Category: Activism

The Silence of the Damned

The Silence of the Damned is the title of an article written by Chris Hedges yesterday. It is devastating reading. The title says it all. Here are a few excerpts.

Robert Jay Lifton in his book “The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide” writes that “genocidal projects require the active participation of educated professionals — physicians, scientists, engineers, military leaders, lawyers, clergy, university professors and other teachers — who combine to create not only the technology of genocide but much of its ideological rationale, moral climate, and organizational process.”…

There is a cost to denouncing this genocide, a cost they (U S Medical Schools and organizations) do not intend to pay. They fear being attacked. They fear destroying their careers. They fear losing funding. They fear a loss of status. They fear persecution. They fear social isolation. This fear makes them complicit…

The danger is not only that the Israeli crimes are denounced. The danger, more importantly, is that the moral bankruptcy and cowardice of the institutions and their leaders are exposed…

The dehumanization of Palestinians is lifted from the playbook of all settler colonial projects, including our own. This racism, where people of color are branded as “human animals,” is coded within the DNA of our institutions. It infects those chosen to lead these institutions. It lies at the core of our national identity. It is why the two ruling parties and the institutions that sustain them side with Israel. It feeds the perverted logic of funneling weapons and billions of dollars in support to sustain Israel’s occupation and genocide.

History will not judge us kindly. But it will revere those who, under siege, found the courage to say no.

The Silence of the Damned. Our Leading Humanitarian and Civic Institutions, Including Major Medical Institutions, Refuse to Denounce Israel’s Genocide in Gaza by Chris Hedges, Scheer Post, February 1, 2024

There is a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, and despair in the face of the horrors of the Israeli-Hamas war.

Coming of age in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, I witnessed and was part of the massive antiwar movement in this country. But for the past several decades I’ve wondered what happened to the antiwar movement. A movement sorely needed in these times. I’m beginning to understand that the antiwar movement has morphed into the movement to build resilient, Mutual Aid communities.

As I’ve been writing about resilience and Mutual Aid recently, I see more clearly that resilience is not only a way to prepare for the future but also a way to build better communities now. That includes the way to break the cycle of war.

It might seem counterintuitive to work locally in the face of global war and disaster, but I believe that is the only effective thing we can do now.

“Ain’t Gonna Study War No More” by Jeff Kisling, Polycrisis Center, 11/11/2023

In January 2020, just before I joined, Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by a drone strike in Baghdad.

Des Moines Mutual Aid Anti-war Actions

In January 2020, Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by drone strike in Baghdad.

That was an example of the principle to think globally, act locally.

January 3, 2024

Now there is the tragic news of many people who attended the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death being killed by explosives.

Now there have been two explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a ceremony in Iran on Wednesday to commemorate commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020, Iranian officials said, blaming unspecified “terrorists”.

Iranian state television reported a first and then a second blast after 20 minutes during a crowded fourth-anniversary event at the cemetery where Soleimani is buried in the southeastern city of Kerman.

Blasts kill nearly 100 at slain commander Soleimani’s memorial, Iran vows revenge by Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, January 3, 2024

January 4, 2024

Yesterday a US airstrike killed an Iran-linked militia commander in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — A U.S. airstrike here on Thursday killed an Iran-linked militia commander and risked accelerating the regional fallout from Washington’s support for Israel’s military operation in Gaza, even as the Biden administration scrambles to contain the bloodshed.

While the United States has targeted militia-affiliated locations in Iraq and Syria several times in recent months, an American operation in such a central location of Iraq’s capital is exceedingly rare. Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba falls under the command of the Iraqi army, which responded swiftly — and in anger — saying agreements between Baghdad and Washington had been violated.

U.S. strike in Baghdad raises specter of wider regional war. Iraq says the strike violated agreements between Baghdad and Washington. The Pentagon described it as ‘necessary’ and ‘proportionate.’ By Mustafa Salim, Louisa Loveluck, Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton, The Washington Post, January 4, 2024

Biden Administration Bypasses Congress

The Biden administration has bypassed Congress twice to approve emergency weapons sales to Israel. The first instance was a sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million. The second instance involved a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges, and primers, needed to make the 155 mm shells that Israel had already purchased functional.

The Biden administration once again bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel by By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press, 12/30/2024

Gen. Qassem Soleimani assassinated 1/3/2020

The United States killed a high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force with a drone strike in Iraq early Friday, the Department of Defense said.

