9f5c-ac5b-11ef-b067-638bf81136de.html

Israeli raids in the West Bank killed two people, as they also took 15 
people into custody including a child.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-escalates-west-bank-raids-detaining-15-including-child

And as we continue to monitor whether the new government efficiency office 
will take money out of the military budget, it's important that Elon Musk 
called the people who build the F-35 boondoggle warplanes "idiots" 
implying he would shut that program down. Name-calling is not cool but 
sometimes it helps contextualize these things.

  https://nypost.com/2024/11/25/business/elon-musk-slams-idiots-making-costly-f-35-fighter-jets-as-he-prepares-to-cut-costs/

Oddly, the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign went out as we circled the 
Square, likely near the Federal Courthouse which gives the park its name. 
I rebooted it so we could continue to illuminate (pun intended) the 
public.

The unusually thin crowd at the tree lighting also made it easier to be or 
at least to feel socially distanced, with COVID, cold and flu season all 
upon us. Hope you feel up to being part of a Friday rally some week, it's 
always great to have folks there!

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