Letter to the Hudson Valley One

Never Again! Means Never Again for Anyone!

New Paltz Women in Black have stood in front of Elting Library every Saturday for almost 22 years. We stand for peace and justice, against wars and militarism, for Black lives, for women's rights and LGTBQ rights, and to save our ravished environment from further degradation.

And we have stood for Palestinian rights, because the Palestinian people have been pushed off their lands, subjected to checkpoints to prevent them from moving freely, had their homes demolished and their fields burned, and their children kidnapped in the middle of the night and thrown into Israeli prisons, where they languish without parents or lawyers, and where they can be held under military rule indefinitely without trial or charges. (These are many of the prisoners who were to be exchanged for Hamas's hostages, if those hostages are not killed first by Netanyahu's bombs or trigger-happy soldiers.)

In Gaza, an Israeli blockade since 2007 has prevented free movement to and from Gaza, including students unable to attend universities abroad, cancer patients unable to travel to get medical care in other parts of the region, families who can't see relatives in the West Bank or in Israel or in neighboring countries.  Gaza has been called the largest open-air prison in the world. Peaceful demonstrations are fired upon by Israeli sharpshooters, and there are no consequences to an Israeli soldier or settler for killing a Palestinian.

Fifty percent of Gaza's 2.2 million people are under 19, which means they've known nothing but blockade and privation for their entire lives.

Why do we care about this? There's plenty of injustice in the world. Why are we focusing on the plight of the Palestinians? Because this injustice is being paid for and approved by the United States Government, using our tax money to the tune of almost $4 Billion per year. U.S. law stipulates that we must not provide foreign aid to any country that is committing human rights abuses. Our money should not be going to Israel to prop up its unjust occupation, land theft, abuse, blockade, home demolitions, and military rule over Palestinians.

On October 7, the pressure cooker blew. Hamas fighters broke out of their prison and attacked nearby civilians and military personnel, killing many and taking hundreds hostage. New Paltz Women in Black agrees with most of the world that there is no justification for the indiscriminate killing of civilians or the holding of civilian hostages.

And now, horrifyingly, the Israeli and American governments are weaponizing the Israeli deaths to fuel a genocidal war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This war is a continuation of 75 years of Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, and is an attempt to eliminate Palestinians as a demographic factor in historic Palestine.

Since October 7, nearly 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in a relentless bombing campaign. Over 80 journalists, plus poets, professors, actors, and intellectuals have died. The Israeli government and military have wrought complete and total devastation on Palestinian life across Gaza, attacking hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, cultural centers, mosques, marketplaces, and apartment buildings. They have shut off all electricity. No food is coming into Gaza, no drinkable water, no fuel for cooking or staying warm, no medicines for the sick, the elderly, the newborn. After more than two months, starvation and disease have begun to take a toll.  Netanyahu has said the Israeli response will "reverberate for generations," and cars carry bumper stickers reading "Finish them." Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is "fighting human animals" and should "act accordingly."

We all know what happens when people are dehumanized as a group.

We can and must stop the imminent genocide of Palestinians. Never Again! means never again for anyone!

We demand our government immediately stop sending weapons to the Israeli military and using its veto in the Security Council to stop a resolution for an immediate ceasefire. We condemn the "new McCarthyism," right-wing attempts to shut down the conversation about Israeli atrocities, and deliberately conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Tell Pat Ryan to support the Congressional Ceasefire Resolution, which now has over 60 congressional signatures.

And stand with us next Saturday and every Saturday to demand an immediate permanent ceasefire.

Naomi Allen

Rep. Molinaro

Rep. Molinaro,

You wrote me that "The United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will ensure humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations reaches civilians in Gaza. "

Really?

Whats the plan for the 18,000 plus civilians that Israel , with your support, has murdered in Gaza? How can it be that reports indicate that many of the 1.8 million displaced Gazans (human beings) are going for days without food and/or water? Or that they have been herded by Israeli bombing into a small area where many are forced to live without shelter from the rain or cold weather ?

Are you aware that Israel set up and financed Hamas for years in order to divide Palestinians into factional infighting between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority so as to prevent a two state solution which was mandated by a U.N. vote?

Ceasefire Now! Stop the genocide!

-Jim Veeder

Responce to Kingston Wire

A Sad Sign of the Kingston Wire
(Response to Editorial: A Sad Sign of the Times)

I don't know how many worked on your recent editorial about the pro Palestinian rally in Kingston. Is is amazing that the authors were able to squeeze so much drama out of one child's drawing, and the words "From the River to the Sea.'

All this puffery about what that chant could possibly mean, while Israel slaughters 6,000 children in Gaza with all the high tech weapons they get from the US. But of course, these children are Palestine, and not worth much ink.

I think it is astounding how you can avoid talking about this genocide, while whining endlessly about what a phrase means. But, perhaps you are simply reflecting the state of Israel: racist, violent and apartheid.

I am deeply ashamed that my country gives Israel the weapons to commit this genocide. Is the Editorial Team ashamed at all?

Fred Nagel

Here's what I just sent to the BPL

We are writing to you as Jews, wanting to applaud you, the Bethlehem Public Library, for allowing Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace to use your facility to host Miko Peled, a Jewish, Israeli-American activist, to share his views about the ongoing situation in Palestine/Israel – its context and the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and an end to apartheid and Islamophobia.  We now understand that you have received public criticism for doing so.

As American Jews, we have felt a deep and abiding responsibility to speak out against the injustices we witnessed in Israel; in fact, we’ve had to strengthen our resolve to not be silenced by those who wish to do so.  Why?  Because, over the years, a group to which we belong, Jews Say No (JSN), has stood on the corner of 96th St. and Broadway in NYC.  We have been yelled at, called antisemites and self-hating jews, and spat upon by other Jews, regarding the messages we shared on our posters and leaflets such as, “Never again, means never again for anyone,” “Not in our name,” “Jews Say No,” and “Freedom and justice for Palestinians.”  So, yes, we’re familiar with the tactics of those who attempt to silence the voices that support equal justice for all.

In addition, we became acquainted with Miko through our work with JSN.  Miko is a bright, principled, articulate, knowledgeable, and powerful speaker.  Calling Miko an antisemite because of his anti-Zionist values is both inaccurate and quite dangerous.

We hope you will recommit to your support of community groups such as Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace by allowing them to use your facilities to host Miko Peled.  Ultimately, this is about free speech – our First Amendment right.

Thank you.

Helaine Meisler and Nic Abramson

Dear Senator Gillibrand

I would have thought by now that you  would have realized that what you believe to be “widely understood to be a call for Israel’s destruction” is quite specific to your demographic, political leaning, and possibly in your case, who you are getting campaign money from. As a Jewish American person, I understand Tlaib’s comment in the context in which is was made and am not even remotely offended by it. I am grateful and proud of her for bringing the viewpoint of the Palestinians (those you may refer to as Arabs) to the table, where the complexities and injustices must be addressed and the role of the US government must be questioned. I am all for the right of my brethren to exist in Israel, I am not in support of any violence, whether it is by Hamas or the Israeli forces, and I see a genocide that your defense of the censure of Tlaib seems to support.

Here is an article from The NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/river-to-the-sea-israel-gaza-palestinians.html, that would give credence to what I am talking about in regards to the censure. At this point I would hope that you could admit that censure was a mistake that resulted from your lack of understanding and that you would endeavor to seek insight so that you can support the right to live and thrive to all people worldwide, but specifically in Gaza at this moment.

"From the river to the sea” is a call for freedom and justice and peace when spoken by Rashida Tlaib. I would urge you to have a conversation with her, and tell her that one of your constituents asked you to do so. And be humble and apologize for your lack of understanding and then listen to her. It will make you a better congressperson.

I would appreciate a response to this message.

Sincerely,
Cary Kittner

Zionism is the moral rot that has crept into our ruling class

Zionism is the moral rot that has crept into our ruling class. Our Congress is almost unanimous in its approval for the obliteration of two million Palestinians in Gaza. And the House has just passed a resolution, not condemning the slaughter, but labeling any criticism of it as antisemitism. Our doddering president is ineffectual at best when it comes to most issues that affect the working class. But when it comes to this genocide, he is its biggest cheerleader, the ghost of Henry Kissinger.

The ruling class in our nation's colleges and universities are cast from the same mold. The presidents and boards of directors spend their time threatening and expelling students for protesting this genocide. How is it that college students know more about international law and human rights than their academic administrators? It is a world turned upside down, where college presidents spend their time pleasing wealth donors, while threatening anyone else in their academic communities if they think too much.

Perhaps were are in the last stage of the empire, when our elites think about nothing else but dollar signs. When it comes to life and death issues, they are moral monsters, eager to give Israel more explosives for the Palestinian holocaust.

It is tempting to think about how our system could be less corrupt. How it could serve the interests of the rest of us, if only it wanted to. But now, all it wants is Palestinian blood. We must take to the streets to preserve our humanity.   

Fred Nagel

Standing naked before the world

To the editor:
There is a Zionist/Israeli energy characterized by arrogance, aggression, and entitlement.  It is devoid of compassion, empathy, humility or humanity.  It is a force that seeks control, subservience,  and domination  through collective punishment, threats,  and unspeakable violence.  This energy is terrifying and yes, it creates terrorists.  Israeli state  terrorism is responsible for incinerating thousands of innocent Palestinian women, children, babies, and men. 

 

At  peaceful demonstrations supporting Palestinian human rights,  passing  Zionists  have screamed from their cars that our daughters should be raped, mutilated, and murdered because we were speaking up in support of innocent Palestinians.  Their words  drip with the venom of rage and revenge.  Are these  screaming people hopelessly lost in their fear and anger?  Perhaps, but thankfully there are also supporters of Israel who are open and willing to engage in peaceful and respectful dialogue.  And God bless them.  

 

Unfortunately, the propaganda arm of the Israeli government (the “hasbara”) is fully engaged in spreading outright lies and misinformation to persuade Americans, particularly Jewish Americans,  of the evils of Hamas and the virtues of the Israeli Defense Forces(IDF).  The Zionist/Israeli  lobbies  (including  AIPAC American Israeli Pubic Affairs Committee) have unlimited resources, unmatched political influence,  and complete media access to whitewash and “spin” Israeli atrocities and launder Israel’s image.  But the well oiled Israeli propaganda  machine  is failing because the true nature of the apartheid, settler/colonial enterprise which calls itself the State of Israel  is standing naked before the world.  

Eli Kassirer
New Paltz

Stand strong for free speech

I understand there is talk about cancelling Miko Peled's presentation scheduled for Tuesday night. This is because there are allegations that MIko or what he speaks and writes about is anti-Semetic. I am a Jewish veteran of the US Army. I experienced anti-Semitism in the army and when I was a child in Queens, NY. I know what anti-Semitism is.

I also know MIko Peled personally. I have travelled with him in Israel and Palestine. He is from a prominent Jewish Israeli family. The idea that he is anti-Semitic or professes anything anti-Semitic is nonsense and is used to silence criticism of Israel.

There are many Jewish people including myself who find much to criticise about Israel. Many of my close friends are IDF veterans, like Miko, and they find plenty to criticise about Israel. This attempt to have Miko's talk cancelled has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. It has to do with shutting down free speech and free speech that needs very much to be heard. Now more than ever.

I hope the Bethlehem Public Library will stand strong for free speech. Thank you.

Dear Congressman Ryan

Dear Congressman Ryan,

I would have thought by now that you  would have realized that what you believe to be “widely understood to be a call for Israel’s destruction” is quite specific to your demographic, political leaning, and possibly in your case, who you are getting campaign money from. As a Jewish American person, I understand Tlaib’s comment in the context in which is was made and am not even remotely offended by it. I am grateful and proud of her for bringing the viewpoint of the Palestinians (those you may refer to as Arabs) to the table, where the complexities and injustices must be addressed and the role of the US government must be questioned. I am all for the right of my brethren to exist in Israel, I am not in support of any violence, whether it is by Hamas or the Israeli forces, and I see a genocide that your defense of the censure of Tlaib seems to support.

Here is an article from The NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/river-to-the-sea-israel-gaza-palestinians.html, that would give credence to what I am talking about in regards to the censure. At this point I would hope that you could admit that censure was a mistake that resulted from your lack of understanding and that you would endeavor to seek insight so that you can support the right to live and thrive to all people worldwide, but specifically in Gaza at this moment.

"From the river to the sea” is a call for freedom and justice and peace when spoken by Rashida Tlaib. I would urge you to have a conversation with her, and tell her that one of your constituents asked you to do so. And be humble and apologize for your lack of understanding and then listen to her. It will make you a better congressperson.

I would appreciate a response to this message.

Sincerely,
Cary Kittner

The "final solution" for the Palestinian "problem"

Dear Panel,

One of your guests asks, "How do you keep Gaza from ever again being used as a platform for this kind of thing?" (meaning the October 7 attack by Hamas).  A recently leaked Israel Intelligence Ministry document answers this question. It calls for transferring all of Gaza's people to Egypt and provisions to prevent them from ever returning to Gaza. This de facto ethnic cleansing would be another instance of the massive ethnic cleansing Israel imposed upon the Palestinians in 1948 and 1967, and has been gradually imposing on them ever since. Then - after completing its gradual ethnic cleansing of the West Bank - Israel will have all the land, the "final solution" for the Palestinian "problem" and the ultimate triumph of the nefarious Zionist scheme. Nevertheless, most people wonder how Hamas can be so cruel.

Gregory DeSylva

Call Israel an Apartheid State?

 
indypendent.org
What Does it Mean to Call Israel an Apartheid State?

A step-by-step look at how apartheid was pioneered in South Africa and replicated by Israel.

Ellen Davidson Nov 3

What does it mean to call Israel an apartheid state?

The word, meaning literally “apartness,” originally referred to policies introduced in South Africa in 1948. Although presented as a path of equal but separate development of racial groups in that country, like “separate but equal” in this country, it was anything but.

Under apartheid people were classified as “native,” “colored,” “Asian” or “white,” and these designations determined access to land, schools, resources, etc. Apartheid laws served to reserve the vast majority of the land for white South Africans, relocating the non-white population to so-called “bantustans” far from the areas they had lived in for many years. In the white-controlled areas, nonwhites were denied political rights, including the right to vote, since they were considered citizens of the ostensibly independent “homelands” set up by the apartheid government, which consisted of small unviable enclaves with no resources or opportunities for work or economic development.

The system also included identity cards that nonwhite people had to carry in order to live, work, or even travel in particular parts of the country. These notorious “pass laws” were the main instrument of control and existed until 1986.

This web of restrictive laws was enforced by a brutal police state, and thousands of South Africans, mainly Black and “colored,” were imprisoned, tortured or killed.

After decades of internal resistance both armed and nonviolent, and an international campaign to isolate South Africa economically and politically, the laws were repealed in the early 1990s and a new constitution was adopted in 1993.

Apartheid now refers to any system of racial segregation and is deemed a crime against humanity by the U.N. Apartheid Convention.

So why have Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Israeli human rights group Bet’selem and many others declared Israel to be an apartheid state? One of the central tenets of the South African system was dispossession from the land and control of resources by white settlers. Israel has replicated this process. In Israel/Palestine, the land that is nominally under Palestinian control constitutes 22% of historic Palestine. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were made permanent exiles in 1947–48, as Zionist militias terrorized and massacred whole villages. Many more were forced out by the invasion in 1967, when the Israeli army took over the West Bank and Gaza in an occupation that continues to this day.

    There are three levels of sterilization: Palestinians may not open businesses on the street, Palestinians may not drive vehicles on the street, and Palestinians may not walk on the street, even if their home is on that street.

Even the land that is supposed to make up an eventual Palestinian state, according to proponents of a two-state solution, is not contiguous; it is divided between the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, which, although not technically occupied, is blockaded on both its land and sea borders by Israel. The West Bank itself is split up into enclaves increasingly surrounded by and encroached on by Israeli settlements. It is further atomized by Israel’s “separation barrier” (which Palestinians call the apartheid wall), which at times goes through the center of villages (in one case through the middle of an elementary school playground) and cuts off farmers from their agricultural lands. The territory is riddled with checkpoints and other military installations, and criss-crossed with roads that are reserved for Israeli settlers. There are numerous laws both inside Israel’s formal borders and in the Occupied Territories that make clear the second-class status of Israel’s non-Jewish citizens and residents of the West Bank and Gaza. Just to mention a few:

    In 2021 the Israeli parliament adopted the Jewish Nation-State Law, which identifies Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish people, thus formalizing the inferior status of the Palestinian people. The Supreme Court of Israel upheld the law. The current government holds as one of its guiding principles: “The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right over all areas of the Land of Israel.”

    Jews from anywhere in the world are eligible to become citizens of Israel while holding on to their previous citizenship. Non-Jews can apply for citizenship, but they must renounce their previous citizenship, must have lived for three years as a permanent resident, must and demonstrate knowledge of the Hebrew language (Israel is nominally a bilingual state, Arabic and Hebrew). Palestinian refugees who were born in what has since become Israel are not allowed to return and claim citizenship.

    Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are increasingly cut off from life in their city by the wall snaking through it. As it becomes impossible for them to get to commercial and other districts, they turn to other areas for their needs, they risk losing their Jerusalem residency permits and access to the city and government services.

    Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are subject to arbitrary “administrative detention” for up to six months, at which point their detention can be renewed, leading to many Palestinians being held in prison for years on end with no charge and no legal recourse.

    Resources in the Occupied West Bank are disproportionately allocated to the Israeli settlements. For example, settlements use up to 10 times as much water per capita as Palestinian communities, and the Palestinians are charged higher prices.

    Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to the control of the Israeli military, whereas residents of illegal Israeli settlements in the region are not. In fact, rules of engagement for Israeli military in the West Bank forbid them from firing on or arresting Israeli settlers, even when they are armed and violent.

    Palestinians in Gaza have no freedom of movement at all. The entire region is blockaded by Israel, which controls travel in and out.

    Palestinian homes both inside Israel and in the West Bank are under constant threat of demolition because Israeli authorities deny building permits to Palestinians (Al-Araqib, a Bedouin village in the Negev, has been demolished more than 200 times since 2010). Israeli settlements on the West Bank, which are illegal under international law, are protected by the Israeli military.

    Because of the presence of Jewish settlers, many streets in the city of Hebron are off-limits to the Palestinian residents. They are called “sterilized” by the IDF. There are three levels of sterilization: Palestinians may not open businesses on the street, Palestinians may not drive vehicles on the street, and Palestinians may not walk on the street, even if their home is on that street. The city is dotted with ladders between rooftops used to access homes whose residents cannot walk in or out their own front doors.

These are just some examples of the daily repression and humiliation faced by Palestinians inside Israel and under occupation. No wonder South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in 2014, “I know first-hand that Israel has created an apartheid reality within its borders and through its occupation. The parallels to my own beloved South Africa are painfully stark indeed.”

In a call to replicate the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign that ultimately helped bring an end to South Africa’s racist regime, he said, “Those who continue to do business with Israel, who contribute to a sense of ‘normalcy’ in Israeli society, are doing the people of Israel and Palestine a disservice. They are contributing to the perpetuation of a profoundly unjust status quo.”

I'M CALLING YOUR BLUFF, MR. BIDEN

President Biden,

Thank you for your 11/1/23 response to my previous comments. Thank you also for working to get relief for the citizens of Gaza.
My wife and I also agree with your statement that we must ALWAYS condemn terrorism (my emphasis). Condemnation of Hamas is widespread, yet one rarely hears of the Jewish terrorism that played a key role in Israel’s establishment. According to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, Jewish terrorist organizations such as the Irgun and the Stern Gang committed at least 31 massacres of Palestinian civilians, including the infamous April, 1948 Deir Yassin massacre of about 100 women, children and old men. They did this to terrorize hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into fleeing so their property could be confiscated for the future Jewish state. 

To this day, illegal Jewish settlers terrorize Palestinian farmers and villagers with impunity, carrying out anti-Palestinian pogroms - true terrorism - protected or tolerated by Israel's army and border patrol. And the so-called Israel "Defense" Force regularly terrorizes Palestinian civilians with night raids into their homes and hype-violent incursions into their cities and villages, notably in Jenin, where the "IDF" has run wild in its killing sprees.

