The Definition of Genocide

The Definition of Genocide

Photos by C.A. Matthews

gen•o•cide jĕn′ə-sīd″

• n.
  The systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.
• n.
  The systematic killing of a racial or cultural group.
• n.
  The systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, political opinion, social status, or other particularity.
   
  The New American Dictionary, 5th Edition 
  
  
  

   
  What is Genocide?
  
  

  1. Killing members of the group
  2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
  3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
  4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
  5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

  There are a number of other serious, violent crimes that do not fall under the specific definition of genocide. They include crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass killing.

  --United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  

The United Nations (UN) Definition of Genocide

The definition of the crime of genocide as contained in Article II of the Genocide Convention was the result of a negotiating process and reflects the compromise reached among United Nations Member States in 1948 at the time of drafting the Convention. Genocide is defined in the same terms as in the Genocide Convention in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 6), as well as in the statutes of other international and hybrid jurisdictions. Many States have also criminalized genocide in their domestic law; others have yet to do so.

The United Nations (UN) Defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The word “genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. It consists of the Greek prefix genos, meaning race or tribe, and the Latin suffix cide, meaning killing. Lemkin developed the term partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust, but also in response to previous instances in history of targeted actions aimed at the destruction of particular groups of people. Later on, Raphäel Lemkin led the campaign to have genocide recognised and codified as an international crime.

Are you starting to get the picture?

Homes bombed, skyscrapers crumbled, schools targeted, children killed... Even the Covid-19 response has been disabled in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes. Do these violent actions not meet the definition of genocide?

How do you respond to those who commit genocide? Do you continue to sell them weaponry and turn a blind eye? The US does. We give Israel almost $4 billion a year, and this is what they do with that money--they buy more weapons to kill their neighbors.

It needs to stop. NOW. 

Do what these brave protesters did recently--take it to the streets. Get your signs and get loud. Flood your Congressmember's email and mail box with correspondence stating in no uncertain terms that the US must end its support of  Israeli terrorism targeted at the Palestinian people. Killing civilians based on their ethnicity and/or religion is genocide.

Don't ignore what is happening. It could happen to you and yours someday. And then who will be left to speak up for you?

https://youtu.be/PYGgUfUi3J0

 

Why hasn't Joe Biden and democrats called on Israel to stop using U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses which is a violation of U.S. law? The answer. Both the U.S. and Israel are racist settler states that don't recognize the common humanity of non-Europeans.

— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) May 13, 2021

 

Related Articles:

Israeli Predawn Bombing Kill Another 42 in Gaza as Rescuers Dig For Survivors https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/69406-israeli-predawn-bombing-kill-another-42-in-gaza-as-rescuers-dig-for-survivors

Israeli Airstrike on Gaza Claims Eight Young Cousins https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/15/israeli-airstrike-on-gaza-claims-eight-young-cousins

Palestinians Flee Their Homes as Israel Launches Hundreds of Strikes Into Gaza https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/69362-palestinians-flee-their-homes-as-israel-launches-hundreds-of-strikes-into-gaza 

Palestinians in Gaza Recount Ruthless Horror of Israeli Raids https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/69381-palestinians-in-gaza-recount-ruthless-horrors-of-israeli-raids

How Biden Enabled Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians https://scheerpost.com/2021/05/12/how-biden-enabled-israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestinians/

On Palestine, the Media is Allergic to the Truth https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/69347-on-palestine-the-media-is-allergic-to-the-truth

Digital Apartheid: Palestinians Being Silenced on Social Media https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/69366-digital-apartheid-palestinians-being-silenced-on-social-media

Israeli Propagandists Launch Global PR Offensive https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-apartheid-report-act-il-israel-propoganda/277026/ 

Israel Military Draws Up Plan for Ground Invasion of Gaza https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/69350-focus-israel-military-draws-up-plan-for-ground-invasion-of-gaza 

