shared humanity

Student protest and authoritarianism

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

My plan for today after last night’s multiple police attacks on student encampments around the country was to write (some more) about police response to peaceful protest, further connecting the dots between the many proposed “Cop Cities” around the U.S.  Instead, I’m going to delay my post in order to share a must-read piece from Sarah Kendzior: There’s a Sniper on the Roof of the School Where I Studied Authoritarianism. (You can learn more about Sarah here.)

Sniper on roof at yet another university: Ohio State 4.25.24  

Kendzior’s piece begins with this:

There are snipers on the roof of the school where I got my MA.

There are police beating students at the school where I got my PhD.

At each school, I studied authoritarian regimes and how they brainwash people into believing that state brutality is not only expected, but deserved.

That last sentence bears repeating: “… authoritarian regimes [  ] brainwash people into believing that state brutality is not only expected, but deserved.” We’re witnessing this in real time as people on social media sites and network news cheer on the brutalization of students making the very humane and reasonable demands that their tax dollars and their tuition NOT finance a genocide. Those gleeful and bloodthirsty responses to the violence aimed at students reveal a profound lack of humanity and an eager acceptance of authoritarianism.

Kendzior’s piece goes on to say:
The concrete demands of the students have been drowned out by smears from powerful officials — like Benjamin Netanyahu, who compares the students to German Nazis; or fanatical Zionist Senators like John Fetterman, who compares the students, many of whom are Jewish, to the neo-Nazis of Charlottesville who chanted “Jews will not replace us.”

The campus war is a propaganda war. [emphasis mine]

Ryan Grim of The Intercept wrote yesterday that “Americans who get their news primarily from cable are the only people who believe that Israel is not committing a genocide in Gaza, according to according to a new survey that examined the relationship between attitudes toward the war and news consumption habits.” Make no mistake, the cable news programs are following the Biden administration’s guidance on how they present information. They want us to believe that the students and Palestinians are the “terrorists” in this equation, distracting us with false claims of antisemitism so that we won’t look at the blood-soaked hands of Biden plus the Democrats and Republicans who’ve come together in a show of genocidal unity.

Kendzior goes on to write about the students of Gen Z:
Older people either rapturously proclaim that Gen Z will save America or demonize them as entitled. They are portrayed as saints or sinners, but rarely as human beings with a diverse array of opinions.

Every young generation faces this sneering dismissal. It happened to the Boomers, Gen X, and the Millennials too.

But there’s something cruel about ascribing great responsibility or great blame to a generation that has, in their short lives, endured a global plague, rising autocracy, the loss of civil rights, school shootings, catastrophic climate change, multiple economic crashes, and other atrocities often prefaced with the word “unprecedented”.

Each time I read those words, tears fill my eyes. Not only have we placed an incredible burden on these courageous and principled young people, many are ridiculing their humanity and willingness to fight for others. It’s grotesque. Instead of being physically  attacked by the police and verbally attacked by strangers, these young people deserve our gratitude and support (bail funds listing here).

I’ll stop now, but encourage you to read Sarah Kendzior’s piece in its entirety. None of us are safe with this rapid acceleration of authoritarianism.

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Lake Charles Methanol plant

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and then take a quick action on behalf of a frontline community. This week, we’re focusing on the people of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who are facing yet another proposed plant in an area that, according to the EPA, already has some of the worst air pollution in the country. But before I get into that I wanted to quickly update you on a previous action on behalf of people in Louisiana. I’m happy to report that The Vessel Project reached its $25,000 fundraising goal after their office was damaged by a tornado two+ weeks ago, and they are now back at work providing mutual aid, disaster relief, and environmental justice in their community. Yay!

Today’s post info comes from Healthy Gulf (highlighted here before) and this is the info I received via email:

In October 2023, Lake Charles Methanol (LCM) submitted a new application for an air operating permit to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). This plant was previously given authorization in 2016, but despite the fact that they have yet to break ground, this polluting project is still being pushed on Lake Charles communities.

If given approval for this permit, LCM would be able to produce up to 10,000 metric tons of methanol per day, resulting in over 350 tons of toxic emissions per year.

This project is proposed for the heart of Southwest Louisiana, where many community members have been experiencing the effects of toxic industry buildout in their backyards. Many disenfranchised communities, as well as communities of color continue to be targeted and impacted by this buildout.

The deadline to submit comments has been extended to Wednesday, May 1. Please take action today and tell LDEQ to reject Lake Charles Methanol II’s request for an air operating permit.

For a healthy Gulf, 
Breon Robinson
——————————————–

I debated whether to make writing a comment today’s ask since we’re not living in that community, but then thought about how I’d appreciate people from other parts of the country speaking out in solidarity for my community’s health and well-being.  And to be clear, the people in those communities are being sacrificed on the altar of capitalism and consumerism. That’s where industries concentrate their toxic and hazardous plants and factories, and the people there are the first to suffer the effects of those pollutants AND the extreme weather caused by climate change. It’s not acceptable.

I personalized my letter to acknowledge that I don’t live in the community, but would not want those toxic chemicals in my community. Also? When I went to the Louisiana Tourism site and saw this quote at the top of the page: We have the best food, music, and culture in the world, but it’s our people that make Louisiana such a special place to visit!, I had another talking point: if Louisiana really considers their people the most important asset, then they should be protecting ALL citizens from toxic chemicals and poor health. It’s not necessary to personalize your letter, but it will carry more weight if you do.

Thank you for reading this far and taking action on behalf of people who are already dealing with a toxic environment that degrades public health and the environment. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Day 192 of the genocidal war on Palestinians

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Nobody but the military industrial complex, the Zionists, and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) recipients in the House and Senate want this slaughter to continue. I don’t want it and I’m guessing you don’t want it, either.

Billions and billions of dollars are being handed over to Israel, without condition, so that it may continue to destroy the people and infrastructure of Gaza. This would NOT be  possible without full-throated support from the United States. Biden could make one phone call to put an immediate stop to the carnage. Instead? Israel has been emboldened by U.S. support and is now opening slaughtering Palestinian children at a refugee camp playground.

Know what would be cool?  Sanctions against Israel. Instead, today the U.S. announced sanctions against Iran. Because, yanno, Iran’s drone program has killed over 34,000 people, mostly women and children, disabled thousands more, destroyed every hospital and university, and used mass starvation as a weapon . Oh, wait! It’s Israel (“the only democracy in the Middle East”) that’s killed over 34,000 people by dropping 70,000 tons of Made-in-the-U.S. explosives on the Palestinians.

There are so many grotesque layers to all this. For instance, Israeli Firms Are Working Overtime to Sell Stolen Palestinian Land to US Jews. And the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices continues as USC refuses to allow its Valedictorian to speak at graduation because she linked to a pro-Palestinian page on her Instagram account. You may read Valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s statement HERE. EDITED TO ADD: Right after posting, I saw that the House just passed a Resolution: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the slogan, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic and its use must be condemned. Truly pathetic.

I know many are tired of reading about Gaza, tired of thinking about the horrors, and tired of not being heard. When I made calls this morning to the the White House comment line and my Representative and two Senators, my blood pressure went into overdrive with the knowledge that my supposed representatives in this supposed democracy do not care one iota about my opinions. While that may be true, they still must hear from us. These genocide-enablers do not get a free pass! They need to know we are watching and understanding that this brutal assault on Palestinians could happen to any of us, anywhere around the world. They need to know we object.

Please don’t look away. Please don’t stop making noise and disrupting “business as usual.” Please remember our shared humanity and don’t allow your heart to harden. Palestine will be free.

Solidarity!

Climate Movement Monday: in support of The Vessel Project

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we talk all things climate and then take a quick action on behalf of people and planet. I was out of the loop this past week because Zippy had major surgery last Tuesday and was in the hospital until yesterday (he’s got a ways to go but is doing well!), and was blissfully unaware of anything happening outside the ICU and then Room 5921. For instance, I didn’t know there were tornados in Louisiana last week.

I’ve written before about frontline communities along the Gulf being poisoned by petrochemical and fossil fuel facilities, including how Roishetta Ozane lives next to Westlake Chemical plant. Roishetta is the founder of The Vessel Project which is “a grassroots mutual aid, disaster relief, and environmental justice organization founded in Southwest Louisiana in response to several federally declared disasters, including hurricanes Laura and Delta, winter storm Uri, and the May flood of 2021.” Their office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was severely damaged on April 10th in an EF2 tornado that touched down shortly after 6am with damaging winds of over 115 mph. (Video of that tornado.) And now they need our help!

One of The Vessel Project’s missions is helping their community after disasters. Per the website: After a disaster, we assist the affected with their most immediate needs, whatever they may be. Whether it is emergency shelter, food, formula, diapers, oxygen tanks, cleaning supplies, application assistance, or document recovery—we have learned that the best way to help people is by asking them what will help.

I’m here today soliciting donations on behalf of Roishetta and the entire organization that works tirelessly to support their community. Any amount helps! If you can, PLEASE donate to this GoFundMe in support the rebuilding efforts for The Vessel Project. Clean up, repair, and new office equipment are needed!

These are very hard days on the planet but people are taking care of each other, and that gives me great hope. Thank you for reading this far. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Past Solar Eclipses Inspired Peace

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

I’m taking a break this week from my usual Climate Movement Monday post to instead focus on the solar eclipse. To be clear, I made exactly zero plans to see the eclipse and don’t have much to share on a personal level. In fact, Zippy, Emma, and I were out on the open space trails when I thought to ask Zippy if we’d get home in time to use our colander during the partial (65%) eclipse in our region of Colorado.

Nope.

Turns out, it was already 12:48 our time (peak eclipse was at 12:40) and while the light had a strange cast to it, we couldn’t really see much cool stuff in the shadows. I checked out a thistle to see if it made crescent shadows . . . nope.  Zippy pointed out that the shadows cast by our fingers had kinda fuzzy edges, but that was the extent of our eclipse experience.

But this morning I’d come across an article from Erin Fehr in Native News Online: Centuries of Indigenous Knowledge Found Along the Path of the Total Solar Eclipse that contains some very cool stories such as the Cherokees’ story of a giant frog that swallows the sun and the Choctaws’ story of a black squirrel that tries to eat the sun. I highly recommend reading the entire piece but want to highlight a couple excerpts:

Solar eclipses have also been central to historic events, like the birth of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. On August 22, 1142, a solar eclipse occurred near modern-day Victor, New York, where the Five Nations were meeting to form the Confederacy and end the strife among their Nations. Oral history suggests that the fifth nation, the Onondagas, were the last hold-outs, but the total solar eclipse convinced them to join in bringing peace to the region.

Reading that, I couldn’t help wishing that we still lived in a time in which celestial events could inspire collaboration and peace among humans. And then Fehr goes onto share this information:

Tenskwatawa Courtesy (Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery)

In 1806, Tenskwatawa, also known as The Shawnee Prophet, was in conflict with then-Governor of Territorial Indiana William Henry Harrison, who later became the 9th President of the United States. Harrison was upset by the call for tribal unity in the region, fearing that a united front would be harder to overcome [emphasis mine]. He challenged Tenskwatawa to prove himself.

“If he is really a prophet, ask him to cause the sun to stand still, the moon to alter its course, the rivers to cease to flow, or the dead to rise from their graves. If he does these things, you may believe that he has been sent from God.” 

In response, Tenskwatawa predicted an eclipse of the sun in 50 days. 50 days later on June 16, 1806, a total solar eclipse hid the sun across parts of Indiana, solidifying his position of authority. 

The article doesn’t say whether Harrison quit trying to foment dissension as a result of that prediction, but reading that excerpt made me wish–again– that this solar eclipse had the power to convince our so-called leaders to quit their violent, colonizing ways.

Anyway, I’m glad I found and read that interesting article. Did you have a solar eclipse experience today? 

Edited to add: stunning eclipse photo and plea from Climate Defiance to JUST LOOK UP and join the climate struggle.

Climate Movement Monday: immediate & permanent ceasefire in Gaza

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. No matter where we live on this planet, we are all affected by climate change. The climate crisis knows no boundaries or political affiliations, and it’s in our collective best interest to do everything we possibly can to slow earth’s warming.  The Democrats pretend to believe this truth, yet they continue to prop up a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

As I posted in early January, Israel’s constant bombardment of Gaze (with weapons provided by the U.S.)  is cancelling out any progress we’ve made on climate change. Now it’s three months later, and the slaughter continues. Please understand, the uppermost concern is the people of Gaza, and we should all be using our voices and resources in their defense.

Tasnim News Agency 2023 via Wikimedia Commons

But if you need another reason to care about what’s happening and our government’s role in not only accelerating the genocide but also climate change, then read this from Jeff Jones and Eleanor Stein at The Nation: The Single Most Important Thing President Biden Can Do for the Climate Is Enforce an Immediate Cease-Fire in Gaza.

The article isn’t long but I want to highlight this: According to a report from Brown University’s Watson Institute, the US Department of Defense is “the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum and correspondingly, the single largest institutional producer of greenhouse gases.” In other words, military emissions significantly drive the total of US emissions. And this is a peacetime analysis.

And this closing paragraph: War is simultaneously deepening the climate crisis—and making it impossible to solve. The linkage is clear. It is imperative for us to reflect this in our organizing, our advocacy, in the streets and classrooms, and in our thinking in ways we have not yet done. As we near Earth Day 2024, let’s make an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza a point of global unity.

So what can we do when it’s clear the ruling elites don’t care that voters are  overwhelmingly opposed to the government funding and enabling genocide? We keep making noise.

