Israel-right or wrong

 

 

 

“I did not know” is no excuse! The news from Palestine is not a secret, even in part of the Israeli press and other media. Just this past week, August 24-28, Haaretz, one of the most serious newspapers in Israel, published these headlines, among many others, in Hebrew and in English:

“One Thousand Attacks on Palestinians by Israelis in the West Bank Since the Beginning of the Year”

“Sick and Elderly Shelter in Gaza City Churches with Nowhere to Go Amid Looming IDF Siege”  

“West Bank Settler Attack on Palestinian and Israeli Activists Wounds Seven”
“Dozens Wounded as IDF Troops Raid West Bank City Ramallah, Confiscate Cash From Local Foreign Exchange Bureau”

“ 'Better Late Than Never': Israeli Journalists Hail Killing of Palestinian Colleagues in Gaza”

“Israel Committed a War Crime That Was Broadcast Live to the World" -- Haaretz editorial

“Israel Police Bans Anti-Gaza War and Anti-Government Protest Signs at Haifa Pride Parade”

“Targeting Truth: Israel's Killing of Gazan Journalists in Nasser Hospital Is No 'Mishap' ”

So, yes, the truth and facts are out there for anyone to see, learn and act! Awareness and support for Palestine, both in Gaza and the West Bank, is central and ongoing.

Nowadays many more Israelis want a ceasefire deal to end the war and free all remaining hostages, and even participate in massive demonstrations--but many are mostly driven by concerns about hostages still in Gaza and the impact of two years of war on Israeli society and its economy.

On the other hand, demonstrations and opposition to ethnic cleansing and genocide, while still usually a small minority, continue to grow in Israel. Protests call for refusal to serve in the army and an end to the starving and the slaughter of Palestinians. 

This past week in Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians demonstrated together, symbolizing the breaking of another psychological barrier among Palestinian citizens in Israel, and perhaps also constituting another small brick in the foundation of a common political camp. This is a thing that can truly threaten the horrific Zionist regime.

Unfortunately, polling this week showed that nearly three-quarters of Jewish Israelis partially or totally agree with the claim made by Israel’s government that “there are no innocents in Gaza.”So, no time to waste for those that struggle for justice!

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, the “Anti-Zionism=Antisemitism” charge used by the “Israel-right or wrong” people for so long is facing new challenges to its credibility. More thoughtful leaders in the world Jewish community and institutions are publicly decrying the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. These are not just the Orthodox Jewish communities that opposed the Israeli state from its inception. These are now scholars of the Holocaust, rabbis and community organizers. Just last week rabbis demonstrating in NYC were detained and harassed by the police!

Palestine Will Be Free!       From Yakov--            

 

                  *                                    *                                    *

I would like to invite you to a potluck fundraiser on Saturday, September 6th at 6pm  for  INTERNATIONAL GAZA RELIEF-  a humanitarian organization that has found a way through the blockade to feed  and provide clean water to hungry children in Gaza. There will be music, speakers, camaraderie and good food! It is being held at  Unframed Artists Gallery- 173 Huguenot St, New Paltz, NY 12561  

 Please go to igirelief.org  for more information, or contact me- Michele Riddell- you can call, text or email.🌹

                  

The Last Days of Democracy

Trump and his unelected gang of billionaire thieves have moved much faster than anyone expected. Or maybe it's the glacial pace of the opposition, old white men who have been so thoroughly corrupted by corporate money that they seem paralyzed.

Who is to blame for the current madman in the White House? Both major parties are, since they are designed to benefit the very rich. Is there any way out? Now that Trump is threatening the nation's federal judges, one more safety switch is being turned off. And there aren't many safeguards left. Not only does Trump control the US military and the boarder patrol, but he has a right wing civilian militia that is armed to the teeth. All he needs to do is point out his political enemies and his death squads may just kill them. Those who are apprehended and charged with murder would all be pardoned by our runaway tyrant.

Do you think you are watching some Third World dictatorship put in place by the CIA? No, the enormity of our military power has created a world of perpetual war. Even our closest allies will be looking for ways to protect themselves from our threats of invasion.

The best outcome may be a long shot. Trump may get so enamored with his fame and dominance, that he makes terrible mistakes both on the battlefield and off. Once Trump shows signs of deranged thinking, why the billionaires may sacrifice him and put someone else in his place.

Fred Nagel

Wrapped in the Star of David

One fine day we wake up and realize that the people who rule us are war criminals. They have been sending planes and bombs to help in the extermination of two million Palestinians. And instead of ending the US supported butchery, they push on with the destruction of Gaza's hospitals, doctors, and universities. Can we be part of this genocide? And once we see it clearly, just how can we forget?

We must be careful about what we say though. Students have been suspended or expelled for pointing out Israel's savagery. Teachers have lost their jobs. For all this talk about the First Amendment, there are few free speech rights when it comes to Israel. The American Empire has wrapped itself in the Star of David as it marches toward hell.

But the blood shows through. There is no forgiveness for starving and slaughtering 20 thousand children. We bow our heads and weep for the monstrous country that we are part of. After so much talk about freedom and human rights, what liars we have making decisions for us.

Who is to blame? Why it is the billionaires and the venal congress that they love to bribe. There is simply too much money to be made and the scoundrels of both major parties live on greed. The American Empire is a failed state for all its history of noble ideas.

We the people must take to the streets. We have a right to demand that our government represent us and not the Israeli warmongers.

Fred Nagel

To the Editor:

Israel has been  savagely slaughtering, starving, and relentlessly bombing two million  Palestinians since October 7, 2023.   At least 60,000 Palestinians killed (including 13,000 children), 145,000 wounded, perhaps hundreds of thousands buried and uncounted beneath the  bombed out rubble of their homes.  Israel blames Hamas (which, by the way, was funded and encouraged by Israel).  Blaming  Hamas for Israel’s genocide is a  smokescreen and excuse used  to justify  the  ethnic cleansing and elimination  of all  Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.    This brutal and illegal ethnic cleansing started with the forced expulsion of 800.000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948 (the Nakba).   Israel violently evicted Palestinians from their lands and stole farms, homes, and property.   The displaced Palestinians were forcibly relocated to refugee camps like Gaza or forced out of Israel altogether.   It was ugly.  The Israeli military (many of whom were Haganah and Irgun terrorists)  would go to Palestinian homes at noon and say: “We will be back at 5pm.  If you are still here we will kill you.”   The Palestinians  fled and to this day are not allowed to return to their homes.  Tragically,  Israel has become a pariah nation despised by the world.  For Israel to survive, it must abandon it’s  deep commitment to racist Zionism, ethno-supremacy, and the apartheid state. Israelis must fully embrace those people they are currently  so viciously trying to exterminate.   Israelis and those who supported, financed, and encouraged this genocide must be held accountable for their actions.  Peace and reconciliation can only  follow if justice prevails.  (To learn more truth go to electronictifada.net)

Eli Kassirer

Stand with us for Gaza

Stand with us for Gaza, Saturday, August 16, 12:30-1:30, at Elting Library on Main Street!

From Donna--

What could be more antisemitic than the assertion that the Jewish people support the genocide of the people of Gaza? That the Jewish people support the death by starvation of an entire generation of children?
And yet, building on the memories of the Nazi Holocaust, building on the guilt of those who looked the other way in the face of fascism, the global north’s right-wing leaders have used the slander of antisemitism against those who challenge Israel’s right to plunder and kill the people and the land of Palestine.

Popular thinking credits the Holocaust with the creation of the Jewish state, as a zone of safety for the Jewish people.

In fact the ideology of Zionism predates the Nazi holocaust by more than a century. In the early 1800s the Christian nationalists believed that Jewish occupation of the “Holy Land” would lead to the Second Coming of Christ. In the later part of the century Jewish Zionist leaders such as Theodor Herzl offered Britain its own imperial outpost in the Middle East in the form of a loyal Jewish enclave. Toward the end of World War I, picking up this piece of territory from the fallen Ottoman Empire, Britain declared its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, even though only 2.5% of the population of Palestine were Jewish, .

In the aftermath of World War II, Israel indeed welcomed refugees of the Nazis, but the state itself was characterized by its allegiance to British and then U.S. imperialism.

The state of Israel forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians off their ancestral lands into refugee camps that exist to this day, killed tens of thousands in massacres that continue to this day.

It was never on the agenda of Israel or its imperial backers for Palestinians to have equality or self rule or a right to the land.

And so, the Palestinian liberation movement calls for Palestine to be free, from the river to the sea.

Antisemitic? Let’s take a look at the 1977 platform of Israel’s right-wing Likud party:

“The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal and indisputable… therefore, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”

And what about the map of Israel that Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the United Nations in 2023, which showed neither the West Bank nor Gaza, but only Israel from the river to the sea?

We call for a free Palestine, an end to the genocide, the right of the Palestinian people to their homeland.

Stand with us every Saturday, from 12:30 to 1:30, in front of Elting Library in New Paltz.

Free Palestine!

From Linda

After 22 months of brutal Israeli attacks and atrocities, we are finally witnessing a sea change in world opinion—instead of denial and extemporizing, the world has begun to acknowledge these horrors.

Here at home, there was a vote in the Senate put forward by Bernie Sanders to stop weapons from being sent to Israel.  The bill did not pass, but a majority of  Democrats voted for it for the first time. (However, disappointingly and perhaps as expected our own senators voted against it. This is an outrage!!!!) The pictures of starving people looking like WWII concentration camp victims could no longer be excused. Palestinians being shot like fish in a barrel while struggling to get food for their starving children could no longer be blamed on Hamas. Even in Israel, there are demonstrations against the genocide taking place.

This change has given me hope that our efforts have not been for naught. Yet, we in the movement are left wondering what took so long. Where was the moral imperative to revolt against crimes against humanity 22 months ago? Those of us who bravely stood up and were received with hatred and scorn, knew that no matter what, we were on the right side of history. Will those senators who voted to keep Israel armed with weapons and money still be able to look at themselves in the mirror and accept their greedy and criminal behavior when the tide has totally turned, and Israel is revealed completely as a monster state, committing the same crimes against the Palestinians that Jews were once victims of at the hands of the Nazis?

Yet our work continues. No settlement is in sight. The total blockade of food and fuel that started in March remains, and Israeli forces continue to mow down Palestinians seeking food, or just trying to survive. The death toll is rising, now more than 60,000 with many more unaccounted for. Big parts of the Israeli government have declared their intention to take over Gaza permanently, removing the remaining Palestinians by force. And a big part of the Israeli population still supports its government’s ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.

What keeps me going are all my sisters and brothers who have taken up the cause and are following what is in their hearts. Justice, respect, kindness and love lead the way. Solidarity against crimes committed on those whose rights have been denied. We will stand for as long as it takes to free Palestine.

Some positive developments:

(1)  The University of Maryland has to pay $100,000 to its Students for Justice in Palestine for attempting to silence Palestinian voices on campus.

(2)  More Jewish Israelis are speaking out against the genocide by their government. Israeli novelist and Israel Prize recipient David Grossman publicly stated that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

(3)  Hundreds of thousands of Australians marched in Sydney, joined by an unprecedented number of trade unions, community organizations, and individuals.

(4)  The Chinese government officially announced that they support the rights of the Palestinian state and the recovery of all its occupied territories.

(5)  The Reform Jewish movement in the United States—by far the largest current of American Jewry--issued a statement denouncing the Netanyahu government’s blockade and starvation of Gaza.

We might ask ourselves why these actions took so long—but we should welcome them as a precursor of things to come—the total isolation of Israel in the world community, and the liberation of Gaza from suffering and oppression.

FREE. FREE PALESTINE!

