The growth of the Palestinian solidarity movement appears to be stagnating & there are several likely reasons for that. The escalation of threats against Palestinians–including declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, the ‘deal of the century’ scam, an acceleration of Israeli settlements & expropriations in the West Bank & genocidal violence against Gaza–make an analysis imperative of why the movement has stalled from 2014 when millions across the world marched to protest the bombing siege of Gaza.

One of the primary reasons is the association of prominent pro-Palestinian activists with Assadism, an ideology rooted in anti-Semitism (greater Israel rubbish) & Islamophobia. Because of their influence, people like Ali Abunimah, Max Blumenthal, Rania Khaled, Ben Norton & others have been able to disorient many & attract many others prone to hatred of Jews. But they have not confused Muslim, Arab, Jewish community groups who want no part of their ‘war on terror’ & international Jewish conspiracy rubbish. Their Assadism has deeply divided & immobilized, if not paralyzed Palestinian solidarity.

Another reason is the international Zionist campaign to outlaw BDS & make it a criminal offense to promote the economic & cultural boycott of Israel. But in a self-defeating loop, there is almost no organized opposition by Palestinian solidarity activists to these violations of freedom of speech & association which in the US directly impact & restrict the Bill of Rights.

Thirdly, those engaged in political organizing have observed for decades that every electoral cycle negatively impacts independent political action. Even at the height of the anti-Vietnam War movement, protests which normally drew hundreds of thousands, even millions, went down to tens of thousands. In the 2016 presidential campaign, Palestinian solidarity activities were preempted by lining up behind Bernie Sanders populism even though he was wretched on the 2014 bombing of Gaza. Sander’s 2020 campaign promises to be a repeat of that capitulation to false promises.

It’s very difficult to stand against the tide & attempt to organize events & rallies in defense of Palestinians but there has never been a more urgent time to do so since what the ‘deal of the century’ means to Palestinian self-determination is that Israel & its US, European, Indian, Middle East, & other allies are preparing the ‘final solution’ for Palestinians.

Photo is Israeli occupying army manhandling & arresting a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank in December 2017.

(Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Apaimages)

Amidst a public furor, Trump signed an executive order (which has the force of law) in June 2018 to end his ‘zero tolerance’ policy, stop kidnapping children from their refugee parents, & reunite 3,000 kidnapped children with their parents. So why, by their own admission, are his officials still kidnapping children & stuffing them into concentration camps? Isn’t Trump breaking the law & shouldn’t Democrats, especially those running for 2020 president against him, be making a giant legislative & political stink about this? Or, as is more likely, do Democrats agree with Trump’s concentration camps?

(Photo of July 2018 protest in New York by Don Emmert/AFP/ Getty Images)

For a few years, I lived in a house with mold toxicity & developed chronic respiratory & sinus problems–primarily a catarrhal condition. My doctor, who dismisses the mold toxicity, has tried different medications, mostly allergy medicines & something that made my teeth turn green, & nothing has worked in now almost two years. Consultations with Chinese herbalists & acupuncturists has not helped. Knowing catarrhal conditions lead to more serious health issues, I realized if this would be solved, I would have to do investigative work on my own.

In my explorations, I’ve come across the book “Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, & Chronic Environmental Illness” by Neil Nathan, MD. Dr. Nathan & his wife both suffered from mold toxicity. His book is very scientific because the maladies are very complex & he lays out the whole field of new medical science in dealing with these health issues. He talks about the Shoemaker Protocol of Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker & the protocols of other pioneers in this field. You can go to Dr. Shoemaker’s web site & find a whole cornucopia of sources, including doctors in the US trained specifically to deal with these health issues.

I report this because I know many suffer from these same issues, sometimes without knowing the source of their symptoms. A friend who also suffers mold toxicity issues recommends “Mold: the War Within” by Kurt & Lee Ann Billings.

Syrian children’s art: in 2014, an exhibit titled “Light Against Darkness” was held in Beirut highlighting Syrian refugee children’s therapeutic art. In this one, there is a regime tank & a helicopter strafing while a little girl holds her mother’s hand as a gun is pressed to her head.

Palestinian children’s art: this is one of several drawings by Palestinian children in Gaza that was supposed to be shown at the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland, California in September 2011. After Zionist organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area pressured the museum & despite considerable counter-pressure from Palestinians & their supporters, the exhibit was cancelled.

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) published the censored art in a book titled, “A Child’s View from Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art & the Fight Against Censorship.”

Rohingya children’s art: from 2018, when Rohingya refugee children in Cox’s Bazar drew their experience of the genocide. They drew images of soldiers with guns & death squads with machetes. In interviews with the children, it was learned 70-per cent had been separated from their parents or caretakers by violent acts, 63-per cent were separated during a direct assault on their village & 9-per cent were separated as their family tried to flee the genocide. There are at least 6,000 unaccompanied children living in the refugee camps.

Kashmiri children’s art: from 2017, when children were processing the extreme violence used, especially with pellet guns, against unarmed protesters in an uprising against the occupation & the murder of a man whose funeral prayers were attended by 600,000 Kashmiris but whose name & image cannot be shown on FB without being censored & suspended.