[pjw] REPORT BACK: stop bombing Yemen: Friday rally #262 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again peaceful people

For the second week in a row, the rain stopped long enough for the Friday 
Rally for Peace and Justice to take place without getting soggy. Six 
people were at the rally-- including a longtime PJW person who hasn't been 
in I don't know how long-- and went on the march. We had a great number of 
honking horns, people thanking us, and even someone who voluntarily took a 
fact sheet. Last week I placed a QR code (you know those squares you see 
on everything with weird digital patters that your "smart phone" can turn 
into a website address) on the outside of the lit rack-- and someone used 
it! 21st Century here we come.

There was a seventh person at the corner, the organizer of the annual 
last-Friday-before-Eid (end of Ramadan) vigils, whose allies apparently 
got scared off by the rain that literally stopped just before their 4:30 
start time. It was nice to be able to stand with him while we could.

So, what's going on in the news? You probably know most of this, but...

--The US continues to detain students for deportation based on their 
attending/organizing demonstrations supporting Palestine. At least one has 
been released from custody as a judge recognized there's no criminal 
conduct being alleged, only First Amendment protected activity.

  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-detains-university-of-alabama-doctoral-student/

--In the actual war zone, over 38 people were killed in Gaza in one day 
by Israel, bringing the total to 830 since the Israelis unilaterally 
ended the ceasefire on March 18.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/26/israeli-strikes-on-gaza-kill-38-more-palestinians-over-24-hours/

--Violating that other ceasefire, Israel killed four people in Lebanon 
with drones.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/27/israeli-drone-strikes-kill-four-people-in-southern-lebanon

--And as if they can't get enough war, Israel also hit a western Syrian 
port six times with airstrikes.

  https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/831950/israeli-airstrikes-target-military-sites-in-syrias-latakia

--The US has been bombing Yemen every day since the 15th, and lots of 
people have their shorts in a bunch because high level Pentagon types 
accidentally included a reporter in their text chain. OK, that's 
problematic, but there's little talk about THE US KILLING PEOPLE IN YEMEN. 
A UN post talks of the real impacts of 10 years of war there, facilitated 
by the Saudis, the UAE and the USA, including mass malnourishment.

  https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1161536

---The US daily bombings killed at least 25 Yemeni civilians in the first 
10 days.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/25/us-killed-25-civilians-in-first-week-of-renewed-bombing-campaign-in-yemen/

---For his part, the "peace President" Trump pledged to keep bombing 
Yemen, saying that's what is making them want to negotiate. Peace through 
justice, not through murder please.

  https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-the-houthis-want-peace-because-theyre-getting-the-hell-knocked-out-of-them/

--Oh and that same guy saying he doesn't want war as Commander in Chief is 
implicitly responsible for another set of US airstrikes in Somalia. These 
targeted "ISIS" which is weird since the focus of US military attacks 
there have mostly been about Al Shabbab.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/27/us-launches-airstrikes-in-somalia-says-isis-operatives-killed/

--How about a story that gives some hope? The Iranian government responded 
to Trump's letter where he demanded they negotiate about their nuclear 
program or else, saying they will not talk directly to the US but left
open the possibility of indirect talks.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/27/iran-responds-to-president-trumps-letter-proposing-nuclear-talks/

--More great Trumpian hypocrisy came in the form of the US telling Iraq to 
crack down on its militias, which America claims are funded by Iran. Who 
was it again that pardoned a number of militia folks who attacked this 
nation's capitol and led to at least four police officers taking their own 
lives?


  https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/us-warns-iraq-to-crack-down-on-iranian-backed-militant-groups/ar-AA1BzWl5

--I referenced the famous quote by Martin Niemoller before, and now it 
seems Trump may be using that as a playbook of sorts. The second group of 
people Niemoller said the Nazis came for was the trade unionists. Trump 
made an executive order to dismantle most federal unions saying they are a 
threat to national security (meaning they disagree with his politics).


  https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/03/trump-order-ends-collective-bargaining-with-many-federal-labor-unions-citing-national-security.html

In local news, following up on the Police lead executive's blunderous 
"community outreach" efforts where cops stood ominously at Councilor Town 
Halls after those Councilors pushed for police accountability, as well as 
the crackdown on a community group giving houseless folks food and 
supplies, Chief Day got grilled by a City Council subcommittee on Tuesday 
and then the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing on Wednesday. 
The Chief both said he's been a cop here for 29 years AND he didn't think 
through his strategies. Hmm, so much for community policing. I'm including 
links to the videos here, which should land you right at the start of the 
discussions.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORUHpnDDKw&t=45m
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsEjqs1mPcc&t=2435s

Along the march route, I talked about this week's outrage where the 
US-backed Israeli Defense Forces shot an 18 year old in the West Bank in 
the chest, killing him. Were the guns or bullets made or paid for by the 
US? At the least, the policy is supported by our leadership.

  https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-teen-in-nablus-amid-escalating-attacks-in-west-bank/3521296

Then to illustrate how priorities are on ridiculous military contracts and 
not getting people housing, education or health care, I shared this story 
about how Trump wants to replicate Israel's "Iron Dome" defense by 
building a "Golden Dome" here. This is called a waste of money that won't 
even work. Remember Reagan's "Star Wars"? BTW as a practical matter, 
Israel is about the size of New Jersey.

  https://abc17news.com/politics/national-politics/cnn-us-politics/2025/03/22/trump-wants-a-golden-dome-capable-of-defending-the-entire-us-strategically-it-doesnt-make-any-sense/

Looks like the springtime location for the mystery spot has migrated to 
the Gucci Store on 4th, as the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign turned off 
again there this week. FYI with the special event over about Iraq I 
remembered to turn back on the message that says "GAZA-- Ceasefire NOW."

OPB had a story on Think Out Loud this week about Long COVID, saying about 
6% of the population has lingering effects. That would mean one out of 
every 16 people you know. So we continue urging folks to mask up and stay 
safely distanced.

  https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/25/think-out-loud-ohsu-long-covid-clinic-diagnosed-recovery/

But do feel free to join us-- it's been nice seeing familiar faces these 
last couple of weeks.

Oh, one last program note here: If you know anyone who's part of the 
organizing for the April 5 "50501" protest with the theme "Hands Off," can 
you ask why one of their platform points is "Hands off NATO?" Wondering 
whether they talked to survivors of the wars in Yugoslavia and Libya about 
this. Just because Trump's motivations around NATO are wrong doesn't mean 
we should be rallying around the militaristic, Western chauvinism of NATO.

thanks
dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group