Letter to the New York Times

The choice to publish Stephens's opinion piece on the use of the word "genocide" to descrbe Israel's actions in Gaza takes the Times further down the road of complicity in the unfolding horrors. The majority of scholars, almost all human rights and humanitarian organizations and the overwhelming majority of people -- especially those living in the global south -- know that Palestinians are being slaughtered "as such," as the definition of the word "genocide" requires. The only reasonable explanation for the deliberate targeting of children with bullets to the head or torso by Israeli snipers is the belief by the officers who instruct them on targeting that Gazan children are all just immature terrorists who "deserve" extermination. That sounds like killing Palestinians "as such" regardless of their individual beliefs or actions. Yes, this is a genocide and your publication is complicit in its execution.

Dick

From Ruth--

"It needs to be repeated that this is the first genocide that has happened on our phones.  It needs to be repeated that we are capable of watching something for two years without seeing it.  It needs to be repeated that even when we have dimly registered the scale of destruction in Gaza, we have not been able to stop it with protests or with boycotts or with letters to the government.  We will continue to protest and to boycott and to send letters to the government.  It needs to be repeated that an entire population is on the brink of starvation and we know this but can't get the food past the blockade.  It needs to be repeated that our country is deeply implicated in the destruction of Gaza and this weighs on everyone's psyche, especially because it is so often denied, especially because history is repeating itself."...undesignated author

Just this morning, in speaking with my friend about Palestine, the topic of insufficient words came up.  She said, "How is it possible to not hear the ripple of screams?  They are heard throughout the world."  I am not minimizing our relationship with this endless Palestinian struggle:  we are constantly, repeatedly, making our best attempt to end this gut-wrenching suffering, this constant barrage of humiliation that has been perpetrated against the Palestinian people.  But we are here in our protected - for now - part of the world, many of us because of the skin we were born in. Our determination to use our privilege for the change of world policy is rooted in solidarity. Our repetition, however creative and determined, has grown insufficient.

"We need new words.  The scale of it, the cheek of it...brazen, scandalous, outrageous, immoral... the words scatter to the ground and smash.  They fall pathetically short.

"There is a violent disregard for Palestinian life that is ideologically underpinned; but always changing, always "improving" its methods, gathering technological and geopolitical impetus while the victim remains locked in the cruel experiment and has no right of reply."

....Max Porter, 11/20/24 - "Edward Said & The Question of Palestine," Palestine Festival of Literature

Much as we demand the right for Palestine to live, its people to breathe free, its children to be joyful in learning and in play, I believe we are among a minority who have deliberately NOT turned away from the enormity of this destruction and tragic loss. We have allowed ourselves to have our own hearts burst with the murderous acts of the IDF and the deaf ears and hollow hearts of our government's policies. (Honestly, it should be becoming clearer to all that  the two are inseparable). We have not turned away.

Max Porter describes the devastation of Palestine as "psychopathic violence, not merely a savagely disproportionate response". We hear it in the crassly racial insults of settler occupiers and their defenders, the IOF.  How many more will commit the act of "un-aliving" the defenseless before turning their hatred on themselves?

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We will spend the night under this tree on the corner by the gate if we have to.  We can never be made to leave this land.  It is our home."  - Jerusalem tour guide

"The task for the Palestinian people is to assure its presence on the land.  There is no other acceptable alternative." - Edward Said

For us, everything we do, speak, write and see brings us to Palestine and its people.

As words fail us, evermore does our solidarity endure.

FREE! FREE! PALESTINE

Made in America Blood Bath

Does every global atrocity eventually become yesterday's story? And from there do they shamefully creep into our history books? We are responsible for up to 17,000 children who have been slaughtered, bombed, and starved to death by the best weaponry that the world has ever seen. Everyone has a role to play. The 2,000 bombs are made by General Dynamics and the drones made by Northrop Grumman. In fact it's a made in America bloodbath; how long can people bear keeping that in their minds?

Life is often hard in this land of the free, with the very rich gobbling up most of our country's profits. The greedier the billionaires get, the more they plot to rob us of what we still have left: our healthcare, public education and Social Security. We got rid of the thieving Democrats, only to be plagued by the new fascist party led by a madman. It is no wonder so many of us are in the streets.

But our county is also remaking itself, from the defender of liberty to the merchant of genocide. What is worth saving when we are responsible for slaughtering tens of thousands of Palestinians? We are transforming ourselves into the apocalypse of death and all the world is witness.

Almost every member of Congress gets piles of money from the Israel Lobby (opensecrets.org). Ask your House and Senate members just how much cash they are paid each year to look the other way. Our venal Congress is obsessed with blood money, and will never end the carnage on its own. That's were you come in. Demand that Israel and the US end the holocaust of the Palestinian people.  

Fred Nagel

Puretz running out of Israeli talking points

Attacking Nagel 

Nagel’s latest anti-Semitic diatribe was so apparent in his “starving the children” letter to the editor. Nagel has an obsession with Jews as well as with Zionists (who are mostly Jewish). This is again revealed in his fantasy paragraph where he states that our government sits around and spouts Israeli talking points while collecting their hundreds of thousands in bribes from Zionist billionaires. 

My fantasy is thinking that if he had been present at the October 7, 2023 massacre at the Nova Music Festival he would support Israel’s aim of the war in Gaza, to wit to degrade Hamas. Get a life, Nagel (and maybe see a psychiatrist). Susan Puretz Saugerties

====

My old letter writing friend, Susan Puretz, has run out of Israeli talking points. One doesn't have to be any particular religion to understand the purposeful starvation of tens of thousands can't be what God wants.

She maintains that Israel's extermination of the Palestinian people is all about "degrading" Hamas. Were the Nazi's just trying to degrade the Jews during the Second World War? Genocide is a special case, an extermination based on the vilest of racist impulses. The Third Reich committed genocide, and the Israeli state is doing the same. 

Just why is this apartheid state so generous with its campaign cash? Pat Ryan raked in $220,000 in donations from the Israel Lobby last year. He can't bring himself to even mention the tens of thousands of children roaming Gaza looking for a crust of bread. Kirsten Gillibrand got $480,000 from the Lobby in 2024. Has she ever referred to the suffering of two million Palestinians who are without food, water or shelter? 

Chuck Schumer, who calls himself Israel's "protector," sucked in $292,000 from the pro Israel Blackstone Group, and $236,000 from the Zionist Paul Weiss legal firm. All these Israeli "donations" can be verified at Opensecrets.org. Isn't it time we put an end to all of these Israeli bribes to our Congress?

