Wednesday, July 16, 2014


First - Sign & Donate to publish this message in Texas:

Stop Patriarchy:
Emergency in Texas

Stop Forced Motherhood
Abortion on Demand and Without Apology

“If nothing changes, on September 1st all but six abortion clinics in Texas will be closed (there were 46 in 2011).

“Women will begin dying from dangerous illegal abortions. Others will be imprisoned for self-inducing abortions. Thousands more will have their lives foreclosed by being forced to bear children they do not want – shattering their dreams, trapping them in abusive relationships, and/or driving them into humiliating and dangerous poverty. Rural, poor, immigrant, and women of color will be hardest hit.

“Worse, this emergency in Texas is not an isolated problem...”
Read the rest of the statement and sign-on.
Sign and Donate
ThermometerJoin Merle Hoffman (CEO of Choices Women's Medical Center in New York City), Carol Downer (founder of Feminist Women's Health Center in Los Angeles), Rev. Donna Schaper (senior minister at Judson Memorial Church, NYC), Sikivu Hutchinson (Black feminist atheist author), Diane Derzis (owner of the last abortion clinic in Mississippi), and Sunsara Taylor (writer for Revolution, Stop Patriarchy; fighter for abortion rights since 1995) in signing this statement along with Elaine Brower, Susan Brownmiller, Marilyn Fitterman, Carol Giardina, C. Clark Kissinger, Sandy Rapp, SarahRoche-Madhi, Debra Sweet.

We aim to publish this in a major Texas newspaper on August 4th, the first day of court proceedings which will determine whether all but six remaining abortion clinics in Texas will be forced to close on September 1, 2014.

Only with your donations will publication be possible. Scroll down to add your name and donate to see this statement published in Texas.

Find out more about the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride: Ground Zero Texas.
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride

Mary Anne Grady jailed for Hancock AFB Drone Protest

July 10, 2014: Syracuse, NY. Anti-drone protester Mary Anne Grady was sent to county jail for a maximum 12 month sentence for violating a temporary "Order of Protection" granted by a County Judge to explicitly to protect the Commander Evans of Hancock Air Force Base, who said he wanted to keep protesters "out of his driveway."

Years of non-violent protest, including civil disobedience, led by the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and Stop the Wars, have focused public attention on the role of Hancock in remotely piloting US drones around the world, particularly Reaper drones over Afghanistan, and also in training drone operators.

The use of Orders of Protection (OoP's) is an outrageous application of an instrument developed to protect women from domestic abusers. Ironically, those actual orders are often violated, or unenforced. But to use the same framework to cast political protesters as a danger to the commander of the base is an outrageous attack on the free speech and assembly rights of the people who are risking their freedom to stop US drone war through holding signs on public property.

The Syracuse Peace Council provides background on the Orders of Protection and suggests How You Can Help Fight Orders of Protection.

Democracy Now covered the sentencing; watch now.


Read more...

Uniting Against the Bombing of Gaza
Download here: posters & the following flyer in English & Spanish.

Israel has unleashed another murderous campaign against Gaza.

If your heart is sickened by what Palestinians are living and dying through now, let us confront – and act to help many people confront -- that all this violence is backed by the $3.1 billion in military aid Israel receives each year from the U.S.

People of conscience must stand against and resist the crimes of our own government, and that includes U.S. political and military support for the crimes of its cohort, its allies, when those powers commit crimes against humanity funded by and therefore “made in the U.S.A.”

During the 1980’s when wars rocked Central America, and also when South African apartheid was being challenged — it made a real difference when people inside the U.S. woke up to the facts of what their own government was doing, and questioned which side America was on. Many people inside the empire publicly stood up and said NO to the U.S. Empire. That is what is needed today, once again!

Palestinian children, men, and women are dying every day as a result of the illegal actions of the U.S. government and Israel going back 60 years. The U.S. government must be brought to account for arming Israel.

Stop Illegal, Unjust U.S. support of Israel
Stop U.S. Threats to Attack Iraq Again


Courageous Resistance! “I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act.”

