Note: This was supposed to be an op-ed for the CT Mirror, but because it is a nonprofit 501c3 operation, they can't print partisan opinions like this, so you're seeing it here for the first time. Enjoy!

Like thousands of others, I made the pilgrimage to Pennsylvania last week for four days of canvassing in the state most likely to determine the Presidential election. While there, I learned first-hand a hokey truth about America.

I went with Seed the Vote, which recruits, trains, and supports volunteers to door knock and phone bank with local partners in swing states.  Their strategy is “block and build”: block Trump from another term while building the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

For my canvass, we partnered with the hospitality workers union, Unite Here. This was not a bloodless "get out the vote" campaign that didn't take sides; this was a rallying cry for the Harris campaign. Our training included role plays where we tackled tough questions about the economy, immigration, and democracy itself.

We worked in different towns all within an hour of Philadelphia, which pleased me because we weren't going over well-worn territory but were hitting voters mostly for the first time. Some "turfs" were racially mixed, fairly low income, while others were in exurbs with big houses and beautiful yards.

One of our tasks was to tell voters that the union is running a free training program that, upon completion, places participants in union jobs. The fact that very few people said they or someone they knew needed a job revealed something about the strength of our economy, which I pointed out to them (and which runs contrary to the Trump talking point that Biden/Harris have crashed it).

At the brief debrief at the end of each day, folks shared their most impactful stories. In total, our group convinced a few dozen Republicans to vote for Harris, which was considered a tremendous victory with the vote margins expected to be razor-thin. I could not claim any of them myself, but I did have extended conversations with four Republicans, all of which were cordial. In the training, we were counseled, obviously, to be empathetic, to really listen to what people were telling us instead of just waiting to jump in with our own opinions. We asked voters to name the top concerns in their lives that the election might address. That a majority of folks at doors I knocked couldn’t think of any concerns spoke to their belief that things are going pretty well for them, which should help the Democrats but maybe won’t. 

​One Republican woman said her top concern was abortion. I said, “You mean you’re against it?” and she said no, she was for women’s right to control their own bodies, and nothing I could say – about Trump’s appointing Supreme Court members who would overturn Roe v Wade, then bragging about it when they did; about states where pregnant women have died for lack of access to abortion; about not wanting to return to the back alleys and the coat hangers (she was an elder like me) – convinced her that Trump was not her man. She also favored him because he was a “successful businessman” and was unmoved by the stories of multiple bankruptcies, stiffing his contractors, and paying little or no taxes. In fact, some people consider that a sign of his genius.

I talked with several others about the economy, and could certainly empathize with them in the way inflation caused me sticker shock at the supermarket for two years. But I also shared how prices have stopped rising and I see the food bills for my recent weeks of shopping coming down.

When I explained that inflation was the result of several things that happened before Biden’s time in office – massive spending during the Trump administration to develop vaccines and payments to keep people afloat when their jobs disappeared (things I certainly supported), as well as supply chain woes and price gouging by corporations – they seemed interested in that line of thought. Some of these popular expenditures continued for a time under Biden.

After a 10-minute conversation, one woman said, “I’m confused. You have your facts and I have mine.” That is the heart of the problem.

One “fact” many of them believed was that “Kamala is stupid.” Coming straight from Trump’s mouth, that line of attack is racist and sexist. Even as the “pro-abortion” Trumper said she knew all about Kamala’s record of achievement, she wouldn’t budge from that conclusion.

Talking with Democrats was obviously easier. Their two main concerns were reproductive rights and defeating Trump. One older Black woman told me she and all her kids were going to vote together for Kamala. I said, “So everyone in this house is a Democrat?” She said, “No, but I had a talk with my son.” Her tone of voice brooked no opposition.

​One older Latino man, a registered Democrat who didn’t read or write English, had his mail-in ballot sitting on a shelf that might never have been turned in if I hadn’t shown up.

I think my most important contribution was telling voters they could vote early in person. No one I spoke to knew that, because, just like in Connecticut, this is the first year they can do it. Many said they would.

In my four days door-knocking, I met canvassers from many states, especially California. Some of these volunteers go from swing state to swing state, collecting stories of successes and disappointments in convincing folks to vote Democratic.

​So many of the voters we canvassed thanked me for doing it. Having civil conversations with people – even those with Trump signs in their yards – made me feel that things aren’t as dire as they seem when we hear Trump’s ravings about immigrants eating pets or a golfer’s penis size. That’s the hokey truth I learned. Trump is never civil, and those of us canvassing have a great fear of what will happen if he’s elected again. Many of his supporters said they didn’t like him as a human being, but they like his policies. (My own brother says that.) With his promises to deport millions of immigrants (who do the essential work most US-born Americans won’t) and slap high tariffs on imports (which will send prices skyrocketing), his second term would be a disaster not just for progressives and moderates, but for many of his own supporters. Let’s hope enough of them get the message,

For a few years before Covid, I went almost weekly to an hour of outdoor walking meditation about 45 minutes from my home. A small group of us followed our teacher through the woods and fields and along a stream of his family’s former dairy farm, now preserved as open space. The walk is always at 6 pm, so in the summer it’s full daylight, in the winter full darkness.

Post-Covid, I’ve only been a handful of times – too busy with meetings and out-of-town commitments. But going last week, in the waning days of summer, reminded me why I want – and need – to go more often.

We ambled past gorgeous stands of goldenrod, joe pye weed, purple asters, and milkweed – its pods bursting. We heard the evensongs of several birds – including one that sounded like a rusty door hinge. We walked as the sun was setting, then settled into an open area for tea and cookies and watched the sun go down behind the trees. The air was so fresh and smelled so good – at one point we smelled the aroma of Concord grapes in the field.

In my absence the group of walkers has doubled to about 10, and when we finished, we gathered in a circle and bowed to each other, then talking was allowed as we made our way back to our teacher’s home for the sitting meditation portion of the evening. When I used to do that, I would get so fidgety I couldn’t stand it, so now I just do the outdoor walking part. It is enough to soothe my soul.
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I don’t like that brand of t-shirts and hats with the logo, Life Is Good, because it always reminds me of all the people for whom life isn’t good. I won’t forget about them, as I continue to oppose the US-funded war in Gaza and the millions (billions?) around the world suffering right now from the impacts of the climate crisis, with much worse to come. But I will dedicate myself to taking an hour each week to walk in peaceful silence outdoors, to prepare me for a week of work, but also for its own sake. 

My XR friends Will, Mark, supporter Linda, Jeff, Lydia, Shayok and Emily, who took part in the "No golf on a dead planet" protest 

Note: This article appeared as an op-ed July 15 in the CT Mirror, but they cut the reference to Trump, and was written before the shooting on July 13, which of course I condemn, but that doesn't change that we can't have him as president again: https://ctmirror.org/2024/07/15/climate-protests-focus-on-disrupting-events-we-will-miss-the-most/
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Criminal mischief. That was the felony(!) my friends from Extinction Rebellion New York City (XR NYC) were charged with when the six of them burst onto the 18th hole at the PGA championship tournament in Cromwell, CT a few weeks ago to announce, “No golf on a dead planet.” Most of them were tackled to the ground (apparently causing the damage to the green that precipitated the felony charge). They were roundly booed by many of the fans, but a stranger appeared and paid their bail, she was so impressed with their action.

Comments on the many media stories that followed were mostly about how these activists were “hurting their own cause” by targeting things that seemingly have nothing to do with the climate crisis. Shayok, one of the participants, said XR’s approach is to focus on “the things people love and will miss” due to the devastation of climate chaos. He also interrupted a championship tennis match last year by yelling from the stands and glueing his feet to the floor to make it harder to remove him. “No tennis on a dead planet.” Coco Gauff, the player who was interrupted, said she didn’t particularly like it but that climate change is an important issue.

Perhaps the most well-known XR tactic is “No art on a dead planet.” Activists have thrown various liquids on famous paintings, knowing full well they were protected behind glass.

In the latest example, activists from Just Stop Oil sprayed orange corn flour (which will wash away with rain) on Stonehenge the day before the summer solstice.

I was part of an XR NYC action a couple of years ago, locking down with others to block Wall Street next to the famous Bull, targeting the companies that bankroll the climate destruction.

People can disagree about the tactics, but XR sure has garnered outsized traditional and social media coverage. XR describes their approach as “small numbers, big impact.”
Another group that uses an approach that doesn’t require big numbers is Climate Defiance, which targets movers and shakers in politics, banking and other fields. Climate Defiance is a youth-led group that is just over a year old and whose videos of their own actions have been viewed millions of times. Both XR and Climate Defiance are committed to non-violent direct action, but that doesn’t mean they are treated non-violently by the cops and often just outraged attendees at the events they interrupt. I was part of an action Climate Defiance did in New Hampshire against my favorite villain, WV Sen. (and coal baron) Joe Manchin.

