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

Singing, speaking, chanting

Dear ones,
Today, New Paltz Women In Black stood peacefully  in solidarity with the people of Palestine.  Standing in the cold with snowflakes drifting by, we spoke our truth and witnessed for the unspeakable atrocities being perpetrated upon an  innocent civilian population.  Israel has lost militarily (to Hamas,  to Hezbollah, and to the Houthis), economically (42,000 business closures & Israelis with means fleeing the country to places like Thailand), and lost morally and spiritually (the utter depravity, racism, and arrogance on full display).  

 

The Zionist entity is bankrupt on every front and the entire world can see it live-streamed.  Literally,  the only option left to Israel is to continue to slaughter defenseless civilians in Gaza and the West Bank with funds and weaponry from the US.  The State of Israel is doomed.  It’s only a matter of time before it collapses.  Unfortunately, many innocents will die gruesome deaths and endure heartbreaking suffering as Israel implodes.  There are very powerful forces in the US who are trying to suppress these truths and inhibit free speech that criticizes Israel,  but they will not succeed in silencing those who speak the truth.  Hope you are all well and hope to see you on the streets. 

 

Today’s gathering  included singing, speaking, chanting, and connecting with other peace loving members of the community.  This  WIB event was a heart warming reminder of what it means to be human.  Much love and gratitude to all who attended.  
With  peace and love always,
Eli

From Robb--

I write this during a pause in the massive destruction, during the second temporary (quasi) ceasefire imposed on Israel. The pause gives some time to reflect on what the last 15 months have created; for Palestine, for me, for us as a group Identifying as Women in Black pro-Palestinian vigilers.

I count myself fortunate to have been living in the New Paltz area in October of 2023, fortunate because of Women in Black. At that time I had just recently been dispossessed of my home, my cabinetry work shop, my gardens, all of which I had created from nothing only to have it seized by the duplicitous property-owner. When Israel Initiated its assault to destroy Gaza, I as a long-suffering friend of dispossessed Palestinian olive farmers in the West Bank began feeling demoralized, as if I were alone in the world with my despair. It was a tremendous relief and joy to join with all of you, to be with people whose hearts were open to pursue justice, peace, compassion, love. Through these months and months of unfolding destruction and dehumanizing cruelty being leveled on Gaza, I have been buoyed by the unwavering faithfulness of our group here on the sidewalk. I am very grateful for the many Jewish persons among us who stand in opposition to the defiling of their faith as perpetrated by the State of Israel. I see the willingness to seek truth and love, regardless of the consequences, that permeates our ranks. I am grateful to be part of this. I look upon us as prophets, or at least emissaries of prophecy. As such we are perceived as out of the norm: strange, different, queer. But we have persisted.

Now, In Gaza, after fifteen months withstanding assaults, Palestinians by the hundreds of thousands, mostly traveling by foot, are allowed to pass through the Netsayim corridor. They return home, past razed earth and destroyed building rubble to their homes of destroyed rubble, to their schools and hospitals and water treatment plants and sanitation plants and mosques of destroyed rubble. They go in jubilant resistance, returning to set up tents of survival. But how will survival be possible when they are still the sacrificial lambs of both Israel and the U.S.?

During these 15 months of mass destruction the Biden Administration and now Trump have paved the way for enormous weapons sales to Israel. Illegal Israelisettlement through displacement of Palestinians skyrocketed in the West Bank under cover of the Gaza genocide. Donald Trump has the 100 million dollar contribution from Miriam Adelson to pay back with his pledge of allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. He also seems intent to keep on his side the powerful American Christian Nationalists who support the Greater Israel concept. Everything seems stacked against a free, liberated Palestine.

Only the world’s outrage at Israel’s brutality seems to impose any resistance. We will continue to stand in support of Palestinians' right to return to their homes; their right to freedom of movement and equal rights, whether they live in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, or Israel; and their human rights to food, shelter, medical care, and education as a free and proud people.

Will we be able to see clearly, what one amongst us (Alejandro, as I recall) said as he addressed us after a vigil: “that the liberation of these people is a liberation of all of us”?
Salaam alaikum.

Join us!

The Self Awareness Of Empire

The holocaust of the Palestinians is upon us. The ongoing eradication of two million people isn't really hidden, nor is the fact that the US is the major driver for the butchery. We supply the bombs and the planes to make it happen. We send billions upon billions to Israel just in case they run out of money while pulverizing hospitals, schools and apartment buildings. And we defend Israel's crimes against humanity at the UN, making sure that the killing can go on without international interference.

But what has this genocide taught us about our own society? We don't have two political parties when it come to supporting this carnage; we have only one. They can demonize each other, but would never question the slaughter in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon.

We have such congeniality within our religious community that our ministers, priests and rabbis would never mention this holocaust amongst themselves or to their congregations. That wouldn't be the sensitive thing to do, so they all agree to avoid ever bringing it up.

We have a national media that continually defends Israel's wholesale war crimes. New York Times reporters were instructed not to use the words "genocide," "ethnic cleansing" or "occupied territory" when writing about Israel's massacrers. A similar directive must have been issued for the word "slaughter" which only gets applied to Hamas and not to the Israeli army.

We have have college and university presidents who fall all over themselves not to appear critical of Israel. They fire teachers who speak or write about this holocaust. They send in the cops to physically break up student groups that are demanding an end to apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

We have police departments that are more than willing to crack a few heads when students complain about free speech rights on campus. Chances are that at least some of their senior officials have been sent to Israel for "counterterrorism training." At least 1,000 top brass have taken part in such indoctrination, while thousands more have participated in US conferences run by Israeli security officials.

We have a political structure that is awash in large political donations. They are bribes, of course, like Sheldon Adelson's $20 million gift to the Republican Party that resulted in Trump moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In legal terms this is called "quid-pro-quo," the oxygen of our completely corrupted two party system. Take a peek at how much the Israel Lobby is able to give to almost every member of Congress by looking at OpenSecrets.org. So many of our representatives are paid hundreds of thousands to look the other way while children are purposely starved to death in Gaza.

Our children or grandchildren will be asking about all this someday. How is it that you let our country commit a genocide? Didn't you know that millions of women and children were being slaughtered by Israel? Were you aware? How in God's name could you have done nothing?

Fred Nagel

God gave the land to the ancient Hebrews?

Zionist Israel's most basic rationale for its colonization of Palestine is that God gave the land to the ancient Hebrews, therefore today's Jews have the right to it.  Israel apologists frequently cite scripture to support this claim. (For clarity, all citations from The New English Bible). For example, 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." 

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 with 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, today's Zionists presume to have divine right to the land, stealing more and more Palestinian land and crushing Palestinian resistance.         

 

Gregory De Sylva

Benefit of the Doubt

As a U.S. veteran, I have always given the benefit of the doubt to my country. The millions killed in Korea and Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s just could have been the fault of US weapons makers, eager to trade body counts for corporate profits.

And then there were the millions slaughtered in the misguided U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the previous conflicts, the invasions were all based on dirty little lies about defending our country or spreading freedom to the Third World.

But America's unrelenting butchery in Gaza has nothing left to cover its war crimes. The Palestinian children are dying with no food, no water and no shelter from the storm. The empire has decided it needs these human sacrifices for some arcane geopolitical advantage. And the savagery is now going into its second year.

We are finally coming to realize that the empire and its grubby, bloodstained ally, Israel, are the true impediments to world peace. Most countries already know this, judging by the huge numbers of UN member states that castigate the US and Israel for their ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Only the American people stand in the way of the worst genocide since the Third Reich. It is a simple choice: demand an end to our country's mass murdering of children or become part of it. Insist that our venal Congress stop accepting millions in Israeli bribes, blood money that supports this most grotesque of all apartheid colonies.

Fred Nagel

Never Again for Anyone

 

From Marcy--

The Washington Post lost the plot early in the week by writing about the hopes of Palestinians returning to the north, in Gaza.  In one video, a young man is beaming as he strides, "I can feel the breeze of the North" he says, profusely thanking god for returning him to his home. Further along a woman sits on her belongings, children clustered around her. Why is she waiting? She doesn't know. They've closed the checkpoint. No one knows why. Exhaustion and resignation etch her face, as she waits. Waits to return to her demolished home. Waits to find human remains of her loved ones.

These are human beings, that we've bombed and starved with our tax dollars. Human beings we've driven from homes and killed and terrorized with our tax dollars. And for once, one of the great "newspapers of record" dares us to see the human beings we have done this to, and know the truth. Their human lives are not worth less than the human lives of those who open and close the checkpoints. Their lives are the lives we are fighting for, in protesting Israel's ongoing apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

There is a ceasefire in Gaza, and a ramping up of Israeli state terrorism and killings in the West Bank. Armed thugs (some settlers, some in uniform) seek to drive more human beings from their homes and livelihood. 

This week marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In memory of the Nazi Holocaust I'd like to propose the following: Never Again for anyone. Never Again the dehumanization, the ethnic cleansing, the starving, the bombing, the slaughter, the terrorizing of human beings whose only crime, it seems, is existing. A persistent, breathtaking accomplishment of existing, existing despite the best efforts of the nuclear armed military superpower we fund.

Join us!

Common antisemitic words

 Common antisemitic words and phrases to watch out for:

"NAKBA" Because it implies that Israel has been ethnically cleansing Palestinians forever. It's only been 75 years.

"HOLY LAND" Because it describes several religions in this region, when we know that only Jewish people are allowed.

"HOME DEMOLITIONS" Because everyone knows that only Israel is bulldozing houses in Israel/Palestine. There must be other countries doing a lot of bulldozing that are being routinely overlooked.

"APARTHEID" Because it suggests that Israel is a racist country. In fact, only Jimmy Carter and a few human rights organizations use this word. And they only use it because they are antisemites.

"WAR CRIMES" Because it brings to mind two million people starving and dying in Gaza. Its use at colleges will make some Jewish students sad and even upset.

"ISRAEL LOBBY" Because it implies that Israel bribes the US Congress. Congress takes boatloads of money from the oil lobby, the weapons makers, and the pharmaceuticals. Why is Israel being singled out?

"ONE STATE OR TWO STATE SOLUTIONS" Because Israel has been dead set against either solution for a very long time. Even asking this question is another sign of being an antisemite.

"FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE" Because the Israel Lobby says this is antisemitic. What gives people the right to put "Palestine" and "free" in the same sentence?

"GENOCIDE" Because everyone already knows that the IDF is slaughtering tens of thousands of Palestinians. Can't people get off Israel's back!

Fred Nagel

Trail Of Tears

Trail Of Tears

Bodily feelings sometimes go away, but always return with a bit more urgency. Like hunger, you can forget it for a while, but it invariably comes back stronger. That is what the children learn, as they are slowly starved to death by the US/Israel death machine.

I find that as I immerse myself in day to day events, this slaughter is always waiting to come back to me. Could the country I love be starving children to death by the thousands? By the tens of thousands? Their spindly arms and legs have that Buchenwald look. I can't bear the images that wait for me to close my eyes.

Once the children behind barbed wire fences appear to me, my mind starts a desperate search. Could my own country be murdering children like this? Could our own churches and synagogues be cheering on the extermination? Did we catch this endless warfare and charnel house slaughter from the Nazis?

Both political parties want this butchery. All the money we have is going into more bombs and planes. We can't get enough of it. We wave our flags, heedless of what our country is really doing. We sing "God Bless America," as if we had the right to ask our lord to celebrate the holocaust of this century.

Are we incapable of empathy? Is this life but a trail of tears, the name given to our very own ethnic cleansing and annihilation of the Cherokee Nation? Who on earth can protect the Palestinians from the barbarians?

Fred Nagel

Hope to see more of you in the streets in 2025

 

We are all grateful for this fragile ceasefire in Gaza and the  prisoner exchanges,  despite the fact that Israel is violating the ceasefire and continues to inflict violence against civilians  in Gaza and the West Bank,  Women In Black are braving the cold every Saturday to stand in solidarity with Palestine.  Unfortunately, the pro-Israeli, zionist counter demonstrators  across the street have become more aggressive and emboldened of late.  Our solidarity with Palestine and our truth telling about Israel’s war crimes and genocide really disturbs them.  Their arrogance and depraved support for genocide are truly disturbing,  but will in no way deter Women In Black from peacefully speaking the truth.  

 

With the worldwide crackdown and intimidation of   pro-Palestinian journalists, students, and academics it it more important than ever that we stand strong in the face of this backlash.  Ali Abunimah is a journalist who founded the electronicintifada.net  (one of the best sources of real information) has been arrested  by Swiss authorities prior to giving a lecture.  To sign a petition to release him use this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1XDwHoJ27T/?mibextid=wwXIfr -  Below are  pictures of the MLK Day rally in the  New Paltz Peace Park.  There were about 200 people in attendance and we chanted and marched through downtown New Paltz.  Much to the consternation of the police because the march spilled into the street.  Hope you are all well and staying warm.  And hope to see more of you in the streets in 2025.  

