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Rolla Peace News January 23, 2024 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Great Rivers Environmental Law Center Returns to Rolla b) On the Myth of the Innocent Civilian c) The War Against Gaza and the Climate Catastrophe d) Robert Koehler Discusses Martin Luther King's landmark Beyond Vietnam Speech. e) More Climate Catastrophe Highlights Great Rivers Environmental Law Center Returns to Rolla Bruce Morrison, president of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center and Linden Mueller, director of development and community outreach will be at Panera in Rolla on Friday, Feb. 16, at 10:00am. This event is open to the public. Please come and welcome Bruce and Linden back to Rolla. In 2007, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center won a landmark victory saving Rolla's Buehler Park from being sold to commercial interests. In their decision, the court ruled, for the first time since 1910, that users of public property in Missouri have standing in court to sue to maintain that use. After years of advocacy by Great Rivers, the Missouri Public Service Commission recently approved the Grain Belt Express transmission line, which will bring renewable energy to Missouri and save consumers an estimated 6% on their electric energy bills. On the Myth of the Innocent Civilian Let's begin this inquiry with a story that Sven Lindqvist relates in his book, Terra Nullius. Lindqvist went on to write some of the most honest and perceptive books we have on War and Racism. If you haven't read A History of Bombing or Exterminate All the Brutes, give these books a try.Shortly after the end of World War II, a teenage Lindqvist books passage on an Icelandic freighter. They stop in Norway to pick up some barrels of herring. The locals invite the crew ashore for coffee. Lindqvist goes with them. At one point, someone notices him and demands, “Who's that?” On learning that he's Swedish, an old woman asks “Swedish, eh, well, what about the 1942 transits, then?” Sweden was neutral in WWII, but allowed German troops to pass through Swedish territory, going to and from Norway. Lindqvist responds, “I was ten in 1942. They didn't ask me.” “But big enough to share the booty,” the woman replies. This snippet from Terra Nullius is posted here. But here is my question: Israelis enjoy a high standard of living, higher than some Western nations like France and Italy. Israeli's have their share of the booty — most of the land of Palestine and its resources. How many accept their share of the responsibility too? How many have even lifted a finger to help their Palestinian neighbors? How many have even lifted a finger to demand an end to the brutal occupation of Palestine? Over two million Palestinians are imprisoned in Gaza's 140 square miles, not knowing when their next meal will come or where the next bomb will fall. How many Israelis accept responsibility for this? How can one who shares in the booty make claim to be an innocent civilian? And how about us? We inherit a land in which the population of pre-Colombian inhabitants was reduced to 1/10 of its original size through disease, war, removal and starvation, mostly by European invaders and their descendants. Shouldn't our responsibilities include the support of other indigenous groups facing a similarly genocidal invader? Shouldn't we be supporting Palestinians in the face of a genocidal invasion instead of giving billions in military support to Israeli invaders intent upon genocide? Now let's talk about Palestinians Palestinians have lived under an exceptionally brutal Israeli occupation since 1967. This is particularly true in Gaza where Palestinians who were forcefully driven off their land in 1948 to make room for an Israeli state, now live under an Israeli blockade which doesn't even allow enough sustenance for survival, while regularly invading the enclave with bombs and tanks, killing indiscriminately and destroying infrastructure necessary for public health and survival, Wouldn't it indeed be strange if Gazans didn't fight back in any way they could? Wouldn't it indeed be strange if guerrilla militias like Hamas didn't exist? Wouldn't it indeed be strange if the people didn't support such militias? It has been said that “The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” And this leads the invader to commit even greater atrocities — to make no distinction between guerrilla and civilian. Here is an example from one of our own attempts to commit genocide. Consider this snippet from the court martial of Lt. William Calley, who was convicted and served 3 years under house arrest for his part in the 1968 massacre of over 500 Vietnamese civilians, some as yet unborn. Q: What were you firing at?The invader and occupier doesn't discriminate between fighters and civilians. They are all the enemy, all to be destroyed. And in Palestine these atrocities have gone on year after year after year for 75 years. Here in the United States, looking out from our comfortable armchairs, it is easy to criticize; but walk a mile in their shoes first. How dare we, in a country that has supported Israel to the hilt for decades, even unto genocide, complain about how Palestinians choose to fight back? If we find the tactics by which Hamas fights back, "horrendous," the very least we can do is to call for a ceasefire and end our support for those who commit far more horrendous and brutal acts of inhumanity. In truth, if I had grown up in Gaza amid constant atrocities and humiliations, perhaps, I, too, would have become a guerrilla. I would hope that I would have had the fortitude to resist in any way possible. Perhaps, rather than wait for the inevitable bombs and soldiers to come to me, I would come to them, in any way I could. And here, in the United States, where we share in the booty, I am happy to see so many of my countrymen and women beginning to take responsibility. I am pleased to see even a few congress-people taking some responsibility and calling for a ceasefire. It is way past time for our government to also take responsibility: to send food and medicines instead of bombs, to begin to repair hospitals, sewage disposal plants and water treatment facilities, to insist on an end to the invasion and blockade, to insist on a just peace. And as a final note: Since the United States uses its veto in the Security Council to block any reasonable peace initiative, isn't is time for others to form a coalition to bring the invasion and blockade of Gaza to an end? The world has sat on its hands and cried crocodile tears for far too long. The War Against Gaza and the Climate Catastrophe For those climate activists who refuse to oppose the War Against Gaza: Greenhouse gas emissions during the first two months of Israel's War Against Gaza are estimated to be at least 281 thousand tonnes, more than the annual output of many countries. 99% of these emissions can be attributed to Israel, with only a minuscule amount stemming from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Almost half of these emissions are attributable to US supply flights to Israel. 281 thousand tonnes is probably a gross under-estimate, as it does not include the entire war supply chain. Robert Koehler Discusses Martin Luther King's landmark Beyond Vietnam Speech After reading Koehler's short article which includes parallels to today's War Against Gaza, be sure to reread King's Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence speech. More Climate Catastrophe Highlights Some highlights through the end of 2023 have been added to this essay on the Climate Catastrophe. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |