Thursday, February 29, 2024

Stand up and celebrate

 

We need to stand up to the hate and the haters.  And we need to celebrate one another in the LGBTQ+ community.


We also need to celebrate our straight allies who are standing up with us.  Like Robert Reich.



Life is a struggle, advancement is a struggle, progress is work.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Thursday, February 29, 2024.  Marianne's back in, Joe's slow on the uptake, Junior steps on more corpses as he tries to climb the political ladder, the 30,000 mark has been passed in Gaza and much more.

We start in the US with major campaign news.  Marianne Williamson announced yesterday that "as of today, I am unsuspending my campaign for president of the United States." 

The moment is important for a number of reasons.  First, if you suspend you campaign, you can start it back up.  Something Ron DeSantis reminds himself daily as he waits to see Donald Trump convicted.  So it's teachable.  Second it also shows the need for something more.  Marianne suspended her campaign.  And then we ended up with Michigan's primary this week which was noteworthy for a number of reasons including that despite having suspended her campaign on February 7th, this week she still got 3% of the vote.  She beat the forgettable and unlikable Dean Phillips who was still in the race.  She didn't campaign, she did do meet-and-greet, buy ad time, phone bank, media, you name it.  And she beat Dean Phillips giving it presumably his best shot.

There is a hunger for something more and there is a need to push the Democratic Party presidential candidate -- whomever that may be -- to fight for the American people.  

Yesterday, her campaign released a video of her explaining why she was unsuspending.  You can also read that at her website:

As of today, I am unsuspending my Presidential campaign.

All of us have noticed America’s political dynamics are moving in a disturbing direction. Donald Trump’s power is on the incline, and President Biden’s is on the decline. More and more people are saying the quiet part out loud: that despite the fact that the President deserves credit for many of his accomplishments, he is clearly a weak candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024.

I, however, am not. My ability to arouse in Americans the angels of our better nature is the most powerful antidote to Trump’s dark and authoritarian vision.

I suspended my campaign because we were losing the horse race. But there is something much bigger than the horse race that’s at stake here. In the words of Mohammed Ali, ‘When the mission is right, the odds don’t matter.”

We cannot sit idly by while the  D.C. political class sleepwalks this country into disaster. Too many have followed the directives of the status quo for too long, but we are awakening now. We are ready to act, to take the wheel of history into our hands and turn it in another direction.

We need a President who stands for a new beginning in America, and whether I can help do that as President or in some other way, unsuspending the campaign is a necessary next step.

We will win on the promise of restoring America’s middle class and waging peace both domestically and internationally. From #MedicareForAll to #CeasefireNow in exchange for the hostages, from tuition free college and tech school to a guaranteed living wage, from waging peace to repudiating America’s forever war machine, from subsidized child care to ending America’s War on Drugs, our platform is the winning one.

I will respond to the cult-like personality of Donald Trump with a light-filled vision of hope and possibility. We will become once again a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” at a time when corporate interests have taken Washington hostage.

I hope you are as moved by this vision as I am. You have supported the campaign before, and I hope you feel moved to support it again.

We must rise to the occasion like never before; so much is riding on what we do now. Even if the most I can do is influence the President, that in itself is a goal worth striving for.  For those of us who are deeply committed to Trump not returning to the White House, it’s imperative that we do everything possible to help mount a winning campaign in 2024.

I hope you will help me do this. There is no time to waste. Please give generously so we can restart the engines and race to the top.


They also released the video below that gets to why she is running and why you should care.




Marianne Williamson:  I'm Marianne Williamson and when I was growing up, America had a vibrant middle class.  The average American worker had decent benefits, could afford a home, could afford a car, could afford a yearly vacation, could afford for one member of the couple to stay home if they wished and could afford to send their kids to college.  But over the last fifty years, there's been a massive transfer of wealth to the tune of 50 trillion dollars from the bottom 90% of Americans to the the top 1% -- decimating America's middle class.  We all owe President Biden a debt of gratitude for defeating President Trump in 2020.  But with the things that they're going to be throwing at us in 2024?  We need to submit to the American people an  agenda of fundamental economic reform:  universal healthcare, tuition-free colleges at state colleges and universities, higher education including tech schools, paternity and maternity leave, free child care and a guaranteed living wage.  These are things that are considered moderate positions in every other advanced democracy .  But in the United States, people have been trained to expect too little.  The American people have been played.  What the Democratic Party should do is to truly return to the principles of Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- not just alleviate their suffering but offer them genuine economic reform, not just help people survive in an unjust system, the Democratic Party should end an unjust system.  Washington DC, with a few brave exceptions, is filled with two major categories of leaders: Those who don't even care about all the suffering that is going on out there and those who do not have the moral courage to fix it.  Let me in there, I will.



That's a powerful message and she's speaking to us.  

I don't know a kind way to say this so let's not try to pretty it up: Who the hell is Junior speaking to?

My phone hasn't stopped ringing since the e-mail his campaign sent out late yesterday afternoon "Let’s send a powerful message" (afternoon my time -- PST). 

Marianne just spoke about the needs of the American people.

Bobby Kennedy Junior can't do that.  

Junior yammered away for over 1600 words and the only time "you" were mentioned was to beg for money.

What did he offer instead?

More attempts to climb on top of the shoulders of his father and the late President John F. Kennedy.  For variety, he threw two more men in the mix -- Martin Luther King Jr. -- mentioned only in passing -- and Malcolm X.  The last one, that was the most offensive. 

Right now, as you read this, you're in the world and you're trying to learn and grow.  Some people stop.  Junior stopped growing long ago.  Which is why he offers the Whitest and most insulting take on Malcolm X you could imagine.  I can remember when, in the 80s, his take began to become a dominant take.  Articles and books appeared.   It was a different take than the spit-on-Malcolm take that was so popular among many.  But I don't know that it was a better take.  At least when the enemy spits on you, they realize you're a force -- even in death -- to be reckoned with.  The new Malcolm was more like a child who returned from a journey and was petted on the head.  That's 'history' in Junior's warped mind.

In fairness, it's history he was 'taught.'  Lucy Hughes-Hallett wrote an excellent book entitled CLEOPATRA: HISTORIES, DREAMS AND DISTORTIONS.  The 1990 book is a must read for critical thinkers and traces how history is flexible and how in one time period one thing is emphasized and in another it's something else.  Same person: Cleopatra.  But the history and the stories a society tells itself change over time.  

Bobby's become fixated on the last century and that's becoming ever more clear.  It's the 21st century and he can't cope with it.  

And it's bad enough that Junior keeps trying to pretend he can speak for his father (who does have eight other living children) and his uncle but now he's trying to speak for MLK  and Malcolm as well?  

"What's next?" a friend asked over the phone, "His donation plea where he channels the ghost of Kitty Genovese?"  

Exactly. 

He's useless as THE DAILY SHOW made clear this week. 


 Back to the real world, the Michigan primary was important this week.  Let's note this from yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!



AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Michigan, where President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary Tuesday but faced a significant backlash over his support for Israel’s assault on Gaza. Biden won about 81% of the vote, but over 100,000 voters, or more than 13%, cast their ballots for “uncommitted.”

In recent weeks, the group Listen to Michigan urged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” to pressure Biden to call on Israel to end its assault on Gaza. Organizers of the campaign had said they were hoping for 10,000 “uncommitted” votes, pointing to Donald Trump’s win of less than 11,000 votes in 2016, to show the significance of that number. Tuesday’s vote shows they got 10 times that amount.

Michigan is the first major battleground state in the general election to hold its primary. It’s also home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the country. Top White House officials visited Michigan earlier this month to meet with Arab and Muslim leaders after a number of them refused to meet with Biden’s campaign manager.

The movement to vote “uncommitted” will likely spread to other states. Organizers of the movement are holding a call with supporters in Minnesota, which will vote next week, and Washington state, which holds its primary March 12th.

For more, we’re joined by two guests. James Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute. His new opinion piece for Pakistan Today is titled “Why the USA Continues to Fail the Arab World.” He’s joining us from Utica, New York. We’re also joined by former Democratic Congressmember from Michigan Andy Levin. He’s joining us from Southfield, Michigan.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! You’re a former congressmember, Andy Levin. You’re also a former synagogue president. Talk about this “uncommitted” campaign. For every six votes President Biden got yesterday in the primary, “uncommitted” got one. Talk about the organizing effort and what message that you hope that those who supported “uncommitted,” like yourself, sent to President Biden.

ANDY LEVIN: Well, good morning, Amy and everyone. I don’t have much of a voice left, so sorry about that.

It was really an incredible thing, Amy. You know, I’ve been organizing for peace for 40 years, and I’ve rarely seen such an organic and authentic movement come together in, as you say, just three weeks. And we got over 100,000 people to vote “uncommitted.” This was something that grew up out of the Arab American and larger Muslim communities in Michigan, but it had great power among progressives, among Jewish people, Christians, Muslims, people of other faiths, people of no faith. College campuses were aflame about this.

And the idea was that Michigan has this “uncommitted” box on our ballot, because, remember, this is a presidential primary, and some other states do the same thing. You’re voting to send delegates to a convention, so you could vote to send delegates “uncommitted.” And, in fact, we won so many votes, I believe we will send at least one delegate from two congressional districts: the 6th District, represented by Debbie Dingell, and the 12th District, represented by Rashida Tlaib.

I think the significance of this, Amy, is that the president’s people, and maybe the president himself, there’s a danger that they see this as sort of like a political problem: “We need to send surrogates. We need better messaging. People just need to realize what a disaster Trump would be, which, of course, we can never let him get near the White House again. So they’ll come around all of this.” No. This is war. This is the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people, leveling whole neighborhoods, most of the Gaza Strip. We don’t just want you to use a better message.

The message from us to the president yesterday was: You must change course. You must change course for the sake of your political reelection and because it’s the right and necessary thing to do from every point of view, including U.S. national security interests, for God’s sake. The message to the president is: Stop treating what Bibi Netanyahu says as the boundary of the possible. You’ve got to move towards an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to this carnage, free all the hostages, free political prisoners among the Palestinians, including leading longtime prisoners who — if you don’t like Hamas, free Marwan Barghouti, who’s been in prison for so long, whom many Palestinians might support to change the situation there. So, we really need actual change in policy, and I think we sent that message strongly last night.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Andy Levin, I wanted to ask you — I was particularly struck by the turnout. The Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said this was a record turnout on Tuesday for a presidential primary. Compared to, for instance, South Carolina, where only 4% of Democrats voted in the primary, here we had over, it looks like, 50%? Could you explain this issue of turnout, as well?

ANDY LEVIN: Well, one thing is that there were more — quite a greater number of Republicans voting, or people voting in the Republican primary than the Democratic primary. That’s also something that’s not great for President Biden. But there was some sense of a contest on that side, right? Even though we all know that Nikki Haley was going to trail by a wide margin.

But it is remarkable, Juan. Think about it. We have an incumbent Democratic president running for reelection. We all know he’s going to be the nominee. Most Democrats feel like maybe he’s done a really great job in other areas. Personally, I was really proud to serve with him in the 117th Congress. I’m proud of the Investing in America agenda that we passed, having some, at least a semblance of, industrial policy in America for the first time in many decades, and on and on. But what’s remarkable is that this 100,000-plus people who voted “uncommitted,” almost all of them, Juan, wouldn’t have showed up but for this. They’re mad at the president. They would have stayed home.

And our message was: Wait a minute. That would be a disaster if you stayed home. He won’t get the message. He won’t understand. Come out and express your rage. Shake your fist at the president and say, “Look,” for most of them, “I voted for you in 2020. I’m really mad at you right now, and I have to tell you.” So, that, I think, juiced turnout.

And look at East Lansing, where Michigan State University is. Look at Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is. It’s not just Dearborn and Hamtramck, with our incredible, beautiful concentration of Arab American and other Muslim voters. It’s also young people across the state and progressives across the state who said, “We’re your base. We want to win in November. In order to win, we want peace now.”

AMY GOODMAN: Andy Levin, the last time we talked to you, you were a congressmember. You were running for reelection. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, had invested millions in Democratic primaries to defeat progressives who supported Palestine. You were one of those they were trying to defeat. You’re a self-described Zionist who supports a two-state solution. But earlier, before that primary, a former president of AIPAC described you as “arguably the most corrosive member of Congress to the U.S.-Israel relationship.” Can you talk about what happened to you then? You lost that election. But do you see your point of view being embraced much both in Michigan and around the country in a way that AIPAC never imagined?

ANDY LEVIN: I do, Amy. I mean, basically, they spent millions of dollars of dark money. They raised a huge amount of so-called hard money for my opponent in that primary, who basically toed the AIPAC line completely. And now they say they’re going to spend $100 million in 2022, and evidently they’ve already raised $44 million to take out progressives in Democratic primaries. And much of their money is coming from Republican billionaires, who don’t have any place in a Democratic primary. And shame on us, as Democrats, if we continue to allow Democratic candidates to take Republican money in Democratic primaries.

But here’s the situation. This avalanche of mostly dark money coming to try to interfere with Democratic primaries is running into a tsunami of upset by Democratic base voters who say, “The Jewish people deserve self-determination. What about the Palestinian people? And, in fact, there is no peace and security for the Jewish people in the Holy Land unless and until we realize the political and human rights of the Palestinian people. And we have to love each other. We have to support each other. We have to find a way to live together.” And, yes, this is a huge rebuke to that point of view that we must support the Israeli government no matter what they do.

I mean, why are we letting Bibi Netanyahu set the boundary of the possible? This man has never been for a just peace for one day in his life. He has actively opposed Palestinian self-determination his whole career. Like some other people we know, he’s fighting to stay in office so that he doesn’t go to jail. I mean, come on. You can support the people of Israel and the people of Palestine without supporting these horrible policies and this horrible war.

I mean, you know, think of the average — I think of myself, Amy, 40 years ago, when I was a college student. And if I read what The New York Times reported, for example, that the U.S. was supplying 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, and the IDF was dropping them not just on densely populated areas but on places where they had told the Palestinians to flee, and then, at the end of the article, “By the way, we’ve sent 5,000 more of one type of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel since October,” that Andy Levin 40 years ago is not unlike college students and other young people all around Michigan’s campuses and working people, saying, “Whoa! This is unacceptable.” And we showed the president that we don’t accept it yesterday.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, I’d to bring in James Zogby to the conversation, get your reaction to the vote in Michigan, and also whether you think that this “uncommitted” movement could spread across the country, especially now as we head into Super Tuesday on March 5th.

JAMES ZOGBY: Well, look, number one, I want to thank Andy Levin for his leadership. He made an enormous difference here, and we’re so pleased to be partnering, as we were, in this campaign.

Secondly, I think, message sent. A hundred-plus thousand “uncommitted” votes, much larger than anyone anticipated, makes a point: President Biden, you ignore this vote at your risk.

And thirdly, I think, there, frankly, is not a need to go any further. And I think that it’s very clear. We can extrapolate from the rest of the states what the turnout would be in November if we ignore this issue and continue to ignore this issue, not only, as the congressman said, with the Arab American vote, but with young voters, Black voters. We’ve done polling. My brother John has done polling on this among American voters, not just Arab American voters. The impact that the Gaza war is having on voters under 29, the impact it’s having on Black, Latino and Asian voters, who are core to the Democratic coalition, is very clear.

We just wanted to make a point in Michigan. It was the place to make the point. But, frankly, it can also be read in Virginia. It can be read in Georgia. It can be read in Pennsylvania. You ignore this war, and you continue to offer nothing but anodyne, “Well, we’re really with you, and we feel bad, too, and we’re paying attention and working every day,” that does not cut it at this point. There is genocide unfolding. People want it to end. The president either is going to have to act decisively to end it, or it’s going to have an impact in November.

And as the congressman said it, as the organizers of this movement have been very clear, this is not the abandon Biden movement. This is the, for God’s sake, shape up or you might lose in November Biden movement. And the fact is, is that the president has to listen and change. It’s going to be too late for some. The fact that 30,000 have already died, that famine is on the way, that genocide has continued is going to mean a lot of people are going to say, “I can’t do this. I just can’t do it.” But if there’s to be any effort at all made to bring some voters back, something dramatic has to happen and change from the White House to say, “Let’s give him another shot.”

But, frankly, right now we’re having trouble finding that message. And I think Michigan sends a very strong signal, that doesn’t have to be repeated anywhere else. Look, when I saw the Emerson College poll out the day before this vote, I said, “Message sent.” They had 11%. We got a little — you know, we did a little better than that. They said youth vote was voting “uncommitted.” We did that. We showed that. In college towns across the state, we won. “Uncommitted” won in Dearborn. It beat Joe Biden. “Uncommitted” won in Hamtramck. It beat Joe Biden. Those are the two concentrations of Arab American voters. The president needs to pay attention. And I hope he does. And, you know, I hope he does in a way that is decisive and clear and actually turns the corner.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, James Zogby, of course, in Michigan, the participation of elected officials like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and other local Michigan officials did have an impact on that vote. Do you see other Democratic Party officials in other states following that lead?

JAMES ZOGBY: Well, look, we’ve already seen city councils in 70 cities do this. And that number is growing. There is, not just among Arab American, like — you know, we saw a lot of that in Michigan. We also saw Black officials. We saw progressive Jewish officials. And as important as Rashida was, Andy Levin was an important message sender here that this is a broader movement for justice. And let’s not forget that. City councilwoman in Detroit came out just a couple of days before the vote, saying, “I am with 'uncommitted.'” That’s important, having Black elected officials, Arab American elected officials, progressive Jewish elected officials saying, “We want this to end, and we want President Biden to make a difference.” That’s important.

And so, yeah, I think this is going to have a sort of an effect across the country. And we don’t need to do it in other states. We just don’t, because the message is very clear. Number one, you know in Michigan there’s no way to create an electoral map that you win in November. But, number two, we can extrapolate what happens in Michigan and say, “Hmm, it’s going to happen in Virginia. It’s going to happen in Georgia. You’re going to lose youth vote, Black vote, Arab American vote. And you don’t win Pennsylvania if that’s the case.”

So, I think, you know, I’ve been doing this for a long, long time, and I know that these voter groups have to have a reason to turn out. I think what was important about this — and, Congressman, I thank you and others for it — was that you gave people a reason to turn out. These “uncommitted” voters would not have turned out, and they would not turn out again in November, if they didn’t have a reason to turn out. We gave them a reason with “uncommitted.” Joe Biden’s got to give them a reason in November.

AMY GOODMAN: And talk, Jim Zogby, about the other states. Talk about Minnesota and other states who are now, apparently, adopting this “uncommitted” vote. But in Michigan, what’s different — right? — is it’s actually printed on the ballot. And I think you can also add — I mean, most people didn’t — they talked about Dean Phillips, but Marianne Williamson, who suspended her campaign, came in third, and she was the one Democrat for a ceasefire. So you could probably add her votes to the “uncommitted” votes.

JAMES ZOGBY: [inaudible], for example, the Arab community said, “Let’s back Marianne Williamson, even though she dropped out,” because she’s on the ballot and there is no other option. Look, let me say, I’m not going to discourage anybody from trying to do it in other states. I just — like I said, I don’t think you need to. And I would rather have energy focused on city council resolutions and getting people to sign on to ceasefire resolutions across the board.

There is a — I did the Palestine statehood resolutions in 1988 with Jesse Jackson. We passed them in 11 states. We got to the national convention, had the first-ever debate from the podium on a minority plank. After that, everybody continued doing it, but without Jesse in the mix, we never had the momentum to carry it through.

