Thursday, May 09, 2019

NO WAY TO TREAT A CHILD: Stand Up for Palestinian Children Jeff Klein

Jeff Klein<info@masspeaceaction.org>
To  Al Johnson  

NO WAY TO TREAT A CHILD: Stand Up for Palestinian Children


**Tell Your Member of Congress:

     U.S. tax dollars should not be used to fund the abuse of Palestinian children

 

** Attend a local briefing/talk on Friday, May 24 (details below)


Dear Al,

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has reintroduced her Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, HR 2407.  Last year, a similar bill – the first in Congress to explicitly uphold the human rights of Palestinian children – garnered 30 cosponsors (Including McGovern, Clark and Moulton from Massachusetts) but was blocked in the then Republican-controlled House.
An estimated 10,000 Palestinian children have been detained by Israeli security forces and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system since 2000. Independent monitors such as Human Rights Watch have documented that these children are subject to abuse and, in some cases, torture — specifically citing the use of chokeholds, beatings, and coercive interrogation on children between the ages of 11 and 15. In addition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that Palestinian children are frequently held for extended periods without access to either their parents or attorneys. The United States Department of State and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child have also raised serious concerns about the mistreatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military custody.
As an amendment to the Leahy Law (fundamental U.S. human rights legislation to prevent U.S. complicity in human rights atrocities), H.R. 2407 creates an accountability mechanism to prohibit U.S. funds from being used for the “military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment” of children anywhere. It also authorizes the appropriation of funds to monitor human rights abuses and to provide physical, psychological, and emotional rehabilitation to Palestinian child victims of Israel’s military detention system.
Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes 500-700 children each year in military courts lacking fundamental fair trial rights. According to Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), Israel has, since 2012, held more than 200 Palestinian children on average in military detention at any given time.

This bill aligns US policy with our shared values of equality, freedom, and justice for all people and across all issues. Those values mean we support dismantling structural injustices and inequalities, and protecting all children from harm—especially the brown and Black children, from the US to Palestine, that are the most vulnerable to structural violence.

Challenge your member of Congress to uphold justice today. Send them an email urging them to cosponsor Rep. McCollum’s legislation and hold Israel accountable for the ongoing abuse of Palestinian children.

*   *   *   *
And to learn more:

Farah BayadsiFriday May 24
Meet Farah Bayadsi, Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer
7-8:30 pm - Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston St. (Copley Square) Boston,

Farah Bayadsi represents children facing unlawful detention, physical abuse and psychological trauma in the Israeli military court system. She will describe her experiences and address the importance of support for H.R. 2407, a bill recently introduced in Congress. The proposed legislation bars U.S. taxpayer funding for the military detention of children by any country, including Israel. An Israeli citizen fluent in Arabic, Hebrew and English, Farah is an experienced advocate for justice, equality and human rights for Palestinian children subject to Israel’s current system of military juvenile detention. Co-Sponsors: Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston (JVP), UU’s for Justice in the Middle East(UUJME MA), Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), Dorchester People for Peace, GRALTA Foundation, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, United for Justice with Peace, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine
Jeff Klein
For justice and human rights,
Jeff Klein

Jeff Klein
Co-ordinator, A New Day initiative
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The stories we heard will haunt me forever. Sunrise Varshini Prakash

Sunrise Varshini Prakash<team@sunrisemovement.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  
Al,
For the last 4 weeks, I've traveled with fellow Sunrisers across America for the #Road2GND Tour meeting local leaders, courageous politicians and bold youth activists fighting on the frontlines for a Green New Deal.
Everywhere we’ve gone, the message has been clear: the climate crisis is here and it’s killing people. That reality was painfully clear in Paradise, CA, a town razed to the ground by climate-change-fueled fires 6 months ago yesterday.
I couldn’t keep the stories I heard in Paradise to myself. I want everyone in our movement to hear from the people I met who are rising from the ashes to fight back against the crisis that threatens everything we love. Here’s a glimpse into Paradise:

Imagine fleeing from the house you lived in your entire life, flames towering above either side of your car as you search for safety, feeling the doors melting in on you as you pray you get to live to see another day. That's just one story of thousands in Paradise.
But we also met young leaders like Mikala, who joined our movement at her university after her hometown burned down. We met Tom, a lifelong Republican who says he'll never vote for a climate denier again after losing his home in Paradise.
And we made our first endorsement of the election cycle: Audrey Denney, a millennial spitfire candidate for CA-01 who's been a farmer and educator in her community for years and is running to defeat a climate-denying incumbent.
Take a moment to watch the video and share to help make sure our country doesn’t forget the tragedy that struck Paradise 6 months ago - and support the leaders from Paradise setting out to transform our country.  
When I packed my bags in April, I never anticipated that going on tour would be one of the most life-giving and inspiring experiences of my life. Some days it feels like too much. But I am seeing how the movement we’re building is lending each other strength to push through despair, and towards a brighter future.  
I believe in that future, and I believe in us.
Varshini Prakash


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Chelsea Manning asks court to release her from jail CNN Digital Expansion 2018 Katelyn Polantz By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Chelsea Manning asks court to release her from jail

CNN Digital Expansion 2018 Katelyn Polantz
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 5:45 PM ET, Mon May 6, 2019
Whistle blower and activist Chelsea Manning, in what she said is her first strip outside of the United States since she was released from a U.S. prison, speaks at the annual re:publica conferences on their opening day on May 2, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Whistle blower and activist Chelsea Manning, in what she said is her first strip outside of the United States since she was released from a U.S. prison, speaks at the annual re:publica conferences on their opening day on May 2, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Washington (CNN)Chelsea Manning has formally asked a court to release her from jail, nearly two months after she refused to testify in a federal grand jury investigation and was imprisoned for it.
She says that "nothing will convince me to testify," according to new documents filed in the Eastern District of Virginia court.
Manning's attorneys say that prosecutors have no good reason to seek her grand jury testimony, and her detention has become punitive.
"She is convinced that to cooperate with this grand jury would be a betrayal of her beliefs about the grand jury process, and this grand jury process in particular. She is prepared to suffer the consequences for her beliefs, and it should surprise nobody to find that she has the courage of her convictions," her attorneys wrote to the court on Monday.
    Manning previously spent seven years in jail for providing hundreds of thousands of stolen governments documents to WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange.
    Omissions in Assange case and ongoing investigations signal broader charges to come
    Omissions in Assange case and ongoing investigations signal broader charges to come
    Prosecutors refuse to say why they want Manning's testimony this year, though they've said they continue to conduct an ongoing investigation. Manning's imprisonment came one year after a federal grand jury in the same US district court indicted Assange for a computer hacking conspiracy charge that hinges on conversations Manning and Assange had and steps they took in 2010. The US is currently seeking Assange's extradition since his arrest last month, and he remains in jail in Britain. Manning is not charged in that case.
    Manning currently is being held until she complies with the subpoena or the grand jury's term ends. She said in an affidavit to the federal court that she was held in isolation within the Alexandria, Virginia, detention center for almost a month and became nauseous and sick because of it. Manning, a transgender woman, also says the continued imprisonment puts her at risk of complications following her sex reassignment surgery in October.
      In an affidavit filed with the court on Monday, Manning repeated, "I acted alone" in the 2010 leaks.
      "The idea I hold the keys to my own cell is an absurd one, as I face the prospect of suffering either way due to this unnecessary and punitive subpoena: I can either go to jail or betray my principles. The latter exists as a much worse prison than the government can construct," Manning wrote to the court.
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      What happens in Dallas will be felt throughout the country Our Revolution Jim Hightower

      Our Revolution Jim Hightower<info@ourrevolution.com>
      To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  

      Our Revolution

      Friends,
      What if I told you that Dallas, Texas is leading the way for the political revolution? That may sound like a load of BS, but check it out.
      Dallas could become the largest city with an Our Revolution-endorsed mayor if Scott Griggs wins his runoff next month. Scott’s a real populist who’s running right at the corporate establishment – and that’s why our local grassroots army is mobilizing tens of thousands of voters through phone calls, texts, and good old fashioned door-knocking to put Scott over the top.
      Victory in the Dallas election would send a signal to people across our state and our country that if we organize a powerful grassroots electoral movement, there is no race that we cannot win.
      Members of Our Revolution are helping elect mayors – not just in blue states but in places like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia… and Texas. Our candidates have taken on the corporate interests and political establishments of their communities and emerged victorious with the people behind them.
      There is nothing stopping us from winning this race. Right now, we have an organizer in Dallas helping to rally the community to turn out for the June 8 runoff election. The Our Revolution Texas State Organizing Committee is fielding even more candidates for elections in the coming weeks and months. We have plans to invest even more into local races like the Dallas mayoral runoff, but we need your support in order to do it.
      This is about building local power. It is about building a bench of progressive elected officials to run for higher office. It is about grassroots organizing with local groups to transform the Democratic Party so that we can win policies like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and save our planet from ecological disaster.
      What Our Revolution aims to do is unprecedented. We want to bring millions of people into the political process not just to elect a president, but win back the 1,000 seats that Democrats have lost over the past decade. We are working to transform our communities with a bottom-up approach to government and create lasting, structural change to further the progressive agenda.
      Thank you for taking this massive step toward transforming a major American city. The ramifications of this election will be felt throughout Texas and our country.
      In Solidarity,
      Jim Hightower
      Board Member
      Our Revolution
      PAID FOR BY OUR REVOLUTION
      PO Box 66208
      WASHINGTON, DC, 20035

      Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee. Our Revolution is a 501(c)(4) organization. Donations to Our Revolution are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes. All donations are made to support Our Revolution’s general mission and are not designated for any specific activity.
      PO Box 66208, Washington, DC 20035
      This email was sent to alfredjohnson34@comcast.net. If you need to update or change your information or email address, click here to update your info. Email is one of the most important tools we have to reach supporters like you, but you can let us know if you'd like to receive fewer emails. We'd hate to see you go, but if you need to do so, click here to unsubscribe. Help us continue transforming American politics and fighting for progressive candidates and causes by contributing to Our Revolution here.

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