SMART MONEY: $3.5 Billion Wants Answers from Boeing on Israel

Boeing has an Israel problem . . . and that
means Chicago has a Boeing problem

Boeing's shareholder meeting on May 2, 2016, revealed that people holding $3.5 billion in Boeing stock said they want the facts on Boeing weapons sales to Israel.

The way Boeing spun the story last week, "only" 5% of shareholders voted in support of a shareholder resolution calling on the company to detail their military sales to Israel.

But when you do the math, that 5% of the 300 million shares outstanding -- even if you only count the 88% of the total that Boeing says was actually voted -- is worth $3.5 billion (at the current Boeing share price).

That means people (including a lot of institutional investors, to be sure) who hold $3.5 billion in Boeing stock said, "YES: we want the facts on Boeing weapons sales to Israel."

Boeing 2016 stockholder meeting:
"Murder from a distance is still murder."
"Boeing: No arms to Israel."
"Boeing products kill kids. Divest this death tech stock."
(Photo: Chicago Monitor)

According to the Antiwar Committee Chicago,

Israel recently completed its largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in missiles, bombs, and guidance systems for bombs. Boeing manufactures most of the components of these, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into “smart bombs.” A report by Amnesty International – UK showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31. Israel is purchasing 10,000 of these smart bomb kits.

(See "5% of Boeing Stock Holders Vote for Resolution Challenging Arms Sales to Israel")

Palestinian rights - a big issue in Chicago

This story is especially interesting to me because I attended a conference on Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) in Santa Cruz just days before the Boeing meeting. What I learned there is that (a) the BDS strategy to bring international pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestine is succeeding; and (b) there is no an established sequence of escalation that BDS successes follow. The five percent vote at the Boeing shareholder meeting is a clear stepping stone to a success in the Boeing campaign.

The events at Boeing are also inspiring in light of what I wrote recently after viewing the film about US weapons sales, Shadow World. So many places in the US just sit back and accept the fact that their home is profiting from war. Apparently, people in Chicago are different.

I can't wait to see what happens next at Boeing.


Other related posts

BOEING: "Breaking Up Is (Is Not) Hard to Do"

Which Boeing Are We Talking About Again?

Campaign Against the Boeing Killer Drone Program

August 16-17, 2014: Protest U.S. Kidnapping, Torture, and Drone Assassinations at the 2014 Chicago Air and Water Show Protest 

No Drones Illinois Endorses Call to Drop Boeing from Chicago Air and Water Show

Boeing and the Bomb Worshippers

The Wrong Labor Struggle at Boeing  

#GazaInChicago

USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!

What If Illinois Became a "War-Profiteer-Free Zone" ?

Activists Challenge Boeing to Disinvest from Drone Research 

Demonstrators make a resounding appearance at Boeing's annual stockholder meeting

PRAY, LEARN, ACT: Congregations Need to Stay Engaged on Palestine

Israel / Palestine: satellite view

I attended a panel discussion at Grace Place in Chicago last night entitled, "Forum with Ali Abunimah: The lessons of Gaza and the Tasks of the Movement Here," sponsored by Anti-War Committee – Chicago; Freedom Road Socialist Organization; U.S. Palestinian Community Network; Students for a Democratic Society - College of DuPage, Chicago Area Peace Action; American Party of Labor, American Friends Service Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine - UIC.

The panelists included:

Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada
Manar Daghash youth member of U.S. Palestinian Community Network
Holly Kent-Payne, Anti-War Committee – Chicago
Larry Redmond, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Mirjana Abu-Khalil, Students for Justice in Palestine - UIC

The big takeaway for me was the message conveyed by Ali Abunimah: people in Gaza say now that there is a ceasefire, and the summer 2014 massacre in Gaza is behind us, please don't let up on your advocacy. Don't drop it!

I left convinced that Christian congregations -- including congregations of the ELCA, of which I'm a member, as well as others -- are one of the key places that continued faithful attention to issues of peace and justice in Israel / Palestine must be carried out.

Several of the areas of conflict discussed last night are exactly the kinds of ethical and spiritual issues that congregations and their members need to confront and deal with.

