no safe place in gaza

"At Least 697 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel began its assault on December 27, and that number continues to climb. About 3,085 people have been wounded."
- Al Jazerra, January 7, 2009

Photo from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. "Photos from the Gaza Stip, Dec. 2008- Jan. 2009", January 7, 2009.

I am no expert on the Palestine-Israel conflict, but I do know that the U.S. media is not accurately or adequately covering the story. Israel's war on Gaza is disproportionately and collectively punishing Gaza.

I received the following article from a friend in the peace movement. I am posting this in its entirety because it's an account of the crisis from Gaza and it's a view that people in the U.S. probably won't hear about.

Gaza Massacres; The Time is Now by Anna Balzer. Jan. 3, 2009
Please, everyone, stop what you're doing. This is not just any report from Palestine, but the worst in my lifetime, the worst in 40 years. At this moment, Israel is raining bombs down on Gaza, an enclosed tiny area that is home to 1.5 million men, women, and children, most of them innocent civilians. This space is tightly sealed by Israel, which constantly denies Gazans electricity, food, medicine, and the ability to leave. Gaza is one big prison being bombed from above. The death toll is up to 428 in the past 7 days. That's more than the number of Israelis killed in the last 7 years. This is what I would call a massacre.

Yes, more Palestinians killed in 7 days than Israelis in 7 years, and yet no comments from President Bush or President-elect Obama. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice places blame solely on Hamas for holding Gazans "hostage," as if Israel's actions were beyond judgment. Would Rice ever respond to a Palestinian attack on Israelis by blaming the Israeli government for holding its citizens hostage with their army's violence?

I am writing you from Jordan. I arrived the day after the attacks began. The day before they began, my friend and colleague Hannah had asked me to deliver a book of poetry to her friend Summer in Gaza, hoping I'd manage to make it on a Free Gaza boat. Since then, these boats bringing unarmed witnesses to Gaza (www.freegaza.org) have been attacked in international waters, and Summer's house has been blown to pieces, her brother almost died under the rubble, and her father desperately needs an operation but the hospitals are overflowing. In every home or shop I enter in Jordan, people are huddled watching the stories unfold: a family killed in their home, a university destroyed, a pharmacy blown to pieces, countless bloody babies screaming or worse, silent.

I wonder if people in the US are also seeing the bodies and faces or, as I fear, only some rubble and angry Gazans. The day after attacks began, Israel's largest newspaper Yediot Aharonot covered almost the entire front page with the words, "500,000 Israelis Under Attack!" In smaller font, one could learn that in addition to 1 Israeli, 225 Palestinians had also been killed. It was surreal. Consider where you are getting your news, and what is not being told to you.

For example, the stated purpose of the attack is to drive out Hamas, i.e. to kill anyone in Hamas and scare the rest into turning against Hamas. Not only does this tactic not work (brutality fosters violence), but it clearly fits the definition of terrorism: unlawful violence intended to frighten or coerce a people or government in order to achieve a political or ideological agenda. Israel is operating as a terrorist state in the true sense of the word.

Hamas is also a terrorist organization by this definition, so it would be easy to simplify the conflict as "an endless cycle of violence" were there no historical context. But there is a context, and there are alternatives: Let us remember that Hamas was elected after an intentional shift away from violence towards a mainstream political agenda. Hamas stopped its attacks and began offering the Palestinian people an alternative to the corruption of Fatah. Hamas was democratically elected and immediately strangled by a US-led boycott, preventing the government from functioning. Hamas continued to hold to its one-sided ceasefire (totaling almost 2 years), meanwhile the US and Israel began to train and arm the opposition government, Fatah, which they preferred. In response to plans for a coup in Gaza (anti-democratic takeover by the US-supported opposition government), Hamas secured its control (again, democratically-elected whether or not we like them) over Gaza, and continues to offer Israel an indefinite ceasefire - no more violent attacks, period - if Israel simply complies with international law. The Arab League (comprised of 22 Arab nation members) has offered the same. These offers are dismissed by Israel and silenced in the US media. Israel says it has tried everything else, but it has not tried the most obvious: complying with international law and accepting repeated offers for a peaceful resolution.

As events unfold in Gaza neither the media nor the people are silent here in Jordan, where people refuse to go on as if nothing were happening to their brothers and sisters (sometimes literally - more than 60% of Jordan's population is Palestinian refugees). Just one day after attacks began, the king of Jordan gave blood to send to Gaza and inspired hundreds of others to do the same (meanwhile President Bush was on vacation in Texas). Spontaneous demonstrations have erupted at least twice here in the capitol today, and thousands are protesting in various major cities around the Middle East and around the world.

Please, wherever you are, do something. Write a letter to the editor. Get a large group to inundate your congressperson at once. Protest! There are demonstrations being organized around the US. If there isn't one happening near you, then do what I would do: buy a poster-board and large marker and write something on it ("Gazans Are People Too," "Massacre in Gaza: Silence is Complicity," "Our Weapons Are Killing Palestinian Children," or anything you can think of). Go outside and stand on a busy corner with it.

Force others to confront the reality. Talk to people, invite them to join you. People around the world are empowered enough to take to the streets; we have no excuse not to. The time is now."

What you can do to help Gaza:
* Sign the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR)'s Gaza Peace and Justice Petition (click here)
* Send an e-mail to President-elect Obama. Go to change.gov. Make "Gaza" the subject. (click here)
* Make a donation to Islamic Relief USA. (click here) or the American Near East Refugee Aid (click here)

Learn about the ongoing siege in Gaza:
Free GazaGaza Siege
American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee

Read these articles:
Beyond The Hurricane of Propaganda
Israel is Immune From Criticism
In the U.S. Gaza is a Different War

News:
Al-Jazeera's Gaza Twitter page
Palestine Monitor
Free Gaza news
Ma'an News Agency
guardian.co.uk gaza

Blogs about Gaza:
Tabula Gaza
A Mother From Gaza
annie's letters
The Angry Arab News Service
Jews San Frontieres

Links on Palestine:
http://www.stopthewall.org/
If America Only Knew
Beyond The Hurricane of Propaganda
Peace in the Promised Land (video)
Origins of the Palestine-Israel conflict
Palestine maps
The Tragedy of Palestine
Coalition for Palestinian rights

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Palestine Think Tank

happy winter solstice

make a winter window box

Summer has passed but it doesn't mean that your window boxes need to be empty. You can use a window box or plant container to make a winter arrangement. Use evergreens and dried flowers that are left over from the garden. If you have evergreens in your yard wait to prune until the late fall or winter and use the cuttings in your arrangement. If you don't have access to evergreens, you can buy evergreens at a garden center. I was able to buy discarded evergreen branches from Christmas trees for sale from the local garden center for under two dollars. A commonly used item in winter arrangements is spruce tops, which are expensive and sometimes hard to find. I've seen spruce tops priced at $2.99 each for a bundle for $20 to $30. If you are on a budget this can be expensive. You could easily spend a lot of money using spruce tops.

For my winter arrangements I purchased four spruce tops for about $12. I also picked up discarded evergreens at the local garden center for two dollars, purchased a beautiful winter green bundle, and used materials from the yard or garden. I pruned dogwood from my parents backyard. If you buy dogwood it's about $10 for a small bundle. If you don't have access to dogwood try any hardwood branch clippings. Or use dried flowers or other materials you find interesting. This is your design. It doesn't have to look like something from a magazine.



This is a "functional" arrangement. I used dried flowers from the garden and oak branches discarded from my neighbor. Last year I made an arrangement like this. I used flower heads from purple cone flowers, heath aster, false sunflower, back eyed susan, and hyssop. The dried plants self seeded and in the spring the flowers spread. Throughout the winter birds feed from the seed heads. It may not be the most beautiful arrangement but it works to spread flowers in the garden.

The container on the left has a spruce top, white cedar, white pine, spruce, and oak branches. The container on the left has dogwood, white cedar, white pine, oak branches, and eucalyptus. To make this, put the dogwood in the center in a bundle. The placed in white pine and draped it over the edge. Then I used white cedar to break up the white pine. Then I added a sprig of eucalyptus and filled it in with oak branches for some added color.

Materials used: blue spruce, white cedar, dogwood, spruce tops, and white pine

Possible materials:
* Spruce tops, blue spruce branches, white cedar branches, white pine, and evergreen branches
* Evergreen branches
* Dogwood branches or small tree branches (lengths of 5' and under)
* Dried flowers
* Window box or container. Use containers from summer plants. Next spring add the soil to a compost or garden soil.
* Anything you find interesting, pine cones, wheel spokes, found objects, etc.

Instructions
* Use a container that already has soil in it. You can use containers from a garden. It's better if you can do this before the soil in the container is frozen. If it's frozen, bring the container indoors or to a warm place to soften the soil.
* Put dogwood, twigs, or tall items in the center. Dig a small hole in the soil to place twigs or dogwood. Use can use wire to bind the twigs together and place in the hole.
* Put evergreen branches in to the edges of the container.
* Fill in the rest of the container with evergreens and other materials.

An evergreen bundle from Mother Earth Garden (left)
White pine and dogwood (right)

Benny inspecting the materials

Two finished winter arrangements

Some how to resources and ideas:

Inside Out: A winter window box, Star Tribune

Winter window boxes, Cottage Living

Winter Window Box Ideas, ezine articles

i spy a pine siskin

There have been reports of a Pine Siskin irruption in the Twin Cities. Pine Siskins are small finches. "Adults are brown on the upperparts and pale on the underparts, with heavy streaking throughout. They have a short forked tail. They have yellow patches in their wings and tail, not always visible; otherwise, it appears to be a very small streaked sparrow." Their breeding grounds are in Canada, Alaska, and the northern parts of the U.S. They migrate southward in winter.

Pine Siskins have recently been reported in Minnesota. A little over a week ago, I saw a flock a of 15 to 20 feeding on white cedar cones in our yard. I've waited years to see these "winter" finches. Every winter in Minnesota there have been reports of siskins and red polls and this is a first time sighting for me.

A Pine Siskin feeding at the top of the tree.

A Pine Siskin, in the center of the photo, feeding.

It's difficult to see in the photo but there are four Pine Siskins in the tree.

a bitter sweet election

On the sweet side we can say "President-elect Obama." On the other "bitter pill" side, California passed Proposition 8, social conservatives Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen were elected to congress in Minnesota, and the Franken Coleman race for a senate is still undecided. The election recount for that race started yesterday.

Obama supporters were elated that Obama won the election. People danced and partied in the streets of Minneapolis and all over the country. After election night, reality slapped us in the face. Proposition eight passed in California. Of all the states, I never thought California would pass a constitutional amendment that declared that marriage can only be between a man an a woman. It happened. And now people are rightly protesting the vote. Conservatives have deemed this as "anarchy." Where have we heard this before?

As for Minnesota politics, how did this happen? How did Bachmann get re-elected after her anti-american diatribe on MSNCB? Did the DFL choose the wrong candidates? Is the DFL primary process dysfunctional? I am baffled at how Bachmann and Paulsen got elected. Other than their district's are in "conservativeville" outside the Twin Cities proper. In Bachmann's pre-election appearance on MSNBC's show "Hardball," she accused Obama and several liberal, leftists, as "anti-American." She said the news media should investigate this, "Are they pro-America or anti-America?" After seeing this I was waiting for that knock on my door, to be taken away for questioning about my "anti-American" views. Obama will be president, but Minnesota is still stuck with Michele Bachmann for two years. At least it's not six years.

Links:
Sign the petition against Prop 8

Doug Grow over at Minn Post wrote an excellent article on how the Minnesota DFL screwed up some key elections in Minnesota. Read it, click here.

Vote NO on Prop 8

After Obama Victory, Dancing in the Streets (Minneapolis)

MnIndy Video: Obama win prompts nighttime dance-party in the streets of Minneapolis

vote obama

Treehouse party has endorsed Barack Obama for president. If you are concerned about your taxes, check out the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator and see how you will do financially under each administration.


If you are a resident of the Twin Cities (Minnesota) then check out the Twin Cities voter cheat sheet.

the "let them eat cake" makeover

While most of us were trying to balance our budget and live with less, "the Republican National Committee (RNC) spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family," according to POLITICO news. What happened to "hockey mom, Joe six-pack, Joe the plumber?" Would "they" spend 150K on clothing? Sure, they could spend that, in a lifetime. But in less than two months?

In these troubling economic times, it troubles me that the RNC would spend that amount of money on designer clothes. People are losing their homes. People are going hungry. People are dying because they don't have health care. Then the RNC spent $150K to clothe their unqualified candidate. As to dress her up, to objectify her. As if a makeover would give her style, make her smarter, more qualified.

What baffles me is that the RNC allowed the funds to be spent for a makeover. What was wrong with the way she looked as the governor of Alaska? Why is it important how stylish a candidate is? Does it depend on gender? Does it depend on party affiliation? Female politicians are constantly judged on what they wear. The media will talk about Hillary's pantsuits, or her many changing hair styles. Men are judged too, but on a different scale. How often does the media talk about what men wear? Amanda Woerner articulated this in her article Washington’s fashion double-standard, "For women in positions of power, news about their appearance usually trump news about their accomplishments." Furthermore, "Imagine a caption reading, 'Dick Cheney, in an Armani suit, at yesterday’s news conference.' It would be both bizarre and irrelevant."

The McCain Palin ticket continually talks about Obama's socialist ideas of "sharing the wealth." Isn't using money from the RNC (from donors) to fund her makeover sharing the wealth? It also hits a sour note on ethical standards. San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Joe Garofoli said the $150K "might have violated the spirit if not the letter of a campaign finance law co-authored by her running mate, Sen. John McCain." The McCain Palin campaign said, "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign." Sure, I'll believe that when it happens.