tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77602875005364172482024-03-13T23:18:37.330-07:00Classwars BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger650125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-66323249220536047182024-03-08T07:21:00.000-08:002024-03-08T07:21:21.802-08:00After our empire crumbles into dustWhat can one do when our government provides the bombs and the bullets for the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people? The current slaughter in Gaza is much worse than the Nakba of 1948, when Israel killed a few thousand while pushing three quarters of a million Palestinians from their ancestral homeland. In Gaza, Israel is just murdering as many Palestinians as it can. It is just an extermination.<br /><br />Perhaps this slaughter is occurring because the US has encouraged such bloodletting in the past. Our country has always been there to support the worst of Israeli excesses. So machine gunning a long line of starving Palestinians waiting for food trucks is just another step in the moral depravity that our country has learned to live with. <br /><br />Israel is the wayward child of the American Empire. It is the serial killer that the US has always coddled and protected, no matter what the body count has been. The horror of exterminating 12,000 children makes us all despair. Our country's parenting has created this killing machine, and all we can do is watch the children be bombed, shot and starved to death. <br /><br />We can point to villains, of course. Like Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, who have grown rich from supporting Israel. We can embarrass Representative Pat Ryan for his huge, pro-Israel bribes. But that is not enough to save our souls. We are the enablers of another holocaust, and the mark of Cain will remain, even after our empire crumbles into dust. <br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-11236161696668559972024-03-08T07:17:00.000-08:002024-03-08T07:17:41.243-08:00Free, Free Palestine!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvHYkYJoBgoz1L7-iTok3mTqwr0zIVLZFuFX8L9Tk07oQMUNG_ZDPsgV0Y4uAhNkke40eK0-MF4kdDx6MBwkW8gdQJkiqJtJ792wsp-orZaqlg8Evhbq4VCstZSXR7XDkOz27C6mE81gpvINIccWbJHA0S1GE89KvfSSCFu3CxeCvNd6xO08VyIMYahDE/s1000/61q6D0Z2lWL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="629" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvHYkYJoBgoz1L7-iTok3mTqwr0zIVLZFuFX8L9Tk07oQMUNG_ZDPsgV0Y4uAhNkke40eK0-MF4kdDx6MBwkW8gdQJkiqJtJ792wsp-orZaqlg8Evhbq4VCstZSXR7XDkOz27C6mE81gpvINIccWbJHA0S1GE89KvfSSCFu3CxeCvNd6xO08VyIMYahDE/w402-h640/61q6D0Z2lWL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="402" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTfeb29.mp3">February
29</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Yakov Pipman, long
time Israeli citizen who fought as an IDF soldier for three
wars, talks about winning Palestinian human rights and the
history of Matzpen, the revolutionary socialist movement in
Israel. </span> </p><p>
<a href="https://matzpen.org/english/">Matzpen, Israeli peace
movement</a></p><p>Perhaps Israel could have been different. It could have been that shelter from the storm that this persecuted people most richly deserved, after the genocide of the Third Reich.</p><p>But somehow Israel got tangled up with imperialist powers, the United States and England. These victors of World War II never really stopped fighting. They plotted how to gain control over the entire oil rich Middle East, and Israel was to be their linchpin. </p><p>But imperialist powers are always based on racism, and Israel soon learned how to abuse and punish the indigenous people of Palestine. The Nakba of 1948 is one terrible example. Three quarters of a million Palestinians were forced off their land, so that the state of Israel could become a theocracy. To get the Palestinians to move, the new state of Israel slaughtered various villages, a precursor of things to come. </p><p>Today's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza shows the direction of Israel from some limited form of democracy to a full blown fascist state. And for every step of the way, the US has been there to furnish the ammunition and provide the international cover in the UN. Matzpen is the history of some more progressive Jews who resisted the bloody theocracy. That resistance is now flourishing on campuses as well is in community resistance organizations like Jewish Voices For Peace. </p><p>Join the resistance! Free, Free Palestine! <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-25512625763387453442024-03-08T06:52:00.000-08:002024-03-08T06:52:10.635-08:00Poorly disguised kleptocracy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtibCOA_3MM6Xhse5CxWgAa2eUkyWqmWPLbTU3NWD1TLZraFPxgNKouty6mNYTWd4ez829vR8C6d2XL82BnjFLVCw3TzcnZMAgAPF-XZYQb5hz-ETIDdFEeEL6Yqeu3Rre2lHSCpVSVgfYWiqdUKpu8dKvvP18lGfewNfKNPXgU2UMWc5dHBvtBfGWDsYQ/s386/9781642599657-f_medium-fec3cfb672b51485649d59f08105c8f4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="250" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtibCOA_3MM6Xhse5CxWgAa2eUkyWqmWPLbTU3NWD1TLZraFPxgNKouty6mNYTWd4ez829vR8C6d2XL82BnjFLVCw3TzcnZMAgAPF-XZYQb5hz-ETIDdFEeEL6Yqeu3Rre2lHSCpVSVgfYWiqdUKpu8dKvvP18lGfewNfKNPXgU2UMWc5dHBvtBfGWDsYQ/w414-h640/9781642599657-f_medium-fec3cfb672b51485649d59f08105c8f4.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTfeb22.mp3">February
22</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Ann Larson, antipoverty
activist and contributor to the anthology, <i>Going for Broke:
Living on the Edge in the World's Richest Country</i>, talks
about how the poorly paid get by in a country designed for the
billionaire class. <br />
</span><br />
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/ann-larson-the-cashier-philosopher/id1585501973?i=1000539611066">Ann
Larson: The Cashier Philosopher</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p>The poorly paid don't really get by. They cut corners and don't buy what their families really need. Sometimes that is healthcare and education. Sometimes it is just peace of mind.</p><p>A nation's money is a zero net gain amount. If one interest group takes more, other groups get less. If half the nation's tax proceeds go to making weaponry, why there is only half left for education, housing, medical care, daycare, etc. If large corporations get tax breaks, why the poor and middle class have to pay more. When a nation has 756 billionaires, why 50% of Americans have to live from paycheck to paycheck. </p><p>And when the nation's working class pushes back, why the plutocracy will often support a fascist, who will keep wages low and punish dissenters. Trump didn't come out of nowhere. </p><p>Nor did our two pro-war parties. We have troops abroad in about half the world, while our working class is the poorest of all in the industrialized nations. War and occupations abroad benefit the very rich, and penalize the very poor. Our system is not a democracy, but a poorly disguised kleptocracy, the rule by the corrupt few. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-25144494156435234642024-02-21T07:19:00.000-08:002024-02-21T07:33:19.033-08:00Made in America<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KZ0q7bjPDUtPswgn1o3-JrL5UMP2yewyazPR1nW9K7FxJfdFXtIqzS0alsU3LtK1JIueXitYQhVLg3EI4cDLdMGAQax2bzZavSiNByWDp0dKTHOu8kzSM1aE7uInKAtWX5nhZhpND_zdRlP5S7xyFE8QS1tN6MIhvppVxLw8KKvIIR5Fewryu2FpUW4p/s2500/pat-ryan-ceasefire-protest--MAIN.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1837" data-original-width="2500" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KZ0q7bjPDUtPswgn1o3-JrL5UMP2yewyazPR1nW9K7FxJfdFXtIqzS0alsU3LtK1JIueXitYQhVLg3EI4cDLdMGAQax2bzZavSiNByWDp0dKTHOu8kzSM1aE7uInKAtWX5nhZhpND_zdRlP5S7xyFE8QS1tN6MIhvppVxLw8KKvIIR5Fewryu2FpUW4p/w400-h294/pat-ryan-ceasefire-protest--MAIN.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Pat Ryan's Office<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTfeb15.mp3">February
