[ Reader Comments: Ceasefire, Humanitarian Pause, Stop the
Bombing, Free the Hostages; Stop Ethnic Cleansing; Israel an Apartheid
State; Labor Victories This Year; New Film - ISRAELISM documentary;
Strategies to Build Progressive Political Power; more]
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TIDBITS – NOV. 9, 2023 – READER COMMENTS: CEASEFIRE, HUMANITARIAN
PAUSE, STOP BOMBING, FREE HOSTAGES; STOP ETHNIC CLEANSING; ISRAELI
APARTHEID; LABOR VICTORIES THIS YEAR; NEW FILM – ISRAELISM
DOCUMENTARY; BUILDING PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL POWER;  
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November 9, 2023
xxxxxx
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_ Reader Comments: Ceasefire, Humanitarian Pause, Stop the Bombing,
Free the Hostages; Stop Ethnic Cleansing; Israel an Apartheid State;
Labor Victories This Year; New Film - ISRAELISM documentary;
Strategies to Build Progressive Political Power; more _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons -
Nov. 9, 2023, xxxxxx

 

* HUMANITARIAN PAUSE  --  CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS
* NO MORE TERRORISTS  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON
* RE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CALL ISRAEL AN APARTHEID STATE?  (STEVEN
GOLDSMITH; JUDITH PASTERNAK; SONIA COBBINS; ARLENE HALFON)
* A SIMPLE SOLUTION  --  CARTOON BY MIKE LUCKOVICH
* RE: WHEN ‘NEVER AGAIN’ BECOMES A WAR CRY  (SAM FRIEDMAN)
* RE: PAST LIES ABOUT WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE GETTING IN THE WAY
OF THE TRUTH TODAY  (LAWRENCE BLUM)
* IF ONLY -  CARTOON BY MATT WUERKER
* RE: DESPITE INTIMIDATION, UNION VOICES GET LOUDER FOR CEASEFIRE IN
GAZA  (DAVID BACON)
* RE: U.S. DIPLOMATS SLAM ISRAEL POLICY IN LEAKED MEMO  (ANDREA
JONES KLEIN)
* RE: THE INVISIBLE SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
 (SOLIDARITYINFOSERVICE)
* WAR AND JUSTICE  --  CARTOON BY MUSA GUMUS
* IF YOU'RE KEEPING SCORE  --  MEME FROM SERVICE EMPLOYEES
INTERNATIONAL UNION (SEIU)
* RE: TRADE UNIONIST HARRY BRIDGES REMADE THE LABOR MOVEMENT  (NORA
LAPIN)
* DEEP BREATHS  --  CARTOON BY CHRISTOPHER WEYANT

MODERATOR'S NOTE:  THERE WILL BE NO TIDBITS NEXT

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* FILM SCREENING - ISRAELISM DOCUMENTARY - NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14
 (THE HUNTER COLLEGE FILM & MEDIA DEPARTMENT AND COSPONSORED BY THE
ARABIC PROGRAM AT HUNTER COLLEGE)

* STRATEGIES TO BUILD PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL POWER - ONLINE - DECEMBER
2  (MASSACHUSETTS PROGRESSIVE ACTION ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (OUR
REVOLUTION MASSACHUSETTS, PROGRESSIVE MASSACHUSETTS, PROGRESSIVE
DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA, MASSACHUSETTS PEACE ACTION, AND NORTH AMERICAN
INDIAN CENTER OF BOSTON) AND BY ACT ON MASS, INDIVISIBLE MASS, AND
FRANKLIN COUNTY CONTINUING THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION)

HUMANITARIAN PAUSE  --  CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS

 

Rob Rogers
November 6, 2023
robrogers.com [[link removed]]

NO MORE TERRORISTS  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON

Nick Anderson
November 1, 2023
Pen Strokes [[link removed]]

RE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CALL ISRAEL AN APARTHEID STATE?  

your great article doesn't mention Jimmy Carter's book on Israel and
Apartheid

good to let people know that this is not just a term of the left

Thank you for your work

Steven Goldsmith, President, Torrance Refinery Action Alliance

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Brava, Ellen! Lucid and perfectly delineated.

Judith Pasternak

      =====

Ta Nehisi Coates visited Palestine. He says before he went the most
common words he heard to describe the situation of the Palestinians
was "complex" or "complicated." The history is complicated and worth
understanding. But the conditions now are not. It's very simple to
him, and familiar.  

[[link removed]]  

Watch here [[link removed]]

Sonia Cobbins
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

From what I understand, the Israel-Palestine situation meets the
International definition of "Apartheid" but it also meets the
International definition of "Genocide."

Apartheid is best known for South Africa; people were separated by
demographics but they were kept alive because they were needed to work
for the White South Africans.

The Israel-Palestine situation is closer to that of the now US and
Native Americans. The Native Americans were occupied by people from a
foreign country, were driven into smaller and smaller spaces and those
who wouldn't move were murdered. They weren't needed for their labor
and so didn't have to be kept alive: In the case of Native Americans,
they had a steady stream of new immigrants arriving who could be used
for the dirty work. When they fought back, they were called "savages"
and "barbarian" and it was also demonstrated in our old Cowboy and
Indian movies.

In the case of Israel, the "foreigners" who arrived first were
"Ashkenazi" and from Europe, mostly Eastern Europe. They had the
"Sephardi" and "Mizrachi" Jews arriving from Asian and African
countries, to do the dirty work. In both cases, the goal was
"genocide". The present situation demonstrates what the goal always
was.

Arlene Halfon

A SIMPLE SOLUTION  --  CARTOON BY MIKE LUCKOVICH  

Mike Luckovich
November 1, 2023
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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RE: WHEN ‘NEVER AGAIN’ BECOMES A WAR CRY  

I want to thank the authors for this excellent article. I myself have
written and spoken along similar lines about what is happening.

I want to add an additional insight. It is not just Israel that calls
its victims Nazis in order to make war on them and attempt to destroy
them as people and as a nation. Russia has been doing this in relation
to Ukraine for many years, and some parts of the US left have bought
into their narrative on this.

Sam Friedman

RE: PAST LIES ABOUT WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE GETTING IN THE WAY OF
THE TRUTH TODAY  

Very good article! Yay Zeynep

Lawrence Blum

IF ONLY -  CARTOON BY  

Matt Wuerker
November 7, 2023
Politico
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RE: DESPITE INTIMIDATION, UNION VOICES GET LOUDER FOR CEASEFIRE IN
GAZA

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])
 

Pacific Media Workers Guild, CWA Local 39521, was one of the first
unions to support the Labor Call for Sanctions.  Sorry the article on
labor and Gaza didn't mention us, especially because we're a media
union, the NewsGuild local for Northern California and Hawaii.  We
also got our national union to debate it.

David Bacon

RE: U.S. DIPLOMATS SLAM ISRAEL POLICY IN LEAKED MEMO  

"State Department staffers offered a blistering critique of the Biden
administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in a dissent memo
obtained by POLITICO, arguing that, among other things, the U.S.
should be willing to publicly criticize the Israelis."

Thanks for this.  I'm curious though, why are you calling it the
Israel-Hamas war instead of the Israel-Palestine war.  That language
plays right into Israel's hands.

