Monday, June 14, 2021

 ME AND MONDOWEISS

Preparing for a conversation with MondoWeiss founder Phil Weiss this week (see just below) I had a look at what I had published there over the years. Some of my articles have already been posted in this occasional blog, but I thought it might be useful to collect all of them in one place. So here, below the webinar announcement, are all of them.

The Israel Lobby and the Growing Movement for a New US Policy Toward the Palestinians, with Phil Weiss


Ruger is getting unwelcome publicity because its gun was used in Colorado massacre last week. A new campaign calls on the company to stop selling weapons to Israel, which has used them to kill or injure hundreds in Palestine, including the killing of Ali Abu Alia, 15, in December, when he was protesting settlers taking his village lands in the occupied West Bank. 

AIPAC’s promotion of a recent New England leadership dinner in Boston at $300 a head shows that the leading Israel lobby group raised nearly $5 million from just one region of the country. So when pro-Israel voices say that Ilhan Omar is wrong, AIPAC doesn’t work by raising money, they’re trying to deceive you.

Jeff Klein remembers South African fighter Jabulani Jali, a former member of the ANC’s armed wing the uMkhonto we Sizwe, after his passing earlier this year.

Proponents of law targeting BDS in Massachusetts argue that Israeli companies would leave the state if the legislature fails to pass anti-BDS act. That’s frankly absurd. Israel needs Massachusetts much more than Massachusetts needs Israel.

Ron Fox, a 77-year-old Jewish Democrat in Mass., urges the party’s state committee to condemn Israeli settlements: “For 45 years, not a day has gone by that I have not thought about human rights violations caused by settlements.”

Jeff Klein reports on the horrific devastation left in the wake of the ISIS occupation of the world-famous ancient city of Palmyra and the neighboring Syrian town of Tadmor. He traveled there with a delegation that was the very first group of international civilians to view the site in the aftermath of the battle that took place there.

Regulations on seat belts and smoking for Palestinians in the West Bank may be good for their health, but they were imposed by a government they didn’t get to vote for. Another reminder of oppression of occupation.

In Palestine, as in the rest of the Arab world, many are turning to religion in response to the failure of the various liberation and nationalist or socialist projects. Some practice a religious-inspired political quietism or wait for an apocalyptic solution for the existing impasse.

In mid-November, people will gather in Cambridge, Mass, to examine the lessons of the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa in an effort to build more effective political campaign to influence Congress today. A conference organized by Peace Action will examine the current state of US politics and policy regarding Israel-Palestine, assess the growing partisan divide on the issue and take concrete steps to organize on-going efforts based in each Massachusetts Congressional district.

When Senator Elizabeth Warren began spouting Likud talking points– that Hamas welcomed civilian deaths and the US should not sanction Israeli settlement construction — her progressive base was shocked. That’s why they confronted her at a talk at Tufts earlier this week.

Over the years I have been an occasional op-ed contributor to a Boston African-American owned…

One of the advantages of return visits to Palestine over a period of years is…

I met Mr. Palestine today in Nablus. Really. ‘Imad AbdulAziz won the title Mr. Palestine…

Commenters on the conflict often speak of the grave of Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish extremist…

Last week the Senate passed Resolution 65, mandating a new round of sanctions against Iran…

Hanna Swaid (right) with constituents I had a late dinner in Jerusalem last week with…

Hezbollah fighters celebrating their return from al-Qusayr (photo, Nehme Hamie) The civil war in Syria…

Live fire “crowd control” rounds attributed to .22 caliber sniper rifles, made by Sturm, Ruger Co. in Newport, NH, have been responsible for at least six – and possibly more — deaths and scores of injuries during the past couple of years.

In Palestine, not all the killing takes place in the West Bank and Gaza –…

You know, Lebanon – that small Middle East country wracked by a generation of bloody…

The theme of posts here the other day was attitudes of “denial” regarding the Palestine…

Last month, in the Old City Jerusalem, I visited a Palestinian friend who belonged to…

Sometimes a food is more than just something you eat. The herbal condiment za’atar, a…

Over the weekend Mitt Romney launched his electoral swing to Jerusalem – with a coordinated…

Jeff Klein and a tear gas grenade in Bil’in. Correction: The tear gas used in…

Steve Grossman, one of the candidates in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Treasurer, is…

Yesterday CAMERA’s Dexter van Zile responded to a post by Jeff Klein critiquing the Israel…

Haven’t we seen this movie before? Yes, in Boston, and with nearly the same cast…

Friday, March 5, 2021

SYRIA FOOD RELIEF

 

Many thanks to all who have made donations for food relief in Syria.  People are grateful!

Here are some photos from Qasioun, a poor community just outside Damascus, with volunteers handing out basic food parcels.  





 



 

I want to thank those who have responded to the appeal I sent out earlier to raise funds for Syrian food relief. Responses are still coming in, but I would like to share some information regarding this effort.

The fundraising in the US is organized by local Syrians and Syrian-Americans and distributed through a volunteer program in Syria called “Together Strong” of  a group called The Initiative for Good. They have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Alkhair.initiative.sy/ (The “English” on the page is machine translated from Arabic, so a bit awkward.)

The first food baskets have already been distributed with our funds and more will be enabled in coming weeks with the money we have raised.  My Syrian friends assure me that 100% of the donations go to feed the hungry.



Here is a “receipt” from Aleppo for the first payment of 800,000 Syrian pounds that has already been sent. The amount seems huge, but that is because the war has led to the drastic devaluation of Syrian currency from 50 Syrian pounds to the dollar when I first visited the country in 2009 to between 2000 and 3000 to the dollar today. A reminder that $10 can feed a Syrian family with basic supplies for two weeks. Donations are *not* “tax deductible” in the US!

Thanks to all who have contributed.  I will share updates and information as I receive them. Anyone wishing to make a donation should send it to me and I will see that the funds are transferred through the local Syrian community to this food program.

 

Dear Friends,

There are so many worthy causes and charities rightly demanding our attention these days, so I will understand if responding to this appeal is beyond your ability right now. But I want to ask that you contribute whatever you can to relieve some of the suffering in Syria caused by the policies of our own government.

Millions of Syrians are facing extreme privation in their war-torn country, exacerbated by brutal US sanctions that claim to target the Syrian government but which have their most devastating effect on ordinary people.

If you need any convincing, please watch this 20-minute video (and have some kleenex handy):

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywN_8IWat8g 

 
 
Shortages of food and fuel – together with the collapsing Syrian pound – are the direct result of years of war promoted and financed by the US and its allies.  Today the US is occupying the oil-producing lands in eastern Syria, while they are also blocking wheat from this region – Syria’s breadbasket – to deny food to millions of Syrians. Of course, as Americans, it is our duty to do whatever we can to change the inhumane US policy of enforcing hunger in Syria (and Venezuela, Iran, Yemen).

But we can also help directly. Many Syrians suffering as refugees or in the remaining territory controlled by “rebel” extremists, are able to receive some relief supplies from international agencies.  But the majority of Syrians, in government controlled areas, are barred from receiving any significant support because of US sanctions.  Many of them are going hungry or dying from lack of medicines.

Local Syrians and Syrian-Americans are working to arrange for humanitarian food deliveries to needy Syrian families.  These are people I trust absolutely to delivery 100% of funds raised for Syrian relief. This charitable activity is not forbidden by US sanctions.  If you are able to contribute anything, please contact me and I will deliver any donations to those who can arrange to get food to hungry Syrian families. 

$10 will deliver a basket of basic food supplies that can feed a Syrian family of four for 15 days:

2 bottles of oil, 2 kilo sugar,4 kilo bulgur, 2 kilo tomato paste, 1/2 kilo zaatar, 1/2 kilo tea, 1 bag spaghetti, 1 box chicken stock cubes, 1 can of mortadella 

 PLEASE CONTACT ME TO HELP IF YOU CAN!

And please share this message with sympathetic contacts.

Jeff