15</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Rahul Kumar, high school
activist and founder of Poughkeepsie 4 Palestine, talks about
how his generation is organizing local rallies and public
speak outs against the genocide in Gaza, and the warmongering
of our political elites. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://miscellanynews.org/2024/01/31/news/poughkeepsie-4-palestine-marches-on-raymond-avenue/">Rally
in Poughkeepsie, NY</a></p><div style="text-align: left;">Marxist intellectual and historian Vijay Prashad came to Vassar College yesterday, the guest of the college's Students for Justice in Palestine. Before we started, the packed house gave a hand to Rahul in the audience, thanking him for his community work in pushing our House representative Pat Ryan to at least say the world "ceasefire."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />It was a moment of inter generational connection. There were members of Women in Black - New Paltz, Mideast Crisis https://mideastcrisis.org/ and Jewish Voice for Peace, many in their 70s and 80s. There were many Vassar students, some faculty, and then there was Rahul who is 14 years old. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But you don't have to be of a certain age to see what our country has become: the number one bully of the world. We love "human rights" and "democracy," while butchering and starving children in Gaza. You would think that this gross hypocrisy would eventually kill us, and it will. Our "sweet land of liberty" will drag the whole world down with some deadly combination of nuclear war, global warming catastrophe, and AI. Our planet's Armageddon will have a familiar phrase burned into its remains: "Made in America." </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-4440876378459463902024-02-21T06:32:00.000-08:002024-02-21T06:32:25.861-08:00How we might some day break free<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS1LBIQUlNJfzZMek58bjrS5152BxC1W86FwaDkfz60Y7a-sDc3LxUS-g_ZjXUgGhRSbbi65kbXV7FI8Op_ycNoj7kShpMZmSYeZAinmtUuXTj5UbdAWKFHlYYAD3W39tjm4O3DBg2vqqaPpdwQFh6qUZ3NRYYQV3vWUBkc45L5NOgqaP3ynNA6E2AkpB/s400/106833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS1LBIQUlNJfzZMek58bjrS5152BxC1W86FwaDkfz60Y7a-sDc3LxUS-g_ZjXUgGhRSbbi65kbXV7FI8Op_ycNoj7kShpMZmSYeZAinmtUuXTj5UbdAWKFHlYYAD3W39tjm4O3DBg2vqqaPpdwQFh6qUZ3NRYYQV3vWUBkc45L5NOgqaP3ynNA6E2AkpB/w420-h640/106833.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTfeb8.mp3">February
8</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">GUEST: Michael Zweig, author of
the newly published book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Class,
Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of
Capitalism</span>, talks about the uprisings against the
wealthy elites who run our state. </h4>
<a href="https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1504"><i>Class,
Race, and Gender</i></a><p>Michael's new book takes you through the labyrinth of hidden passions and motivations in our society. They are hidden because they are so powerful, and potentially so destructive to our supposedly democratic society. Have you ever doubted the mainstream narrative of why we give tax breaks to the billionaires, or why we keep going to war? Michael Zweig explains what's missing.</p><p>Once I decided to read Michael's new book, I found it quite compelling. Soon it became what I did when I had 15 minutes to spare. Of course class has always been interesting to me. <a href="http://ClassWars.org">ClassWars.org</a> is built around what Americans don't know about their own society. Would we be better citizens of Mother Earth if we were more self aware? And would a world run by the very rich and their bloated corporations ever allow such subversive notions? </p><p>Activist Radio is just a tiny thorn in the bland facade of corporate America. A tiny annoyance to our rulers, who steal most of our money and send our young off to endless wars. Why waste your time with all these AI generated conspiracy theories? Why spin your wheels on fantasy? <i>Class, Race and Gender</i> explains how we became enslaved, and how we might some day break free.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-59596400991071674792024-02-20T18:22:00.000-08:002024-02-20T18:22:42.326-08:00Write my name on my leg, Mama<div style="text-align: left;">Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />Use the black permanent marker<br />with the ink that doesn’t bleed<br />if it gets wet, the one that doesn’t melt<br />if it’s exposed to heat<br /><br />Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />Make the lines thick and clear<br />Add your special flourishes<br />so I can take comfort in seeing<br />my mama’s handwriting when I go to sleep<br /><br />Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />and on the legs of my sisters and brothers<br />This way we will belong together<br />This way we will be known<br />as your children<br /><br />Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />and please write your name<br />and Baba’s name on your legs, too<br />so we will be remembered<br />as a family<br /><br />Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />Don’t add any numbers<br />like when I was born or the address of our home<br />I don’t want the world to list me as a number<br />I have a name and I am not a number<br /><br />Write my name on my leg, Mama<br />When the bomb hits our house<br />When the walls crush our skulls and bones<br />our legs will tell our story, how<br />there was nowhere for us to run <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">By zeina azzam</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-83312356376831910772024-02-20T09:22:00.000-08:002024-02-20T09:22:44.953-08:00Genocide is just another acceptable tactic<p>We often think of our elected officials as ordinary people, caught up in the spirit of public service. They certainly try to be like the rest of us, with families and favorite teams to cheer for. It's true, they are often a bit more patriotic than the average citizen. Not so carried away, however, as to ever fight America's endless wars in the Third World. <br /><br />But when the Senate voted today for more aid to Israel, my confidence in our elected leaders faltered. We can see it on every computer screen, the