SO I'M CALLING YOUR BLUFF, MR. BIDEN: YOU SAY WE MUST ALWAYS CONDEMN TERRORISM. WHEN ARE YOU ALSO GOING TO CALL OUT AND CONDEMN THIS AND ALL OF THE TERRORISM ISRAEL AND ITS FOUNDERS HAVE COMMITTED, AND CONTINUE TO COMMIT, AGAINST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF PALESTINE?

You say, "Watch me." We certainly are, Joe - and so is God.

Sincerely,
Gregory M. DeSylva

To stay human

To the Editor:

Were innocents beheaded by Hamas  knives?  Maybe? Were innocents beheaded by IsraeliDefenseForces Hellfire missiles launched from Apache helicopters and drones?  Definitely.  Both invoke terror and  are acts of terrorism.  One terrorist rips a knife blade across the throat.  The other clicks  a mouse  on a remote computer miles away.  Both acts result in  the murder and mutilation  of innocents.  In the last few days IDF missiles and bombs have decapitated, incinerated, suffocated, mutilated and buried  thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza (including over three thousand  children).   

The murder and mutilation of innocents is simply unacceptable.  Whether it’s an individual terrorist with a knife or a government inflicting  collective punishment  and genocide with high-tech weaponry.  Intentionally targeting  innocents  is abhorrent, reprehensible, wrong and illegal.  These terrorist acts dehumanize  the perpetrators who murderously attempt to deny and exterminate  the humanity and sanctity  of their victims.  We must all demand an end to all acts which intentionally murder and mutilate innocents.  To stay human we all need to condemn the violence and brutality unfolding before our very eyes.  Please do something.  Please say something.  Please.

Eli

Voted out, and shamed

I don't know what to say about a country whose political class can't call for a cease fire. We see the absolute slaughter of women and children, and still they say nothing. We listen to the stories of families ripped apart or simply obliterated, and yet Rep. Pat Ryan keeps cheering on the carnage. Is our ruling class filled with war criminals?

Does it help to point out how our Congress is bought and sold by the Israel Lobby? Pat Ryan was paid $28,850 by the lobby in 2022 (reported by Opensecrets.org). That money is now covered with human blood.

Have you no shame, Pat Ryan? As a West Point graduate weren't you taught not to butcher civilians? Not to murder thousands of children? What kind of soulless barbarian would defend Israel's mass murder? What kind of human being would take money from the Israel Lobby, if it meant selling their soul?

Let's show our absolute disgust with such supposed leaders, be they Republican or Democrat. Join a local rally, or go to DC (mideastcrisis.org). Ending US support for this racist, apartheid, and bloodthirsty country has to be our most important goal. We will not be "good Germans," as millions are marched to their extermination.

As a citizen and a US veteran, I demand that my flag not be covered with the blood of millions of Palestinians. And those who take the money and sell their humanity must not only be voted out, but shamed for what they have done to our nation.

Fred Nagel

United States is entirely complicit in the genocide

 

On October 7 I was shattered by the news of Hamas's murderous attack on Israeli Jews. I have friends, family, and colleagues in Israel, and many Jewish friends here. I share their anguish. I long to see the hostages returned safely.

 

I am also shattered by Israel's savage response. As I write, over 7000 Gazans have been killed, nearly 1.5 million displaced. Half of them are children. Israel has cut off water, food, and fuel. People are dying of dehydration. Families are forced to leave Gaza City and then bombed as they try to walk to safety. Palestinians in the West Bank--who are not represented by Hamas--are also being murdered, their villages torched by Jewish settlers while the Israeli army stands by. 

 

Please, people, especially those whose post-trauma response makes you demand revenge, please try to hold these complicated but not incompatible truths in your heart:

• Murder of civilians is unjustifiable, no matter their ethnicity.
• Revenge makes nobody safe.
• What Hamas did was an atrocity. 
• It did not come out of nowhere.  
• Resistance to occupation is inevitable, and permissible under international law. 
• When Israel and the world ignores or outlaws peaceful resistance, it is tragically predictable that some will resort to violence. This is not a justification. 
• If we do not look at root causes we will never understand or change. 
• The only way to build peace in Israel/Palestine is for Palestinians to have the same rights as Israeli Jews, including the vote. 
  

 

The United States is entirely complicit in the genocide now taking place. The US could end this horror overnight by withdrawing military aid to Israel. The refusal of Biden and almost all of Congress to insist on restraint is a disgrace. I salute the few who speak out. 

Jo Salas

Coming to terms with genocide

How do we as human beings come to terms with genocide? We research it and catalogue its atrocities. We trace it back to campaigns of racism and violence. And still we wonder how it could have been done. Are we the same people who drove the Cherokee Nation on its Trail of Tears? Would we have forced a million Armenians into the desert to die? Could we have looked the other way while 6 Million Jews were imprisoned and slaughtered?

Now, we don't have to wonder about what we would have done during mass murders of the past. Our own country is behind the current genocide of the Palestinian people.

England and the US created Israel as their colony in the oil rich Middle East. By 1948, Jewish militias were using terrorist tactics to clear 750,000 Palestinians from the land they had lived on for centuries. The result was called the Nakba, or catastrophe.

Israel has been using terror and ethnic cleansing ever since. At the same time, England and the US have funded and encouraged Israel's apartheid regime, no matter how many millions have suffered or died under its brutal occupation.

There are now about 6 million Jews and 6 million Palestinians in the Holy Land. England and the US must end their colony's war crimes and make peace, like what was finally done in South Africa and in Northern Ireland.

Each generation gets a chance to do the right thing when its time comes. Stand up against the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Fred Nagel

Place in the history of genocide

At first, taking tens of thousands from the Israel Lobby seemed like a no-brainer to Rep. Pat Ryan. Who knows really where the money comes from? Some very rich "philanthropists" with close ties to Israel just like giving their money to members of Congress. And so many are on the take:

Schumer, Charles      $546,007
Warnock, Raphael   $489,917
Jeffries, Hakeem     $439,790
Menendez, Robert   $109,800

It is only when push comes to shove, that this yearly dole becomes something else. Those free trips to Israel and all that money take on a darker meaning. You are asked to support an apartheid state committing genocide on millions of Palestinians. You have to explain why you back the killing of 2,500 children in less than two weeks. You have to defend the death march of 2.3 million, without food, water or shelter. And you are called upon to promote even more billions in military aid to Israel when it somehow runs out of bombs. All of a sudden, Pat Ryan finds he has blood on his hands, and like Macbeth, all of "Neptune's ocean" won't clean them off again.

The familiar canards won't work anymore. Is Israel just defending itself as it forces millions of civilians on a death march? That's like the Nazis claiming self defense while Jews and Romani are shipped to Auschwitz. Pat Ryan will have his own place in the history of the Palestinian genocide. For he has sold his soul to virulent racism and ethnic cleansing, like most members of Congress.

Fred Nagel
 

Made in Woodstock at Ametek Rotron

 

As the bombs continue to explode on the civilian population of Gaza, Woodstock citizens should realize that many of the weapons used in this terrible war depend on parts made in Woodstock. Ametek Rotron is part of the huge military industrial complex. One of their products is used in the illegal cluster bombs that are part of the arsenal that Biden provides to the IDF. Ametek Rotron is the largest employer in our town. Like almost every county across the nation, small and large weapon industries ensure that the local state and federal representatives keep supporting war. Ametek Rotron is not about "peace and love", We in Woodstock are being held hostage by these merchants of death. 

DeeDee Halleck

One more Rotron fan for Israel

I posted this at https://woodstockweaponswatch.blogspot.com/: 

On October 16, as Israel pursued its ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of civilians in Gaza, its Ministry of Defense invited tenders for a "sample" 200AC fan "made by Rotron Inc." Ametek Rotron's contributions to foreign militaries mostly fly under the radar -- we've reported on their sales to Israel before -- but this request, unusually, turned up online. It's just one fan, but the word "sample" suggests that more will follow, and it confirms that the Israeli military continues to rely on made-in-Woodstock components as it violates international law. The government set a quick deadline of Nov. 1, suggesting the fan(s) are to be used soon. 

We know that made-in-Woodstock Rotron fans are used in many of the advanced weapons systems deployed by Israel and supplied by the US -- warplanes, tanks, rocket launchers, military helicopters, drones, armed personnel carriers, and warships. 

The procurement notice was published by Al Bawaba, a Jordan-based news site (paywall) and also by Bidsinfo.

Laurie Kirby

Please let us stand for peace

 My letter to the Daily Catch:

I'm so disturbed by the conflict in Israel/Palestine and the unending, simple and biased media blitz in the US. I have been long concerned about the brutal apartheid that Israel has become, this time under Netanyahu, and the US military support that has helped fuel this conflict. I do not want to hear another politician use the term "unprovoked" in regards to the attack by Hamas. I do not support the use of violence by either Hamas or Israel. I do not stand with Israel when they are perpetuating war in Gaza, inflicting far more harm than was done to them. It is time to look at what is happening now and name it correctly. Israel has a vastly superior military and has used it to maintain the occupation, throwing Palestinians out of their homes and confining them to walled in camps. Israel has been brutal in the killing of civilians which is strictly against international law, yet the US stand with Israel no matter what. What is terrorism if it is not a desperate act by people who are systematically brutalized. But war is real terror and this war has been killing far more Palestinians than Israelis. It is wildly unfair to paint the people of Gaza with one brush and indiscriminately wage war on an entire population, most whom are just trying to live their lives. Netanyahu is a war criminal and must be removed. The United States has got to stand with the people, not with one people over the other. I only stand with the people of Israel who refuse to allow their brethren to live in the settlements, condemn the brutal regime of Netanyahu, and demand equal rights for the Palestinians.

I also think it is imperative for the people of the US to look at the history of this region and understand how complex and interwoven the people have been. There has also been extreme meddling by other nations for purposes not in the best interest of the people. We cannot allow those that profit on war and conflict to call the shots. If we stand with one people over another we are encouraging conflict and standing for war. Please let us stand for peace.

 

Cary Kittner

Unspeakable and unrelenting violence

To the Editor:

Unspeakable and unrelenting violence and brutality are being inflicted upon innocent and powerless humans throughout the world.   In Israel/Palestine, in Yeman,  Ukraine, Congo, Kashmir, India, and Colombia.  Sometimes it’s about land, sometimes religion, sometimes drugs, sometimes about resources like timber, metals, or oil.  But it’s always ugly and it’s always the innocent who suffer, or die, or become refugees.  The mothers and the children, the sick and the weak, the poor with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.   The powerful,  those with  big guns and weaponry like tanks, fighter jets, missiles, bulldozers, war ships. and bombs  destroy and decimate  all who get  in the way.  

 

My own country perpetrated a genocide on nineteen million indigenous peoples (which is still playing out today in places like Thacker Pass).  Recent history is replete with atrocities, genocides, and holocausts.  It will only stop when we say it must stop.  We must recognize the humanity of the “other” and respect the “others” right to exist.  We must  acknowledge that all people, particularly children and babies, are of equal value. There are powerful forces within  the military/industrial/banking complex  who have no reservations or regrets  about murdering  “others.”  Including   millions of Vietnamese, a million Iraquis,  tens of thousands in Hiroshima/Nagasaki, or six million Jews to maintain power, profits, and control.  We must say no to  mindless, military madness and spending.   We must find human, humane, and peaceful solutions.  Let’s start with a cease-fire in Israel/Palestine.

Eli Kassirer
 

Member of Jewish Voice for Peace

I am a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and have mentored young writers in Gaza as part of We Are Not Numbers (WANN). These groups were founded to counter the insidious propaganda that upholds Israel’s apartheid state and to bring an end to its occupation of Palestine. They were founded by Jews who said “not in our name” will this ongoing tragedy continue. 

 

As we read and hear the latest news, I urge Americans to look behind the headlines at the history of Israeli violence against Palestinians and the role of the US in funding it. It is our responsibility to de-escalate this crisis and work towards addressing the root causes, the well-documented injustices of Israeli occupation, and the relentless bombing of Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2022. How many bombs will it take until Americans see that our government is complicit in a cycle of war crimes against an innocent people? Right now I am grieving the death of one of the young writers I tutored, who didn’t deserve to die. All Yousef wanted was the chance to live a peaceful life in a secure community- what so many of us take for granted.
Lisa Mullenneaux

West Bank Update

Report from the West Bank

This update is sent by Sa'ed Zboun, Arabic teacher at Bethlehem University and one of the founders of the Aida Youth Center, located in a refugee camp in the West Bank. Sa'ed was a guest on Activist Radio on May 25, 2023.

Updates from Palestine
Mon, Oct 16, 2023, at 2:25 PM

The situation here gets worst and worst! We are under a complete lockdown in the West Bank. There is lack of food, the internet keeps cutting off! Above all settlers are attacking us. 

I always thought that our Nakba that happened in 1948 because people back then were not educated and didn’t know the term humanity. Now, we witness another Nakba but in front of the whole world!
Israel now is committing a genocide in Gaza where they told more than 1.1 million to evacuate which is impossible because of the size of Gaza. Yet once they started fleeing, they bombed them in the streets! They deprived 2.1 million people of water, food, medicine, and electricity. What is happening now is not a war against Hamas, it’s a war against Palestinians but they are using Hamas as an excuse. 

The media is not covering anything about the real situation in Palestine!

If you want the truth, you should always go to the source! You have to watch out for biased news! Fake information is filling the whole internet! Because they are controlling the whole media! We are trying so hard to fight them, but our voice is not heard. They said that women were raped, and kids were beheaded in the beginning without one evidence. Then they all admitted that it is not true, and it’s all lies to make the Palestinians look savages!