In solidarity,

Andrea Jones Klein

RE: THE INVISIBLE SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

SolidarityINFOService
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WAR AND JUSTICE  --  CARTOON BY MUSA GUMUS

Musa Gumus
Turkey, 2015

IF YOU'RE KEEPING SCORE  --  MEME FROM SEIU

Service Employees International Union [[link removed]]
[link removed]

RE: TRADE UNIONIST HARRY BRIDGES REMADE THE LABOR MOVEMENT

(posting on xxxxxx Labor
[[link removed]])
 

As a red diaper baby growing up in San Francisco, I always felt that
Harry Bridges and the ILWU were very close to home.  Both ILWU staff
and members were family friends, my father was an editor of the
union's paper, and I had a summer job there when I was in college.  I
was glad to see this new biography of Harry but do have some
criticisms.  For one, it's worth noting that although the union has
moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Oakland, it is still very
much a progressive union fighting for change both domestically and
internationally.  And second, Harry lived a long life and
unfortunately turned on some of his longtime colleagues towards the
end, ensuring for example that his longtime vice president was unable
to follow him as president.

Nora Lapin

DEEP BREATHS  --  CARTOON BY CHRISTOPHER WEYANT

Christopher Weyant
November 5, 2023
Boston Globe
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MODERATOR'S NOTE:  THERE WILL BE NO TIDBITS NEXT  

The xxxxxx moderator that compiles and assembles the weekly Tidbits:
Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons, is taking a
break. He and his wife are going to Cuba as part of The Nation Tour
group to Cuba.

Tidbits will return Thursday, November 23.

FILM SCREENING - ISRAELISM DOCUMENTARY - NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14  (THE
HUNTER COLLEGE FILM & MEDIA DEPARTMENT AND COSPONSORED BY THE ARABIC
PROGRAM AT HUNTER COLLEGE)

Q&A with filmmaker Eric Axelman

 

ISRAELISM documentary  — When two young American Jews raised to
unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats
Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns.

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023
Time: 6PM

Hunter College Lang Recital Hall, 4th floor North Building
Enter: 69th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues

(Bring photo ID)
REGISTER here [[link removed]] 

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Watch Trailer
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STRATEGIES TO BUILD PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL POWER - ONLINE - DECEMBER 2
 (MASSACHUSETTS PROGRESSIVE ACTION ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (OUR
REVOLUTION MASSACHUSETTS, PROGRESSIVE MASSACHUSETTS, PROGRESSIVE
DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA, MASSACHUSETTS PEACE ACTION, AND NORTH AMERICAN
INDIAN CENTER OF BOSTON) AND BY ACT ON MASS, INDIVISIBLE MASS, AND
FRANKLIN COUNTY CONTINUING THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION)  

 

STRATEGIES TO BUILD PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL POWER
Sat December 2 @ 9:30 am - 5:00 pm EST

REGISTER [[link removed]]

Massachusetts has the reputation of being one of the most progressive
states in the country. Yet we lack legislative transparency, and we
have a progressive Democratic Party platform that the leadeership
ignores and a state government that has ttremendous difficulty passing
progressive legislation.

In response, the Massachusetts Progressive Action Organizing
Committee
[[link removed]] (MPAOC)
invites you to an online Strategy Conference.  We will focus on how
progressive activists can gain the power to pass vigorous meaningful
legislation and initiate changes to improve the lives of all of our
citizens.

In panels and breakout groups, conference attendees will examine paths
to increase progressive power, identify the obstacles to our success.
and learn strategies to overcome them.

SCHEDULE

9:30 Welcome and call to order

9:50 NINA TURNER – PLENARY SPEAKER – founder, _We Are
Somebody; _former Ohio state senator and Bernie Sanders campaigner

10:30 Panel 1 – SOCIAL/ ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES IN MASSACHUSETTS OF
EXCESS MILITARY SPENDING

Three activists who organize to support the social and economic needs
of the people of Massachusetts will speak on how the Pentagon budget
is starving state and local budgets.

Rep. MIKE CONNOLLY, state representative from Cambridge and
Somerville, will speak about needed housing policies, including social
housing and rent control.

KATIE MURPHY RN, president of the Mass. Nurses Association, will talk
about the crisis in nursing and healthcare as providers try to rebuild
the increasingly profit-driven system after COVID.

