Why American Muslims aren’t buying Biden’s anti-Islamophobia spiel

from thefreeonline on 8th Nov 2023 By Bradley Blankenship

President Joe Biden’s support among Arab Americans, who are crucial voters in battleground election states, has collapsed/ Reuters

Washington’s unquestioning support for Israel’s attack on Gaza invalidates any anti-hate “strategy” the White House may present at home

This week, the administration of US President Joe Biden announced that it would, according to Reuters, “develop a national strategy to battle Islamophobia.”

Meanwhile, Biden is facing intense skepticism from Muslim Americans for his unwavering support for the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) assault on Gaza, which comes in response to terrorist attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

Reports suggest that this effort to combat Islamophobia has been in the works for months. In May, the White House also released a strategy to push back against anti-Semitism that also mentioned countering hatred against Muslims. The renewed hostilities in the Middle East have provided an impetus for this;

US and allies refuse Ceasefire in Gaza. Mass huge nuclear fleet off coast.

Meanwhile, the FBI has long noted that white-supremacist terrorism and hate-based terror are the number one terror-related concern in the United States.

Hate crimes against Asian Americans, against the backdrop of renewed tensions between the US and China, have also been soaring in recent years.

As with the hatred against Asians in the US, it is evident that Washington’s foreign policy is intimately connected to the deteriorating domestic security situation.

In January of this year, I noted in my column in response to one of many hate crimes against Asians in the US, “Without a change in how we approach the subject of competition with China, Asian communities in the United States will never be safe. They will be a canary in the coal mine for what the military is seething to do in live combat against the Chinese.”

The racist stabbing attack in Bloomington is what you get when politicians try to out-hawk each other on China

It is evident that the same applies to how official US policy treats Arabs and Muslims and how the public digests this. What is happening in Gaza has been described as “genocide,” “an atrocity,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “war crimes,” not just by enemies and opponents of Israel but by UN experts and officials, if sometimes cautiously.

A top UN human rights official has resigned over the body’s failure to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinians

The Hamas attacks, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres correctly pointed out, did not happen in a vacuum.

They were preceded, if in no way justified, by over half a century of occupation of Palestinian territories and construction of countless Israeli settlements there that were ruled illegal under international law by a UN resolution.

Washington has been supporting Israel in all of this and has now given it carte blanche – be it weapons, diplomatic cover, and political support – to proceed with its destruction of Gaza.

UN warns of mass ethnic cleansing as refugee shelters overflow

The situation as it stands is such that Palestinians have been robbed of their sovereignty and any realistic path toward statehood. The US is enthusiastically supporting this.

What makes this latest escalation in Gaza unique is that it is so well-publicized. We are constantly inundated with images and videos of death and destruction, its victims predominantly being women, children, and the elderly.

In spite of these terrible things, which everyone in the world is seeing on virtually every available platform, the US and the White House are pronouncing clearly that they do not care.

Israel committing war crimes – UN human rights body

Devaluing the lives of Palestinians, who are Arabs and predominantly Muslim, so flagrantly, as well as dismissing those who do speak out as supporters of terrorist outfits like Hamas, sends a message that such atrocities are fine – and, doubtless, many bad actors within the US will take note.

They will use the tacit approval of the crimes being committed in Gaza by the White House to play out their own sick fantasies at home. This is what makes the supposed strategy to combat Islamophobia so fundamentally absurd.

If basic morality were not enough to convince Biden’s team that this course of action was foolhardy, perhaps the language of electoral politics may suffice. On this, we can see that the White House’s support for Israel is also a clear political liability.

According to a widely reported poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute, Biden’s support among Arab Americans, who are a crucial voting bloc in key battleground states like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, has plummeted in response to his pro-Israel stance.

In 2020, Biden enjoyed support from 59% of Arab Americans and, even before the outbreak of more violence in the Middle East, this fell to 35%. Now that support has plummeted to just a meager 17%. 

The poll’s key findings reveal that about a quarter of Arab Americans are unsure of who they intend to support in 2024, while 40% said they would vote for likely Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, 13.7% said they would vote for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and another 3.8% would vote for Cornel West, also an independent.