Boeing Corporation headquarters, Chicago

The campaign to bring about an end to Boeing Corporation material support for Israeli violence was discussed. In fact, in a well-known October, 2012, letter to Congress, "the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and other U.S. Christian leaders are urging Congress to conduct an investigation into possible human rights and weapon violations by the government of Israel." (See "ELCA, other US churches call for examination of aid to Israel") Earlier this year, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA) voted to divest from firms complicit in the occupation. So there is an ongoing obligation of members of faith communities to engage with these issues -- to pray on them, learn about them, and figure out how to take effective action. Congregations in the Chicago area -- the home of Boeing -- bear a special responsibility.

The controversy over the firing of Professor Steven Salaita by the University of Illinois points up a profound problem: there is a strong currency of intimidation in academics and other fields, in which people feel that they are not free to criticize Israel. This is an issue of particular concern for the faith community, which depends on the idea that we can "speak openly" about what is really happening in God's kingdom.

In addition to these two aspects of the struggle for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine, there are two others that I believe also strongly demand congregational engagement.

"Christian Orthodox worshippers hold up candles lit from the
'Holy Fire' as thousands gather in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem's old city on the eve of the Orthodox
Easter."(AFP Photo/Gali Tibbon)

The occupation of and oppression in the very towns that Christians hear about every Sunday is a reason that Christian congregations need to attend to the current political situation week in, week out. I think in particular of scenes of the Easter celebration in Jerusalem in the film The Stones Cry Out - it reminds me that if we claim this history as our own, we also have to be concerned about what is happening on the ground there today.

And our concern should not end at the borders of Israel / Palestine. The civil wars in Iraq and Syria have brought to our attention the situation of Christian brothers and sisters in those countries. As the Lutheran bishop in Jordan and the Holy land, Dr. Munib A. Younan, has pointed out, this is a time when Christians need to be talking with each other and working in unity. Moreover, Bishop Younan points out that,

"As I speak, the United States is building a global coalition to fight against Da’esh, which calls itself the Islamic State. In the course of one week, President Obama said that there was no clear strategy against Da’esh; one week later, he said that the goal was degrading and destroying it. When paired with the inability of the United States and other western countries to limit the actions of the State of Israel, such efforts reinforce the impression that NATO countries are engaged in a global war not just against religiously-sanctioned extremism but against Islam itself. Arab Christians know that the US-led efforts in Syria and Iraq has almost nothing to do with us. They are engaging in strikes for their own interests alone. It is for oil, not for the protection of vulnerable groups. All of this makes us weaker. Here, I am concerned not just about Christians but about all groups in the Middle East. Christians cannot be used as an excuse to promote military strikes against Muslims!" (emphasis added) (See "Ecumenical Response to the Present Middle East Crisis - by Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, ELCJHL")

Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

For these and many other reasons, Christian congregations have real work to do, on an ongoing basis, for peace and justice in Israel / Palestine and throughout the Middle East.

In the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), there is a very active Working Group on the Middle East (WGME). Among other initiatives, we provide a brief update to synod congregations each week -- urging members to "pray, learn, act" n issues affecting Middle East peace and justice.

I hope that congregations everywhere -- ELCA and other -- will treat work for peace and justice in Israel / Palestine and throughout the Middle East a regular faith practice.


Related posts

Lectionary readings frequently touch on the notion of Zion and Israel.  How do -- how should -- Christians across the country and across the world hear these lessons?

(See REMEMBERING ZION: What It Means for Peace and Justice Advocates Today )














When Chicagoans fully succeed in fully connecting the dots -- especially to the crimes being committed in their name with their tax dollars and the weapons produced by their favored corporate citizen, Boeing -- I think there will be some new and different phone calls taking place . . .

(See What's New in Chicago: Connecting the Dots - US Aid, Boeing Weapons, Gaza Massacre, Chicago Complicity )









Steven Salaita has forced us to speak quite openly about three rather distinct things that get treated (incorrectly) as if they were the same thing: the state of Israel (and whether you criticize it or support it); the ideology of Zionism (and whether you criticize it or support it); and the religion of Judaism (and whether or not you share in its values and beliefs).

(See "What good is a tweet?" (The Packing and Unpacking of Meaning and the Steven Salaita Case) )

"Inhumane treatment of young men and boys, arrests under cover of night, unjust torture while in police custody, missing husbands and brothers and sons, children stripped of internationally agreed upon human rights. For these Palestinian boys and men, we weep with the women."

(See Palestine: The Women Weep (34th Annual 8th Day Good Friday Justice Walk) )

"Jesus Christ says to us today, “Get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you.” (Acts 26.16–17)  Today, as I come before you to discuss the crisis facing the Middle East and especially the crisis facing Arab and Middle Eastern Christians, these words of the risen Christ to the Saul resonate for us and for the communities we represent. “Get up and stand on your feet!” “I will rescue you!” There is work to be done in my name"

(See "Ecumenical Response to the Present Middle East Crisis - by Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, ELCJHL")


I think the 3-part framework Ilan Pappé has set out -- BDS, Palestinian identity, Israeli opinion -- usefully defines priorities to which those working for justice in Israel/Palestine should attend.

(See Ilan Pappé's Vision of the Broad Shape of Change in Israel/Palestine )

#GazaInChicago

Can communicating with people via Twitter help relieve the feeling of terror and despair one feels as the war jets roar overhead in Chicago and we think of the people suffering because of us around the world?

Each time I hear the jets scream by again I think of #Gaza ... #AirandWaterShow #GazaInChicago

I think as those jets screech by, remember that #Gaza heard that and worse for weeks

THAT'S WHAT I SAID TOOOO ...
"AM I IN GAZA? #airandwatershow pilots harassing muh eardrums

RAGE at power that says "we can do whatever we want and you can't
do anything about it" AirandWaterShow #GazaInChicago

What do YOU feel when you hear the jets go screaming by? #GazaInChicago

 
Related posts

When Chicagoans fully succeed in fully connecting the dots -- especially to the crimes being committed in their name with their tax dollars and the weapons produced by their favored corporate citizen, Boeing -- I think there will be some new and different phone calls taking place . . .

(See What's New in Chicago: Connecting the Dots - US Aid, Boeing Weapons, Gaza Massacre, Chicago Complicity )








Before there was the NATO5 -- or the NATO3 -- there was NATOin5. People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)

Read about the #AfghanistanTuesday campaign - in which people made time every week to remember what's happening in Afghanistan and push for change.

(See Making an Impact on #AfghanistanTuesday)

What's New in Chicago: Connecting the Dots - US Aid, Boeing Weapons, Gaza Massacre, Chicago Complicity

(This post provides the background for dozens of groups protesting on August 16 at the Chicago Air and Water Show.)

"Gaza Resists"
(Photo: Sarah-Ji Fotógrafa)

In Chicago, on August 10, another massive demonstration took place against the killing in Gaza.

The public is doing their job: bigger and more diverse expressions of outrage, week after week.

At the same time, I'm concerned about whether members of the political class are doing theirs.

Unfortunately, it's possible to look at photos like this . . .

Chicago March Against World Silence on Gaza Massacre, August 10, 2014
(Photo: Matt McLoughlin)

 . . . and imagine conversations like this:

OBAMA: Anything happening in Chicago I should know about?
EMANUEL: Here? No, everything's quiet here . . . . 
OBAMA: Really? Good - you can't imagine how much criticism--
EMANUEL: Chicago loves you, Mr. President.  

Contrary to what some people are probably saying, however, something is happening in Chicago.

Number one: with each passing week, I'm noticing a growing diversity in the crowds that are coming out in public to protest against the Israeli terror that the U.S. is sponsoring in Gaza.  Sure, the core still consists of a huge Palestinian contingent. But clearly people are joining this movement who weren't here three weeks ago.

Number two: people are placing more and more emphasis on the responsibility of the U.S. for what's happening in Gaza. It's all being done with U.S. money, U.S. weapons, and U.S. encouragement.

"No U.S. tax $$ for Israel's Occupation."
"Jews oppose Israel's war on civilians and the seige of Gaza."
(Photo: Ayesha Durrani)

Number three: today at the conclusion of the march, the event's sponsors made a direct connection to the role of Chicago-based Boeing company in supplying the weapons that are being used to carry out the killing in Gaza.

"Glenn Tilton of JPMorgan Chase, Rick Stephens of Boeing,
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel
announce new City/State Partnership"
(Source: US Export Import Bank)

Number four: protest leaders also told Chicago people that they have a special responsibility to "connect the dots" -- including by supporting protesters who face a court hearing on Tuesday for their protest at Boeing headquarters, and also by taking their Gaza protest to the the event where Boeing will be showing off its military hardware to Chicagoans next week, the Chicago Air and Water Show.

A million spectators will line the Chicago lakefront over the weekend
of August 16/17, 2014, to see the performers in the Air and Water Show,
including Boeing F/A-18 aircraft piloted by the Navy's "Blue Angel" team.

In other words, the protests in Chicago are growing in local relevance and impact, connecting US aid, Boeing weapons, the Gaza massacre, and Chicago complicity.

When Chicagoans fully succeed in fully connecting the dots -- especially to the crimes being committed in their name with their tax dollars and the weapons produced by their favored corporate citizen, Boeing -- I think there will be some new and different phone calls taking place . . .

OBAMA: Hey - I thought you said everything was "quiet" in Chicago!
EMANUEL: . . . f*@k  . . . ! ! !
OBAMA: (Ah, finally . . . the real Rahm!)

(Lots more images of the August 10 Chicago march are on the Facebook event page: Chicago March Against World Silence on Gaza Massacre)


Chronology

Wednesday, July 16 - Five activists were arrested in an act to expose the Boeing Company’s complicity with Israel, when they entered the Boeing lobby wearing blood-soaked t-shirts to oppose the company's ongoing provision of weapons to Israel to bomb and shell civilians in Gaza. (See full set of pictures of July 16 protest.)

Friday, July 18 - The day after Israel announced its ground invasion of Gaza, about thirty members and supporters of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) converged at the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago to lament the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and denounce Israel’s indefensible violence. (See CPTers lament Palestinian deaths; two arrested at Israeli consulate)

Sunday, July 20 - Estimated crowd of 10,000 marches in Chicago in solidarity with the people of Gaza. (Watch the Youtube video "Protest in downtown Chicago on 7/20/14" )

Saturday, July 26 - Estimated crowd of 13,000 marches in Chicago in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Wednesday, July 30 - In an event initiated by Anti-War Committee – Chicago, Jews for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and 8th Day Center for Justice, and endorsed by Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy, Illinois Coalition Against Torture, American Friends Service Committee, Jewish Voice for Peace . . . a call is made for the City of Chicago to drop Boeing as a sponsor of the Chicago Air and Water Show due to its provision of the weaponry being used in the massacre in Gaza. (Full set of photos and related links at No Drones Illinois Endorses Call to Drop Boeing from Chicago Air and Water Show)

Sunday, August 10 - Chicago March Against World Silence on Gaza Massacre

Chicago Sun-Times: "Palestinian backers march in Loop, demand U.S. end support to Israel" by Jon Seidel

Tuesday, August 12 - Cook County Court appearances: (a) charges dismissed against arrestees in the July 18 protest; (b) one arrestee in July 16 protest pleads guilty and receives 1 year supervision, and one other arrestees plead not guilty and request jury trials. (One July 16 arrestee was previously sentenced.) Watch related press conference:

Press conference - part 1
Press conference - part 2


Coming up next:

Saturday, August 16 - Stand with Gaza: Protest Boeing's Death Machines at the Air and Water Show - Protesters assemble starting at 11:00 on west side of North Avenue Bridge: Join the Facebook event page and invite friends. American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Chicago Islamic Center, Islamic Community Center of Illinois, Mosque Foundation, Palestinian American Community Center, Palestinian American Council, and United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the main conveners of the mass marches for Palestine over the past month, have endorsed this protest.


Related posts

Can communicating with people via Twitter help relieve the feeling of terror and despair one feels as the war jets roar overhead in Chicago and we think of the people suffering because of us around the world?


(See #GazaInChicago)











July 2014 - Many organizations from across the city joined the call by Anti-War Committee – Chicago, Jews for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and 8th Day Center for Justice: Protest Boeing Death Machines in Gaza: Demand Chicago Drop Boeing from Air and Water Show!

