International Law Breached by Convenient Collective FORCING Countries to Bend, Break

20th-21st centuries “Collective Punishment” vs. 19th-21st centuries Geneva Conventions

Coercion by 

Convenient Collective

As I see it

A Collection of international criminals whimsically calling out disfavored—often previously created or embraced — “demons.” In lawlessness far removed from the rule of law (violent vigilantism), the criminal collective makes a show of purging the “demons”: checking and chastising manufactured “wrongs” (which always return) of whimsically (relentlessly) created (armed and activated) “wrongdoers.”

The ICRC Describes “Collective Punishments”
https://casebook.icrc.org/a_to_z/glossary/collective-punishments

Collective Punishments (excerpt) have been used “historically … by occupying powers … as a deterrence tool … to prevent attacks from resistance movements.”

PROHIBITED under International Humanitarian Law are “collective punishments … against prisoners of war or other protected persons… for acts committed by individuals during an armed conflict.”

“Collective punishment” refers not only to “criminal punishment” but also to acts such as “sanctions,” “harassment,” or “administrative” retaliation against a group “for an act (or acts) committed by an individual (or individuals) … considered to form part of the group.” 

The execution of such “punishment,” therefore, “targets people who IN NO WAY bear responsibility “for having committed the conduct in question.”

“The imposition of collective punishment is a war CRIME”—a deliberate brazen breach of international humanitarian law. https://casebook.icrc.org/law/icrc; https://casebook.icrc.org/a_to_z/glossary/collective-punishments

“Sanctions,” in my view, are coercion, control, containment, denial of advancement (punishment for what?) by a collective of nations conveniently corralled (often to their disadvantage) to impose economic strangulation or military might against arbitrarily chosen “others.”

Sanctions policy and execution are a form of lawlessness by a collection of “punishers” against other cultures, nations, countries, individuals or entities based on a pretext of some arbitrarily defined (e.g., nonexistent “WMD’s,” manufactured “terroristic”) lawlessness. 

Lawlessness to end Lawlessness.

United States Transnational Sanctions
A partial listing as of 2023

Balkans Belarus Burma Central African Republic Chinese Military Cos.

Democratic Republic of Congo Iran Iraq Lebanon Mali

Nicaragua North Korea Russian Federation   Somalia           South Sudan

Sudan and Darfur Syria Ukraine-/Russia Venezuela

Source: US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information

Law Amid Lawlessness

Geneva Conventions (1864-1949)
Establishing “international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

• 1899 Hague Conventions address “use of wartime conventional weapons”
• 1907, 1980 Convention addresses “Certain Conventional Weapons”
• 1925 Geneva Protocol addresses biological and chemical warfare in international armed conflicts
• 1949 Geneva Convention(s) covers agreements negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), an updating of terms of 1929 treaties and addition of two new conventions.

The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war; and specifically: 

• Define, extensively, “the basic rights of wartime prisoners, civilians, and military personnel
• Establish protections for the wounded and sick; and
• Provide protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone.” 

Geneva Convention and ICRC

The first Geneva Convention (August 22, 1864) “for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field” was adopted in conference by signatories representing 12 states and kingdoms:

Swiss Confederation [Switzerland] Grand Duchy of Baden [Southwest Germany] Kingdom of Belgium Kingdom of Denmark Kingdom of Spain French Empire

Grand Duchy of Hesse (Western Germany] Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of the Netherlands Kingdom of Portugal / the Algarve Kingdom of Prussia [German State] Kingdom of Württemberg [German State]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was established in 1863 at the origin of the Geneva Conventions and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The ICRC describes itself as “an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance.” The ICRC “directs and coordinates the international activities conducted by the Movement in armed conflicts and other situations of violence.” https://www.icrc.org/en/document/history-icrc; https://www.icrc.org/en/who-we-are/history/founding

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies May 5, 1919 - ) combines “the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies”— “a global humanitarian network of 80 million people” helping people “facing disaster, conflict and health and social problems.” https://www.icrc.org/en/who-we-are/movement%C2%A0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement

International Humanitarian Law versus Lawlessness and Impunity (excerpt)

“CIVILIANS IN WAR NEED TO BE RESPECTED BY THOSE INTO WHOSE HANDS THEY HAVE FALLEN, THOSE WHO COULD, FOR EXAMPLE, ARREST, ILL-TREAT OR HARASS THEM, CONFISCATE THEIR PROPERTY, OR DEPRIVE THEM OF FOOD OR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE.”