  • If you’re in Wisconsin, PLEASE vote “Uninstructed delegation” in tomorrow’s (April 2) Democratic primary to send the message to Biden that you’re withholding your vote while he enables genocide and climate devastation. (In other states , the term is “Uncommitted” and as a result of those primaries in Michigan, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Missouri, there will be 23 uncommitted Democratic delegates at the Democratic Convention). And if you have friends/family in Wisconsin, please ask them to vote “Uninstructed delegation.” You can find more info about this campaign at ListenToWisconsin.com including this: Our goal is to use the democratic process to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza. We also call for the full entry of humanitarian aid, reinstating aid to UNRWA, and an end to US military aid to Israel. Our votes in the Democratic Primary are a tool to send a clear message to the administration that the margin of victory in Wisconsin will be determined by a serious and immediate change in this administration’s approach in Gaza.
  • Send emails to Biden and Harris
  • Call Biden and Harris (recommend calling Switchboard at 202-456-1414 then ask to be transferred to Comment Line which is 202-456-1111)
  • Send emails to your two Senators and one Representative
  • Call your two Senators and one Representative
  • Put signage in your window, yard, vehicle, etc.
  • Post on social media
  • Talk to your friends, family, neighbors about Palestine
  • Gain confidence by reading and learning more
  • Attend rallies and marches
  • Donate to UNRWA, GazaSunbirds, Doctors Without Borders, World Central Kitchen

It can all feel so futile, I know. But there’s so much to continue fighting for and we can’t give up. Let’s remember our shared humanity. Let’s remember that no matter where we reside, Earth is home to all of us and we cannot survive without a livable planet.

Thank you for reading this far. I appreciate you very much and hope you’ll share thoughts and feelings in the comments. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Solidarity on Land Day

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

Yesterday (March 30) was the 48th anniversary of Land Day. Per BDS Movement: “On this day in 1976, Israel’s apartheid forces murdered six Palestinians (all “citizens”) as they took part in non-violent protests against the relentless settler-colonial theft of their land. Every March 30th, Indigenous Palestinians everywhere commemorate Land Day in honor of the struggle against Israeli settler-colonial oppression and for liberation.”

Colorado Palestine Coalition organized a rally and march yesterday which Zippy and I attended. We hadn’t been able to attend any rallies/marches for a bit so it felt good to be back with like-minded folks who refuse to remain silent as our government ignores our calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and continues to send billions of dollars and bombs so that Israel may continue its campaign of death, disability, and destruction in Gaza. It’s cathartic to march through the streets, (loudly) chanting in unison on behalf of Palestinians and to call out our so-called representatives for their complicity in the genocide.

People were also there on bicycles in solidarity with Gaza Sunbirds (The Gaza Sunbirds are a para-cycling team, consisting of 20 athletes, based in the Gaza Strip. The team was founded in 2018 when Alaa al-Dali, an Olympic hopeful cyclist, was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper. They are currently distributing aid.). Donations can be made HERE.

One of the speakers said that while the turnout in Denver wasn’t the largest they’d seen, it was still incredibly gratifying to have that many people show up for Palestine on a spring Saturday. Another speaker asked people to raise their hand if they’d just learned about Palestine last year and LOTS of people raised hands which felt incredible on two levels: incredible in that so many people had now joined the movement(!) but also incredible in that they were ignorant of the situation due to the pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian filter through which we in the U.S. receive our information.

The tide is changing. Israel’s brutal assault, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians (70% of them women and children), the forced starvation, the destruction of hospitals, universities, neighborhoods, the assassination of journalists, academics, poets, healthcare workers, and aid workers, along with the dropping of white phosphorous with the intent of destroying the agricultural  land and making that land uninhabitable, all of this brutality (and more) is on display for the entire world to see. We see this gleeful brutality and there will be no returning to the status quo.

Please, if you haven’t yet spoken up on behalf of Gaza and all Palestinians, it’s not too late. And if you don’t feel as if you understand the situation enough, I highly recommend “They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom” by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri. (A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir.) I just started reading it (after seeing this blog post) and find the memoir highly accessible and engrossing.

The Palestinian people have been resisting for decades and millions of us around the world are also resisting on their behalf. Palestine will be free.

Palestinian poetry and artwork

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

The following poem by Palestinian-American Fady Joudah and artwork by children’s book illustrator Sohila Khaled come from the recently published Poems for Palestine which was created by Publishers for Palestine. They’ve provided a PDF of the chapbook and we are encouraged to share the work widely. (click to enlarge images)

 

I also wanted to share this TIME article (by Armani Syed)  from early January: How Poetry Became a Tool of Resistance for Palestinians which ends with this from  George Abraham, a Palestinian-American poet: “. . . it’s imperative that poetry is just one tool in the process for Palestinian liberation and resistance against ethnic cleansing. 

“Poetry can’t stop a bullet. Poetry won’t free a prisoner. And that’s why we need to do the political organizing work as well,” they say. “But if we can’t imagine a free liberated world in language, how can we build one?”

Free Palestine!

For Dillon

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

You never got to see a Northern Harrier, so here are two slightly blurred but fully authentic photos of the harrier I told you about exactly one week ago when we were shoveling that heavy snow together, when you were being your typical generous self and helping clear the enormous snowplow-created snow berm so that Zippy and I would be able to get out of our driveway if needed.

Both images by Zippy. March 11, 2024

You delighted in the fact I’d just learned from Zippy: Northern Harriers have owl-like faces that help them hear prey as they fly low above the ground. I wish you’d had the chance to see and identify one when working with your surveying crew so that you would’ve won the “Raptor ID Pie” for that week.

Even more, I wish you were still here with your easy smile and enormous heart. I wish we could have more conversation about birds and nature and dogs and streams, just a sampling of the many things that brought you joy, but I’m grateful for the time we did share and I hold those memories close.

My heart is shattered. I hope you knew how much you meant to me.

Rest in peace, Dillon.

Climate Movement Monday: Juliana v United States (AGAIN)

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

Hello, it’s another Monday which means a Movement Monday post! Thank you for being here for discussions about climate and the frontline communities facing the worst of the climate crisis. This giant blue ball is home to ALL of us and we need to keep showing up in order to ensure the planet remains livable.

The Juliana 21 (image from Our Children’s Trust)

Today is a time-sensitive ask (a quick personal letter) as we revisit the children’s climate case: Juliana v United States. Here’s the background info from my January 30, 2023, post:

In 2015, 21 young Americans filed a landmark constitutional climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, against the U.S. government. Their complaint asserts that the government’s affirmative actions, like fossil fuel energy policies, knowingly cause and worsen the climate crisis. The youth claim that this violates the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, property, and equal protection of the law, as well as fails to protect essential public trust resources.

These 21 young people are seeking a judicial declaration that the U.S. fossil fuel energy system is unconstitutional and violates their fundamental right to a safe climate. A victory in their case would mean that all current and future U.S. climate and energy policy – whether executive or legislative in nature, and regardless of political majority or party – would need to adhere to the court’s declaratory judgment, protecting the rights of our nation’s children to a safe climate.

Despite President Biden’s promises to listen to youth and address the climate crisis, his Department of Justice is still actively opposing the Juliana case, denying their rights and seeking to prevent the young plaintiffs from presenting evidence to a judge in open court of how their own government is causing them harm.
—————————

You may recall that exactly three weeks ago, I asked you to take action on this very case. The good news is that 35,000+ letters were sent demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) stop their stalling tactics and allow the case to go to trial AND that 75 organizations joined the efforts to #SaveJuliana. The bad news is that the DOJ asked for a stay (their 22nd attempt to shut down this case!) Good news? The U.S. Court of appeals denied the stay! BUT on February 29, the DOJ said we have 21 days to make the case for why Juliana should go to trial. That’s where we come in.

PLEASE, take two minutes to personalize the letter template to send a message to the Biden administration and the DOJ demanding that the young people are heard in court! 