Another approach aims to gather as many people as possible and target the enablers of the continued expansion of fossil fuels, especially methane (“natural” gas), which is 100 times worse for the climate than carbon dioxide in the first ten years after release. (It dissipates much faster but does more damage in the short-term, which is why stopping production is so critical.)

Stop the Money Pipeline and other groups are carrying out multiple actions every week during the Summer of Heat, mostly in New York City, and mostly targeting Citibank, which is the second biggest funder of fossil fuels (after Chase Bank) but the biggest funder of new such infrastructure. People have blockaded the front doors of Citi’s skyscraper headquarters in Manhattan week after week, where 10,000 people work. Each week focuses on the participation of a different demographic, such as elders, youth, artists, people of faith, and frontline folks from the Gulf South, where companies are building massive LNG (liquefied “natural” gas) export terminals, which are hugely polluting to the local population and disastrous for the climate. Almost 200 Louisianans and Texans came to NYC last week, and I was proud to be arrested alongside some of them.

Many times, those of us participating in these actions are not arrested, just manhandled (or beaten) and pushed out of venues. Often, we are charged with misdemeanors. More recently activists have been serving jail time where they previously would not have. One XR activist got 60 days in jail for defacing the case of a sculpture at the National Gallery in DC. A friend of mine served 60 days for an action blocking the Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline in West Virginia.
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Meanwhile, our felonious ex-Commander in Chief and climate change denier may never see the inside of a prison cell, and may not even go to trial on his most serious charges.
The stakes are rising, just like the seas. And so are we. Our numbers are growing. I encourage you to check out any of the groups I’ve mentioned to learn more, and join us!

I’ve been so busy I forgot to post in May.

The thing that kept me the busiest was planning the Walk for Gaza CT with a wonderful ad hoc committee of ten folks, all of whom took on some of the work and all of whom followed through with grace and good humor.

The weather threw thunderstorms at us the first day and heat the second day before settling on a perfect late spring day for the third leg of our 25-mile Walk, May 23-25. Still, we had what we needed in terms of a welcoming church during the downpour and our “sag” driver who kept up our spirits in the heat with ice water, oranges and other snacks. On the third day, with blue sky and balmy breezes, we were so energetic that we beat our expected arrival time at Hammonasset State Park, where we had a beautiful wrap-up program and flew kites in honor of Palestinian freedom.

At stops along the way, we had powerful speakers – including Palestinians with family members in Gaza – addressing the complicity of our members of Congress in the genocide taking place there; we heard from students at Yale about their demands that Yale disclose and divest from its investments that support Israel’s military; and we heard doctors outside three hospitals describe the utter devastation of the hospitals in Gaza, the killing of civilians taking refuge there, and the targeting of health care providers. We sang a song, “For the Children of Gaza,” each day.

The first two days we took a circuitous route through New Haven and Bridgeport, respectively, passing out hundreds of flyers in English and Spanish to passersby. In New Haven we walked right past Possible Futures bookstore in Westville, a place I’ve long wanted to visit but hadn’t made it to yet. A staffer invited us in to rest on comfy chairs and take a few minutes to browse the shelves. I will definitely go back.

In Bridgeport, my favorite thing was my visit to a small park to pass out flyers to folks who might have been homeless or close to it. A woman asked me right away if I was raising money, so I said we were raising funds for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that has been providing humanitarian aid and educational, health and social services to Palestinian refugees, including in Gaza, since 1949. She promptly handed me $7 in cash, and asked her friend to throw in a dollar. That kind of made my day.

On the last day, we walked from Guilford to Hammonasset along Route 1, with a stop for lunch generously provided by the First Congregational Church of Madison, UCC.
We blew past our $5,000 fundraising goal for UNRWA (and have raised our goal to $10,000). The U.S. had provided 75% of the funding for UNRWA. Our government – while continuing to provide billions in military aid for Israel to kill Palestinians – has now eliminated all funding for UNRWA until at least the end of 2025, based on unsubstantiated claims by Israel that a handful of the agency’s workers were involved in the horrific attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

I encourage you to consider making a gift and sharing the link with friends and family: https://urgent-assistance-2023.funraise.org/team/walk-for-gaza-ct

Also, we would be so happy if anyone else – an existing organization or an ad hoc group like ours – would like to take our beautiful banner, our big car magnets identifying the sag vehicle, our flyer to update as you see fit, and our free consultation, and organize your own Walk for Gaza CT. You can contact ne through my website. Unfortunately, the need will be ongoing for a long time to come.