“CIVILIANS IN WAR ALSO NEED TO BE RESPECTED BY THE BELLIGERENT (entity) OPPOSING THE PARTY IN WHOSE HANDS THEY ARE, WHO COULD, FOR EXAMPLE, BOMB THEIR TOWNS, ATTACK THEM ON THE BATTLEFIELD, OR HINDER THE DELIVERY OF FOOD SUPPLIES OR FAMILY MESSAGES.

These rules on the protection of the civilian population against the effects of hostilities, which are set out for the most part in Protocol I and customary law (partly based on the 1907 Hague Regulations), are part of the law of the conduct of hostilities and benefit all civilians finding themselves on the territory of parties to an international armed conflict.” (The Law / Civilian population: Introductory text https://casebook.icrc.org/law/civilian-population#ii_3_b_ee

U.S. “Collective Punishment” in news headlines

Al Jazeera News 2014-2023
[As Killings in Gaza by November 2, 2023, exceed 9,000 deaths]

• November 17, 2014: “East Jerusalem un­der ‘collective punishment’” (Jerusalem News)

• March 4, 2018: “UN on Syria: Collective punishment of civilians unaccept­able”

• July 17, 2018: “‘Collective punishment’: Is­rael blocks fuel shipment to Gaza…, further tightening its blockade on the strip (denounced by) rights group

• Jun 10, 2023: “‘Collective Punishment’: Israel demolishes Palestinian homes”

• June 16, 2023: “The real problem with Israel’s ‘collective punishment’ (Israel)

• October 9, 2023: “Is ‘total’ Gaza Blockade a collective punishment against Palestinians?”

• October 11, 2023: “‘Collective punishment of millions not justified’ (says) Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf” (Israel-Gaza)

• October 18, 2023: “UN chief (Secretary-General António) Guterres condemns ‘collective punishment’ of Palestinians”

SANCTIONS

• December 9, 2020: “Trump imposed sanctions at record pace. Will Biden be different? 

“The Trump administration has imposed sanctions at a record-shattering pace of about three times a day during the president’s time in office: a slew of measures targeting companies, individuals and even oil tankers tied to Iran, North Korea, China, Venezuela and Russia.”

• February 21, 2021: “US sanctions inflicted $1trillion damage on Iran’s economy”

• January 5, 2022: “US imposes sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader (Milorad) Dodik”

• February 24, 2022: “Cana­da, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States unveiled a series of sanctions against Russia”

• July 24, 2023: “US sanctions Mali’s Minister of Defense and other State officials” related to presence of (mercenary group) Wagner in the West African nation

Ricochet

“The United States of America and many of its allies have imposed sweeping restrictions on Moscow,” RT news reports from the Russian Federation. Convenient “allies” have targeted the Russian Federation’s “financial and energy sectors and other spheres.”

But while the Russian economy has managed successfully “to adjust to outside pressure” and find substitutes for trade losses, “European countries” (states including the UK, France and Germany) … have been “grappling with soaring inflation” and related “strikes and protests against the high cost of living.”

The European bloc has effectively “inflicted damage on itself,” Hungary’s Prime Minister has observed. Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin also has noted statistics showing that past “partners”-turned-antagonists imposing “countless packages of sanctions” intended to “punish” Russia have seen their actions ricochet— “hitting their own economies (and particularly workers’) jobs.” RT News November 2, 2023 “West hurting itself with sanctions – Putin: Russia’s president said the restrictions have failed to tank the nation’s economy,” https://www.rt.com/russia/586388-putin-sanctions-hurting-west/

“The Western sanctions on Russia have backfired and instead hurt the countries that imposed them, President Vladimir Putin said during a government meeting on Wednesday.”