Fred Nagel

Faith in Humanity

Regarding the letter to the editor by Susan Puretz “Attacking Fred Nagel” in last week’s issue of HV1 this is my response:

After reading Fred Nagel’s June 25th letter my faith in humanity was lifted somewhat by Fred’s obvious righteous indignation of the daily slaughter of innocent children and civilians being committed by Israel with the unswerving support of bought off US politicians as Fred asserted. Neither of these assertions are singularly his own speculations, but are facts on the record that can be looked up and verified. It has become a well known fact that AIPAC, the Israeli political action committee, mandates “pledges” from US politicians to be loyal to Israel or else AIPAC will finance campaigns against them upon their re-election bids with millions of dollars. This is exactly what happened to ex-congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and others who refused to be forced to sign any such pledges (https://ameu.org/2023/11/22/aipac-dark-money-and-the-assault-on- democracy/). Those that will sign these undemocratic pledges will be rewarded with financial support. This is what Fred was referring to and not a conspiracy theory invented by him as zionist/genocide supporter Susan Peretz insinuates in her attack letter.

Furthermore whether or not one was a witness or victim of the Oct. 7th Nova Music Festival massacre does not give one the right to commit war crimes and genocide against innocent children and civilians as Ms. Puretz seems to assert. I was initially horrified and shocked by what I saw happened at the music festival by roaming Hamas invaders, where 200 free spirited young Israeli attendees were unmercifully slaughtered. That being said I am even more horrified and shocked by tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian children being bombed, burned, denied medical care and now starved to death, which Fred was writing about and anyone with a conscience should be.

No Ms. Puretz, the slaughter that happened in one day at the music festival, as horrible as it was, does not compare with the ongoing slaughter/genocide happening to the Palestinian children, which has been happening for almost two years now. What has happened to our shared humanity that allows this zionist “work of darkness” to continue for this long unabated. Shame on anyone, especially US politicians, who support this genocide as Ms. Puretz’s factless letter apparently does. Genocide is not self defense and ethnic cleansing is a war crime no matter how you look at it. Ms. Puretz is the one who “needs to get a life” and stop supporting daily death en masse of innocent children, and me saying that is not anti-semitic, but pro life.

Steve Romine

Incomprehensible to the normal mind

The troops of the American 82nd Airborne Division were among the first to liberate Wöbbelin, a concentration camp northwest of Berlin. What they found that May 6, 1945 defied all notions of humanity. A US soldier predicted that the camps “will stand for all time as one of history’s most gruesome symbols of inhumanity. There our troops found sights, sounds and stenches horrible beyond belief, cruelties so enormous as to be incomprehensible to the normal mind."

In Wobbelin, as in some other concentration camps, US troops decided to show ordinary Germans from the surrounding villages what they had done. The townspeople were forced to view the corpses, bury hundreds of bodies and attend their funerals. Pictures of Germans show them holding scarves over their noses as they looked at the dead bodies.

A few Germans were indignant, insisting that they hadn't known what was going on in the camps. And speaking out against Hitler or the Third Reich almost always resulted in the death penalty. What was a good German citizen to do? Most townspeople, however, walked through the camps in shock and disbelief.

The slaughter of Jews and Romany had accelerated in the final months of the WW II. Dachau in southern Germany saw between 2,600 and 4,000 inmates die of disease and starvation each month. That's roughly 100 every day, about the same death rate of Palestinians in Gaza.

Are Americans more aware of the Palestinian genocide than German citizens were of the Holocaust? There has been no blackout of news coverage and pictures of starving Palestinian children. Moreover, criticism of Israel's war crimes is not a capital offense. So far, we still have our First Amendment freedom of speech.

So what is our excuse for arming and supporting the murderous Israeli death machine? Will we be taken some day through the killing fields of Gaza with our handkerchiefs over our noses? We already know what a good American citizen should be doing.   

Fred Nagel

To the Edtor:

Our letter in the June/July 2025 issue of this magazine, “How to Ardently Resist U.S. support for Israel’s Crimes” suggests some ways to keep one’s taxes from being used for military aid to Israel. One way was not pay that portion of one’s federal income taxes that is used for that purpose. Since then, we have learned that after due process the IRS can just take such underpayments, plus penalties and interest, from one’s bank account without one’s permission. So we no longer recommend this method.

A better, totally legal method is to minimize one’s taxable income, thus reducing the tax due and the funds available for military aid to Israel. One way to reduce taxable income is to increase charitable contributions so that itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction as much as possible. (We estimate that doing this will reduce our 2025 federal tax liability 54% and our New York State tax liability 100%.) By contributing to tax-exempt Palestinian charities like UNRWA USA one can kill two birds with one stone: less money available for killing Palestinians and rendering them homeless, and more to help them by offsetting cuts in U.S. aid. Putting our money where our mouths are, we are greatly increasing our 2025 contributions to the AET Library Endowment associated with this fine magazine, to UNRWA USA, and to several other 501(C)(3) charities. To help the Palestinians and significantly impact U.S. polices, many people need to join this effort, give generously, and spread the word. So please give as much as you can to your favorite 501(C)(3) charities, especially those dedicated to the welfare of the horrifically downtrodden Palestinians. And remember to divest from U.S. Treasury securities. Time is running out fast for the Palestinians. History and providence will smile upon those who gave all they could to save them.

Gregory and Nancy De Sylva 

Representative Ryan:

I was horrified to see that you voted with Republicans to express gratitude to ICE and to urge stronger cooperation between ICE and local government.
 
You live in a community that includes many immigrant families--our neighbors, friends, co-workers, employees--who are now in danger of summary detention and deportation. Parents live in constant fear of ICE appearing at their homes, their workplaces, on the street. Children have nightmares about their parents being taken away.
 
The only thing mitigating the anxiety that these families endure is the knowledge that Ulster County is generally welcoming to immigrants, regardless of status--a position that you once endorsed as county executive. Police will not do ICE’s dirty work. School districts are staunch in their protection of their students.
 
