En Marcha: There is a risk of the generalization of the war in Europe and Music for the struggle + more on US elections + recording of Grover Furr's Robeson talk

Again on voting for Biden – there is also a 'moral hazard.'  It has been said (by Zinn?) that voting is a very easy action people can take, not to replace other forms of activism, but if voting for the president is seen as important and high value, it seems like a person would feel the need to justify their vote to themselves. They would have to think that Biden does xyz, or neglects to do something, but is still better than Trump.  Biden's 'good' points come with total support for Israel, war in Ukraine, moves towards war with China, hostility to free speech opposed to his foreign policy, hostility to TikTok (over Gaza?), etc.  A peron might need to defend their choice to others.  I'm justifying right here.  They might start identifying as members of the Democratic Party's "coalition."  It seems like voting for Biden to stop Trump could be a slippery slope to voting "Blue No Matter Who" every four years, like the CPUSA advocates.  They always say something like defeat the ultra-right, but they have also said that voting for the Democrat brings influence.  Why have a "Communist Party?"  I don't think there is even a call to support a left Democrat in primaries, just vote for the more rightist Democrat who inevitably wins.  When Democrats say "Vote Blue No Matter Who," does that include voting for a Bernie Sanders type Democrat, if one were ever allowed to win the primary?  In a different sense, FRSO seemed to expect influence with the grassroots after supporting Obama, and instead they were targeted by Obama's government.  I think it has been claimed that people come to identify with the candidate they intend to vote for, so voting might not be just a simple action taking a few seconds.  I could vote for Biden-Harris in 2024, but then what?  I haven't heard much election strategy from the left recently, or I've been missing it (Counterpunch?), but I'm not aware of any plan or campaign to do things differently if Biden gets a second term.  Vote Biden, despite what he represents, carry on in the same way for another four years, vote for the next 'dismal Democrat' (Harris? in Charlotte, NC today) and so on, until an apocalypse comes about, maybe due to the actions of those Democrats.  "Reject Fascism," object to/impeach Trump from inauguration, but I haven't seen a national campaign to reject Biden and Co'.s warmongering and attacks on those who dissent, other than very limited campaigns like Vote Uncommitted.  There was something about economic warfare (only counting Trump's term in office?) having killed something like 40,000 Venezuelans, and Biden is getting up there in the Middle East.  Around 2020 someone said vote for Biden now, and we can work on creating a better choice for 2024.  The Biden administration is 'frustrated' and 'concerned' about Israel's actions, but they still give Israel everything it wants.  Pressure the Democrats to change and condemn their policies, but then support them no matter what they do, when their power is under question.  Maybe people take their votes lightly.  I sometimes forget whether I voted for a politician in a lower office, but I remember my presidential votes.  Maybe there isn't much point in discussing the election.  I admire and respect academics, except that many academics rightly condemn the actions of the Democratic Party, and then vote for them and discourage attempts to create an alternative.  They might also use the Democratic Party's language and slogans, as much of the media does.  Notice the positions of radical and not so radical academics on Counterpunch, etc.  

[4/16 -- I was thinking of a few authors on Counterpunch, but here is "Words and History:  The Trouble with 'Genocide Joe,'" [ portside.org/2024-04-15/words-and-history-trouble-genocide-joe or stansburyforum.com/2024/04/14/words-and-history-the-trouble-with-genocide-joe ] by anti-Stalin left academic Fred Glass, in the hierarchy of the California DSA, re-posted by Portside, from the Stansbury Forum.  I thought Portside was left, or at least left of the Democratic Party.  "....the personalization takes our eyes off the prize, which is the structure of imperialist oppression, on the one hand, and building the broadest possible movement to fight it, on the other."  Building a movement with Biden or his help?  With the pro-Democratic Party union leadership?  What, if anything, was done to get a Democrat other than Biden to be the nominee this year?  Biden is 'frustrated' with the Israeli government, but still gives them everything they need.  Maybe Biden would stop if Israel were to use its undeclared nuclear weapons or began mass execution of civilians (or has Israel already started executing large numbers of civilians at hospitals and in free-fire zones?), but not short of that point.  "...in 2003, a massive but brief anti-war movement crashed and burned against the brick wall of the right-wing Bush administration."  If there had been a Democratic administration?  Biden helped George W Bush launch the Iraq War and in each election a pro-war Democrat ran against Bush.  Many have traced the de-mobilization of the anti-war movement to the rise of the Obama campaign and administration, and then the wars continued in Afghanistan and Iraq, with the addition of Libya and the proxy wars in Yemen, Syria, etc., though Obama might have been better regarding Cuba and Iran than Biden has been.  The Democratic Party today might be the party of George W Bush.  "When the next Gaza arises—and given American imperialism, it will—the space for a mass movement to oppose it will be tightly constrained and likely violently crushed by the repressive force of a police state under far-right Republican control."  More than in the UK and Germany there is "space" here to protest the wars, but it doesn't have much of an effect.  Democrats cracked down on FRSO, the APSP, and Occupy, etc. and Nancy Pelosi threatened to have send the FBI after pro-Palestinian protesters.  Vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968, to stop Nixon?  No blame for the SPD in Weimar German politics?  In addition, the SPD had an armed wing it didn't use in the 1930's, probably because the Nazis gained power through the system.  What about the rest of the government, and the "international community?"  Full-blown Nazism, or a Pinochet or Franco-type regime will be instituted if we don't given Biden an undeserved second term in November? -- www.californiadsa.org/news/2024-the-fascist-danger  What about the anti-democratic actions by the Democratic Party and its media?  People couldn't even vote against Biden in the primary here and NPR's 1A has a special one hour anti-Trump program each week with Todd ~Zwilick, as if NPR isn't on pro-Biden all day long.  Zwilick is on at least twice this week.  Biden is sacrificing his re-election chances for war in the Middle East, and both Trump and Biden are interested in having a war with China and deepening the proxy war with Russia.  Give Biden control of Congress, and maybe the Democrats will safeguard abortion, though they could have done it before.  Under either party, the government is interested in cracking down on anti-war protesters.  Ban TikTok to stop online opposition to the current wars.  Biden might be the 'lesser evil,' but the US left in general has no other plan than to vote for Biden Democrats forever.  Why have a communist party, or even the Democratic Socialists of America, if the plan is to Vote Blue No Matter Who, forever?  I don't want to be ageist, but on the left it often seems to be former Vietnam War opponents who say that the choice is Biden or the Apocalypse this fall.  Even in 2004 and 2008 people were saying it was elect the Democrat or it will be the end of the world.  There was a novel around 2004 called 2014 [America 2014:  An Orwellian Tale, by Dawn Blair, 2004}, and here we are.  I don't know what the answer is, but I'm not inclined to vote for Biden and the Democratic Party is carrying out the same nasty campaign as in previous elections.  How dare I not turn my vote over to them, so they can go start some wars, crack down on online speech, monitor citizen communications, fund Elon Musk, prepare the ground for an impending war to take down China, etc!  Harass voters and use any legal or extra-legal means to prevent third party or independent opposition.  If the Republicans represent fascism, why stop at legal means?  On the other hand, power alone might be enough motivation.  And there is the question from before, after all of this talk, what if Trump wins 'fairly,' under the rules of the system?  They could have tried to change the rules for the better, though they also want to rig the system for the two major parties.  NPR, etc. act like it isn't "democracy" unless there are repeated term limits on a country's chief executive, though that only started here to prevent popular Democrat FDR from winning again.  I remember what I was doing the morning of 9/11/2001, but not really on "J6."  Maybe if I had been in or near Washington, DC.  People were prepared to protest and impeach Trump upon inauguration, but probably few will do anything if Biden does win the election and it won't be newsworthy [for the mainstream media, so few would see it, though maybe angry protesters for Palestine would 'crash' a second Biden inauguration in large numbers or do something very attention-grabbing].  "Refuse Fascism," though that isn't what they called it in January 2017, and add "Russiagate" russophobic allegations, but give Biden a chance for four more years, and then vote for the next no doubt pro-war, pro-Israel, russo- and sinophobic, anti-populist "national security state" Democrat.  After 2016 they dropped "free trade."  Why open that Portside article?]  [There is stansburyforum.com/2024/03/31/uncommitted-is-the-antiwar-movement-breaking-into-mainstream-u-s-politics ]

NPR on Treasury Secretary Yellen's visit to China:  China is "overproducing clean energy products."  I thought climate change was a massive, WWII-level problem.  What happened to bashing China about burning coal? 

[A YouTube video and text of the ICSS talk on "Paul Robeson, Stalin, and the History of the Soviet Union" by Grover Furr March 31st has been posted: 

"The text is now available as a web page:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsuweb.montclair.edu%2F~furrg%2Fresearch%2Fantistalinism_talk_033124.html&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cfefd45ca6fe04c4823e908dc534b821d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638476831011438076%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=U8rOIxngakCKBu9K8ESNP5UhxtsH8XcrRS7IeuAcqng%3D&reserved=0

It is also linked at the top of [Grover Furr's] Home Page:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsuweb.montclair.edu%2F~furrg%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cfefd45ca6fe04c4823e908dc534b821d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638476831011448940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=zbWcRc73hc1eAKs%2FRlWgJ4iwT4LHBe7ZXhgv0CoYBRM%3D&reserved=0

Finally, here again are the links to the Youtube recording of this talk:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FfD3l978H4Oo&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cfefd45ca6fe04c4823e908dc534b821d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638476831011454998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2Fi0sMZsFT4j7s2z3PqvkxhYQpe7ruMwPXse%2FT5NoLtI%3D&reserved=0

and

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FfD3l978H4Oo%3Fsi%3DeQ_1g_afelpulAI8&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cfefd45ca6fe04c4823e908dc534b821d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638476831011459678%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3aTtuNBnjF7qubzBHtRR%2Bfq1%2FRqJ2UzWPtU%2BYRVTqao%3D&reserved=0  "

[4/16 -- In Spanish:  derebeldearevolucionario.wordpress.com/2024/04/15/conferencia-de-grover-furr-paul-robeson-jr-los-trotskistas-y-el-anti-estalinismo/ ]

I received this translated article, not related:

En Marcha #2088, April 3-9, 2024 [ www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13056 ?]
Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

There is a risk of the generalization of the war in Europe

The popular adage says that no one wins from war, but that is not true. Arms companies are the main beneficiaries; with the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and the genocide in Palestine, these transnationals have increased their profits by 35%.

In 2022, the arms industry already accumulated €12 billion in turnover and now has more growth prospects due to intensifying conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. Honeywell International, RTX Corporation, Safran SA, BAE Systems, Thales, Rheinmetall, Dassault Aviation, Leonardo, Kongsberg, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corporation, General Dynamics, L3Harris Technologies and Huntington Ingalls Industries are the 14 largest companies benefiting from this escalation.

