Welcome to December, Missivistas! I had to take a week off of work because I got covid again. I went back to work being a maintenance tech but held off a little longer leading my senior exercise classes. Been keeping masked indoors for sure again, but more outdoors for now too. I think I got it at Thanksgiving, but I really wanted to see my cousins, and it was a great time. It lifted my spirits to see the Bell crew! I trust you’re feeling better now again too, Phil. Thanks for hosting.
Last time I had it, over Yule instead of Thanksgiving, I decided to take the Paxlovid when it was offered. I wasn’t sure. I am not sure what it did for me. Getting Covid did make me look more earnestly at what who was recommending. In fact, WHO somewhat downgraded their recommendations around Paxlovid, the antiviral design to attack corona viruses in mid-November. My relatively mild symptoms and not quite old enough age led me not to take it this time. I admit to having fears of long covid–in general. Vibing myself now, and consistent with recommendations for “mild” cases like mine, I am glad that the recommendation was not to take the drug. It seems like a good sign, to be advised not to take a pharmaceutical.
I “hosted” a lively discussion in my Facebook feed from my many wise (for the most part) friends about what I should do, and the input was very helpful as I went back and forth. A particularly counter-culture, witchy friend surprised me with this input: “Oh no! Im so sorry, Jim. I hope you recover quickly. I would recommend it. While the research is inconclusive some studies show a marked reduction of long covid. I have a number of friends and family who are dealing with long covid. 3 of them are pretty much stuck bedridden most of the time. For my father, it’s been more detrimental to his health than his leukemia. From my understanding, every time you catch it, your chances of long covid increase, as the damage covid does to your vascular system is cumulative.”
Another person pointed out that the new formulation of Novavax has been improved remarkably and now is very effective against the current strain(s) of coronavirus. I also received, “Successent COVID injury compounds on itself, meaning the more times and longer you have it the greater the potential for persistent complications later on. Go get treatment please.” and after one friend said that Kaiser pushes Paxlovid because it reduces cost, another friend replied, “…recent experience is that KP is not pushing Paxlovid. I got it, although I was not very sick, bc my doc saw bronchial issues in my chart; a friend was denied it at first bc he had no comorbidities, even though he was very sick. (He did get Paxlovid eventually, but had a bad reaction & so they took him off it).”
A couple of people suggested that I follow my doctor’s advice, and that is actually what I did. Relevant guidelines I found to be helpful: https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/management/clinical-management-of-adults/nonhospitalized-adults–therapeutic-management/ and https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/overview/clinical-spectrum/ I hate the last bit of lingering symptoms with illness, after being 85% or 90% better, it sometimes takes forgetting to notice to notice them finally being gone. May it come soon!
And I still feel bad, after four years of covid-19, about the racist roll out of testing, treatment and care that has continued to exacerbate social and political inequality around the world. Covid still kills a lot of people. We just don’t hear about it. Remember the amazement of Indians when they could see the Taj Majal again instead of it literally being lost in the smog? I remember so many signs that WE COULD SLOW DOWN! I was driving around with the empty streets (that was a bit much, but kinda nice) and the amazingly clear skies. If we had been able to force big institutions to drop the profit motive and patent rights on the drugs, we might have succeeded in reshaping society. Instead, income disparity is even worse than before, and we seem to be marching toward climate catastrophe at an accelerating rate. Joe Biden is drilling for more oil than any other president in history!
‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza
The use of an artificial intelligence system has enabled the Israeli army to carry out its deadliest war on Gaza, a +972 and Local Call investigation reveals. https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/ The very sober and precise, Israeli author of the report was on Democracy Now! He talked frankly about target selection and how AI is generating a lot of targets compared to when conventional means have been used, with devastating consequences. Military campaigns used to run out of targets to bomb.
Hamas is an organization that should be tried at the Hague for their war crimes (see below). But Israel is slaughtering Gazans, shockingly, proudly and with sickening ingenuity. Ignorant Israel tourists and dishonest Israeli industrialists will coo about how Israel creates lifesaving technologies, but Israel is too keen on designing things like skunk sprays, Pegasus spyware and shrapnel and bullets that don’t just penetrate but shred. They use banned white phosphorous and some in government speak of using their nuclear weapons. Their tools of war and repression are their main export. The United States too. Our motto should be, “Failed States ‘R’ US!” Israel and the United States are committing genocide on Palestine. The idea of ridding the world of Hamas is a lie of a genocidal goal, and I am aghast at the otherwise intelligent and discerning people who are buying into it.