Maybe you have children or grandchildren or are a teacher or librarian who works with young people, and maybe you want to include concern for them in your letter. Maybe you want to mention that if Biden wants to be known as the “climate president,” he should allow this case to go to trial. Maybe you want to mention droughts, floods, hurricanes, or winter tornadoes you’ve suffered due to the climate crisis. Whatever your approach, let’s stand up for the young who did not create this climate catastrophe but who are already facing the consequences of their elders’ inaction. Let’s give them a brighter future!

Also? If you could forward the info to two friends or family members and ask them to send letters today, we will grow our impact. For those on Facebook, Twitter/X, or Instagram, here’s a toolkit with graphics and messaging to help spread the word.

Thank you for reading and engaging on this issue. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: lies from Big Meat via HEATED

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we focus on climate-related topics. I typically try to highlight an issue directly affecting a frontline community and then offer an action you can take on their behalf. Today I’m taking a different approach and using this opportunity to shine a light on a wonderful climate newsletter called HEATED.

Emily Atkin

Per their About page, HEATED is “Accountability journalism for the climate crisis,” from climate journalists Emily Atkin and Arielle Samuelson. I started out as a subscriber and am now a paid subscriber because I want to support their in-depth reporting, and I hope you’ll check them out.

Arielle Samuelson

 

 

 

I’ve chosen today’s story because it involves meat and  I haven’t yet addressed the climate impact of eating industrially-raised animals in Movement Mondays.  To be honest, I haven’t thought about it much as I’m a lifelong vegetarian but am guessing at least some of my readers are meat-eaters and will welcome this info as it identifies certain brands making false sustainability claims. At the heart of this story is JBS USA, an arm of the world’s largest meatpacking company, and its fraudulent promise to reach “net zero emissions by 2040,” and the New York Attorney General going after them for this claim. I’ve linked the newsletter below.

Big Meat is lying about sustainability. These media outlets are helping.
Can newsrooms really expect people to trust their reporting if they fund it by spreading misinformation?  by Emily Atkins and Arielle Samuelson. March 6, 2024

Thank you for reading and please share any thoughts or questions in the comments. Note: I scheduled this post before leaving for a national wildlife refuge to see thousands of Sandhill Cranes, so my replies will come later this week. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Day 155 of the genocidal war on Palestinians

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

Today is Day 155 of the brutal assault on Gaza. Over 30,000 have been killed, 70% of them women and children.  Sunset tomorrow marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Currently, 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded into Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, the region they fled to because the Israelis kept telling them to move south to “safe zones.” Every so-called safe zone has been bombed and destroyed and now those traumatized, starving, desperate people are facing the imminent Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, an invasion fully sponsored by the United States. (Genocide Joe is an ardent Zionist and in 1982 revealed to then-Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, Biden’s willingness to slaughter Palestinian women and children, a statement so callous it stunned the militant Zionist PM.)

The situation is horrifying on every single level. PLEASE continue to contact your reps (to make them uncomfortable, if nothing else), demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire + an end to aid to Israel. Food and supplies must be allowed in!  The performative airdrops are literally killing Palestinians, as they are either targeted by Israel while trying to retrieve the food or are crushed by a pallet.

The following artwork and poem come from POEMS FOR PALESTINE. I shared another poem and illustration from this collection here and you may go here for a free download of the entire chapbook. Publishers for Palestine encourages us to read and share widely!

Artwork: Hassan Manasrah
@hassan.manasrah.illustrations

NOTE: The poem is a screenshot because I wanted to preserve the poet’s spacing. Click on it for an easier read.

In our thousands, in our millions

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Note: I’m still feeling the affects of general anesthesia and pain medication, and ask that you excuse any typos and/or poorly stated thoughts in the following.

On Tuesday, I had some major dental work done. I’d known it was needed for a couple months and experienced quite a bit of anxiety in advance. However, that anxiety was greatly lessened by the knowledge that I’d be under general anesthesia. I recognize my privilege in all this, which boils down to: (A) me being able to afford that additional expense and (B) anesthesia being widely available in my community which isn’t under siege from an occupying power.

I cannot imagine having that work done without all that medication. As the nurse anesthesiologist prepped me Tuesday morning, I thought about Palestinians in Gaza forced to have limbs amputated without pain medication as the neighborhood around them is blown up by bombs the U.S. sends to Israel. I thought about Palestinian women giving birth while buried beneath rubble and others delivering their babies via cesarean without pain medication. I thought about how frightened I was to have my procedure, despite the calm circumstances

I won’t go into specific horrors inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank right now.  What I will say is that none of us are separate from what’s happening. The genocide, ethnic cleansing, displacement, starvation, rampant diseases, the Israeli settlers who devote their days to blocking humanitarian aid (some setting up a bouncy castle and others throwing a dance party), the plundering of Palestinian homes and possessions, etc. None of us are insulated against that brutality.

In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians!

Ehab of DIRECT AID FOR GAZA

The powerful elites aren’t listening to our calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, but we can still alleviate a little pain and trauma. PLEASE, as you can:

  • UNRWA donation
  • Donate esims which allow people in Gaza to communicate with family, friends, and the outside world. Go to gazaesims.com to learn how to purchase and donate esims OR donate money HERE for the purchase and distribution of esims. NOTE: there are discount codes at both links.
  • Direct Aid to Gaza: donate via PayPal for mutual aid efforts in Gaza

I’ll stop here as I need to apply ice to my swollen face, but I thank you if you’ve read this far. Solidarity!

Climate Movement Monday: Juliana v United States

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate! This will be a quick post with a call to action as I’m finishing up what I hope is the final round of revisions on my middle grade novel (so that it may go out on submission YAY) before tomorrow morning’s major dental procedure that will put me out of commission for a bit (not so YAY 😦 ).

Today’s post revisits Juliana v United States which, as I wrote about just over a year ago, is the youth-led climate lawsuit charging that the federal government’s actions which knowingly cause climate change are in violation of our constitutional rights. I often write about frontline communities (those facing the worst effects of climate change) and want to highlight my belief that every single young person belongs to a frontline community, in that the climate crisis was not of their making but they will bear the consequences of their elders’ actions. As someone in my third act on this planet, I feel deeply for the young people who are facing an unlivable planet. This knowledge keeps me awake at night and it’s imperative to step up in support of their future. My ask is to personalize the linked email template that will then be delivered to the Biden administration and Department of Justice (DOJ).

Photo by Robin Erino/pexels.com

The info below comes from an email from People Vs Fossil Fuels coalition:

In 2015, 21 young Americans filed a constitutional climate lawsuit against the U.S: Juliana v. United States. In the nearly nine years since the case was filed, the DOJ has made twenty-two attempts to kill Juliana and silence the Juliana youth. No other case in history has faced this kind of government persecution.

NOW, the Juliana youth have to fight to be heard once more and it’s on all of us to rally around them.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Just weeks ago, the Juliana 21 were headed to trial. But now, the DOJ is abusing emergency government powers to rip the case out of the normal legal process. Out of 40,000+ cases in front of the DOJ, these extreme legal tactics are only being used against ONE case: Juliana. The DOJ will try anything to stop America’s youth from protecting all of our futures.

