Global

I will not start my letter by saying Dear CJ because you are not dear to me or to the local Muslim community of central Ohio. I just learned today that the Columbus Jewish (CJ) has a meltdown over last September 5's sermon given by Imam Abdulmunem Dobal and the Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC) in Hilliard and have falsely accused him of calling to bring "annihilation to Israel and its supporters." That was a big fat lie.

If the CJ was genuine in its claim and wanted to have a meaningful dialogue, they should have asked for clarification first instead of making a dishonest and defamatory statement. 

 Regrettably, what do you expect from a group who acts as a mouthpiece of Israel instead of representing the interest of the local Jewish community? Here is a list of a long harassment campaign by CJ against your truly:

* In 1979, I was kicked out of the Jewish Center despite being invited with our local Imam Adil Aseer for a lecture titled, "Face the PLO."  Reason? I was wearing "Kuffieh", the Palestinian victory scarf. Later CJ did apologize to me for fear I was going to go public but refused to issue a written apology.

Gaza is an occupied territory. Its borders, airspace, imports, exports, and even calories are controlled by Israel and its Western backers. Gaza does not need another flag flown above its ruins; it needs the right to rebuild on its own terms.

The Mirage of “Transition”

Western governments are preparing a plan for Gaza’s postwar administration. The proposal, advanced through quiet coordination between Washington, London, and Jerusalem, would establish a new international body called the Gaza International Transitional Authority to govern the territory for several years following the conflict. The concept, promoted as a stabilization effort, is said to draw inspiration from earlier foreign-led missions in Kosovo and Lebanon.

At the center of this “plan” was the risible suggestion that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair should lead the authority, overseeing Gaza’s reconstruction, policing, and governance on behalf of the self-proclaimed international community.

Gaza Governor Blair. “You What?!”

FIRST HOUR:
As Trump Attacks Portland We Greet A Maga Refugee

We open GREEP Zoom with our poet Laureate MIMI GERMAN.

Mimi reports on the “invasion of the soul snatchers” from the war zone in Portland, Oregon, whose “Kidnapper Cars” are patrolling the streets with ICE using a city-owned building for their command center..

The “heavy presence” of the US Military & its Black Hawk helicopters has manifested with airborne spotlights tracking activists as they walk home.

In support radio host LYNN FEINERMAN wonders aloud about the National Guard troops pouring into our cities.

Lifelong activist DOROTHY REIK comments on the ability of ICE to pick up anyone off the streets.

Legendary journalist DAVID SALTMAN reminds us of the tank in the streets of Berkeley, California, during the fight for People’s Park fifty years ago.

Co-convenor MYLA RESON warns of the rise of fascism.

VANG VIENG, Laos -- The Central Intelligence Agency's "secret war" in Laos ended 50 years ago, silencing Lima Site 6 and other isolated airstrips which helped the U.S. carpet bomb this tiny impoverished nation during the regional Vietnam War.

Lima Site 6, set among Vang Vieng's jagged karst mountain peaks, is now a deserted stretch of black asphalt speckled with squashed trash, 90 miles (150 kms) north of Laos' capital Vientiane.

Debris on the airstrip's gravelly surface includes empty plastic waterbottles, a dirt-stained cotton medical mask, and a faded Queen of Spades.

The strip resembles an empty urban parking lot stretched into the exaggerated rectangle which allowed Air America to land and take off amid the karst peaks.

During the 1961-1975 war, the CIA's Air America flew thousands of flights each day, lifting off from more than 200 scattered covert Lima Sites -- military code for unimproved "landing strips."

Those planes transported Americans, Thais, and U.S.-led minority tribal Hmong mercenaries alongside the dead and wounded, plus "hard rice" -- ammunition -- and refugees.

What is happening in Italy regarding Gaza is unprecedented in the history of solidarity between the country and any other international cause anywhere. A popular uprising is underway, the consequences of which are likely to alter, not only Rome’s position on the Israeli genocide in the Strip, but the country’s own political structure altogether.

To understand why such a conclusion is a rational one, we must consider two important factors: the popular mobilization throughout the country and the historical context of Italy’s political attitude towards Palestine and the Middle East.