Review of film at the African Roots Library in Kingston

From the Palestine Chronicle  two comments from members of the Freedom Flotilla speaking of their experiences and feelings

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/from-the-river-to-the-sea-and-all-around-the-world-warm-welcome-home-for-freedom-flotilla-crew/


Their pain but hopefulness and commitment with calls for others to do the same is in contrast to the Palestine film "Wanted" that I went to see yesterday as the African Roots Library in Kingston.  That film had a light vein throughout as the cows were presented in living cartoon

characters as well as their real selves.  The film mirrors the Freedom Flotilla's point the Palestinians made about being freer than their Israeli occupiers.  The film portrayed the incredible creativity of the town's people based on the unity they had amongst themselves.  No matter what the Israeli tactics to destroy this push back the people always found a way to resist.  But a point of hope at the end of the film was marred for me by one of the men, a boy when this episode with the cows was occurring, was a sad note on which they ended the film.

The Oslo Accords ramped up the Occupation killing one of the towns leaders, a young man.  The result for this man was a sense of defeat, betrayal in fact.  The film would have been so much more powerful if it ended with a man who kept looking for the one cow that was set free to ensure survival of the cows (people) with hope to see that it survived in hiding.  One cannot be or feel free when allowing repressive forces to destroy hope and resilience.  It is one form of power the people can always have no matter the repressive efforts to destroy that hope and resilience.

It is what spurs revolutionary movements the strength to continue the struggle for freedom and peace. FYI, the cows were a symbol of the push for freedom.  The town people were fed up with being forced to be dependent on Israel for all their services and supplies.  They went to Israel and bought a few cows to provide milk for their children.  A seemingly small effort on their part raised the ire of Israel and the IDF which continued to destroy this one very small effort at free choice, independence and self-esteem.  The IDF waged a fight of increasing threats and repression with the people finding more ways to withstand the sanctions and lockdowns and even imprisonment. It reminded me of how the Black community in particular used the prisons to educate others incarcerated, studying and planning ways to resist the repression.  The cows were eventually taken/destroyed with one small one let loose to try and survive for the community.

It a lighter way than is common, this film was very moving providing many lessons for those who need to learn them and others to be reminded of the power of unity and resistance. 

Tanya

Genocide Blue, Genocide Red, or Neither

If you think it is liberating to have a woman of color actively aiding and abetting apartheid and genocide on indigenous non-European people and mass-killing women and children, then for sure, Kamala Harris is the presidential candidate for you. As an added bonus, with her you also get treated to an attorney who flouts the law by providing a safe haven for an international war criminal. But wait, there’s more— you’d also get a president committed to planeticide via fracking, GMOs, and pesticides, and who felt "honored" by endorsement from Halliburton’s GOP Dick Cheney.

    Meanwhile, in the local Congressional races, Dem Pat Ryan who has long boasted about his military role in the unjust invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan under GOP Bush/Cheney, has allied himself in Congress with Q-Anon GOP Marjorie Taylor Greene, in order to censure Dem Rashida Tlaib for objecting to the US funding (with our taxes) Israel’s genocide of its native population. Ryan has consistently pushed for more and more tens of billions for US funding for Israel’s weapons of genocide, even opposing the short-lived “pauses” that even Biden had recommended. The other local Dem Congressional candidate Josh Riley views other countries as our enemies, rather than as our neighbors, and seems a good bet to follow in Pat Ryan’s violent and costly footsteps.

    So I have a question for our local Dem luminaries, such as Ulster County Exec Jen Metzger, and Ulster County legislator Manna Jo Greene, and for local Dem committees. You all supporting these people, who make genocide and planeticide realities?

    For voters who favor atrocities and planetcide, just pick your favorite color, Red or Blue. For NYS voters who aren’t thrilled with crimes against humanity and the planet, you will have to do write-ins (thanks to the so-called Democrats who control the voting regulations in NYS). Two presidential tickets with excellent and detailed platforms for peace and planet (in sharp contrast to the Red and Blue ones) are Jill Stein/Butch Ware and Cornel West/Melina Abdullah. Pick one ticket and write them in. For Congress, you can pick a decent local person and write in their name, if enabling genocide and planetcide disgusts you.

Barbara Kidney

Is your money that good?

Cognitive dissidence keeps me up at night. On one side, my country preaches human rights and democracy. But at the same time, it sends Israel one ton "Biden Bombs" to blow up what is left of Gaza.

There is very little left. Two million refugees are huddled under makeshift tents, waiting for food that never comes. Yet our sweet land of liberty keeps sending billions in military aid to keep the Palestinian genocide going. What perverse monster could think of doing such a thing to other human beings? What government bureaucrat would carry out such murderous orders?

The ongoing extermination of two million Palestinians is Gaza isn't hidden very well. Skeletal children are holding out their metal pots for any little scrap of food. They have to drink contaminated water because the electricity is gone and the pipes all destroyed. School for these children is just a memory of long ago. There are no school buildings left, nor any colleges. Nothing but rubble as the Palestinian people prepare their children to die.

I don't want to be a citizen of a country that does that to millions. Our pro-Zionist Congressional representatives get hundreds of thousands from the insanely rich Israel Lobby. That just makes people like Pat Ryan nothing but hired killers. He has already gotten over $163,000 this year in Israeli bribes. (opensecrets.org)

"Let me ask you one question. Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness, do you think that it could?" -Bob Dylan

 

Fred Nagel

How to describe Israel’s latest horror?

 

How to describe Israel’s latest horror? Intercepting and sabotaging pagers and walkie-talkies, then remotely detonating them so that thousands of people in another country –on the streets, in their homes, at work, grocery shopping—are blown up.  Diabolical. Revolting. Unspeakable. All of the above. 

My dear friend who is a Syrian-Lebanese refugee in Europe writes:

“For years now, I’ve been aware of Palestine’s ongoing struggle for freedom. But today, everything feels different, heavier. I’ve survived so much already—the war in Syria, being kidnapped by militias in Lebanon, living in terror of politicians, and being hunted by the Syrian regime. Each of these events left a deep mark on me, but somehow, I made it through.

Now, I'm dealing with the consequences. Doctors give me different labels—PTSD, complex trauma, depression—but none of these words truly capture the weight I carry. Every morning I wake up feeling scared, suffocated, and in pain. The nightmares never let me go.

I'm trying to make sense of my life, to understand the world around me, but what’s happening today in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria—it’s overwhelming. It’s terrifying.

They are killing us. Erasing us. Wiping our existence from the land that belongs to us. And no matter how much I’ve survived, this is something I can't comprehend. The fear is all-consuming, and I don't know how much more I can endure.”

Another Lebanese friend, a mother of young children, writes: “Oh scared is the word that says it all, resilience is tiring! What happened yesterday and today is beyond our minds to understand, the kids are no longer coming near their phones and tablets in fear of explosions.”

Our taxes fund this escalating catastrophe. We citizens must demand that the US immediately halt the flow of money and weapons to Israel’s murderous regime. We are responsible.

--Jo 

To the Editor:

Are you okay with your tax dollars paying for genocide in Palestine? The Zionist state of Israel has bombed, burned, and buried 42.000 innocent Palestinian women, children, and men in the last ten months. The Zionist project of Israel is continuing acts of unspeakable violence and cruelty. Slaughtering and wantonly exterminating women, men, children, babies, and killing, wounding and maiming anything that breathes - like donkeys, horses, dogs and cats. There are truly no words. It is all being done before our very eyes. There have been genocides before, but never seen in real time with real images on screens in our hands or on our laps.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are trapped, terrified, and homeless due to relentless bombing (much of it with US supplied bombs). There is no safe place in Gaza and children are dying from planned starvation, dehydration, and disease. Our government supports and funds these atrocities with your tax dollars. If any of this bothers you maybe it’s time to call the White House: 202-456-1111 or Pat Ryan:202-225-5614 and say, “No U.S. weapons or money to fund Israeli genocide.”

Eli

Motives for the attacks

 

Greetings, friends and acquaintances, on the upcoming 23^rd anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks on America.  Despite over two decades having passed, there is little public understanding of why those attacks occurred.  Even the 9/11 Commission avoided or deflected questions leading to the heart of the matter. The attached 2010 video, Why 9/11? (which I worked on with Deir Yassin Remembered, Inc.,) addresses this question directly through carefully documented research. Its findings are at variance with U.S. government and mainstream media explanations of the motives for the attacks, leading to suppression (de facto censorship, really) of this video by Google as containing “inaccurate and exaggerated claims.” Thus, only people with YouTube accounts can view the video, and Google will not allow us to advertise it. Consequently, viewership is negligible and the wider public has been denied the opportunity to consider the findings of Why 9/11? and the abundant evidence supporting those conclusions. 

 

However, by clicking this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzIwtCUXf4&t=529s   (which I personally guarantee is safe and secure), you can view what private interests like Google - and the U.S. government - would rather you didn’t.  (Please note: the video does not start at the beginning – you will have to drag the time line leftward to the beginning, and you may wish to view it in full screen). We would welcome your comments and criticisms on it, provided you’re willing to consider the evidence with an open mind.

 

Warm regards,

 

Gregory DeSylva