Peace always,

 

Eli

Stand with us for Gaza

 

Stand with us for Gaza on Saturday, Jan. 18, 12:30-1:30 at Elting Library on Main Street! Demand a real, immediate, and permanent CEASEFIRE and an ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST ISRAEL!

From Carrie--

As we get ready to send out this weekly reminder, news of a ceasefire deal is everywhere. The pressure has long been on for a ceasefire, with worldwide witness to the devastation and death, and many protests, including those of our own group. The ceasefire deal was on the table months ago, yet the Netanyahu government was unwilling to stop.

It is only now that this is happening, and we are guardedly relieved and glad.  However, we know that this is not likely to be truly over. Israel can and probably will continue its relentless bombing campaign, at least until Sunday, even if the ceasefire is approved by the Knesset. and we also saw how little the terms of the ceasefire with Lebanon meant to the Israelis, who continue bombing Lebanon on the flimsiest excuses. 

So, while we all hope fervently that this chapter of Palestinian suffering will come to a close, we know that the future is uncertain. Those in Israel whose goal was to extinguish Palestinian civilization in Gaza, were able accomplish a lot of wide-spread destruction. Will it be possible to rebuild? Will it be possible to get supplies of food, water, medicines, hospitals, blankets, to the scattered refugees? How long before they can get stable housing? What about the shattered infrastructure? We will learn more in the next few days.

This war has been an unnatural disaster—the creation of disaster conditions by humans to humans—genocidal killing and destruction by the Israeli government done to the Palestinian people, their homes and infrastructure, hospitals, schools, shelters, in Gaza. 

It would be unthinkable and unimaginable, except that has been real and happening in real time, fueled by money and weaponry from the USA. A landscape now of rubble and desolation, deaths of so many, over 45,000, including so many women and children. Places that were supposed to be safe, where people fleeing sought refuge, had bombs dropped on them. Aid, food, supplies, blocked, hospitals bombed, people exposed to the elements, lacking food, water, medical help, nowhere safe to stay.  

Will the ceasefire bring peace? Justice? Palestinian rights? To start with, it will be a very welcome respite from daily death and destruction. 

We stand vigil on the corner to draw attention to these issues and to draw some solace from our common breaking hearts over what has been happening. 

We call on people to not turn away, to keep a spotlight on these issues, to join us, to remember that humans can love their neighbors and not oppress and murder them. We stand for justice and a world where people come first.

Join our growing numbers, Saturdays from 12:30-1:30 in front of the Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz. We have signs, or bring you own. 

From Naomi--

**Netanyahu has cynically used the Israeli hostages to whip up hysteria against the Gazans, and the U.S. political leaders and mainstream media have gone along with him, deliberately not mentioning the more than 9,000 Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons, including many children. Now the Jerusalem Post, a right-wing Israeli paper, directly quotes Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasting how he has blocked a "hostage-ceasefire deal" again and again. "In the past year, through our political power, we succeeded in preventing this deal from moving forward time and time again," he said.

**The N.Y. Times rejected a paid ad from the American Friends Service Committee for calling Israel's actions "genocide." The AFSC's General Secretary called the refusal "an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth." The Quakers pulled all planned advertising as a result.
**The American Historical Society voted 428-88 to condemn "scholasticide" in Gaza, arguing that the obliteration of most of Gaza's schools, universities, archives, and libraries amounted to an attempt to erase Palestinian history and culture.

**The American Historical Society voted 428-88 to condemn "scholasticide" in Gaza, arguing that the obliteration of most of Gaza's schools, universities, archives, and libraries amounted to an attempt to erase Palestinian history and culture.

Peace Plan Requires Shared Power

 

A gigantic menorah

Dear Ms. Middleton,
The Library and the  Board of Directors have repeatedly stressed  concerns about how signs and symbols on library property are “perceived” by the public.  The library does not want  to be perceived as supporting a particular cause but instead wants to remain neutral.  There is currently a gigantic menorah prominently displayed on library property.  Some members of the public might (and, in fact, do)  “perceive” this giant menorah as support for the State of Israel.  

 

As you probably know,  Israel   has been charged by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice with war crimes.  Does the library really want to risk being perceived as supporting a genocidal state like Israel?  Chanukah has long since passed and this blatant religious symbol needs to come down immediately.  Thank you for taking my thoughts into consideration.

Peace,
Eli Kassirer

Dear Ms. Middleton:

The Elting Memorial library has allowed an Ultra-Orthodox, proselytizing, Zionist group (Chabad) to erect a very large menorah on library property. This creates a hostile atmosphere for patrons, and gives the appearance of endorsement of an extreme version of Judaism.

