Baltimore Activist Alert -- December 5 - 8, 2023

25] Child labor on the rise – Dec. 5

26] Training for legislators meetings – Dec. 5

27] Taking Israel & Biden to Court – Dec. 5

28] Ceasefire Now phone bank – Dec. 6

29] Israel's role in the military-industrial complex – Dec. 6

30] Common Cause Election Protection phone bank – Dec. 6 & Dec. 8

31] Training for legislators meetings – Dec. 6

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25] – The Economic Policy Institute [newsletter@epi.org] is hosting a webinar on Tues., Dec. 5 at 2 PM ET -- Child labor is on the rise - how can we fight back? RSVP at https://www.epi.org/event/the-rise-of-u-s-child-labor-and-how-we-can-fight-back/?mc_cid=c61dd4a9d3&mc_eid=72ea77dbdd

26] -- Everyone is invited to join Jews United for Justice on Tues., Dec. 5 from 7 to 9 PM ET on Zoom for District 41 Legislator Meetings 101 training.  This is to prepare to meet with Maryland legislators. Register at https://jufj.org/events/category/legislator-meetings/?emci=96ee9f24-2d8e-ee11-8924-6045bdd47111&emdi=921adaed-3e8e-ee11-8924-6045bdd47111&ceid=3403859

27] -- CODEPINK Congress [info@codepink.org] is meeting on Tues., Dec. 5 at 8 PM ET to discuss Taking Israel & Biden to Court! Israel, Gaza & the ICC. Join CODEPINK Congress as we host international law attorneys to discuss next steps at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has jurisdiction to prosecute criminal cases. We will also discuss possible overtures to the International Court of Justice, which hears civil cases between parties, and efforts to hold President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin accountable for aiding and abetting genocide. Hear from Professor Emerita Marjorie Cohn, a former president of the National Lawyers Guild, who lectures throughout the world on international human rights and U.S. foreign policy. Her recent article, “Self-Defense and the Right to Resist in Palestine,” refutes the Israeli government’s claim that its assault on Gaza is justified as self-defense. Also speaking is Katherine Gallagher, a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights works on universal jurisdiction and international criminal law cases involving U.S. and foreign officials and torture and other war crimes, and civil actions involving private military corporations and torture at Abu Ghraib. On Nov. 13, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit against President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense [sic] Lloyd J. Austin III for complicity with genocide. RSVP at https://www.codepink.org/120523?utm_campaign=cp_120523&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink

28] – The Working Families Party [reply@workingfamilies.org] is holding a Ceasefire Now phone bank on Wed., Dec. 6 at 3 PM ET.  Understand that the Palestinian people are distinct from Hamas, and the Israeli people do not represent the Israeli government's actions. The U.S. plays a role by providing military aid to Israel, and we must push for a permanent ceasefire.  Congress is set to vote on a bill that would send $14 billion in US taxpayer money and in US-made weapons to the Israeli military to support its brutal war. This is on top of the $3.5 billion we already send to the Israeli military every year. Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion have already killed at least 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, obliterated civilian infrastructure including schools and hospitals, and made entire cities uninhabitable.

  As more and more members of Congress come out for a ceasefire, there’s also growing momentum also to block any further military funding for Israel so long as its human rights abuses continue. There may be a vote in the Senate on such a provision as early as next week. Call your Senator and tell them you oppose US taxpayer dollars and US weapons being sent to the Israeli military to commit war crimes against Palestinian civilians. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/workingfamilies/event/589315/?utm_source=NatEmail-20231128&link_id=1&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&email_referrer=email_2128011&email_subject=join-the-phone-bank-to-stop-funding-the-war-in-gaza

29] – MAPA [info@masspeaceaction.org] is holding a webinar with Jeff Halper on Wed., Dec. 6 at 4 PM ET -- Israel's role in the military-industrial complex. How does Israel get away with it? The current genocide in Gaza is a continuation of 75 years of its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, although more extreme than ever. The apartheid and occupation, the dehumanizing, home demolitions, imprisonments, surveillance, and killing have been standard features of this settler colonial state since its violent birth in 1948. The level of impunity for Israel is striking. How does Israel get away with it? Is it because it is protected as a client state by the world hegemon, the United States? Or because of the collective guilt of humanity for the holocaust? Or because of its carefully managed narrative of defending itself against anti-Semitism? RSVP at https://secure.everyaction.com/bdTBpXTt7kaiczrB8nF1bw2?contactdata=4ynCsjIFuTQVVCFYEkyarhNmmmJ47yhf9%2fzIILWlU0dfcs4IPHWMMFlPxwnPH+pM7B5XTZGcKIz%2f2AA0RMoYPzRI+g7vyUxvVkC3XDm851vesfLfr74gGPOc2sSeUMI8LrbdcUUo5o%2fKGwpqR7GVlqCS9kXymKpRxQsptwR82Z25tUhQmkzNAks6tAP+8OYJDyIWihLbGODGiSNUZlfVk8PDewsHzEtR%2f6+uNW%2fKmskRhSnoFOBZvkvm31Dgn4Rg9bAGAn9g0bTKrL24+eofCxZdscX9WOSGiWOYu6+kbfsiPPqqWnL%2fCc7d4alEejfbKjYriYm4Vfg9KqOSpjUhFg%3d%3d&emci=bdcfac47-ce8e-ee11-8925-002248223cba&emdi=99a2fbe6-5190-ee11-8925-002248223f36&ceid=269591

30] – On Wed., Dec. 6 from 4 to 6 PM and on Fri., Dec. 8 from 5 to 7 PM ET, there is a Common Cause organized Election Protection phone bank.   Work together to demand bold changes to our democracy to create a government that represents all of us, not big corporations or special interests. Register for a shift to make calls and help strengthen the phone bank team to protect our democracy. These shifts will also always include training for first-timers before you make calls, so if this is your first time, no worries! Register at https://www.mobilize.us/dfadcoalition/event/376178/?followup_modal_context=organization_newsletter_custom_recommendations.

31] -- Everyone is invited to join Jews United for Justice on Wed., Dec. 6 from 7 to 9 PM ET on Zoom for District 45 Legislator Meetings 101 training.  This is to prepare to meet with Maryland legislators. Register at https://jufj.org/events/category/legislator-meetings/?emci=96ee9f24-2d8e-ee11-8924-6045bdd47111&emdi=921adaed-3e8e-ee11-8924-6045bdd47111&ceid=3403859

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.  Ph.: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs