BOGNEWS February 2024

If I Must Die

If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze —
and bid no one farewell
not even to his esh
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, ying up above,
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love.
If I must die
let it bring hope,
let it be a story.

— written by Refaat Alareer, professor of world literature and creative writing at the
Islamic University of Gaza and the editor of Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from
Young Writers in Gaza, killed by an IDF airstrike on December 6, 2023, along with
his brother, nephew, his sister, and three of her children.

As BogNews was about to distribute, breaking news came in about a 25-year-old Air
Force serviceman named Aaron Bushnell who sacri ced his own life by self-immolation
in front of the Israeli Embassy in D.C. shouting “Free Palestine!” as he was engulfed in
ames. Right before his self-sacri ce he posted on his social media a chilling
statement to all of us:

“Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the
Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing
genocide? The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”

This issue of BogNews is dedicated to the memory of Aaron Bushnell.

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 THE CITY, THE COUNTY, AND
THE COUNTRY
“Every gun that is made, every warship
launched, every rocket red signi es in
the nal sense, a theft from those who
hunger and are not fed, those who are
cold and are not clothed. This world in
arms is not spending money alone. It is
spending the sweat of its laborers, the
genius of its scientists, the hopes of its
children. This is not a way of life at all
in any true sense. Under the clouds of
war, it is humanity hanging on a cross
of iron.”
Does this quote sound like some kind of
paci st/commie/ ower child? Well,
maybe, but actually it is from none other
than former President (and U.S. General)
Dwight D. Eisenhower.
FREE UPCOMING EVENTS!
Food & drink are available for
purchase
Friday, March 1st, from 6 to 9 pm
Barrio Hollywood Open Mic
El Rio Golf Course Club House
1400 W. Speedway Blvd
Saturday, March 16th from 5 ’til ???
St. Patrick’s Day Eve Celebration!
Mariscos Chihuahua,
(Grande near Speedway)
With The Wholigans and guests!
SUNDAY, MARCH 17TH:
ST PATRICK’S DAY!
Parade and Festival at Armory Park
downtown, all day! (Look for your favorite
Bogman at the beer booth!)

I thought of this quote as our elected

leaders try to allocate billions more for wars: our proxy war with Russia in the
Ukraine, our recent bombing of Yemen (with
no congressional authorization: we don’t need
no stinkin’ constitution!), our new military A note of THANKS!
engagements in Iraq and Syria and Jordan, A BIG Thank You to all those who attended
and — of course — the billions of U.S. tax our special event in commemoration of the
dollars delivered to Israel in support of their life of Shane MacGowan of the Pogues.
ethnic cleansing and genocide currently
Special thanks to performers The
being perpetrated against the Palestinian Wholigans, The Nasties, & Neal Flint, as
people, certain to spread regionally (such as well as the great sta at El Rio Golf, and of
their recent bombing of Lebanon). course, all the participants from the public
who joined us in celebration of one of
Ireland’s greatest song writers. We also
From 1946 to the present, the U.S. has raised hundreds of dollars for the Casa
provided almost 300 billion dollars to Israel, Maria soup kitchen.
much more than any other country in the
world. On top of the nearly $4 billion we It was really great to see so many old
regularly deliver each year, the Biden friends that we have not seen for too long!
administration is pushing for an extra $14
billion in support of the Israeli attempt to
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 “mow the lawn” of the area: killing native people that Israeli leaders have called
“animals” and “vermin.” South Africa, which knows apartheid when it says it, has
clearly identi ed it in Israel. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), along with most
of the world, has condemed Israel for genocide against Palestinian men, women, and
children. Since 7 October, Israel has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, over
13,000 of them children. Just since the ICJ order on 26 January to stop the genocide,
Israel has killed over 3,000 Palestinians. After months of eeing from one alleged safe
zone to another that Israel has then bombed, over 1.5 million Palestinians – more than
half of the population of Gaza – are now trapped in Rafah, the southernmost point in
Gaza and now the most densely populated area in the world. Rafah, which used to
have a population of 275,000, is now being bombed by Israel.

Yet our government keeps encouraging these massacres by providing more bombs
while single-handedly blocking calls for a cease re (three times so far) by veto in the
United Nations. The U.S. stands alone and isolated on the world stage.

What does this have to do with local politics that we usually cover in BogNews?
Well, everything, and here is one perfect (and recent) example:

The federal funds provided locally for migrants at Catholic Community

Services’ “Casa Alitas” center is about to
dry up and the center will be closed. Current Good article by Paul Ingram in the Tucson
cost for the services are about $1 million a Sentinel HERE on the funding issues for
week paid by the feds, but administered county and city.
locally. Now local jurisdictions (the city and
county) would have to cough up as much as Arizona Mirror on asylum seekers HERE
$50 million per year to shelter about 1,000
people a day to provide those services. They
ain’t gonna do it. “Homelessness on steroids” HERE

County Administrator Jan Lesher declared that once

the funds stop at the end of the month, we will witness, as she herself articulated:
“homelessness on steroids.” Mayor Regina Romero’s clever solution is shipping
people o somewhere (?) in Phoenix, which is the very same thing the Republican Gov.
of Texas has been slammed for: dumping migrants o on other cities to deal with the
problem. In other words, our politicians — local and national, Republican and
Democrat — have no solution at all to the migrant problem. They just want to shift the
burden to “someone else” to deal with, while using the issue for political points. (What
Leadership!)

Considering our two-party duopoly’s total inability to pass any semblance of a

comprehensive immigration reform to deal with the problem, this crisis is not going
away, but will soon be only greatly magni ed. People seeking refuge that were once
processed in the system will now be thrown onto our streets and left to fend for
themselves. How do you think that is going to work out? Are you ready for even more
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 homelessness people — from other countries and with no support — in our arroyos
and alleys?

As anyone with eyes who can see surely knows, here in Tucson we are already
experiencing a severe crisis in our ongoing homeless problem, evidenced by many
poor and sick individuals seeking shelter under our overpasses, in our parks, and on
our streets. The fentanyl epidemic (very present here in Barrio Hollywood) goes
virtually unabated, as untreated mental health issues continue to rampage our
communities without adequate public health measures and other investments needed
to deal with these critical problems.

Yet there always seems to be tens of billions of taxpayer dollars for more for war: for
Ukraine, for Israel, for endless wars which have lead to abject failures from Vietnam to
Iraq, to Afghanistan, and (if we are honest) what we are about to witness in the
Ukraine. The draining of our national treasure (not to mention the spilling of American
blood) for never-ending warfare has lead
exactly to what President Eisenhower correctly
“Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the described as “a theft from those who hunger
same sense that England belongs to the and are not fed, those who are cold and are not
English or France to the French. It is clothed.”
wrong and inhuman to impose Jews on
the Arabs … Why should they not, like
In Israel (in contrast to its free-wheeling sugar-
other peoples on earth, make that country
home where they are born and earn theirdaddy, the good ol’ U.S.A.), their citizens are
livelihood?” provided with great health care where they
--Gandhi receive universal coverage as part of its
“national health insurance law.” Residents can
choose among “competing nonpro t health
plans that provide a mandated bene t package, including hospital, primary,
specialty, mental health, and maternity care, as well as prescription drugs and
other services.”

Must be nice, no? Of course, such universal health insurance is considered nothing
but a frickin’ pipe-dream for Americans, even after the disastrous consequences of the
covid pandemic; it should have taught us something. We can’t a ord to provide health
care to our citizens, no? But as we send billions of U.S. dollars to Israel, we can be
assured that at least their citizens have good health coverage, while our crack-heads
go untreated, the need for a ordable housing goes unabated, the soup-lines grow
bigger, and we all go further and further into debt.

Likewise, American youth are being burdened with massive student debt for many
decades, with the current U.S. student loan debt totaling almost $1.74 trillion.
Contrast that with Israel, where Masters’ degrees are subsidized in all its
universities (costing most Israelis less than $3,000 dollars per year). The average life
expectancy of an Israeli is 81 years; the average for an American is 79. I could go on,
but you get the point. What are the priorities of our government, other than pro ts for
the likes of Raytheon?
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 In spite of these contradictions, U.S. nancial support for Israel seems limitless and
unending.