Without US Aid Israel Wouldn't Be Killing Palestinians En Masse https://truthout.org/articles/chomsky-without-us-aid-israel-wouldnt-be-killing-palestinians-en-masse/

 Israeli Real Estate Agent (political cartoon) https://scheerpost.com/2021/05/12/israeli-real-estate-agent/

 

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From Roots Action:

Congresswoman Betty McCollum from Minnesota has introduced a bill (H.R.2590) "to promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation and to ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law." It's terrific for Congress Members and special envoys to speak out against brutal ethnic cleansing by the rightwing Israeli government. But ceasing to fund the killing would carry more weight. If the U.S. State Department had a secret "off" switch for all U.S.-manufactured weapons, there would be very few places on earth it would ever have to send anyone to plead for peace. In the absence of such a fantasy solution, we have the commonsensical steps taken in H.R.2590. This bill would prohibit Israel from using U.S. taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for: the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or, Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law. Click here to quickly ask your Representative to cosponsor this bill, and to ask your Senators to introduce and pass the same legislation.
If H.R.2590 becomes law, here are things the Israeli government will be forbidden to do to children with U.S. dollars: torture, physical violence, restraint in stress positions, hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, solitary confinement, imprisonment without charge or trial, denial of access to parents or legal counsel, the use of force to coerce confessions. The Israeli government imprisons around 700 Palestinian children a year, with the support of U.S. tax dollars, which flow in at a rate of nearly $4 billion a year. Armed soldiers barge into homes in the middle of the night, taking children away from their parents. Israel subjects children to torture and abuse, deprives them of food and water, and denies them their right to an attorney. U.S. tax dollars should not fund this immoral and illegal activity! (See documentation in background links at bottom.)   Israel routinely destroys Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, leaving thousands of Palestinians homeless. Israel has demolished more than 48,000 Palestinian structures since 1967, 24,000 of which are estimated to be homes. These numbers have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Israel demolished or seized 851 Palestinian structures, displacing over 1,000 Palestinians, including over 524 children. Families are often given just minutes to gather their belongings before bulldozers destroy their homes. In some cases, Palestinians are forced to even pay for the demolition of their own homes. (See documentation in background links at bottom.) This week the residents of an apartment building in Gaza were given one hour to get out before it was destroyed with a missile. A poll of 53 countries released last week found 44% of people see the U.S. government as a threat to democracy, while 38% see the Chinese government, and 28% see the Russian government as threat to democracy. A likely factor in the U.S. lead in this polling is its endless support for an apartheid state that gives basic rights to only one kind of people. If President Biden is serious about "winning the 21st century" on behalf of "democracy," it is in his immediate interest to change this shameful policy.    Most of the world's oppressive governments receive funding for their militaries from the U.S. government, but Israel's receives the most. If you think putting some basic limits on what can be done with that money is the very least the U.S. Congress could do, click here to send an email. We've drafted it for you but encourage you to edit and add your own words!

 ***

A call to strike! Launched from Jerusalem and extending out to every village, city, and refugee camp across Palestine and beyond its borders to Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, this call to strike is extended to all of us in the diaspora and supporters the world over to take action in maintaining this moment of unprecedented popular resistance.  Israel's settler-colonial project and military occupation has suffocated us for seventy-three years and counting. They have systematically tried to erase us, but still we rise and resist—for the lives taken from us, for the countless injured, for those whose homes have been destroyed, and for the thousands arbitrarily imprisoned for daring to speak truth.  In Gaza, over 40,000 Palestinians have lost their homes in the last week because of Israel's carpet bombings. Just this morning, Israel announced it would be targeting two elementary schools in Gaza. The death toll is rising so fast, the updates are in constant need of updating.  In the US, our actions need to be more than just solidarity, they must build toward ending US complicity. The bombs falling in Gaza are paid for by US tax dollars. $3.8 billion a year to be exact.  We call on °you° to contribute to our general strike tomorrow, Tuesday May 18. How?  By organizing and participating in actions in your cities, communities, unions, and campuses. Hold protests, strikes, rallies. We invite you to participate in any way you can, whether that be a small gesture of solidarity in your workplace, home, or neighborhood, or a large city-wide event. Every act, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, is part of this global wave of resistance.

Keep up to date on the latest happenings unfolding on the ground in Palestine by following us on Instagram and Twitter. Share or send us photos/videos of your participation and use the hashtags: #PalestineOnStrike #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack.

Your support is part of this tidal wave of freedom. Don't stay back out of fear or hesitation.  Onwards, Sumaya

 

"Morally Indefensible War"

Let there be peace on Earth during this "season of peace" many of us pray. Unless you're the United States of America, that is. Then by all means unilaterally drop out of the INF Treaty and continue bombing innocent civilians in foreign lands, because that's how you spread freedom and democracy around the world, right? Even if we've forgotten how to show compassion to our fellow human beings, deep down we know there is another way... a better way. There are others who are willing to lead humanity on the road toward a lasting peace and justice for all. You might be one of them.

 

"Morally Indefensible War"  

by C. A. Matthews 

Dear Readers--

We thank you for being here today. It's hard to know how many of you actually will read this message, as Google--along with Facebook, Twitter, and a few other social media platforms--has been actively blocking access to The Revolution Continues webpage since the week before election day. Obviously, we touched a raw nerve with the corrupt establishment somewhere along the line. 

Up until the recent election, every indicator showed that our reach was growing, and more and more new readers were accessing the blog. Today we can't tell whether or not if the counters have been interfered to make us believe we were losing readership, or somehow we've lost thousands of readers just like that. (If you're a computer guru and want to help us determine what's up and how to stop it, please email us at thebernieblog2016@gmail.com Thanks!) It does seem a bit strange to lose 90% of our average weekly page hits overnight right before the mid-term elections. We have to assume there's been some kind of foul play.

Much love and thanks go out to our regular blog readers and to my fellow progressive bloggers, You Tubers and activist acquaintances worldwide. Even if it's just you guys who can reach this blog site, it's still worth doing. We all knew we were in it for the long haul, and it wasn't going to be easy. Power to the people--especially on those days when we wonder if it's worth all this stress! (Follow the Six Progressive Self-Affirmations in the meme and you'll feel better.)

When Barb McMillen and I started this blog back in 2015, we agreed we wouldn't give up on the blog until Senator Bernie Sanders was elected president. That didn't happen, and it nearly broke Barb's heart. (It didn't do  much for mine, either.) Barb was a Bernie delegate to the DNC convention in Philadelphia and a life-long Democrat. She took the primary rigging and the outrageous actions against Bernie supporters at the convention by the corporate Dems hard. It didn't do her fragile health any good.

RIP dear Barb

As a life-long independent, I backed Bernie's campaign because he was an independent thinker--a democratic socialist, no less--and stood up for what was right often in the midst of ridicule and derision from the status quo. (Who can forget his speech against the invasion of Iraq to a nearly empty House chamber?) While it hurt to see Bernie standing on a campaign stage trying to whip up support for corporatist candidate Hillary Clinton, I didn't dwell on the pain. I moved on and returned to my eco-socialist roots, as did many other Bernie supporters as witnessed by the increasing numbers of "Dem Exiters" and new Green Party members since 2016.

Times change and we have to be willing to take different paths in order to build that "future to believe in" that Bernie talked about. I don't necessarily believe that all of Bernie's tactics have been the right path to take for the good of our country and our world, but most of the time they have been sound and reasonable ones. You generally know where you stand with a guy like Bernie Sanders who speaks his mind and wears his heart on his sleeve. He didn't (and still doesn't) sully his integrity by taking money from corporate lobbyists. It's what attracted so many people to him to begin with during the 2016 primary season.  It attracted about 30,000+ in one arena where we heard him speak alone! And he did this day after day, week after week, and all the while the mainstream media ignored him at the behest of the corrupt establishment duopoly and their Wall Street bankster buddies.

There's no denying that it takes strength, courage and determination to do what Bernie did in 2016. It takes a person with clear vision and faith in his own sense of agency to accomplish his goals. That is what I will always respect about Bernie Sanders, even if I don't always agree with his current choice of political bedfellows.

So, when Bernie recently stood up in the Senate and introduced a bill to end the War in Yemen (and yes, it is a war--an undeclared one), I felt proud to have said I'd canvassed for him. He has kept his promise and fought for his goal to put an end to the endless wars for oil and to shut down the military-industrial complex. Sure, he doesn't have a spotless track record on this subject. He has voted to keep tax-payer money flowing into a military airplane plant in Vermont to keep it open, but in the end, he does seem to care about human beings on the whole and wants to ease their suffering. (This earlier video proves this.) He's willing to gamble his political future away by being outspoken for the oppressed. He's willing to put his neck on the line for them.

Bernie has proven this time and time again with his support and campaigning for a national single-payer health care system (the new and improved Medicare for All). He's proven it by rallying the troops in the "Fight for $15" strikes to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. He's proven this by taking a stance for free college education for all and for not deporting asylum-seekers and DACA kids.

Because Bernie cares, he's openly against warfare. He stands out like a shining beacon of morality in an immoral Senate. But wouldn't any half-way decent human being be against bombing school buses full of Yemeni children? Wouldn't any self-serving politician say he was against bombing school buses if he knew it would get him votes? Could he have an unspoken agenda that isn't necessarily a positive one?

While we can't read a person's mind or probe the deeper recesses of his heart for answers, we can look at a person's words and deeds. Bernie's actions have been consistently on the side of people, planet and peace over corporate profits. In that respect, Bernie Sanders is in line with the Green Party's platform, even if he won't join the party itself. It seems safe to say he's genuine when he says he wants to put an end to the War in Yemen.

But would Bernie be for stopping all wars--and never allowing the US to start another one ever again? Would he be against regime change and sponsoring coups in other countries when we don't agree with their choice in a leader? It remains to be seen. Word on the street says Bernie will run for president in 2020. We might actually get the chance to find out how he'll act when confronted with the full force of the military-industrial complex while sitting in the Oval Office. 

Until then, we must have faith that we are backing the right candidates. We must keep fighting the good fight against "morally indefensible war."  It takes more than just one straightforward senator to make the world a better place, after all. It takes all of us.

 

Related articles:

Yemen, Poisoned Water, and a Green New Deal:

https://worldbeyondwar.org/yemen-poisoned-water-and-a-green-new-deal/

The War in Yemen is not a war--it's a massacre:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/27/the-war-in-yemen-is-not-a-war-it-is-a-massacre/

The Yemen War is 2018's worst humanitarian crisis:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/middleeast/yemen-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis-un-intl/index.html 

However, there's a loophole in Bernie Sander's Yemen bill that allows continued US involvement:

https://www.mintpressnews.com/bernie-yemen-bill/252480/

US provides military aid to more than  70% of world's dictatorships:

https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-provides-military-aid-70-percent-worlds-dictatorships

 US military says it has a "light footprint" in Africa--https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/53678-us-military-says-it-has-a-qlight-footprintq-in-africa-these-documents-show-a-vast-network-of-bases  

Bernie speaks on national strategy call to win Medicare for All: https://medicare4all.org/event/nov13call/  

Bernie Sanders puts forward program that could split the Democratic Party:  https://blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-puts-forward-program-could-split-democratic-party

***

Earlier this week, the United States Senate took the first step toward ending our country’s active participation in a morally indefensible war in Yemen — a war most Americans know little about and that Congress never voted to authorize.

Over the last several years, our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen has been one of the great moral stains on our nation resulting in the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. During the last several years more than 85,000 children in Yemen have starved to death, while millions more of the people there face imminent starvation. With the water infrastructure destroyed by Saudi bombs, 10,000 new cases of cholera occur each week as people are unable to find clean drinking water.