The other thing I did in May, with my husband, was visit our daughter and her family in southern California. Our 11-year-old granddaughter was playing Tzeitel, the eldest daughter in Fiddler on the Roof Jr. (abridged for kids). The play ended on a somber note, as Tevye (the father and lead character) and the fiddler walked off stage after all the villagers were ordered by the Czar's forces to leave their little town. It was performed at the Jewish Community Center (where the youth theatre group is based). It's a reminder of how Jews have not had a home anywhere but Israel. And it's a reminder that Israelis are now carrying out similar atrocities against the Palestinians.

I hope we are getting closer to a permanent ceasefire.

​When I arrived in the ER at Yale-New Haven Hospital late Friday night, my first thought was, “This is not like the hospitals in Gaza.” There was no blood or other bodily fluids on the floor, no patients being treated without painkillers, no screaming of horribly injured children, no wailing of mothers holding dying babies. It was calm and clean and quiet, except for the outburst of one unhappy patient.

My husband, having Covid, was put in a tiny room by himself. The bed was very uncomfortable – but hey, it was a bed. The food was overcooked and tasteless – but hey, there was food. The staff were efficient and solicitous – not ridiculously overworked, stressed out and in danger of being killed themselves. Since it was a Friday night, there were patients in beds lining the corridors – but there were not thousands of civilians crowding the hospital in (mostly vain) hopes of finding safety from bombs and soldiers’ assaults.

On one of my media outlets I hear a steady drumbeat of interviews with international doctors volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals – or what remains of them. Their description of injuries and how the environment itself has been weaponized, with pulverized concrete creating breathing emergencies and chunks of concrete becoming flying missiles, embedding in civilians’ faces, is heartbreaking.

My husband and I went to New York this week to visit with our granddaughter, who lives in California. She wanted to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We lined up and were herded like cattle onto the ferry – where we were packed in like sardines. I couldn’t help but think about the Palestinians in Gaza who are herded from one city to another, like cattle. There were bathrooms on the ferry, and I couldn’t help wondering how one could safety and privately go to the bathroom in Gaza – you can’t.

There was a very pregnant woman on line, which made me think about pregnant women in Gaza, giving birth in the street, because their homes and their hospitals have been destroyed, with maybe just a tent for privacy. Imagine the stress of carrying through a pregnancy – or losing it – in the past six months.

Inside the statue, we read quotes from immigrants about how joyful they felt when first spying Lady Liberty after a long voyage across the Atlantic, and we read Emma Lazarus’s poem about welcoming the tired, the poor, yearning to breathe free. And again, I thought of the Palestinians – in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the diaspora – also wanting to breathe free, and be safe.

On PBS news last night, I watched a segment about Israelis displaced from their homes near the Lebanon border because of shelling by Hezbollah, and I saw them marking Passover — not celebrating it –  in a town several miles away, with their full Seder plates. It was a sad situation, but then I thought of the Palestinians in Gaza, who were involuntarily fasting before Ramadan had even started, and who had no food to celebrate the end of each day’s fast or the traditional big celebration of Eid to mark the end of Ramadan.

I did the Rock to Rock bike ride on April 27, and much of the pavement in New Haven was full of potholes. It reminded me of how the roads in Gaza have been completely destroyed, and I thought how, if New Haven taxpayers weren’t sending millions of dollars as part of the U.S. years-long $3.8 billion annual military spending on Israel – not to mention even more from the military aid bill just passed – there would be more money to fix the potholes.

Every time I took a drink of water on the ride -- really any time I take a drink of water -- I think how the people of Gaza have no clean water.

I bet you could suggest just about any topic and I could think of a Gaza connection, because Gaza is on my mind. We need a permanent ceasefire now, the release of all hostages on both sides (including Palestinians held without charge or trial) and an end to the 57-year Israeli occupation.

Pictured above is a tablecloth from the "seder in the streets" that Jewish Voice for Peace hosted outside New Haven City Hall on the final night of Passover.

                                                                     photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines

When we take nonviolent direct action to protest construction of horrors like methane gas pipelines or LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminals, we are often arrested, usually charged with trespassing or obstructing an officer, or in some states like West Virginia, violation of the critical infrastructure law. The charges are usually bargained down to a fine and/or community service, or if we choose to go to trial, they usually end up being dropped (but that can require many trips to court, an onerous burden in time and money if we live far from the site of the action).

There has been an explosion of protest against the Mountain Valley pipeline, with frequent actions involving lockdowns on access roads or to the machinery used to drill this 303-mile nightmare through fragile terrain – the habitat of several endangered species, which definitely includes the human residents of these beautiful mountains.

One protester who locked down to a huge drill along the pipeline route last November has experienced a different outcome. Jerome, my comrade from Beyond Extreme Energy and a grandpa living in North Carolina, is currently serving two months at the West Virginia Regional Jail. He was originally charged with five misdemeanors, all dismissed except one, and sentenced to one year in jail, with eight months suspended and serving four months with one day dismissed for good behavior for every day served – so 60 days if he stays out of trouble. The eight months suspended carries the threat of reincarceration if he violates the law anywhere in the country during that time. His release date is April 7.  Jerome’s been calling me regularly to share his experience while incarcerated, so I’m turning my blog over to him. And see the graphic at the bottom for how to write to him.
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These are reflections of an ordinary person. I’m wondering what this all means for someone whose sentence was graver than initially expected.

I’m a privileged older white fellow who’s been successful in the “system” in terms of career, family, social involvement, etc. The environment in here is completely different. I’m in the part with misdemeanor people, not convicted felons, but still it’s different than anything I’ve experienced, and I’m not talking about race – almost everyone here is white. But everything from dental care to tattooing to what they think is funny. I’ve been called a tree hugger but without malice or scorn. That’s even though many of them are embedded in either the timber or the energy systems.

The people I’ve gotten a little personal with – three of them are involved in the gas industry and one is a logger. I was cautioned before coming in by our friends to not openly talk about shutting down work on gas pipelines because West Virginia is an energy and resource extraction sacrifice zone. But in conversations it hasn’t been negative.

Routines are very different than at home. Initially it was a scary environment; when I came into the pod – an open pod so freedom to get out and mingle – I felt like an old white guy with no tattoos. I felt like a chicken thrown to the foxes. But it’s been collegial. We help each other.

We have individual tablets; it’s a godsend. I’m calling you from inside my cell using my tablet. I charge it up in the common area and we have wifi around the pod, so I can do email with approved people, talk on the phone, order my commissary, I can access many classics in the public domain I can read or listen to, then paid apps that include games and where I compose emails. Tablets are password-protected from use by other inmates. They don’t censor outgoing mail – friends said there was no indication anything had been opened. I’m spending more time in here on screens than outside. (Note: another comrade, Andy, spent a month in jail in Montgomery County, MD, and said he had no tablet nor the kind of access Jerome has to other resources.)

We get a daily opportunity to go into what they call the Yard for 45 minutes – a cinderblock enclosure with no vegetation, a 25’ x 25’ enclosed space with cyclone fencing over the top and razor wire around the perimeter. Sometimes they give us a ball, but mostly we just walk around. If it’s sunny we stand in the sun.

The gym has a full-size basketball court divided into two. We can practice shots, run around the perimeter. There’s no gym equipment other than that.

There are three meals a day – lots of starch, carbs, very little salt, which is pretty repulsive to me; the food is overcooked, mushy pasta and rice; I’ve had no fresh fruit since I got here. For breakfast, two sausages, cream of wheat or grits, corn bread, apple juice, jelly, milk; lunch and dinner there’s dessert, which is good; dinner is mystery meat or burgers with a slice of tomato, onion, lettuce – that’s the extent of anything you would call fresh – and green beans. Meals are early and no snacking in between but we can buy our own commissary items. Some people get a specialized diet; I think they try to honor special needs.

A typical day around here is playing cards for those who like that, watching TV, walking around the common area of the pod, and sleeping. There are no work details; we’re expected to keep the cells clean and neat but that is not enforced. We’re not making license plates or breaking rocks. It’s just wasting people’s time.

There’s a counselor who takes care of routine needs. She’s fluent on using the tablet and the phone system and has helped me out. She’s also knowledgeable about jail policy and somewhat on legal matters.

I got a roommate a few weeks ago so instead of spreading my stuff all over the cell I had to consolidate. We share and talk and laugh a little bit but mostly keep to ourselves.