It is bad enough that we are sending our wealth and resources to others, but our
increased debt — currently at over $34 TRILLION — makes us that much more
beholden to adversaries like China, which currently owns about $860 billion of that
U.S. debt. Billions of U.S. military aid
spent on war puts us further into debt to Xi
“Liberty, as we all know, cannot ourish in a
country that is permanently on a war footing … Jinping and the Communist Party of
Permanent crisis justi es permanent control of China. Everyone wins, but us.
everybody and everything by the agencies of
central government.” Although it should be noted that the
— Aldous Huxley military industrial complex wins as well:
another warning from Dwight:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of

unwarranted in uence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial
complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will
persist.” (This was from his farewell address to the nation, another ignored warning).

Yet the American people continue to be lied to and manipulated about our wars. Like
the imaginary “weapons of mass destruction” (deception) that lead to the death of over
a million in Iraq, or the falsehoods perpetuated about Afghan involvement with 9/11.
(Hint: it was Saudis who attacked us). Or being lied to about Vietnam, about Libya,
about Syria, about virtually all of our wars of invasion since WWII. We are similarly fed
lies today to prop up the endless war narrative. A few important examples:

1. We were told that on October 7th that Hamas attackers engaged in

widespread and systematic rape of Israeli women. No logical person would deny
that the HAMAS attack on October 7th was brutal and murderous (or that sexual
assault might well have happened) but as of today there is no concrete evidence of
mass rapes as reported in the N.Y. Times and others. Legitimate questions have been
raised about the truth of it all by other news reports (example HERE). These
evidence-free accusations from the Israeli government are repeated in Western media
with the sole purpose of horrifying us so as to soften up our objections to the genocide
of Palestinians.

2. Likewise the Israeli claim that children were beheaded by Hamas, which was
publicly repeated by President Biden (he “saw” the photos: that don’t exist), also
lacks any supporting evidence. The White House itself had to walk back its claims.
They now admit these accusations were supplied by the Israeli government, without
questioning. But that damage is already done: people absorb the lies and rarely see
any retractions when they are proved false.
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 3. What of the Israeli declaration that HAMAS is using civilians as shields and has
military operation centers under hospitals? No evidence was provided here either,
but that does not stop the outright and intentional bombing of Gaza’s hospitals and
the murder of innocent patients, along with life-saving respirators going dead due to
the cut-o of electricity, and cancer patients are prevented from receiving critically
needed treatments, and amputations are performed without anesthesia. The horror
stories on the plight of Palestinian civilians is mind-blowing, yet calls for a cease re go
unheeded.

4. And what about the report that a handful of

Israeli narrative on UNRWA HERE
members of the main U.N. relief agency (UNRWA) in
Gaza had participated in the October 7th attack,
justifying the cut o of crucial life-saving food for the population on the verge of
starving to death of famine? More propaganda. Although the agency immediately
red those only ACCUSED of complicity in the attack of October 7th — a handful out
of 30,000 employees — there was no evidence provided for of the charge. The
accused were never given a chance to defend themselves after being labeled
terrorists, yet that did not stop the U.S. from ending its crucial support to UNRWA for
those most in need: the innocent people of Palestine. In the meantime, life-saving
supplies for starving people are being denied, based on a lack of evidence.

You would think that the critical denial of

"What's happening in Gaza isn't a war, it's food, water, electricity, and medicine to
a genocide. It's not a war of soldiers millions of Palestinians under constant
against soldiers. It's a war between a bombardment would be enough collective
highly trained army and women and punishment to in ict on a defenseless
children. What's happening in Gaza and population, but it seems like the settler/
with the Palestinian people … already colonial pattern of extermination continues in
happened in the past: when Hitler motion with the full support and
decided to kill the Jews.” encouragement of Uncle Sam. We all have
blood on our hands.
— Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
With the exception of a few European colonial
countries (like “Lil” England), the U.S. and Israel stand alone in the world in support of
this genocide. The U.S. is the lone vote in the U.N. security council in opposition to a
cease re, e ectively blocking any cessation of slaughter with our veto power. And
when the blowback occurs against us for these crimes against humanity — and history
shows that blowback is guaranteed — we Americans will all act shocked that anyone
could possibly hate us. The ultimate cost is a much less secure U.S. and Israel.

Perhaps we deserve Donald Trump. Most of the rest of the world probably think so.

Since I started with a quote from a U.S. President I will end with another:

“The bottom line is this: Peace will come to Israel and the Middle East only when
the Israeli government is willing to comply with international law, with the
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 Roadmap for Peace, with o cial American policy, with the wishes of a majority of its
own citizens — by accepting its legal borders… The United States is squandering
international prestige and goodwill and intensifying global anti-American
terrorism by uno cially condoning or abetting the Israeli con scation and
colonization of Palestinian territories. It will be a tragedy — for the Israelis, the
Palestinians, and the world — if peace is rejected and a system of oppression,
apartheid, and sustained violence is permitted to prevail.”

— Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, 2007 (even truer today)
—————————————————————————————————

If you are a regular reader of BogNews you are National Council of Churches (and
aware of our criticisms of Ward 1 Council- others) statement in support of a
cease re HERE
member Lane Santa Cruz on a host of city
issues. In normal times, I would be critical of her
recent announcement that her o ce hours is African Methodist Episcopal Church
closing about half of the time for the public, right calls for end to all U.S. aid to Israel
after getting a 300% raise from a dubious result HERE
of a close salary election proposal. The Mayor
and Council have refused to conduct a recount,
getting their city attorney (consigliere) to argue a loophole to The “moral failure” and
prevent it. Does anyone believe that if this council the Democrats HERE
actually thought they won the election they would
hesitate to recount it? In any case, that train has left the
station and the salaries of our elected o cials are totally out of Scottish Parliament for
a cease re HERE
the hands of the citizens of Tucson but now tied to the county
(i.e. the State of Arizona) decisions. Democracy means you get
the government you deserve.

“Advocating for the rights of the But that is not what I would like to direct you
Palestinian people is not synonymous with attention to this time. As George Orwell
denying the rights and security of the once said: “The truth, it is felt, becomes
Jewish people. To ght for justice and untruth when your enemy utters it.”
Palestine is not an assault on any particular (“Looking Back on the Spanish Civil War”).
group, but an unwavering stand against the In this regard, I welcome council-member
policies of a Zionist state that has for far too Santa Cruz’s recent statement on the Israeli
long stripped Palestinians of their rights. We war against Palestinians because it is the
must remember that numerous Jewish truth.
voices also resound in the calls for justice
and peace in Palestine, and their voices This is particularly of interest to those who
must not be silenced.” support justice for Palestine because there
— Malcolm X has been a move locally to get the Mayor
and Council to support a resolution to call
for a cease re and to protect innocent
Palestinians who are currently being carpet bombed. This comes after the Pima
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 County Board of Supervisors passed a terrible resolution in support of Israel (even
Adelita Grijalva you ask? Unfortunately, and disappointingly, yes).

So LSC’s statement needs to be viewed as the courageous stand it is, part of which I
copy below, from the December Ward 1 Newsletter:

LSC continues: “I don’t believe that justice is an eye for an eye and I stand
against all forms of hate/oppression of our Muslim and Jewish relatives. The
U.S. military and economic imperialism has historically destabilized countries
across pachamama [Mother Earth] and we have to take a serious look into how we
elect representatives that continue to carry out this mission.”

I couldn’t agree more, and strongly salute, and gladly support, LSC’s statement. Our
elected o cials in congress, on both sides of the political spectrum, have been utterly
complacent in the face of genocide and have done nothing but give the green light to
whatever atrocity the IDF wants to commit. Let’s hope that the rest of the council will
show the courage that the Ward 1 council-member has displayed. I am sure we will
disagree in the future on things, but kudos to LSC today for her principled stand.

“Naturally the common people don't want war . . . but

after all it is the leaders of a country who determine
policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people
along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship,
or parliament or a communist dictatorship. All you have to
do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the
paci sts for lack of patriotism and exposing the country
to danger. It works the same in every country.”

— Hermann Goering (1893-1945)

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 The never-ending beat of American drums for war is nothing new. Part of the process
of “manufacturing consent” is to always portray enemies as vile and vicious sub-human
adversaries that need to be extinguished. In that regard, read these historical words
while putting how some Palestinians are viewed in this context…

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war
was on, in every breast burned the holy re of patriotism … on every hand and far
down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a uttering wilderness of
ags ashed in the sun … nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to
patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they
interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their
cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to ag and country,
and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings
of fervid eloquence which moved every listener…

Sunday morning came — next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church
was lled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams —
visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the
ashing sabers, the ight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the erce
pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored,
submerged in golden seas of glory! … The service proceeded; a war chapter from the
Old Testament was read; the rst prayer was said…

Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate
pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that
an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young
soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work…

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle,
his eyes xed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his
feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his
seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. … he ascended to the
preacher’s side and stood there waiting…

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside — which the startled minister
did — and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience
with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

“I come from the Throne — bearing a message from Almighty God!

God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought?
Is it one prayer? No, it is two — one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the
ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder
this — keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest
without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for
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the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly
praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can
be injured by it.

“You have heard your servant’s prayer — the uttered part of it. I am
commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it — that part which the
pastor — and also you in your hearts — fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly
and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the
victory, O Lord our God!’ … When you have prayed for victory you have prayed
for many unmentioned results which follow victory–must follow it, cannot help
but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the
prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be
Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace
of our beloved resides to
smite the foe. O Lord our
“The solution to the Jewish question merely produced
God, help us to tear their a new category of refugees, the Arabs, thereby
soldiers to bloody shreds with increasing the number of the stateless and rightless by
our shells; help us to cover another 700,000 to 800,000 people.”
their smiling elds with the
pale forms of their patriot — Hannah Arendt,
dead; help us to drown the The Origins of Totalitarianism
thunder of the guns with the
shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble
homes with a hurricane of re; help us to wring the hearts of their uno ending
widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roo ess with little children
to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and
thirst, sports of the sun ames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in
spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it
— for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives,
protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with
their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it,
in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-
faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble
and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of
the Most High waits!”

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in
what he said.
— Mark Twain, “The War Prayer” (1905)
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To: Congressman Raul Grijalva
101 West Irvington Rd., #4
Tucson, Arizona 85714
STOP THE GENOCIDE!

Dear Sir,

In the Monday, October 16, 2023 issue of the Arizona Daily Star, the article titled
“Grijalva Voices Concerns About Siege,” by Laura Gersony, reported that you joined 54
other House Democrats to “voice concern” about Israel's plan to enact a complete
siege of Gaza and cut o water, food and electricity to the helpless hostage population
of Gaza. Concern? This is GENOCIDE!

Under international law, the crime of genocide is de ned by “the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” as noted in the
December 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. (Raz Segal, A Textbook Case of Genocide, jewishcurrents.org Oct 13, 2023)
Voicing “concern” is an ine ectual way to respond to a textbook case of genocide
unfolding in front of our eyes.

Apparently your concerns only lasted until the end of the article when you brushed
them aside and shared your plans to vote in favor of sending supplemental military
aid to Israel, because “the whole paradigm after Hamas attacked Israel completely
changed.” The paradigm has not changed. This cycle of violence has been going on
for 75 years.

While coverage of the attacks on Israel saturate the news cycle of almost every
medium of mass communication, often without substantiation, opposing viewpoints
are suppressed as part of the coordinated atrocity narrative to in ame public opinion
and justify a genocidal response in retaliation to Palestinian resistance to occupation.