We wonder, how can people trust the narrative of country that its leaders lied to the whole world, and these lies reached to a wide audience? On Platform X these lies reached 44 million and still are not deleted!

We need your voice now more than ever. You have to remember: We are fighting for our justice and a humanitarian cause.

Those who struggled against discrimination, segregation, and occupation in many parts of the world were never honored with red carpets and thunderous applause. They were instead murdered, imprisoned, and banished. Yet their legacy is still felt today. Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela are just two examples!

Following the correct path through history has never been simple, and that has been the case from the very beginning.

The path of the oppressed is long and arduous, so most people would rather side with the powerful (oppressor) than the weak (oppressed). We are not surprised by the side of the politicians in Europe and the USA. Those are the same people who saw our suffering and ignored us for more than 75 years.

We lived in this hell through all our life! It’s not something new to us, unfortunately! Of course, now it is more difficult than before! It’s true that we have mixed feelings of anxiety and confusion, but we have nothing to lose!
What we will lose from all of this is our tents and chains!

We have nothing to fear from our oppressors, who will soon be forgotten. We are not scared of them or their collective punishments and aggression, no matter how severe they are.

Among all this tragedy, we hope for a future of peace, liberty and dignity that awaits the Palestinians! If not, then death is better than living under the mercy of the oppressor because leaving is not an option for us!

Much love and respect. Your voice matters.
Saed Zboun
Aida Refugee Camp
Bethelem

Dear Editor:

Israel ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to “evacuate” the northern half of the occupied Gaza Strip, prompting UN officials to warn of an impending and unprecedented catastrophe, with the full backing, funding and arming of the U.S. and Europe. Israel's collective punishment of civilians is a war crime.

Addressing the recent crisis, its underlying causes, and the absolute need for the occupying power as well as all resistance groups of the occupied community to respect international law and to respect the prohibition against harming civilians is important. Killing children because children were killed will never prove that killing children is wrong. Israeli state violence needs to be called out, named and sanctioned.  

The top priority now for anyone who cares about human rights and upholding international law is to pressure our electeds and the UN to impose a ceasefire, to provide protection for civilians, and to compel Israel, the occupying power, to allow urgent humanitarian aid, including food, water and electricity, in to the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in the Israeli-occupied and besieged Gaza Strip.

For over 7 days the Palestinians in Gaza have been under the most intense and indiscriminate Israeli bombardment ever, targeting homes, markets, schools and universities, hospitals, healthworkers, journalists, and the entire civilian infrastructure. The Israeli occupation forces are implementing their “Dahiya Doctrine,” which precisely calls for “disproportionate force” to maximize damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure. Israel has bombed Gaza, Syria and Lebanon. We need to stop its raging war machine.  

We need to act now, with urgency. Palestinian lives depend on it.
 

John Francis Mulligan

Dear Senator Gillibrand

Dear Senator Gillibrand,

As my representative I hope you will also stand with the Paestinians who live in peace and under the oppressive apartheid that Israel has become. I urge you not to support the government of Netanyahu and his band of thugs and help the people of Israel forge a path to peace. I am not in support of Hamas any more than I support the militaristic regime of the Zionists. Each wants to eliminate the other on land that was given to the Jews by nations that had no right to give anything to anyone. There is not a path to peace until the United States stops its unending stream of weapons and political support to the radical government of Israel. I would like a response regarding your stance on the points I am addressing.

Sincerely,
Cary Kittner

Israel has been using terror and ethnic cleansing ever since

It is easy to criticize violence and bloodshed, whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, or Palestine. There are always women and children being killed. There are always thousands more buried alive in the rubble. And the barbarism always feeds upon itself. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind."

That doesn't mean that there is no one to blame. Most of these conflicts are proxy wars, with the major powers (China, Russia, and the United States) confronting one another by laying waste some Third World country. The United States is the worst of the three, with 800 military bases around the globe. Of course, our country talks about freedom and human rights, but these wars aren't really about that at all.

England and the US created Israel as a colony in the Middle East. At the end of the WW I, Jews made up just 8% of the population in Palestine. The Second World War changed all that, with a huge influx of Jewish settlers. In 1948, Jewish militias used terrorist tactics to clear 750,000 Arabs from the land they had lived on for centuries. Britain and the US looked the other way.

Israel has been using terror and ethnic cleansing ever since. There are now about 5 million Jews and 5 million Palestinians in the Holy Land. England and the US must undo their colony's apartheid and make peace, like England finally did in South Africa and Northern Ireland. The blood is on our hands; we must free the Palestinian people.

Fred Nagel

The "remarkably spiritual and educational experience" that apartheid had on him

Pat Ryan and Marc Molinaro have a lot in common. They are relatively young men who went off to Washington talking about human rights and justice. Both claim a type of amorphous patriotism; Ryan risked his life in one of American's ill chosen wars in the Middle East, and Molinaro loves helping the surviving veterans of US military adventures. Youth, service, and moral righteousness are hard to beat, and these two have even found it hard to beat one another.

And yet, both stand tall for Israel. According to OpenSecrets.com, Pat Ryan got $28,850 from the Israel Lobby in 2022, plus a free trip to see just how this apartheid state operates. Molinaro hasn't been in Congress long enough to have a record on OpenSecrets, but he has taken a trip to Israel as well, funded by a local Jewish Federation. He came back talking about the "remarkably spiritual and educational experience" that apartheid had on him.  

Both Ryan and Molinaro voted for (H Con Res 57) last July, asserting that Israel “is not a racist or apartheid state.” Very recently, both Ryan and Molinaro stood together in support of Israel when Assemblywoman Sarahana Shrestha called for an end to Israeli occupation.

Both Congressmen supported Israel despite what Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said recently: "I ordered a full siege on the Gaza Strip. No power, no food, no gas, everything is closed. We are fighting HUMAN ANIMALS and we act accordingly."

So both of our upstanding Congressional representatives support the cutting off of all food and power for 2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza? Somehow their boyish enthusiasm for human rights and justice seems to have gone astray. Do they really think that Palestinians are human animals, not fit for life? Isn't that what Nazi leaders used to say?

Fred Nagel

Letter to the editor

To the Editor:

Once again the Palestinians have committed hari-kari. I'll say it again: of course they have a right to resist with armed force, but it's a bad strategy, especially when it involves attacking civilians. It just feeds the Zionist entity-U.S. propaganda machine, with ever more dire consequences for the Palestinians. The Palestinians appear to say, "Butt out - we'll figure it out!"  Well, after 75 years, they're not figuring it out, it's only getting worse. Meanwhile we're expected to shell out more money to staunch their bleeding.    

Dale Carnegie of How to Win Friends and Influence People fame wrote, "Do not do the impulsive thing - it is always wrong." In this case, impulsive, indiscriminate violence was the wrong strategy. What's a better strategy? Perhaps a Palestinian has answered that: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. But will they hear, much less heed, his advice?

