Baltimore Activist Alert -- January 15 to 22, 2024

20] March with Veterans for Peace -- Jan. 15

21] March with Healthcare for All – Maryland – Jan. 15

22] Virtual phone bank for Tom Suozzi for Congress – Jan. 15 - 19

23] Phone bank for Tom Suozzi -- Jan. 15

24] Documentary about Palestinian and Israeli traumas – Jan. 15

25] Get Trump off the ballot – Jan. 15

26] Missing Peace Mondays – Jan. 15

27] Back from the Brink meeting – Jan. 16

28] Russia out of Ukraine – Jan. 16

29] Medicare for All meeting – Jan. 16

30] Colombia Support Network conversation -- Jan. 16

31] Film Born in Gaza – Jan. 16

32] Debrief on South Africa v. Israel – Jan. 16

33] "What Should Progressives Do about Joe Biden?" – Jan. 16

34] Join protest at Northrop Grumman – Jan. 22

------

20] – The Phil Berrigan Memorial Veterans for Peace will march in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. in the parade in Baltimore on Mon., Jan. 15. Gather at 11:30 AM on Eutaw Street with the march starting at noon on MLK Boulevard.  Available are multiple VFP flags and banners, and about a dozen big placards with pertinent anti-war MLK quotes and MLK images. RSVP at ellene4pj@yahoo.com

21] – As it has done for many years, Healthcare is a Human Right- Maryland will be participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Baltimore on Mon., Jan. 15.  Join in and march behind a banner that contains Dr. King's famous quote, "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."  The t-shirts will say "Medicare for All" and "Healthcare is a Human Right." Signs will be available for all.  You are encouraged to join the parade and show your support for healthcare justice.

The parade starts at noon at MLK Jr. Blvd. and Eutaw Street.  HCHR-MD will gather there by 11:30 AM.  For additional information, please contact Rich Bruning [barbruland@gmail.com] at [410] 235-3504 or [443]-509-7095.

22] Join a virtual phone bank for Tom Suozzi for Congress on weekdays on Mon., Jan. 15, Tues., Jan. 16, Wed., Jan. 17, Thurs., Jan. 18 and Fri., Jan. 19 from 6 to 8 PM ET. Talk to voters to remind them to get out and vote for Tom on February 13! You will receive the calling link or automatic dialer, a list of voters to call if dialer does not work for you, a simple script, and a quick training ahead of time - so all you need to do is come ready to make an impact. You will need a charged cell phone and computer! The phone bank will conclude on February 1st. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/596610/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_most_popular_virtual

23] –  On Mon., Jan. 15 from 6:30 to 8 PM ET, the Silver Spring Progressive Action will hold a phone bank for Tom Suozzi to Flip NY-03 BLUE. Help elect Democrat Tom Suozzi in this special election for the House seat previously held by “George Santos.” Help bring values of decency and transparency back to NY-03. Join experienced phone banking – call voters to help Dems win a crucial Congressional race or Phone banking 101 – Learn how to reach out to voters using one of the most effective tools available.  This will continue on Mondays through February 12. RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/596847/?followup_modal_context=nonexclusive_newsletter_more_events_of_type

24] – Susan Barnett [reelandmealatnewdealcafe@gmail.com] indicates that on Mon., Jan. 15 at 7 PM ET, Reel and Meal will present in person and online via ZOOM “Afterward,” a documentary about Palestinian and Israeli traumas. 

Reel and Meal is asking that you arrive or log-in by 6:45 PM. Come to the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway (Roosevelt Center), Greenbelt. Masks are encouraged. To join on Zoom, go to http://tinyurl.com/ReelnMealJan2024 A Plant-Based meal is encouraged to support a mission focused on environmental, social justice and animal rights issues.  The New Deal Café serves a variety of plant-based meals.  Online attendees can order a meal for takeout at the Café. Greenbelt’s Co-op Grocery also offers vegan options to take home. 

The 2019 film, "Afterward," by Israeli Jew Ofra Bloch, explores the deep mistrust between Palestinians and Israelis. Through interviews with residents of Germany, Israel, and Palestine, she reveals how trauma, fear, and hate are passed down from generation to generation. The film shows how difficult it is for Israelis and Palestinians to listen to one another because of three traumas: the Holocaust, the Nakba and the occupation. The testimonies in the film range from the horrifying to the hopeful. In Bloch's view, overcoming one's own trauma enables us to empathize with the suffering of others and connect across divides, which in turn fosters understanding. Leah Harris, an independent journalist, and Ashkenazi Jewish-American Palestine solidarity activist, will lead the discussion following the film. In 2003 she co-led an Interfaith Peace Builders delegation to Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian West Bank, and she collaborates with various advocacy organizations including If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights. Leah possesses an M.A. in Politics from Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

 The Reel and Meal at the New Deal is a monthly film series focused on environmental, social justice and animal rights issues, presented by Utopia Film Festival, the Prince George’s County Peace and Justice Coalition and Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group.  For more information, visit www.facebook.com/reelandmealNDC

25] GMOM and For the People will do a Maryland teleconference on Mon., Jan. 15 at 7:30 PM ET.  You can call in at 1 301 715 8592 with a meeting ID of 931 3066 2622 and the password is 173976.  Or you can join by Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/93130662622?pwd=OE15SURJUWdXNHFicW94SDI3c2x3UT09#success The agenda will focus on a bill in Annapolis to bar ineligible candidates from the ballot         

26] CODEPINK [info@codepink.org] on Mon., Jan. 15 at 8 PM ET as part of its "Missing Peace Mondays" is doing an online community call Connecting Struggles: The Importance of Intersectional Organizing for Gaza.   ‌South Africa is presenting its case for genocide committed by Israel. The significance of South Africa being the state who invoked the genocide convention is worth noting. The people of South Africa know all too well what the horrors of apartheid and genocide look like in real life. By filing their case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, they have connected the African struggle for liberation to the Palestinian struggle in the most tangible way possible. RSVP at https://www.codepink.org/missingp15?utm_campaign=mpm_115&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink

27] Back from the Brink [info@preventnuclearwar.org] is holding a meeting on Tues., Jan. 16 at 1 PM ET. There are three items on the agenda: getting 50 U.S. Representatives to cosponsor H. Res. 77 by the end of January, the anniversary of its introduction; organizing for the third anniversary of the Entry into Force of Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on January 22 and waiting for the annual Doomsday Clock announcement on January 23. RSVP by https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86434879139?pwd=OERHYTFyeEpyalBVNEZQNlNBUmFmQT09&emci=a7996b9b-59ae-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&emdi=65c10c2f-f3ae-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&ceid=13712990#success

28] -- Join the Baltimore Nonviolence Center on Tues., Jan. 16 from 4:30 to 5 PM ET at 33rd and N. Charles Sts. The invasion of Ukraine has the potential to become a war extending throughout Europe.  Putin has destroyed Aleppo and Grozny and has threatened the use of nuclear weapons.  Russian soldiers were sent into the area around the contaminated and still radioactive Chernobyl nuclear plant. Now they are stationed in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.   People who believe in peace and justice should come forward and take the risks of peace. The burial sites continue to expose ruthless war crimes by the invaders, Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607.

29] The Northern Virginia DSA is holding a Medicare for All meeting to give an update about the work in Alexandria and Arlington on Tues., Jan. 16 at 6 PM ET. Help to petition the Alexandria City Council and Arlington County Board to endorse Medicare for All! A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP. Register at https://actionnetwork.org/events/m4all-alexandriaarlington-third-tuesday-update-tuesday-january-16th-6pm/?link_id=24&can_id=4b9d4061aec5469758759317ac0f5285&source=email-nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events-134&email_referrer=email_2157567&email_subject=nova-branch-dsa-upcoming-actions-and-events

30] The Colombia Support Network is doing a conversation with Ana María Rodríguez Valencia on Tues., Jan. 16 at 6 PM ET.  Dr. Rodríguez Valencia is a lawyer and human rights defender with extensive experience in advocacy before bodies of the universal system for the protection of human rights, particularly before the Human Rights Council, the special procedures and treaty monitoring bodies of the UN, and broad experience in articulation processes with local, national and international organizations. She will provide an update on her work as the leader of the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ), the legal issues Colombians and the government are facing today, and the practical implications of "Total Peace."  To sign up for the event, receive the Zoom link, and write any questions for the speaker, please fill out the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_C9zxMnRxsEtVD8Kgqqnktmmwy4S5d5iftVgA9P2qaYE0PQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