We had a number of ideal things come together in Michigan: a huge concentration of Arab Americans, the support of elected officials, local elected officials, mayors, state reps, etc., city council people. We also had Congressman Levin, who was great on college campuses in terms of mobilizing and bringing people forward, and a great collection of organizers and a budget to make it happen. We’re not going to have that in Minnesota. We’re not going to have that in other states. And so, I don’t want to see people set up for failure. And so, I think you take what happened in Michigan, you extrapolate it to your state, you send the message to President Biden: “It happened here. It can happen elsewhere.” There’s no need to try to replicate what can’t be automatically replicated, given the ideal composition of forces in Michigan that made this happen.

And so, I, frankly, think — I don’t know what’s going to happen in other states, but I don’t want to take a defeat in Minnesota, because it’s not even on the damn ballot, and say, “Oh, look, it’s” — and give the other side a crowing rights. They’re going to try whatever they can do to crow and say we really didn’t — “They didn’t accomplish anything, because 81% still voted for Joe Biden.” Well, of course 81 voted for Joe Biden. But that’s not going to mean November, because in the Emerson poll, Joe Biden is losing by two points. Eleven percent “uncommitted,” and Joe Biden loses by two points, hmm, does that — DMFI, Democratic Majority for Israel, don’t you get what that means? That means that you need that 11% to come to your side in order to put you over the top. We can say that in every state without having to go through this whole process, especially when it’s not even on the ballot and you can’t really get the same outcome you get in Michigan.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to end with Andy Levin. You come from a political dynasty. Your uncle was the late senator who headed the Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, I’m sure a close friend of President Biden; your father a congressman, as well, Sandy Levin. What do you think they would say at this point about this movement, about this demand and grassroots organizing?

ANDY LEVIN: Well, Amy, Uncle Carl passed away, as you know, several years ago. My dad is 92 and going strong. And he is really proud of what I’m doing. He, you know, was involved in helping Soviet Jews flee to Israel. You know, he supported U.S. policy for a two-state solution forever. But I think he understands that there is no way now, after 54 years of occupation and things going in the wrong direction, there’s no way forward unless the president of the United States steps up and leads much more strongly as a peacemaker.

And, look, I’m going to end on a hopeful note. Joe Biden, with this long history of chairing the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate — and, you know, he says he’s known all the Israeli leaders, all the Palestinian leaders. You’ve got to step up, Mr. President, and now end this carnage and lead a diplomatic effort, not a military effort, to end this conflict. It can be done. You’ve got to step up and do it, both because it’s the right thing to do and because your politics depend on it. As Jim Zogby said, the other states are fine. Michigan is a must-win state. Minnesota isn’t, you know, for example. He’s going to win Minnesota anyway, I think. But you’ve got to win Michigan to put the Electoral College math together. And I think it’s just going to be hard to do unless you change course. So let’s get going.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, clearly, President Biden is hearing people. When he was with Seth Meyers the other night, the late-night comic, in an ice cream store, as he was licking his mint chip ice cream, a reporter asked a question about a ceasefire, and he said, yes, he thinks it’s going to happen on Monday. That surprised both Israel and Hamas. We’ll see what happens. But it was on the eve of the Michigan primary that he said that. Andy Levin, I want to thank you for being with us, former Democratic congressmember from Michigan, and James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.



Over the next two newsletters I’ll look at very two different elections that are thousands of miles apart but similarly fractured by the war in Gaza. Today we will be in a midwestern state in the US, and tomorrow we’ll be in a small town in the north of England. Stay tuned.

Normally, an uncontested Democratic primary race with an incumbent president running is not big news. But in Michigan a group of relentless grassroots activists turned what was supposed to be an uneventful election into a symbol of the dissatisfaction and anger at Joe Biden over his continued support of Israel in the war in Gaza.

Though the president has sharpened his criticism of Israel’s military response, the damage, in the minds of many voters, has been done. Vetoing the latest UN security council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire and supplying military aid to Israel has earned Biden the stark moniker of “genocide Joe”, a reference to the allegations made by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel has strongly denied.

The campaign, Listen to Michigan, started just a few weeks before the primary election, urging the public not to vote for Biden and instead vote uncommitted, to pressure the president to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire. They were more effective than even they had hoped, with the uncommitted movement receiving more than 100,000 votes. Though Biden still won by 80%, the uncommitted movement has rattled the White House, as they wonder if this is a sign of what is to come in the run up to the November general elections.


This morning, Wafaa Shurafa and Kareem Chehayeb (AP) report, "Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health officials."  The horrors in that single sentence.  The assault continues, the death toll is now over 30,000 and those in need were fired on by Israeli forces.  It's horrific.  

And it's never ending and Joe Biden's not demanding a cease-fire.  We need Marianne in this race now more than ever -- see Betty's "All in for Marianne" and Revecca's "we need to find our way - maybe marianne's the answer."   Of the 30,000,   and Abeer Salman (CNN) report:

             

The towering figure underscores a horrific, months-long ordeal for Palestinians inside the strip, during which Israel’s bombing and ground campaigns have displaced the vast majority of the population and created a dire humanitarian crisis.

In all, 30,035 people have been killed so far, the ministry said Thursday, adding that the number of injured is over 70,000.     


30,000.  Gaza remains under assault. Day 146 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  As noted earlier in the snapshot, the death toll now stands at 30,035 with over 70,000 injured and thousands missing. Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:







And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."   


 If the bombs and the bullets don't kill you in Gaza, there's still starvation.  ALJAZEERA reports:

Six children have died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian territory has said, as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave worsens.

Two children died at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier it reported that four children died at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, while seven others remained in critical condition.


Larissa Gao (NBC NEWS) reports, "Reports that at least six more children in northern Gaza have died of dehydration and malnutrition are 'horrendous,' the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said on X today.  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency also called for 'unimpeded access' across the enclave and an immediate cease-fire."  At COMMON DREAMS, Phyllis Bennis addresses this topic:

  Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza plausibly constitute genocide. The world’s most influential judicial body ordered Israel to stop killing civilians and to admit more humanitarian aid.

Unfortunately, Israel was having none of it. Israel’s killings have continued, with over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza now dead and tens of thousands more at risk of dying from hunger and disease. Precious little aid is getting in.

And worse, the U.S. has joined Israel’s efforts to incapacitate Gaza’s most important relief agency.

Just hours after the Court’s decision was announced, Israel alleged that 12 Gazan employees of the UN’s Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)—the primary body responsible for providing humanitarian support to Palestine refugees—were Hamas members connected to the October 7 attacks.

Defunding the agency further undermines Palestinians’ access to water, food, medicine, shelter, and fuel.

For more than half a century UNRWA has provided all the services in Gaza that would ordinarily be provided by a government. Most of Gaza’s doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and street sweepers are UNRWA employees. Without UNRWA, all the other U.N. agencies and nonprofits would be unable to carry out their crucial work in the region.

UNRWA employs thousands of people in Gaza. Israel’s claim about 12 of them was dubious—and the country’s government offered no evidence for it.

