Medea Benjamin, peace advocate

Last night I attended a gathering to hear Media Benjamin of Code Pink, a group of women who advocate for peace, including in Israel/Palestine. I've long followed the activities of Code Pink and Medea. They are known for their loud pink outfits and demonstrations held inside stores that sell products made in the occupied territories (such as Ahava and Sodastream).

Medea has written a book, Drone Warfare, and her talk was on that subject. She told us that drones are wildly popular with over 50 countries possessing them and the industry thriving in the U.S., Israel and China. U.S. manufacturers are eager to sell to police departments and several have test programs underway. Unlike much more expensive helicopters, drones are difficult to detect, so the popularity with law enforcement and the military are to be expected.

Medea's primary concern is with the innocents who are killed in drone strikes. In both Pakistan and Yemen, the United States acts unilaterally to kill those it sees as a threat. Though there was a unanimous vote in the Pakistani parliament against U.S. drone operations in that country, the strikes continue with the full support of President Obama. One of the few things he pledged before being elected that he has followed up on as President is action against militants in Pakistan. The message from the U.S. government to the world is that it will strike when and where it pleases.

As Medea pointed out, the killing of innocents is more than likely to create more enemies for the U.S., offsetting any gain from the elimination of those who are targeted.

She told us of the wide variety of drones, ranging from the size of an insect to that of an airliner. Development of autonomous drones is underway - drones that can act without human piloting. They will also be able to summon each other to attack in groups. Hovering in place like a helicopter is possible, so with tiny drones listening to private conversations might soon be done.

Speaking easily with a wonderful lack of "you know" and "like" that are the hallmark of youthful speakers these days, Medea was obviously in command of the subject and her talk was well worth hearing.

The most interesting comment she made was that Code Pink membership had collapsed after the election of Obama after thriving during the Bush years. Medea speculated that people were exhausted and expected everything to improve under the new president. Unfortunately, just the opposite has proven to to be true.

I bought a copy of her book that she signed it for me. She will be in Chicago until the end of the NATO summit.

Looking around the room I noted the audience was elderly, something I've come to expect when attending talks about peace or the Middle East. There was a singer who closed the program who was young, but he said his CD has the title, "The Protest Song is Dead"

natives out, foreigners in

Sam Bahour's father is a Palestinian who left for the U.S. before the 1967 war. Because he was not present when the Israelis took a census after that war, he is not allowed to go back to his native land and may only visit as a U.S. tourist. As I hope you know, ANY Jew in the world, regardless of their native country, may go to Israel and become a citizen on the basis of their Judaism alone. Go to 7 minutes in to hear Sam speak of this and other things illogical and unjust.

re: the Methodist Church vote on BDS

The governing body of the United Methodist Church is set to vote this week on whether to support a BDS. I hope they do, but it's no slam dunk.

Jesus was a rebel, but you sure wouldn’t know it from the huge organizations that have claimed him as a role model for their membership.

The Methodist Church is an extremely cautious organization that generally goes into the water when almost all others have already done so. The irrelevancy was one reason the faith in which I was tutored never caught on. I have my fingers and toes crossed that they will do what any person who appreciates liberty and justice for all would do.

Martin Luther King Jr. died at 39, but at least he said he could see the promised land, though he might not make it there. The Palestinians have been wretched for over 60 years and only now is there some sign of movement in the United States on their behalf. They haven’t been to the mountaintop like MLK because Israeli settlers are already there and have it cordoned off. All Americans should be ashamed of our part in keeping such long-suffering people oppressed.

support the Palestinian hunger strikers

A few days ago I posted news of the mass Palestinian hunger strike involving 2000 prisoners. Today I found a petition that can be signed to support those strikers and I encourage you to sign it as I did. Palestinians outside of Israel in the occupied territories are subject to no law but that of the Israeli military. This Guantanamo justice means raids by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night are routine, as is imprisonment with no charges and kangaroo military courts where the judge is an officer of the army that made the arrest. Prisoners can be held indefinitely and family visits are very difficult since family members must apply to Israel for permission to travel into Israel with little chance of approval. You can find detailed documentation in three of the many excellent publications from the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem: Without Trial, Kept in the Dark and Barred from Contact.

Rashid Khalidi on Ben Gurion's 1937 letter

What is called the Israeli narrative on the history of Palestine would have us believe that Arabs fled from the area when Zionist Jews came; that the indigenous people were scared and left voluntarily. The Zionists did not want to expel those who lived in the area they wished to make a Jewish state but, once the Arabs were gone took advantage of the situation.

This is fiction. What has decisively laid it to rest among knowledgeable people has been the work of those who are called the "new historians" of Israel. Benny Morris and Ilan Pappé are two. It is a comment on the favoritism toward the work of Jewish scholars on Palestinian issues that the truth was not accepted from the people who were subject to the mass expulsion, nor from Arab scholars.

In this video from the Palestinian Studies TV, Professor Khalidi of Columbia University addresses the issue of what David Ben Gurion (considered the father of Israel) himself said about the expulsion of Arabs in a letter he wrote to his son in 1937 which contradicts claims that expulsion was not on the agenda. Khalidi also touches on other subjects related to the American discourse on Palestine. This video was prompted by the pro-Israel organization CAMERA claiming that Ilan Pappé had misrepresented the Ben Gurion letter.

Rep. Ellison's clear thinking

Though this little speech is two months old, Rep. Ellison's simple appeal is just as powerful now. To start a war with Iran would be insanity, yet all the Republicans who hoped to be presidential candidates (except Ron Paul) couldn't be too belligerent and even President Obama needs to put Israel at ease almost weekly with anti-Iran comments.

Palestinian mass hunger strike

A mass hunger strike involving 2000 Palestinian prisoners began on April 17. I'm sorry to say I did not learn of it until today when I read a story on the Electronic Intifada about the BBC not reporting it.


EI states, "Palestinian prisoners are protesting Israel’s practice of administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — as well as solitary confinement, the denial of family visits and access to education, and other punitive measures of Israel’s system of arrest and detention which is designed to break the Palestinian struggle for freedom and liberation."


By the way, the force behind EI, Maureen Murphy, who I have mention before, is one of the people the FBI has subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, a subject in itself. She and others have refused to appear. So far, no action has been taken against them but the threat of imprisonment for refusal hangs over them.