Reprieve reported Tuesday that:
"A military medical professional at Guantanamo Bay recently refused to force-feed detainees after witnessing the suffering it caused detainees, it has been revealed.  

The incident is thought to be the first case of 'conscientious objection' to force-feeding at Guantánamo since a mass hunger-strike began at the prison last year. Cleared Syrian Abu Wa’el Dhiab related the news on a phone call last week with his Reprieve lawyer, Cori Crider. Dhiab explained that a military nurse recently told him he would no longer participate in force-feedings, saying: “I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act.”  
Carol Rosenberg in the Miami Herald reported:
Word of the refusal reached the outside world last week in a call from a prisoner, Abu Wael Dhiab, to attorney Cori Crider of the London-based legal defense group Reprieve. Dhiab, a hunger striker, described how a nurse in the Navy medical corps abruptly refused to “force-feed us” sometime before the Fourth of July — and disappeared from detention center duty.
We will follow this and report more as we attempt to learn who the nurse is, so we can applaud his conscience.
Force-feeding chair
Above: one of the restraint chairs used in force-feedings at Guantanamo.

Passing along to you: Witness Against Torture Releases New Posters Project
From Witness Against Torture:
“For the last three years, Witness Against Torture has presented short runs of posters featuring quotes from former and current Guantánamo detainees. This week, we are releasing five new posters designed by WAT member Justin Norman. These artistic renderings of the plight of the detainees will hopefully engage people in a new way. We hope you like them. Furthermore, you can purchase printed images of these posters on the Witness Against Torture website. These purchases help in raising funds for efforts to shut down the detention center that continues to hold them. Click here to check out the new posters, which are all available on our website store.
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What happens on the World Can't Wait conversations?  Sometimes, we have a guest speaker who talks with us about key issues we want to know more about.

World Can't Wait Conversation
Thursday, July 10

10pm Eastern / 7pm Pacific

Organizers of the
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride will join the conversation.
Register for dial-in info.

At other times, it's World Can't Wait supporters talking amongst ourselves, planning, and confronting the latest ourages.  Last week, we designed 2 posters, and came up with the content of a flyer by talking about what we had learned in the previous few days at protests of the bombing of Gaza
See the results below:

Download here: posters & flyer in English & Spanish.

To support & allow World Can't Wait to play its role in stopping the crimes of your government, become a sustainer.  Monthly sustainers pay all the web, phone, office & printing expenses of this all-volunteer effort.

Sustain


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First, as a brief refresher:  Earlier this year, we got connected with Catapult, the World Wide Web's premier crowdfunding site for women's rights, curated by the likes of everyone from Beyónce Knowles to John Legend.  Big names aside -- at its core, this tool draws on the power of many people coming together to affect change, much like the rest of the movement for Fair Food.  Earlier this summer, we launched the "Ensure dignity and respect for farmworkers" project, an effort to raise $25,000 in 5 months to support a new staff member at the Fair Food Standards Council, the essential third-party monitoring body of the Fair Food Program.  
Among the many changes taking place in Florida's fields under the Fair Food Program, few are so transformative as the power women farmworkers now have to end sexual violence -- to denounce harassmenet when it occurs, to have their report be swiftly and thoroughly investigated, and to watch the offender face losing his job.  The Fair Food Standards Council plays a crucial role in every step of that process, and as we look ahead to expanding the Program, we will need all hands on deck to bring an end to sexual violence in Florida tomatoes and beyond.
This month, we have a real opportunity to make the project take off: it's being featured on Catapult's front page!  If you haven't had a chance to take a look at the project yet, make sure to head over to Catapult and join the dozens of other members of the Fair Food Nation who have become supporters.  There are many ways to support the Catapult project.  To name a few:
 
Defend The Palestinian People! No U.S. Aid To Israel 
 
 
 
STAND WITH GAZA

RALLY AND DIE-IN

 

SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1:00 PM

PARK ST. STATION

 

As the U.S.-made bombs fall on Gaza, indiscriminately killing Palestinians, many of them children, we heed the

Urgent call from Gaza civil society: Act now!