If the DOJ succeeds, the Juliana youth won’t be heard in open court. If we succeed, the Juliana 21 will go to trial and they will win—and force the United States, the BIGGEST contributor to climate change in the world, to make systemic change and phase out fossil fuels. President Biden and the DOJ have a matter of weeks to pull back their attack.

You can help us—your voice is needed NOW.

Tell the Biden Administration and the DOJ: We demand the Juliana 21 be heard at trial. The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition, in coordination with Our Children’s Trust, is once again joining the Juliana youth by hosting an action to directly email them.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

  1. Directly Email the Biden Administration and the DOJ with just a few clicks!
  2. Then, amplify the #SaveJuliana campaign, urging friends and family and your networks to take action, too, by using the Partner and Supporter Toolkit! *We have a short turnaround. Help us reach a goal of 10,000 emails sent to Biden and the DOJ by early March!
  3. For more ways to show your support for the Juliana 21, visit the #SaveJuliana campaign page!

Don’t let the DOJ silence youth voices.

Thank you for taking action to support the Juliana youth!

In Solidarity,

Liz Lee on behalf of the People vs. Fossil Fuels organizing team and #SaveJuliana coalition

If you’ve read this far, thank you! I appreciate your engagement and support for the young people. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Gaza + militarized response to peaceful protest

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate-related. I didn’t post the last two weeks due to “reality overwhelm,” but am back today to share some info and offer a few quick actions. Thank you for being here with me. 🙂

Embroidery by @hibstitches on Instagram

These actions are requested from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and I’m including them today because as I wrote earlier, in addition to Israel genociding Palestinians, the “emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have immense effect on climate catastrophe.” Everyone and everything on the planet is connected. The asks from JVP:

As always, personalized messages are the most powerful. These actions come from JVP’s article Rafah: The penultimate step in Israel’s march of genocide and you may read that here.

Thank you for taking action on behalf of Palestinians and the entire planet! ❤️💚

**********
Now, I’d like to share an illuminating article by Adam Federman which was produced in partnership with Grist and Type Investigations: How the US government began its decade-long campaign against the anti-pipeline movement. The subheading: Newly released documents show the FBI monitoring anti-Keystone protesters much earlier than previously known. Young Native activists were among its first targets.

I encourage you to read the entire article, but here are a few key paragraphs:

Environmental activists and attorneys who reviewed the new documents told Grist and Type Investigations that law enforcement’s approach to the Keystone XL campaign looked like a template for the increasingly militarized response to subsequent environmental and social justice campaigns — from efforts to block the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock to the ongoing protests against the police training center dubbed “Cop City” in Atlanta, Georgia, which would require razing at least 85 acres of urban forest. 

I’ve written about Cop City here, here, here, here, and connected the dots here.

Hundreds of pages of FBI and State Department files released through the Freedom of Information Act over the last decade highlight an increasingly close relationship between law enforcement agencies and the fossil fuel industry.

The police exist to protect capital and property, not the people or planet. And they don’t even feel the need to hide that connection between cops and capital, as pointed out in this paragraph:

“…starting in late 2012, TransCanada began delivering its own briefing to local law enforcement agencies along the proposed pipeline route. The PowerPoint presentations, which included profiles of organizers at 350.org, Rainforest Action Network, and Tar Sands Blockade, encouraged law enforcement to pursue federal anti-terrorism charges in conjunction with the FBI.”

And near the article’s end is this “…however, actions targeting fossil fuel infrastructure continue to pop up across the country.” 

Things will continue to escalate as the powerful elite try to ram more fossil fuel projects through. But, there are more of us than them and we’re on the right side in this fight to defend the wellbeing of people and planet.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Solidarity!

Poem from Basman Aldirawi, Gazan poet

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

This Bread Was Born,
This Bread Was Killed
by Basman Aldirawi

Artwork: Aly S.Elsayed
@aly.selsayed

With clean hands,
he gently sifts the flour,
and adds a handful of yeast.
He pours the warm water
for the yeast particles to live,
then rolls and kneads and rolls
and kneads the dough.
He lets the soft mass rest.
With firm but gentle hands,
he rounds it into balls,
flattens them into shape,
and handles each one
delicately into the oven.
Soon, perhaps in half an hour,
the bread rolls are born fresh,
healthy and browned.
The newborn breads breathe,
yet dust chokes the air,
searing gasses penetrate
their thin, fragile crusts.
On the day of their birth, a missile,
a bakery, a scattering
of zaatar, flesh, and blood.

***************
This poem is from a chapbook issued today by Publishers for Palestine, a global collective of publishers. From their website:
Today we announce the launch of Poems for Palestine: Recent poems by nine Palestinian poets & actions you can take to stop genocide now. Publishers for Palestine have come together to create this free booklet of poetry, artwork, and resources for action, now available for both print and online dissemination. This chapbook is made not for resale, but please read and share as widely as you please!

I encourage you to check out this beautiful book. We must never stop talking about Palestine.

Excerpt from “From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine”

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

As mentioned before, Haymarket Books is offering a free ebook of “From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine.”

I’m going to share an excerpt from the essay “No human being can exist” by Saree Makdisi (25 October 2023) which focuses on the treatment Palestinians receive when interviewed by Western journalists and the impossible task of a “[making] up for seven decades of misrepresentation and willful distortion in the time allotted to a sound bite.” 

What we are not allowed to say, as Palestinians speaking to the Western media, is that all life is equally valuable. That no event takes place in a vacuum. That history didn’t start on 7 October, 2023, and if you place what’s happening in the wider historical context of colonialism and anticolonial resistance, what’s most remarkable is that anyone in 2023 should be still surprised that conditions of absolute violence, domination, suffocation, and control produce appalling violence in turn. During the Haitian revolution in the early nineteenth century, formerly enslaved people massacred white settler men, women, and children. During Nat Turner’s revolt in 1831, insurgent enslaved people massacred white men, women, and children. During the Indian uprising of 1857, Indian rebels massacred English men, women, and children. During the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950s, Kenyan rebels massacred settler men, women, and children. At Oran in 1962, Algerian revolutionaries massacred French men, women, and children. Why should anyone expect Palestinians–or anyone else–to be different? To point these things out is not to justify them; it is to understand them. Every single one of these massacres was the result of decades or centuries of colonial violence and oppression, a structure of violence Frantz Fanon explained decades ago in The Wretched of the Earth.

What we are not allowed to say, in other words, is that if you want the violence to stop, you must stop the conditions that produced it. You must stop the hideous system of racial segregation, dispossession, occupation, and apartheid that has disfigured and tormented Palestine since 1948, consequent upon the violent project to transform a land that has always been home to many cultures, faiths, and languages into a state with a monolithic identity that requires the marginalization or outright removal of anyone who doesn’t fit. And that while what’s happening in Gaza today is a consequence of decades of settler-colonial violence and must be placed in the broader history of that violence to be understood, it has taken us to places to which the entire history of colonialism has never taken us before.

I highly recommend reading this essay in its entirety, along with the rest of the book. It’s not easy reading, but it’s vital that we acknowledge what’s happening. We must never stop talking about Palestine.

