Wednesday, July 24, 2024
1943 RAF began bombing Hamburg (till creating a firestorm and killing 42,600 people
1952 "High Noon", starring Gary Cooper and Thomas Mitchell, was released
1967 First modern hospice founded in London, beginning modern palliative care.
2019 Robert Mueller reported that President Trump was not exonerated of obstruction of justice and that Russia interfered in the US election to benefit Trump
In bed at 8:45 p.m.,, awake at 3:20, and up at 3:37 a.m. with pain in right hip and mid-back. Lilly showed up to be let out at 5:05. I nodded off at some point and woke up at 7:30 a.m.
Prednisone, day 73, 15+5, day 9. I took my 15 mg. at 5:15 with a few saltines, followed at 5:5 with 1,000 mg. of Tylenol.
Osteoarthritis and osteophytosis. How bad is it? Yesterday, I had real difficulty mounting the one step up from our front sidewalk to the stoop leading to the front door. I almost fell down again. I suspect that getting up the basement stairs would be impossible and getting up the two steps from the garage to the kitchen is not a sure bet.
I note that this is occurring only with the concurrence of Jewish Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, Wall Street's senator. Schumer not only defends the State of Israel but also defends the oppression of the Palestinian people especially in Gaza. In a speech in June 2010, he urged Israel to "strangle them economically until they see that's not the way to go." In March 2018, he told AIPAC's delegates that Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have nothing to do with the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Schumer is a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement-building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. He criticized Obama, saying: "Past administrations—both Democrat and Republican—have protected Israel from the vagaries of this biased institution [the U.N.]. Unfortunately, by abstaining on United Nations Resolution 2334, this administration has not followed in that path." In May 2017, Schumer co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, Senate Bill 720, which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government. The bill would make it legal for U.S. states to refuse to do business with contractors that engage in boycotts against Israel.
Schuer's Democratic Senate colleague and fellow Jew Bernie Sanders gave a speech on the Senate floor yesterday deploring Netanyahu's presence at today's joint session. Among other things, he pointed out that Netanyahu is a credibly-accused war criminal, noting:
* The ICC prosecutor has accused Netanyahu of "depriving civilians of objects indispensable for their survival including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Convention.
* the use of heavy weapons in densely populated civilian areas constitutes an intentional and direct attack on the civilian population particularly affecting women and children.
* Since the Gaza war started, at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 90,000 injured, 60% of whom are women, children, and elderly people.
* most people believe that the death toll is much higher because thousands of Palestinians remain buried under tons of rubble, their corpses not yet recovered.
* some 1.9 million people out of a population of 2.2 million have been driven from their homes, 90% of the population.
* more than 60% of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed, including 221,000 housing units completely destroyed.
* more than 1,000,000 Gazans are living in tents.
* infrastructure has been destroyed; water sewer and electric power systems have been made inoperable.
* Gaza had 12 universities; every one of those universities has been bombed; 88% of all school buildings have been damaged, i.e., under Netanyahu's leadership, the entire educational system in Gaza has been annihilated. 520 people have been killed while sheltering in UN schools.
* 21 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are completely out of service and the remainder can only partially function, with 90,000 Gazans suffering from war-related injuries. The WHO has recorded more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities since October 7th.
* Disease is spreading as a result of lack of clean water, sanitation, and health care: hepatitis, dysentery, and even polio.
* As a result of the restrictions on humanitarian aid, people in Gaza are now starving to death. Reliable estimates are that about 490,000 Gazans are now starving. More than 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition and are at risk of starving to death.
* According to both the UN and every humanitarian agency attempting to provide aid to the Gazans, Israel has intentionally impeded the provision of food, water, and medical supplies to those civilians.
* IDF and settlers have killed more than 500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7th, including 131 children.
* Seven major trade unions here in the U.S., including the American Postal Workers, the Association of Flight Attendants, the Union of Painters, the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Ass'n., the United Auto Workers, and the United Electrical Workers, representing some 7 million workers, sent a letter to President Biden calling on the U.S. to immediately halt all military aid to Israel.
Dayenu.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz on CNN this morning said that she will certainly attend the speech and "will proudly serve on the Escort Committee." Another reason for me to dislike her, on top of her stunts against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries in which he ran against Schulz's favorite, Hilary Clinton.. . . .
I watched and listened to Netanyahu's entire speech. I cringed as he described how very, very careful his government, the IDF, and the Israeli people were to get food to the civilians in Gaza, to avoid civilian casualties, and otherwise to act nobly in the defense of Israel from Hamas. I noticed what a powerful orator he was and how he used large print notes on paper rather than teleprompters, how he revealed his close ties to America with his MIT degree, and his references to December 7th, 1941, and September 11, 2001, and his invocation of FDR's phrase "a day that will live in infamy". I noted his identification of Israel's interests with American interests and vice versa. Mostly I cringed to see so many American lawmakers (1) present in the room to listen to his propaganda and (2) fulsomely cheering him, while outside the Capitol thousands protested his presence. I condemn Netanyahu and his right-wing allies and I condemn Joe Biden for arming him with the weapons he uses to kill and wound infants, toddlers, children, their mothers, and grandparents. I watch Netanyahu in his expensive navy blue power suit and royal blue necktie, with the patriotic lapel pins, and think of the children having limbs amputated without anesthetics, lying on the dirty floors of Gazan hospitals lacking antibiotic and analgesic medications. I think of the crowds of starving people chasing food trucks, or holding out plates begging for food at distribution locales, and I think of the old line "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" I also think of Netahyahu's alliance with and allegiance to Donald Trump, and what that tells us. Meanwhile, the Republican senators and representatives are on their feet cheering and chanting 'USA, USA, USA!!!" Pass me the basin, please.
Anniversaries thoughts. First, the Hamburg bombing and its firestorm killing thousands reminded me of a memo written by Winston Churchill on March 28, 1945, shortly before the end of the European war. He wrote: "It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land. We shall not, for instance, be able to get housing materials out of Germany for our own needs because some temporary provision would have to be made for the Germans themselves. The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to me on this subject, and I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives, such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive." I included a photocopy of the memo in my memoir in the chapter in which I described my visit to Hiroshima and its War Memorial. I wrote:
I found this letter from Winston Churchill while doing some research on strategic bombing. It is notable for its bald acknowledgment that a prime purpose of strategic bombing of cities was “increasing the terror, though under other pretexts” and for its reluctant abjuring of “mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.” The German military of course were past masters of Schrecklichkeit or terrorism at least from the inception of World War I and its invasion of Belgium, the bombardment of historic Louvain and torching of its priceless university library. However, it did not take long for the British and Americans to get into their own brand of in terrorem tactics on civilians, especially the firebombing of cities in Europe and Japan, including the precious medieval city of Dresden which Churchill mentions as a “query against the conduct of Allied bombing.” The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented the pinnacle of terror bombing.
Second, High Noon, one of the world's greatest movies?
Third, the hospice anniversary reminds me of Kitty's long suffering.
Fourth, Mueller's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, lest we forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment