All posts by pdacnm

AMERICA’S MILITARY COLONY: A Wall of Defense Against Barbarism?

February 29, 2024Information, Opinionpdacnm

By Alan Wagman

Although it may seem puzzling why the United States supports and provides cover for Israel’s most outrageously authoritarian, lawless, and even brutal actions, the reason is hiding in plain sight. It is not, as many speculate, primarily because of AIPAC. It is because Israel is a military colony of the United States.

From its inception, Zionism viewed a Jewish state as the handmaiden of colonialism. The founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, described his proposed Jewish state in his 1896 book, Der Judenstaat (“The Jewish State”) as “ a wall of defense for Europe in Asia, and outpost of civilization against barbarism.” (Astute readers will find echoes of this racism in Netanyahu’s recent justifications for Israel’s conduct in Gaza; one can decide for oneself if the echo is intentional.

Some argue that Zionism was not a colonial project because Jews had lived in Palestine for thousands of years. This ignores the fact that the Jews who had been living in Palestine for the nearly two thousand years prior to the European Zionist intrusion into Palestine often were at least as loyal to their Palestinian identity as to the incoming Zionist colonizers.

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Pulling Back from the Brink

February 2, 2024Eventspdacnm

Nuclear weapons don’t keep us safe, and they certainly don’t prevent wars. In fact, our future is threatened by their presence, and we must get rid of them.

(Archbishop John C. Wester – Jan. 27, 2024 – Screenshot by Lora Lucero)

That was the message from Archbishop John Wester of the Diocese of Santa Fe and the other speakers in the webinar on Saturday, January 27 — “Building a World Without Nuclear Weapons: An Urgent Imperative” organized by Pax Christi Massachusetts and cosponsored by Progressive Democrats of America and many others. If you missed it, a recording of the forum will be posted at the Pax Christi USA YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@PaxChristiUSA.

Archbishop Wester’s leadership in the nuclear disarmament movement was highlighted in his Pastoral Letter two years ago, Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament in which he shared the moral and theological imperative for taking action to eliminate nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force in January 2021 and is the primary vehicle to accomplish that goal.

In January 2023, Representative Jim McGovern introduced H.Res. 77 (along with 42 cosponsors but none from the New Mexico delegation) calling on the “President to embrace the goals and provisions of the TPNW and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of the national security policy of the United States.” In April 2023, the Progressive Squad joined Delegate Eleanor Norton (DC-At Large) and introduced H.Res. 2775 – Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act of 2023 – to urge the United States to provide leadership by—(1) signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and (2) ratify the treaty when it is clear that ratification will result in—(A) the dismantlement and elimination of all nuclear weapons in every country; and (B) strict and effective international control of such dismantlement and elimination.

No one should be surprised that these two measures have failed to gain any traction in Congress, but the silence from the New Mexico delegation should anger PDA-CNM progressives and spur us to action.

“We are secure only when everyone else is secure.” Marie Dennis, a long-time peace educator with Pax Christi, said the current war in Gaza is an example. The Israelis and Palestinians will not be safe and secure until both are safe and secure.

Call for a Gaza Ceasefire and Aid

January 31, 2024Actionpdacnm

Call Congress Now! January 30, 2024

Prepared by: Lora Lucero + Melinda Smith + Katherine Hughes-Fraitekh

The predictable consequences of Israel’s genocidal campaign waged on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past 4 months has killed nearly 30,000 and injured many more. It has also fractured the entire society and community by assassinating intellectuals, medical staff, and journalists, as well as attacking and destroying the majority of universities, hospitals, schools, hospitals, churches and mosques. An unknown number of victims are still under the rubble.

Humanitarian aid organizations warn that many more will die in the coming weeks from starvation, dehydration, disease. and lack of medical care. The world’s highest court (International Court of Justice) stated in its emergency ruling on January 26 that there is plausible evidence that Israel is committing acts of genocide. It ordered Israel to stop harming and killing people and to allow massive humanitarian aid in immediately.

Shockingly, the following day, the U.S. and several western countries suspended their financial support of UNRWA based on unsubstantiated claims that up to 12 UNRWA staff may have participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. UNRWA’s staff is composed of more than 13,000 people and is the primary UN agency that has built up an extensive network and structure to provide life sustaining services such as housing, education, food distribution, medical support and clean water to Palestinian refugees since 1948. It is especially critical in the Gaza Strip that has been under siege for 17 years and where 2/3 of the 2.2 million population are refugees. Without this network of expertise, distribution points, vehicles, and processes to procure humanitarian aid, thousands of lives will be lost. The US must reinstate the aid to UNRWA immediately and call for its allies to do the same.

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