April 5th we are standing up to Trump

On April 5th we are standing up to Trump and his ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, we are standing up to repression, and we are standing up to the US’s continued facilitation of the genocide in Gaza. We demand a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo now!

Bus Details:
Saturday, April 5th
Albany bus boarding 1:30 am
Stop at New Paltz Park and Ride at 3am for boarding
Rally is expected to begin in D.C. at 1pm

Departure:

Gather for 1:30 a.m. at the Delaware Ave Park and Ride located at Delaware Ave & Normanskill Blvd, Delmar, NY 12054 on Saturday April 5th for departure at 2A. Overnight parking is outdoors but in a secure lot. Our drop off and pickup location in D.C. will be announced on the bus. At 3 am we will stop at the New Paltz Park and Ride at Route 87 & Main Street, New Paltz, NY, 12561 to pick up additional Hudson Valley Passengers

Return:
**We anticipate departing from D.C. at 5:00 p.m., We anticipate arriving back to Albany by 1am., but could be as later. The Charter bus has outlets and a bathroom. We will take two rest stops per leg of the trip.

Cost:
$100 per standard ticket, and $150 per solidarity ticket to help pay for others. If you need help with the cost, please email prcalbany@gmail.com to discuss sliding scale payment.

Payment confirms your reservation, and you will receive logistics thereafter.

Steps to purchase bus ticket from Albany:

1. Fill out contact form (see link below).
2. Pay for your ticket (see link below).
3. Make sure you get on the bus and send a screenshot of the ticket confirmation to prcalbany@gmail.com

 

Dear Women in Black and MECR folks

 

Hudson River Playback Theatre's show next Sunday is for you and others deeply involved in resistance. I hope you'll come. More info at web link.

Stop purchasing Israel Bonds

Tell New York State: Stop purchasing Israel Bonds for the Common Retirement Fund!

http://bit.ly/BTBNYS 

As employees, retirees, taxpayers, and residents of New York State, we envision a state where all of our communities can thrive — where our families and neighbors have access to resources like education, healthcare, and housing in order to flourish.

But State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli continues to put his political aspirations before the needs of our communities here in New York.

He has spent hundreds of millions in state retirement funds on Israel Bonds, unrestricted loans that go directly into the Israeli treasury and provide critical financial support for Israel’s apartheid system, the forced displacement of Palestinians, illegal settlement construction, and the ongoing killing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) is one of the top U.S. investors in Israel Bonds, with over $340 million worth of Israel Bond holdings as of March 2024.

Israel Bonds are not only ethically unconscionable, they are also a low return and increasingly risky investment.

By continuing to invest in Israel Bonds, including purchasing more than $100 million in new bonds in the six months following October 7, 2023, DiNapoli has prioritized his political agenda over his obligation to maximize the retirement funds of more than 1 million state and local government employees, non-teaching school district employees, firefighters, and public sector retirees.

We call on Comptroller DiNapoli to be on the right side of history and bring this pension fund into alignment with its own legal mandate by prioritizing sustainable investments that benefit state workers, retirees, and all New Yorkers — as well as by refusing to fund Israeli apartheid and genocide.

DiNapoli can follow in the tradition of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, which divested from companies doing business with South Africa’s apartheid government in 1984, helping to end South African apartheid through economic pressure.

As workers, retirees, taxpayers, and residents of New York State, we call on New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to stop buying Israel Bonds and prioritize the financial and ethical interests of our communities.

The Chris Hedges Report : The Last Chapter of the Genocide

The final chapter marks the end of Israeli lies. The lie of the two-state solution. The lie that Israel respects the laws of war that protect civilians. The lie that Israel bombs hospitals and schools only because they are used as staging areas by Hamas. The lie that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while Israel routinely forces captive Palestinians to enter potentially bobby trapped tunnels and buildings ahead of Israeli troops. The lie that Hamas or Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are responsible — the charge often being errant Palestinian rockets — for the destruction of hospitals, United Nations’ buildings or mass Palestinian casualties. The lie that humanitarian aid to Gaza is blocked because Hamas is hijacking the trucks or smuggling in weapons and war material. The lie that Israeli babies are beheaded or Palestinians carried out mass rape of Israeli women. The lie that 75 percent of the tens of thousands killed in Gaza were Hamas “terrorists.” The lie that Hamas, because it was allegedly rearming and recruiting new fighters, is responsible for the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement.

full article at: 

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-last-chapter-of-the-genocide
 

Handful of pro-Palestinian protesters

Times Union:

"Ryan’s audience in Poughkeepsie was also charged and frustrated — but not with him, for the most part. There were two brief disruptions: a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters stood up to express their anger about Ryan’s support of Israel in its war with Hamas, and a person at the end of the event was nearly escorted out while venting about the lack of discussion of foreign policy."