The large profits of these trusts, as well as the contention for markets and the influence of imperialism, lead several world powers to make decisions that escalate the conflicts and may affect nearby territories such as Moldova or Belarus. Along these lines, the French National Assembly voted in favour of the bilateral security agreement between France and Ukraine, which provides for a reinforcement of military aid, in particular in the field of artillery and air defence, and positions itself in favour of Ukraine's integration into NATO and the European Union, a resolution that ratifies Macron's statements on sending French troops to Ukraine.

While the members of parliament in Paris supported the escalation of the conflict, NATO carried out military exercises involving 90,000 troops, as well as 1,100 armored vehicles, including 166 battle tanks, making it the largest military maneuver since the years of the "Cold War".

To these facts, the Russian president Putin pointed out that "...We have weapons capable of hitting targets on their territory... All this threatens to [unleash] a conflict with nuclear weapons and thus the destruction of civilization," thus threatening the countries of Europe and the United States with a nuclear attack if the provocations continue.

As can be seen, the imperialist countries are not interested in peace or the lives of the workers and peoples of the world. It is their economic and political interests that take precedence over the interests of humanity, so it would not be surprising that acts such as the attack on the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow can become justifications to continue with the warmongering and expansionist attitude. Therefore, despite the fact that a wing of the infamous "Islamic State" was responsible for this fact, Putin and his government pointed out connections between this terrorist group and Ukrainian military forces, so they arranged a massive attack on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. So far, the policy of the United States and European powers to isolate Russia through a harsh scheme of economic sanctions has not had the expected results, so they are betting on an increase in military actions in Ukraine. It will take a few years until we know the true cost of this war, but in the short-term Russia has circumvented economic sanctions with relative success, largely due to its alliance with China which is growing thanks to the war economy. The current development of inter-imperialist contention leads us to believe that the imperialist powers may try to expand the Ukrainian conflict, whether in Europe or elsewhere in the world.

This is from the same issue of En Marcha:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13051  I used Google's translation:

Music for the struggle

Art is a canvas where ideas of one kind or another are reflected, social inequalities and desires for change result in even commercial artists, moved by reality, feeling committed to denouncing it in their creations. And the music known as protest, rebellious, anti-imperialist, democratic, libertarian or revolutionary was not a construction that remained back in the era of the new song, the revolutions, uprisings and armed struggles of the last century, it is fully valid while the world be unfair.

In the link below, we share a compendium of 100 songs for social struggle, among the most listened to on Spotify, with genres such as pop, reggaeton, rock, rap, reggae, punk, cumbia and more, and contemporary artists...They have been chanted in the latest protests, they accompany the student marches, they have become the soundtrack for the rights of women and nature, they have been the frontal denunciation of the bourgeois governments in power, and the warm invitation to the fight for the revolution and a new world.

To listen to them, open this link and tap the first button or in the Spotify search engine, tap the camera icon and scan the image:  linktr.ee/jre.ecuador

2022 NCGP ballot access lawsuit victory

A Jill Stein campaign fundraising email from the NC Green Party's 2022 Senate candidate, Matthew Hoh, with breaking (?) news that the Democratic Party has been fined for trying to deny the NCGP ballot access that year.  Of course, the Democratic Party has 'deep pockets' and might have carried out its campaign to deny citizens their rights without fear of consequences.  There were also accusations of illegal activity by State (Democratic Party-controlled) and a few county boards of election and Democratic Party-connected actors.  In this election cycle the Democrats rigged or engineered their primary for Biden and are again trying to prevent voters from having any choices other than Trump and Biden.  They are also again giving money to 'fringe' Republicans, thinking that they will be easy to beat, but what if it goes like 2016, when the Democrats reportedly preferred to run against Trump?  –    

    

I have great news for all of you who supported my campaign and the Green Party in North Carolina in 2022. 

A US District Court just ruled in our favor and fined the Democratic Party for its failed attempts to keep us off the ballot in 2022.

The Court determined that the Democratic Party's efforts in federal and state courts were “frivolous” and “without foundation.”

That's what a court says when someone has been lying like the Democrats were when they falsely claimed we committed fraud in our ballot access drive.

We never committed any fraud, but the Democratic Party, one-half of the uni-party of War and Wall Street, was scared to death that there might be Green Party candidates offering voters a choice that was dangerous to their big-money donors.

So they slandered us and did everything they could to deny voters freedom of choice on the ballot.

Jill and her team were great supporters of mine in 2022. The Democratic Party will lie, slander and commit fraud against Jill just as they did to me. It's what they do when confronted with a threat to their power and their donors' profits.

So, as you supported me in 2022 and allowed us to defeat the Democratic Party in Court and receive the ballot access we deserved, I have to ask you to do the same for Jill.

Jill scares the Democratic Party AND the Republicans much more than I ever could because she has the support of millions of Americans who know that we can have the country and society we need.

We need to ensure she can be on the ballot as I was.

Please keep democracy moving forward and help Jill give working families a candidate for peace, planet and prosperity in November.

In solidarity,

Matthew Hoh

US Peace Council: ¡Alfred Marder Presente!

Original posting and photo at:  uspeacecouncil.org/alfred-marder-presente/

¡Alfred Marder Presente!

It is with great sadness that we report that our beloved comrade Alfred Marder, a steadfast internationalist, and anti-imperialist, died last night. Al was exactly one month shy of reaching 102 years old.

We can hardly begin to capture Al’s profound contributions to peace, justice, and civil rights by summarizing his creative and leadership accomplishments. Indeed, it is hard to capture the influence Al has had and will continue to have going forward on so many of us in the U.S. and around the world.