JONATHAN KING, professor emeritus of molecular biology at MIT and
board co-chair at Mass. Peace Action, will address the impact on the
important science and technology industries in Massachusetts.

11:30 Breakouts 1

12:30 Lunch break

1:15 Special presentation – Rep. MAX FROST (D-FL)

1:30 Panel 2 – OVERCOMING OBSTACLES: LEARNING FROM SUCCESSFUL
CAMPAIGNS

Three speakers from three different, successful Massachusetts-based
issue campaigns will name the three largest obstacles to their goals
and the strategies they used to overcome them, using examples from
their work.

SONIA CHANG-DIAZ, former State Senator and 2022 candidate for
Governor, will talk about how she worked with allies to pass ‘The
Student Opportunity Act’, later renamed ‘The Promise Act’, which
significantly increased funding to poor school districts.

HARRIS GRUMAN, executive director, SEIU State Council, will speak
about the successful Raise-Up campaign he helped lead to increase
taxes on income over one million dollars (The Fair Share Amendment) to
fund public schools and transit.

TRICIA FARLEY BOUVIER, state representative from Pittsfield, will
tell us about the campaign she helped lead which resulted
in qualified undocumented immigrants being able to get driver’s
licenses. 

2:30 Breakouts 2

3:30 Panel 3 – WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?

Speakers from grassroots organizations which have advanced the
progressive agenda will be asked to identify barriers to continued
progress as we enter 2024.  Each will be asked to talk about
strategies they employ and how they will use them to advance their
political agenda. 

ANDREA MILLER, founding board member of the Center for Common
Ground, will talk about her work to build Democracy Centers in the
U.S. South, addressing in particular the challenge of alienation from
electoral work that is growing in communities of color.

NICKY OSBORNE will speak about her work to organize in southeast
Massachusetts against MAGA supporters who are running for school
boards with funding from major right-wing organizations. She will talk
about the extent of the MAGA threat in Massachusetts and effective
organizing techniques.

4:30 Wrapup

5:00 Adjourn

BREAKOUT TOPICS (choose 2 when you reigster)

21st Century Economic Bill of Rights
A Rural New Deal
Grassroots Strategies to protect reproductive rights: activism and
legislation
Breaking the Logjam on Mass. Medicare for All
American Power, its History, and the Current Moment in the Middle East
Gaza Peace Campaign
Ukraine: A Time for Peace
K-12 Education Policy, Thrive Act, MCAS
Poor People’s Agenda
Maternal Health, Public Pandemic Preparation
Run for Local Office
Graduate Student Organizing
Unions in Public Service Institutions
Housing Crisis
Green New Deal in 2024
Story Telling for Powerful Organizing
Auditing the Legislature

REGISTER [[link removed]]

Register to attend.  Registration:  $25 regular admission, $5
student/low income, $75 supporter.

SPONSORED BY Massachusetts Progressive Action Organizing Committee
(Our Revolution Massachusetts, Progressive Massachusetts, Progressive
Democrats of America, Massachusetts Peace Action, and North American
Indian Center of Boston) and by Act on Mass, Indivisible Mass, and
Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution.  Organizations
are encouraged to cosponsor the conference; they will be acknowledged
in publicity and at the conference, may organize a breakout and attend
planning meetings, and are asked to give a $50 donation and to
publicize the event.

Massachusetts Peace Action [[link removed]]
11 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-354-2169
[email protected]

* Reader Comments
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* Israel
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* Cease Fire
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* Ceasefire
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* Gaza
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* Palestine
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* Hamas
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Humanitarian pause
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* Genocide
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* Hostages
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* Palestinians
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* Gaza City
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* West Bank
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* Occupied Territories
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* Jewish settlements
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* apartheid
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* Labor Movement
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* Trade Unions
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* progressive politics
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* political strategy
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* Left Politics
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* UAW Strike
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* armaments industry
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* defense industry
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* Harry Bridges
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* Cartoons
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