Noura Erakat is right, people are “being primed” to accept crimes against humanity. A war crime against a thousand people can’t justify the crime of genocide against a million. If you want to complain about someone using human shields, don’t you, yourself, kill the alleged human shields, their family and their neighbor’s home! It is the worst atrocities in the shortest time ever committed, and it is being committed by Jews, or people who say they are Jews. I continue to plea with you to turn on Al Jazeera to see what is really going on, who this “enemy” really is who is so terrifying to you.
I would declare Israel an apostate state if I could! Shame on every Israeli who isn’t trying to defend Palestinians from slaughter and torture by Jewish supremacists. You’re making a living hell in Gaza and for my friends. I don’t know what hell you will have to endure in the afterlife, but the making of hell on Earth is unjustifiable. Maybe I would rather be a nail than a hammer. I would trade my life for a million Gazans if I knew what to do. I think of the Buddhist monks of Vietnam who self-immolated in Saigon, and I know that too much of Israeli society would cheer and say, “Good riddance,” instead of snapping out of their genocidal fear and reverie.
Jeremy Scahill on Al Shifa Hospital is also a “good” read. Contains a particularly horrific photo, but much worth looking at as it delves into the tunnels too: https://theintercept.com/2023/11/21/al-shifa-hospital-hamas-israel Both he, and my friend, the Norwegian medical doctor Mads Gilbert, have been on Democracy Now! Pray for the safe release of the head of Al Shifa Hospital
Important, Unbiased, Chilling Report on October 7 Sexual Violence a Must Read
At the same time, we all need to deal with this very credible report about the sexual assaults that were evidently carried out by Gazan infiltrators on October 7. https://www.phr.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/5771_Sexual_Violence_paper_Eng-final.pdf I have been accused of downplaying war crimes by Hamas, including sexual assaults. I don’t think I have been dismissive of such crimes. Bullshit! I just will not jump on the dishonest, hypocritical, genocidal Israeli bandwagon against Palestine.
If you believe that the Israeli assaults on Palestinians all over the world, but especially in Gaza, ’48 and the West Bank, are justified, then you may be displaying even less humanity than an October 7 rapist. I don’t stand with rapists, but I absolutely still stand with Palestine. Read this report, and demand that the military campaign stop immediately and let survivor counseling and treatment as well as criminal investigation and prosecution proceed unimpeded.
From the report’s conclusion: “The reports and testimonies mentioned in this document, some of
which remain confidential and some of which appeared in the media and on social media networks, raise concerns that the October 7 Hamas attacks included many incidents of sexual assault following repetitive patterns. A professional inquiry is required to determine whether these incidents were perpetrated as part of the overall attack orders and whether they were systematic and premeditated. Some time will pass before the survivors – both those in Israel and those still held hostage in Gaza – will be able to provide their testimonies, if ever.
“Given that determining whether crimes against humanity have been committed is a matter of legal nature, it falls upon those making these assertions to prove that the violence was perpetrated systematically. There are clear objective and subjective challenges to collecting and publishing the evidence to prove these claims. Yet, acknowledging these cautions does not absolve us from providing comprehensive support and recognition to the victims.”
I am confident that the authors of the report want to apply the same quality of lens to Palestinians prisoners who are reporting horrific conditions and torturous treatment, far worse than before October 7. This is no Israeli “hasbara” propaganda pice.
“If you don’t leave, we will kill you.”
My friends in the south Hebron hills are under increasing attack. I have seen video of my friend showing us the destruction of the guest house I have stayed in on more than one occasion and he and his mother’s house. They were held at gunpoint and face increasingly scary threats by newly uniformed and armed settlers who they know aren’t official army, but are newly deputized and emboldened. https://www.972mag.com/hebron-area-settler-violence-expulsions/
Testimonies from Musahb and “I”
November 30, 2023 Musahb (as sent to me by “Dear” Bob): “Soldiers-settlers came to Musahb’s house in Tuwane today because his sheep were out in front of his house. They said that the sheep can’t be in front of his house and that they will kill them if they are not removed. They tried to take his phone but he threw it into the brush before they grabbed it (he was able to recover it). They threatened to kill him. The settler said that he was a crazy one and that he would shoot him or anyone who comes to help, also the sheep if they walk near the house. He threatened to kill his wife and kids, directed the weapon towards them, and told the women that if they don’t go inside the house he will kill them.
He had the army uniform on but he was a settler, a notoriously violent and invasive settlement adjacent to Tuwani. Then, for no reason, the settlers-soldiers took Musahb’s brother, Amjad, and zip tied his wrists behind his back. When Amjad complained that the ties were too tight they tightened them even more and forced him to the ground. When they took him, one of them threw stones towards Mousab’s house. The settlers-soldiers kept Amjad for about 1.5 hours.
Afterwards other soldiers arrived and took Amjad to road 60, 15 kilometers away, and drop him there. He had to find ride back. The same group of soldiers/settlers attacked Musahb and his brother two weeks earlier while they were on the side of the house because they saw someone looking out from his window.”
And the story of “A” from the beginning of December:
“A 17-year-old A was abducted from his home in Umm al-Khair on Saturday afternoon. Megabniks loaded him on a white Toyota van, his hands tied behind and his eyes covered with flannel, and went on their way. Why did they kidnap him? Just because, because he’s a Palestinian.
“Long hours passed for his family in worry and lack of knowledge. We tried to find out his whereabouts in all ways, we also activated our dedicated lawyer Riham, but in vain. Like in many cases lately, he just disappeared.
“Sunday morning, after almost a day of anxiety, he was released. When we arrived at noon to visit him, he was asleep. His mother and sisters told us: He was injured in all parts of his body, they beat him hard all night, they kicked him on his knees, he can’t walk, they didn’t let him drink and eat. He is such a gentle and sensitive boy, his mother told us, how will he recover from this?
“When “A” called his family to pick him up, he didn’t know to say where he was. His eyes were covered from the moment he was abducted until his return was thrown somewhere. He didn’t know where they had taken him, probably to a nearby military camp. Now we understand why we couldn’t track him down: it wasn’t an official arrest, just random abuse of soldiers in the field.”
“A” woke up with bruises and pains. His brothers took him to Beta Hospital, to check if anything is broken. His face was swollen and injured, the other injuries could not be seen under his clothes. Despite the pain and anger and helplessness he was happy to see us and made an effort to shake my hand. I wanted to take a picture of it so you can see what humans did to this beautiful boy, but I couldn’t.”
With all of this going on, I want to scream when people try to justify this wanton cruelty by blaming Hamas. Wake the fuck up, people!
From Every River to Every Sea, Palestine Must Be Free!
ICAHD and Jeff Halper deconstruct the slogan, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!” https://icahd.org/2023/11/09/from-the-river-to-the-sea-our-response-to-the-slogans-controversy/ The present moment has elevated this chant personally and for the movement. More and more Jews are feeling the necessity that justice, and injustice, can’t be confined or excluded.
Three Palestinians college students were shot in Vermont as they walked past someone’s house. One of the fine young men is paralyzed, at least for a long time, from the waist down. His mother was a true portrait in courage and love. Great to hear about her son, who is a survivor. The seed doesn’t fall far from the tree. Watch this amazing woman! Send a donation to Palestine Legal today! Their caseload is going through the roof.
And no, I am not as concerned about anti-Semitism right now. I am more concerned that Palestinian rights advocates not have our work slowed down by ignorant or dishonest smear campaigns charging good souls as though they/we are antisemites. Read Shukri Abu Baker’s poem in this Missive. Pray that Palestinian humanitarians don’t suffer the fate of my beautiful friends of the Holy Land Foundation Five, Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan El Ashi and Mufid Abdulqader.
I am including a great letter by my friends Michael Beer and Starhawk in the greeting cards I am sending out this year. I don’t do that usually. I mean to, but then time slips away, and I say to myself, “Next year.” Michael and Star’s letter is addressed to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. They wrote as disappointed speakers at the museum’s inauguration because the museum published a statement that expressed sympathy for Israeli victims of attack but didn’t mention Palestinian victims.
I get packs of Holocaust Memorial Museum greeting cards in the mail. I never use them. I don’t want to say, “Happy birthday! HOLOCAUST” or, “Get well soon. HOLOCAUST” Nice artwork by survivors, kinda wasted. They seem very apt this year though, and I will send them out with the open letter and a little note from me. I will work on sending those out after I finish this Missive!
This is Just Too Fun!
Even the Crow Know! https://www.arabnews.com/node/2295696/offbeat
IJAN, CODEPINK and JCRC Bay Area Doesn’t Speak for Me Petitions
I want every Jew to read and sign this petition from the International Jewish Antizionist Network. It relates to the Shoah and includes extensive quotations by victims of the Shoah. I am sad to have to agree with this assessment of the current situation: “Gaza is a concentration camp and rapidly becoming a death camp. Gas chambers and firing lines have been replaced with bombs, tanks and white phosphorous. We say never again for anyone.“
This CODEPINK petition just came to me as I am preparing to hit “Publish.” Please sign and share it. Ukraine is being laid waste by US weapons as well as Russian aggression. https://www.codepink.org/nomoremilitaryaid?utm_campaign=ukraine_update_106_billion&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
And here is a Bay Area focused petition: JCRC Bay Area Doesn’t Speak for Me I have gone on the record before to challenge their misguided, dishonest attacks of people and organizations who show any regard for Palestine much less take up the cause. I even had a letter in the J Weekly when the JCRC attacked CAIR’s Bay Area director, Zahra Billoo.
