Tidbits – May 16 – Reader Comments: Trump Trial, Arms to Netanyahu, Campus Protests – Impact on Gaza War, Colleges, Society, Elections; Palestine, Gaza, Israel; Haiti; Kenya; Sing in Solidarity; Song Nights for Social Change; Cartoons; More …

I have one criticism: Netanyahu has been asking for a swift kick in the ass for years not weeks or months. He has consistently challenged the U.S. and Joe Biden: announcing the development of new housing in the West Bank while Biden was visiting as Vice President, the notorious speech to Congress at the invitation of the Republicans and invitation Bibi may have solicited and other occasions of thumbing his nose at the U.S. It might have been beneficial for Israel had the rebuke come much earlier.

Aside from the proprieties, it is not very clever for a small country to antagonize a great power especially when the small country is dependent upon the large one for critical materiel. Noone thinks an Israeli Prime Minister should bow down before an American President but showing respect for the views of an important ally is common sense something, unfortunately, that Netanyahu lacks. ..

Putting His Foot Down -- Cartoon by Adam Zyglis

Adam Zyglis
May 9, 2024
The Buffalo News

Re: Why I’m Not Calling the Police on My Students’ Encampment

Sac State has a president that created a dialog between groups

Earl Marty Price
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Pinocchio on Trial -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers

Rob Rogers
May 14, 2024
robrogers.com

Re: Will the Palestinian Groups Create a New Palestinian Political Project?

I disagree. As long as there is not a solid agreement and plan by the various Palestinian political groups so as to negotiate with their full power, Israel will continue its military power to continue war against the people of Palestine even with world opinion on the side of them. Power comes from the central elements not the peripheral support.

So get it together, Palest together Palestinian Factions.

Donna Carter

Re: Palestine and History: Macklemore v. Hillary Clinton

“I have never understood the trope that Israel made generous offers to the Palestinians (it never did) but that the Palestinians rejected them, and therefore the Palestinians should be deprived of all their basic rights forever.”

Dave Lott
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Who Created the Israel-Palestine Conflict?

Yes, your answer that it was US Immigration laws 100 years ago, hit the nail on the head.

My parents stepped right off of the pages of "The Tevya Stories" and "the stage and screen of Fiddler on the Roof."

They came to the US; that was everyone's first choice. Only when new Immigration Laws were passed and the Polish Jews could no longer get into the country, did they "settle" for going to Israel. That's where my parents' siblings went when they could no longer get into the US by changing their names to relatives who were citizens and passing as siblings (my mother) and a little later by creating "mail order brides" (my father's sister). Israel was no-one's first choice. (A Chinese friend told me that her relatives used documentation from dead relatives or bought such documentation).

To my parents, Israel was someplace that your body would roll to, underground, on "Judgement Day". I guess it was their version of Heaven. I have no idea how much of this they believed or what they invented to explain to the children.

I never knew the years which of those laws were passed and have only the sketchiest details of the processes they went through to get themselves and their siblings in. But I remember frequent family discussions of whether they would support Israel or the US if they had a war. ALWAYS, first they agreed a war between the two would never happen since they were both democracies but in the hypothetical case of such a war, they would support the US; that was their country.

Arlene Halfon

Re: A Simple Fact: There Will Be a Palestinian State. Its Location: Palestine

Why is Israel in the Eurovision song contest in the first place? It's a Middle Eastern country... unless Israelis see themselves as Europeans who happen to be in the Middle East. If that's the case, what are the indigenous Israelis to this assumption or assertion? Palestinian Jews and, therefore not "white'?

Hell, if Israel can be part of the Eurovision Song Contest, so can Jordan and Lebanon and Turkey... and for that matter, all of North Africa.

All this reveals that the centrality of racism has its own logic that has been developed since 1444 and nurtured and "legitimized" by the evolution of capitalism and its global dominance.

In Struggle,

Sam Anderson

The Early Worm gets the RFK Jr.! -- Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

Lalo Alcaraz
May 9, 2024
Lalo Alcaraz on X

Re: The US Plan To Outsource Its Imperialism in Haiti to Kenya

This is fantastic article. As a US citizen married to a Kenyan and living in Kenya as expat, I have seen American military presence increase. In fact, the tow in which I live has KDF base and American and British military training Kenyan soldiers. This has occurred the last year that I've noticed. They even have private military contractors that stay at Matuu Ndallas hotel in Matuu, Machakos, Kenya.

A reader in Africa

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Question for Mr. Al-Bulushi: Have you heard anything about Eric Prince, former Blackwater owner and CIA supposed front man, being involved as a contractor to the US or Kenya to provide mercenaries or body guard or guarding top security bldgs... He is always trying to make a fast buck and be a king maker. Peace!

Buzz Davis former Army officer member of Veterans for Peace in Tucson

Re: What Beethoven’s Ninth Teaches Us

Yes. On the 200th anniversary of the 9th Symphony, we streamed, it played by the West Eastern Divan Symphony organized by Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim to promote friendship and understanding. Despite everything we won't forget our hopes for peace.

Sonia Cobbins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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From the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to the Barenboim-Said Akademie

Watch here West_Eastern_Divan_Orchestra

Re: Repo Man at 40: A Journey Deep Into the Heart of LA Punk in the Age of Reagan

(posting on Portside Culture)

excerpt:

As Roger Ebert would write in a review from 1984, “this is the kind of movie that baffles Hollywood, because it isn’t made from any known formula and doesn't follow the rules.” Adding context to these observations, Sam McPheeters, in “A Lattice of Coincidence,” included with the 2013 Criterion Collection edition, describes Repo Man as “an apocalypse tale with no doomsday, a punk movie with no concert, a science fiction story with less than ten seconds of aliens.”

Lorraine Suzuki
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Growing Hypocrisy -- Cartoon by Jen Sorensen

I’ve noticed that some people who seem fine with rampant development — and in some cases have profited mightily from it — suddenly become very concerned about growth when the need to build affordable housing arises in their own neighborhood. I do think that growth without any thought to the kind of dense development being created can also be a disaster. Are the new buildings ugly and so cheaply constructed that residents can hear everything their neighbors do through the walls? Are we allowing vehicle size to increase enormously at the same time we are trying to put people in ever denser spaces where they walk and bike? Are we regulating vehicle noise (and leaf blowers!) so people can live and sleep in these denser spaces? Are we keeping some nature? It seems to me that we need to do a number of things differently if we are to create livable cities that accommodate more people.

Receive my weekly newsletter and help keep this work sustainable by joining the Sorensen Subscription Service! Also on Patreon.

Jen Sorensen
May 8, 2024
jensorensen.com

List of Universities and Colleges with Encampments and Protests - as of May 15

Radical Nonviolence:100 Years of the War Resisters League -- Brooklyn -- May 16 - September 13 (War Resisters League (WRL) and Interference Archive)

Image by Pablo Picasso and the War Resisters League

War Resisters League (WRL) and Interference Archive present a collection of material from the archive and WRL celebrating 100 years of the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States.

WRL produced street literature, posters, study guides, brochures, organizing manuals, books, and periodicals that focused on direct action, divestment, tax and draft resistance and ending the nuclear arms race.

Opening May 16th Curated by Christina Danielle Bartson, Ruth Benn, Sky Hall, Ed Hedemann, Amelia Langas, Brooke Shuman, and Yifan X

Email us! info@interferencearchive.org

Witnessing Palestine -- Chicago -- June 2 (Eyewitness Palestine)

Sunday, June 2,2024 | 4:30-8:00 PM

📍Al Hambra Palace | Chicago, IL

On June 2, 2024, Eyewitness Palestine will be hosting an Evening of Witnessing Palestine Through Stories, Flavor, and Culture with an incredible line-up of artists and speakers, including the First Lady of Arabic Hip-Hop @shadiamansour, West Bank-based journalist @mariambarghouti, 2x award-winning Storyteller& Content Crrator @jenanmatari, Activist @lanzybear, @uscpr Executive Director @ahmadabuznaid, and Live Music by the incredible @nibalmalshi. Book your tickets now for an heartfelt evening of Palestinian speakers, culture, art and food as we take a night to honor Palestine.

Founded in 2001, Eyewitness Palestine is a transformational education program that inspires and trains participants to be accountable lifelong social justice advocates in the Palestine solidarity movement and within their own communities. We are building a world where Palestine is liberated and all are free!

Eyewitness Palestine
PO Box 73798
Washington, DC 20056

866.936.1650

Sing in Solidarity Presents: The World is My Country -- New York June 16

Sunday, June 16 2024 at 6:30 PM

Buy Tickets

Songs of Peace and Freedom for the Workers of the World

So capitalism is disappointing? Forget it! A better world is possible for everyone. Sing in Solidarity, the choir of Democratic Socialists of America, presents a cabaret of international songs for peace, liberty, and socialism in our lifetime. Our high-energy left-wing anthems from around the world will have you leaping from your seats and hoisting high the red flag. Join us for a very special night of solidarity and song and find out how you can join in the fight to demand an end to apartheid and settler colonialism worldwide.

Doors 6:30 PM, Show 7PM

“For our demands most moderate are – We only want the earth.”

- James Connolly, Irish Trade Union Leader, 1907

“From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!”

- 21st Century Anti-Colonial Refrain

About the Cabaret

For their second cabaret at Drom, Sing in Solidarity presents a selection of international antiwar, anti-fascist, and anticapitalist workers songs. Inspired by global socialist and decolonial struggles, this anti-imperialist choral cabaret takes a voyage around the world, touching upon movement music from Palestine, South Africa, Ireland, and more. With special musical guests Ongama Mhloto, Huda Asfour, and Dorian Wallace.

About Sing in Solidarity

Whether marching to “The Internationale” on May Day, leading a picket line with “Roll the Union On,” or performing music from The Threepenny Opera in concert, Sing in Solidarity, the choir of NYC-DSA, uses their voices to strengthen the socialist community through song. Begun in 2017, the choir draws its repertoire from the rich tradition of international revolutionary song: its mission to disseminate anti-capitalist music, build internationalism, and unite the struggles of working and oppressed peoples through culture and song. A fully open movement choir, we believe that anyone can sing. No auditions necessary. Join our choir today!

About New York City Democratic Socialists of America

We’re the NYC chapter of the largest socialist organization in the U.S., Democratic Socialists of America – DSA. We believe a better world is possible and we’re building it right here in New York City. New York is one of the most unequal cities in the country, but it doesn’t have to remain that way. As democratic socialists, we’re building working class power to challenge the dominance of the wealthy and the powerful in the five boroughs. Together, we aim to transform New York into a place where working people have the power to ensure that everyone can live a dignified life. If you want to build a better world, join us!

Watch here

Song Nights For Social Change: Commemorating The 60th Anniversary Of Mississippi Freedom Summer & Celebrating The Lives Of Goodman, Schwerner, & Chaney - Free Virtual Concert -- June 23

June 23, 2024 07:00 PM EDT

Musical Guests: Si Kahn, Magpie (Terry Leonino & Greg Artzner), Reggie Harris, and Carolyn Hester
Host: Susan Erenrich

Here’s the link to register for the upcoming Free Virtual Song Night For Social Change. You must register in order to attend. Hope to see you on June 23, 2024.

Re: Netanyahu Ignored Every Warning. Now Biden Is Telling Israel: ‘Enough Is Enough’ (Ben Cupp; Ed)

Re: Why I’m Not Calling the Police on My Students’ Encampment (Earl Marty Price)

Re: Will the Palestinian Groups Create a New Palestinian Political Project? (Donna Carter)

Re: Palestine and History: Macklemore v. Hillary Clinton (Dave Lott)

Re: Who Created the Israel-Palestine Conflict? (Arlene Halfon)

Re: A Simple Fact: There Will Be a Palestinian State. Its Location: Palestine (Sam Anderson)

Re: The US Plan To Outsource Its Imperialism in Haiti to Kenya (A reader in Africa; Buzz Davis)

Re: What Beethoven’s Ninth Teaches Us (Sonia Cobbins)

Re: Repo Man at 40: A Journey Deep Into the Heart of LA Punk in the Age of Reagan (Lorraine Suzuki)

Resources:

Announcements:

Radical Nonviolence:100 Years of the War Resisters League -- Brooklyn -- May 16 - September 13 (War Resisters League (WRL) and Interference Archive)

Witnessing Palestine -- Chicago -- June 2 (Eyewitness Palestine)