I helped organize and spoke at a rally at Hamden Town Hall on Feb. 20 in favor of a ceasefire resolution in the Israel-Gaza war, and then testified before the Hamden Legislative Council. I didn’t feel good about it, and I’ll tell you why.

There were about 200 people, about half on each side. The anti-resolution people took seats on the main floor while the pro-people rallied in front of Town Hall. When we came inside, we mostly sat in the balcony. Palestinian and Israeli flags were draped around the room and signs declaring “Stand with Israel” and “Ceasefire now” proliferated.

When those opposed to the resolution spoke, their side applauded loudly. Same for the pro side. When something really egregious was said, the other side erupted in boos or calls of “liar!” For us it was when someone repeated the myth that Hamas beheaded babies. For them it was the recently revealed charge that members of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) raped Palestinian women and girls.

Council President Dominique Baez kept everyone to three minutes and occasionally called for “respect in the chamber.” Fortunately, it never boiled over into physical confrontation. But there seemed to be little to no communication between the sides; we just talked past each other. I even caught the eye of someone I know from the local synagogue, up on the balcony, and smiled. He didn’t smile back and moved downstairs, presumably to sit in friendlier territory.

Ceasefire supporters noted that Israeli bombardment has killed 30,000 Gazans, destroyed 75% or more of Gazan infrastructure and medical facilities, and displaced over 1.9 million people, and deprived Gazan civilians of food, water, electricity and medicine, leading to widespread famine and disease. When paired with Israeli Government officials openly stating that Gazans are “human animals,” it is clear that this is collective punishment of Gazans rather than targeted war against Hamas. Ultimately, we argued, the best way to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, one of the opposition’s main demands, is to declare a ceasefire.

Opponents said that the resolution omits mention of Hamas, mentioning instead that 1,200 people killed, and 200+ hostages taken, on October 7 were by “armed groups,” a reference to Islamic Jihad as well as Hamas. They noted that Hamden had never taken a position on a foreign policy issue, no resolutions decrying wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Ukraine, or the treatment of Uighurs in China, and opined that the council should stick to governing Hamden. In their view, the sole focus on Israel proves that ceasefire supporters are anti-Semites, singling out Israel because it is a Jewish state.

Each side has its own set of facts and beliefs, when did the violence start and who is to blame, did Israel bomb hospitals/mosques/schools. But this became most blatantly obvious when sexual assault reared its ugly head. Many pro-Palestinians have tied themselves in knots to debunk accusations that Hamas militants raped Israelis before killing them, or after taking them hostage. Now that allegations of rape have been brought against the IDF, the other side says it’s a lie. The IDF in particular has been put on a pedestal of moral rectitude by most Israelis. Personally, I tend to believe combatants on both sides committed sexual assaults, because rape has been a weapon of war as long as there have been wars. 

What makes this war particularly deserving of a resolution by a small city in Connecticut? Unlike those other conflicts, the U.S. is the largest provider of financial and military support to Israel, meaning we paid for those 30,000 deaths with our tax dollars. And, at the UN Security Council, the US has consistently vetoed rebukes of Israel and ceasefire resolutions supported by most or all other countries in the world. It is imperative that we send a message to our Congressional delegation that there is a groundswell among their constituents for a ceasefire. (Of 7 members of the CT delegation, only Chris Murphy has called for a restoration of the November “pause.”) And we want to declare as loudly as we can that we don’t want our tax dollars paying for it.

Further, Gaza is unique, one of the most densely populated places in the world, with 2.2 million people crammed into a sliver of land just 25 miles long and between 3 and 8 miles wide. And Israeli bombardment has displaced most civilians from homes in central and northern cities to the southern quarter of the strip. (My hometown of Hamden is eight miles long.) And both Israel and Egypt have closed the borders, so there is no escape!

I don’t believe that support for Palestinians is antisemitic, i.e., anti-Jewish. I believe that Jews who conflate antisemitism with anti-Zionism do a dangerous disservice to their quest for safety and security.

The reason I didn’t feel great after delivering my testimony is that everyone is losing and we’re simply trying to stop the bleeding in order to move toward peace. I wanted to turn around and say to the others in the room that I heard the real grief and fear they expressed; grief over those killed and taken hostage on 10/7, fear that passing this resolution would make Jews in town less safe. Many on our side also grieve those killed and taken hostage, though that’s not heard when we demand a ceasefire. And fearing for one’s safety, and security, in Hamden is orders of magnitude less fear than Palestinians feel as they are bombed and buried indiscriminately. I truly believe that what’s making them less safe is US support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
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Testimony wrapped up after midnight, and the council adjourned without taking a vote. The fate of the resolution is uncertain, but Abdul Osmanu, the council member who introduced it, hopes it will be voted on at the next council meeting in early March. Can we hope it will be moot by then?