For several decades, Al presided over the U.S. Peace Council, which he helped found. He was also a Vice President of the World Peace Council, forcefully engaged in conferences on every continent, and active leader of his local Peace Council, organizing and participating in every local action to build broad support for peace and justice.

Al co-founded the City of New Haven, Connecticut, Peace Commission and became its longest serving Chair. His efforts placed New Haven at the forefront of municipal peace efforts shepherding the city into the United Nation’s International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, which held its first assembly in New Haven. Al served for several terms as its only president who was not the mayor of a member city.

Al was a founder and long-term Chair of Connecticut’s Amistad Committee that brought to the public a key moment in the history of the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the effort to construct and chaired Connecticut’s Freedom Trail Planning Committee, highlighting events and locations historically prominent in the struggle for African American freedom in the state and throughout the nation.

Al became president of PERA, the nonprofit organization that revived and ran the New Haven Peoples Center, a progressive community center that provided space for groups organizing peace, immigrant rights, union organizing, people’s culture and the Connecticut People’s World newspaper.

Al is a working class hero. From the age of fourteen, during the Great Depression, Al participated in the people’s struggles for jobs and living wages, for equality, for access to higher education for workers, for cultural integration. Al became a leader of the Young Communist League, a union organizer, and a lifelong Communist for which he was arrested and prosecuted during the political witch hunts of the 1950s. Al not only survived persecution but vigorously continued his varied progressive, political activities.

Al was a working class intellectual. Despite many frailties of age, Al’s keen intellect was sharp to the very end. He was never without ideas for action and engagement in the people’s struggles. Words cannot express how much his friends, comrades, and the global peace community he was so much a part of will miss him, will miss his unbounded energy, his abundant sense of humor, truly a gift to all of us.

Al was dedicated to his family, which included many close friends. He is predeceased by his wife Nancy and son Ken. He is mourned by his daughter Rebecca, son-in-law Bill, grandchildren Emily and Adam and their families, including one great grandson.  

Al Marder’s death leaves a great gap in our collective, both in the U.S. Peace Council and the World Peace Council, but our work going forward will necessarily reflect his boundless and creative energy, his iron resolve to broaden the movement for peace and justice, to engage every corner of our society in that just struggle and move people to action.

U.S. Peace Council
December 19, 2023

PSL: "Free Palestine, free all Palestinian political prisoners, end all US aid to the Israeli apartheid regime" and other statements about the October 7th al-Aqsa Flood/Deluge/Storm

Other articles: 

A statement from Hamas is supposed to be here, but it won't open, though that could just be a problem on my end:  hamas.ps/en/post/4969/Hamas-chief-Operation-Aqsa-Flood-is-a-strategic-track-to-respond-to-continued-Israeli-crimes?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email  It might be blocked on Twitter, but there are images here:  twitter.com/decensorednews/status/1710834568423506393?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email  Would Blogger/Google do something if I typed it up here?

redphoenixnews.com/2023/10/07/breaking-palestinian-resistance-launches-surprise-offensive-against-israel/

cpcml.ca/cpcmlarticle2310071947/

informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/10/07/israel-pounds-gaza-after-palestinian-resistance-seize-israelis-in-major-attack/#

informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/10/07/palestinian-resistance-in-gaza-launches-unprecedented-surprise-attack-on-israel/

Take action:

www.answercoalition.org/join_a_protest_near_you_free_palestine?  Most of the demonstrations were today, Sunday, October 8th, including one in Raleigh, NC's Moore Square at 4pm, but a few will be later in the week [There were demonstrations in Raleigh at 4pm and in Charlotte at 2pm on the 15th, and Hamas called for demonstrations on the 13th; I expect that there will be demonstrations the weekend of the 20th as well.]  I am surprised that the NPR news headlines October 8th mentioned any, given that they usually ignore anti-war protests, but maybe they wanted to mention the denunciation by the governor of New York.  October 7th they reported something about LA sending police to guard synagogues and mosques, with the emphasis on synagogues, and there was a denunciation of demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine, but maybe that was in New York.  Israel warned Gazans to get out of the way of its Operation Iron Swords attack, as if there is any open border they can cross and even the sea is closed.  [Egypt apparently charges for entry and raised the price recently, if the border is currently open.][10/16:  The border is not open, and also, imagine what the mainstream media would say if Russia 'ordered' Ukrainian cities to be evacuated - they can warn about impending bombing and recommend that civilians flee, but to "order" them?  It also reminds me of the George W Bush administration 'ordering' Saddam Hussein to leave his country, or face a war of aggression, but war crimes are okay when the US commits them.  If Mexico or Canada ordered the US border region to be evacuated, or Cuba ordered the evacuation of Miami?  Israel claims that it does not occupy or control Gaza, so it shouldn't be able to 'order' Gazans to do anything.]  It also implies that Israel will ignore its obligations, and Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, and most other Democratic Party politicians were fine with that before October 7th and are fine with it after October 7th.  And some Arab countries have been normalizing their relations with Israel over the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, though this attack might put off normalization with Saudi Arabia.  [Some hysterical, over the top rhetoric from Israeli spokespeople, who sound like Americans, on the BBC October 8-9, though ordinary Israelis sound more believable.]

www.codepink.org/indefensible?

bdsmovement.net/news/urgent-action-alert-for-meaningful-solidarity-with-palestinians at the UN General Assembly