We Palestinians trapped inside the bloodied and besieged Gaza Strip call on conscientious people all over the world to act, protest and intensify the boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel until it ends this murderous attack on our people and is held to account.

Join us as we mourn the hundreds killed and protest the complicity of the U.S. government that spends over three billion of our tax dollars and advanced military weapons annually to Israel to maintain an illegal and immoral system of discrimination and occupation and the calamitous siege of Gaza.

 

We call for:

 

                        An End to the Bombings and Killings

                        An End to U.S. aid to Israel

                        Support for the Palestinian call for BDS

 

 
*In The Time Of The French Revolution- "La Marseillaise"-In Honor Of The 225th Anniversary Of The French Revolution
 
 


La Marseillaise

Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez vous dans les campagnes,
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes!


Refrain

Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons! Marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!
Liberté, Liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defenseurs!
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes males accents!
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!


Refrain

Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos ainés n'y seront plus;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus.
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!

Refrain

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Outrage Against Israeli Massacre in Gaza: Boston Stands with Palestine


Tuesday, July 22
5:30pm
Copley Sq, Boston
Details at Facebook

Stand up and be counted

Ireland:






Defend The Palestinian People! No U.S. Aid To Israel  

 
 
IMPORTANT - STAND WITH GAZA ACTIONS
Spread the word.  Come and be visible.
 
at 5:00pm - 6:30pm in EDT
Copley Sq, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Stop the Israeli assault on Gaza launched on July 8.
End the Israeli blockade on Gaza ongoing since 2007.
End American support and assistance for Israeli crimes.

Join together in Copley Square to speak out about the injustice in Palestine!

Bring your own signs for the rally and we will have candles for the vigil.
 
at 5:30pm in EDT
 
Copley Sq, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
As Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza enters its second week, join with thousands across the world in demanding an end to Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians.

Take to the streets to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel, an end to the siege of Gaza, and an end to the occupation.

#Boston4Gaza
 
Liza Behrendt
Organizer, Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston
603-397-2412, liza@jvp-boston.org
 
Saturday, July 19, 1 PM, Park St., Rally.  More details to follow.
 
Marilyn Levin
United for Justice with Peace
781-316-2018

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Defend The Palestinian People! No U.S. Aid To Israel  
 
 
IMPORTANT - STAND WITH GAZA ACTIONS
Spread the word.  Come and be visible.
 
at 5:00pm - 6:30pm in EDT
Copley Sq, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Stop the Israeli assault on Gaza launched on July 8.
End the Israeli blockade on Gaza ongoing since 2007.
End American support and assistance for Israeli crimes.

Join together in Copley Square to speak out about the injustice in Palestine!

Bring your own signs for the rally and we will have candles for the vigil.
 
at 5:30pm in EDT
 
Copley Sq, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
As Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza enters its second week, join with thousands across the world in demanding an end to Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians.

Take to the streets to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel, an end to the siege of Gaza, and an end to the occupation.

#Boston4Gaza
 
Liza Behrendt
Organizer, Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston
603-397-2412, liza@jvp-boston.org
 
Saturday, July 19, 1 PM, Park St., Rally.  More details to follow.
 
Marilyn Levin
United for Justice with Peace
781-316-2018

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BostonUNAC" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bostonunac+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
CIW list header