PLEASE: Take action on behalf of UNRWA

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

I’ve reached my limit with those who either cheer on or can’t be bothered by genocide, starvation, and collective punishment in Gaza and the West Bank.  Unfortunately, it’s not only the unhinged person from Tel Aviv who leaves comments here (which, fortunately, are treated as spam by WordPress), but the Biden administration and the vast majority of the House and Senate who are proudly showing the world that they are soulless ghouls. I cry a lot these days.

I’m going to put background info below, but here’s my ask: please personalize the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) letter HERE to pressure your electeds to demand that the Biden administration reverse its heinous decision to stop funding the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees). Bonus points if you also call their offices to demand that UNRWA be funded again! Also, if you’re able to donate to UNRWA, do that HERE. (More on the dire funding situation below)

Image copied from JVP/The Wire article

Basically, UNRWA was established in 1949 for the welfare of Palestinian refugees who were removed from their land. This “who we are” from UNRWA explains more.

Go HERE for JVP’s piece yesterday about how Israel’s unsubstantiated claims that UNRWA workers were involved on October 7 has resulted in sixteen (!) countries cutting funding to UNRWA.

Go HERE to read today’s statement from UNRWA titled “THE GAZA STRIP: HUMANITARIAN CRISIS DEEPENS AT A TIME FUNDING SUSPENSIONS PUT UNRWA AID OPERATIONS IN PERIL”
Spoiler alert: if funding isn’t reinstated, they will most likely have to stop operations at the end of February.

Thank you so very much if you’ve read this far and taken action. Really and truly, I appreciate you and your compassion. ❤️

Edited to add: YouTube video interview between Owen Jones and Chris Gunness, the former chief spokesperson for UNRWA.

Climate Movement Monday: good news + quick action

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays where we focus on climate-related issues. This is going to be very brief as Zippy had a major medical issue over the weekend. He’s home and doing well now (YAY!), but my energy is depleted. However, I really wanted to share some good news on issues discussed here in the past because I want to celebrate the wins when we get them!

Photo by Jill Wellington/ pexels.com

  • Last May I posted about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway which would allow oil trains to travel along 200 miles of the twisty, turny Colorado River.  A stupendously horrible idea! Guess what? The Forest Service withdrew approval for the project! 
  • In November, I posted about 20 proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals along the Gulf Coast and earlier this month wrote about a planned sit-in for February outside the Energy Department in opposition to CP2 and other proposed LNG terminals. Those terminals are another incredibly horrible idea that would effectively cancel out all U.S. carbon and methane progress made since 2005. Well, Biden put a temporary pause on approval of those projects. I didn’t use an exclamation point because climate activists understand that these pauses can be un-paused. The Energy Department is now updating the process to include climate and economic considerations. This is definitely good news that reflects the impact climate activists are making. (Here are responses from some frontline community organizations). But we’re wise to keep a close watch as we remember that Biden’s poll numbers are in the toilet due to his climate record (see Willow) and his facilitation of genocide in Gaza. He could very easily be dangling this “pause” as a way to earn support and then turn around and un-pause the permits. We need a permanent pause on ALL new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Okay, here’s info from Stop the Money Pipeline and the QUICK ACTION:

After the news [Biden’s LNG pause] broke, the stocks of one of the top owners of oil and gas in the region dramatically dropped! It’s a major blow to the oil and gas industry, which will certainly be banging down the White House doors to get the President to reverse his decision.

Right now is a critical time for banks to consider walking away from these fossil fuel projects, too. Send an email to top Wall Street executives: the White House just pressed pause on LNG in the Gulf South, it’s time you did, too.

In October, the climate case for stopping new LNG was strengthened by a new analysis from Cornell that showed that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from LNG made it *dirtier* than coal. This new announcement halts nearly 20 LNG terminals representing emissions equivalent to those of 675 coal-fired power plants.

If Wall Street banks were to join the White House and press pause on all financing for toxic projects in the Gulf South, it would be a gamechanger.

Make no mistake, these proposed projects are only possible because of the structural environmental racism baked into the approval of these projects that considers predominantly Black & Latino communities in the Gulf South – as well as Indigenous nations – entirely disposable for corporate profits.

Email the biggest Wall Street banks now to urge them to stop financing LNG!

Me, again. Please remember that it’s fine to send the letter as-is, but it will carry more impact if you take a moment to personalize it.

There is, of course, tremendous satisfaction in such egregious projects losing support, but I’d rather we were celebrating good stuff happening rather than bad stuff not happening.  But, we’ve got to play defense as well as offense. So, HOORAY!!!!!

Take good care of yourselves. Solidarity! ✊🏽

#KidLit4Ceasefire: collecting signatures

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

I write for young readers, otherwise known as children, and am grateful for those in the kidlit community who’ve used their considerable platforms to lead after crafting a powerful letter to Biden and other electeds regarding the ongoing genocide in Gaza where there are one million children. Shout-out to Sandra Proudman, Sara Solara, Agnes Monodaze, Tiffany Liu, Rhonda Roumani, Emma Ilene, NoNieqa Ramos, Beth Phelan, and the team at Books for Palestine!

PLEASE read the letter below (citations in link) and add your voice to the global chorus calling for an end to this genocidal madness. As of an hour ago, the letter has nearly 5,000 signatures! We’re at the halfway point of this campaign which ends at the end of day on January 28 AND halfway to the goal of 10,000 signatures. Add your name to increase the impacts of this effort.

Who can sign? Writers, illustrators, agents, editors, other publishing talent, readers, reviewers, librarians, and teachers. If you’ve ever read and enjoyed a children’s book, you are part of the kidlit community. 🙂  

Here’s the powerful letter:

Dear President Biden, We’ve come together as children’s authors, illustrators, agents, editors, and other publishing professionals across the U.S. and beyond who have witnessed the indiscriminate bombing and ground invasions of Gaza by Israeli forces over the last 100+ days. These attacks have resulted in more than 31,000 Palestinians killed. 12,000 of these victims are children of a median reported age of five years old (1). Thousands more Palestinian children still remain buried in rubble and are unaccounted for. This is an impossible number to comprehend for anyone who honors the sanctity of life.

It is estimated that Israeli forces have destroyed 70% of homes (2) and displaced 85% of the population in Gaza (1). Approximately one million children are without shelter, food, and safety as a result of Israel’s military dropping over 65,000 tons of bombs in Gaza (3), targeting civilian homes, hospitals, holy places, and educational facilities. The U.S. government has provided 15,000 bombs to Israel, along with $3.8 billion a year in military funding paid with our tax dollars (4).

Thousands of Palestinian children have been permanently disfigured, with over 1,000 suffering the amputation of one or more limbs, in an area half the size of Austin (5). It is estimated that 10 more children undergo amputations without anesthesia with every passing day (6). In addition, Israeli forces have used white phosphorus (7), an internationally banned chemical weapon, to inflict burns so severe that doctors have not been able to treat them properly given the scarcity of medicine under the Israeli blockade on Gaza. As a group of Palestinian kids shared in their own press conference held outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Nov. 7, 2023, “The occupation is starving us. We don’t find water, food, and we drink from the unusable water. We come now to shout and invite you to protect us … We want to live as the other children live.” It is likely that at least some of these children pleading for their lives have been killed in the attacks since, as the Israeli military kills a Palestinian child every 10 minutes (8).

