December 4, 2023
Dear friends,
Because my faith in humanity is intact, it seems to me that protecting and promoting democracy is the best way to advance the causes of justice and peace.
(Note: I’m working on being less of a downer on Mondays, for your sake as well as my own!)
If the cuts go forward, 198 out of 266 food-scrap drop-off sites will close.
A friend who is also a Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board (BKSWAB) member, a serious gardener, and a leading light of the Park Slope Food Coop’s Compost Committee, attended the spirited rally against cuts last Thursday.
There’s another rally this Wednesday. If you can, make your voice heard!
There’s a push to get NYS Governor Hochul to budget for an increase the minimum SNAP benefits from $23 to $100 per month. The expiration of pandemic-era allotments accounts for the very low current minimum, which has left nearly 3 million state residents in alarming straits.
The initiative has bipartisan support and the legislators behind it cite polling that shows public support for the increase to the SNAP minimum.
Tell the Governor to budget for increased monthly SNAP benefits.
I was on a Zoom with my extended family yesterday. Cousins from around the US — lots of Californians, some New Yorkers and Virginians, and outliers in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Florida — talked with cousins in four places in Israel and the posh cousin who lives in Nice but happened to be in Zagreb.
The Israeli cousins seem to be in good spirits and relative safety. Kinneret joked about the yapping dogs in her Tel Aviv bomb shelter.
Her older sister, L’vov, noted that the babies have to nap in the bomb shelter as a routine precaution, even though she lives in the north, a good distance from the border with Lebanon. Many of their neighbors’ families have a member serving in the military, so there are many parents — mostly women — shouldering childcare on their own.
My Israeli cousins seem confident that peace will return and uncertain about the political situation. One cousin said he thought Netanyahu is secure until the war is over. They were, perhaps, a bit surprised at the divisions over the war among Democrats in the US.
I am relieved that they are safe.
We didn’t discuss the recent revelation that Israeli intelligence had details of Hamas’s plan for October 7 over a year ago. There was only a matter-of-fact acknowledgment that Israel’s offensive in Gaza had resumed.
The offensive that began on Friday has already killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza and knocked out telecommunications there. Aid is no longer reaching people in Gaza. Everybody deserves to be safe.
Our nation paid for the Iron Dome that protects Israelis and has provided military aid to Israel without conditions.
Tell Congress that they must recognize Palestinians’ humanity and human rights. This action is from Rashida Tlaib for Congress.
Tlaib’s campaign notes that
On average, 500-700 children are detained by Israeli forces every year. According to Israel’s largest human rights organization B’Tselem, prior to October 7, the Israeli government was holding 1,310 Palestinian civilians in “administrative detention”—without charge, trial, or access to an attorney. That number has increased rapidly since the outbreak of this violence.
The masses of people who are held in jails without having been convicted of a crime are a familiar issue in the US and in NYC, in particular.
In total, 28 [Department of Correction] detainees have died since Mayor Eric Adams was inaugurated in January 2022, and the city's jail system had its highest detainee death rate in a quarter-century last year. That's in addition to numerous reports of violence, drug smuggling and shoddy supervision of people detained at the complex.
Likewise, the treatment and housing of refugees is shambolic here in New York. Just this evening, the Comptroller for New York City, Brad Lander, stripped the mayor of his emergency powers because of high-priced no-bid contracts —with companies racked by scandal — for migrant shelter and services. The mayor will now have to get the Comptroller’s sign-off.
The grievous treatment of migrants is particularly galling, given the excessive spending. The 30-day limit on shelter stays coupled with the shortage of beds has created an overnight camp on East 7th Street for migrants waiting to reapply for another shelter.
The city government is not functioning well under this administration. And still, good people are stepping into the void to care for migrants.
Support EVLoves NYC, a nonprofit that has been feeding the folks waiting for shelter.
with love,
L