(See No Drones Illinois Endorses Call to Drop Boeing from Chicago Air and Water Show)

Now that the Israeli government's killings in Gaza are front-page news -- particularly the way military aircraft is being used to mow down innocent men, women, and children -- Boeing's involvement is in everyone's face.

(See Boeing Has an Israel Problem . . . and Chicago Has a Boeing Problem)







When you think "terror" and "gaza," think "Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics."

(See USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!)














Something keeps jarring me as Israel focuses on the tunnels in and out of Gaza. At first I disregarded it, but when I noticed again and again that Benjamin Netanyahu keeps bringing the discussion back around to the tunnels, I started to think, "I don't think that means what he thinks it means."

(See One Man's "Terror Tunnel" is Another Man's "Great Escape" )

One Man's "Terror Tunnel" is Another Man's "Great Escape"

Stalag Luft III

Something keeps jarring me as Israel focuses on the tunnels in and out of Gaza.

At first I disregarded it, but when I noticed again and again that Benjamin Netanyahu keeps bringing the discussion back around to the tunnels, I started to think, "I don't think that means what he thinks it means."

Netanyahu is staking Israel's relationship with the U.S. and others on the proposition that Israel can keep killing Palestinians, with the tunnels as a pretext. (See "Netanyahu vows Israel will destroy Hamas tunnels 'with or without a cease-fire'" on CBSNews.com.)

It occurs to me now that when Netanyahu talks about tunnelstunnelstunnels, he is playing to some connotation that the word "tunnel" carries for his home audience. Perhaps some kind of allusion to sub-human existence beneath the ground? (Unclean subterranean animals? Mice? Rabbits?)

Or is it somehow associated with the Israeli expression "mowing the lawn"?

Ironically, however, every time he says "tunnel," I think "great escape."


What I think of when you say "tunnel"

It is a fact of American culture that everyone of my generation -- certainly every boy -- was smitten by the movie The Great Escape.

I'm remembering a time before DVDs, before VCRs . . . a time when, in order to see an old movie, you had to catch it on the Million Dollar Movie or some other TV broadcast.  I can still remember watching my friends Jack and Mark and Kevin, on one of the days after the movie had aired, riding their Stingray bicycles in imitation of Steve McQueen in the heroic finale of the film.

The Great Escape told the story of a group of Allied POWs who, refusing to be cowed by the cruelty of their captors, set about carrying out an ingenious and daring plan to tunnel their way out of the prison camp.

And lest anyone missed the point -- brave, lovable, clever prisoners vs. craven captors -- the main plot of The Great Escape was repeated every afternoon on the TV show Hogan's Heroes.

I will even go so far as to say that I bet most boys, like me, set out at one point or another to dig their own tunnel.  And that, like me, they gave up in frustration when they realized how incredibly hard it is to tunnel even a few feet under ground.

So there are several thoughts that automatically come to mind every time Benjamin Netanyahu says "tunnel."

* the tunnels are like the ones under "Stalag XIII" (Stalag Luft III)

* the people who dug the tunnels are like the indomitable Allied POWs in WWII

* Gaza is like a prison camp

(As for what this makes the Israelis, I leave you to draw your own conclusions.)

Now, you can argue with the accuracy of these comparisons. But the point is, this is not operating on the American consciousness at the literal level. It's at the level of myth.

And it's not just the word "tunnel." The more I think about it, the more I realize that Zionist leaders are losing the war of words in their campaign to erase the Palestinians.


Related posts

When you think "earth moving equipment," think "Rachel Corrie."

(See Where were YOU on April 10, 1979?)

When you think "prison walls," think "West Bank barrier."


(See completed "Wall" sign boards - for Good Friday event (April 18th) on the Working Group on the Middle East, Metropolitan Chicago Synod, ELCA blog.)















When you think "terror" and "gaza," think "Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics."

(See USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!)

Gaza and 9/11: Innocent Bystanders? Legitimate Targets? Acceptable Collateral Damage?