And what my bill, offered with Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, says is that instead of being part of the killing in Yemen, on behalf of a despotic Saudi regime, we should be doing everything possible to create a peaceful resolution to that war and provide the kind of humanitarian help Yemenis so desperately need.

With 63 votes in favor and 37 against, this is the first time in the history of the United States that the U.S. Senate has voted to advance a resolution withdrawing the United States Armed Forces from an unauthorized and unconstitutional war.

And our success has a lot to do with people at the grassroots level making their voices heard on this important issue.

But we still have work left to do.

Next week, I expect that we have another procedural vote and then a final vote on passage of the resolution. So we cannot stop now. Not if we want to see this victory through to the end and limit our engagement in Yemen to the humanitarian and diplomatic aid needed to relieve the suffering of millions of Yemenis. Add your name if you’re with me:

Tell the U.S. Senate: It’s time to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. We must make it crystal clear the American people want our country out of this horrible civil war.

For decades and under presidents of both parties, Republicans and Democrats have abdicated their Constitutional responsibility to debate and decide whether or not our country engages in war.

It is not the president who gets to decide whether or not we go to war in Yemen, or Syria, or anywhere else. It is Congress.

And our vote earlier this week was a big step forward in reasserting that constitutional responsibility.

Not surprisingly, given our president's deep affection for authoritarian regimes, the White House has threatened to veto this bill if it gets to Trump’s desk. So what I want to do today with this petition is make sure Trump knows that it isn’t just the United States Senate that believes we should end our involvement in this humanitarian catastrophe, but the American people as well.

So add your name:

Tell the U.S. Senate: It's time to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Enough is enough. Enough killing. Enough starvation. Enough destruction. This is the time to tell Saudi Arabia, and indeed the rest of the world, that we will no longer be a partner to the horrific crisis in Yemen.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

---

Tell the U.S. Senate: It's time to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

ADD YOUR NAME

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Help us win the battle against endless war--support those who speak up for human rights and peace!

 The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate to the cause of ending the scourge of the military-industrial complex and keeping it ad-free. Three years plus without obnoxious ads (that many news sites have to cover costs) has been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc., out of her own pocket, and she would like to be able to pay her contributors in the future.

Please consider donating a buck, $5, $10 or $20--any amount you can share with us to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Help us become a strong alternative voice protesting against the corrupt establishment and its paid-off corporate mouthpieces. Give to TRC today. Thank you.

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Power to the people and not the corporations!

***

From RootsAction.org:

President Trump has announced plans to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a key nuclear disarmament pact with Russia signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and approved by the U.S. Senate.

Congress should take action to keep the United States in the treaty. And either house of Congress alone has the power to refuse to fund any weapons prohibited by the treaty.

Click here to email your Representative and your two Senators.

Some members of Congress are already indicating an interest in taking action.
Congressman Ro Khanna has tweeted: "I am alarmed that President Trump is withdrawing from the INF treaty with Russia. This action plunges us back into a nuclear arms race and endangers our troops, allies, & the world, while wasting taxpayer dollars to prepare for a nuclear war that must never be fought."

The INF prohibits the United States and Russia from deploying both nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,420 miles. These are among the weapons most likely to lead to miscalculation or misadventure in a crisis.

Following ratification of the INF, the United States destroyed almost 1,000 missiles, and the Soviet Union almost 2,000. "But," writes Jon Schwarz at The Intercept, "arms control treaties are never about weapons and numbers alone. They can help enemy nations create virtuous circles, both between them and within themselves. Verification requires constant communication and the establishment of trust; it creates constituencies for peace inside governments and in the general public; this reduces on both sides the power of the paranoid, reactionary wing that exists in every country; this creates space for further progress; and so on."

Conversely, withdrawal from arms control treaties can feed vicious cycles of distrust, animosity, and militarization.