31] The Maryland CPUSA [md@cpusa.org] wants you to know that on Tues., Jan. 16 at 7 PM the Baltimore Marxist Study Group will show the 2014 film "Born in Gaza." Watch this film together for 69 minutes, and see the lives and voices of Gazan children, wise beyond their years. Afterwards there will be a discussion. Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-yorzorGN2X_ECbPWPZJx3mSFZnpKHn After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

32] CODEPINK [info@codepink.org] is holding a virtual CODEPINK Congress Meeting on Tues., Jan. 16 at 8 PM ET. It will be Debrief on South Africa v. Israel with Professor Emerita Marjorie Cohn, a former president of the National Lawyers Guild and Dean of the People's Academy of International Law and Adrienne Pine, a critical medical anthropologist whose scholarly and solidarity work focuses on processes of neoliberal fascist imperialism and the development of tools to effectively fight it.

  As the International Court of Justice considers South Africa’s case against Israeli genocide, CODEPINK explores the legal and political implications of putting Israel on trial for genocide. Our guests will debrief recent World Court hearings on South Africa’s case, discuss statements from other countries–Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, Jordan, Malaysia–in support of South Africa’s case and explore the impact on the Biden administration should the court rule that Israel is guilty of genocide. Pine is organizing global support for countries to submit a Declaration of Intervention (similar to a friend of the court brief) in support of South Africa at the World Court. To date, over 1,000 organizations from far corners of the globe have signed an open letter in support of South Africa’s case charging Israel with genocide. RSVP at https://www.codepink.org/cpc116?utm_campaign=cp11624&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink

33] The RootsAction Team [info@rootsaction.org] on Tues., Jan. 16 at 9 PM ET is hosting an online panel discussion: "What Should Progressives Do about Joe Biden?" Hear from India Walton, Alan Minsky, Jeff Cohen and others.  Register at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j70u7o2wSNe38pRX84vFhQ?_x_zm_rtaid=5C8M8YttSAaCLnCD6EPMSQ.1705278613436.b218ed10387df1b839092d20f43f14f5&_x_zm_rhtaid=809#/registration

34] – According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the $43.7 billion spent by the U.S. on nuclear weapons in 2022 means that, every minute, $83,143 was diverted from healthcare, housing, and other needs in our country! And the leading nuclear weapons contractor in the U.S. is Northrop Grumman which in September 2020 was selected by the U.S. Air Force under a $13.3 billion contract awarded for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent [sic] (GBSD) program. Northrop Grumman is the third largest weapons contractor in the world taking in $32 billion in 2022 for military hardware.

According to the watchdog site Investigate, Northrop Grumman “supplies the Israeli military with a wide variety of weapons, including various missile systems. The company’s technologies are also integrated into Israel’s main weapon systems, including its fighter jets, missile ships, and trainer aircraft.” The company has provided Israel weapons for decades and, says Investigate, “these weapons have repeatedly been used against Palestinian civilians, resulting in numerous casualties as well as mass destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and electric systems.” It has also supplied the Israeli Navy with Sa'ar 5 warships, which have participated in the assault on Gaza. 

Since 2017, Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland activists have celebrated the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The TPNW opened for signature at the United Nations in New York on 20 September 2017 and entered into force on 22 January 2021. As of 19 September 2023, the TPNW has 69 states parties while 28 further states have signed but not yet ratified.

 Pope Francis in the annual Christmas message condemned war and weaponry provided by the global arms industry. This year’s message also included condemnation of the ongoing slaughter in the Gaza Strip, as he mourned the children killed, which he called the "little Jesuses of today."

Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland activists, on January 22 for the annual speak out in favor of the TPNW, will gather outside Northrop Grumman, 1580A West Nursery Road, Linthicum, Maryland, at 4 PM to leaflet workers. The leaflet will explain that producing nuclear weapons is a theft from the poor, and that any military contractor supplying weapons to Israel will be complicit in the war crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  As part of the visit to Northrop Grumman, a letter would be delivered to Kathy Warden, CEO. The time and the site will be decided at a further date.  Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net if you are interested in challenging Northrop Grumman. 

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