WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME
“RADICAL ISLAM” IN ORLANDO?
OBAMA: “What exactly would using this label accomplish?”
Obama forcefully dismissed Donald Trump’s recent criticism of him for not using the words “radical Islam” to describe terrorist attacks as “a political distraction.” “What exactly would using this label accomplish?” Obama asked. “Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away.” Obama continued: “There has not been a moment in my seven-and-a-half years as president where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn’t use the label ‘radical Islam.’ Not once has an adviser of mine said, ‘Man, if we really use that phrase, we’re gonna turn this thing around.'” More
When Media Learned Killer's Ethnicity, Then They Knew to Call It 'Terrorism'
News coverage over the past 48 hours of the Orlando nightclub attacks has shown how corporate media use specific vocabulary to manipulate public perceptions and perpetuate harmful stereotypes and xenophobia… Once the shooter was identified as Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent, the narrative changed. After this South Asian ethnicity was revealed, news media began calling the attack an act of terror… When those who wish to use violence against innocent people are unidentified, they are referred to as “shooters” and their attacks as “attacks” or, in the case of Orlando, as “shootings.” It’s not until the perpetrators are identified as non-white people with an otherized cultural background that the media uses the word “terror.” More
Call the Orlando massacre a hate crime:
This was an attack on the LGBT community
What could have motivated such an act of violence? According to the gunman’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, the shooter (whose name will not be identified here) recently became outraged after witnessing a public display of affection between same-sex partners. “We were in downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music,” Mateeen told NBC News. “And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very 
angry. They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.’ And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other.” But the attacker’s homophobic intent has gotten buried in the response to the event—with news organizations, politicians, and public figures reticent to label the act a “hate crime.” … It may be likely that the shooter was motivated by faith-based hate, but to suggest that his religion was the sole motivating factor is an act of dangerous erasure. It ignores that this is merely the latest attack on a gay establishment in the United States and the latest reminder that queer people are not safe from being victims of a hate crime, even in spaces that are supposed to be havens for us. More
angry. They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.’ And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other.” But the attacker’s homophobic intent has gotten buried in the response to the event—with news organizations, politicians, and public figures reticent to label the act a “hate crime.” … It may be likely that the shooter was motivated by faith-based hate, but to suggest that his religion was the sole motivating factor is an act of dangerous erasure. It ignores that this is merely the latest attack on a gay establishment in the United States and the latest reminder that queer people are not safe from being victims of a hate crime, even in spaces that are supposed to be havens for us. More
GREENWALD: Stop Exploiting LGBT Issues to Demonize Islam and Justify Anti-Muslim Policies
A 2015 Pew poll found that U.S. Muslims were more accepting of homosexuality than evangelical Christians, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses… Similarly, U.S. Muslims are more likely to support same-sex marriage (42 percent support it) than are U.S. evangelicals (28 percent), historically black Protestants (40 percent), Mormons (26 percent) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (14 percent). Indeed, U.S. Muslims are roughly just as likely to support same-sex marriage as Christians generally (44 percent)… It’s also true that parts of Islamic doctrine contain all sorts of horrible views on LGBTs, women, and other issues. But exactly the same is true of both the Christian Bible and Jewish Talmud. When it comes to Jews and Christians, people instinctively understand how bigoted and deceitful it is to cherry-pick particularly offensive excerpts from their holy books and use them to demonize all contemporary Christians and Jews. More
JUAN COLE: How to tell if Someone is lying about being a 'Salafi Jihadi'
Regulars at Pulse Nightclub are saying that Omar Mateen, the alleged shooter in the early Sunday morning massacre there, was himself a regular! The Orlando Sentinel writes, “‘Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,’ Ty Smith said.” So there’s just one thing about his claim to be acting on behalf of ISIL (with whom he appears never to have had any contact): puritanical Muslim fundamentalists of the ISIL sort don’t behave that way. Unbalanced, disturbed young Christian Americans who want to act out power fantasies that end in murder-suicide tend to claim a KKK, neo-Nazi, Christian fundamentalist or other white-nationalist identity in a desperate bid to make their loser lives and loser behavior seem cosmically important… Omar Mateen was a disturbed person, likely brought up a nationalist rather than a fundamentalist, and didn’t have the slightest idea of what a Salafi Jihadi was. More
STICKING TO THEIR GUNS: Trump, GOP Appeal to Racial Identity Politics
One would have thought that NRA members, of all people, would be a little bit suspicious of Trump considering his past squishiness. But research into gun ownership may explain why he is so popular with this crowd despite all the cultural signals that would otherwise raise suspicions. This Washington Post article from a couple of months back explains that NRA gun culture is largely based on racial identity. And that’s what Trump is all about… In the mind of this type of gun owner, “I am showing my white nationalist pride in a sort of generic way through gun ownership,” Filindra posits. “This is my way of expressing my ‘more-equal-than-others’ status in a society where egalitarianism is the norm. I can’t say that some people are better and some are worse in terms of racial groups. But I can show it symbolically. I can show I’m a better citizen.” There are other studies going back decades which come to similar conclusions. For a certain minority of gun rights activists — let’s call them Trump voters — race is the motivating factor in their single-minded zeal. This second amendment fetish is a dog whistle. More
RADICAL CHRISTIANITY?
Ku Klux Klan rally
RADICAL JUDAISM?
Members of right-wing organization Lehava protesting the wedding of a Jewish-born woman and a Muslim man in Rishon Letzion, Israel, August 17, 2014
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Call for Bombing ISIS After Orlando Shooting That ISIS Didn’t Direct
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump reacted to the Orlando shooting with evidence that they can agree on at least one thing: bombing people. Both candidates called for an escalation of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. “We have generals that feel we can win this thing so fast and so strong, but we have to be furious for a short period of time, and we’re not doing it!” Trump complained on Fox & Friends Monday morning. “Are you saying hit Raqqa right now?” asked host Brian Kilmeade. “We’re going to have to start thinking about something,” Trump replied. Along the same lines, Clinton suggested during her post-Orlando speech Monday afternoon that “We should keep the pressure on ramping up the air campaign.” Both candidates neglected to consider that no operational links between ISIS and the alleged Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, have been discovered. More
This statistic about gun violence in America seems hard to believe, but is true
Each year for the last decade in America, more than 30,000 people have died due to firearms. That figure, which includes suicides and accidents as well as homicides, is comparable to the casualties seen in some of America's modern wars. It's nearly equal to the number of Americans who died in the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. In fact, if you add up the number of firearm-related deaths in America since 1968, that figure is larger than all of the battlefield casualties in all of the wars in American history. More
Can We Do Anything About Murderous Assault Weapons?
The mass murderers in San Bernardino who killed 14 and wounded 21 used AR-15 assault rifles. In Aurora, Colorado, a man with an AR-15 killed 12 and wounded 58 in a movie theater. It was an AR-15 that slaughtered 20 children and 6 faculty members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A database compiled by Mother Jones magazine shows that assault weapons were used in seven of the eight high-profile mass shootings since July 2015… The parts or features of an assault weapon are not there to look scary (as the NRA suggests); they are there to make it possible for the shooter to do scary things. With these features, any deranged person can empty a 30-round magazine as fast as he or she can pull the trigger while maintaining control of the gun—and then quickly insert another fully-loaded magazine. Which is exactly what happened in Orlando. More
BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS NOW
Orlando. Sandy Hook. Aurora. San Bernardino.
What do these horrific shootings have in common? Assault weapons.
Assault weapons were used to murder at least 49 people in Orlando, 26 people in Sandy Hook, 12 people in Aurora, and 14 people in San Bernardino.
Right now, these mass-killing weapons are available for purchase on-line, at trade shows, and at gun brokers across our nation. They have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters.
Assault weapons have no place in our cities and towns. No place on our streets.
We need to ban all assault weapons now, while moving quickly to enact common sense gun reform.
What do these horrific shootings have in common? Assault weapons.
Assault weapons were used to murder at least 49 people in Orlando, 26 people in Sandy Hook, 12 people in Aurora, and 14 people in San Bernardino.
Right now, these mass-killing weapons are available for purchase on-line, at trade shows, and at gun brokers across our nation. They have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters.
Assault weapons have no place in our cities and towns. No place on our streets.
We need to ban all assault weapons now, while moving quickly to enact common sense gun reform.
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NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
THE PENTAGON’S REAL $TRATEGY:
Keeping the Money Flowing
These days, lamenting the apparently aimless character of Washington’s military operations in the Greater Middle East has become conventional wisdom among administration critics of every sort… After 15 years of grinding war with no obvious end in sight, U.S. military operations certainly deserve such obloquy. But the pundit outrage may be misplaced. Focusing on Washington rather than on distant war zones, it becomes clear that the military establishment does indeed have a strategy, a highly successful one, which is to protect and enhance its own prosperity. Given this focus, creating and maintaining an effective fighting force becomes a secondary consideration, reflecting a relative disinterest -- remarkable to outsiders -- in the actual business of war, as opposed to the business of raking in dollars for the Pentagon and its industrial and political partners. A key element of the strategy involves seeding the military budget with “development” projects that require little initial outlay but which, down the line, grow irreversibly into massive, immensely profitable production contracts for our weapons-making cartels. More
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STOP DISASTROUS MILITARY APPROPRIATIONS
Call Your Representatives Today! 877-429-0678
The House will be voting on a variety of amendments on the Defense Appropriations Bill, HR. 5293, starting today, June 16, and possibly into Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. The Defense Appropriations Bill would approve total military spending of $576,856,382,000 for FY 2017. At the same time, our people's needs for education, housing, health care, clean energy and transportation are going un-met.