I spent a long time examining the map of Gaza in yesterday's New York Times. The narrow strip of land was oriented straight up and down on the page. The locations of casualties were designated with red circles. It looked as if the top of the page was glowing with fire.

Casualties in Gaza
View the interactive New York Times map

My eye kept traveling up and down the page, and I asked myself: what is this telling me? what can this help me see that I haven't seen before?

I understood that possibly the answer was "nothing." Israel has a story about how all these people are their enemies, and the people of Palestine have a story about how all these people are innocent bystanders. Could both stories be true? Maybe there was no way the map was going to clear any of this up.

Later, it occurred to me: that tall strip, glowing with human suffering at one end -- I had seen it somewhere before.

One week ago, I was in Manhattan and visited the new 9/11 Memorial.

The 9/11 Memorial provokes so many thoughts and emotions that it will take a long time and a lot of words to work through them all.

The Memorial is principally about the valor of those who tried to save others. I remember particularly a film clip in which Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen is quoted as saying, "My men can get everyone below the fire out."

But lingering over the whole 9/11 Memorial experience is the reminder that "we" were attacked. At the end of the museum exhibit, there is a small section about Al Qaeda and the hijackers. Alas, it is a timid effort. It avoids the question, "How could one set of people think that the towers and the people in them were legitimate targets, when others saw them as innocent victims?"

Put another way: Does the "they brought it on themselves" argument stand up to scrutiny?

It seems to me that the world long ago evolved into a situation in which the lines between war and peace, between civilian and combatant, between innocent and complicit, became blurred.  The more we avert our eyes from this situation and hope the blurring of the lines will stay far away from our own lives, the more we hasten the arrival of a world that is irrecoverable.

There needs to be a conversation in which everybody takes part, and in which everyone accepts responsibility, in order to avoid a permanent "war on terror" intermingled with a permanent imperium. This is what we owe to the 9/11 dead, and to the dead of Gaza.


Related posts

As we think about and discuss issues such as distancing ... authority, collateral damage, and pre-emptive violence ... surveillance ... and technology, does theology (e.g. the Creed) help us make choices about responsibility? Does it move us effectively from the "something oughta be done" stage ... through the "I can do something" stage ... up to and including the "I am doing something" stage?

(See Drones: Am I Responsible?)

Now that the Israeli government's killings in Gaza are front-page news -- particularly the way military aircraft is being used to mow down innocent men, women, and children -- Boeing's involvement is in everyone's face.

(See Boeing Has an Israel Problem . . . and Chicago Has a Boeing Problem)






WHAT IF we stopped the pretense that "terrorism" is something different than "war"? (War IS terror.)

WHAT IF we admitted that, in terror/war, it is the commission of acts of violence and the injury of victims that is at issue? (Every other aspect of "military affairs" is a sideshow.)

WHAT IF we began to ask what ethics enter into the commission of acts of violence -- and in what ways this may be different when violence is committed in the service of a personal conviction/choice vs. when violence is committed in the service of state power? (In other words, personal responsibility EXISTS.)

(See VIVAS! to the "Unlawful Enemy Combatants" )

USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!

Chicago March Against World Silence on Gaza Massacre
Sunday, August 10, 2014 2:30 p.m.
Michigan and Congress

ORIGINAL POST: Last night (November 19, 2012) on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, with my latest sign:

USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!

(Photo by friend Sarah. Thanks to antiwar radio producer Dale Lehman for help carrying this around downtown Chicago!)

Two things drive me nuts:

First, reading the statements from Israel justifying the latest murders of people in Gaza as responses to the action of this or that "terrorist."

Let's be clear: there can be no greater act of terrorism than bombing a civilian population -- as Israel is doing once again in Gaza!

Second, listening to people simper about how "maybe the U.S. will urge the Israelis to act with restraint."

The #1 supporter of the terror that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza is the United States. Israel is doing the work set out for it by the U.S. government, against victims for which the U.S. government bears full responsibility, using weapons and money supplied by the U.S. government.

Until people get straight on those two things, there's no possibility of an intelligent conversation about what's happening in Gaza, and how to get justice for the people there.