Composition, Compilation Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett

Author’s links: https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

nolandanisland@hotmail.com

Going along to get a Long is Too Great a Sacrifice …

Of Principle, Morality, Humanness, Justice (not caprice) under Law

Some Resist

Refuse

To Acquiescence

To Lie Down and Play Dead

To Surrender Humankind’s (our) 

Essential Character of Goodness

“Within the framework of its principled position of respect for life, we are sending this official statement to the State of Israel”— María Nela Prada Tejada, Bolivian diplomat and public official serving as the minister of the presidency since 2020.

October 31, 2023, Orinoco Tribune reporting on Plurinational State of Bolivia whose government has announced “its decision to sever relations with ‘Israel’ in consideration of the war crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian people” and “to communicate officially through the diplomatic channels established between both countries consistent with the principles and purposes of the United Nations charter.” Orinoco Tribune October 31, 2023 “Bolivia Severs Diplomatic Relations with Israeli Entity,” https://orinocotribune.com/bolivia-severs-diplomatic-relations-with-israeli-entity/

United Mexican States and Federative Republic of Brazil Leaders have “demanded cease-fire.”

October 31, 2023, The Guardian-U.S. reports: Republics of Chile and Colombia have “recalled their ambassadors from Israel.”

• Plurinational State of Bolivia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Erwin Freddy Mamani Machaca said his government’s decision sends a message of “‘repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip’” and the far-reaching “‘threat to international peace and security.”.

• Republic of Colombia’s President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego pointed to the grounds for his country’s recall of ambassador as Israel’s “massacre of the Palestinian people”.

• Republic of Chile’s President Gabriel Boric Font withdrew his country’s ambassador “to discuss “Israel’s ‘unacceptable violations of international humanitarian law’ being committed in Gaza.”

Federative Republic of Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday reflected on mass killings caused by Israel military forces’ bombing of “a refugee camp in northern Gaza”…: 

“‘For the first time, we are witnessing a war in which the majority of the dead are children…For the love of God, stop!”

The Guardian U.S. “South American countries recall ambassadors and cut ties with Israel over war with Hamas,” October 31, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/bolivia-israel-hamas-gaza-war-crime

November 1, 2023 First Post reporting: “Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday (October 27, 2023) saying “‘What we have now is the insanity of Israel’s prime minister, who wants to wipe out the Gaza Strip’.” https://www.firstpost.com/world/latin-american-nations-sever-diplomatic-ties-with-israel-over-gaza-conflict-13330442.html

The world ‘“must boycott and prosecute” Israel for its ‘ongoing crimes against humanity,’” says Rabbi David Mivasair (Jewish activist, member of Independent Jewish Voices, a U.S. citizen based in Ontario, Canada) in an October 30, 2023, Press TV news interview. “Israeli attacks in Gaza ‘war crimes tantamount to genocide’: Jewish activist” https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/10/30/713689/israeli-attacks-gaza-war-crimes-tantamount-genocide-jewish-activist

Human Rights Org’s failure to Champion Human Rights
A Resignation

“As a human rights lawyer with more than three decades of experience in the field, I know well that the concept of genocide has often been subject to political abuse”— Craig Mokhiber.

“But the current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in an ethno-nationalist settler colonial ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs, and coupled with explicit statements of intent by leaders in the Israeli government and military, leaves no room for doubt or debate—Craig Mokhiber writes in his resignation letter to the UN. Source Daily Maverick November 1, 2023 “ISRAEL/PALESTINE CRISIS / LETTER
‘The Gaza assault is a textbook case of genocide’ top official tells UN in resignation letter” https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-01-the-gaza-assault-is-a-textbook-case-of-genocide-top-official-tells-un-in-resignation-letter/

Excerpt from Craig Mokhiber’s letter (Emphasis added)

“I came to this Organization first in the 1980s because I found in it a principled, norm-based institution that was squarely on the side of human rights (even) in cases where the powerful United States of America and United Kingdom and Europe were not on our side.

The United Nations “was standing up for oppressed peoples… when many affluent governments and subsidiary institutions and many media outlets in the United States were still supporting or justifying South African apartheid, Israeli oppression, and Central American death squads.”

“We had international law on our side. We had human rights on our side. We had principle on our side. Our authority was rooted in our integrity.”