Only 20% of respondents indicated they would rate Biden’s job performance as ‘good’, and another 66% reported negative feelings about his presidency. 

One may like to think that the old phrase ‘what goes around comes around’ may indeed hold up. While Palestinian civilians suffering in Gaza may never have justice, it seems clear that for those supporting the unfolding tragedy there will be consequences – whether these be deepening racial tensions in America or loosening Biden’s frail grip on power.

For the White House, if it would like to avoid these obvious consequences and actually ameliorate the victimization of American Muslims, then they necessarily need to hold Israel accountable for its crimes in Gaza.

Any strategy that does not include this is utterly meaningless – and millions of Americans know it.

By Bradley Blankenship, an American journalist, columnist and political commentator @BradBlank_

related …

Biden approval among Democrats drops to lowest point of presidency

Arab American support for Biden, Democrats plummets over Israel, poll shows |

The L’Obrera in Sabadell activates the resistance and stops eviction

translation thefreeonline on 7th November 2023 by Rose Gamonal, Gemma Garcia, and Gemma Fabrega at La Directa News + News Reports

More than 400 people gathered this Monday in front of the occupied social center L’Obrera de Sabadell to prevent its eviction.

The judge had ordered that the eviction be carried out at 9:15 a.m., so at dawn a protest had begun in front of the property by the city’s social movements and the Rental Workers’ Union.

By mid-morning the judicial procession had not arrived. The Obrera coordinators have attributed this to the weight of the mobilization and have trusted that in the end the eviction will not be carried out this Monday 6th Nov and a new date must be found.

“The neighbors want L’Obrera to stay in the neighborhood because it does great social work,” they said. As the hours progressed, the protest has turned into a festive day.

Demonstrators at the eviction trial of l’Obrera

Throughout the weekend they had organized activities to slow down the launch scheduled for Monday, November 6.

The space, which was occupied in 2015, has become a social, cultural and sporting project for the city
Hundreds of demonstrators on Monday, November 6, gathered to await the arrival of the judicial entourage.

The original building of L’Obrera (‘The Worker’ Center) belonged to the CNT anarchist trade union but was lost in the fascist takeover. They had the deed of 1918 which showed that the Worker belonged to the union. They tried and failed tonrecover the building in 1981.

l’Obrera (The Worker)after receiving the impact of the artillery of the Vergara regiment (August 1917).

On June 20, 1992, the Women’s Group and Sabadell’s anti-militarist collective, Mili KK, occupied the Obrera, which had been closed for 7 years. But they were soon evicted by the police.

Some weeks later the Local Council demolished the building in a surprise operation .

The new L’Obrera, squatted since mayday 2015, continues the historic tradition of a horizontally run popular workers center run by open assemblies

A popular gym, a school, a self-managed vegetable garden or a popular canteen could be left without a home next November 6.

The first instance court number 6 of Sabadell has ordered the eviction of the L’Obrera social center, which was occupied on May 1, 2015 and currently hosts a wide range of projects.

After more than five years of a legal battle that has reached the Supreme Court, the court has rejected the suspension of the launch and has fixed it at a quarter to ten in the morning with “the assistance of the public force” if it is necessary.

From today, Friday 3 November, L’Obrera is already giving the start to a program of activities to avoid this.

The No Passaran Festival includes lectures, concerts, meals and the participation of the mixed martial arts fighter, Abner Lloveras, and comedians Joel Díaz and Manel Vidal.

On Sunday they have organized a camping at the social center and they are calling everyone at half past six in the morning.

“We expect a large influx of people, not only from Sabadell but from Catalonia and from all over the State”, explains Marina Jiménez, a member of L’Obrera.

 On Sunday they have organized a camping trip and are calling everyone at half past six in the morning. "We expect a large influx of people from Sabadell, Catalonia and from all over the State", explains Marina Jiménez

The influx that Jiménez predicts is related to the relevance that the social center has acquired for the neighborhoods of the South, for the city of Sabadell as a whole and beyond.

The former car dealership and brothel has become a social, cultural and sporting project, and the popular El Rukeli gym, on the ground floor, is a meeting point for gymnasts from all over Spain who come at the semester evenings.

In addition, last summer, the gym organized a Summer Camp that welcomed around thirty teenagers and young people. Another of L’Obrera’s main projects is the popular school La Madrasseta, which offers refresher courses in Spanish and Catalan.

Every Friday the social center becomes an open and free cultural space. The so-called “Worker’s Fridays” host talks, book presentations, musical performances, theater and debates.

For Marina Jiménez, L’Obrera “is a pillar of the fight for the recovery of common spaces” and “represents a very important space for the southern area of Sabadell, where free public services are lacking”.

When it was occupied in 2015, the property at number 142 on Avinguda Barberà had been unused for eight years and was owned by Cajamar bank.

In 2020, however, the bank sold the building to Nedax Constructora SL, with whom L’Obrera has tried to negotiate: “They only offered us the possible use of a very small part of the property at an uncertain price and, in addition, we had to leave the space for an indefinite period of time because they wanted to build flats”, says Jiménez.

 On October 13, L'Obrera presented a last extraordinary appeal to stop the eviction invoking the right to culture, but it has been rejected by the property and the court

Nor have they obtained any commitment from the current City Council. Unlike in July 2018, the majority of the municipal meeting did not support the support motion to ensure the continuity of the social center, in September 2022.

While ERC and La Crida again voted in favor of it, the PSC and Citizens opposed it and Junts abstained.

Last October 13, L’Obrera presented a last extraordinary appeal to stop the eviction, which was rejected by the property and the court. The letter invokes the right to culture, highlights the activity carried out by the social center as “worthy of protection or effective judicial protection” and urges the temporary suspension until “a friendly and extrajudicial solution can be found to the continuity of all the activity carried out by L’Obrera in the local facilities”.

In addition, the defense emphasizes that the property is only asking for the recovery of the property “without providing a single reason to support its request”.

The company belongs to a former councilor of CiU.

The company that owns Nedax Constructora is directed and administered by Pere Casajoana Singla, who was councilor for Urbanism and Works for CiU in the Sant Cugat del Vallès City Council, as well as vice-president of Promusa, the Municipal Housing Society of Sant Cugat City Council.

The ownership of the property where the social center is located is part of Grupo Nedax, which offers real estate, development and construction services. Its developments are located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Antoni de Calonge, Molins de Rei and Mollet del Vallès.

—-The Trailer —-

original in Catalan

El centre social L’Obrera de Sabadell activa la resistència per evitar el desallotjament

Durant tot el cap de setmana han organitzat activitats per frenar el llançament previst pel dilluns 6 de novembre. L’espai, que es va okupar el 2015, s’ha convertit en un projecte social, cultural i esportiu referent a la ciutat Centenars de manifestants el dilluns 6 de novembre es concentren a l’espera de l’arribada de la comitiva judicial | Roser Gamonal

Gemma Garcia gemma_g_fabrega

PUBLICAT: novembre 3, 2023

Un gimnàs popular, una escoleta, un hort autogestionat o un menjador popular podrien quedar-se sense llar el pròxim 6 de novembre. El jutjat de primera instància número 6 de Sabadell ha ordenat el desallotjament del centre social L’Obrera, que es va okupar el primer de maig de 2015 i en l’actualitat acull un ampli ventall de projectes.

Després de més de cinc anys d’una batalla judicial que ha arribat fins al Tribunal Suprem, el jutjat ha desestimat la paralització del llançament i l’ha fixat a un quart de deu del matí amb “l’auxili de la força pública” si és necessari. A partir d’avui, divendres 3 de novembre, L’Obrera ja dona el tret de sortida a un programa d’activitats per evitar-ho. El No passaran fest inclou conferències, concerts, àpats i la participació del lluitador d’arts marcials mixtes, Abner Lloveras, i els humoristes Joel Díaz i Manel Vidal. El diumenge han organitzat una acampada al centre social i convoquen tothom a dos quarts de sis de la matinada. “Esperem una gran afluència de gent, no només de Sabadell sinó de Catalunya i d’arreu de l’Estat”, explica Marina Jiménez, membre de L’Obrera.

El diumenge han organitzat una acampada i convoquen tothom a dos quarts de sis de la matinada. “Esperem una gran afluència de gent de Sabadell, de Catalunya i d’arreu de l’Estat”, explica Marina Jiménez

L’afluència que pronostica Jiménez guarda relació amb la rellevància que ha adquirit el centre social per als barris del Sud, per al conjunt de la ciutat de Sabadell i més enllà. L’antic concessionari de cotxes i prostíbul s’ha convertit en un projecte social, cultural i esportiu, i el gimnàs popular El Rukeli, a la planta baixa, és un punt de trobada de gimnastes d’arreu de l’Estat espanyol que acudeixen a les vetllades semestrals. A més, l’estiu passat, des del gimnàs van organitzar un Casal d’Estiu que va acollir una trentena d’adolescents i joves. Un altre dels projectes principals de L’Obrera és l’escola popular La Madrasseta, que ofereix cursos de repàs escolar, de castellà i de català.

Cada divendres el centre social es converteix en un espai cultural obert i gratuït. Els anomenats “Divendres de L’Obrera” acullen xerrades, presentacions de llibres, actuacions musicals, teatre i debats. Per Marina Jiménez, L’Obrera “és un puntal de la lluita per la recuperació dels espais comuns” i “representa un espai molt important per a la zona sud de Sabadell, on manquen serveis públics gratuïts”.

Quan es va okupar el 2015, l’immoble del número 142 de l’avinguda Barberà feia vuit anys que estava en desús i era propietat de Cajamar. El 2020, però, l’entitat bancària va vendre l’edifici a Nedax Constructora SL, amb qui L’Obrera ha intentat negociar: “Només ens van oferir un possible ús d’una part molt petita de l’immoble a un preu incert i, a més, havíem d’abandonar l’espai durant un temps indefinit perquè volien construir pisos”, relata Jiménez.

El 13 d’octubre, L’Obrera va presentar un últim recurs extraordinari per frenar el desallotjament que invoca el dret a la cultura, però ha estat desestimat per la propietat i el jutjat

Per part de l’Ajuntament actual tampoc han obtingut cap compromís. A diferència del juliol de 2018, la majoria del ple municipal no va donar suport a la moció de suport per vetllar per la continuïtat del centre social, el setembre de 2022. Mentre ERC i La Crida van tornar a votar-hi a favor, el PSC i Ciutadans ho van fer en contra i Junts es va abstenir.

El passat 13 d’octubre, L’Obrera va presentar un últim recurs extraordinari per frenar el desallotjament, que ha estat desestimat per la propietat i el jutjat. L’escrit invoca el dret a la cultura, posa en valor l’activitat que desenvolupa el centre social com “digne de protecció o tutela judicial efectiva” i insta la suspensió temporal fins que “es pugui trobar per la via amistosa i extrajudicial una solució a la continuïtat de tota l’activitat que desenvolupa L’Obrera en les instal·lacions del local”. A més, la defensa subratlla que la propietat només demana la recuperació de l’immoble “sense aportar un sol motiu que sostingui la seva petició”.

L’empresa d’un exregidor de CiU

L’empresa propietària Nedax Constructora és dirigida i administrada per Pere Casajoana Singla, qui va ser regidor d’Urbanisme i Obres per CiU a l’Ajuntament de Sant Cugat del Vallès, així com vicepresident de Promusa, la Societat Municipal d’Habitatge de l’Ajuntament de Sant Cugat.

La propietat de l’immoble on es troba el centre social forma part del Grupo Nedax que ofereix serveis immobiliaris, promoció i construcció. Les seves promocions es troben a Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Antoni de Calonge, Molins de Rei i Mollet del Vallès.

translation thefreeonline Nov 7 2023 by La Izquierda

The organization of Port Stevedores of Barcelona (OEPB), the majority union among the more than 1,200 stevedores of the port of Barcelona, has decided in an assembly to block all activities related to the transport of war material to Israel and Palestine.

The signs of rejection against the genocide that the State of Israel is carrying out in Gaza keep happening. From massive demonstrationsinj every latitude of the world to displays of solidarity and rejection from thousands of organizations and groups.

In this sense, this Monday the Barcelona stevedores have decided, in an assembly, “not to allow the activity” of ships that send weapons to Palestine and Israel.

As they point out in their statement, this position is due to the continuous violation of Human Rights that is taking place in Palestine and in other parts of the world.

A violation of rights, they point out, permitted and or carried out by signatory countries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself.

In it, they point out the role of the United Nations Organization, which although in recent weeks has seen its diplomatic relationship with Israel strained, the truth is that since 1948 it has maintained a position of complicity and permissiveness with the Zionist State of Israel, an attitude maintained to this day and which the dockers denounce.

The docks of Barcelona have become scenes of a moral conflict, where dockworkers have raised the flag of pacifism. In an act that challenges the mercantilist logic that often prevails in ports, they have proclaimed a resounding “no” to the handling of war cargo destined for Israel…

One of the loudest claims of Better Together during the 2014 independence referendum campaign was that the Westminster system guaranteed vastly superior standards of democracy and civil liberties than anything Scotland could provide for itself, and that in an independent Scotland peaceful protest and the espousal of constitutional positions opposed to the new Scottish establishment […]

Tory Britain: where decency is declared extremist

Palestina: un poema antes de morir //publicar.argentina.indymedia.org/?p=14789 . Nota adjunta: Informamos que debido a dificultades crecientes  e impedimentos editoriales insalvables,  cuando utilizamos el espacio digital en wordpress  con problemas para editar, diagramar y acceder con un mínimo de normalidad, hemos decidido incluir sólo enlaces a nuestras notas publicadas  en Indymedia Argentina, Indymedia Barcelona y otros […]

Palestina: un poema antes de morir

from thefreeonline on Tues 7th Nov ’23 by Al Jazeera news/ /Witnesses

If you’re just joining us…

It’s 10am (08:00 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Here is a recap of the key developments from the last few hours:

Palestinians search amid the destruction after Israeli attacks in Khan Younis on the Gaza Strip [Fatima Shbair/Khan Younis]

• At least 16 people were killed in an overnight attack on Rafah; several casualties were also repeated in a Khan Younis bombing.
• Islamic Relief has condemned the “abject failure” on the part of the international community to agree to a ceasefire and stop the killings in Gaza, after the death toll from Israeli attacks surpassed 10,000 on Monday.
• The UN chief says Gaza is “becoming a graveyard for children” as he renews demands to reach an elusive ceasefire.

Palestinian children run as they flee from Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday 6th Nov 2023 [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

• PM Netanyahu says Israel is open to “little pauses” but also suggests it will have responsibility for Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period” after the war.
• Deadly Israeli raids continue across the occupied West Bank with many people also detained.
• Islamic Relief has condemned the “abject failure” on the part of the international community to agree to a ceasefire and stop the killings in Gaza, after the death toll from Israeli attacks surpassed 10,000 on Monday.
• Nine countries have now recalled their ambassadors from Israel due to war on Gaza

Gaza on Tuesday morning 7th Nov 2923

Demo at G7 meeting in Tokyo, Japan yesterday

The scale of destruction in Gaza

The Government Media Office has just released a statement on the situation in Gaza. Here are some key takeaways:

• On average, hospitals receive one wounded person every minute and 15 bodies every hour.
• Gaza ‘left alone’ as hospitals run out of fuel, 16 out of 35 hospitals are out of service.
• Six children and five women are killed every hour on average.

People mourn relatives killed by Israeli strikes on Rafah. Monday 6thNov 2023

• Almost 70 percent of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced from their homes due to Israeli bombing and raids.
• About 30,000 tonnes of explosives used by Israel in the bombing – an average of 82 tonnes per square kilometre.

• Half of the hospitals and 62 percent of primary care health centres are effectively out of service.
• 50 percent of housing units have been damaged by bombing and raids; 10 percent have become uninhabitable.
• One-third of schools are damaged and about 9 percent are out of service.
• 14 percent of the mosques in the Gaza Strip have been damaged and 5 percent completely destroyed.

Photos: Israel continues to attack hospitals in Gaza

By  Mike Capuzzo According to InsuranceNewsNet, insurers are especially concerned by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that show “mortality rates alarmingly rising for different categories,” including younger adult mortality rates that are up more than 20% above historic norms in 2023. Executives at the largest insurance companies in the United States […]

Insurance Execs ‘Alarmed’ by Surge in Deaths Among Young People