[pjw] REPORT BACK: Roadrunner Tactics??: Friday rally #236 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello supporters of peace and of justice

A few things I neglected to say at last night's rally-- first, that the 
bizarre story of exploding pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon sounds 
like something the Road Runner would use to turn a plot by Wile E. Coyote 
on its head. I also forgot to mention the letter we wrote to Senators 
Wyden and Merkley asking them to stop the US war in Yemen-- though I 
brought a copy with me to read. *Sigh*

I did remember to announce our special event at next week's rally to mark 
10 years of the war in Syria and ask why the Oregon National Guard is 
going there.

  https://pjw.info/syria10yl.html

Also a reminder (if you read this soon enough) that at 3 PM today, 
Saturday 9/21, the Alliance For Democracy sign holding at the east end of 
the Burnside Bridge will mark International Peace Day.

I remembered our dear co-founder Yvonne Simmons, whose birthday would have 
been yesterday, for the dynamic activist she was.

OK, so, there were five of us at the Friday Rally for Peace and Justice, 
and five on the march-- but one person left and a totally new person 
joined us, asking "can I have a sign?" And they stayed till the end. I 
once again stopped the wagon near the Apple Store but the scrolling 
digital sign had already gone out. So it surprised me when a person came 
up and said "I like your sign"-- they were referring to one of the picket 
signs that says "BDS" (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) on the back.

On the other hand, while we got a good number of encouraging gestures, 
horn honks, etc. at the corner, one person walked past saying "long live 
the kingdom of Israel." Kingdom? Who exactly is the king there, did I miss 
something? But the good vibes kept coming including a bunch of folks 
seated outside the Rialto Bar & Cafe, who said "yay peace," gave approving 
gestures and appreciated being handed flyers for next week's event. (In 
all we gave out at least 10 last night, not a lot but our best 
lit-distributors were not there.)

Well, what DID I remember to talk about?

--I did talk about how Israel blew up those pagers and walkie talkies, but 
compared it to a bad spy movie (I like the Road Runner analogy better). 
They killed dozens of people including at least two children and wounded 
thousands. At what point will the US tell them to cut it out???

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/middleeast/lebanon-explosions-intl/index.html

---To follow up, Israel then bombed Beirut, killing at least 12 people. 
Oh, why won't the US say anything? The one person they were trying to 
assassinate (yes, that's what it is when there's a targeted airstrike) was 
someone the US has had a $7 million reward out for since the 1980s. Moral 
relativism at its worst.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-targets-senior-hezbollah-leader-beirut-air-strike

---The Israelis told the US they were going to do something in 
Lebanon but not the details, supposedly.

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/politics/israel-notified-us-lebanon-operation/index.html

---Making things worse, there's no ceasefire deal expected in Gaza until 
the end of President Biden's term... which ends exactly four months from 
yesterday. Just let the killing go on.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/09/19/us-officials-say-there-will-be-no-gaze-ceasefire-deal-before-bidens-term-ends/

---What could make things better is if the United Nations could enforce 
this week's vote by the General Assembly for Israel to end the occupation 
of Palestinian land within a year. The vote was 124-14-43. Do I even have 
to say two of the no votes were the US and Israel?

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/09/18/un-general-assembly-calls-for-end-to-israeli-occupation-of-palestinian-territories/

--As noted previously, these wars keep crossing borders. This week, 
Ukrainian special forces attacked a Russian base in Syria, which is really 
something to wrap your mind around. So in addition to moving their war 
eastward into Russia itself, they're attacking sites in Syria as well...

  https://thecradle.co/articles/ukrainian-special-forces-bomb-russian-base-in-syria-report

--Not content to provoke by sea, the US sent an airplane through the 
Taiwan Strait.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-says-navy-aeroplane-transits-taiwan-strait-2024-09-17/

--As part of the "will they or won't they" plot development since 2021, 
Iraq now says they will announce an end to the "coalition" mission (led by 
the US) during an upcoming conference on the Islamic State. Here's hoping 
that means the US will be out of Iraq for real. Remember, the Iraqi 
government has repeatedly said that ISIS is no longer a threat.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/iraqi-pm-announce-end-us-led-coalition-mission

In local news, we released the new Portland Copwatch newsletter, the 
People's Police Report #93, just before the end of August.

  https://portlandcopwatch.org/PPR93/PPR93dex.HTML

At that time there had "only" been 16 police shooting incidents in Oregon 
in 2024. Now, about four weeks later, there have already been 20. But 
still, there may be fewer than 30 for the first time in eight years if the 
police can keep their pistols in their holsters.

Along the march route I mentioned there were more US-backed Israeli 
Defense Force raids in the West Bank this week, the most recent of which 
killed six people. Ongoing with your tax dollars and no restraints.

  https://www.arabnews.com/node/2572073/middle-east

As we headed back to the Square I noted that some new submarines are 
slated to run $17 billion over budget-- that's not the cost of the program, 
that's just the overage. But that is over the course of six years, so 
"only" $3 billion a year or so. But wait, couldn't we use that kind of 
money to house people, make sure they're healthy and educate them? Nah, 
let's make more war.

  https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-submarines-17-billion-over-budget-in-crisis-lawmaker-2024-9?op=1

Showing off to our new marcher, the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign went 
out in the same new mystery spot space across from the Apple Store/ in 
front of Louis Vuitton. Maybe it's just shy.

Just spoke with a cashier and thanked them for masking up. They said it 
was because they had gotten COVID two weeks ago. It's out there and 
circulating, and scientists don't know what to make of long COVID.

  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351

So be careful... and do join us sometime if you can, next week should be a 
good one.


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