Click here to stop this disaster in its tracks.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which now shows the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, points out: "The INF withdrawal is part of a pattern. It is not the first nuclear treaty the U.S. has terminated; at the end of 2001 the United States walked out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty it had signed with the Soviet Union in 1972."

Both the United States and Russia currently accuse each other of violating the INF Treaty. Wherever the truth lies, the solution is not to pull out of the treaty, but to redouble diplomatic efforts to resolve the allegations. 

  The United States and Russia control more than 90 percent of the world’s nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons. It is unlikely that any of the other nuclear-armed powers will be willing to engage in negotiations to control or eliminate these extraordinarily dangerous armaments if the United States abandons arms control.

A ratified treaty is a part of the “supreme law of the land,” former Senator Russell Feingold has noted — “which should logically mean that it could only be undone by Congress and the President, or at least by a vote of the Senate.”

Tell the first branch of government in the U.S. Constitution to step up and do its job.

After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.


-- The RootsAction.org Team

Background:
>> David Cortright, The Nation: “The Peace Movement Won the INF Treaty. We Must Fight to Preserve It.”
>> Russell Feingold, NBCnews.com: “Donald Trump can unilaterally withdraw from treaties because Congress abdicated responsibility”
>> Zia Mian, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “The INF Treaty and the crises of arms control”
>> Jon Schwarz, The Intercept: “What Trump and John Bolton Don’t Understand About Nuclear War”
>> Ira Helfand, CNN.com: “Sheer Luck Has Helped Us Avoid Nuclear War So Far – Now We Need to Take Action”

www.RootsAction.org

Remembrance Day 2018

The Revolution Continues blog editor has left Trumpland temporarily to visit friends and family in England. For the next couple of weeks, enjoy insights from an American Progressive Abroad.

Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not. So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.
--Kurt Vonnegut, WWII veteran

Remembrance Day 2018

by C.A. Matthews
photos by Adrian Matthews

At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the "war to end all wars" came to an end. Sadly, the killing continued. Over 800 British and Commonwealth service members and 1000 US Marines were killed before the ending of the official last day of World War I. The long road toward creating a lasting peace is paved with good intentions, or so it seems.

Celebrating the centenary of the First World War this year in a different country demonstrates to me how much the holiday has changed over the years. It first began as Armistice Day and was a celebration of peace and the ending of war--all wars--worldwide. But in 1954 at the height of the Cold War, Americans converted the celebration of ending all wars into one of honoring warriors instead. The eleventh of November was renamed Veterans' Day and emphasized the thanking of soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors for their sacrifice and service to the imperialist state in ridding the world of the Soviet Union and its allies.

In the UK, the eleventh of November is an altogether more meaningful experience. Yes, you are physically closer to where most of the fighting took place than in the US, but perhaps it is the intensity of emotion within the walls of Norwich Cathedral that made me realize viscerally how it wasn't all that long ago that an entire generation of young men marched off to their deaths--gruesome, gasping, bloody deaths in the trenches. Somehow the scars of that conflict still feel fresh nearer to the actual battlefields.

In the US, we've created two  holidays to commemorate those who have served in the armed forces: Memorial Day and Veterans' Day. They are better known as being excuses for the big box stores to have sales and for government workers to enjoy three day weekends, rather than for the veneration of soldiers and warfare. In the UK, they've renamed Armistice Day to Remembrance Day and combined elements from both American celebrations. The dead and the living are both honored--and their sacrifice lauded--but the wish for a world at peace is also remembered.

In Remembrance Day the true essence of Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Armistice Day come together. Could this be the reason why the UK isn't bucking to start a war with Iran, Russia, China, or Fill-in-the-Blank-Land as much as the current American administration is? How are the dead honored by killing more in their names? How are the survivors of warfare honored by killing more human beings in their names? How is peace served by endless bloodshed?

One hundred years after the "war to end all wars" and the US is helping to bomb school buses of children in Yemen. American drones regularly take out the innocent along with the "terrorists." Little children are stolen from their families as they cross the border into the US because of the "crime" of their skin color or country of origin. This is not peace. This is not honor. This is not worth remembering.

Americans must start remembering what Armistice Day originally was all about and pledge to work hard toward building a lasting peace in the world. Remembrance Day should be for remembering that peace is the objective--not the generation of endless profits for the military industrial complex. We should remember the lives lost in the pursuit of greed and vow to end the vicious cycle once and for all. Only then will we experience true peace both within ourselves and between our communities.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them. -- Laurence Binyan

Perhaps the best ending to a television series ever is the poignant ending of Blackadder Goes Forth. It sums up well the horror, utter insanity and uselessness of war (done in a World War I setting).  https://youtu.be/vH3-Gt7mgyM

 
Related articles:

US is more comfortable with war than peace
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/11/us-observe-armistice-day-more-comfortable-war-than-peace

US calls for ceasfire--keeps attacking Yemen
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/53299-rsn-us-calls-for-ceasefire-keeps-attacking-yemen 

Map shows were Obama dropped his 20,000 bombs
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-president-barack-obama-bomb-map-drone-wars-strikes-20000-pakistan-middle-east-afghanistan-a7534851.html

WWI Art and Other War Images

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From Coalition to Protect America's Healthcare:

A soldier who lost his legs below the knees in Afghanistan — and enrolled in Harvard Medical School a few years later.

A doctor (and a veteran) who ran the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of his father, who fought at Iwo Jima.

A World War II physiotherapist who invented a device that helped veterans with disabilities feed themselves — and then gave it away, absolutely free.
 
These are just a handful of the medical professionals who are proud to serve the men and women of our armed forces. Their stories are incredible — read them today >>

And if you've served, or if you know someone who has, please accept our gratitude.