Perhaps it was the “antisemitism” aspect of this House resolution that particularly appealed to you—you’d like to see ICE abduct and deport more protesters under the totally specious argument that protesting genocide is antisemitic. What would you say to the courageous Israelis who are now standing up and declaring horror over the atrocities committed by the IDF, with the full material support of the US?
 
At this point in history, the old labels—antisemitism, anti-Zionist, pro-Israel, anti-Israel, etc –are irrelevant. You are either pro-genocide or anti-genocide.
 
It is unbearable to know that I am represented in Congress by someone who supports both genocide and the brutality of ICE.

Jo Salas

Dear Editor:

It's great Josh Riley and Pat Ryan voted for a resolution condemning antisemitism.  It would be  less hypocritical if they also voted to quit funding Israel's genocide against the SEMITIC people of Gaza.  Indigenous Palestinians are at least as "Semitic" as the western settlers in Israel, who are granted citizenship with the flimsiest connection to Judaism. These immigrants are major drivers of far right Zionist settler colonialism, which hides behind Judaism in it's naked quest for "lebensraum".  Israel's obvious ethnic cleansing and takeover of Gaza is fueling Jewish antisemitism world wide.  How many eyes for an eye are enough? Many  Zionists openly call for exterminating ALL Gazans, not just Hamas.

By conflating protest against the Gaza massacre and boycott of the Zionist state with

antisemitism, our constitutional freedoms are being criminalized.  Today the Palestinian freedom movement; tomorrow the climate justice, women's, civil rights, LGTBQ+ movements, and any speech our rulers don't like. Indeed some very bad actors like Trump, who called Neo-Nazi rioters in Charlottesville (August 2017) "very fine people", the Heritage Foundation (Project 2025), and Christian Nationalists, are all onboard with weaponizing antisemitism to silence liberal education, including progressive Jewish voices, while stoking actual antisemitism, as in demonizing Jewish "elitists" like George Soros.

Following the horrific police murder of George Floyd and so many others (Monica Goods locally), Wrong wingers countered  "Black Lives Matter" with "All Lives Matter".  Wouldn't it be awesome if all Semites, indeed all people mattered? Or are some Semites just chopped liver?

Edmund

Some Sort of Perspective

How can we put America's starvation of Gaza in some sort of perspective? Do we write songs about it? Do we hold up signs? How do we get beyond what our country is capable of doing? Has it always been that way and we didn't notice?

The pictures are already upon us. The skeletal bodies and shrunken eyes. There are 90,000 children under imminent threat of starvation. The trucks are only a few miles away, but Israel, backed by its partner in crime, the United States, has decided not to let them through.

Do you think we live in a humane society? That we follow some sort of moral code? Do we believe in a God that doesn't slaughter children? How did we end up in a country that always puts money and power before its basic humanity?

We the people forced an end to our invasion and occupation of Vietnam. Not in time to save the lives of 58,000 US troops and over two million Vietnamese people. We worked at it, defying the police and the college administrators that kept telling us to shut up and be patriotic. It turned out that the war resisters were the patriots. Those in power were the liars and the murderers.

Today, we must overcome the apartheid state of Israel, a toxic mixture of religious fanaticism and wanton cruelty. We must end our support of this genocide against the Palestinian people. The battle is for the soul of our democracy, just as it was in Vietnam.

Fred

A protected part of free speech

Dear Daily Freeman:

When I was a child I shopped with my mother to buy a new blanket. In the store, I longingly stroked a cloud-soft white wool blanket, but my mother shook her head. Why? She showed me the label: "Made in Germany". I knew we had relatives who were murdered in the holocaust, perpetrated by Nazi Germany in World War II.

What a peaceful, meaningful act: a boycott, a protected part of free speech. For me, the holocaust meant "Never Again" for anyone. Never again the murder of civilians by a heavily armed state.

An event to talk about the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement, which addresses Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land in the West Bank, and the ongoing starvation, slaughter and ethnic cleansing taking place in Gaza, was cancelled due to threats from supporters of Israel. This makes clear that for some, there is nothing Israel does that can be criticized, even in a peaceful way. For these supporters, criticism of Israel will be met with violence.

Sincerely,

Marcy

Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been

Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been Critical Of Israel?

We live in a quid pro quo political universe. There are few laws that can keep the very rich from buying up all our elected representatives. The trick is to buy both the Republicans and the Democrats, and that is what the very rich have been doing for decades.

Foreign countries have learned this lesson as well. The Israel Lobby was there for Harry Truman when he was running low on reelection cash. In turn, he pressured the UN to recognize the state of Israel, in spite of the fact that Palestine was already owned by someone else.

More recently, the Israel Lobby has emerged as the most sinister political pressure group in our nation's capital. Biden was paid more than any other member of Congress during his long, quid pro quo career. Trump has done him one better, selling the move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for 20 million in cash. Sheldon Adelson, billionaire Zionist, paid for the bribe.

A brief look at opensecrets.org will find that even our local House Representatives are awash in Israel Lobby money. Representative Pat Ryan from the Hudson Valley  stood tall against any cease fire resolution, despite the fact that millions of children in Gaza were starving. The Israel Lobby gave him over two hundred thousand last year to look the other way. In fact, the Lobby paid Congress over $58 million during the last election cycle, more than any other political action committee.   

But the US Empire is getting something more from its troubled relationship with apartheid Israel. The dominance of the Middle East has long been one of the Empire's goals, and Israel is more than willing to be our military proxy. That way, American troops aren't committing war crimes or dying in our perpetual wars for oil. The various international courts like the ICC and the ICJ blame Israel and not the Empire for the charnel house that Gaza has become. And the rest of the world strongly condemns Israel for crimes against humanity, while overlooking the country that is supplying the missiles and two thousand pound bombs.