You can run, but you can’t hide from Fair Food!
Part II… 



Rabbinic delegation visits Wendy’s Chairman Nelson Peltz at his Wall St. office, demands answers on human rights and the Fair Food Program…
Truah_Peltz_June14_5256_sm
Last week we brought you the story of a live TV interview that took a surprising turn when CNBC reporter Jane Wells decided to grill Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick on why the company continues to thumb its nose at human rights and refuse to join the CIW’s Fair Food Program.
Today we bring you a report from a recent visit by a delegation of rabbis and rabbinical students to the Manhattan offices of Trian Partners, the “activist investment firm” run by Mr. Nelson Peltz and his partner Peter May.  Trian is Wendy’s largest shareholder, and Mr. Peltz is the Chairman of Wendy’s board of directors, while Mr. May serves as Vice Chairman (you may remember Mr. Peltz from his brief exchange with the CIW’s Gerardo Reyes at the Wendy’s shareholder meeting back in May).  The delegation chose to visit Trian last week because Mr. Peltz has been ignoring their repeated requests for a meeting to discuss Wendy’s apparent disregard for human rights.
The rabbis have been nothing if not persistent.  First, 36 rabbis from across the country — all of whom have themselves visited Immokalee to see firsthand the unprecedented changes taking place in the fields — sent a private letter to Mr. Peltz, requesting a meeting.  After waiting for weeks in vain for a response, they published their letter to Mr. Peltz on Human Rights Shabbat in early December, and rabbis around the country led rousing public actions in 15 cities to mark the occasion.  This past month, the rabbis re-published the letter yet again, and shortly thereafter finally received their first reply — a rote recitation of Wendy’s public relations pretexts for refusing to join the Fair Food Program.  The letter concluded with a rejection of the rabbis’ call for a meeting with CIW.
Far from deterred, over a dozen rabbis, rabbinic students, and supporters headed over to Trian Partners to demand a meeting with Mr. Peltz in person.
After arriving at the towering skyscraper that houses Trian Partners — a building replete with all the trappings of Wall St. wealth and power — the determined delegation headed up to the 41st floor…
peltz1

Defend The Palestinian People! No U.S. Aid To Israel  



VIEW ONLINE VERSION | SUBSCRIBE | SEND TO A FRIEND | VISIT STOPTHEWALL.ORG                                                                                            
 
 
 

192 Martyrs and 1410 wounded in the War on Gaza, photo story

 
 

3594 attacks, 2269 by rockets, 685 navy projectile, 640 artillery shell were shot to Gaza

 
 

 

 

 
 

 


 
 
 
 
 

39 Children were murdered by the Israeli occupation forces till the midnight of Monday 14\7\2014

 
 





 
Nour 4 days, the youngest martyr in Gaza
 
 
421 child and 232 women were wounded in the war on Gaza
 
 
 
1653 houses demolished since the beginning of war on Gaza, 240 totally destroyed.




Beside targeting the families, children and women, the Israeli occupation forces had targeted the hospitals of Gaza 6 times, ambulance and Media and disabled assosiation.



some Families gathered in UNRWA schools in order to aviod Death
The Israel Bank of Targets on Gaza ( targets all civilians) 







 
Those children are crying their parents who were killed with other 16 members of al Batsh family when the Israeli occupation forces bombed their house



 

 
 
All photos belong to their owners. 


 
 
 
 

for more please visit: www.stopthewall.org

Daily updates: fb.com/stop.the.wall.campaign  
 
   
 
 
 
 

 


 
 

AboutContact

 
Nursing college street
Beit Hanina, _I 97300
Palestinian Territory, Occupied
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 





 
Peace Action: Working for Peace Since 1957 FacebookTwitterBlogContact us
Dear Al,
Your opposition to the Iraq War forced the Bush administration to lie and dupe the American public to allow the invasion.  Our opposition ended that war earlier than the Bush administration wanted though at the cost of many American and Iraqi lives as well as trillions of tax payer dollars.  Don’t let the Obama Administration make the same mistake.

Tell your Member of Congress:  No New Iraq War!

The current situation in Iraq has grabbed the nation’s attention, and President Obama has already deployed around 750 American troops to Iraq in response to the crisis. While some of these troops were understandably sent to protect our embassy, hundreds were sent as 'advisers’ to the Iraqi security forces. The American public has been clear: the Iraq War was a mistake and we don't want to send our troops back into the middle of a civil war. As more and more Americans are sent into harm's way in Iraq, Congress needs to hear from you.

Help stop the march to war: email your Representative today! 