At the time of this writing, journalists in Gaza, more than 110 of whom have been killed by targeted sniper attacks and bombings, have risked their lives to report that Gaza’s last functioning hospital is under attack. All in the middle of a telecommunications blackout that has left Palestinians unable to even call for first responders. Social reports have shown that Palestinian children are dying not only from their injuries, but also from cardiac arrest and seizures due to traumatic stress and exhaustion as bombs rain down on them all day and night long. They are dying of hunger, thirst, cold, cancer, and other pre-existing illnesses (9). Furthermore, premature babies relying on incubators and other vulnerable patients are dying because the Israeli government has cut off Gaza’s electricity and fuel supply (10). The children of Gaza are in desperate need of humanitarian and medical aid to survive. So many children have lost their entire families that a horrific new designation “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family (WCNSF)” has officially been coined by the UN as a result of this unprecedented violence in Gaza.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell has clearly stated: “Children at high risk of dying from malnutrition and disease desperately need medical treatment, clean water and sanitation services, but the conditions on the ground do not allow us to safely reach children and families in need . . . Some of the material we desperately need to repair and increase water supply remain restricted from entering Gaza. The lives of children and their families are hanging in the balance. Every minute counts.”

As children’s publishing professionals, we create our work for the sake of all the children in the world–without exception. Our collective conscience compels us to call for our leaders to protect the most vulnerable and precious members of our global society. We oppose Israel’s mass killings, with the vastly documented intent to destroy all Palestinian people (11). These actions clearly constitute acts of genocide, as reported in the irrefutable case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, and must be treated as such. We are deeply alarmed that you’ve blocked a ceasefire that would have stopped these killings at the UN, bypassed Congress twice to send Israel $253.5 million in additional weapons last month (12), and requested another $14.3 billion in weapons to be used in these mass killings.

We are adding our voices to the widespread call from U.S. Congressmembers, UN General Assembly, WHO, UNICEF, Jewish Voice for Peace, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, The International Committee of the Red Cross, and many other organizations—along with millions of U.S. citizens. As advocates for children, we demand that you, the President of the United States, along with the U.S. Congress, immediately join the leaders worldwide who are calling for a permanent ceasefire in order to safeguard the future of every Palestinian child still living in Gaza and the West Bank, as children in Gaza have grown up trapped under siege all their lives—to give them a chance at the joy and freedom that every child around the world deserves.

There is undoubtedly an immensely long road of healing for the one million children in Gaza and their families who have been reduced to human collateral since the tragedies of October 7th, ones that we also grieve. Our deepest desire now is that the children and all civilians affected are immediately allowed the chance to start healing. Every minute counts.

President Biden, we call for a PERMANENT CEASEFIRE NOW and an end to the siege on Gaza.

Here’s the link to the full document, including the letter, citations, signatures gathered thus far (there is an option to sign without displaying your name), graphics and text to share, plus further actions you can take on behalf of Palestine during this week of the Global Strike. PLEASE share with your networks!

Thank you for speaking out on behalf of Palestinian children and their families! Solidarity! 🇵🇸 ✊🏽

From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Haymarket Books is offering an additional FREE ebook related to Palestine, a title that is very appropriate in light of today’s declaration of genocidal intent from Netanyahu: “And therefore I clarify that in any other arrangement, in the future, the state of Israel has to control the entire area from the river to the sea.”

Perhaps you’ve heard about college students losing their housing, scholarships, internships, jobs, and being doxxed for using the phrase “from the river to the sea [Palestine shall be free]”?  That’s because when that phrase is used in relation to Palestinian liberation, people have clutched their pearls and insisted they feel threatened, which has resulted in a whole lot of discriminatory actions leveled at those speaking out for Palestine. (My thoughts on that here.) But when the Israeli Prime Minister announces to the world that Palestinians will be wiped out from the river to the sea, nothing happens to him. He gets more funding, more weaponry, more intel from the U.S.

Anyway, the new FREE ebook (although you’re free to make a donation to Haymarket Books 🙂 ) is From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine edited by Sai Englert, Michal Schatz, et al.

Here’s the info from Haymarket Books:
“From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine collects personal testimonies from within Gaza and the West Bank, along with essays and interviews that collectively provide crucial histories and analyses to help us understand how we got to the nightmarish present. They place Israel’s genocidal campaign within the longer history of settler colonialism in Palestine, and Hamas within the longer histories of Palestinian resistance and the so-called “peace process.” They explore the complex history of Palestine’s relationship to Jordan, Egypt, and the broader Middle East, the eruption of unprecedented anti-Zionist Jewish protest in the US, the alarming escalation in state repression of Palestine solidarity in Britain and Europe, and more. Taken together, the essays comprising this collection provide important grounding for the urgent discussions taking place across the Palestine solidarity movement.”

Also, there are three other free ebooks available (scroll down to the bottom of page). One of them, LIGHT IN GAZA, I’ve highlighted here, here, and here. It’s an incredible collection of essays and poems about life in occupied Gaza, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you for caring enough about Palestinian people to learn about their lives, hopes, and dreams. Please continue making those calls and sending emails demanding a permanent ceasefire and end to all aid to Israel. Solidarity!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

Climate Movement Monday: MLK and mutuality

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays as we honor the formidable Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a trailblazer in terms of justice and equality, and clearly articulated the threats of racism, capitalism, materialism, and militarism, so it’s sometimes hard to believe he was only 39 years old when murdered. Fortunately, he left us the legacy of his words and actions.

World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico.    November 6, 1964

Today, I want to focus on this passage from MLK’s final Christmas sermon delivered in 1967: “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. … We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”

Those words can be applied to justice and equality, the environment, and the current genocide in Gaza. While it might feel tempting to avert our gaze from the many, many bad things currently being done to people and planet, that’s not a viable path forward because violence against one is violence against all. All life is interrelated.

In that spirit, I’d like to offer some info, starting with a way to help Palestinians communicate (note: yesterday was Day 100 of Israel’s campaign of annihilation). Israel has imposed a blackout on communication and internet access, but eSIMs allow Palestinians to stay connected to friends, family, and the outside world.
The donation process is easy:
1) go to esim.holafly.com
2) select either Israel or Egypt as country (you can buy for 5 days up to 20 days)
3) use promocode HOLACNG for 5% discount
4) Screenshot the QR code (you will receive an email after making purchase)
5) Send that screenshot to gazaesims@gmail.com
6) know that you are helping fellow humans who are enduring terrifying circumstances (here is the full exchange)

And now I’ll share a bit of info about the fight to force the Department of Energy (DOE) to pause the permits for new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals. In case you need an LNG refresher, I wrote about them in early November 2023. The next facility up for approval is CP2 on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana. Per Bill McKibben, if approved, CP2 “will produce 20 times more emissions than the controversial Willow oil complex over its lifetime. If the industry gets everything they’ve asked for, US LNG exports will produce more greenhouse gas emissions than…Europe. All of it. This is the biggest fossil fuel expansion project currently underway on planet earth.” (Highly recommend reading his entire piece here.)