• 75 years of ethnic cleansing

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 • Scores of violations of UN resolutions with
impunity “Those who can make you believe
• 15 years of blockade absurdities can make you commit
• Constant humiliation of a entire people atrocities.”
—Voltaire
• Theft of Palestinian lands with impunity
• Bulldozing of homes and orchards Terrorist
attacks by settlers Pogroms on Palestinian towns
• Bombing of hospitals, homes, schools, mosques. Desecration of Palestinian
sacred sites
• Daily raids into Palestinian homes
• Denial of water, food, power
• Constant humiliation of an entire people
• Genocide while the whole world watches

We are very outraged by your stated desire to join the Israeli genocidal campaign
against the Palestinians by sending supplemental aid. Perhaps you are serving
the corporate interests, the oil companies, and the arms manufacturers, but you
are not representing us. History will not remember you to be kind to you.
Genocide is a crime but so is funding it.

Anyone who has followed the Green Party of Pima County for any length of time is well
aware that we condemn anti-Semitism, occupation, racism, injustice, apartheid,
murder, rape, torture, kidnapping, war crimes, the mistreatment of civilians and
Genocide. But we are not neutral. We support the just resistance of the Palestinians to
the 75-year assault on their land and their goal of freedom from the illegal Israeli
occupation. The Israelis and their U.S. corporate enablers are carrying out genocide of
the Palestinians in real time and in front of our eyes. This must stop. Stop funding the
Israeli genocide of Palestine. Stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and genocide of
the Palestinian people.

We remain true to our principles, our moral ethics and hold fast to our strong
commitment to justice for all. We ask
that you reconsider and withdraw your
“If one has to refer to any of the parties as a
support for the ongoing genocide. terrorist state, one might refer to the Israeli
government, because they are the people who
Eduardo Quintana, GPPC Chairperson are slaughtering defenseless and innocent
Jason Reichenberg, GPPC 1st ViceChair Arabs in the occupied [Palestinian] territories,
Bob Aros, GPPC Treasurer and we don’t regard that as acceptable.”
Mike Cease, GPPC Secretary
Kira Ogola, GPPC Gender Outreach —Nelson Mandela 1990
Representative

KUDOS TO THE PIMA COUNTY GREEN PARTY!

 On this Land by Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008)

We have on this land that which makes life worth living

We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living
April’s hesitation
The aroma of bread at dawn
A woman’s beseeching of men
The writings of Aeschylus
Love’s beginning
Moss on a stone
Mothers standing on a ute’s thread
And the invader’s fear of memories
We have on this land that which makes life worth living
September’s end
A woman leaving ‘forty’ behind
with all of her apricots
The hour of sunlight in prison
A cloud re ecting a swarm of creatures
A people’s applause for those who face their own erasure with a smile
And the tyrant’s fear of songs.
We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living
On this land
The lady of our land
The mother of all beginnings
And the mother of all ends
She was called Palestine
Her name later became Palestine
My lady….
Because you are my lady
I have all of that which makes life worth living.

Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author, regarded as Palestine’s

national poet who was described as “a man of action whose action is poetry.”
He believed that peace between Palestine and Israel was attainable, stating:

“I am patient and am waiting for a profound revolution in the consciousness

of the Israelis. The Arabs are ready to accept a strong Israel with nuclear
arms – all it has to do is open the gates of its fortress and make peace.”

Amen to that.
fl
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FOR MORE INFO ON PALESTINE:

https://electronicintifada.net
https://www.youtube.com/
@TheKatieHalperShow
https://thegrayzone.com/author/max-
blumenthal/
U.S. WAR DEATH BY NUMBERS
Since World War II over 12 million have died
in American wars, including our failures in:
Afghanistan: 2,324 Americans killed.
RESULT: we lost.

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the- Iraq: U.S. troops: 7,000+ killed, and over

death-of-israel/comments
https://bdsmovement.net
Advocates for peace and justice:
Jewish Voices for Peace:
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
8,000 U.S. “contractors” killed.
RESULT: we lost.
PLUS: Over 30,000 U.S. service members
have died by suicide.
Of course the destruction leveled on the
Afghan and Iraqi people and society is
virtually incalculable.

American Friends Service

Committee:
https://afsc.org/topics/palestinian-rights

Take action in the City of Tucson: encourage them to support peace:

https://uscpr.org/campaigns/cities-for-palestine/
==========================

“What would I do if my country was committing genocide?

The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
— Aaron Bushnell

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