genocide of 2 million at the hands of a rabid and racist Israeli army. Netanyahu's Israel behaves like the Third Reich, and our elected leaders behave like this is what normal people do. <br /><br />But normal people want a ceasefire, not another shipment of bombs and missiles to Israel. Normal people are horrified at the prospect of tens of thousands of children being starved to death. Not our political leaders, however. Now that Israel has two million Palestinian civilians hopelessly crowded into southern Gaza, the "final solution" can begin. And to that rarified world of the US Senate, that's just fine. <br /><br />The startling amorality of our ruling class, however, is a teaching moment. Our government is not a democracy, and its two party system is nothing more than a sham. The system is so monstrous that we have to take notice. Our late American empire is a killing machine, and genocide is just another acceptable tactic. <br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-6942339467234601092024-02-06T11:19:00.000-08:002024-02-18T06:38:27.942-08:00We are not monsters<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QTH-vto4H6-kUPv8c9Mb_kzU3Ka9pceaH5VBLbH8-7Dfm5xRmcP4f3JOhgI3NlijEkfXrekr_L5raeq9nEI0KC-Ap8a4ZSs9F1goRIywQ4KICA5SUqiEMUiTkukRbLYlyTvqnnQSka5HlKIK7mqInr-KKl0Q5Kus6TGDFvUMJr6AqZy48aeG7YKKe1Dp/s411/f1fd9-shahd-sq.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="411" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QTH-vto4H6-kUPv8c9Mb_kzU3Ka9pceaH5VBLbH8-7Dfm5xRmcP4f3JOhgI3NlijEkfXrekr_L5raeq9nEI0KC-Ap8a4ZSs9F1goRIywQ4KICA5SUqiEMUiTkukRbLYlyTvqnnQSka5HlKIK7mqInr-KKl0Q5Kus6TGDFvUMJr6AqZy48aeG7YKKe1Dp/w400-h390/f1fd9-shahd-sq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTfeb1.mp3">February
1</a></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"> </h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">GUEST: Shahd, young Palestinian
activist and political writer living with her family in Gaza,
is now missing and perhaps one of the tens of thousands
murdered by the Israeli state. </h3><p>
UPDATE: Shahd is still alive and reporting on Gaza!<br />
</p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wearenotnumbers.org/contributors/shahd_safi/">We Are Not Numbers</a></div><p>
<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/the-long-walk-to-palestines-freedom/">The
long walk to Palestine’s freedom</a></p><p>I was so relieved to learn that Shahd has survived the Israeli genocide. She is now in the south of Gaza, but still writing about the trauma being endured by her people. The interview I did with her about a year ago is still so moving; I am glad I got a chance to air it again. </p><p>Shahd pushes us to consider individuals and not the of thousands of body bags being created. Thinking about how our country is enabling this genocide makes you hate our murderous leaders, who care so little when their demented foreign policy requires the killing of Palestinian 12,000 children. Has our ruling class no morality at all? And has our experiment in democracy finally come to an end? For a nation that provides bombs and planes to expedite a genocide, could not be a government of the people, by the people, or for the people. We are not monsters, like the two party, pro war leaders who rule us. </p><p>UPDATE: Shahd will be interviewed live from Gaza this Thursday! Gaza Unfiltered: Voices from the Ground. You can register through this link: <a href="https://natakallam.com/gaza-unfiltered-voices-from-the-ground/">https://natakallam.com/gaza-unfiltered-voices-from-the-ground/</a></p><div class="elementor-element elementor-element-e4edb37 elementor-icon-list--layout-inline elementor-align-center elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget-tablet__width-inherit elementor-mobile-align-left elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list" data-element_type="widget" data-id="e4edb37" data-widget_type="icon-list.default">
<div class="elementor-widget-container">
<ul class="elementor-icon-list-items elementor-inline-items"><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-icon">
<i aria-hidden="true" class="fas fa-map-marker-alt"></i> </span>
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text">Online Event on Zoom</span>
</li><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-icon">
<i aria-hidden="true" class="far fa-calendar-alt"></i> </span>
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text">Feb 22, 2024 </span>
</li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-22716d4 elementor-icon-list--layout-inline elementor-align-center elementor-widget__width-inherit elementor-widget-tablet__width-inherit elementor-mobile-align-left elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list" data-element_type="widget" data-id="22716d4" data-widget_type="icon-list.default">
<div class="elementor-widget-container">
<ul class="elementor-icon-list-items elementor-inline-items"><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-icon">
<i aria-hidden="true" class="far fa-clock"></i> </span>
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text">At 6:00 pm CET</span>
</li><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text">At 7:00 pm Gaza</span>
</li><li class="elementor-icon-list-item elementor-inline-item">
<span class="elementor-icon-list-text">At 12:00 pm EST</span>
</li></ul>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-47117698216721588542024-02-01T16:29:00.000-08:002024-02-06T11:48:52.476-08:00Charnel grounds in its wake<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6l_BCJuzRS7ww7URz5hz3VgzVF6jhGfX81Rxjgskonl6LON_sloVv3SnMsqd0n4cv3Djo55H-kKd63xzQ8LSpyKdHUXIsImzkCqpGaTL8xCVFUy7h01w_H-SqoATydGKRr8MVcJ3-R6QWkF3ChtlJNzPtujbTe0CC_NaaMHvpWLdppxTNxjDz9xLtIaTw/s759/Screen%20Shot.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="759" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6l_BCJuzRS7ww7URz5hz3VgzVF6jhGfX81Rxjgskonl6LON_sloVv3SnMsqd0n4cv3Djo55H-kKd63xzQ8LSpyKdHUXIsImzkCqpGaTL8xCVFUy7h01w_H-SqoATydGKRr8MVcJ3-R6QWkF3ChtlJNzPtujbTe0CC_NaaMHvpWLdppxTNxjDz9xLtIaTw/w400-h265/Screen%20Shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTjan25.mp3">January
25</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Raz,
Jordanian/ Palestinian researcher and artist, talks about being
part of the diaspora, and how views about the US and its
commitment to human rights are changing in light of the
Israeli genocide in Gaza.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.change.org/p/urge-icj-to-invite-journalists-covering-the-war-in-gaza-to-testify-in-the-genocide-case">Urge