Another benefit for the Empire is the right to use "antisemitism" to crush human rights groups in the United States. Controlling the free expression of ideas has long been a goal of the Empire, especially when college students and faculty speak out against US militarism and racism. Now, our Congress is busy passing laws that equate all criticism of Israel's war crimes with antisemitism. You don't like the destruction of the hospitals, universities, and public infrastructure in Gaza? Why, you must be an antisemite! Don't think starvation should be used as a weapon of war? Why, you must hate all Jews!

How many students will be mistreated or expelled under this new McCarthyism? How many teachers will be terminated or denied tenure? How many reporters will be fired? The Empire is having a field day with its new weapon against the free expression of ideas. Even bringing up the fact that the International Court of Justice found Israel guilty of genocide could cost someone their job.    

Some pro Israel institutions are more than willing to support the Empire's assault on our First Amendment rights. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has come out with a definition of antisemitism that includes several examples of criticizing Israel. Many local and state governing bodies have accepted this flawed definition, without thinking too much about it. But conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel has dangerous consequences for freedom of speech throughout American society. Apartheid and genocide must always be resisted, despite what the Empire would have us believe.

Fred

Lettter sent to congressional "reprsentatives."

The deliberate starving to death of civilians in Gaza, especially infants and children, is a crime equal to any genocide the world has ever seen. Deaths of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans during World War I, murder of Jews by the Nazi government of Germany during World War II and deaths of half a million Tutsis in Rwanda in the 1990s are all chilling reminders of the inhumanity to which governments can descend. 

Now genocide is being supported by the government of my own country. And, unlike these earlier genocides, video images of this one are everywhere. We can watch the starving babies on CNN. The claims of “self-defense” issued by the government of Israel are an insult to our intelligence.

And none of this would be happening without the active support of the US government.

As your constituent, I demand that congress take action to remove the US from its role as enabler of this horrific attempt to exterminate the Palestinian people. All weapons shipments to Israel must stop. The blockade must end. The starving people must be fed.

Dick

From Ahmad--

How can I contain myself and stay sane in a world that is governed by either complicit or genocidal leadership. Over 18 months of genocides in Palestine and constant erosion of civil liberties, human rights and moral standing across the world.

Since Oct 7, 2023, the countries of the world as well as the institutions they have built internally and collaboratively externally have been exposed for their complicity, duplicity and effective participation by aiding and abetting genocide in Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank). Also, the morally bankrupt empire and its lackeys (proxies) have been on a rampage, suppressing their constituents by reverting to anarchy and enforcing colonial laws to silence dissent.

Additionally, the International laws that have been formulated to ensure peaceful resolution of conflicts and disciplining the non-compliant have been flagrantly ignored. Clearly, the winners of WWI and WWII have established the system of the UN only to serve their interest and protect them. The established laws are valid only to prosecute everyone but them and their proxies.

Clearly, the over 18 months of genocide have brought clarity and removed the masks from the faces of the pretenders. The sacred laws held dear to the Western world and the democracy preached by them have been exposed as lies to their own people and the world at large. Unfortunately, the warmongers, and the power- and wealth-hungry are forming a formidable front that is destroying nations, lives and the climate, and subjugating other countries to either internal wars and/ or poverty through sanctions, or arming factions in support of continued war. Also, they are enhancing their wealth by robbing the hard-working families of food, shelter, heath-care and education.

The situation is gloomy and depressing. The war machine is not stopping despite the protests of millions across the world. The students and the educational institutions who are the nucleus of change have been under attack and sidelined. Freedom of speech has been shut down using colonial laws and baseless claims of antisemitism. More poverty, homelessness and hatreds (of Islam, immigrants, genders, etc.) across the world.

That said, how do we move forward and what leverage do we have to fight back? It is crystal clear that the US and its proxies are the perpetrators of eroding human rights and international law. What is at stake is our collective civil liberties and human rights. Its the time for activists to take advantage of the onslaught to galvanize everyone behind the noble cause of gaining back our civil liberties and fair and just institutions. It is the time to shift the center of gravity from the few who have the power and resources to the many: people power. Activism at this point must be inclusive because we all reject subjugation, oppression and loss of the resources that are rightfully ours.

Despite the relentless attacks, we must be steadfast against their tactics of fear-mongering and attempt to co-opt our movement using our diversity or political identity. United, we will create a formidable coalition and build communities to head off the flagrant attacks and gain back our collective liberty and humanity. United we will stand a chance.

Finally, the gloomier the situation appears the more hope I have. And the darker it gets the more will be impacted and will be forced to wake up and notice that their civil liberties and well-beings are at stake; thus, the base of activism will expand and include even those we thought are hopeless.

Liberation will come with sacrifice, steadfastness and building broad-based community.

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY AND EVERY SATURDAY AS WE DEFEND GAZA FROM ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE!

Dear Mr. Stern

 

Dear Mr. Stern:

As commendable as your speaking out about the IHRA definition of antisemitism being used to silence speech is, I am mystified by your part in promulgating the definition in the first place. You have claimed that the definition was intended to study and track antisemitism, not to restrict speech. But the following examples serve no discernible purpose other than restriction of free speech and defense of Israel from criticism:

"Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor." 
Amnesty International, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, the author Peter Beinart, and many other individuals, groups, and institutions have described Israel's system of government as apartheid. That is, a racist form of government. A state in which Jews have superior rights to all other groups is obviously a racist endeavor. It is not antisemitic to state this. 

"Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation." 
Free speech guarantees the freedom to criticize any country, without the requirement that every other country which exhibits similar behavior must be included in the criticism. This example is simply absurd. It is, however, an AIPAC talking point, embraced by defenders of Israel.

"Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis." 
Does the description of Palestinians as "human animals" resemble Nazi propaganda films that equated swarming rats with Jews? What about computing the number of calories the people of Gaza need to survive, but no more? What about blocking all food, water, and electricity? What about killing more than 60,000 Palestinians (with no end in sight) because 800 Jewish civilians died on October 7, 2023? 

These are important questions that demand answers. You defend the definition you wrote, but imply it's being wrongly applied. When will you look at the actual examples chosen, and admit their only purpose is to defend the state of Israel, not protect Jews from antisemitism? And when will you work to have them removed?