Luckily, House progressives are championing key amendments to cut out the worst of this disastrous bill. It is crucial that we support these representatives and their amendments by contacting your members of congress and letting them know where we stand. Please call your House Representative and ask him or her to vote yes on:
Amendment #13 Rep. Quigley - Cut funding the Long Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO, new air-launched nuclear armed cruise missile), saving $75 million in the first year. The LRSO would make us less safe. The amendment would delay it and allow the next president to decide its importance and usefulness.
Amendment #40 Rep. Conyers - Blocks funds from being used to transfer or authorize the transfer of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has been widely condemned for using cluster munitions in its brutal war in Yemen. The Amendment will prevent the sale of cluster bombs, currently manufactured by Textron, to Saudi Arabi.
Amendment #42 Gabbard - Prohibits funds to train and equip Syrian rebels.
Amendment #44 Rep. McGovern - No funds may be obligated or spent for combat operations in Iraq or Syria unless an AUMF is enacted.
McGovern’s amendment is receiving bi-partisan support. It will prohibit the usage of funds for combat in Iraq and Syria until congress gives specific authorization for use of military force. This amendment will ensure that Congress reclaims its war making powers and increases the chance of democratic debate.
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ISRAEL, PALESTINE . . . and the U.S.
TELL CONGRESS: Oppose 'Combating BDS Act of 2016'
As of yesterday, 29 Senators and 90 Representatives had supported this outlandish legislation. Click here to see if your Members of Congress have cosponsored this bill. This bill would “authorize” state and local governments to 
unconstitutionally penalize entities such as nonprofit organizations and corporations for supporting the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). The Supreme Court has long held that boycotts and related activities to bring about political, social, and economic change are political speech, occupying “the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.” As the Harvard Law Review recently concluded, “Supreme Court precedents make clear that attempts to disqualify contractors for support of BDS are foreclosed by the First Amendment.” Even though this bill might be unconstitutional, we still need to organize to oppose it. This legislation is designed to further encourage a country-wide effort by the Israel lobby to try to suppress BDS activism at the state and local level. Check out the RightToBoycott website we recently launched with member groups Palestine Legal and Jewish Voice for Peace. Find out if anti-BDS legislation has been introduced in your state and get the legal and organizing resources you need to mobilize to challenge it. Contact your Member of Congress today!
unconstitutionally penalize entities such as nonprofit organizations and corporations for supporting the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). The Supreme Court has long held that boycotts and related activities to bring about political, social, and economic change are political speech, occupying “the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.” As the Harvard Law Review recently concluded, “Supreme Court precedents make clear that attempts to disqualify contractors for support of BDS are foreclosed by the First Amendment.” Even though this bill might be unconstitutional, we still need to organize to oppose it. This legislation is designed to further encourage a country-wide effort by the Israel lobby to try to suppress BDS activism at the state and local level. Check out the RightToBoycott website we recently launched with member groups Palestine Legal and Jewish Voice for Peace. Find out if anti-BDS legislation has been introduced in your state and get the legal and organizing resources you need to mobilize to challenge it. Contact your Member of Congress today!
There are 89 co-sponsors in the House – so far including NONE from Mass; 28 co-sponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Markey, but not Sen. Warren.
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OTHER EVENTS
Thursday, June 23: HELEN CALDICOTT: Courting Armageddon, @ 7:00 pm, First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, UCC
11 Garden St, Cambridge. Massachusetts Peace Action is excited to announce that the Honorable Dr. Helen Caldicott will be speaking in our Distinguished Peacebuilders Series! Come hear her talk, Courting Armageddon. Helen Caldicott, a former pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston and instructor at Harvard Medical School, has devoted the last 42 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Her most recent book is Crisis Without End: The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe. Benefits Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund; part 3 of the spring Distinguished Peacebuilders Series. Register for $5 for students, $10 for Massachusetts Peace Action Members, and low income. Non-members, register for $20. To attend all 3 talks this spring, $25 for members and $50 for non-members. Members who would like to attend a talk and pay their yearly contribution may register for $50.
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CONTACTING DPP and Joining Our Work:
To make it easier to get involved with DPP, we've decided to publish contact info for our coordinators in every issue of this update. We will also regularly publish upcoming meetings of work committees, create a brochure or flyer about DPP, and greet new people at monthly meetings with an explanation of how we work. Here's how to reach them.
Facilitation Team:
Sydney Miller sydsail@gmail.com
Alison Gottlieb: asgottlieb1@gmail.com
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