At least the Times Union reported our frustration with Rep. Pat Ryan. Israel's slaughter of tens of thousands in Gaza is ethnic cleansing and not a war. 

We never got to ask him about the close to quarter million dollars he got from the Israel Lobby last year. Pat Ryan is well paid to keep his mouth shut as Palestinian civilians are slaughtered. 

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/pat-ryan/summary

 

Sunday, April 13 from 3 - 5 pm

 

Hudson Area Library

 

A nation headed in all the wrong directions

 

Thanks to Mark for the picture

It was a coming together of many groups. Only this time Palestine was not treated as stepchild, better left at home. The genocide in Gaza is linked to so many failures and shortcomings of our own capitalistic, imperialistic, and racist nation. Trump is only the ridiculous leader of a nation headed in all the wrong directions. 

Walkway Over the Hudson

 

Film Showing: The Palestine Exception. Sunday, April 13

 

Stop the hate

Dear friends,

Today in New Paltz there were over forty people standing with Women In Black in solidarity with the people of Palestine. 

 

There were many new faces!  Some SUNY New Paltz students and even a young Palestinian boy  from Gaza who might have been eleven or twelve years old.  He actually came up to me and asked if he could join our demonstration.  I was humbled, a little embarrassed, but honored to stand with this young man.  There was something surreal and ironic about a young Gazan standing with a group of Americans whose government is responsible for the decimation of his homeland.  Having this young man stand with us was both joyful and heartbreaking.  

 

The demonstration closed with our usual gathering “by the bench” (since we are banned from library property & surveilled by library board members every Saturday to enforce the ban).  We sang (thank you Ruth),  and chanted (thank you Tiff),  made announcements, and closed with a moment of silence.  It was lively, spirited, and joyful.  This in stark contrast to the counter demonstrators who attempt to disrupt us with aggressive and vile language.  

 

One of their favorite taunts  is “stop the hate.”  Today, we actually embraced the phrase and engaged in a vociferous “stop the hate” chant of our own.   Despite the dire nature and seriousness of purpose of the WIB vigil,  there is celebration, solidarity, joy, and love which permeate the WIB community.  In my humble opinion,  this positive and beautiful  energy simply overwhelms and dis-empowers  the pro-Zionist, pro-genocide opposition and their attempts to silence our truth telling.  Below is an image of todays action, as well as, an image of singing from a previous action.  Enjoy!

with love and peace,

Eli

Pro-Zionist, pro-genocide counter demonstrators

The pro-Zionist, pro-genocide counter demonstrators who stand across the street from Women In Black every Saturday are desperately trying to shut down the weekly peaceful New Paltz Women In Black demonstrations and are actively attempting to recruit additional support. 

 

Women In Black can use your presence this Saturday (tomorrow) if you can make it. Please join with us to peacefully stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in front of the Elting Library in New Paltz from 12:30-130.

GUEST: Felice Gelman, Board member at Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre

Activist Radio has the following guest on this week:

GUEST: Felice Gelman, Board member at Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre and long time activist with Middle East Crisis Response https://mideastcrisis.org, talks about Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinian life and culture.
https://www.972mag.com/freedom-theatre-jenin-art-world-protests/F

Activist Radio can be heard: Thursdays 8-9 am on KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, OR; Thursdays 11-12 noon on WRFA 107.9 FM in Jamestown, NY; Thursdays 5-6 pm on WVKR 91.3 FM at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY; Thursdays 7-8 pm on WBDY 99.5 FM at The Bundy in Binghamton, NY; Fridays 4-5 pm on WEFR 1700 AM in Fairmont, WV; Saturdays 7-8 am on WOZO 103.9 FM in Knoxville, TN; Sundays 4-5 pm from WIOF 104.1 FM in Woodstock, NY; Sundays 5-6 pm from the Progressive Radio Network at PRN.live; Mondays 11-12 noon on WCAA 107.3 FM in Albany, NY; Mondays at 10-11 pm on KWSI in Grand Junction, CO; and finally on Tuesdays 1:00-2:00 pm on WESU 88.1 FM at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Past programs are available as a podcast, or anytime on the web at ClassWars.org.
Thanks,

Sat, Feb 15 at 4 pm

 

No Other Land showing at Upstate Films

No Other Land. Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary.
Shot over five years, this doc is an intimate chronicle of life as residents of a Palestinian community in the West Bank struggle to stay put in their homes. 

Starr · Rhinebeck
6415 Montgomery Street

Sunday, February 2     7:30p


Monday, February 3    7:30p