As a Jewish woman who was raised with a strong awareness of the Jewish religion, the holocaust, and my grandparent's Yiddish Socialist background, I condemn the state of Israel for its human rights violations and the genocide it is conducting. Zionism, the political ideology you embrace, has ever and always been about Jewish supremacy. The IHRA definition, by including the above examples, as well as others, does not address antisemitism. It instead seeks to shield the state of Israel from criticism. When will you address these basic faults?

Sincerely,

Marcy

Antisemitism and “Antisemitism”

The assault on freedom of speech and on higher education in the US continues as if on steroids. And the mainstream media accepts and repeats the government actors using the pretense of defending against antisemitism and against “the enemy.”

The abduction, detention and jailing of students and faculty by ICE or other entities is being used to send a clear message to “shut up or else.” This is done with the tacit, and often even active, collaboration of local authorities and institutions, including universities.

To understand the various aspects of the use of antisemitism to justify these excesses, Timothy Snyder’s piece illustrates how they are manipulated and promote very tangible racist antisemitic ideas. 

https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/fomenting-antisemitism?r=3u5ol&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

A big part of these attacks is centered on the denial of Palestinian humanity to "justify" the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). 

Just last week we had a well-attended and engaged discussion about the message that the film “The Palestine Exception” so clearly documents. (See below for info about Monday night showing on SUNY NP campus.)

The charge of “antisemitism,” along with other “sins” like promoting Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI), is being used as a pretext for defunding education and dismantling even the meekest policies to fight racism and discrimination.

A big stick in this campaign is the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism that gives “examples” to help identify antisemitism. Out of the 11 examples, seven are speaking or writing in opposition to Israeli policies such as:

·       Claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
·       Applying double standards to Israel by requiring of it behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
·       Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

If this was an abstract issue, it could be argued that it is just a question of opinions and nothing more.
But the IHRA’s statement has been adopted by federal, state and local governments and by non-governmental institutions as a weapon to silence any and all opposition to Israel’s policies and actions, including the massacres and  ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the OPT. This goes well with the goal of creating a submissive population that will go along with the destruction of any semblance of democracy and civil rights.

Under the IHRA’s definition, even the current criticism against the government in Israel by millions of Israelis would make them "antisemites." Not to mention, of course, those Israelis that have been fighting for years alongside Palestinians against the racism of apartheid laws and policies. This includes organizations and groups focused on witnessing and informing the world of what is going on in the OPT as well as individuals refusing to serve in the army. These are being violently repressed and even imprisoned. 

In the last several years, more and more Israelis, while still a small minority, have abandoned the false promises of the “Zionist dream” and joined with Palestinians in the fight for a truly democratic state with equal rights for all. 

In the meantime, we stand every Saturday in solidarity with Palestinians as they struggle to survive Israel's genocidal assaults, starvation, and land theft. We demand an arms embargo on Israel--U.S. stop funding and enabling Israel's genocide. Join us! 

Yakov

Where Do We Go From Here?

 

From Diana--

The horrific violation of the Israeli-Hamas so-called ceasefire by the Israeli government last week continues, initially killing at least 400 Palestinians, at least half women and children, in Gaza. Recent news (Breakthrough News, U-Tube) revealed that aside from the bombings, ground incursions have also begun by the IDF into both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The slaughter of civilians and continued privation of food, water, and destruction of necessary infrastructure have resumed in full force. It is clear that the mewlings of the current US Administration regarding peace at the time Donald Trump assumed his role as Commander in Chief, were a sham, similar to the occasional regrets expressed by the Bibi Biden and Bibi Blinken Administration (so named by Ralph Nader) regarding the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians, without any change in the ongoing process funded mostly  by the United States.  Presently Trump has also launched an all-out assault on Yemen for their blockade of Red Sea shipping in support of Palestinian rights. 

    Recent history, even before the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, has indicated that the Israeli government has had a plan for Palestine and its inhabitants. Those of you who watched the recent Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," may have noted that initially the area in the West Bank inhabited for generatiions by Palestinians, was subject to a (ultimately revealed) phoney judgment stating that the IDF (Israeli Army) was given the land to use as army training ground. The IDF proceeded to level homes on a regular basis, forcing inhabitants to rebuild or move to caves. By the end of the filming, which predated October 7, the Israeli forces had begun to destroy not just homes, but also infrastructure necessary for any civil society, which included pouring concrete down wells and demolishing the school that the community had built. This appeared to be a prototype demolition which was then perfected in Gaza, with destruction of all the underpinnings of civil society including not only homes but clean water, sewage treatment, schools, and medical facilities. 

    This week we learned that the Palestinian director of "No Other Land," Hamdan Ballal, was attacked and beaten by settlers and then seized by the Israeli military. He was released to a hospital only after an international outcry.

    The exact number of dead Palestinians is unknown, but clearly exceeds the approximately 50,000 reported; indeed, Ralph Nader has reported that his estimate may be at least 250,000 once the debris is cleared and remains of bodies are identified. 

    It is patently clear that neither the United States nor Israel has any intention of halting the carnage. Peter Beinart (Jewish Chronicle) in a recent interview noted that he felt that the plan for Palestine may well be similar to the ethnic cleansing that the United States subjected the members of the First Nation to, which was to reduce their numbers to an amount that could then be herded onto reservations. 
    

    Amazingly, despite the lack of significant change in policies of either country, our numbers have grown exponentially every week with frequent additions of various persons of all ages and backgrounds who understand that our constant presence indicates the growing support for an end to the savagery that our government has been sponsoring. These comrades give all of us inspiration and a reason to continue organizing and fighting in whatever way we each can.The most hopeful sign is that attitudes throughout the country have been changing; the support for Israel, despite its propaganda and vicious attacks on students, universities and individuals has now dropped to less than 50%, and that support for a permanent ceasefire has been well above 50% and has been growing.

    All of us also need to practice self-care in whatever way possible to prevent burnout and be able to maintain clear thinking: take a walk, meet with a friend or loved one, see a movie but please take a break from the news to nurture yourself. Work with a local organization where you can actually do something tangible like a food bank or an animal shelter; even a few hours away from the news can recharge you.