“…No more.”

A substantive change of course is urgent, Mokhiber writes.

“In the immediate term, we must work for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the longstanding siege on Gaza; stand up against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank (and elsewhere); document the genocidal assault in Gaza; help to bring massive humanitarian aid and reconstruction to the Palestinians; take care of our traumatized colleagues and their families; and, in the political offices of the United Nations, engage seriously, deliberatively and respectfully “in principled approaches.”

“… Abandon the failed paradigm of the past” — “the UN’s failure in Palestine thus far is not a reason to depart.” “Embrace fully a more principled course.” Add the UHCHR “logo to the banner of equality and human rights for the Palestinian people” (and) “join the anti-apartheid movement that is growing around the world.”

All of us “will be accountable for where we stood at this crucial moment in history …. Let us stand on the side of justice.”

Craig Mokhiber, director of the United Nations Office of Human Rights in New York, has resigned from his post because the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a body has failed to address properly the Israel-Palestine crisis. RT News October 31, 2023, “Top UN official resigns over failure to stop ‘genocide’ of Palestinians: The organization has ‘surrendered to the power of the US’ and given in to the ‘Israeli lobby,’ Craig Mokhiber has said,” https://www.rt.com/news/586302-un-official-gaza-resignation/; https://www.ohchr.org/en/about-us
United Nations HEADQUARTERS | SIEGE | NEW YORK, NY 10017, TEL.: + 212 963 5931 | craig.mokhiber@un.org, October 28, 2023, cm_final_letter_signed_pdf

November 1, 2023 Casualty Estimates (update)

Total Deaths 8,796 Palestinians	Dead Children 3,648	Dead Women 2,290	Total Wounded 22,219
Total Missing 2,000	Missing Children 1,100

Press TV news November 1, 2023, “First group of injured Palestinian evacuees from Gaza cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, as Israel’s war machine is constantly bombing the besieged Palestinian territory” https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/01/713833/Palestine-Israel-Hamas-Gaza-Egypt-Rafah-crossing-injured

Bear in Mind 

“The Foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world” (is) … 

“The INHERENT DIGNITY and equal and inalienable rights (of all human beings)”

THERE WAS A TIME when Prominent Americans were Principled People. Manifest in words and deeds were sound humanistic and moral principles and commitment to the rule of law. 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in such a moment. The First Lady of the United States of America (1933-1945), a Diplomat (beginning in 1945 a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly) and first Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights was a key participant in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was New York native (b. 1884, d. 1962) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt also known as “First Lady of the World.” 

UN https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day/women-who-shaped-the-universal-declaration

Women’s History Eleanor Roosevelt bio 2017 by Debra Michals, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/eleanor-roosevelt; Image ELEANOR ROOSEVELT of the United States holding a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Lake Success, NY, November 1949. UN Photo https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day/women-who-shaped-the-universal-declaration

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (document created December 10, 1948) excerpted with minor edits. 

CONTEXT: “Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts that have outraged the conscience of mankind.”… “…If man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, … human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”

DECLARED: “The INHERENT DIGNITY and equal and inalienable rights (of all human beings) is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” “… A WORLD in which human beings enjoy FREEDOM of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want …, the highest aspiration of the common people.” “ESSENTIAL PROMOTION of … the development of friendly relations between (and among) nations” “…

REAFFIRMATION of peoples of the United Nations” (previously set out in UN Charter) “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women; and determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.” “PLEDGE of Member States … to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms” “AFFIRMED that “common understanding of the rights and freedoms (declared in the UDHR) is of the greatest importance for full realization of the pledge.”

PROCLAIMED in GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS: 

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (is) a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

Composition, Compilation Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett

Author’s links: https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

nolandanisland@hotmail.com

ONCE UPON A TIME not very long ago

There was an American Leader who spoke with solid knowledge, on the ground experience—

Respectfully and Courageously

He Urged True Peace in the Middle East

That Man from Plains, Georgia

In addition to his civilian service as U.S. President, he had served also in the U.S. Navy and as the State of Georgia's governor. In 1982, former president Carter and his wife Rosalynn Smith Carter established The Carter Center, “a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world. In 2002, Mr. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid was published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster (ISBN13: 9780743285032)

“I have spent a great deal of my adult life trying to bring peace to Israel. My prayer is that all of us who want to see Israelis enjoy permanent peace with their neighbors will join in this common effort”—said the thirty-ninth (1977-1981) President of the United States of America James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr. ending his 2006 “Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.”

In that letter, Mr. Carter says he had been on a book signing tour when asked and he accepted an invitation to meet with leaders of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix (six rabbis: three men, three women, five of whom had read his book completely, one partially). They questioned Mr. Carter, and he answered their questions about the text and title of his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. He later disclosed the thoughts he had shared in that meeting.

“A letter to Jewish citizens of America”
This is an excerpt with minor edits from Mr. Carter’s letter to the Jewish Community containing his thoughts expressed in discussions with the six rabbis.

In the discussions, Mr. Carter “defined the word ‘apartheid’ as

the forced segregation of two peoples living in the same land, with one of them dominating and persecuting the other.”

“… [T]he system of apartheid in Palestine,” he said:

“… is not based on racism, but on the desire of a minority of Israelis for Palestinian land, and the resulting suppression of protests that involve violence.”

Mr. Carter continued: 

“[T]he (extreme partiality) for Israel comes from among Christians like me who have been taught since childhood to honor and protect God’s chosen people from among whom came our own savior, Jesus Christ.

“… [I]n the political arena (additionally) is the powerful influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is exercising its legitimate goal of explaining the current policies of Israel’s government and arousing maximum support in (the USA).

“There are no significant countervailing voices.” [Emphasis added]

Grounding his ideas in solid knowledge and direct (on the ground) experience, Mr. Carter affirmed that in the preceding “33 years” he had traveled “throughout the Holy Land,” making direct “observations…especially within the occupied areas.” Additionally, The Carter Center had “monitored the Palestinian elections of 1996, 2005, and 2006, which required a thorough and intimate involvement with Palestinian citizens, candidates, public officials, and also the top political leaders of Israel who controlled checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza and all facets of the elections in East Jerusalem.”

Clearly in evidence, Mr. Carter said: 

“The Palestinian people were being deprived of the necessities of life by economic restrictions imposed on them by Israel and the United States because 42 percent had voted for Hamas candidates in the most recent election.

“Teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, and other employees are not being paid, and the U.N. has reported that food supplies in Gaza are equivalent to those among the poorest families in sub-Sahara Africa with half the families surviving on one meal a day. My other request was that American Jewish citizens help to alleviate their plight.”

“… I am (also) familiar with the extreme acts of violence that have been perpetrated against innocent civilians,” Mr. Carter said. “(I) understand the fear among many Israelis that threats against their safety and even their existence as a nation still exist.” He then stressed his “strong condemnation of any acts of terrorism.” (Emphasis added)

What to do?

In further response to the rabbis’ questions asking what he would do, Mr. Carter first asked them “to join in an effort to induce the Israeli government to comply with the proposal for Middle East peace. Then he offered these succinct recommendations:   

 “Call on Hamas members and all other Palestinians to renounce violence and adopt the same commitment made by the Arab nations in 2002,” specifically:

• Full recognition of Israel’s right to exist in peace within its legally recognized 1967 borders (to be modified by mutual agreement by land swaps) …” in compliance with “United Nations Resolutions, the official policy of the United States, commitments made at Camp David in 1978 and in Oslo in 1993, and the premises of the International Quartet’s ‘Roadmap for Peace.’”

• Immediate “resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians” (consistent with the official spokesman for the Palestinians, head of the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, President Mahmoud Abbas, who “has repeatedly called for peace talks.”

At the end of his discussion with the rabbis in 2006, Mr. Carter reported that together they “held hands in a circle while one of the rabbis prayed.” At their request, he “autographed copies of (his) book (Palestine Peace Not Apartheid),” and Chaplain (Colonel) Rabbi Bonnie Koppell gave (him) a prayer book.”

“My own prayer,” Mr. Carter concluded, “is that all of us who want to see Israelis enjoy permanent peace with their neighbors join in this common effort.”