[10/16:  Recently, around October 13th or 14th I heard a former US "peace" negotiator, now at the "Carnegie Endowment for Peace," theorizing on NPR that the Biden administration is making very pro-Israel statements to create a "framework" giving them more leverage with Israel later, though Israel had already killed more Palestinians than the Israeli death toll from the attack on October 7th by about then, bringing things back to the usual situation in which far more Palestinians are killed than Israelis.  The commenter also called Biden "preternaturally" pro-Israel regardless.  October 16th someone on NPR in the afternoon theorized that the administration's public and internal rhetoric might be different for the same reason.  That had occurred to me.  Somewhere today it was suggested that the Biden administration's diplomatic effort for Israel amounts to US culpability in war crimes.  NPR and BBC coverage of the war on Palestine is so different from their coverage of the war in Ukraine, and has almost replaced coverage of Ukraine.  They even admit that there is domestic opposition to US support for Israel's war, from October 8th, while they mostly cover up opposition to Biden's proxy war in Ukraine even now, other than Republican opposition in Congress and occasionally they mention a protest in the EU.  It could be seen as bizarre.  I'm amazed that NPR let a guest on 1A before 12pm on Friday, October 13th say that Israel is telegraphing that it will commit something like "mass atrocities" in Gaza, not that NPR or other mainstream media have suddenly given up their warmongering and support for US imperialism.  Impeach Biden, though the Republicans are unlike to impeach over foreign policy they generally support - it was also suggested recently that the Republicans are pleasantly surprised to find Biden on their side regarding Israel's attack on Gaza, though most Democratic and Republican politicians are very pro-Israel, even allowing Israel to kill American citizens.  The Democrats refused to impeach George W Bush over war crimes they supported at the time or had been guilty of carrying out earlier.]

[A November 1st American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee email notes that:

"We have seen the sharpest increase in hate incidents, crimes, and discrimination in over 20 years. What we are witnessing is a 21st century version of McCarthyism."

A statement October 27th from the ADC:  

Washington, D.C. | adc.org | October 27, 2023 –  What Israel continues to inflict on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip as the whole world watches is unfathomable, unjustifiable and criminal. The ADC calls, yet again, for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, for immediate humanitarian aid, stop supplying weapons to Israel, an end to the attempted forced transfer of Palestinians, and an end to the brutal blockade on the Gaza Strip. There is no doubt that the impeding ground invasion will undoubtedly make this ongoing genocide worse. 

 

The images projecting on our screens of the relentless and barbaric bombardment of Gaza by Israel with American-made weapons are juxtaposed against yet another disgraceful “no” vote for a ceasefire by the United States at the United Nations. Once again the U.S. stands on the opposite side of the international community.  The US is not merely a bystander in this genocide, it is playing an active role. To date President Biden has refused to meet with Arab and Palestinian American community members and representative organizations [DS:  I thought that there was at least one, maybe low-key, meeting in October]. He has ignored the calls from the community demanding a cease fire and an end to the forced transfer of Palestinians. 

 

It is not too late - President Biden can put an immediate end to this by demanding a cease fire.

 

The implications of the war on Palestine extend beyond the political confines of foreign policy. At home we continue to see a surge in anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian hate, creating an environment that is unsafe for many in our community.. There is a coordinated, sophisticated, and well funded attempt focused on silencing our community members in the workplace and on college campuses across the country[,] creating an environment that is unsafe for many of our community members.   

 

Over 7000 Palestinians have been killed, two thirds of whom are women and children. Over 1,000,000 Palestinians displaced. Israel has targeted homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches and the basic infrastructure of the whole area. The Gaza Strip is in complete darkness, under complete aerial bombardment. They have shut off access to fuel, electricity, and water. Now they have also cut off communication with the outside world. Multiple international humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned of the imminent collapse of the already barely functioning healthcare system as Israel continues its indiscriminate criminal assault. 

 

Israel attacks on the Palestinian people aren't contained to the Gaza Strip - it has continued its aggression on the West Bank killing at least 3 Palestinians in the last 24 hours and over 100 in the past two weeks. Armed Jewish settlers, with the protection of the Israeli army have been attacking homes and farmers in their fields during the olive harvest time. 

 

This is not a “war on Hamas”, this is the continued implementation of ethnic cleansing - the Nakba continues. The world must intervene to stop Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and it’s oppression of Palestinians all over Palestine once and for all.]  

A statement October 7th from Democratic Party presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy, Jr, posted at:  www.kennedy24.com/kennedy_condemns_terrorist_attacks_against_israel and twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1710689115522371772?

“This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy is unambiguous so that the enemies of Israel will think long and hard before attempting aggression of any kind.

“I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action. America must stand by our ally throughout this operation and beyond as it exercises its sovereign right to self-defense.”

A message October 8th from Democratic Party presidential candidate Marianne Williamson:

Dear [ ], 

 

Saturday morning I awoke to a text from a friend: “War in Israel.”

More texts… TV… checking websites… talking to experts… checking in with friends, as layers of horror unfolded before our eyes. By the end of the day the full extent of the catastrophe was clear. There will indeed now be a long and difficult evil war.

Innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the actions of the Israeli government are, even as I write this, either being tortured or killed or are dead already. Children have been taken hostage. A nation is terrorized. 

And yes, I know. These events did not occur in a vacuum. I could write about — and indeed I have, and at length — the myriad injustices Palestinians have endured at the hands of Israel. Pretty much anything anyone could say about that… I get it, I know.

But not today.

