Dear friends,
Yesterday, I went to a protest on purpose. It has been easy enough to stumble into them here in New York.
The meet-up did not happen in Bryant Park as planned, since the park was overrun by a holiday market. I listened for the crowd, which gathered on the steps of the main building of the New York Public Library, roaring for justice and an end to the war.
Watch A Safe Space for Gaza’s Children.
President Joe Biden is facing a great deal of pressure from millions of protesters around the world, 80 percent of Democratic voters, over 500 Biden campaign alumni, OxFam, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, 25 Arab and Jewish peace groups in Israel, and 18 United Nations agencies to call for a ceasefire.
I left the link in the passage above, particularly because members of Congress are not reflecting the will of the people.
There are considerable objections to US support for the war in Israel. Hundreds of people protested a Becca Balint fundraiser in Burlington, Vermont last night. There have been protests outside the offices of other representatives, and of course, mass protest at the capitol.
And in 2018, Marc Lamont Hill, a pro-Palestinian political commentator and professor at Temple University, was fired from a role at CNN after he used the “From the river [to the sea, Palestine will be free]” phrase in a speech at the United Nations. Hill subsequently apologized for using the phrase.
More recently, he has questioned the idea that the phrase calls for Israel’s destruction, pointing to its usage by some Israelis.
“You say ‘River to the Sea’ is ‘universally’ understood to mean the destruction of the Jewish State? On what basis do you make this claim? Did it signify destruction when it was the slogan of the Likud Party? Or when currently used by the Israeli Right? Or even liberal Zionists?” he wrote on X in September.
Read the full story in The Times of Israel.
The so-called humanitarian pauses in hostility are insufficient and potentially suspect.
Israel plans to pause military operations in northern Gaza for four hours per day, at random times — nominally so residents can flee to safety, but this could also be described as expelling Palestinians from their homes.
Contact your Congressional Delegation to call for a ceasefire.
with love,
L