Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Letter I Wrote to My Members of Congress after Watching Documentary "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone"

I encourage you to watch the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. Then take action. Attend your local peace group meeting. Ask people to watch the documentary. Write letters to your members of Congress. Become systematic with your consumer boycott by using the Boycat app. Do something. This is a copy of the email I sent to my members.

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Subject Header: Have You Watched the Documentary, "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone?"

Last night, a group of us in Augusta, Georgia watched the BBC documentary "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone."

You can watch it here: https://archive.org/details/gaza-how-to-survive-a-warzone_202502

The movie follows three children and some of the adults in their lives during the ongoing genocide that Israel, using USA funds and benefiting from USA political and military support, is perpetuating.

One of the children, Renad, copes by making cooking videos and posting them in social media. Another, Zakariyya, volunteered at al-Aqsa Hospital helping the paramedic Said transport the dead and wounded.

The movie ended during the period immediately following the ceasefire of January 15, 2025. The children survived, and they were extremely happy that (most of) the USA-funded Israeli attacks ended.

Of course, since then, the USA-supported Jewish supremacist state has resumed its massacres of Palestinians. I could hardly sleep last night wondering if the people from the documentary were still alive. Was Said one of the 15 medical and rescue personnel Israel summarily executed on March 23, 2025? https://apnews.com/article/gaza-medics-killed-israel-ambulances-f34b6ecc985d9127265a400bd52c72b7

I found one of Renad's social media channels. Her most recent post is dated March 13, 2025. Is she still alive?

Zakaria complained in the movie about lack of food. The Zionist colonizers have prevented the entry of supplies into Gaza since late February 2025.

And then my thoughts drift to the votes of my elected representatives in the US Congress: Senator Ossoff, Senator Warnock and Representative Rick Allen (GA-12). I ask myself, "Do they think the voters don't know that the USA-Israel killing spree continues? Do they expect people of conscience to support them just because their opponents in the next election might be 'worse'?"

I urge you to speak publicly for a ceasefire and vote for a cessation of all assistance to Israel, an end to hostilities with Yemenis enforcing international law through their blockade of Israeli shipping in the Red Sea , lifting the siege of Gaza and a resumption of funding of UNRWA.

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Note that Renad has posted again around April 15, 2025.

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

PBS Independent Lens "Wild Hogs and Saffron"

The website of the United States's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) allows you to watch the short documentary film Wild Hogs and Saffron. This is the film's page at the website of the director and one of the subjects of the film, Andy Sarjahani. You can read an interview with the director about the film (archive.org).

Can person-to-person interaction promote world peace and reduce ethno-nationalist chauvanism? Can it be done "at scale" in order to prevent humanity from destroying itself? If we answer "no" to these questions, what is the alternative?

Trailer on YouTube