“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad,” the department said in a statement announcing the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s military forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere throughout the Middle East.

U.S. airstrike kills top Iran general, Qassem Soleimani, at Baghdad airport by By Phil Helsel, Ken Dilanian and Josh Lederman, NBC News, January 3, 2020

Now I understand that working for peace today is to work for justice in oppressed communities in our own country.

Where is the peace movement now?

After the Vietnam War, it seemed the peace movement in this country had died. Now I understand that working for peace today is to work for justice in oppressed communities in our own country. In this photo, I’m holding a sign related to Black Lives Matter (circa 2016). It took a while for others at the peace vigil to become comfortable with the divergence from the usual anti-war emphasis.

Although the West’s imperialism is not new, the U.S. is increasingly viewed as a global evil Empire. The most recent example, of course, is the Biden administration’s continuing massive support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Even bypassing Congress to send more military aid.

And on the global stage is the outrage of seeing the U.S. block the United Nations call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Des Moines Mutual Aid protests the assassination of Qassem Soleimani (2020)

A Love Letter to Y’all

One year ago yesterday Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by drone strike in Baghdad.

This was our first “public” event since adopting the name Des Moines Mutual Aid, a name we gave our crew during our growing work with our relatives at the houseless camps throughout the city and our help with coordinating a weekly free grocery store that has a 50 year history, founded by the Des Moines Chapter of The Black Panther Party For Self Defense.

A year ago we started laying the foundation for work we had no idea what was coming.

As we were adjusting our work with the camps and grocery re-distribution in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, both that continued to grow in need and importance, the police continued their jobs and legacy of brutality and murder.

This nation exploded in righteous rage in response to the pig murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

DMMA realized we were in a position to organize a bail fund to keep our fighters out of jail, both to keep the streets alive as a new phase of The Movement was being born, and because jails are a hotspot of COVID-19 spread.

Not to mention the racial and economic oppression that is the cash bail system.

In the past year, DMMA has expanded its work in multiple directions and gained many partners and allies.

We partnered with the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement (@DesMoinesBLM) to create the DSM BLM Rent Relief initiative to help keep families in their homes in the midst of a pandemic and the winter.

The camp work has grown exponentially but is being managed with our collaboration with Edna Griffin Mutual Aid (@egma_dsm), DSM Black Liberation Movement (@DesMoinesBLM), and The Great Plains Action Society (@PlainsAction).

The bail fund remains successful because of desire from the public and a partnership with Prairielands Freedom Fund (@prairielandsff) (formerly The Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project).

The weekly free food store has maintained itself, carrying on the legacy it inherited.

Every one of our accomplishments are directly tied to the support of so many people donating time, talent, and funds to the work. We are overwhelmed with all of your support and hope you feel we are honoring what we promised.

All of these Mutual Aid projects are just a few of many that this city has created in the last year in response to the many crises we face, not only confronting the problems and fulfilling the needs directly in front of us, but creating a sustainable movement that will be capable of responding to what’s next and shaping our collective futures as we replace the systems that fail us.

These last 12 months have been wild and a real test of all of our capabilities to collectively organize.

But it is clear that we as a city have what it takes to do what is needed in 2021, no matter what crisis is next.

Much gratitude to you all.
In love and rage,
Des Moines Mutual Aid
January 6, 2021

Friends Committee on National Legislation

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a national, nonpartisan organization that lobbies Congress for peace, justice, and environmental stewardship.

FCNL has an 80-year-old history of bringing the concerns of Quakers and Quaker meetings to the US Congress. The following four principles guide this work.

https://www.fcnl.org/about/world-we-seek

I have been blessed to be involved in the work of FCNL in a number of ways over the years. For nine years I was a member of the General Committee, which meets annually to help determine what priorities FCNL’s lobbyists should bring to Congress. One of the unique aspects of FCNL’s approach is to train Quakers and others how to lobby Congress themselves. I’m second from the right at this visit to a Congressperson’s office.

Training sessions for FCNL Advocacy are provided online monthly. The next session will be January 18, 2024. You can register here: Intro to Advocacy with FCNL

Following are several updates I’d like to share about FCNL’s work.

Addressing Patterns of Racial Wounding and Racial Justice in Quaker Communities

Join FCNL’s Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson, both members of the Steering Committee of the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism, online for Pendle Hill’s First Monday lecture on Jan. 8, 2024.

Members of the Steering Committee of the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism believed they had a responsibility to name the pain from patterns of white supremacy culture and racism that they have experienced, witnessed, and heard throughout the Religious Society of Friends and associated organizations. To that end, they created a guide with examples of harm and interventions towards racial justice. This guide, inspired by the work of Tema Okun and several Quaker institutions, points to the ways that they see white supremacy culture weaving its way into Quaker culture and suggests methods to disrupt it.

In this lecture, Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson will share ways that the guide has been and can be used in Quaker communities.

You can view that guide here: https://friendsgc.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Racial-Wounding-and-Racial-Justice-In-Quaker-Communities-Guide.pdf

Register for the event here: https://pendlehill.org/events/addressing-patterns-of-racial-wounding-and-racial-justice-in-quaker-communities/

Virtual Witness Wednesday Silent Reflection

FCNL hosts a Virtual Witness Wednesday Silent Reflection. This event is in line with the Quaker practice of silent worship. It’s an opportunity for participants to join virtually via Zoom or by phone for a period of shared reflection.

I’ve been attending Witness Wednesday for several years, (including yesterday) and find it to be a powerful way to reflect on faith, peace, and justice work. I highly recommend it. Simply use this link to attend online any Wednesday at 4:15 pm Central time. http://fcnl.org/ww-stream

Spring Lobby Weekend

Spring Lobby Weekend brings hundreds of young adults to Washington, DC, where they learn about a specific issue, and then actually go to their Congressional offices to lobby related to that issue.

Several years ago my good friend Rezadad Mohammadi attended one spring lobby weekend. The next year he organized a group of fellow students at Simpson College to attend, successfully obtaining funding from the College to help with expenses. If you know of young adults who might be interested, please share this with them.

In March 2024, hundreds of young adults will gather again for Spring Lobby Weekend—our young adult advocacy conference and day of action. This year, we’ll be lobbying Congress to address the harmful legacy of the Indian Boarding School era.

We know that our strength comes from the stories we tell and the community we build, so we hope that you will join us March 16-19, 2024—in Washington, D.C. or online—to advocate for change!

Please check this page for more updates in the coming weeks. If you are not already signed up for our Young Adult Program updates, please sign up here to receive emails about Spring Lobby Weekend 2024.

https://www.fcnl.org/events/spring-lobby-weekend-2024

Reproductive Health Care and Abortion

In an example of how FCNL engages with Quaker communities in this country, FCNL asked Quaker meetings about their views regarding reproductive health and abortion. This came about because there are different beliefs about abortion among Quakers, so FCNL did not have a policy related to that. But with the recent national debate about abortion, FCNL asked Quakers to share what they thought about this issue today. Following is the statement that came out of this national discussion among Quakers.

The War in Israel-Palestine

Working for peace has always been a fundamental belief among Quakers. “We seek a world free of war and the threat of war” is one of the guiding principles of FCNL.

We are heartbroken by the violence in Israel and Palestine. As Quakers, we deeply mourn the loss of all lives and pray for those who have lost loved ones due to this latest escalation. We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ attacks and inhumane treatment of civilians and call for the release of all hostages. We also condemn Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza that has claimed thousands of civilian lives. More war and weapons won’t bring peace. In the face of growing violence, lawmakers must push for a permanent ceasefire and address the root causes underlying this explosion of violence.

https://www.fcnl.org/issues/middle-east-iran/israelpalestine/israel-palestine-war

Following is a statement calling for a ceasefire from the national Quaker organizations.

https://www.fcnl.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/quaker-statement-10-17-23.pdf

Latest Israel-Gaza Updates

Calling for a Ceasefire: Advocacy Toolkit

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Even Before the Gaza War, Equality was a Radical Thought in Israel

DECEMBER 18, 2023

INKSTICK 

Senator Sanders’ New Resolution Could Force U.S. to Confront Any Complicity in Civilian Harm in Gaza

DECEMBER 18, 2023

JUST SECURITY 

A Muslim and a Jew Walk into a Quaker Office: On Identity and Solidarity for Peace

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Talking about the Israel-Palestine War in Your Community

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

As we bear witness and lobby in solidarity with Native Americans, we also honor the Nacotchtank tribe on whose ancestral land the FCNL, FCNL Education Fund, and Friends Place on Capitol Hill buildings stand. They are also known as the Anacostans, the Indigenous people who lived along the banks of the Anacostia River, including in several villages on Capitol Hill and what is now Washington, D.C. By the 1700s, the Nacotchtank tribe had merged with other tribes like the Pamunkey and the Piscataway, both of which still exist today.

Peace on Earth?

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:14

I am deeply distressed by the dichotomy between ‘peace on earth, good will toward men’ and the blatant opposition to that by the forces of global dominance. I cannot fathom the massacre in Gaza and the silence of the people in this country. The overwhelming majority of people in other countries are not silent.

This has been the pattern that began when the Europeans landed. The enslavement of those brought here from Africa continues with economic injustice and mass incarceration. White settler colonialism continues as Indigenous lands remain occupied today.

The rapid rise of authoritarianism is the next stage of dominance over us all.

The silence is astounding.

That silence is ruthlessly enforced, not only against opposition to war but also for the rape of Mother Earth. Or for a reckoning about past injustices such as the Indian schools of forced assimilation or structural racism.

I told my Quaker meeting I have this sense of being threatened by simply writing about these things. Which is proof that authoritarianism is working. Quelling dissent. I wonder if I might be imprisoned one day.

All we are saying is give peace a chance.

John Lennon

The message of Christmas has traditionally involved prayers for goodwill toward all and “peace on Earth,” but through their opposition to ceasefire in Gaza, most Western Christians are affirming the opposite values: that violence, weapons and destruction are the only response to real and perceived enemies.

The U.S. Christian Palestinian communities that I am a part of are truly puzzled at the behavior of the many Western Christians who seem to see no dissonance between the message of love and peace that is at the heart of our shared religion, and their backing for Israeli’s military assault against Palestinian civilians, which has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza alone within the last three months.

Anytime an attack occurs, or lives are lost, we are called to choose between two worldviews in our response. One worldview holds that violence, bombings and brutal force is the only method available and should be pursued relentlessly until the enemy is vanquished, regardless of the cost in lives and destruction for civilians on both sides.

But an alternative worldview insists on the way of peace, reconciliation, justice and tolerance.

Christmas Wishes for “Peace on Earth” Are Empty Without Ceasefire in Gaza. How can so many US Christians sing “peace on Earth” without opposing US support for the genocide unfolding in Gaza? By Jonathan Kuttab , TRUTHOUT, December 25, 2023

United States diplomats once again held up a vote on a watered-down United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday aimed at bringing more aid and relief to civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip as reports of starvation, mass killings, and other war crimes allegedly committed by the Israeli military continue to pile up.

Despite massive international support for a ceasefire at the UN, on December 8, the U.S. blocked a previous attempt by the Security Council to leverage international law and secure a humanitarian ceasefire so more aid can enter Gaza.

Allegations of Israeli War Crimes Grow as US Again Delays Security Council Vote. UNICEF has declared Gaza to be the “world’s most dangerous place to be a child.”
By Mike Ludwig , TRUTHOUT, December 20, 2023

Now shall I walk, or should I ride?

My friends at the Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) have done a lot of work to call out the whitewashed history of Thanksgiving, one of many colonial mythologies about Indigenous Peoples and the founding of the US and Canada, which I wrote about yesterday.

But of course, there is nothing wrong with reflecting on what we are thankful for.

I am grateful for many things.

My first thought went to something I recently heard someone say. That he was a draft resister in the Vietnam War era, and that was the best thing he’d ever done. I was astonished to hear that fifty years later. I know what he was saying because I was a draft resister then, as well. As an 18-year-old, I knew this decision would set the course of my life. It would be easy to accept conscientious objector status and do two years of alternative service. Fortunately, though, I was aware of the stories of many Quaker men I knew who refused to participate in the war machine. Knowing they risked imprisonment and often were. But I saw how that choice defined the rest of their lives.

It was a clear choice that Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, tells so eloquently.

At that same time, I found I had another decision to make. Moving to Indianapolis, I was horrified by the noxious clouds of smog pouring from every tailpipe; this was before catalytic converters covered up the damage being done to Mother Earth. I made another decision that was definitely a road less traveled (so to speak): to live without a car. That was another of the best decisions of my life, defining so much of what happened thereafter. Affecting every day of my life as I was able to witness the wonder of what I was walking through.