In fact, the names of all UNRWA employees had been provided to Israel earlier in the year for vetting and no concerns were raised. But just in case, UNRWA immediately announced it was firing the named employees (minus two who’d been killed). And the U.N. launched two separate investigations.

Instead of waiting for these investigations to play out, the Biden administration immediately cut its entire aid allocation to UNRWA, despite the agency’s irreplaceable role in getting desperately needed aid into Gaza. Many key U.S. allies followed suit, and the U.S. Senate voted to explicitly bar UNRWA from receiving future humanitarian aid.

Some in Washington suggested they might redirect UNRWA funds to organizations like UNICEF and the World Food Program, but UNICEF and WFP together have less than 70 staff on the ground in Gaza—UNRWA has over 13,000. U.S. officials themselves had admitted earlier that UNRWA was “the only game in town” in terms of getting any significant aid into Gaza.

The impact of these cuts on the already threatened lives of 2.3 million displaced Gazans—as well as millions more Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria—can hardly be overstated. Defunding the agency further undermines Palestinians’ access to water, food, medicine, shelter, and fuel—and alongside ongoing U.S. military support for Israel, makes Washington complicit in genocide.

Thousands of Palestinians—especially babies, children, pregnant women, and the elderly—will die as a result of these cuts. And the millions of Palestinian refugees throughout the region will lose the only international agency in the U.N. system that’s mandated to protect their rights, including their right to return someday to their homes in what’s now Israel. 



As we wind down.  Aaron Bushnell. He took his own life on Sunday to protest the assault on Gaza.  That is news.  It needs to be noted and we did note it.  Some of you are e-mailing asking what I think about it?  I really haven't.  I've noted it here but refrained from offering personal thoughts.  Clearly, he weighed his decision.  Clearly, it's sad when anyone takes their own life.  Clearly, as well, sometimes, in the world we live in, there is no choice involved in suicide.  Conditions, lack of access and opportunities,  and realities being what they are, a person is forced into that decision. It is news, his action was news, and we covered it.  Some of you don't want to hear about it in the snapshot anymore and I can understand and that's why I'm putting this at the bottom so you could read the above before bailing.  

I don't know him and I don't know his friends or family.  I won't try to speak for him and I am bothered that others have.  So I can understand why some of you are sensitive to the coverage -- any coverage -- of this.  When I learned Monday that a group was organizing some sort of 'memorial' for this weekend, I found that sad and distasteful.  That may be for others but it's not for me.  It feels like someone trying to use the death to promote themselves.  

This same group, by the way, was egging on a US veteran to kill himself a few years back.  You may remember that and remember that we called them out for it. Tomas Young did not end up taking his own life.  He died of natural causes.  It was his decision to make but, it became clear if you paid attention, that he was moving away from taking his own life -- but people weren't paying attention to Tomas, they just saw the headlines and the news coverage to come and kept pushing  suicide as a political protest to Bully Boy Bush.  That's why we called it out.  When he initially announced his decision, that was his decision and I believe we covered it here as that.  But, again, it became obvious that he was moving away from that decision despite various 'personalities' -- including a 'rocker' as well as the elderly girlies -- demanding that it happen.

If there's a news development, we will certainly note it but I do understand that for many of you -- for various reasons -- this is a topic you'd prefer we close the book on now that it's been covered here.  Heard and respected.

The following sites updated:

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Exactly

 

John Russell (LGBTQ  Nation) reports:


The vice mayor of an Oklahoma City suburb called out the state’s Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, the entire state board of education, and Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik for creating the environment of anti-LGBTQ+ hostility that he and other advocates say led to the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict.

A business owner and the vice mayor of The Village, Sean Cummings spoke directly to Walters and members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education at a public meeting last week, accusing them of “emboldening” the students who attacked Benedict in a bathroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma, earlier this month. Benedict, who friends say was trans and primarily used he/him pronouns, said he’d been bullied by the three students because of his gender identity prior to the violent altercation on February 7 in which he was reportedly beaten until he blacked out. Benedict died the next day. Authorities have not yet determined a cause of death.

“You and your rhetoric and your inability to do anything as a board here are partially responsible for emboldening bullies to jump a [student] in the bathroom,” Cummings said at the February 22 meeting.



Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Wednesday, February 29, 2024.  Another hospital shuts down in Gaza, Michigan voters send a message by voting "uconommitted," Senators Patty Murray, Tammy Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Schumer address the need for IVF, and much more.

 
Yesterday, voters in Michigan turned out for the primaries.  When the polls closed, Lavora Barnes -- Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party -- released the following statement: 
 
“The energy and enthusiasm we saw around this early primary in Michigan is why we fought so hard for it. Now we will bring this energy forward to the general election where the choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump couldn’t be more clear. Do we want a President who spreads hate and division or a president who fights for all of us? We look forward to making our voices heard again in November when we will reject Donald Trump’s MAGA extremism and ensure that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can continue to deliver for Michiganders. Michigan Democrats are ready to get to work from now through election day because the stakes could not be higher.”


With almost all the votes counted (99%), the results were 2.7% for Dean Phillips, 3% for Marianne Williamson,  13.3% for uncommitted and 81.1% for Joe Biden.  

13.3%?  If Ron DeSantis could have posted that in a Republican primary (not a caucus), he'd still be in the race.  

Michigan voters sent up a flare.  The Biden campaign is run by idiots if they don't address it.  

  More than 100,900 Michigan voters marked "uncommitted" on their ballots during the swing state's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, a signal to President Joe Biden that his continued support for Israel's war on Gaza is angering key elements of his base and potentially threatening his reelection chances.

Leaders and supporters of the Listen to Michigan campaign made clear that their goal was not to harm Biden's general election prospects, but rather to convince him to change course on Gaza, where the U.S.-armed Israeli military has killed nearly 30,000 people in less than five months.

In 2020, Biden defeated former President Donald Trump—his likely general election opponent in November—by 150,000 votes, and Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton four years earlier by roughly 11,000 votes.

"We need Joe Biden to listen to the voice of Michiganders," Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan and the sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), told reporters late Tuesday. "Listen to the voice of his core constituents and demand a permanent cease-fire now and the ending of this unconditional, unchecked funding to Israel." 


Kelsey Ables and Andrew Jeong (WASHINGTON POST) explain, ""More than 100,900 Democratic presidential primary voters (13.3 percent) were uncommitted after 98 percent of the votes had been counted early Wednesday. In the last two presidential elections, the number of uncommitted Democratic primary votes in Michigan has hovered around 20,000, and not passed 2 percent of the total vote." Julia Conley (COMMON DREAMS) adds:

In the latest sign that the Biden administration's continued defense and support of Israel's assault on Gaza leaves it representing a shrinking minority of Americans, a new poll out Tuesday found that 67% of Americans of all political affiliations want the United States to join the international call for a permanent cease-fire.