    Lastly, I would like to share some of the alternative media that I access regularly, most of which are on podcasts: Ralph Nader radio hour, Alternative Radio (David Barsamian, who has had everyone knowledgable about the Mid-East on his show and you can easily access PDFs or CDs of the programs: Norman Finkelstein, Vijay Prashad, Naom Chomsky, Ilan Pappe, Miko Peled, and more (go on line for the list). Breakthrough News on U-Tube, The Socialist Program, Democracy Now!, Law and Disorder Radio program, The Gray Zone with Max Blumenthal, Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, and Al Jazeera English (also on U-Tube).

    So where do we go from here? Since 10/7/2023 New Paltz Women in Black for Peace and Justice have held a vigil every Saturday to bear witness to the injustices being perpetrated in our name. We demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and an arms embargo against Israel--without the U.S. military, financial, and diplomatic support, Israel could not carry out this genocide. We will continue until the Palestinian people have peace--and justice. JOIN US!

Genocides of the Last Century

The genocides of the last century have all had their official beginnings. For example, the "Final Solution" was officially implemented when Goring was appointed to head it on July 31, 1939. But he was really following a Nazi directive signed in January of that year which called for the "emigration and evacuation in the best possible way" of all Jews under German control. And all this planning was done after the establishment of concentration camps, most during the late 1930s. In fact, both the German Gestapo and Dachau concentration camp were formed back in 1933.

The extermination of the Palestinian People can be seen as commencing with this most recent mass murder in Gaza called Operation Swords of Iron. But it too has had several several starting points. The current genocide in Gaza was preceded by several other savage attacks by the Israeli Defense Force starting in 2006. Each has been more catastrophic than the last, with an ever widening bombing of schools, hospitals, and residential areas. Military action to murder the Palestinians in this open air prison has been fair game for almost two decades.  

At the end of genocide comes a recognition of how human beings can be goaded into becoming monsters. Many even celebrate the bloodletting with a deadly mixture of nationalism, religion, greed and hate. "The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

The American genocide of the Palestinian people will be remembered as the monstrous deed that ultimately undid our bloodthirsty empire.

Fred Nagel

Hedging on genocide

At the Irish Echo-supported HEAL Palestine fundraiser on Feb. 26, many longtime supporters of Irish freedom were there.

Of course, our community supports Palestine. Our histories overlap so closely. But as we’ve gained a foothold in New York politics, our values haven’t come with us.

Politicians to whom New York Irish activists, and the Irish Echo, are closely connected, are hedging on genocide.

There’s no room for hedging. Israel is bombing hospitals to get rid of evidence. Israel is torturing and killing doctors to keep "professional" testimony from reaching world bodies (ICC International Criminal Court, ICJ International Court of Justice, UN United Nations). Israel bans foreign journalists’ entry and kills journalists in Palestine (170 plus media workers killed) to prevent reporting. Israel is bombing schools and every university to erase knowledge and history. Israel and the United States are committing genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

We as Irish Irish/Americans know well that framing starvation, scholasticide, genocide, and colonialism as a “civilizing mission” or “defense against terror” is how empires explain away their mass killings, theft of land, and efforts to erase us.

When we see the destruction in Hamad City, Gaza we know it as the Lough Sheelin eviction. When we see Israel preventing the burial of the dead, we remember Milltown Cemetery and Crossmaglen.  Uprooting people, displacing them, starving them, creating famine, criminalizing their identity - we know this playbook. In this season and time, celebrating Irishness means standing with those resisting.

John Francis Mulligan

ADL’s war on socially conscious investing

The ADL’s war on socially conscious investing is in service to Israel and the new oligarchy.

By Felice Gelman March 17, 2025 4

Early this year investment research firm Morningstar caved to a multi-year ADL pressure campaign and exempted Israel from its socially responsible investing ratings. This success in exempting Israel from investor accountability is just the beginning. 

In late February, just in time for its annual “Never is Now” conference, the ADL announced it had created an exchange traded fund (ETF), stock symbol TOV, so people could invest according to “Jewish values.” However, it will likely not surprise you that TOV, Hebrew for good, it turns out is not so tov.

The fund’s “Jewish Values” include investments in the major oil companies, the major defense contractors, and surveillance and spyware specialists like Palantir and Crowdstrike. In fact, the only S&P 500 companies excluded from TOV are two tobacco companies, a company that mines tar sands, and General Mills because that company sold its stake in a Jerusalem-based subsidiary. (see below for the full article)

https://mondoweiss.net/2025/03/the-adls-war-on-socially-conscious-investing-is-in-service-to-israel-and-the-new-oligarchy/

Did God Give the Land to the Jews?

Israel's most basic pretext for its colonization and ethnic cleansing of Palestine is that God gave the land to the ancient Hebrews, therefore today's Jews have exclusive right to it. Israel apologists often cite scripture to support this claim: in Genesis 17:8 God tells Abraham, "As an everlasting possession I will give you and your descendants...the land in which you now are aliens, all the land of Canaan." (For clarity, all citations are from The New English Bible). Conveniently, Zionists omit the next verse, in which God tells Abraham, "For your part, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you..." 

 

Thus, the land grant was conditional, based on the Hebrews keeping God's commandments such as "Administer true justice, show loyalty and compassion to one another, do not oppress the orphan and the widow, the alien and the poor, do not contrive any evil, one against another." (Zechariah 7:9-11). Nevertheless, the Hebrews incessantly violated God's conditions, so God punished them: "An enemy shall surround the land; your stronghold shall be thrown down and your palaces sacked" (Amos 3:11). "...and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus." (Amos 5:27). 

 

The result was foreign invasions resulting in permanent loss of the land through the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 63 B.C. The claim, therefore, that God gave the land to the Jews is a half-truth omitting the conditions of the land grant and the Hebrews' violations thereof. Nevertheless, many of today's Zionists claim divine right to the land while continuing to break God’s commandments by stealing ever more Palestinian land, destroying Palestinian homes and livelihoods, and crushing Palestinian resistance.


By Gregory De Sylva