ICJ to invite journalists covering the war in Gaza</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Raz and her family escaped the very worst periods of Israeli apartheid. But the oppression lives with her, especially when she considers the role of her new country in supporting Israel's human rights abuses. How can a country that talks endlessly about human rights be a willing participant in the Gaza genocide? Does the United States have a split personality? One side extols freedom and the other widespread butchery? <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Perhaps the rulers of our supposedly democratic state are just liars. Their lives revolve around corporate profits and the expansion of the American Empire. Palestinians are just another people to be sacrificed to their gods of greed and war. For the empire leaves nothing but charnel grounds in its wake. <br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-31438245574238374402024-02-01T11:45:00.000-08:002024-02-01T11:45:33.434-08:00The First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099White, Christian countries in the West are showing the rest of the world how real charity works. When two million Muslims in Gaza face starvation, these good Christens decide to cut off all food aid to the open air prison. These same countries don't plan to stop selling bombs and rockets to Israel, the perpetrator of this genocide. God no, goodwill has its limits.<br /><br />It's nothing personal. Israel claims that some aid workers were helping Hamas. These good Christian countries don't need any proof of that. Why would a country committing genocide lie to them?<br /><br />Maybe these countries have forgotten what Jesus taught: Love, Generosity, and Peace. "The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor." (Proverbs 22:9). It could be that this proverb doesn't apply to Muslim children who are starving. Perhaps they are a shade too brown for lily white tastes. <br /><br />To be truthful, these white, Christian countries have spread butchery far and wide in the Third World for the last thousand years. Their sordid "colonies" have killed millions, and sold millions more into slavery. It seams that their actual religion is the exact opposite of what their God has supposedly told them. Maybe Jesus on the cross is not a promise of salvation, but a warning to the rest of the world of the genocides yet to come. <br /><br />The First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099 and then massacred most of its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants. Onward Christian soldiers!<br /><br />Fred NagelUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-29134213336775911212024-02-01T11:43:00.000-08:002024-02-01T11:43:17.864-08:00Never again, to any people!The current images coming from the genocide of the Palestinian people are hard to take. For starvation leaves such telltale signs. Often groups of children carry empty pots, looking for anything to put in them. They are much too thin, and sometimes their legs and stomach are bloated. They are listless and confused. Towards the end, they don't even cry. <br /><br />But before you turn away in horror, consider that the people running our government are orchestrating this starvation directed at millions of indigenous people. The Palestinians happen to live in the country that England and the US have given to the Zionists. Its nothing personal, of course. Israel is our military assassin, our paid killer in the oil rich Middle East. The deal is Israel will do our bidding as long as we look the other way as it creates a theocracy bathed in Arab blood. <br /><br />The genocide is so obvious that Representatives like Pat Ryan and Senators like Chuck Schumer know that they have to keep talking about Israel's right to "protect itself." Fat with Israel Lobby money, they are more than willing to starve Palestinian children if that's what it takes. <br /><br />For this genocide is the Holocaust of our lifetime, although some of the roles have changed. The victims of the first Holocaust are the killers this time around. The proud nation that was so instrumental in vanquishing the Nazis, now supplies and provides cover for the murderous war criminals. <br /><br />We must come together to insist: Never again, to any people!<br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-68215177368333994352024-02-01T11:41:00.000-08:002024-02-01T11:41:36.122-08:00Vote for a socialist<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3JKaGV0wgQVECZpDJE_3csCEofSkpdjQRLMtwJJNM5RTvKZBV-CrrwehM56BNTKDx6kwicGDsTp_0z3wif1VUfk3RdbqDVE50OZ5ZKfBT2QwpPNvLXUl-bbnRn8j5GVSMmF9ll78vENCeNfJQJ0aewrk9wIlcuTOV62e2mOfr8LZAAj6PwS9wN5cIWAo/s695/Screen%20Shot.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="695" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3JKaGV0wgQVECZpDJE_3csCEofSkpdjQRLMtwJJNM5RTvKZBV-CrrwehM56BNTKDx6kwicGDsTp_0z3wif1VUfk3RdbqDVE50OZ5ZKfBT2QwpPNvLXUl-bbnRn8j5GVSMmF9ll78vENCeNfJQJ0aewrk9wIlcuTOV62e2mOfr8LZAAj6PwS9wN5cIWAo/w400-h263/Screen%20Shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTjan18.mp3">January
18</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Peter Dolack, writer for
the Systemic Disorder Blog and author of "It's Not Over:
Learning from the Socialist Experiment" talks about COP28 and
how Big Oil will bring us all down.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/24/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-hamburgers/">Thanks
for all the hamburgers</a></span><p>COP 28 was a joke. Funded by the countries that are the biggest oil producers, the pageantry was much ado about nothing. So why bother reporting on something that is a world wide fraud?</p><p>Peter unhesitatingly describes the end result of such a fraud. The world will collapse, with millions of people as refugees. Global warming will eventually turn every country into a tinderbox. Farmland will disappear, as will housing. People will starve.</p><p>All this is clear to our leaders, who will do nothing to change the system. They will all have their pictures taken at the conference, and hurry home for their next Big Oil check. It's a thoroughly corrupt system of the big corporations edging out the needs of people. </p><p>Do we call it Capitalism? Or is it "savage" Capitalism, as described by the Pope. At the end, there will no public good, because there will be no public. Vote for a socialist next time, if we are going to have any chance at all. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-38674025770087916872024-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:002024-01-22T16:07:16.723-08:00Dull, stupid sleep<div style="text-align: left;">Germans have always been criticized for knowing that the Holocaust was going on and doing nothing to stop it. In truth, during the actual genocide, speaking out against a wartime Nazi regime meant almost certain death. Even passing out leaflets at the University of Munich got a small group called the "White Rose" arrested, tried and beheaded. <br /><br />Their second of six leaflets had denounced the persecution and mass murder of the Jews: "The German people slumber on in dull, stupid sleep and encourage the fascist criminals. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!"<br /><br />Today we are free to criticize our government's arming and protecting Israel as it exterminates the Palestinian people. Using the latest US weaponry and drones, Israel is making the home of over 2 million people into a world of rubble. The IDF, self proclaimed as the most moral military force in the world, has slaughtered over 10,000 children and cut the rest of the population off from food, water and shelter. What bombs can't accomplish, starvation and disease surely will. <br /><br />This is a genocide, aided and protected by the murderers who run our government. Their pockets are lined with millions from the Israel Lobby (see OpenSecrets.org), like Pat Ryan with $37,650 a year and Kirsten Gillibrand who pulled in $174,104.<br /><br />So why aren't you speaking out? Still slumbering in dull, stupid sleep? <br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-83295571464216151102024-01-16T15:07:00.000-08:002024-01-16T15:07:02.603-08:00What I learned in my years of CISPES<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVDIFuxCcDqzp-uC1EyO41dNew8dbVVG6IkfSQVwfSVE7P7RFqbFmszt3YvaOD9eY0t3RbaYL2mJFJy3J46qgHv3Hhrr_PsFo-PCYhbk-XC0hs2SIY5yoCCagcPCqF2yoWmATd8BXnD2zrGPy8U309TZYuLndeE4DAB1-gPDnXsrw0Rj_SbpMKOjSL7TC/s450/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="450" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVDIFuxCcDqzp-uC1EyO41dNew8dbVVG6IkfSQVwfSVE7P7RFqbFmszt3YvaOD9eY0t3RbaYL2mJFJy3J46qgHv3Hhrr_PsFo-PCYhbk-XC0hs2SIY5yoCCagcPCqF2yoWmATd8BXnD2zrGPy8U309TZYuLndeE4DAB1-gPDnXsrw0Rj_SbpMKOjSL7TC/w400-h265/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTjan11.mp3">January
11</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Alexis Stoumbelis, long
time activist and Executive Director of the Committee in
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), talks
about the long history of US corporate interests that have
frustrated the will of the people for democracy.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://cispes.org/article/joint-statement-bukele-stepping-down-president-el-salvador">CISPES</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p>I remember that time in the 1980s<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>when many of us joined CISPES. A lot of our time was spent learning how the US trained and armed the Salvadoran death squads, and how they murdered famous people like Archbishop Oscar Romano. We let the history in by telling ourselves that El Salvador was a temporary mistake our country was making. When our leaders finally woke up to their war crimes, why things would change. </p><p>We read about the bodies by the side of the road that were picked up in the mornings. We saw pictures of them, freakish looking in their twisted shapes and sizes. </p><p>We opened our homes to Salvadoran refugees, many on speaking tours across the US. I remember two brothers telling us about the murder of their other two brothers. We called a meeting at a local church, so that more people could hear what they had been through. As they drove away, I wondered how long our government would put up with this carnage. </p><p>But Central America is a mirror that reflects US imperialism. There is hardly a country that has escaped US assassinations and invasions. Alexis Stoumbelis is a capable guide, having worked in El Salvador for decades. There is still a CISPES, and there are still murders of environmentalist and union leaders. And like most bloodbaths in the world, the US is in it up to its neck. </p><p>That's what I learned in my years of CISPES. <br /></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-36983040197289085722024-01-16T14:22:00.000-08:002024-01-16T14:25:20.309-08:00Perhaps our time to suffer has come<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjaiwvAiSQi9PQ3yjlQxDylTrvlPWHdvp9Ixx3dilCCITfxO2meTi-m7VLmlsG_yCc5PAvEZr09az2GkLBti-r0LM2kuq_oDLTOm_RaAKf-rFtSQcbrRjqpD3D8PDyh_HFlIojc_WwMEKx3CBka3Xs3PMYjd7G-EbB2nK98DoQUM0Dg9P_dlaFCD8tsQYj/s562/Screen%20Shot%204.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="392" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjaiwvAiSQi9PQ3yjlQxDylTrvlPWHdvp9Ixx3dilCCITfxO2meTi-m7VLmlsG_yCc5PAvEZr09az2GkLBti-r0LM2kuq_oDLTOm_RaAKf-rFtSQcbrRjqpD3D8PDyh_HFlIojc_WwMEKx3CBka3Xs3PMYjd7G-EbB2nK98DoQUM0Dg9P_dlaFCD8tsQYj/w279-h400/Screen%20Shot%204.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTjan4.mp3">January
4</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Walden Bello,
Internationally known scholar and activist, Professor Emeritus
at the University of the Philippines, and winner of the Right
Livelihood Award takes a close look at how some societies
transition from democracy to fascism.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/12/fascism-101-for-todays-geopolitics/">Fascism
101</a></p><p>Suddenly, fascism is in. We read about it and worry that our Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, just isn't up to it. We then polish off that old conundrum: vote for the lesser of two evils. And since Trump is in fact a fascist, almost anything would be better. </p><p>But Biden has a few tricks up his sleeve. He and his secretary of state, Blinken, are really warmongers, eager to take risks to advance our military empire. We see it in Ukraine, Taiwan, and now the Middle East. Our weapons makers just can't keep up with the tremendous demand for killing instruments. </p><p>With this Cold War mentality comes a willingness to murder entire populations. The genocide in Gaza is part of the expansion of the American empire. The thousands of children starving to death is just the price we must pay to rule the world. During the Bush administration, the Democratic Party joined the peace marches. But they were always just lying.</p><p>So do we chose Genocide Joe or Trump the fascist? Are we willing to live with the starvation of children, or acquiesce to a right wing white nationalists takeover? Do we want syphilis or gonorrhea for the next four years? </p><p>Walden Bello walks us through the histories of recent fascist governments, almost all supported by the American Empire. Perhaps our time to suffer has come. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-20585934543099555912024-01-02T19:50:00.000-08:002024-01-02T19:50:01.699-08:00We get a little shot of Law and Disorder this week<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LoJgvEf5y8Ue7RS9LOEXTU9yFaoATgVKMA1OZvNqXzNjMQeoU3TlBdTwUHqNxiyuPZoNgp70RryrvZcrnOUNm1epo4QzNtpEpnUjNiayhBMCsZLdzMDzZLM9klZ5ghF1CpVZPtWl8Oc3wmwpFCeG5V6_3-4nmHAG6gUOAK1ChEfI7An3WYqusbVgoMZu/s316/Screen%20Shot%20copy%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="316" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LoJgvEf5y8Ue7RS9LOEXTU9yFaoATgVKMA1OZvNqXzNjMQeoU3TlBdTwUHqNxiyuPZoNgp70RryrvZcrnOUNm1epo4QzNtpEpnUjNiayhBMCsZLdzMDzZLM9klZ5ghF1CpVZPtWl8Oc3wmwpFCeG5V6_3-4nmHAG6gUOAK1ChEfI7An3WYqusbVgoMZu/w400-h257/Screen%20Shot%20copy%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTdec28.mp3">December
28</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3>
<p><strong>GUEST: Michael Smith, author, attorney, former board
member of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and cohost
of the radio show Law and Disorder, talks about Zionism,
antisemitism, and the genocide in Gaza.</strong><strong><br />
</strong></p><p>
<a href="https://indypendent.org/2023/12/len-weinglass-said-put-none-because-genocide-is-not-a-jewish-value/">Genocide
is not a Jewish value</a></p><p>Genocide and antisemitism are on the rise. Israel commits genocide in Gaza, and the Israel Lobby tries to cover up all those dead children with claims that the Jewish people are the true victims. The Lobby has no morals, of course. But what they do have is power. The Israel Lobby plans to spend at least 100 million dollars in the next elections trying to defeat any member of Congress who questions US aid to the apartheid state. Zionism knows how to play our thoroughly corrupted system.<br /></p><p>In trying to defeat progressive representatives, the Israel Lobby has married the far right, Christian fundamentalists. And the stench of their marriage bed can be smelled around the world. Israel is a pariah nation, and its murderous ways have been condemned by a huge number of UN members. Just two days ago, South Africa charged Israel with the war crime of genocide in the International Court Of Justice. It is a charge that may stick, and if it does the US stands to be publicly shamed. If Israel is convicted, the US is sure to be named a co-conspirator. </p><p>Friends ask me about voting for Biden, to avoid the fascist nightmare of a Trump presidency. But I simply can't vote for a person who commits genocide. I don't know what will happen to our country, but voting for a war criminal would make me part of the Palestinian genocide. I know millions will hold their noses and vote for Biden. But at what personal cost? So they can go on living a comfortable, middle class life? So they can join the ranks of the "good Germans" who could smell the gas chambers but tried not to think about it. <br /></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-46042210755238349662023-12-26T10:48:00.000-08:002023-12-26T10:50:36.762-08:00We have joined the murderers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5RVvfmBr8-qfIsgYFQsnaMV9lLHHKY2hEsmF3W4j9QEVe8JL3ONJ5VAnP6cu7Dfpar8alfZ3OfSuN1D-0YNh3UPKRtJUODAbwzKmIx_C7sJWzFIcc2ekHgeLlxRG5bQtBMqODC4wqOaJIyJjOOgWPZzEqL3ISpLBrcCKyyOvJVOOi660qZbyXOVn0rwx/s634/Screen%20Shot%20copy%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="634" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5RVvfmBr8-qfIsgYFQsnaMV9lLHHKY2hEsmF3W4j9QEVe8JL3ONJ5VAnP6cu7Dfpar8alfZ3OfSuN1D-0YNh3UPKRtJUODAbwzKmIx_C7sJWzFIcc2ekHgeLlxRG5bQtBMqODC4wqOaJIyJjOOgWPZzEqL3ISpLBrcCKyyOvJVOOi660qZbyXOVn0rwx/w400-h250/Screen%20Shot%20copy%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTdec21.mp3">December
21</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Ahmad Katani,
Palestinian American and human rights activist, describes his
troubled journey from a refugee camp in the West Bank to the
heart of the American Empire, where all the bombs and bullets
are made for Israel's war crimes.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-death-of-israe">Chris
Hedges on the Death of Israel</a></p><p>How does the "civilized" world deal with one of its own, when that country is committing genocide? When it kills 20,000 people, almost half of them children? Israel's butchery and grotesque war crimes strain the limits of state sanctioned killing. And yet countries like the United States and members of the EU, just look the other way, especially if there is money to be made selling bullets and bombs for the carnage. </p><p>Ahmad brings us down to the individual Palestinian who has suffered from Israeli apartheid. We understand what the camps are like, and what the slaughter of refugees means. But to really understand the extent of the carnage, we have to remember the European country that slaughtered six million of its Jews, in an attempt to purge them from their "Master Race." In one of life's most destructive ironies, the very people who were slaughtered by the Third Reich, are now "cleansing" Israel of all those who are not Jewish. The victims of the Holocaust have learned to be the perpetrators.</p><p>The failure of the more "civilized" Western nations to stop this second Holocaust reveals the base nature of their centuries old claim. Instead of "never again," we have joined the murderers. <br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-53879922076638162122023-12-26T08:03:00.000-08:002023-12-26T08:03:34.705-08:00America is a killer state<p>There are events in history that reveal underlying truths about our society. The people of the United States are horrified by pictures of Gaza. Can it be that Israel killed 8,000 Palestinian children? And that our country supported and paid for this genocide? <br /><br />The wealthy elite at the top of our supposed democracy aren't surprised at all. They rule the world with their high tech bombs and killing machines. Israel is their perfect partner in crime, doing the empire's dirty work in Third World countries. In Gaza, these two of the most powerful countries in the world are annihilating tens of thousands of people who are virtually defenseless. <br /><br />Lesson one: America is a killer state and has been since the end of WW II. Not the citizens, of course. But their political leaders. Millions have been killed in US invasions, all based on crude lies.<br /><br />Lesson two: America's ruling elite are completely corrupt. They are highly paid by the major weapons makers and by Israel itself. The man who accepted the most in Israeli bribes is our very own President Biden, pulling in a lifetime haul of $4,346,264 (OpenSecrets.org).<br /><br />Lesson three: If we take to the streets we can shake up their devotion to greed and murder. We can expose them for the monsters they really are. We can throw a wrench into their vulgar political machine and lobby driven existence. There is no major party for working people, and this rule by the elite has got to go. <br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-51929017189101989512023-12-22T08:00:00.000-08:002023-12-22T08:00:51.553-08:00The world now calls it apartheid<p>There was a period during the Vietnam War when I lost hope for my country. The US was slaughtering whole villages at the time, and pulverizing Cambodia from the air. I was drafted and sent overseas, so I knew what our military was doing in Southeast Asia.<br /><br />Many Third World Counties later, our military is again slaughtering tens of thousands, this time in Gaza. Israel is doing the dirty work, as it often does. But the world knows who this genocide can be traced back to. We supply the arms, we send Israel billions in aid, and we cover up for them at the UN. And there is so much to cover up. There are seven million Palestinians still living in their homeland, and their treatment is so disgustingly racist that most of the world now calls it apartheid. <br /><br />My country, I realized long ago, is not as evil as it is just broken. There is hardly a member of Congress not being paid off by the Israel Lobby. Our weapons makers sit in the Pentagon and plan how to sell more bombs and fighter jets. Our corporate media has been pro-apartheid Israel for decades. These are all failures of a country that was supposed to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Would our country starve millions of children in Gaza if it were run by the people? Or for the people? This genocide is the end of an ideal we once held for our nation.