That's up six points from progressive think tank Data for Progress's last poll, taken in November.

Support for a cease-fire among Democratic voters remains strong, with 77% saying U.S. President Joe Biden should demand a permanent cessation of hostilities and a de-escalation in violence. Sixty-nine percent of Independents said the same, up from 61% in December, as well as 56% of Republicans, up from 49%. 

oth Democrats and Independents were far more likely to disagree with the idea that the U.S. should wait until Hamas is defeated to call for a cease-fire. Since October, Israel has killed at least 29,878 Palestinians, including more than 11,500 children. A near-total blockade on humanitarian aid has pushed about a quarter of the enclave's population to "the edge of famine," according to U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Ramesh Rajasingham.

Biden said Monday that he is hopeful for a cease-fire "by next Monday," but current talks between Hamas and Israel, which are being mediated by Qatar, are reportedly about a temporary cessation in violence. 




EMAN ABDELHADI: Is Michigan lost to Biden? Is there anything Biden could do to win it back at this point? 

LAYLA ELABED: Before we can even talk about Biden getting support at the ballot box, the very minimum that the Biden administration would need to do, for us to talk about what support would look like come November, is support a permanent cease-fire and a reevaluation of our policy of unchecked, unconditional military funding to Israel.

ABDELHADI: How did the Vote Uncommitted” campaign come about? What has your role been?

ELABED: I’m the campaign manager for Listen to Michigan’s Vote Uncommitted” campaign. This came about because of the frustration and the discontent that so many Democratic voters feel right now. Especially because some 80% of Democratic voters are pro-cease-fire. Talking with other Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, our pro-ceasefire community, our anti-war community, we really were like, What can we do? How can we leverage our political power at this point with the Michigan primary election coming up?” 

The methodology around Uncommitted” really came out of the 2008 Obama campaign. In 2008, Obama did not make the ballot in the Michigan primaries, but his campaign was able to mobilize young voters, Black voters and voters of color to vote Uncommitted” as a rejection of Hillary Clinton, and it really embarrassed the Clinton campaign. And so we took that and applied it to our current Democratic primary with Joe Biden. 

One of the reasons it’s not okay to vote for a different Democratic candidate is because the whole institution of the Democratic Party has really turned on their constituency, has turned on their base. We can see the majority of our Democratic leaders, our Democratic elected officials haven’t supported a cease-fire, and haven’t been vocal enough about ending the genocide. We have our champions like Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib (note: Elabed’s sister). But on the whole, especially at the federal level, we’re not seeing condemnation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government. So that’s how this came about. We had a group of young and old Michigan organizers and this campaign is not only multi-generational, it’s multi-faith, it’s multi-racial, and it’s really, really grassroots. It’s being led by community organizers in Michigan and supported by national folks, national organizations, national organizers. But it really is organic.

 
Shweta Kukreti (HINDUSTAN TIMES) notes that not everyone can handle discussing the events in Michigan: 

American broadcaster Anderson Cooper surprisingly snapped at a guest discussing the plight of Gazans & asserted that “we don't need to debate” on the conflict.

At a time when the world is pushing for truce talks amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, American broadcaster Anderson Cooper surprisingly snapped at a guest discussing the plight of Gazans and asserted that “we don't need to debate” on the conflict.

During a CNN panel discussion on Tuesday, Cooper interrupted former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner as she acknowledged some Arab-Americans' hesitancy to support incumbent President Joe Biden. Following this, the host asserted that the viewers "don't really need a lecture on the problem" and would like to know more about "the politics of this tonight.

[. . .]

As the discussion progressed, CNN panel members emphasised the 'uncommitted' protest vote, which had reached nearly 16 percent.

Turner then went on to target Biden by reflecting on the pain of the Arab-American and Palestinian community.

“And so while this president was in the ice cream shop saying, ‘I think there’s going to be a ceasefire,’ 30,000 people have been slaughtered. People are living in famine. They can’t get medical care. So it can’t come soon enough for them, and that was really the weight that I picked up on when I was in Dearborn, [Michigan],” she said.

Copper jumped in when Turner highlighted the efforts of Rashida Tlaib and other Congress members who have been calling for a ceasefire.


William Vaillancourt (DAILY BEAST) adds:


“All I‘m saying is that at a certain point after October 7, it becomes clear. I mean, you have a right-wing prime minister,” she began, before Cooper interrupted.

“Right. We don’t need to debate the issue,” he claimed.

“I’m not denying anybody’s pain,” Turner continued. “What I am saying is that this president—and our country—has the power to say to [Benjamin] Netanyahu: We need a permanent ceasefire.”


 Gaza remains under assault. Day 145 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  NBC NEWS notes, "More than 29,900 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began , according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 70,300 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead." Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:







And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."   


This morning, ALJAZEERA notes:

Al-Awda Hospital in the city of Jabalia, northern Gaza, has announced the complete suspension of all its medical services due to severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies, according to the Wafa news agency.

The director of the monitoring and evaluation department in al-Awda, Dr Muhammad Salha, warned in a press statement that the development would lead to “a complete deprivation of basic health services for citizens, especially in light of the cessation of service by all hospitals in the north”, according to the report.

He urgently appealed to all international, humanitarian and human rights organisations to put pressure on Israel to supply the hospital with medicines, consumables, medical supplies and fuel.

The Israeli forces besieged al-Awda Hospital for 18 days, causing severe damage to the upper floors of the building, in addition to destroying a number of ambulances, the report said.


 

NBC News has joined broadcasters and other media organizations from around the world to call for access to Gaza to report on Israel's war with Hamas.

“Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military," the letter says.

“We urge the governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media. We call on the government of Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah Crossing.”

Entry to the enclave for journalists has been all but impossible without the permission and supervision of the Israeli military. 


Palestinians are being increasingly targeted in the US.  Let's drop back to Monday's DEMOCRACY NOW!



AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

We look now at how Palestinians are being increasingly targeted by U.S. anti-terrorism laws amidst ongoing efforts to conflate pro-Palestinian activism with so-called terrorism. The Anti-Defamation League, the ADL, has called on university presidents to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine, known as SJP, chapters for, quote, “material support for terrorism.” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has even compared SJP to the Hitler Youth.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT: Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. And the SJP and these kids who are pushing it are like the Hitler Youth. Sorry, I know people don’t like it when I say that, but it’s true. And what Shai said before is spot-on.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, several American universities have suspended or banned Students for Justice in Palestine. In an interview in January with CNN’s Dana Bash, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed, without evidence, some protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza are connected to Russia, and urged the FBI to investigate them.

REP. NANCY PELOSI: For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message. Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake: This is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these — some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. And I say that having looked at this for a long time now, as you know.

DANA BASH: You think some of these protests are Russian plants?

REP. NANCY PELOSI: I wouldn’t say they’re plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.

AMY GOODMAN: She later would say, when people were protesting in San Francisco, “Go back to China.”

For more, we’re joined by two guests who have been following all of this closely. Darryl Li is an anthropologist and lawyer teaching at University of Chicago. He’s the author of the new briefing paper, “Anti-Palestinian at the Core: The Origins and Growing Dangers of U.S. Antiterrorism Law,” jointly published with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal. And we’re joined by Dima Khalidi, founder and director of Palestine Legal.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Darryl Li, let’s start with you. Talk about what you found.

DARRYL LI: Good morning, Amy. It’s good to be with you.

Well, I think many viewers of Democracy Now! are probably familiar with the way that Palestinians have been slandered and stereotyped as terrorists for a long time. What this report does is it reaches back and connects the dots of a longer history, going back almost 50 years, showing how the very foundations of terrorism law in the United States, at key moments of their development, were crafted with the agenda of opposing or crushing Palestinian liberation in mind.

The first time the word “terrorism” even shows up in federal law is in a 1969 statute, and it’s, unfortunately, very relevant today. This statute restricts U.S. aid to UNRWA, the U.N. body that provides humanitarian aid to refugees, and it uses the word “terrorism” essentially as a synonym for Palestinian resistance. And one of the chief sponsors of this legislation, Congressman Leonard Farbstein from New York, made a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives where he peddled the stereotype of UNRWA schools and Palestinian refugee camps, essentially, as hotbeds of terrorism that are brainwashing the sort of next generation of terrorists. So, in light of today’s campaigns to defund UNRWA and to deprive Palestinians of humanitarian aid, we can see that this is part of a much, much longer campaign that extends in many different directions.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about who is pushing these laws and what their agenda is, Darryl Li?

DARRYL LI: Yes. One of the other key aspects of the story is the role of organizations like the Anti-Defamation League in pushing for this legislation over time. And again, this is relevant for one of the clips that you just played, the clip of Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, accusing student activists, SJP of terrorism support — of being terrorism supporters. There’s a bit of a coming-full-circle moment here, because the ADL was actually one of the organizations that lobbied very heavily for the passage of this law that criminalizes so-called material support to terrorist organizations. The material support statute is actually the most commonly used charge in federal terrorism cases. And the reason why it’s prosecutors’ favorite tool is because it is incredibly broad. It criminalizes ordinary activity that would usually be covered and protected by the First Amendment. So it’s a very, very convenient weapon. And it was passed in the 1990s as the result of a long-running campaign by the ADL and other groups to essentially crack down on Palestinian community organizing and Palestinian solidarity organizing in the United States.

And what they did, actually, was they exploited the outrage following the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. Now, many people will recall, of course, that the people who carried out that bombing were U.S. citizens, essentially right-wing white nationalist militia members. But the law that was passed as a result of the Oklahoma City bombing included — it was mostly a sort of get-tough-on-crime, crack-down-on-immigration bill that included the material support law that was proposed by the ADL as part of a larger package of measures that were all about, essentially, targeting Palestinian liberation movements.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Dima Khalidi, head of Palestine Legal, let’s be clear: It’s not only Students for Justice in Palestine that have been banned on some campuses, but also Jewish Voice for Peace.

DIMA KHALIDI: That’s right, Amy. We’ve seen over the last several months multiple efforts to shut down student activism. And that is a direct result of efforts by groups like the ADL, but also by statements by President Biden himself that have said that he will — he is mobilizing federal law enforcement to surveil campus activism. And these threats of surveillance, that Pelosi herself made, as well, are serious, and they reflect what we are saying in this report is a fundamentally anti-Palestinian agenda.

When the U.S. government, instead of stopping military aid to Israel to stop this genocide, is stopping funding for UNRWA, that is a lifeline for Gazans, this is the result of decades of anti-Palestinian rhetoric that has allowed these laws to develop, and that is, ultimately, in this moment when people are mobilizing to stop this genocide, a cover for the genocide. It is a justification for the dehumanization of Palestinians and their allies, to tar them with criminal or discriminatory intent. And that’s the intention of this report, is to really expose this anti-Palestinian agenda that is driving efforts to really expand these laws to target First Amendment activity that is trying to mobilize people for justice.

AMY GOODMAN: Palestine Legal has received multiple reports of the FBI harassing Palestine advocates for their social media posts. Can you describe some examples, Dima?

DIMA KHALIDI: Well, we and other legal organizations that are supporting people who are facing increasing repression are getting multiple reports of people being visited by the FBI, often because of social media posts that they make, because of their activism on the streets. And people have even been visited by ICE, immigration enforcement agencies. And this is a direct result, again, of this rhetoric, of this increase in surveillance resources to law enforcement agencies. And as we know from the post-9/11 era, the impact on our communities is enormous. It has a huge chilling effect on people, on First Amendment rights. But it also is a signal of an erosion of a whole host of constitutional rights when law enforcement is mobilized in this way, as we saw in the 1960s with COINTELPRO, as we saw in the post-9/11 era.

So, this is just the beginning, we think, of what is a massive mobilization of state resources against this movement. And this is why we’re publishing this report now, to really encourage lawmakers to protect First Amendment rights, to roll back these laws, which are only shielding Israel from accountability and scrutiny and undermining fundamental First Amendment rights for everybody.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the anti-Palestinian bills that are in front of Congress, one of them that would possibly radically expand deportations of Palestinians at this time, Dima?

DIMA KHALIDI: Yeah, we’re seeing legislatures around the country, not just Congress, but state legislatures, threatening, presenting bills that are trying to justify an erosion of constitutional rights and First Amendment rights by noting terrorism, supposed terrorism, threats, right? And certainly after October 7th, we saw an increase in these kinds of bills — one that wanted to deport all Palestinians. And we see this rhetoric from our elected officials, as well.

So, we are very clear that the reason that this is allowed to happen is because this anti-Palestinian sentiment has been cemented not only into U.S. law, but into the minds of people. And that’s why these kinds of bills are proposed with hardly anyone blinking an eye, while Palestinians are being obliterated in Gaza as we speak. So, this is a very concerning moment and one where we must all stand up and recognize that our laws have been built and are being used and exploited to further Israel’s own agenda and, you know, the United States’ complicity in what Israel is doing right now.

AMY GOODMAN: Darryl Li, can you talk about what most surprised you, in this last minute we have, in doing the research for this report?

