> The idyllic myths surrounding Thanksgiving align with broader strategies of historical revisionism used to justify settler colonialism by distorting and erasing histories of violence, exploitation and resistance. They reinforce settler identity and national pride and discourage critical engagement in our complex histories. These strategies serve to normalize colonization, valorize settlers and silence Indigenous voices.

> Yet, even in the shadow of these painful histories, Native communities have found ways to challenge the sanitized myths of Thanksgiving and call for a reckoning with the true history of the United States, encouraging reflection, accountability and action to support Indigenous rights and justice. At the same time, the holiday serves as an opportunity to reclaim whitewashed narratives and assert Indigenous presence, reminding the world of the unbroken spirit of Native nations.

> In the spirit of the Alcatraz occupation, Unthanksgiving Day, also known as the Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Ceremony, has been organized by the International Indian Treaty Council and held annually on Alcatraz Island since 1975. The Unthanksgiving sunrise ceremony honors the legacy of the Natives who occupied Alcatraz and fosters solidarity among Natives and non-Natives. It serves as a celebration of Indigenous survival and the ongoing fight for justice.

> For Native peoples, the destruction and suffering in Gaza are hauntingly familiar because they mirror the aftermath of tragedies like the Massacre of Wounded Knee and violent police attacks on Water Protectors at Standing Rock. These shared experiences highlight the devastating consequences of colonizers wielding violence to suppress resistance. However, while these tragic circumstances remind us of our shared history of violence, they also remind us that our people have a shared spirit of resilience and survival.

> As Thanksgiving myths continue to shape public consciousness, there is a pressing need to disrupt those narratives and center the voices of those who have been silenced. By addressing the uncensored history of colonization and its ongoing impacts, we can encourage action toward Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice and human rights on a global scale.

Senator Lindsey Graham believes Ukraine’s vast natural resources, particularly its rare earth minerals, could be highly beneficial to the US economy. Speaking to Fox News, the South Carolina Republican emphasized that Ukraine, rich in valuable minerals worth between $2 trillion and $7 trillion, is eager to negotiate deals with Washington, unlike Russia. He described Ukraine as the "breadbasket of the world" and argued that the US should ensure Russia doesn't take control of the country.

Graham further stated that the US could profit from an economic relationship with Ukraine, particularly by extracting these resources, while helping Ukraine achieve peace. He predicted that under President-elect Donald Trump, the US would secure favorable deals for both countries, enriching the US with rare minerals. Graham also claimed that Trump, unlike President Joe Biden, knows how to end wars and will avoid humiliating Russia or triggering further conflict.

It is three weeks since the presidential election and, crazy cabinet picks aside, Americans are in that strange interim period where normality resumes, and it is possible to convince ourselves that actually this might not be so bad. The markets are holding steady, helped by a sensible pick for treasury secretary (unlike other Trump cabinet picks, Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, has – so far as we know – never been accused of sexual assault, had a white nationalist tattoo, or taken part in an exhibition wrestling match). Trump’s threats to tear up the script on tariffs and immigration on day one are unnerving, but his follow-through skills can be weak. Technically, he’s a lame duck president. And so on. Meanwhile, real life continues.

These rationalisations are partly necessary to avoid panic or paralysis, but of course they also serve an exculpatory purpose. The spectacle of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of the fiercely anti-Trump MSNBC show Morning Joe, beetling down to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the president-elect as fast as their little legs could carry them, was presented by the pair as a necessary piece of journalistic engagement. (Neither reported on what was said at the meeting, although presumably it was sunnier in tone than the time Trump called Brzezinski “low IQ crazy Mika”, and described her as “bleeding badly from a face-lift”, or the time the Morning Joe team called Trump a fascist.)

Obviously the hack part of me understands the reason for going – just as, 20 years ago, I’d quite like to have read OJ Simpson’s mea culpa I Did It, before all 400,000 copies were pulped. Still, in certain corners of the New York media, there is an unmistakable glee – a gimlet-eyed relish – afoot about what a drama-filled Trump presidency will do for ratings. These are people who backed Kamala Harris but, finding themselves equally if not better served by a Trump administration, can’t quite contain their excitement.

And while, as David Lammy found out, diplomacy is now a necessary part of protecting a raft of interests, there is still sleight of hand at play. Under the auspices of pragmatic engagement, or “holding Trump to account”, or the reasonable accommodation of a new American reality, there is the usual sucking up to money and power. Despite Trump’s conviction that the entire mainstream media is against him, it seems unlikely that he will be sitting alone in a ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ dinner next April while the US news media takes a stand. Laughing-face emoji, crying-face emoji.

WASHINGTON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is pushing ahead with a $680 million arms sales package to Israel, a U.S. official familiar with the plan said on Wednesday, even as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has come into effect.

The package, which was first reported by the Financial Times, includes thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAMs) and hundreds of small-diameter bombs, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bernie Sanders caused a stir last week, when the independent senator from Vermont and two-time contender for the Democratic presidential nomination sent a post-election email to his progressive supporters across the country. In it, he argued that the Democrats suffered politically in 2024 at least in part because they ran a campaign that focused on “protecting the status quo and tinkering around the edges.”

In contrast, said Sanders, “Trump and the Republicans campaigned on change and on smashing the existing order.” Yes, he explained, “the ‘change’ that Republicans will bring about will make a bad situation worse, and a society of gross inequality even more unequal, more unjust and more bigoted.”

Despite that the reality of the threat they posed, Trump and the Republicans still won a narrow popular-vote victory for the presidency, along with control of the US House. That result has inspired an intense debate over the future direction not just of the Democratic Party but of the country. And the senator from Vermont is in the thick of it.

In his email, Sanders, a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus who campaigned in states across the country this fall for Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket, asked a blunt question: “Will the Democratic leadership learn the lessons of their defeat and create a party that stands with the working class and is prepared to take on the enormously powerful special interests that dominate our economy, our media and our political life?”

His answer: “Highly unlikely. They are much too wedded to the billionaires and corporate interests that fund their campaigns.”

It blows my mind that there are no legal blocks in place to prevent this (yeah, I know it's because this shit was so unthinkable that nobody prepared for it). This yahoo is on a mission to destroy EVERYTHING America was supposed to stand for. SOMETHING has to be done to stop this shit!

A Dallas man says he feared for his life when a stranger approached him on a running trail and shot him multiple times. He says the man shot him in his hip and shoulder. But he says the man was aiming for his head. The Brief

The victim says this was a morning exercise routine turned into a random shooting.

35-year-old Terrance Williams says he was exercising on a trail in between Singing Hills and Glendale Parks in Oak Cliff last Monday when a stranger who asked him for directions on the trail the day before approached him again.

!

"He looked at me, and he said, ‘This is going to be the last day that you see me.’ And it was confusing, and I didn’t know what it meant," he recalled. "So I just said okay, and I kept walking.

Williams says it quickly turned even more bizarre.

"He kind of went behind the bushes, came out, went behind the bushes, came out again," he said. "And when he came out the second time, he had a mask pulled up over his face, covering half of his face, with his hand in his left pocket. And that’s when he was like really briskly approaching me. But then he pulled out the gun, and I screamed and ran."

Williams was shot in his right hip. And while lying wounded on the ground, Williams thought his life was about to end.

"He stood over me. He put the gun out over my face. It was pointed in my face, and I was just looking up at him, and he said, ‘You’re not dead. Don’t pretend to be dead. But you’re going to be dead now,’" he recalled. "And like a headshot, just fired two shots. And I don’t know if it was the grace of God who curved the bullets, my guardian angel, I don’t know if it was bad aim. I don’t know what it was, but he had that gun pointed at my head. One bullet hit my shoulder, and the other bullet hit the pavement."

Williams says the shooter left.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/22911717 > > By Isabelle Taft > Nov. 25, 2024 Updated 8:53 p.m. ET > > [gift article - link can be shared. Expires in 30 days.] > >

cross-posted from: https://hcommons.social/users/adachika192/statuses/113526086159705673

> Fresh protest in White House on Biden’s Israel policy (Politico, 2024-11-18) > > [https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2024/11/18/fresh-protest-in-white-house-on-bidens-israel-policy-00183727] > ——— > > Fresh, latest and perhaps the last? Anyway, I’d like to remember there have been a number of conscientious White House staffers throughout… > > “… a group of at least 20 White House staffers call out the Biden administration for failing to follow through on demands issued … on Oct. 13, which required Israel to take ‘concrete measures’ within 30 days to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” > > “‘You are running out of time to do the right thing, but decisive action could save precious lives in the next two months,’ the staffers write.” > > “This marks the latest in a flurry of letters from U.S. government officials urging Biden to cut or condition U.S. support for Israel…” > > “… An open letter in July signed by more than 500 appointees and staffers condemned the deep humanitarian impact of U.S. policy while funding the war in Gaza.” > > @palestine@lemmy.ml > @palestine@a.gup.pe > @israel

Since 2020, states and municipalities across the country have amassed a portfolio of $1.7 billion in Israel Bonds—securities sold by the state of Israel to “strengthen every aspect of Israel's economy, enabling national infrastructure development.” Since October 7th, 2023, $580 million of state and municipal investments have been invested in Israeli bonds.

In some cases, the state treasurers and comptrollers that purchased Israeli bonds are the very same officials who pushed for laws in their states against investing in firms that embrace environmental social governance (ESG), or investments based, at least superficially, on diversity, climate change, or any other criteria they deem “woke.” Their argument: If a firm makes politically motivated investment decisions in accordance with ESG, then the firm has compromised its fiduciary duty to be a good steward of dollars and maximize returns for investors.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22383492

> Summary > > Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are preparing to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters. > > Measures could include deporting foreign students advocating for Hamas, prosecuting protest leaders for failing to register as foreign agents, and applying anti-terrorism or hate speech laws. > > Critics, including civil rights groups like the ACLU and CCR, warn this could criminalize protected speech. > > Legal battles are expected, especially as groups like the Heritage Foundation push initiatives like Project Esther to target alleged Hamas supporters. > > Campus protests and student visa revocations are likely focal points for enforcement.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/22836856

> Interview with Vincent Bevins > by Aaron Gell

Abdullah Akl, a long-time political organiser based in New York City, said the warrants for Netanyahu, while notable, would once again distinguish those who respected the rule of law and those who would find ways to disavow it.

For months, the US has found ways to shield Israel, refusing to support a ceasefire or an arms embargo, even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel's actions in Gaza amount to a "plausible genocide".

Akl said it was inconceivable that American names could be excluded from the charge sheets.

"Where are the rest of the arrest warrants for the people who were just as complicit as Netanyahu, the people that were just as complicit like [President] Joe Biden, like [Vice-President] Kamala Harris, and the list goes on and on with [Secretary of State] Tony Blinken and others?" Akl asked rhetorically, adding, "We want an arrest warrant for Biden."

"The Biden administration made sure to sign off on the weapons deals. They made sure to play the back door conversation."