Thankfully, Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have introduced legislation to force a debate and vote on this buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq. Last week, these champions for peace introduced H Con Res 105, which would invoke the War Powers Resolution, and, if passed, would bring home the American advisers and prevent any further military intervention in Iraq. While the resolution would allow for the U.S. to continue protecting its embassy and diplomatic personnel, it would be a crucial step in preventing America from sliding back to a war in Iraq.

Please take two minutes to ask your Representative to cosponsor the bipartisan resolution!

Washington is once again full of hawks calling for war. Dick Cheney penned an op-ed defending the Iraq War and calling for new airstrikes and boots on the ground. You would think that after costing nearly 4,500 Americans their lives, wasting trillions of taxpayer dollars, and having been exposed for selling the Iraq War on lies, no one would bother listening to Cheney anymore. But sadly, many Members of Congress are ready to do just that. That is why your voice is so important. We weren't quite able to stop Cheney in 2003, but, if we speak up now, we can stop him before we repeat the same mistakes again!

Make your voice heard: Urge your Representative to cosponsor the Iraq War Powers Resolution!

The situation in Iraq is difficult as the nation continues to be roiled in a complex sectarian crisis. But the solution is not American bombs or troops. Help make clear that America will not go back to war in Iraq by asking your Representative to cosponsor this important resolution.

Humbly for Peace,
Kevin Martin
Executive Director
Peace Action
P.S. - We helped end the Iraq War and we don’t want the U.S. embroiled in another war there again.  Write your Member of Congress now!

empowered by Salsa


This is what Israel always does. Anybody who knows the history, it’s what the Israeli political scientist, the mainstream political scientist—name was Avner Yaniv—he said it’s these Palestinian "peace offensives." Whenever the Palestinians seem like they are trying to reach a settlement of the conflict, which the unity government was, at that point Israel does everything it can to provoke a violent reaction—in this case, from Hamas—break up the unity government, and Israel has its pretext.

After Palestinian Unity Deal, Did Israel Spark Violence to Prevent a New "Peace Offensive"?

"Whenever the Palestinians seem like they are trying to reach a settlement of the conflict — which the [Fatah-Hamas] unity government was — at that point Israel does everything it can to provoke a violent reaction"
partial, rushed transcript:
MY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Norman Finkelstein, author and scholar. His most recent books are Old Wine, Broken Bottle: Ari Shavit’s Promised Land and Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel Is Coming to an End. [one can hope] And we’re joined by Mouin Rabbani, a Palestinian political analyst, formerly with the International Crisis Group. Today, both Norman Finkelstein and Mouin Rabbani have co-authored a forthcoming book, How to Solve the Israel-Palestine Conflict.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Mouin Rabbani, we’re speaking to you over at The Hague. Can you respond to this latest news of the Egyptian ceasefire, Israel accepting and Hamas weighing this?