Photo credit: Phil Brewer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The US stood alone in the UN Security Council when it vetoed a resolution on December 8 that would have called for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. That, along with military support for Israel’s campaign, leaves our country open to charges of complicity in genocide.

The assault on Gaza has so far killed almost 20,000 (as of Dec. 20), 40% of them children, destroyed about half of the housing stock and displaced 85% of its 2.3 million residents. Very soon, deaths from bombing will be eclipsed by deaths from hunger, thirst and disease. Thirteen of the 15 Security Council member states voted in favor, while the UK abstained.

US diplomats at the UN said one of the reasons for the veto was that the resolution didn’t also condemn Hamas’s raid into Israel, in which 1,200 were killed and about 240 taken hostage.

I thought it likely that the UN had already condemned the October 7 attack, but when I researched it, I found an Oct. 18 Associated Press article that said, “The U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and to urge humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying it was too early to craft an appropriate Security Council response to the crisis.” The resolution specifically mentioned “the heinous terrorists attacks by Hamas” against Israel. The vote was again lopsided, with most of the Security Council members voting in favor.

It's impossible to imagine a UN resolution about Israel that would garner support from both the US and the rest of the Security Council. There is no daylight between the US and Israel in the war. President Biden, facing delays in Congress to approve more than $14 billion in additional military aid to Israel, unilaterally just sent $100 million to Israel for tank ammunition. Despite the US appealing to Israel to protect civilians as it seeks to destroy Hamas, the rate of killing has gone on unabated. Israeli officials themselves said the most intense day of the fighting was the day after the weeklong humanitarian pause ended. So, what influence does the US really have over Israel, historically the largest recipient of US military aid at $3.8 million a year and even moreso now?

There is no place in Gaza that is safe. Israel pretends it is taking protection of civilians seriously by dividing up the Gaza Strip into hundreds of tiny squares so residents can know where to go when Israel says it will bomb this or that square. But the map is only available online, and since Israel is preventing fuel to provide electricity from reaching Gaza, many people can’t get online. Israel ordered Gazans in the north to head to a “safe” area in the south, but bombed them along the way and when they arrived. Then it told them to go even further south to Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and bombed them there, including the professor and writer, Refaat Alareer, well-known and beloved even in the West, which brings the carnage closer for some.

The Gaza health ministry has identified about 5,000 men who have been killed, and Israel has identified about 5,000 “Hamas terrorists” who have been killed, meaning that it considers every male a member of Hamas, which is clearly not the case.

But Israel’s actions will clearly create many more “terrorists” – Palestinians who will fight Israel by any means at their disposal. Israel’s genocidal war has also bolstered Hamas’s standing among Palestinians, including in the West Bank, where Israeli army actions and those of marauding settlers have raised the death toll and the terror level among Palestinians there.

There have been other genocides in the relatively recent past, like in Rwanda and Darfur, but none have rolled out before our eyes from our screens and with our tax dollars. I have the same crazy feeling about what’s going on in Gaza right now that I have about the accelerating climate crisis: part of me just can’t believe this is happening and that people in power won’t stop it.

Hamas continues to state that its goal is to wipe Israel off the map, which provides President Biden with his justification that Israel has the right to defend itself. Biden and “Defense” Secretary Lloyd Austin are now telling Israel in more and more strident terms that it must reduce civilian casualties, but they are still pushing for $14 billion in additional military aid and Israel will continue to kill civilians.

But history shows that all Israel’s past military efforts against the Palestinians have failed to defeat them: against the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon in 1982, against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, and in three major wars with Hamas in Gaza since 2008. For one day on October 7, Israel had the world’s sympathy and support, just as the US did after September 11, 2001. Both countries squandered those valuable commodities, and both are now considered villains in much of the world – supporters of a status quo that can’t maintain its status forever. It’s a safe bet that more people around the globe are now actively supporting Palestinians’ fight for freedom than at any time in the past.
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I agree with my friends in Jewish Voice for Peace, that Israel’s conduct (over the past 75 years, and especially now) does not make Jews safer, but rather puts them more at risk, all over the world. I agree with my friends in Combatants for Peace, made up of former Israeli soldiers and former imprisoned Palestinian fighters, that this conflict will not be solved through violence. I pray my own country learns that lesson and takes appropriate action. Ceasefire now! (That means both sides.)