UPDATE: JULY 31, 2014

Yesterday, as I prepared to head down to a press conference at Chicago's city hall, this was one of the images coming out of Gaza:

Terrifying image of #Israel-i airstrike on #Gaza's Tuffah neighborhood 
on front page of @Independent (Pic: EPA)

It was striking to see how closely today's reality matches the image on the protest sign I painted nearly two years ago -- during one of Israel's other attacks on Gaza. And, yes, the latest attacks are still being carried out with weapons supplied by Chicago-based Boeing.

When are we going to put a stop to this?

As always, Eric J. Garcia is right on target

Check out more Scarry signs!

Related posts

July 2014 - Many organizations from across the city joined the call by Anti-War Committee – Chicago, Jews for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and 8th Day Center for Justice: Protest Boeing Death Machines in Gaza: Demand Chicago Drop Boeing from Air and Water Show!

(See No Drones Illinois Endorses Call to Drop Boeing from Chicago Air and Water Show)

Now that the Israeli government's killings in Gaza are front-page news -- particularly the way military aircraft is being used to mow down innocent men, women, and children -- Boeing's involvement is in everyone's face.

(See Boeing Has an Israel Problem . . . and Chicago Has a Boeing Problem)

Year after year, hundreds of thousands of people from Chicago and the surrounding area gather on the lakeshore to watch aerial displays by an array of planes. Most don't suspect that they are being subjected to an intense propaganda effort by multiple branches of the U.S. military.  The Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo views this as a perfect opportunity to engage with the public and enlist them in the growing movement against U.S. war, torture, surveillance, and other crimes.  We will join activists from many other peace and justice groups who have had a growing presence at this event in recent years.

(See August 16-17: Protest U.S. Kidnapping, Torture, and Drone Assassinations at the 2014 Chicago Air and Water Show Protest )


Other related links

Students at DePaul University had a graphic message for the Chicago community when they protested the killings in Gaza:

"Gaza's blood is on our hands."
"Students protest outside of the Arts & Letters building on the Lincoln
Park Campus Tuesday, Sept. 30." (Amanda Crane / The DePaulia)

"After last year’s 1,575-1,333 affirmative vote on the resolution to divest, the ball is now firmly in the court of DePaul Divest, the coalition that has spearheaded the movement on campus. The group must make a case before the university’s Fair Business Practices Committee within the academic year in order for divest to even be considered." ("Gaza conflict extends Divest debate at DePaul" by Brenden Moore in The DePaulia, October 5, 201)

Should OWS lead the overthrow of the U.S. support of Israeli crimes?

On January 26, 2012, I wrote a post entitled "Why OWS Should Lead the "No Iran War!" Resistance". It is the most viewed post I ever wrote.

It came at a time of very strong grass roots resistance to move by the U.S. government to justify an attack on Iran. That resistance culminated in "No Iran War" demonstrations around the country on February 4, 2012.

In my post about the Occupy movement, I pointed out that standing against U.S. aggression toward Iran was a position that not many people wanted to take, and that luckily a movement had arisen consisting of people who were willing to go beyond the conventional wisdom and were not afraid to take unpopular positions. For me, it boiled down to the "courage to think different."

Today, when people in Gaza are once again being slaughtered by an Israeli state that operates with the full backing and material support of the U.S. government, who has the "courage to think different"?

Should OWS lead the overthrow of the U.S. support of Israeli crimes?


Related posts

If the Occupy movement has taught me one thing, it is that every time I hear some person or group of people being described as "different," I should stop and think. And think again. Would it really be possible for U.S. leaders to be talking about war with Iran if people here stopped to think about how different people there aren't?

(See Why OWS Should Lead the "No Iran War!" Resistance)








I wonder if, years from now, we will be thinking back to today and feeling surprise at how little we thought about some of the developments in our world, and in our country, and how we talked about them even less. Someday will I have to explain to my kids, or to my kids' kids, why it was that "people just weren't talking about it" . . . ?

(See Why Weren't People Talking About It? )





The #1 supporter of the terror that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza is the United States. Israel is doing the work set out for it by the U.S. government, against victims for which the U.S. government bears full responsibility, using weapons and money supplied by the U.S. government.

(See USA: Proud Sponsor of T E R R O R in Gaza!)