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

A resolution to force the U. S. to reckon with its complicity

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced S.Res.504, which requests information on Israel’s human rights practices under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 that regulates the provision of U.S. foreign aid to other countries. The references to Section 502 in what follows are sections of the Foreign Assistance Act.

Although some of the following refers to Saudi Arabia, the same is being applied to Israel now.

Section 502B also allows Congress to request a targeted report on a specific country’s human rights situation and to pass a joint resolution to continue, restrict, or terminate security assistance to that country. Section 502B is a tool that Congress can use to enforce human rights standards and to re-evaluate the U.S. relationship with countries that violate them.

The central prohibition of Section 502B(a) bans the provision of U.S. security assistance “to any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” Section 502B defines gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, and the same definition applies for the purpose of the Leahy Law. Based on the Section 502B definition the State Department classifies “torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, and rape under color of law” as gross violations of human rights in the context of Leahy vetting. However, Section 502B(d) includes “other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person” as a gross violation of human rights
A Long-Forgotten Law Could Force the U.S. to Re-Evaluate its Relationship with Saudi Arabia by John Ramming Chappell, Just Security, March 29, 2023

bills-118sres504is Download

The Washington Post has published an interactive presentation; Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza.

The Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip has been unlike any other in the 21st century.

In response to the unprecedented assault by Hamas on Oct. 7, Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion that began 20 days later have destroyed large swaths of the besieged territory, killed at least 20,057 people and displaced a vast majority of the population.

The most ferocious attacks have come from the air, flattening entire city blocks and cratering the landscape.

“There’s no safe space. Period,” said Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who visited Gaza on Dec. 4. “I haven’t passed one street where I didn’t see destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.”

The war has wounded more than 53,320 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 7,700 Palestinian children have been killed, and women and children make up around 70 percent of the dead, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which also says that 1.9 million people have been displaced, equivalent to 85 percent of the population. The vast majority of Gazan civilians fleeing the invasion are not allowed by Israel and Egypt to leave.

“The scale of Palestinian civilian deaths in such a short period of time appears to be the highest such civilian casualty rate in the 21st century,” said Michael Lynk, who served as the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2016 to 2022.
Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza. The damage in Gaza has outpaced other recent conflicts, evidence shows. Israel has dropped some of the largest bombs commonly used today near hospitals. by Evan Hill, Imogen Piper, Meg Kelly and Jarrett Ley, The Washington Post, December 23, 2023

I made these two graphics using an artificial intelligence graphics program.

(c)2023 Jeff Kisling. Artificial intelligence generated image

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