 I was in Atlanta over the Veterans Day weekend for Block Cop City, an action that hoped to reoccupy the Weelaunee Forest for one day, to bring healing energy and plant some saplings to symbolically replace the 85 acres of trees that were removed as the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Foundation move ahead with their plans to build a militarized police training facility there over the objections of most residents.

After police had shot and killed one forest defender, Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, in January, and arrested and charged 61 others first with domestic terrorism and then additionally with violating the state’s RICO (organized crime) statute, everyone realized that any protest in Atlanta is no joke. Organizers hoped this avowedly nonviolent action – which included two days of training leading up to the march on Nov. 13 – would not be met by violence and would raise the profile of the fight against Cop City.

I decided to go and do support work, not participate in the march, because I have both state and federal charges pending from my arrest along the Mountain Valley methane (fracked gas) pipeline route in West Virginia in September and I didn’t want to add another potential distant case to my rap sheet. I was also glad I had that excuse.

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday cooking for 400 with Seeds of Peace, a collective that has provided meals for many actions I’ve done over the past decade. Great energy, lots of laughs and hours of cutting, chopping, peeling and grating.

I stayed with a dozen others in an AirBnB with a couple of folks from CT and the rest from the Philly area. We all got along well and had a chance to share stories of our work and our concerns about environmental racism, police abuse and climate change represented by Cop City.

The highlight for me was meeting Tortuguita’s mom, Belkis Terán. She lives in Panama but comes to Atlanta frequently to support the work of those fighting Cop City. She said she’s been a healer for 30 years and she certainly generated loving, healing energy. I met her outside the DeKalb County Jail where folks went to support three people who’d been arrested a few days earlier. She set up an altar on a nearby green space, filled it with flowers and candles and photos of Tort and others who have passed. (See photo above.) There was a small ceremony, and at one point Oglala drummers appeared with their big drum and sage, with which they smudged the crowd. (It’s my favorite smell.)

After a few hours, half a dozen cops showed up and told us we were on “private” county property and had to leave. Belkis immediately said she wanted to leave, I think because she wanted to get away from the negative energy, while others wanted to stay and hold the space. Finally a Black woman said, “I think we should listen to Belkis and do what she would like.” Then everybody picked up pieces of the altar and its contents and we moved around the corner to an actual memorial park on the side of a major road with much better visibility for our signs and banners, though farther from the jail and the people we had gone to support. I interviewed her briefly and it ran on this week’s edition of Between the Lines. She has set up an online healing center as Manuel's legacy on Instagram @BelkisTeran27. 

We were able to watch the march on Monday in real time, thanks to a livestream from the NDN Collective, an indigenous group from South Dakota. At one point the marchers confronted a phalanx of cops, who used shields to push against the banners and marchers at the front, deployed flashbangs and then a voluminous amount of tear gas. At a press conference later, the police chief used the fact that marchers were wearing hazmat suits and goggles – to protect at least somewhat against a possible use of chemical agents by the cops – to claim the protesters intended violence. He lined up several confiscated spades brought to plant trees as evidence that they had weapons (which of course they could have been).

So, people didn’t make it to the forest, but the march did succeed in putting Stop Cop City back in the headlines, if only briefly.

I picked up a lot of literature written by Anonymous and put out by Crimethinc.com. One summarized the history of nonviolent community action, wondering why, after the city ignored 17 hours of testimony almost unanimous against building the police training facility, residents a year later spoke for another 15 hours at a hearing against the funding of the project, which city leaders also ignored. The zine was written before the effort this past summer to gather signatures on a petition to put the project to an up or down vote in the November election. People gathered an astonishing 116,000 signatures – twice what was required – but Mayor Andre Dickens declined to certify them even after saying earlier he would allow such a vote to move forward.

On this anniversary of JFK’s assassination, I will quote him: ““Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

Something to think about.

This piece ran five days ago in the CT Mirror. Things have only gotten worse -- much worse -- since then. It's like the leaders of Israel (and many other Jews) don't consider the Palestinians human beings. I'm not excusing what Hamas did, but what's going on in Gaza is genocide -- "the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group." Please read and comment on my op-ed.