Today I simply want to grieve. I don’t want to argue. I don’t want to take a position or argue policy. I just want to grieve. I grieve for the Israeli children and Palestinian children and Israeli parents and Palestinian parents. I grieve for the world that we could not do better than this. I grieve the fact that any sliver of hope for peace in that region is probably set back for decades, possibly even longer now.

I will have much to say in the coming days about what is happening in Israel and how I feel the United States should respond. For now, I stand with Israel. And I stand with the Palestinian people.

I do not stand with Hamas, nor will I ever. For their cause is not justice. Their cause is terror.

May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God to whom Jews and Muslims and Christians all pray — please help us in this agonizing hour.

Amen.

[October 13th "Statement on the Israeli-Hamas war," by email:

Dear [ ],

One week ago an event took place that changed the calculus of foreign affairs. The situation in Israel and Gaza right now is extremely perilous, not only for the people of those two regions but for the world. 

Black and white thinking will help no one, and has no place in any serious analysis of the current situation. Many truths exist here simultaneously.

Atrocities such as those committed by Hamas against civilians in Israel transgress the most basic dictates of a moral universe. They constitute nothing short of pure evil. Nor did the invasion do anything to promote the cause of justice for Palestinians; if anything, it put the cause of justice for Palestinians back for decades and possibly longer. Hamas is a terrorist organization and this was a terrorist attack. The aspirations of Hamas have nothing to do with striking a peace deal with Israel; their stated goal is the complete eradication of the state of Israel, and they will settle for nothing less.   

While it is often stated – incorrectly – that the goal of Israel is the extermination of the Palestinians, in fact the stated goal of Hamas is the extermination of the Jews. Clearly they are trying, and Israel cannot be expected not to respond. No one expected the United States to not go after Al-Qaeda after 9/11, and no one should expect Israel not to go after Hamas. Of course, we did… and of course they will. 

But an eye for an eye doesn’t just leave everyone blind; in this case it leaves everyone dead. While I have cried for days about an event that exterminated ten times more Jews than died on the night of Kristallnacht, now I am crying with the same amount of fury and helplessness over two million people who live in Gaza, over half of whom are children. Hamas is not the Palestinian people; in fact, Hamas displays dictatorial power over their own people in Gaza. Yet innocent Palestinians as well as Israelis are paying a terrible price for what has happened, and their safety should be as high a priority for the world as should the safety of innocent Israelis. 

Humanitarian corridors must be established immediately. The siege must end, and power be restored immediately so hospitals can be more than graveyards. Gazan civilians and foreign nationals must be given safe passage. There are surely phone calls going back and forth among world leaders today – including Europeans and Arabs – seeking desperately to broker some kind of humanitarian solution, to create a ceasefire and restore delivery of water, food and medical supplies. 

Hamas has announced it will start executing the 150 hostages one by one if Israel takes military action against Gaza, leaving the hostage’s loved ones and the entire nation of Israel in a state of horrifying trauma. No person of good will anywhere in the world wants those hostages executed. The hatred spawned by such insanity would only increase the hostility that already exists between far too many Israelis and Palestinians – two peoples who we should remember lived side by side in peace for centuries, and hopefully will live in peace again someday. One of the tragic consequences of this situation is how many Palestinians and Israelis have worked for years to forge a better way - only to see their dreams of peace be shattered by what has occurred.   
 
As President, in the years leading up to this I would have been far more active on behalf of an effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Supporting Israel militarily yet not playing an active role in emphasizing the need for Palestinian justice was a failure of American leadership and a transgression against our own values. Once Trump was out of office, I would have moved the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv. I would not have allowed the Abraham Accords to minimize the cause of justice for Palestinians. I would have demanded justice for Shireen Abu Akleh. I would have demanded that no military assistance provided to Israel – created by a Congressional Memorandum of Understanding that extends until 2028 – be used in a way that supports the occupation of the West Bank, the settlements, or the blockade of Gaza. I would have been vocal in my opposition to all three. I would have supported all efforts to create the resurrection of plans for a two-state solution. I would have worked assiduously with Middle East peace builders both there and here. I would have used American power to side with our highest ally: humanity itself.  
 
I appreciate the moral clarity of President Biden’s speech on Tuesday. It was clearly from his heart. My clarity and compassion would have been more universal, however. I would have emphasized to the American people that Hamas is not the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people are not Hamas. Palestinian Americans, just like Jewish Americans, would have heard in my speech both respect and support. As an American, and as a Jew, I stand with Israel. But I stand no less for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.    
 
On Wednesday the President met with Jewish American leaders, which I would have done as well. But I would also have met with Arab-American leaders, particularly Palestinian, to begin a deeper dialogue on how the world will go forward from here – specifically, what role America can play in trying to pick up the pieces at the end of all this. As President, I will dedicate the power of the U.S. government to creating a phoenix of peace arising from the ashes of this war. Peacebuilding will be a cornerstone of my Presidency, and the peacebuilders of the world will always have my ear. People have asked me what my Department of Peace would do in this situation? The point is that a Department of Peace could have helped prevent it.   

In the meantime, President Biden is correct to have warned that other nations – clearly, I assume, a reference to Iran – should be very careful not to interfere. The President is right to be concerned about Iran’s involvement, and I share that concern. The President of the United States must always be on heightened alert to protect America’s homeland as well as our interests abroad, and no American law enforcement, military or intelligence agency should blithely assume that this situation couldn’t have repercussions for us as well. I am sure that they do not.   

