Embedded Files
World News Updates - April 4
Haitian violence; Ecuadoran Easter weekend massacres; Israeli atrocities, the Cuban embargo, and American hypocrisy; DRC's humanitarian crisis
The good and bad about the outrage over the 7 aid workers killed last week by Israel - April 7
It's good that the world, including some Israel hawks and apologists, is outraged over Israel's killing of seven international aid workers as famine strikes Gaza. It's bad that there was no such outcry over the 189 Gazan aid workers previously killed. It's good that Biden's outrage extended to tell Netanyahu that Israel must change its ways. It's bad that he will do nothing about it even if they continue their violations of international law. 196 aid workers, nearly 700 medical and medical transport workers, 140 journalists, 13,800 children...empty words will not stop the genocide but a cutoff in military aid will
The student protest movement against Israeli war crimes grows despite police and university crackdowns,...parallels and differences between my junior year at college and my year of cataract surgeries. Then as today, a Democratic President with an impressive and progressive domestic agenda lost the support of much of his base over a war. In 1968, LBJ had the decency to step aside. Today, Joe Biden continues his unwavering support for an apartheid regime carrying out a genocide...the failures of mainstream media...columnist Nicholas Kristoff asks "What Happened to the Joe Biden I Knew?"
Genocide, impunity, complicity - April 19
As the world awaits Israel's response to Iran's telegraphed drone strike made in response to the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria, reports indicate that the Biden administration is seriously considering approval of Israel’s plan to launch a ground invasion of Rafah in exchange for Israel not launching counterstrikes on Iran.
On the docket: the next two months at SCOTUS - May 3
As the 2023-2024 session of the Supreme Court enters its final months, progressives are bracing for a slew of decisions threatening democracy, common sense and simple human decency...what's at stake should the 6-3 majority conservative court rule, well, conservatively: Trump's immunity claim, South Carolina's electoral map, domestic abuse gun curbs and Idaho's abortion law.
Biden duped and impotent as Israel pounds Rafah - May 7
For seven months, President Biden sat back and watched Israel destroy Gaza with US weaponry, in the process violating international law and committing genocide. At times he expressed regret at the civilian casualties, but did nothing to stop the flow of bombs to Israel. He drew a "red line" at a ground assault on Rafah. This past weekend Hamas agreed to an internationally brokered ceasefire, Israel rejected it and began the final phase of its genocide. After bombing Rafah for weeks, they began their incursion. Biden stopped a shipment of bombs. Netanyahu figuratively laughed in his face. He already had the billions of dollars of weaponry he needed.
Elections 2024: these seven states will determine who's the next president. It's not good news - May 15
Biden trails Trump in all of the "toss-up" states that will decide the presidential election this November. Discontent over the economy and the war in Gaza among young, Black and Hispanic voters threaten to unravel the president’s Democratic coalition. The results are consistent with the change in the gap between Biden's disapproval and approval levels, which has almost doubled since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Occupied Palestine: A Primer - May 22
The War on Gaza has been called "the moral issue of this student generation." While the horrors inflicted on the Palestinians over the last seven months are more than enough to outrage almost anyone, the young have led the way - showing up in numbers and questioning the dominant narrative about Israel and Palestine accepted so unthinkingly in America. I hope this post, by reviewing the history and providing some context, can bring a greater understanding of the roots of the conflict and serve as a corrective to that dominant narrative.
Atrocities upon war crimes upon genocide - May 28
In the latest in a seemingly endless series of atrocities and massacres, Israeli forces killed more than 40 Palestinians in a bombing of a Gaza camp for displaced Palestinians. In a designated ‘safe zone’ in Rafah, fire tore through tents, burning people alive. Netanyahu calls the massacre a "tragic mistake." The world calls it a heinous war crime. The massacre occurred two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to cease its assault on Rafah. Exactly what "red line" is Biden waiting for Israel to cross before ending "unconditional" support?
A dangerous escalation in the war in Ukraine - June 6
Ukraine for the first time used U.S. weapons to strike a target in Russia. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow could arm countries with a view to attacking Western targets...red lines, green lights, weapons flow as a disincentive to negotiate...
Immigration, Latin America and the 2024 Elections - June 12
As inflation has been ticking down, immigration has been ticking up as a major issue in the 2024 elections. Trump 1.0 was a cruel and fearful time for undocumented immigrants. Trump 2.0 promises to be even worse. What about his opponent Joe Biden, who came into office promising to change all that but who recently announced a Trump-like policy for asylum seekers? How much has Biden actually done to reverse the Trump years? Immigration is a difficult topic, but we need to be guided by principles that reflect our humanity. We also need to understand the role our foreign policy has played in causing people to leave their homelands and to address the root causes of migration.
The Israel Lobby just spent $17 million to buy a seat in the House of Representatives - June 27
Second-term Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) lost his primary race to George Latimer, who was funded to the tune nearly $17 million by AIPAC and its allies, which include Republican megadonors. The powerful Israel lobby has done much to subvert our professed humanitarian values with their distorted narrative of the Palestine-Israel dynamic. But, as many younger voters and voters of color refuse to buy in to their narrative, there is hope that someday America will wake up and realize how badly it's been played.
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