A huge coalition of environmental and climate justice groups will stage a sit-in outside the DOE building in Washington, D.C., on February 6-8th. 

Go here to sign a petition that tells Biden and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to Stop New LNG exports AND sign-up for the sit-in AND read the full invitation from the coalition. I’m guessing many of us won’t be able to travel to D.C., but we’re still invited to attend virtual trainings on nonviolent protest because it’s good information to have as we face intensified climate collapse.  Go here for info on trainings (January 18; January 25; February 1). NOTE: There are supposedly other actions around the country in support of the big D.C. sit-in and I will share info on those when I find it. 🙂

There are two bits of good news about these LNG terminals.
One, per Healthy Gulf: “The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) has announced that it will not grant a Coastal Use Permit to Venture Global for its CP Express pipeline, associated with the proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) methane gas export facility, until the company responds to comments submitted by Healthy Gulf and partners. Read the decision letter from LDNR here.”
Two, per Politico on January 8: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is “reviewing whether it is properly accounting for the climate impacts from a proposed project as well as the national security and the domestic economic consequences.”

And this is precisely why the big February action in D.C. is so important: to keep putting pressure on Biden to live up to his promises to transition off fossil fuels.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for being here! I appreciate your friendship and engagement in these very dark days. I’ll end with one last quote from MLK: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

May we all continue showing up and speaking out. Solidarity! ✊🏽

“Armed conflict…is an idiotic way to spend our shrinking carbon budget”

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

It’s incredibly dystopian that the ongoing genocide of Palestinians hasn’t motivated every single human to call for a permanent end to Israel’s atrocities, but maybe this reminder about the climate consequences of war will push a few more people to join the chorus calling for a ceasefire.

Image by hosny salah from Pixabay NOTE: this photo uploaded in August 2023

Today The Guardian published an article written by Nina Lakhani: “Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe.” The article begins with this: The planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of the war in Gaza were greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, new research reveals. (Note: emphasis mine).

The article goes on to say: According to the study, which is based on only a handful of carbon-intensive activities and is therefore probably a significant underestimate, the climate cost of the first 60 days of Israel’s military response was equivalent to burning at least 150,000 tonnes of coal. (Note: emphasis mine)

The analysis, which is yet to be peer reviewed, includes CO2 from aircraft missions, tanks and fuel from other vehicles, as well as emissions generated by making and exploding the bombs, artillery and rockets. It does not include other planet-warming gases such as methane. Almost half the total CO2 emissions were down to US cargo planes flying military supplies to Israel. (Note: emphasis mine)

In case you’re wondering, Hamas rockets in those same two months generated the equivalence of 713 tons of CO2 (300 tons of coal). The U.S.’s role, on the other hand? “By 4 December, at least 200 American cargo flights were reported to have delivered 10,000 tonnes of military equipment to Israel. The study found that the flights guzzled around 50m litres of aviation fuel, spewing an estimated 133,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – more than the entire island of Grenada last year.”

I’m tempted to highlight every paragraph from this vital story, but will stop with this: David Boyd, the UN special rapporteur for human rights and the environment, said: “This research helps us understand the immense magnitude of military emissions – from preparing for war, carrying out war and rebuilding after war. Armed conflict pushes humanity even closer to the precipice of climate catastrophe, and is an idiotic way to spend our shrinking carbon budget.” (Note: emphasis mine)

An idiotic way to spend our shrinking carbon budget, indeed. Please read this important story that highlights what we all know to be true: wars and aggression enrich the military industrial complex at the expense of people and planet.

Anything war can do, peace can do better!

Quick action on behalf of Palestinians!

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

On Thursday, I wrote about courageous South Africa filing genocide charges against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Today, Truthout published this excellent piece that alerted me to a letter-writing campaign in support of South Africa’s efforts. So, I’m back to ask you to PLEASE use this template to write one letter that will be automatically sent to the United Nations Consulates of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Jordan, Turkey, Ireland, Honduras, Bolivia, Belize, Algeria, and Pakistan. Because those countries are parties to the Genocide Convention, they can file a Declaration of Intervention with the IJC in support of South Africa’s efforts.

We in the U.S. are NOT being represented by our government. The majority of people want a permanent ceasefire and do not support the genocide being funded by the U.S. government. Our only hope is to put pressure on other countries to follow through on their declarations of outrage regarding Israel’s campaign of collective punishment. Unless they do so, Israel will continue to act with impunity.

PLEASE, take a few minutes to personalize this letter (I wrote about the frustration of my so-called representatives’ lack of response to my phone calls, emails, protests, etc., and also shortened the template message). It’s also good to personalize the Subject line. Our letters carry more weight when we write in our own words because it shows we really and truly care about what’s happening. RootsAction and World Beyond War created the template and so far, nearly 180,000 letters have been sent. PLEASE, add your voice to the global chorus calling out in support of Palestinians!

Thank you in advance. ❤️ Solidarity! ✊🏽

Thankful Thursday: South Africa charges Israel with genocide

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

It’s very fitting that South Africa, a former apartheid state, is the country that recently filed charges against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

South Africa asserts that Israel is in violation of the Geneva Convention. From the 84-page document‘s Introduction:
The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group, that being the part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip (‘Palestinians in Gaza’). The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. The acts are all attributable to Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in manifest violation of the Genocide Convention, and which has also violated and is continuing to violate its other fundamental obligations under the Genocide Convention, including by failing to prevent or punish the direct and public incitement to genocide by senior Israeli officials and others.

I have not read the entire document (not even close), but here is video of British newspaper columnist, Owen Jones, breaking down the contents. Confession: it was difficult getting through the entire video due to the sheer volume of horrifying details about Israel’s genocidal campaign, but it felt important to bear witness to what’s happening in my name. (Note: the video link also allows you to “show transcript” if you’d rather read or want to read along. OR, you can watch with subtitles via Twitter)

This from the end of Owen Jones’s video (~ 32:00 mark):
This is why South Africa’s case is so important. A ruling by the court could take years but we don’t have years so South Africa has asked for something else as well for the court to order in the meantime: for Israel to cease its operations in Gaza, to desist from the forced displacement of Palestinians, and allow Gazans to get access to humanitarian aid. That would mean foreign States who then facilitate Israel’s current action would find themselves criminally liable.

Predictably, White House National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, referred to the filing as “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.” (Um, the filing contains 574 footnotes, not to mention that the entire world is watching this genocide!)

I haven’t watched it yet, but Owen Jones made another video on South Africa’s filing, this one with human rights lawyer Daniel Machover. (Fun fact: In 1967, after Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Daniel Machover’s father, who was born to a Jewish family in Tel Aviv, plus 11 others, signed this statement:

If only Israel had aligned itself with that statement which saw far into the country’s future.

As for South Africa’s filing, since the U.S. is the bully of the planet, I’m not holding my breath. But I will watch the video with Daniel Machover and see what he thinks could happen. Either way, we should all be grateful to South Africa for stepping up in this moment.  It’s increasingly difficult to maintain my civility when placing calls to Biden and my so-called representatives who continue to insist Israel is merely defending itself (via mass starvation?!), and I would love for all of them to someday be held complicit in this genocide. A woman can dream, right?

No matter what happens, I remain in steadfast support of a Free Palestine.