MOUIN RABBANI: Well, I think Amira explained it quite well. So far as we can tell, Hamas has been neither directly nor indirectly consulted on a proposal that basically the Egyptians have concocted together with Tony Blair and the Israelis and some other parties, the purpose of which appears to be something that Hamas cannot accept and that can then be used to legitimize an intensification of the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.
The problem for Hamas is twofold. On the one hand, as Amira explained, it basically restores an acceptable status quo, while, on the other hand, it has been endorsed by the Arab League, by the PA in Ramallah, by most of the Western powers and so on. So it will be difficult for them to either accept or reject it, so to speak, while at the same time I think the parties that are proposing this ceasefire are making it clear that they’re not really interested in any further negotiation of its terms.
AARON MATÉ: Norman Finkelstein, give us a sketch of the broader context for how this latest flare-up began.
NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, before I do, I’m going to just briefly comment on the ceasefire. The ceasefire, first of all, says nothing about the rampages by Israel against Hamas in the West Bank. And it was those rampages which caused the current conflict to escalate. It gives Israel a green light to continue arresting Hamas members, blowing up homes in the West Bank, ransacking homes and killing Palestinians, which was the prelude to the current fighting.
Secondly, if you look at the ceasefire, it’s exactly what was agreed on in June—excuse me, June 2008 and the same ceasefire that was agreed to in November 2012. Namely, in both cases, it was said that there would be a relaxing of the illegal blockade of Gaza. In both cases, after the ceasefire was signed, the blockade was maintained, and in fact the blockade was escalated. So now, in the current version of the ceasefire, it said the blockade will be lifted after there has been calm restored and the security situation has been established. But if Israel says Hamas is a terrorist organization, then the security situation can never be calm in the Gaza, and therefore there will be never a lifting of the blockade of Gaza. So we’re right back to where we were in June 2008, November 2012. Of course Hamas is going to reject that kind of agreement. It means it legalizes, it legitimizes the brutal, merciless, heartless, illegal blockade of Gaza.
As to how we got to where we are, the general context is perfectly obvious for anyone who wants to see it. A unity government was formed between the PA and Hamas. Netanyahu was enraged at this unity government. It called on the U.S., it called on the EU, to break relations with the Palestinian Authority. Surprisingly, the United States said, "No, we’re going to give this unity government time. We’ll see whether it works or not." Then the EU came in and said it will also give the unity government time. "Let’s see. Let’s see what happens."
At this point, Netanyahu virtually went berserk, and he was determined to break up the unity government. When there was the abduction of the three Israeli teenagers, he found his pretext. There isn’t a scratch of evidence, not a jot of evidence, that Hamas had anything to do with the kidnappings and the killings. Nobody even knows what the motive was, to this point. Even if you look at the July 3rd report of Human Rights Watch, they said nobody knows who was behind the abductions. Even the U.S. State Department, on July 7th, there was a news conference, and the U.S. State Department said, "We don’t have hard evidence about who was responsible." But that had nothing to do with it. It was just a pretext. The pretext was to go into the West Bank, attack Hamas, arrest 700 members of Hamas, blow up two homes, carry on these rampages, these ransackings, and to try to evoke a reaction from Hamas.  [false flag/ hasbara]
This is what Israel always does. Anybody who knows the history, it’s what the Israeli political scientist, the mainstream political scientist—name was Avner Yaniv—he said it’s these Palestinian "peace offensives." Whenever the Palestinians seem like they are trying to reach a settlement of the conflict, which the unity government was, at that point Israel does everything it can to provoke a violent reaction—in this case, from Hamas—break up the unity government, and Israel has its pretext. "We can’t negotiate with the Palestinian Authority because they only represent some of the Palestinian people; they don’t represent all of the Palestinian people." And so Netanyahu does what he always does—excuse me, what Israeli governments always do: You keep pounding the Palestinians, in this case pounding Hamas, pounding Hamas, trying to evoke a reaction, and when the reaction comes—well, when the reaction comes, he said, "We can’t deal with these people. They’re terrorists."
AMY GOODMAN: Norman Finkelstein, why do you think Israel has hesitated to launch the invasion? Their, you know, thousands of soldiers are lined up along the Gaza border.
NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, it’s interesting, because all the—there are a large number of theories that are being spun, in particular in the Israeli press. The answer, I think, to that question is pretty obvious. The Israeli domestic population won’t tolerate a large number of Israeli combatant casualties. That’s out. Israel likes to fight—not unlike President Obama, Israel likes to fight high-tech—likes to commit high-tech massacres, and it doesn’t want to fight a real war. And in 2008, Israel carried out, executed the big high-tech massacre in Gaza, killed about 1,400 Palestinians, up to 1,200 of whom were civilians, left behind 600,000 tons of rubble, dropped the white phosphorus and so forth. And for the first time, the international community reacted very harshly to it. The climax, of course, was the Goldstone Report.
And at that point, Israel was placed in a very difficult position, because on the one hand, it can’t stop the rocket attacks unless it conducts a ground invasion, which is exactly the situation it faced in Lebanon in 2006 also. The air force can’t knock out these rockets. They’re short-range rockets, mostly. They’re not even rockets, but we’ll call them that. The air force can’t knock them out. The only way to get rid of them—exactly as in Lebanon in 2006, the only way to get rid of them is by launching a ground invasion. However, the domestic population won’t accept a large number of casualties. And the only way you don’t have a large number of casualties is if you blast everything in sight within a mile’s radius, which is what Israel did in 2008, '09. There were only 10 Israeli military casualties; of those 10, half of them were friendly fire, Israelis accidentally killing Israelis. But after the Goldstone Report and after 2008, ’09, they can't do that again. They can’t carry out that kind of massive destruction, the 22 days of death and destruction, as Amnesty International called it. They can’t do that again. A new constraint has been placed on Israel’s political and military echelon.
So, that’s the dilemma for them. Domestically, they can’t tolerate large numbers of combatant casualties, but the only way to prevent that is blasting everything in sight. The international community says you can’t do that. You kill 150, even kill 200, Human Rights Watch said killing 200 Palestinians in Gaza, that’s not a war crime, they said. That’s just collective punishment. Only Hamas commits war crimes, because one woman apparently died of a heart attack while—Israeli woman apparently died of a heart attack while trying to enter a shelter, so that’s horrible, awful: That’s a war crime. But when you kill 200 Palestinians, 80 percent of whom are civilians, about 20 percent of whom are children, according to Human Rights Watch, that’s not a war crime. But the international community will accept that much, 200. But even Human Rights Watch won’t accept if you go in and you do 2008, '09, again. And so, the Israeli government is faced with a real dilemma. And that's the problem for Netanyahu. Domestically, he loses if there are large number of casualties, combatant casualties; internationally, he loses if he tries to do 2008, ’09, all over again.
AMY GOODMAN: Which resulted in how many deaths?
NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: 2008, '09, as I said, was about 1,400, of whom about up to 1,200 were civilians, I say 600,000 tons of rubble. They just left nothing there. And by the way, that was demanded by Tzipi Livni. On June 8th—excuse me, on January 18th, Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister then, the justice minister now, the person who's called a moderate by J Street, Tzipi Livni boasted—she went on TV and boasted, "We demanded hooliganism in Gaza. That’s what I demanded," she said, "and we got it." According to J Street, she’s the moderate.