DARRYL LI: Yes, well, I think one of the surprising episodes is the one that I referred to earlier about the way that the material support law was passed after the Oklahoma City bombing. Essentially, what happened was that the Clinton administration proposed a sort of general anti-terrorism law that included the things that the ADL wanted, that essentially targeted Palestinians, but also included things that you would like expect, like expanded law enforcement authority, regulation of firearms and explosives, and so on. And the House-led — sorry, the Republican-led House of Representatives essentially gutted that bill and replaced it with all the provisions that they wanted. And immediately, the Democrats and the ADL pushed back, lobbied very hard, and the parts of the original bill, only the ones that pertained to so-called international terrorism, that were essentially targeting Palestinians, were put back into the bill. So it’s a really sobering example of how anti-Palestinian animus is one of the most enduring areas of bipartisan appeal in Washington.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. We’re going to link to your report. Darryl Li, lawyer, associate professor of anthropology and social sciences at the University of Chicago, and Dima Khalidi, founder and director of Palestine Legal. The new briefing paper is “Anti-Palestinian at the Core: The Origins and Growing Dangers of U.S. Antiterrorism Law.”

That does it for our show. To see all our video and audio podcasts, you can go to democracynow.org. And congratulations to our whole team as we just surpassed 2 million YouTube viewers. Democracy Now! produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Tami Woronoff. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.



And we'll wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:


February 27, 2024

Senators Murray, Duckworth, Schumer, Baldwin, Klobuchar Lead Press Conference Denouncing Alabama IVF Decision, Calling for Passage of Legislation to Protect Right to IVF 

ICYMI: New Legislation From Senators Murray, Duckworth Would Protect Right to Access IVF, Other Assisted Reproductive Technology in the Face of Republican Attacks

Senator Murray: “Women aren’t just going to ‘forget’ who is responsible for this—who ripped away their dreams of building their families. This is not hyperbole. This is not hypothetical. This is happening.”

**VIDEO from press conference HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) held a press conference responding to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on Friday that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are considered “extrauterine children” under state law, and calling for passage of legislation that would establish a statutory, nationwide right to access IVF treatment. The decision sparked concerns that embryos that are destroyed or damaged could lead to civil liability, which would have sweeping implications for fertility treatment—since the ruling, at least three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended IVF services.

At the press conference, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Alabama ruling and the far-right ideology of “fetal personhood” underlying the decision—an ideology supported by many Republican politicians that has terrifying consequences for the humanity and rights of pregnant women and could put an end to people’s ability to build families through IVF. IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americans—recent polling found that 85 percent of Americans support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services. A survey from Pew Research Center in September found that 42 percent of adults say they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who had—up from 33% five years ago.

“Imagine going through years of trying to get pregnant, to no avail, maybe going through the heartbreak of a miscarriage, often, multiple times. Then turning hopefully to IVF, allowing yourself to hope ‘maybe this time,’ only to have some right-wing judges pull the rug out from under you,” Senator Murray said at the press conference today. “My heart truly goes out to all of the women in Alabama who are suffering right now. And let’s get one thing straight—Republicans cannot pretend this is some surprise. They have fought for decades to overturn Roe, knowing full well it would create situations like this.”

“Women aren’t just going to ‘forget’ who is responsible for this—who ripped away their dreams of building their families,” Murray continued. “This is not hyperbole. This is not hypothetical. This is happening. If Republicans seriously want to help fix the chaos and devastation they have worked so hard to create, they can help us restore the rights enshrined in Roe—which they overturned to make all this possible—and they can help us pass my legislation to protect and expand IVF care.” 

Just last month, Murray and Duckworth introduced their Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every American’s right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. Building on the Right to Build Families Actthe lawmakers had introduced in previous Congresses, the new legislation would establish a statutory right to access IVF and other ART services, thereby pre-empting any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parent—or their doctors—are punished for trying to start or grow their family.

After the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs ruling, many women have not only seen their constitutional right to abortion ripped away from them as a result of state abortion bans, but their ability to get treatment for cancer, lupus and more—and to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology in order to build a family—are also under threat. The new patchwork of state abortion bans has created significant confusion among patients and providers alike about what services doctors can and cannot provide in states with the most restrictive laws, leading IVF centers to call for new protections.

Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and, after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, Murray has led Congressional efforts to fight back. Murray led her colleagues at the outset of this Congress to make crystal clear that Senate Democrats are continuing to fight to protect every American’s reproductive rights and will be a firewall against Republicans’ continued attacks on women’s rights—and that’s exactly what she’s doing now. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need and repeatedly sought unanimous consent to pass common-sense bills to protect women’s fundamental freedoms; she also co-leads the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide, and has been leading Congressional efforts to make over-the-counter birth control affordable. In January, Senator Murray led Senate Democrats in hosting a briefing on the State of Abortion Rights across America, where senators heard powerful testimony from individuals who had been personally harmed by Republicans’ abortion bans.

Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered at today’s press conference, are below:

“First of all, thank you to Senator Duckworth who’s been such a champion on this issue and for your amazing words this morning.

“Ever since IVF access in Alabama was thrown into jeopardy by Republicans’ extreme ideology, women have been sharing the most heartbreaking stories about how their dreams of becoming a mother have been turned into a complete nightmare. 

“Imagine going through years of trying to get pregnant, to no avail, maybe going through the heartbreak of a miscarriage, often, multiple times. Then turning hopefully to IVF, paying thousands—often tens of thousands—of dollars, taking your shots,  allowing yourself to hope “maybe this time.

“Only to have some right-wing judges pull the rug out from under you because they believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the same—and should have the exact same rights—as a living, breathing, human person, because they want everything that’s happening in doctors’ offices and fertility clinics to conform to their extreme ideology—one that would make services like IVF impossible.

“My heart truly goes out to all of the women in Alabama who are suffering right now. 

“And let’s get one thing straight—Republicans cannot pretend this is some surprise.

“Republicans fought for decades to overturn Roe, knowing full well it would create situations like this. 

“Democrats have been warning about this for years. 

“It’s been incredible to watch Republicans now scramble over the weekend to suddenly support IVF while many of these same Republicans are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood—the very concept that caused all of the chaos in Alabama—and would make IVF unavailable nationwide.  

“You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible! You are not fooling anyone! 

“Women aren’t just going to ‘forget’ who is responsible for this—who ripped away their dreams of building their families. 

“This is what happens when Republican politicians take away women’s power over their own bodies. 

“This is not hyperbole. This is not hypothetical. This is happening.

“If Republicans seriously want to help fix the chaos and devastation they have worked so hard to create they can help us restore the rights enshrined in Roe—which they overturned to make all this possible—and they can help us pass legislation to protect and expand IVF care. 

“And our bill—the Access to Family Building Act—is a great place to start. 

“It just does not get more straightforward than this: if Republicans seriously support the right to build families through IVF, they can prove it tomorrow on the floor.”

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