The day after the invasion, I was sitting at an airport bar in Reno, Nevada, when I struck up a conversation with a gentleman sitting next to me. We talked and enjoyed each other’s company, and after a while he told me he’s a Palestinian-American and I told him I’m a Jew. The irony was lost on neither of us. Both of us were reminded of the world as it should be, for we were experiencing it together. It is to the achievement of that world – for every Palestinian and for every Jew, indeed for every citizen of the world – that I dedicate my life, and would dedicate my presidency.

Marianne

P.S. Visit Marianne2024.com to read more about my platform and how to get involved.]

A statement October 7th from independent presidential candidate Dr Cornel West, posted at:  www.cornelwest2024.com/press_release_100723

New York City - Independent Presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West today urged for peace in the Holy Land upon learning about the situation in Palestine and Israel that has already left 100s dead and even more people injured. “For this to occur on the Jewish Sabbath, on the day when the festival of Sukkot reaches its conclusion and Jewish siblings around the globe celebrate Simchat Torah, the joy associated with their holy book, is heartbreaking and a call for global action” explained Dr. West. He continued, “Until the global community holds up the value of precious Palestinian lives in line with the value of precious Jewish lives, this violent cycle of death and destruction will continue unabated.”

Dr. West called for an immediate cessation of all violence, including violent rhetoric uttered by certain Western nations. He shared, “Western nations and colonial powers from right here in the United States to the European Union must be conscious of their language as this situation unfolds. We need not allow our words to act as fuel to exacerbate a fire that’s been burning for too many decades.” He added, “President Biden, and other world leaders must spend less time conjuring a fog of war with subjective and violent vernacular associated with who does and who doesn’t have the right to defend themselves and more time evoking a language of love and dignity for all people involved.”

A well known Christian with roots in liberation theology, Dr. West called on the global community to immediately commence a discussion that will end the war between Israel and Palestine once and for all. “We all desire to manifest the beautiful scripture of Isaiah 2:4…nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Dr. West declared, “However, this will not be a reality until Israel and Western nations understand that the pathway to and for peace in the Holy Land must be parallel with a pathway to and for liberation and dignity for Palestine.”

Dr. West offered his prayers, his love, and his condolences for the lives lost and injured, and his hopes for immediate and lasting deescalation initiatives.

-- END --

[Green Party condemns attacks on civilians in Israel and Gaza; calls for immediate ceasefire

The Green Party of the United States condemns the targeted attacks on civilians in the recent wave of violence in Gaza and Israel. We call for an immediate ceasefire, an immediate end to the invasion and occupation of Gaza, and a halt to all military and foreign aid to Israel. We urge our government to join with the U.N. to secure Israel's complete withdrawal to, at least, the 1967 boundaries in compliance with international law.

---

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

For Immediate Release
October 12, 2023

CONTACTS:

[  ]

"Hamas and Israel are deliberately targeting civilian populations in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which forbid targeting civilians and civilian objects such as homes, places of worship and medical facilities, as well as hostage-taking. The increased oppression of the Palestinians under the Netanyahu government has become even more heinous with Israel now cutting off electricity and the delivery of food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip; a violation of international humanitarian law prohibiting sieges on civilian populations. We urge all parties to cease attacks on civilians immediately,” said Joseph Naham, National Party Co-Chair.

"Only a just and lasting peace, based on the right of self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians, can break this cycle and bring peace to the region. This peace must include the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the dismantling of illegal settlements, and the establishment of a just and equitable society where all people have equal rights and opportunities," added Naham.

Additional Information

Green Party platform on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
https://www.gp.org/israel_palestine

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org
202-804-2758
Newsroom | Twitter: @GreenPartyUS  ]

[CPUSA: Stop the war! End the occupation! Free Palestine!

Posted October 8th at:  www.cpusa.org/article/stop-the-war-end-the-occupation-free-palestine/ ; with 8 comments

"The CPUSA expresses its growing alarm and concern at the horrific violence in Palestine and Israel over the weekend.

We join with the Communist Party of Israel, the Democratic Front for Equality and Peace (Hadash), our fraternal parties in Palestine and other democratic and progressive forces around the world in placing full responsibility on Israel’s government for this weekend’s rapid escalation of military confrontation between Hamas and Israeli forces.

The U.S. government is the main contributor to Israel’s military budget to the tune of $3.3 billion this year alone and also bears responsibility for the escalation. Adding to the danger and the region’s instability, the U.S. continues to broker unprincipled alliances and economic agreements between Israel’s reactionary anti-democratic apartheid-like state on one side, and the right-wing Arab monarchies on the other. The repressive political regimes of these two sets of states mirror one another. Their machinations undercut the Palestinian struggle for human rights and political sovereignty while bolstering U.S. political, economic and military supremacy in the region.

In a joint statement, the CP of Israel and Hadash cite provocations – not reported in mainstream US news sites – during the week leading up to the Hamas attack on Israeli territory.

Settlers, they report, were allowed to run amok throughout the occupied territories under the auspices of the Israeli government. “They desecrated the Al-Aqsa Mosque and carried out another pogrom in Huwara,” they wrote. “Settlers” refers to the hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens who have been settled on illegally confiscated Palestinian territory. This has been done under the sponsorship of the Israeli government, contrary to international law.

The reference to Huwara refers to a mob of hundreds of Israeli settlers marching on the town of Hawara torching cars and homes while the Israeli army stood by. The attacks by Hamas were the result, not the cause of this week’s escalation. “This escalation endangers the entire region in a regional and dangerous war – which the right-wing government has been fueling since its first day,” says the Israeli CP.

In the months leading up to this week’s escalation 250 Palestinians, including 47 children, were killed this year alone. As is well known, Netanyahu’s right-wing government was on shaky ground. It was losing support for its anti-democratic measures undermining the country’s Supreme Court.

But with his declaration of war against the Gazan population, Benjamin Netanyahu takes advantage of Hamas’s attack to call on the Jewish people to rally round his fascist administration to fight a war against Palestinians.

The CPUSA joins the CPI and Hadash in decrying civilian deaths. The CPI and Hadash write “even in difficult days like this – we repeat and voice an unequivocal condemnation of any harm to innocent civilians, and call for their removal from the bloodshed. We send our condolences to all the families of the victims of the occupation, Arabs and Jews alike.”

“Today’s events show the dangerous direction the Netanyahu government and the settlers are leading the entire region, and emphasize once again that there is no way to manage the conflict or resolve it militarily,” they continue.

“There is only one solution: End the occupation. Recognize the legitimate demands and rights of the Palestinian people. The end of the occupation and the establishment of a just peace are a distinct and common interest of the two peoples in this country.” Peace in Israel/Palestine requires justice. UN resolutions must be more than paper. Security must be guaranteed, not just for Israelis but equally for Palestinians. All human rights, all rights of full citizenship, all rights of return must be implemented.

The CPUSA reaffirms, side by side with our fraternal parties in Israel and Palestine and indeed the world Communist and Workers movement, the need for a political solution and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and a homeland.

The CPUSA demands the Biden Administration act now to end the war and help bring about a political solution that upholds the rights of the Palestinian people. This must include ending military support to Israel. We call on the people of our country to make their feelings known in every way possible including protests.

War is hell as the events leading up to and over the weekend amply testify. Civilians, children, the elderly, and disabled are its most glaring victims. We too mourn the loss of innocent life and urgently call for unity of all who aspire for peace and democracy: citizen and non-citizen, Palestinian and Jewish, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, LGBTQ and straight, to make their feelings known.

We call on all peace loving and progressive people around the world to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people."]

The PSL statement was originally posted at:  

www.liberationnews.org/psl-statement-free-palestine-free-all-palestinian-political-prisoners-end-all-u-s-aid-to-the-israeli-apartheid-regime/

PSL:  Free Palestine, free all Palestinian political prisoners, end all US aid to the Israeli apartheid regime

The unrelenting oppression, murder, torture and occupation carried out by the Israeli apartheid regime has precipitated a counter-offensive by Palestinian resistance forces. The Israeli war machine, and its attendant systems of oppression, are bought and paid for by U.S. imperialism. U.S. tax dollars fund the grinding oppression of the Palestinian people to the tune of $4 billion each year.

Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression was labeled “terrorism” by U.S. politicians when the African National Congress took up arms against the racist, apartheid regime in South Africa. The same false “terrorism” label is being applied to the Palestinian people.

The PSL says: Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression is not a crime! It is the inevitable outcome for all people who demand self-determination rather than living with the boot-heel of the oppressors on their necks.

The people of the United States are going into the streets right now to say “free Palestine!”; “cut all U.S. aid for the apartheid regime”; and “free all Palestinian political prisoners!”

Israel is currently carrying out a massacre of historic proportions against Gaza and all throughout Palestine, slaughtering hundreds. The bombs and missiles that are raining down on Gaza right now are paid for by U.S. tax dollars. Instead of using money to meet people’s needs, the U.S. government has shamefully extended Israel a long-term military aid agreement worth $38 billion.

The corporate media and politicians want the public to believe that Israel is simply defending itself from “terrorism”. That’s a lie. The actions of the resistance over the course of the last day is a morally and legally legitimate response to occupation. It was brought about by escalating Israeli oppression on numerous fronts.

Less than a year ago, a new, far-right government came into office in Israel. Regardless of which party is in power, the Israeli government has always imposed occupation and apartheid. But the new administration – which includes openly genocidal, fascist senior ministers who control the police and prison system – is intent on taking this to unprecedented heights.

A wave of killings is under way in the occupied West Bank by Israeli troops, cops and vigilantes that has claimed over 200 Palestinian lives so far this year. Already horrific conditions for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails deteriorated even further. Far-right mobs stormed the al-Aqsa mosque on numerous occasions under the protection of Israeli police. The construction of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land was hugely expanded. The new government announced its intention to create a “national guard” – a thinly-veiled death squad that would operate under the personal command of the main fascist politician in Israel, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

To provide diplomatic cover as this was taking place, the U.S. government has been aggressively lobbying countries in the Middle East to sign “normalization” agreements with Israel. Since the state of Israel was established amid a deadly campaign of ethnic cleansing in 1948, most neighboring countries have rightfully refused to officially recognize Israel’s existence. But in the last few years that has begun to change. In exchange for what amounted to massive bribes from the United States, the reactionary governments of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco established formal relations with Israel. In recent days, the United States was reportedly on the verge of securing the biggest normalization agreement of all with Saudi Arabia.

It was in this context of an existential threat to the Palestinian people’s very survival that the resistance organizations chose to launch a bold counter-offensive. This does not constitute terrorism. It is a basic fact of history that any people who are subjected to an occupation will resist that occupation.

The Israeli government is carrying out a bombardment of unbelievable proportions targeting Palestinian civilians in an effort to take revenge on the resistance. Shortly after the war broke out, Lloyd Austin pledged that, “Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs.” The U.S. government is just as complicit in this massacre as Israel. Now is the time to mobilize and demand freedom for Palestine!