I am Jewish. The Chanukah menorah is a religious symbol. In lighting a candle for each of the eight nights of Chanukah, three Hebrew prayers are recited, Each of the blessings uses the name of God, which is only uttered during religious ritual. In this way, unlike a Christmas tree (which is not prayed to), a menorah would be akin to erecting a large Christian Cross on the library grounds.

Further, this menorah is still on library grounds today, 1/11/25, even though the holiday of Chanukah concluded on January 1, 2025.

I urge the library to firstly, remove the menorah immediately. The holiday of Chanukah was over 10 days ago.

Secondly, do not allow a menorah on library grounds again. To emphasize, this is a religious ritual object, and has no place on the property of a public library.

Sincerely yours,

Marcy London

The Moral Issue Of Our Time

America's genocide in Gaza will someday come back to haunt us all. Generations to come will describe the empire that talked about human rights and freedom, while it slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians, and starved their children.

For proof of American's war crimes and crimes against humanity, historians need only look at last week's shameful events. As a parting gift to Israel, Genocide Joe is sending another 8 billion in bombs and missiles to get the job done faster. This while the House of Representatives is writing up a plan to sanction the International Criminal Court for its attempts to end the butchery.

To be honest, our Congress is awash in Zionist bribes. A quick look at opensecrets.org reveals the tens of thousands going to almost every member of this unscrupulous and venal institution. For 2024 the Israel Lobby spent twice as much on bribes than even the weapons makers.

As many of us know, our government represents the interests of the billionaire elites rather than the workers of this country. They don't care about our own children, much less about the wandering hoards of Palestinian youths, crying about their murdered parents and looking for a piece of bread.

Our news media suffers from the same affliction. It is owned by the billionaires, just like Congress and our president. That leaves only us to resist the American genocide of the Palestinian people. It is the moral issue of our time, the true measure of our humanity.

Fred Nagel

Our murderous parent

My country is like a bad parent who never really changes his abusive habits. He sent me off to war in 1967, only to have all the lies come back to haunt him. He killed two million Vietnamese along with 58,000 US troops, and never even said he was sorry.

In the 1980s, he was training death squads in Central America, and arming them to commit atrocities in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. And after all that bloodletting, he never whispered a word of remorse.

The invasion of Iraq was another inexcusable moment for my American family. The invasion was all based on his lies about weapons of mass destruction, and again we murdered millions of innocent people. But our media hid most of the slaughter from us, and neither political party thought to condemn his obvious war crimes.

Now our parent is paying for and perpetuating the worst genocide of the 21st century. True to form, he never bothers to look at the torture, the starvation, the endless bombing of hospitals and schools in Gaza. The charnel house of his wars reminds us once again of how criminal our parent really is. And how dangerous. His wars abroad are based on carnage, and that is what our shameless parent is very good at. He sees some strategic goal in the eradication of the Palestinian people and there is nothing that can stop him. Not even the slaughter of 20,000 children.

Our murderous parent will one day destroy our American family.  

Fred Nagel

Over $17 Billion of your tax dollars

To the Editor:

Imagine the agony of freezing to death or the horror of  starving to death slowly while being crushed beneath  tons of rubble  from bombed out buildings.  Imagine seeing your child incinerated before your very eyes. Imagine relentless drones, jets, and quad-copters circling above your head 24 hours a day.   Imagine  fighter jets, tanks, missiles and bulldozers bombing, burying, and blasting you, and your family and your neighbors ceaselessly.  Imagine no hospitals, no food, no water, no heat, no electricity.  Imagine no  place to hide.  No need to imagine.  This describes Gaza as  Israel  exterminates and cleanses  Palestinians from their homeland.  (see electronicintifada.net for documentation)

I have a hard time wishing you a  “Happy New Year”  while  genocide is being perpetrated by the Zionist entity called  Israel with the full support and encouragement of our government.  Over $17 Billion of your  tax dollars have gone to Israel in the last year alone (apnews.com).  Sadly, our elected officials are bought off or intimidated by the powerful Israeli lobby (AIPAC) to place Israel’s interests above the interests  of the American people.   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.”

Although my heart is broken,  I still  pray that 2025 will bring an end to the genocide in Gaza,  and that this year will bring peace and justice to Palestine, as well as, to all oppressed beings  around the world.  With love in my heart, and tears in my eyes, I wish you “Happy New Year.”

Eli Kassirer