Veterans For Peace-Cambridge  
Midnight Voices
(the young dead soldiers do not speak, they have a silence that speaks for them at night when the clock counts)
Calling all poets, slammers, word smiths, lyricists, rappers, misfits, musicians and anyone who has the gift of gab! We are hosting Midnight Voices, a monthly collaborative coffeehouse, spoken word, and open mic series 3rd Thursdays at Cambridge Friends Meeting at 7pm. This third Thursday 17 July,  we are featuring David Rothauser, he will be bringing an excerpt from his most recent play. Open mic performances will follow.
      
 We are actively seeking co-sponsors and talent to be featured readers in upcoming months. If you have any ideas about this or want any other information please contact Eric Wasileski
Ericwasileski@gmail.com

Warrior Writers Boston and the Smedley Butler Brigade, Veteran-Friends in conjunction with the FMC Peace and Social Concerns committee are hosting. These events are open to everyone; next month on August 21 @7pm we will be having Caleb Nelson as the featured reader. 
IN THE TIME OF THE RISE AND DECLINE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION - In Honor Of The 225th Anniversary



REMEMBER THE BASTILLE, BUT HONOR ROBESPIERRE AND SAINT-JUST.

BOOK REVIEW

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION-FROM ITS ORIGINS TO 1793, VOLUME 1; FROM 1793-1799, VOLUME 2, GEORGES LEFEBVRE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS,
NEW YORK, 1962, 1964


This year marks the 225th anniversary of the beginning of the Great French Revolution with storming of the Bastille on July 14th. An old Chinese Communist leader, the late Zhou En Lai, was once asked by a reporter to sum up the important lessons of the French Revolution. In reply he answered that it was too early to tell what those lessons might be. Whether that particular story is true or not it does contain one important truth. Militants today at the beginning of the 21st century can still profit from reading the history of that revolution.