Thanks,

Coalition to Protect America's Health Care 

***

No to NATO — Yes to Peace The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans a summit, or at least a “celebration” in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019, to mark 70 years since its creation on April 4, 1949. We plan a peace festival to advocate the abolition of NATO, the promotion of peace, the redirection of resources to human and environmental needs, the demilitarization of our cultures, and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech against war on April 4, 1967, as well as his assassination on April 4, 1968. Plans are subject to change based on input from allies and updated information on what NATO plans to do. Tentatively, World BEYOND War plans to work with a coalition of other groups to organize events in downtown Washington, D.C., on April 3 to include nonviolence training, big art creation, a conference of speakers, and possibly a big demonstration; and on April 4 to be part of a major demonstration. One idea being considered is to form a procession to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and from there to where NATO is meeting and/or to a rally in Freedom Plaza. The important thing now is to put this on your calendar. NATO was heartily unwelcomed by big crowds in Chicago in 2012, and we should be even bigger and more effective this time, with nonviolent actions and media outreach that communicate our opposition to militarism and our support for peace. In 2012 in Chicago, Amnesty International put up big ads thanking NATO for its warmaking. This time we should put up big ads calling for an end to NATO and to war. Fund pro-peace billboards and other big ads here. World BEYOND War has also endorsed a rally at 1 p.m. on March 30 at the White House with UNAC, and an event planned by Black Alliance for Peace on the evening of April 4. We will be strongest with all groups, across divergent ideologies and issue areas, working together. How You and Your Organization Can Be Part of Saying No to NATO, Yes to Peace: We’re lining up venues, which may include a venue where we can hold events and where people can choose to spend the night on April 3rd. We’ll have those details and further information on rides and lodging. If you’d like to offer or request lodging or rides, please do that here. Endorsing Organizations: World BEYOND War, Popular Resistance, CODE PINK, UFPJ, DSA Metro DC, A-APRP (GC), No to War No to NATO, International Peace Bureau, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Nuke Watch, Alliance for Global Justice, Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, U.S. Peace Council, Backbone Campaign, Sponsoring Organizations and Individuals: World BEYOND War, Volunteering to Help: Outreach that Individuals and Organizations Can Help With We want to reach out to organizations and individuals in and around Washington, D.C., and any willing to come to Washington, D.C. These events are an opportunity to build the coalition we need. War and militarism kill, teach violence, drive racism, create refugees, destroy the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain budgets. There are no groups working for good causes that shouldn’t have an interest in opposing NATO and advocating for peace. All are welcome. Here’s a sample message you can modify and use. Spread the word on social media:     The Case Against NATO: While Donald Trump once blurted out the obvious: that NATO is obsolete, he subsequently professed his commitment to NATO and began pressuring NATO members to buy more weapons. So, the notion that somehow NATO is anti-Trump and therefore good would not only be silly and practically amoral on its own terms, it is also at odds with the facts of Trump’s behavior. We are planning an anti-NATO / pro-peace action at which opposition to the militarism of NATO’s dominant member is welcome and necessary. NATO has pushed the weaponry and the hostility and the massive so-called war games right up to the border of Russia. NATO has waged aggressive wars far from the North Atlantic. NATO has added Colombia, abandoning all pretense of its purpose being in the North Atlantic. NATO is used to free the U.S. Congress from the responsibility and the right to oversee the atrocities of U.S. wars. NATO is used as cover by NATO member governments to join U.S. wars under the pretense that they are somehow more legal or acceptable. NATO is used as cover to illegally and recklessly share nuclear weapons with supposedly non-nuclear nations. NATO is used to assign nations the responsibility to go to war if other nations go to war, and therefore to be prepared for war. NATO’s militarism threatens the earth’s environment. NATO’s wars fuel racism and bigotry and erode our civil liberties while draining our wealth. We must say: No to NATO, Yes to peace, Yes to prosperity, Yes to a sustainable environment, Yes to civil liberties, Yes to education, Yes to a culture of nonviolence and kindness and decency, Yes to remembering April 4th as a day associated with the work for peace of Martin Luther King Jr. “As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked, and rightly so, ‘What about Vietnam?’ They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” —MLK Jr. Send us your ideas, questions, proposals! ***

In these dark times, you know what gives me hope? Next week, hundreds of students from across the country are attending the National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference at UCLA to learn from each other, celebrate their wins, and strategize on how to fight white supremacy and work for Palestinian rights. 

I’ve had the pleasure of working with the students in SJP - they are thoughtful, ethical and smart. And they do their work despite an incredible amount of backlash. Canary Mission, the shadowy McCarthyite website, trolls them continually, and has already added SJP conference organizers to their blacklist. Now these students face threats that Canary Mission's lies will be shared with future employers, or the FBI, or that Israeli border guards will prevent Palestinian members from seeing their families. 

SJPs have been subject to a pattern of repression across the country. 
And now, a horrific smear campaign has been launched against their national conference. The campaigners are exploiting the tragedy in Pittsburgh by equating the white supremacist attack on a synagoge with SJP’s educational conference. 

This latest attack on SJP aims to get the conference canceled altogether. 
  Can you take a minute and send an email to UCLA Chancellor to support NSJP?

The smear campaign is getting picked up by media and even the LA City Council is getting swayed by these allegations. In fact they just passed a resolution urging UCLA to cancel the conference. 
This is a fundamental violation of free speech rights, and what’s worse is that they’re exploiting the devastating tragedy of the Pittsburgh shootings to get attention.

These brave students urgently need your help. 

Send an email to the UCLA administration now. Tell them to protect their students from harassment, smear attacks and assaults. Protect their rights to freedom of speech - and make sure the National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference is held as planned.

It’s sad and shameful to witness such a twisted response to our shared suffering around Pittsburgh. I hope you’ll join me in calling out this destructive campaign and supporting students who are actually doing incredible, inspiring work.
 
Thank you.

Tallie Ben-Daniel
Research and Education Manager, JVP

***

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