<br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-91628578455136017932023-12-22T07:58:00.000-08:002023-12-22T07:58:18.351-08:00Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness,”<p>I remember when I first read about the Holocaust. I was about 12 years old, and had never learned about it in school.<br /><br />I couldn't believe it; the savagery was too much to comprehend. So I went to the library and read all I could. But in the mid fifties, there just wasn't much to be had. It was only when I went to college that I was able to learn more: about Kristallnacht, about the Nazis, and about the extermination camps. I spent a lot of time putting it all together. I read about the night of the "long knives," who had funded Hitler, and the failed assignation attempt. I thought if I studied it enough, I could come to terms with what had happened. I could fit it in. <br /><br />But I was never able to. And when I read Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness,” I thought I knew what "the horror" really meant. The undefinable and the inexpressible.<br /><br />Watching and listening to the genocide in Gaza brought me all the way back to that 12 year old student. How could human beings kill 5,000 children in a month? How could Israel send millions fleeing without any place to go? And how could the hospitals, the ambulances and the schools be targeted? <br /><br />How could my country pay for and protect a government in Israel that is as racist and bloodthirsty as the SS? How could the country I had served in the military be the ultimate cause of all that "horror"? <br /><br />Fred Nagel<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-69961491270972662342023-12-15T07:12:00.000-08:002023-12-15T07:29:23.907-08:00Unwashed faces of the Third World<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmUSIjrc0-4KPQ-w42S4YJovM_cKWVParcA4G2qt_iDeuU3XQLyWHYC73zNMi8mEg-cFAYXBqUccch9Mo_A8FbNZMCVl3l4yozqgYGxZHlASDmoybY8goSK-zjqh0VPJqwXRk9IGEnzvDED7bnV_EYHihtUTcM19ErGmN5gUijT7UiYtLILZqdcIddwPQ/s422/Screen%20Shot%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="422" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmUSIjrc0-4KPQ-w42S4YJovM_cKWVParcA4G2qt_iDeuU3XQLyWHYC73zNMi8mEg-cFAYXBqUccch9Mo_A8FbNZMCVl3l4yozqgYGxZHlASDmoybY8goSK-zjqh0VPJqwXRk9IGEnzvDED7bnV_EYHihtUTcM19ErGmN5gUijT7UiYtLILZqdcIddwPQ/w400-h221/Screen%20Shot%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTdec14.mp3">December
14</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Chisato Kimora, member
of the a joint Harvard and Yale and student group, that along
with community members from New Haven, disrupted the famous
Harvard-Yale football game to protest the genocide in Gaza.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://law.yale.edu/studying-law-yale/alumni-student-profiles/chisato-kimura-25">Chisato
Kimora<span style="font-weight: bold;">,</span> Yale School of
Law</a></p><p>Chisato was a delight to interview. Her determination to hold her law school accountable for the genocide in Gaza was extortionary. When push came to shove, she was willing to risk her career for doing the right thing. The distance between her idealism and the jaded support for Israel in our Congressional class is simply astounding. </p><p>Chisato and many others were willing to disrupt one of America's most holy rituals, the Harvard/Yale football game to make a point about Gaza. How could all those well fed and privileged football fans enjoy their masculine combat when images of 6,500 starving children were being held in their faces? It was an atrocity! An assault on American's values happening in the heart of the empire!</p><p>Don't Harvard and Yale represent the epitome of our national life? The best education and credentials money can get you into. If our holy sites like these can't be protected from the unwashed faces of the Third World, what can? <br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-38764677108703570782023-12-15T07:06:00.000-08:002023-12-15T07:06:51.594-08:00Supporting genocide when the price is right<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnV6kTyKE_q73RZavq9HOqCifNWB8jfWga_cAZNk_wB1AQ5FWoiCLZeMMNXkhh9rce6sR0s0OMXn5deKnq-6v56LEuI9Lu1x62jc8jQTZ4YvekC0nwwC_ebeDb686ePjWeCrnm9js-8kyer-jfIji3urrj-S1-MfaoxncS_IJLNjNqDnotJu4d26PbV-hS/s1920/Resized_20231109_171236-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnV6kTyKE_q73RZavq9HOqCifNWB8jfWga_cAZNk_wB1AQ5FWoiCLZeMMNXkhh9rce6sR0s0OMXn5deKnq-6v56LEuI9Lu1x62jc8jQTZ4YvekC0nwwC_ebeDb686ePjWeCrnm9js-8kyer-jfIji3urrj-S1-MfaoxncS_IJLNjNqDnotJu4d26PbV-hS/w400-h225/Resized_20231109_171236-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTdec7.mp3">December
7</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUESTS: Jewish and labor union
constituents question Congressmen Pat Ryan on his unwavering
support of apartheid Israel, and on his recent vote to
describe any criticism of Israel as antisemitism.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/combat-anti-semitism-house-bill-chips-away-free-speech">Antisemitism
bill chips away at free speech</a></p><p>A couple of very large rallies in the Hudson Valley has Congressman Pat Ryan running scared. He won a close race for his seat in Congress, and once there has become a dependable supporter of the genocide in Palestine. He has all sorts of reasons for his pro-Israel statements. His wife is Jewish, as are his children. In public, that is about all he talks about when the issue of Palestine comes up. That and how Israel has a right to defend itself. Of course, apartheid and genocide has nothing to do with the right to defend one's own country. </p><p>At a public meeting, I asked Ryan about the money he gets every year from the Israel Lobby. He denied getting any money at all. More recently, he has said that the contributions he gets from Israel are "insignificant." And yet, research done by the website <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries//summary?ind=q05&cycle=2020&recipdetail=A&sortorder=U">Open Secrets</a> tell a different story. In fact, their data bank makes interesting reading. Israel is spending tens of millions on Congress, all obscured by various pro-Israel groups in the US. Representatives like Pat Ryan are being paid quite well to look the other way while 6,500 Palestinian children are massacred.</p><p>I was lucky to get this recording of Jewish and labor groups questioning Pat Ryan. They don't give him much wiggle room, and why should they? Ryan is a member of a class that supports genocide when the price is right. <br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-31333973453882361272023-12-15T06:17:00.000-08:002023-12-15T06:17:46.787-08:00The second catastrophe of the Holocaust<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHs66WEXsyVn7tyowyKXZoe5mSSsygbnTFZxEKQbfa1UYw08D37yENuxeXxdznhoNCqIcM6u74bkp0ANumtSmjLfrVw8QE7l_gknKJ7KWaNG53Aif13CRo9YvCfo4JSjnMP6HTsj7CJz5XINMy_12JEcULA60Y3GjfLzbU_FN2diJ9GJjw8krRsJlhojlA/s400/Gaza%E2%80%94Ellen_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHs66WEXsyVn7tyowyKXZoe5mSSsygbnTFZxEKQbfa1UYw08D37yENuxeXxdznhoNCqIcM6u74bkp0ANumtSmjLfrVw8QE7l_gknKJ7KWaNG53Aif13CRo9YvCfo4JSjnMP6HTsj7CJz5XINMy_12JEcULA60Y3GjfLzbU_FN2diJ9GJjw8krRsJlhojlA/s16000/Gaza%E2%80%94Ellen_web.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTnov30.mp3">November