Professor Lefebvre’s two volume account of that revolution is still a good place to start. Although scholarship on various aspects of the French Revolution has mushroomed since his books first appeared, especially around the time of the 200th anniversary of the revolution, most of that work has been very specialized. After over 40 years these volumes still set the standard for a general overview of the convulsions of French and European society before the rise of the Napoleonic period.

The French Revolution, like its predecessor the American Revolution, is covered with so much banal ceremony, flag- waving, unthinking sunshine patriotism and hubris it is hard to see the forest for the trees. The Bastille action while symbolically interesting is not where the real action took place nor was it politically the most significant event. For militants that comes much later with the rise of the revolutionary tribunals and the Committee of Public Safety under the leadership of the left Jacobins Robespierre and Saint Just. Their overthrow in 1794 by more moderate members of their own party, in what is known as the Thermidorian reaction, stopped the forward progression of the revolution although it did not return it back to the old feudal society. The forces unleashed by the revolution, especially among the land hungry peasantry, made that virtually impossible. In short, as has happened before in revolutionary history, the people and programs which supported the forward advancement of the revolution ran out of steam. The careerists, opportunists and those previously standing on the sidelines took control until they too ran out of steam. Not for the first or last time, the precarious balance of the different forces in society clashed and called out for a strongman. Napoleon was more than willing to be obliging when that time came.

The values of the Enlightenment- the believe that human beings can more or less rationally order the way they organize society in the interest of social justice and human dignity- are under extreme attack today. These Enlightenment values are reflected in the successes and failures of the French revolution. So what can militants of the 21st century gather from those tumultuous experiences as we try to extend the gains of that revolution and defend Enlightenment values against the ‘bully boys and girls’ of this world? The most obvious is that the very fact of the French revolution changed the whole nature of political discourse by the creation of a civil society. Today, that task may seem of little importance. However, at the time the vast majority of the population was treated by the old regime as a brute, silent herd. And was suppose to like it, to boot! Seem familiar.

The French Revolution also highlights the need to defend the revolution against both active internal counterrevolutionary elements of the old regime and foreign powers opposed to the new order, the new way of doing business in society. This necessity had also occurred previously in the English revolution where continental powers allied with segments of the old royal establishment tried to use Ireland and Scotland as bases to return the Stuarts to power. Later, in the Russian revolution that same phenomenon occurred with the White Guards and a seemingly world-wide array of hostile powers. In short, the old order will not give up without a fight. We should have that lesson etched in our brains.

Probably the greatest service that Professor Lefebvre provides in his volumes is to encourage an understanding of the relationship of revolutionary and counterrevolutionary forces. That is, the policies of the various post-1989 governments in reaction to the various forces in Europe, particularly but not exclusively the British, that most certainly were trying overthrow the revolution and either return to the previous status quo or make France a subordinate client state. In fact, this writer argues that one cannot understand French domestic governmental policy in this period without an understanding of that interconnectedness. The various revolutionary governmental forms, culminating with the Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre, were increasingly charged with defense of the revolution by putting France on a multi-front war footing. That meant both raising troops, one way or another, and assuring the support of the sans-culottes and small peasant landowners by appropriate measures. Whether, those governments did that well or poorly is up to the reader to decide. In any case, thanks, Professor Lefebvre.
Defend The Palestinian People! No U.S. Aid To Israel! 

United for Justice with Peace, in consultation with Jewish Voice for Peace and the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights and others, is calling for an emergency organizing meeting of a broad spectrum of peace, social justice, and Palestine solidarity groups to plan large/united protest actions in Boston in solidarity with the Palestinian people as long as the current brutal onslaught against the Palestinians in Gaza continues.
 
Please send representatives from your group to this action planning meeting – to build a united series of actions, starting with a large mobilization at Park St.  Please let others know.
 
TUESDAY,  JULY 15, 7:00 pm, American Friends Service Committee, 2161 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.
 
Marilyn Levin
781-316-2018
On behalf of UJP and the
Palestine Task Force