Meanwhile this magazine, despite its general excellence, continues to use some of the euphemistic red herring terms of the Zionist entity such as "Israel Defense Forces" (October 2023 issue, P. 18) and "the Land of Israel." As you otherwise document so well, the Zionist entity's armed forces are wolves in sheep's clothing. They're not about "defense." They're all about aggression, occupation, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, murder and apartheid. And Palestine isn't "the Land of Israel" (Israel's land). Using the language of the criminal validates the criminal. Please cut it out or count me out.

Gregory DeSylva

Mr. Gold and his ham-fisted distortions

Mr. Gold, president of the Jewish Federation of Ulster County, thinks I am lying about Israel. But the "facts" he presents are nothing but ham-fisted distortions. How about: "Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy full rights under the law, including freedom of worship, access to healthcare, education and the courts"?

Human Rights Watch describes a very different reality in Israel and the occupied territories: "Across these areas and in most aspects of life, Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians. Laws, policies, and statements by leading Israeli officials make plain that the objective of maintaining Jewish Israeli control over demographics, political power, and land has long guided government policy."

Or how about Amnesty International? A recent 280 page report finds that: "Israel is imposing an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it exercised control over their rights, fragmenting and segregating Palestinian citizens of Israel, residents of the OPT and Palestinian refugees denied the right of return. Through massive seizures of land and property, unlawful killings, infliction of serious injuries, forcible transfers, arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement, and denial of nationality, among other inhuman or inhumane acts, Israeli officials would be responsible for the crime against humanity of apartheid, which falls under the jurisdiction of the ICC [International Criminal Court]."

Numerous studies have shown that Palestinian residents of both Israel and the Occupied Territories face dozens of Israeli laws that discriminate against them. According to Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace laureate from South Africa: "I have witnessed the systemic humiliation of Palestinian men, women and children by members of the Israeli security forces. Their humiliation is familiar to all black South Africans who were corralled and harassed and insulted and assaulted by the security forces of the apartheid government." The quote is from the Jerusalem Post - March 10, 2014.

So how dumb does Mr. Gold think the American people are? It's apartheid, and shamefully, the Jewish Federation of Ulster County is part of it. Maybe we all are. According to a statement by Jewish Voice for Peace: "Let's be very clear: the U.S. is complicit in this. We send $3.8 billion in annual military funding to the Israeli government; we shield the Israeli government from accountability at the United Nations; we object to investigations into Israel's war crimes at the International Criminal Court; and we silence BDS activists here at home who try to speak out for Palestinian rights."

Fred Nagel

Once We were Proud and Supportive

Once We were Proud and Supportive

by Tarak Kauff

I was born in 1942 to a Jewish family while WWII was raging. My mother hated not only the Nazis but the German people for allowing that to happen. She never forgave them. Never would she buy or touch anything made in Germany. In 1948 the Jewish State of Israel was founded. My family were fiercely proud and supportive of what we felt was the heroic Zionist achievements in Israel. We knew nothing about Palestinians. All we knew was that Arabs hated Jews and did terrible things. At a young age I decided to join the US Army and “become a man.” I spent three-and-a-half years, mostly in the 101st Airborne division as a paratrooper, and now I’m an 81-year-old veteran. After my military discharge I became involved in efforts to stop the Vietnam War. I also started to hear negative stuff about Israeli treatment of Palestinians, which of course I was in denial about. The Arabs were the bad guys after all. Nonetheless, I began to do some research and soon saw that there might actually be something to the criticism. Eventually I went to the West Bank with a team of US veterans along with a former IDF paratrooper to experience the reality for myself. Four of us on that team were Jewish. I made two trips a few years apart. What I saw and experienced directly confirmed much of what I had researched, and it wasn’t pretty.

I’ll cut to the chase. The Zionist State of Israel has betrayed the very essence of everything good and decent about being Jewish. Instead of being kind, compassionate and empathetic to the oppressed and dedicated to truth, Israel has become a most vicious oppressor. I saw Palestine children brutalized. They are killed on almost a daily basis. Children! Many are languishing in Israel prisons for throwing rocks at occupying soldiers or for just being suspected of that. Israeli soldiers often break into Palestinian houses in the dead of night, terrorize the family and arrest children. And there is no such thing as a fair trial. If you are arrested, you are guilty. Palestinians are considered vermin.

And the armed settlers with their hatred and biblical stupidity—“God gave us this land”—are the worst. Yes, their god is a real-estate agent in the sky. Idiocy. And there is no excuse for it—none. Just as there was no excuse for what the Nazis did and what they became—arrogant monsters. How ironic that I saw such a similar phenomenon in Israel, especially in my direct confrontations with the IDF and the rabid settlers. Now I understand my mother’s revulsion to everything German. I’m a Jew and I wanted to see the truth, to actually see the reality apart from the mythology and the hasbara. The reality is that Israel has become an anathema to the humanistic tradition of Judaism. Instead it is sadistically violent and ruthless, as were the Nazis, but it is the arrogance most of all that repulses me.

Finally, I suggest that people who want to defend Israel first spend some time in the West Bank as an objective observer. As many have, you will then see the truth. It may shock and disturb you, but you will become a better, more honest person because of it.

Tarak Kauff
NYC Veterans For Peace

Allowing our country to become another apartheid Israel

Anyone interested in understanding the state of Israel, doesn't have to make much of an effort. Even the New York Times is often blunt about the government sanctioned racism and ethnic cleansing going on in the West Bank and Gaza. Even the propaganda spinners in the Pentagon can't use the usual catchword phrases like "protecting freedom" or "restoring democracy" to explain away Israel's brutal behavior. The Palestinians living under the boot of Israel's apartheid state have never experienced either of these fine principals.

Rather than promoting freedom or democracy, our country actively supports Israel's constant military attacks, home demolitions, detentions of minors, and destruction of infrastructure. How can a country that celebrates the inalienable  rights of its citizens, turn around and pay billions to Israel for denying basic human rights to its non Jewish population?

The website OpenSecrets.org explains part of it. Most members of Congress are feeding at the trough of the Israel Lobby, and are well paid to look the other way. They are scared too. The lobby threatens to defeat any candidate who even mentions Palestinian suffering.

Another supporter of Israel's apartheid is the right wing Evangelical Church. Christian fundamentalists believe that Jesus will appear when all Jews are returned to the Holy Land. And that fits nicely with their plans to restore the supremacy of conservative, Christian, Republican males in the United States.

A third interest group that favors Israel is made up of Jews who believe that the next Holocaust is bound to happen. In their fear, they assume that an ethnically cleansed Israel is the only safe place for them to ever live. For this sanctuary, they are willing to sacrifice the lives of five million Palestinians who are simply in the way.

To change US policy in Palestine, we have to reform Congress. It should be illegal for the Israel Lobby to spend millions bribing our representatives. At the next town meeting held by your House or Senate member, why don't you ask them how much the Israel Lobby pays them each year. Let's put an end to this interference in our elections by a foreign country.

Challenging the Christian right in the US should also be a priority. A theocracy based on Christianity would be as morally reprehensible as one based on Jewish Supremacy. We must protect the rights of all our minorities: immigrants, gays, Jews, Blacks, and Asians. To end Israeli apartheid, we must win the battle against fascism here at home. We cannot allow our country to become another apartheid Israel.

Fred Nagel

Have you no shame?

Law students graduating from CUNY Law School enter a hostile world. The curriculum is all about standing up for the poor and oppressed in society, using one's legal skills to speak truth to power.

But the powerful in our society have learned to use their influence and money  to make such goals difficult indeed. Our representatives in government rarely stand up for the powerless. Our media has no interest in home grown oppression. And our colleges have become dependent on the very rich to fund them. There is hardly room for idealism in the neoliberal world we have created.

So when a young CUNY graduate has the courage to give a commencement speech about the victims no one wants to hear about, all hell breaks loose. Five million Palestinians suffer under a ruthless apartheid occupation, and our country pays for the whole human rights catastrophe. But that subject is taboo, especially in the minds of all the politicians who are generously funded by the Israel Lobby. For ours is a democracy hanging by a thread. The very richest get to speak for us all. How else to explain the obscene disparity between the billionaires and everyone else?

Maybe Fatima Mohammed's commencement address to her class will be the tipping point. Perhaps the American people will finally ask the right question of the Israel Lobby: "Have you no shame?"

Fred Nagel

Israeli aggression

 Dear Editor: 

Since 2006 I have been supporting The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Occupied Palestine. I am outraged at the massive Israeli army attacks on Jenin refugee camp and The Freedom Theatre.  While it is impossible to assess the true extent of the damage while the Israeli army bars entrance to the camp, we know rockets were fired into the Theatre's courtyard and the Theatre was broken into and occupied by Israeli troops. We know the refugee camp infrastructure -- streets, sewers, electricity -- has been destroyed. We know many have been killed, more injured, and hundreds arrested. This nightmarish invasion has blocked ambulances and assistance to civilians, terrorized inhabitants, and forced thousands to flee their homes. There is no excuse for this war on a civilian population. The Israeli actions are war crimes.

I am equally outraged that our government's main reaction is to repeat well-worn, empty phrases about Israel's "right to defend itself" to cover up its unstinting support for Israeli aggression. Israeli land thefts, settler violence, military raids, and thousands of arrests are the authors of resistance from a people simply insisting on their right to live in dignity. Israel is not defending itself, it is, as Israeli politicians have made so clear recently, embarked on an all-out attempt to drive Palestinians out of their homeland and annex more territory.  

We must insist the US stop enabling Israeli impunity and end the funding of $3.8+ billion/year of our U.S. tax dollars to Israel’s out-of-control military.

Felice Gelman

The Freedom Theatre

 I've just sent this to Pat Ryan and will send similar to Schumer:

Dear Representative Pat Ryan,

 

I am writing with urgency to ask you to immediately demand an end to the Israeli forces' murderous collective punishment of Palestinians.

 

The IDF could not do what it’s doing without the US’s $3.8 billion per year. Therefore we, US citizens, and you particularly, as a Congress representative, have a moral responsibility regarding how that massive funding is used. 

 

Right now, the IDF is brutally attacking the Jenin refugee camp as if they intend to obliterate it—which perhaps they do. There have been numerous civilian casualties including elderly people and children.

 

Here is an excerpt from The Freedom Theatre’s update today. TFT, in the heart of the refugee camp, is a major cultural institution devoted to creating original theatre with local young people. 

 

“The Israeli army blew the entrance of The Freedom Theatre at approx. 02:00 this morning. They took the Naghnaghiye family to the theatre stage including the father of the 14-year old Sadeel that was killed by the army last week, and Adnan, the technical manager of The Freedom Theatre. They locked the entire family including elders and children inside the theatre and interrogated them there. Some members were held until the late morning. Adnan was taken by the army and there’s no further news on his status.” (See the full update below.)

 

Representative Ryan, you and I have met several times. We are neighbors in Gardiner. Through me, you are no more than two degrees of separation from Adnan. Some years ago I taught theatre at TFT and drove with Adnan to a deeply moving performance in a Bedouin village. 

 

The people in the Jenin refugee camp are not faceless “terrorists”. They are human beings who have endured unthinkable trauma and oppression for generations. 

 

Israel’s rightwing government claims it is taking these violent actions in order to keep Jewish Israelis safe. A far more moral and more effective way to achieve that goal would be to stop denying Palestinians basic human rights and grant them citizenship.  

 

I ask you to respond to the specific points I am making. It is not helpful to receive your standard response on this topic, defending Israel’s actions. 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jo Salas

To support and not silence Palestinian voices

Hello Dr. Solimene.

I have read the communication to students. Your statement endorses anti-Palestinian ethnic cleansing, illegal under international law.

The student’s statement affirmed international law and UN resolutions, which say that Palestinians have legal right to East Jerusalem. That legal right has been denied by the Israeli Interior Minister, and by soldiers and mobs chanting “death to Arabs” in Palestinian neighborhoods. The Israeli government also recently criminalized the Palestinian flag. 

Incredibly, your email to students says that they cannot speak about their rights under the law, or object when their identity is criminalized.

The student’s statement is not hate speech. It is a statement of the self-determination of the Palestinian people. Silencing speech, chilling dissent and censorship have no place in public education. 

What is being done to rectify this harm? “Reviewing our yearbook content and procedures going forward.." is absolutely important for the future. I would like to know specifically, in regards to the remaining academic year and graduation, what steps Arlington will take to support and not silence Palestinian voices and challenge colonialism and genocide.

Regards,  John Francis Mulligan

 

Palestinian Children and Failies Act

In Solidarity,
Peace Action New York State
 
TAKE ACTION NOW!

We are unfortunately continuing to lend support for the Israeli government's violence and oppression of Palestinians through our tax dollars. The unconditional support of Israel by the United States, which includes $3.8 billion of our taxpayer dollars per year, reinforces a militaristic policy that includes annexation, evictions, home demolitions, and the detention and torture of Palestinians — even young children.

Now we have a chance to help change this. Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) and 16 other representatives recently re-introduced the Palestinian Children and Families Act (H.R. 3103). This historic bill would help curtail any U.S. military funding to Israel that pays for the military detention of Palestinian children, the demolition of Palestinian homes, or the annexation of Palestinian land.

Take a quick moment to urge your representative to become a co-sponsor!

(And, if you are in Rep. Jamaal Bowman or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's district, please thank them for already being original co-sponsors!)

https://click.everyaction.com/k/65058245/412187242/-2040536341