Dear Friends,
(01:23) Pope Francis absolves accordion players of their transgressions;
(02:40) Biden will lose if he fails to stop the genocide in Gaza;
(23:19) Our survival demands another long march;
(37:43) What’s up with No Mow May?, with Joann Muldoon;
(54:45) How Boston grows … food!, with Kathy Byrnes Fallon.
Given the Israeli military’s atrocities against a civilian population and the mounting presence of widespread starvation, why won’t President Biden freeze military aid to Israel? Great question. Let’s dig into it.
President Biden answers questions from Bold Iowa and Grinnell College students, November 11, 2019. (Click on image for video.)
First, just how bad are things? Dr. Fozia Alvi, a Canadian physician who’s treated Palestinian children in southern Gaza, said, “This is not a normal war. The war in Ukraine has killed 500 kids in two years and the war in Gaza has killed over 10,000 in less than five months. We have seen wars before but this is something that is a dark stain on our shared humanity.”
On March 18, an Oxfam official reported that “the catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded in terms of number of people and percentage of the population.”
These horrifying truths make the words of Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) even more appalling: “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.”
Only a profoundly sick person could think and say such things. Of course, Walberg is the same guy (a retired pastor, by the way) who told the National Prayer Breakfast in Uganda last year to “stand firm” in the face of international pressure against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. That barbaric law mandates a prison sentence for engaging in same-sex activity, with the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”
It stands to reason that a Congressman on board with executing gay people would have no trouble nuking Gaza. Let’s hope Michigan voters retire him this fall.
This week, for the first time, a key US official (Samantha Power, director of USAID) publicly stated recognition of the worsening famine in Gaza. It’s about time.
The clear moral course of action for Biden is to freeze all military aid to Israel. If tens of thousands of starving children aren’t enough motivation, what about politics? If the President’s failed response to the genocide in Gaza continues, it absolutely damages his prospects for winning reelection this fall.
We’ve already seen push-back against Biden in some primary elections, with “Uncommitted” winning between 5.6 and 18.8 percent of the vote in key swing states. As of last week that’s 530,502 votes, and 25 delegates. Likely, most of the “uncommitted” votes were in response to Biden’s unwillingness to stand up to Netanyahu’s campaign of carnage in Gaza.
Last week, 30 percent of voters in precincts where University of Wisconsin–Madison students reside voted “uninstructed” (the Wisconsin equivalent of “uncommitted”). Statewide, 65,399 Democratic primary voters declined to support Biden.
In 2020, Biden won Wisconsin by a mere 20,682 votes. It doesn’t take a math wizard to see that, if even a third of Wisconsin’s Democratic primary voters maintain their opposition to Biden, Trump wins Wisconsin and probably the presidency.
Biden’s surest path to regaining the confidence of an important chunk of his base is to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and cut off military aid to Israel unless Netanyahu complies.
What can you do? Take every opportunity — letters, phone calls, rallies, marches, etc. — to demand that Biden immediately end the genocide in Gaza. He has the power. Let’s give him the political will.
Thanks for reading, listening, and doing your part for a better world.
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Ed Fallon