30</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUEST: Ellen Davidson, member
of Jewish Voice for Peace, Veterans For Peace, and contributor
to the NY based <i>Indypendent</i> as well as <i>Mondoweiss</i>, talks about
her trips to the West Bank and the meaning of apartheid. <br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://indypendent.org/2023/11/what-does-it-mean-to-call-israel-an-apartheid-state/">Calling
Israel an apartheid state</a></p><p>Ellen is a long time activist for Palestine. She uses her considerable writing and newspaper production skills to publish <i><a href="https://peaceandplanetnews.org/">Peace & Planet News</a></i>, a Veterans for Peace publication. I met her in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March. About 1,500 members from all over the world waited in Cairo for permission to go into Gaza, permission that never came.</p><p>We stayed busy anyway, organizing courses on apartheid and Palestinian liberation. We also stopped the traffic in Tahrir Square, a breathtaking experience when we sat down in front of eight lanes of traffic. You can see what happened to us in a documentary I shot: "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reoGHwKmhV8">Still in Cairo</a>." </p><p>So Ellen is one of those people who has worked for social change most of her life. She is Jewish, and considers her work for Palestine to be in the best traditions of Jewish activism and social justice.</p><p>How is it that the state of Israel seems to have thrown out all that history of leftist change to become a nationalist state modeled on fascism? Or is the creation of Israel the second catastrophe of the Holocaust?<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-33587301854556337672023-11-30T07:05:00.000-08:002023-11-30T07:05:23.687-08:00Pat Ryan has always done what he was told<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LMbnwlzJG7DAoLaEFuIUS_0lgi6h23Nvuj0BiTemyVloNn4_uGgPEYFEjyXIRnn566IcOku7YYVBVxPuugfaRYxNoVR3Je9lDJfYbV8UMxIdb07NncCvhnR9mg27xrqxz9PdjDxZznsr3n8dHlmkQyMry1p-55dyCM_K1fVCGjsgwb86A1k1C1CHJnBp/s787/Screen%20Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="787" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LMbnwlzJG7DAoLaEFuIUS_0lgi6h23Nvuj0BiTemyVloNn4_uGgPEYFEjyXIRnn566IcOku7YYVBVxPuugfaRYxNoVR3Je9lDJfYbV8UMxIdb07NncCvhnR9mg27xrqxz9PdjDxZznsr3n8dHlmkQyMry1p-55dyCM_K1fVCGjsgwb86A1k1C1CHJnBp/w400-h217/Screen%20Shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTnov23.mp3">November
23</a></h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">GUESTS: Two Palestinian women
ask their House Representative Pat Ryan to call for an
immediate ceasefire, and to oppose the Israeli genocide in
Gaza and the West Bank.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/11/democratic-socialists-of-america-is-a-key-player-in-the-fight-against-israels-assault-on-gaza">Democratic
Socialists of America key player</a></p><p>How gratifying it was to hear two bright, young Palestinian women educating Representative Pat Ryan. He doesn't know much, of course. All he does is repeat stale Israeli talking points, while throwing in references to his own Jewish children. What an amazing example of PEP (progressive except for Palestine).</p><p>What he doesn't talk about yet is his yearly check from the Israel Lobby for close to $30,000. What incentive does Rep Ryan have to learn about Gaza or to consider the definition of genocide? Pat Ryan has always done what he was told, at West Point, and later during two tours in the Middle East. Congress is the same deal. They tell you what to say and do, and you collect your money. </p><p>He has sharpened up his presentations somewhat. He no longer states that he gets no money from the Israel Lobby. He tries to "feel the pain" of the Palestinian people. He is just a good old boy trying to do what is right.</p><p>But these Palestinian women would have none of that. The result is searing and meaningful radio. For that is the way we should all treat the murder of over 5,000 children in one month. We should all be demanding that Rep. Ryan stop the genocide being committed in our names. And we should all be looking for a peace candidate to replace this Democratic Party warmonger. <br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7760287500536417248.post-14662225850554419002023-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:002023-11-21T07:30:33.503-08:00Class war, plain and simple<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeESiwC6Cfgl2wyx6jiIqHTGU0HIytNCFMUtfxk_huKE_TByEMtdLcAkT-9gXitgC1cZOdtRyodnrdmF1wYxlbFiMs-eOY7-okN4lEnr9aizQCfx79OuF1QCcNhZo4vZqS7iBg_VBuXKMAh5snKT071d0JcD2p0cd3WlfNZfxKZMvCFni3TK9uPNFjh_T/s715/Screen%20Shot%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="554" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeESiwC6Cfgl2wyx6jiIqHTGU0HIytNCFMUtfxk_huKE_TByEMtdLcAkT-9gXitgC1cZOdtRyodnrdmF1wYxlbFiMs-eOY7-okN4lEnr9aizQCfx79OuF1QCcNhZo4vZqS7iBg_VBuXKMAh5snKT071d0JcD2p0cd3WlfNZfxKZMvCFni3TK9uPNFjh_T/w310-h400/Screen%20Shot%203.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><h3></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.classwars.org/ACTIVISTnov16.mp3">November
16</a></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"> </h3><p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">GUESTS: Alexandria Shaner, from
Extinction Rebellion and Matic Primca, Slovenian activist and
journalist, talk about what the Z Network is and how it
relates to the Influential radical publication, Z Magazine,
that featured the writings of Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn.<br />
</span><br />
<a href="https://znetwork.org/">Z Network</a></p><p>The history of the left in the US is littered with newspapers and magazines. Z Magazine is one of them. The pinnacle of radical thought in its day, it offered the writings of Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on the Vietnam War and its aftermath. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">“American imperialism has suffered a stunning defeat in Indochina. But the same forces are engaged In another war against a much less resilient enemy, the American people. Here, the prospects for success are much greater. The battleground is ideological, not military. At stake are the lessons to be drawn from the American war in Indochina; the outcome will determine the course and character of new imperial ventures.” - Noam Chomsky </p><p style="text-align: left;">Media is where these wars are fought. Having courageous publications is so necessary, especially in times of war, when the major media in our country is always filled with Pentagon propaganda. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Bury the empire and free the media! The US is now in perpetual war, driven by the all powerful weapons makers who buy and sell our Congress and President. Restoring our democracy has to start with overcoming our billionaire class, whose thoughts and whims often sound like the ravings of emperors in ancient Rome. It is class war, plain and simple. <br /></p><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com