So the phrase ‘Now shall I walk, or shall I ride?’ in Metaphors of Movement caught my attention.

The Best Friend

Now shall I walk
Or shall I ride?
“Ride”, Pleasure said;
“Walk”, Joy replied.

William Henry Davies
1871 – 1940

In his 1914 poem The Best Friend, the Welsh poet and occasional vagabond W.H. Davies pondered a timeless question: “Now shall I walk, or should I ride?” This seemingly simple dilemma encapsulates the modern industrial choice between slow-paced ageless wandering on foot or embracing the thrill of motorized transport, along with the attendant speed and freedom it offers, which has become such an integral part of our contemporary lifestyle. It likewise speaks volumes about us and about the nature of the choices we make daily.

Gone perhaps are the days of poetic musings over the merits of walking versus riding. Yet one can’t help but wonder if we have lost something essential along the way—a connection with the world that only a leisurely walk can provide.

C.S. Lewis, while growing up in the outskirts of Belfast, Northern Ireland, counted it among his blessings that his father had no car, so the deadly power of rushing about wherever he pleased had not been given to him. He thus measured distance by the standard of a man walking on his two feet and not by the standard of the internal combustion engine, for it is here where both space and time is annihilated by the deflowering of distance. In return, he possessed “infinite riches” in comparison to what would have been to motorists a “little room.” Key to those riches was what he came to call, and experience throughout life as, “joy,” and walking became a portal through which he sought it. A participatory engagement with life and living which I contend is as vital to our survival as breathing itself. 

Metaphors of Movement by Keith Badger, Parabola, Nov 22, 2023

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

Neil Gaiman

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost
Vietnam War Memorial, Washington, DC (c) 2023 Jeff Kisling

This is a link to my photos of the Vietnam War Memorial. https://jeffkislingphotography.wpcomstaging.com/2023/11/17/washington-dc/nggallery/washington-dc/vietnam-war-memorial

Why I’m going to stop publishing in Quaker spaces

Rather than just leaving Quaker spaces, I’m led to share some reasons.

I didn’t learn much from over fifty years of trying and failing to convince Friends and others to reject the automobile culture. I don’t regret writing almost daily about that and similar things. Writing is a tool that helps me make sense of the world. I’ve never worried about anyone else seeing what I wrote.

The same is true for the past decade’s work to stop the construction of fossil fuel pipelines and related environmental and justice concerns.

I’m forced to realize writing, and public vigils aren’t enough to convince people to change. That only happens from a person’s own lived and spiritual experiences.

I am so blessed to have been led to be part of communities of people of color, Indigenous friends, and those who are building and living in Mutual Aid communities. I wish I could share what I’ve learned in all those places with my White Friends in a way that would be useful to them. I tried to do that with writing, but that wasn’t enough.

Quakers believe how we live our lives should be our example to the world. I’ve tried to be faithful in doing that.

The following is a Link Tree with links to most places where I publish things. The reason for so many is the variety of audiences/subject matter for each link. If you’re interested, I still plan to share writings and photography in most of those places.

You need to go here for the tree with the working links. https://linktr.ee/jeffkisling

https://linktr.ee/jeffkisling

Solidarity with Palestine

What do you think about what is happening in the Middle East?

The mainstream media is siding with Israel. The narrative is anything Israel does is justified in response to the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7. Ignoring 75 years of oppression by Israel against the Palestinian people. Ignoring that Hamas is separate from the Palestinian people.

Empire

Nothing can justify the relentless bombing of Gaza. The United States believes and acts otherwise. Sending U.S. military might to the region. Besides sending additional billions of dollars to Israel, the U.S. has vetoed calls for a ceasefire at the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and to urge humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying it was too early to craft an appropriate Security Council response to the crisis.

US vetoes UN resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Israel-Hamas war by Edith M. Lederer, AP News, Oct 18, 2023

What the U.S. and Israel are doing is a blatant display of empire, which highlights the contrast with those who have been struggling against empire for centuries.

The settler states that dispossess and occupy our lands support Israel in dispossessing and occupying Palestine.

The Red Nation

Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine

The past two weeks of horrific violence in Gaza resulted from 75 years of Israeli settler colonial dispossession, 56 years of military occupation, and 16 years of an open-air prison for 2.2 million people, half of whom are children. The atrocities of the Israeli apartheid regime in Palestine are relentless, illegal under international law, and consistent with settler-colonial projects globally.

The settler states that dispossess and occupy our lands support Israel in dispossessing and occupying Palestine.

Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine by The Red Nation, October 27, 2023

132 Indigenous activists, artists, and intellectuals, including WPLC Executive Director Natali Segovia, condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians. They call for an end to U.S. and Canadian military aid to Israel, an immediate ceasefire, uplifting the Palestinian call to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Israel and Israeli institutions complicit in apartheid and settler colonialism, freedom for political prisoners, land back, and the right of return.

Water Protector Legal Collective

https://www.facebook.com/WaterProtectorLegal/posts/734171448753298/
Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine by The Red Nation, October 27, 2023

Solidarity from Des Moines Mutual Aid and Des Moines Black Liberation Movement Collective

…to issue solidarity statements and Mutual Aid for Palestine and organize Mutual Aid for Gaza

Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine, The Red Nation

FCNL’s “Calling for a Ceasefire: Israel-Palestine Briefing”

Over one thousand people registered for FCNL’s “Calling for a Ceasefire: Israel-Palestine Briefing” held last night.

I encourage you to watch the powerful and informative briefing recording below. FCNL’s General Secretary, Bridget Moix, led the discussion with three panelists: Joyce Ajlouny, AFSC General Secretary; Odeliya Matter, FCNL program assistant for the Middle East Policy team, and Hassan El-Tayyab, FCNL’s Legislative Director for Middle East Policy.

As you heard this evening, our collective advocacy is working to shift the conversation and open up space for calls to end the violence. But we need your help to continue building momentum for a ceasefire to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and other hostages. We also need your help to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach those in dire need.

Take Action

What Actions Will You Take?

Please click the link below to tell us what action(s) you want to take and what kind of support (if any) you need. Your voice is vital to us as we continue to advocate for a ceasefire. You can also email us at Lobby@fcnl.org.

Take Action

Sincerely,
Bridget Moix
General Secretary

The U.S. Must Act to De-Escalate the Violence in Israel and Palestine

51856 actions taken

We are heartbroken by the recent violence in Israel and Gaza. As Quakers, we deeply mourn the loss of all lives and pray for those who have lost loved ones due to this latest escalation. We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ attacks and inhumane treatment of civilians and call for the immediate release of all hostages. We also condemn the indiscriminate and violent Israeli response that has already claimed hundreds of civilian lives.

More war and weapons won’t bring peace. In the face of growing violence, lawmakers must:

  • Work to de-escalate this situation by calling for restraint, ceasefire, de-escalation, and respect for international law.
  • Protect lives—those of the Israeli hostages and the roughly 1 million children who live in Gaza.
  • Address the root causes underlying this explosion of violence, including decades of institutionalized oppression and collective punishment of Palestinians through brutal military occupation and a 16-year Gaza blockade.

Urge Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire, de-escalation, and restraint to prevent further civilian harm in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Take Action

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Transcript of the video above, FCNL: Calling for a Ceasefire: Israel-Palestine Briefing.

10-25-23_calling_for_ceasefire_israel-palestine_briefing_chatcontentsDownload

The second question

What questions do you ask these days? Ask yourself or others? Are you brave enough to ask anything at all? Such as what can we do about accelerating authoritarianism? Runaway global burning? Why is the US complicit in the Israeli carpet bombing of Gaza? These things can only happen if authority is not questioned. There is a palpable sense of fear for anyone to question empire today. People who question are beaten, jailed, killed.

Yesterday I wrote about asking the right questions. As a spiritual person, I have been, and believe I will continue to receive answers from the Spirit or Inner Light. I appreciate the spirituality of the following.

From my career in medical research, the first thing I learned was the most important thing is to ask the right questions.

So, during a recent discussion about Quakers and the Indian Boarding Schools, I recognized the significance of the question that was asked, “how can we decolonize ourselves?” Prior to that, we were lost as we tried to understand our ancestor’s involvement in those institutions. It seemed the subtext of the question is “is it even possible to decolonize ourselves?” Which I tried to answer yesterday.

That question immediately brought to mind something that I had heard the Indigenous spiritual leader, Arkan Lushwala, say.

The answer to “what can I do?”

“Everywhere people ask, “what can we do?”
The question, what can we do, is the second question.
The first question is “what can we be?”
Because what you can do is a consequence of who you are.
Once you know what you can be, you know what you can do.”

Arkan Lushwala

Speaking about what is happening on Earth right now,
many of the conditions of life that we used to take for granted,
now are really out of balance.
Hopefully we still have time to get back into balance
so life may continue.
I travel around the world and meet people and talk to people
from all different cultures.
And everywhere people ask, “what can we do?”
The question, what can we do, is the second question.
The first question is “what can we be?”
Because what you can do is a consequence of who you are.
Once you know what you can be, you know what you can do,
and we cannot afford wasting time;
we have little time.
We need to be precise now.
When someone sincerely asks, “what can I do?”
my humble answer,
the only answer that I find in my heart to be sincere is,
“First find out what you can be.”
Action is extremely necessary at this time.
This is not a time just to talk about it.
The most spiritual thing now is action.
To do something about what’s happening.
To go help where help is needed.
To stand up when we need to stand up,
and protect what is being damaged.
And still, this action needs to be born
from a place in ourselves that has real talent,
real intelligence, real power,
real connection to the heart of the Earth,
to universal wisdom,
so, our actions are not a waste of time.
So, our actions are precise,
our actions are in harmony with the movement,
the sacred movement,
of that force that wants to renew life here on Earth
and make it better for the following generations.

Arkan Lushwala

Arkan says we are facing life threatening situations related to environmental damage.  We are facing such severe challenges that we cannot solve them only by ourselves.

We must move beyond thinking and talking. Action now is essential.

Action is spiritual.

We need to practice trying to reach our sacred space. We need a higher universal intelligence to help solve these problems.

We must open a sacred space for prayer so we may be open to the warrior spirit.

The importance of prayer.

  • We pray as a form of connecting to other forms of communication
  • We need to be aware of what is happening in the moment, elevate ourselves, move closer to the sacred
  • I first have to reach deep into my own heart

You start praying while you are also listening. I become aware of, remembering, what I pray about at that moment. We need to rely on our own ancient indigenous memory. Stop being isolated. Fully become part of the earth and water and plants and air. This is an immense source of knowledge about these problems.

I am in front of the sacred fire of all who are listening. Let’s say that I am thinking now. I am remembering. The notion of intelligence and to understand refers to memory. Intelligence means learning, but also achieving that state in your mind when you are remembering. The air that we are breathing carries the memories of the ages, the movement of energy. Deepest intelligence in our culture is memory. There are always memories of the ages in all that surrounds us.

The state of being, the prayer, makes us open to receiving. If we are really open, and not blocking ourselves, and connected to what is around us, with our eyes, breath, sensations, and feeling that arrive in our heart, through our antenna, if we are open in this way while we are doing something, our action is being infused with guidance or instructions. There is something there that is watching what you are doing and helping guide you. Sometimes we need the help of the elders or others to understand these experiences.

We ask for help. When we put ourselves in that elevated space, that makes it much easier for us to receive help. Help is always there but we often miss the messages.

If I am open and receptive to other frequencies and the higher state of my being, I’ll have much more help in my work.

The correct way is not to take credit, but the joy is the moment itself, by feeling integrated to life while you are doing the action.

When we sit with others in a circle, when we all change the state of our being together, we move up to the sacred together. Working with others in community, much, much more can be accomplished.

If a person expresses an experience that is from a sacred space of high resonance, I am activated by that. It resonates in my own heart and mind and spirit, and it triggers my memory, too. by the presence of something sacred.

We sit in a circle and witness someone remembering. We receive the same spirit together. Our individual self and agenda slips away. Joining our hearts. Mother Earth is the One, all of us become the One together. A lot of wisdom comes south. We are all impressed by the presence of something sacred.

It is becoming clearer and clearer, with every passing day, that walking a prayerful, peaceful spiritual path is the only way forward to a just, sustainable, and harmonious world.”

Prophecies, Unprecedented Change and the Emergence of a New Global Civilization, 2017-2020, WALKING THE RED ROAD·TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2016

Asking the right questions

Today there is a lot of attention on what were called the Indian Boarding Schools in the U.S. and Canada. This is in large part because of the uncovering of remains of children on the grounds of many of those institutions using ground-penetrating radar. These searches began in order to document the known history of native children dying or being killed at these schools. Thousands of remains have been found, and the searches continue.

Stories about this are beginning to be told in many mainstream news articles, films, and books.

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is an excellent source of information.

The New York Times recently published this extensive multimedia story, ‘WAR AGAINST THE CHILDREN’. The Native American boarding school system — a decades-long effort to assimilate Indigenous people before they ever reached adulthood — robbed children of their culture, family bonds and sometimes their lives. By Zach Levitt, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Simon Romero and Tim Wallace, The New York Times, Aug. 30, 2023

The Department of the Interior is investigating under the leadership of Secretary Deb Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo.

Quaker Indian Boarding Schools

This is causing a lot of soul-searching in Quaker communities because some of those institutions were run by Quakers. My friend Paula Palmer published the article Quaker Indian Boarding Schools. Facing Our History and Ourselves, in Friends Journal, October 1, 2016

In this image at Scattergood Friends School are those of us who helped Paula Palmer (third from the right) give presentations and workshops related to her work, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples.

I was ignorant of this history until about a decade ago. But since then, this has become a focus of my prayers and work. I’ve written a lot about what I’ve been learning. https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/forced-assimilation/.

I’ve sought opportunities to find ways to build relationships with Indigenous people because we cannot begin to heal until we all come together and begin to know one another. This is a list of what I have learned from spending time in Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) communities. Offered in the hope that many more people begin to make these connections.

This takes a real commitment to spend a lot of time in diverse communities. Until I recently moved from Iowa, I joyfully participated in our (Des Moines Mutual Aid) free food project every Saturday morning for over three years. Over that time I heard every one of my friends say these Saturday mornings were the highlight of their week. Every person became a close friend.

This takes a real commitment to keep showing up, even when we make mistakes, which I did, and you undoubtedly will. But showing our vulnerabilities is an important part of building trust. Showing we are willing to risk awkwardness.

How do we decolonize ourselves?

During a recent discussion, a Friend asked, how do we decolonize ourselves? I believe this is one of the right questions to ask. This changes the focus from what our ancestors might have done and directs it to “what we can do now?” The question correctly begins from the point that we are colonized.

Decolonizing Quakers

A group of North American Friends, Decolonizing Quakers explores these questions and offers resources for our education.

The Stories We Weren’t Told

Many Quakers have learned that our Quaker ancestors and predecessors had good relationships with the Indigenous peoples who were on this continent when Quakers arrived from England and other European lands. We have read about how William Penn was respectful of the Native people and offered to pay “rent” for the land occupied by the new settlement that became Philadelphia. We have heard about Quaker missionaries who went out to “help” Native children learn the ways of European Christians.

There are threads of truth in these stories and others that we tell ourselves, but those small threads are too weak to tie together a benign story. As we look with open eyes at the history that white, European, Christian settlers and Indigenous peoples walked through since the time of “first contact,” we can’t help but see a different picture. In truth, we must acknowledge that Quakers participated in — and sometimes led — attempts to force Indigenous people to assimilate into an inflexible mold that fit the vision that Quakers shared with other white, European, Christian settlers.

This website offers resources to help all of us set aside the myths that come between us — as settlers and Indigenous peoples –and to find joy in knowing all our relatives better and more honestly.

Decolonizing Quakers https://www.decolonizingquakers.org/

Mutual Aid is a way to decolonize ourselves

A fundamental part of the answer to how we can decolonize ourselves is to understand that colonization is a hierarchy of power. In the simplest terms, in our society, White supremacy. To decolonize ourselves, we must work to eliminate hierarchies and their resulting power structures.

It was a leading of the Spirit that connected me with Ronnie James, an Indigenous organizer who is part of the Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) nearly four years ago. His work on Mutual Aid is supported by GPAS. Mutual Aid is a key method of the Great Plains Action Society’s Mechanism of Engagement. (https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/mutual-aid/)

There is often a tepid response when I talk about Mutual Aid. The key to understanding the radical nature of Mutual Aid is showing this is not just another social justice idea. Mutual Aid is a fundamentally different way to live and relate to each other. There are hierarchies in even the most progressive organizations. Which means they perpetuate dominance, which leads to oppression.

Mutual Aid is a total break from that. It is a revolutionary way to be.

In the Midwest you can find information on the Iowa Mutual Aid Network website: https://iowamutualaid.org/