Confessing No Guilt
Posted on 12/02/2023 by Shukri Abu Baker
On November 24, 2008 I started serving a 65-year sentence
of imprisonment for my humanitarian work in occupied Palestine.
Innocence is the absence of guilt.
The evidence is compelling.
I occupied my mother’s womb,
my modest home, my woman’s heart.
I have not occupied a people,
their soil, their sea, their sky.
I blew through hard-to-read pages
growing weary sooner than wise.
I have not blown up neighborhoods,
their streets, their homes, their lives.
I burned candles, calories, incense,
and a few bridges to lost loved ones.
I have not burned mosques, churches,
schools, olive trees and body parts.
I kept three hens in a chicken coop
and every morning stole their eggs.
I have not kept a whole nation fenced
and locked in a garrisoned state.
Oh, and when I was small and ignorant,
I spun a sling shot and killed a bird.
I have not turned an F-16 on a child
brandishing only a small flag in her hand.
Guilt is the absence of innocence.
The evidence in compelling.
Shukri 11-24-23
P.S Credit goes to poet Kevin Hadduck for his mentorship and fine tuning.
What Is/Isn’t Anti-Semitism. Drop the ADL.
https://jewishcurrents.org/toward-a-sober-assessment-of-campus-antisemitism “To undertake this sorting and disaggregation of a vertiginous pile of anecdotes will help us not only to more accurately assess the threat to Jews on campuses, but also to guard against Jewish fear being used to erode civil liberties.”
Continuing from the last item: I reported about being at the 70th commemoration of the March for Jobs and Justice in 1963 in a recent Missive. I was aghast at the prominence and official welcome given Abe Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League. I was happy to point out the #DropTheADL leaflets stuck up all over the place. The ADL cares about protecting and extolling the fatuous virtues of Israel, not about the physical or spiritual well-being of Jews and Jewish communities. https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work
Block the Boat, Oakland, 2023
I awoke the morning of Friday, November 3 to a phone alert that a ship in Oakland was bound to carry military cargo to Israel, and it was departing that morning. I heeded the call and diverted from going to work, for a little while, I thought.
The ship was being untied as we chanted and marched outside a chain link fence and gate. They were keeping us on port property, away from the ship and dock that was federal property according to the signs. It looked like I would get to work not very late, really.
Somehow the gate got off track, and we were near the ship. No real security presence was there, just a few dock workers and one man with “security” on his jacket, but he did nothing. A rope ladder still hung down to an opening on the ship and the last coupe of ropes still held the ship to land. One, and then a couple more activists leapt onto rungs of the ladder. If they had been allowed to climb aboard, it all might have ended quickly, but the three were made to hang on. Coast guard came and wanted to control their rise and fall, so they hung on for six hours. One held on that long. The other two rested up on the ship for a while and then were whisked inside. The third took a couple more hours.
The ship departed as soon as they lifted the last intrepid soul inside. She was one rung too high, and they were able to lift the ladder up suddenly so she was “safely” grabbable. Their placement on the side of the ship made removing them seemingly impossible for the coast guard. Their safety protocols helped make the action and kept the activists from being brutalized. They were released right away, and they have not yet received any charges or arraignment. This government tactic of identifying protesters but holding off on arraigning them is in wide use today. People are leery of racking up multiple arrests unless they are trying to push the issue and be processed.
I was excited at the thought of being arrested as a group of us stood in support by the ship. A federal bust makes more sense, and I think the defense of necessity makes sense for any arrest intended to slow genocide. One lawyer thought that the block the boat three will likely be arraigned in January. Not sure, of course.
To keep up on and support all of the “Ceasefire now!” arrestees, here is a link: https://www.protestlaw.org/drop-the-charges
Jews Occupy Oakland Federal Building Against Genocide
I was there. I will have a piece about the experience in a monthly e-magazine that features the committees of Kehilla Community Synagogue, and I think I can’t publish here what I wrote for that. I was pleased and moved to be there with so many people, and so many Jews. I was thrilled to see other activists I have known for a long time. I was at least as happy to talk to first time activists. I and many other old timers were not going to meetings for this action. We trusted that the target was going to be a good one, and that messaging and logistics were in as good a hands as could be. Our trust was justified. A local paper published this good report: https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/14/jewish-protest-oakland-ceasefire-gaza/
It seemed like it was going to take several hours for authorities to process the 400 or so of us refusing to leave unless there was a ceasefire or we were arrested. Well, we were removed from the building, but we were not taken anywhere. We were not actually given citations, but they have the right to send us them in the mail. They just made us hold our valid i.d.s up next to our faces for a picture. The officers that had to come to process us just wanted to get back to their regularly scheduled evenings!
Friend’s Novel Alert!
Jim's Approximately Monthly Missives 