The Carter Center press release “Center Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, December 14, 2006, “Jimmy Carter Issues Letter to Jewish Community on Palestine Peace Not Apartheid,” December 15, 2006, https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/carter_letter_121506.html

In the Moment (an update)

Dimitri Lascaris’s October 11, 2023, piece (excerpted)

Lawyer, journalist and activist Dimitri Lascaris recalls that over many decades the “Israeli government has tested the boundaries (but) rarely exceeded boundaries of the world’s tolerance.”

Relatively Recent Examples of Israel’s testing of the world’s tolerance

“Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza displaced 500,000 people and destroyed or damaged more than 20,000 Palestinian homes, 148 schools and 15 hospitals.”

(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that year that “the unemployment rate in Gaza had reached 44 percent”; and projected that, by the year 2020, close to 100 percent of Gaza’s drinking water supply would be unsafe.)

The Israeli military in 2018 reacted to “thousands of Gazans’ … peaceful ‘Great March of Return’ … by killing more than 150 Palestinians and injuring at least 10,000 others, including 1,849 children, 424 women, 115 paramedics and 115 journalists. An Israeli sniper also shot a Canadian-Palestinian doctor, Tarek Loubani.”

Then, NOW

“In the past,” Lascaris writes, “when the international community’s outrage at Israel’s criminality approached unmanageable levels, Israel lowered the pain dial on the Palestinian people. When the suffering of Palestinians receded from the world’s consciousness, Israel then ratcheted up the pain dial.

“This week, that cycle of calibrated depravity was broken…”— circumstances in which only the government of the United States “could rein in Netanyahu …

(Benjamin Netanyahu: an Israeli Likud Party politician and Israel Defense Forces (1967-) member raised in Jerusalem (and for a time in the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) employed by the Boston Consulting Group before returning to Israel (1978); and later assuming the post of Israel’s UN representative (1984-1988); and reigning more than 17 years in the post of Israel’s premiership (1996 – 1999; 2009 – 2021; December 2022 –present).

“… [B]ut the Biden administration is too weak, too distracted by its failing proxy war in Ukraine, and too incompetent to intervene.…”

Is there a true moment of Awakening…  

(stir from distraction and slumber)

or Reckoning 

On the horizon?

Dimitri Lascaris concludes:

“The reality of what Israel has become is now too obvious to ignore. The international community cannot stand idly by any longer. In the weeks and months ahead, I believe that the conscience of the world will be awakened.

“The only question is: how many more Palestinians will the West allow to die before that moment comes?”

Dimitri Lascaris “Israel’s genocide in Gaza is no longer ‘incremental’” posted October 11, 2023, in Human Rights, International, Middle East, https://dimitrilascaris.org/2023/10/11/israels-genocide-in-gaza-is-no-longer-incremental/ Dimitri Lascaris is a multinational lawyer, journalist and activist based in Canada

Composition, Compilation Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett 

Author’s links: https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

nolandanisland@hotmail.com

Wars making more Wars Sustained by Extreme Arrogance, Calculated Ignorance, Suspended Rights—

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Rabid “Righteousness”

Ghosts of McCarthyism, Tribalism

War Industrialists plying Propaganda,

Protecting their Trade and Investments

Briefly
PALESTINE 1947-2023

France24 TIMELINE “From 1947 to 2023: Retracing the complex, tragic Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was reignited once again on October 7 after a surprise offensive launched by Hamas against Israel. In retaliation, Israel ordered air strikes and a ‘complete siege’ of the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave. This is a new deadly episode in a conflict that has its roots deep in the mid-20th century. FRANCE 24 traces its history.” October 11, 2023 By Natasha LI - Jean-Luc MOUNIER, https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231011-from-1947-to-2023-retracing-the-complex-and-tragic-israeli-palestinian-conflict

Ray McGovern October 2023 on Palestine (excerpt) 

“Getting Away with Murder: 

“On June 8, 1967, Israel tried to sink the intelligence collection ship USS Liberty and leave no survivors – in full daylight in international waters off the Sinai coast during the 6-day Israeli-Arab war. Washington (including the US Navy!) covered up the killing of 34 US sailors and the wounding of 170 others. Thus, Israel learned that it could literally get away with murder – of US servicemen, as well as Palestinians.”

“… On Nov. 22, 1967, UN Resolution 242, adopted unanimously, called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the ‘territories occupied in the recent conflict’. Israel withdrew from the Sinai after the Egypt-Israel peace treaty of 1979. It did not withdraw from other lands occupied in 1967 – the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights in Syria.

“As for Gaza, it has been blockaded to the point that it is almost impossible to get in or out – as I experienced personally in 2011 with gutsy, justice-oriented folks like Alice Walker on the aborted voyage of the ‘U.S. Boat to Gaza’.”

“…The extremists now heading the Israeli government have made no secret of their plans to move even more forcefully against the Palestinians. It was/is a powder keg that has now exploded.”  Ray McGovern “‘Can you give a brief synopsis of what’s happening in Israel?’ Answer to a Close Friend on Palestine” October 8, 2023, https://raymcgovern.com/

Ray McGovern is a Bronx, New York, native (fluent fluent in Russian, German, and Spanish) who relocated to Washington, D. C. in the early 1960s and served successively through the Federal administrations of John F. Kennedy and George H. W. Bush as “Army infantry/intelligence officer then CIA analyst. In January 2003, he “co-created Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose how intelligence was being falsified to ‘justify’ war on Iraq.” https://raymcgovern.com/bio/

Commentators Civilly Exercising Free Speech Right

Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.

“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of Hell;’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence.

“The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years. From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.

“Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters into uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.

“This statement was co-authored by a coalition of Palestine solidarity groups at Harvard. For student safety, the names of all original signing organizations have been concealed at this time. Contributed by The Harvard Crimson “Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups” Original Document (PDF) https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24025075/joint-statement-by-harvard-palestine-solidarity-groups.pdf

Related to the latest conflict in Palestine, the Harvard University Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee this past Saturday released a statement “originally co-signed by 33 other Harvard student organizations” charging “the Israeli regime entirely (with responsibility) for all unfolding violence.” In later responses, the group affirmed “what should be obvious: the PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians — Palestinian, Israeli, or other.”

Powerful Forces Arrayed Against Commentators and their Free Speech Right
Four Moneyed Men: Ackman, Broukhim, Neman, Wurzak

• ““I have been asked by a number of CEOs if Harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members…. If… their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known”—William Albert ACKMAN Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Hedge fund manager, university thesis “Scaling the Ivy Wall: The Jewish and Asian American Experience in Harvard Admissions.” 

• “I would like to know so I know never to hire these people”—Jonathan NEMAN CEO of a “massive high-priced-salad chain” (Sweetgreen, Inc.) quoted opining “that ‘no vaccine ‘nor’ mask will save us’” https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/09/02/sweetgreen-co-founder-claims-no-vaccine-will-save-us-from-covid-but-salads-just-might/

• “We are in …”— Michael BROUKHIM co-CEO customer services entity (FabFitFun) specializing in video editing, finance, “lifestyle membership and shopping experience” https://www.linkedin.com/company/fabfitfun; https://www.crunchbase.com/person/michael-broukhim

• “I second this”—Jake WURZAK “vertically integrated hospitality investment and development” (DoveHill Capital Management) industrialist CEO Yahoo and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-wurzak-esq

The Crimson October 11, 2023 “Harvard Students Doxxed, Groups Withdraw Signatures Amid Continued Backlash to Israel Statement,” Sarah G. Erickson, Crimson Staff Writers J. Sellers Hill and Nia L. Orakwue, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/10/11/student-groups-withdraw-israel-statement/; https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/10/10/psc-statement-backlash/
Axios October 12, 2023 “CEOs seek to blacklist Harvard students after signing pro-Palestinian letter,” Shauneen Miranda https://www.axios.com/2023/10/12/israel-palestine-letter-ceos-blacklist-harvard-students

Online, On Street Intimidation

“By Tuesday evening, at least four online sites had listed the personal information of students linked to clubs that had signed onto the statement, including full names, class years, past employment, social media profiles, photos, and hometowns.”

On Wednesday, a billboard truck “digitally displaying (labeling ‘anti-Semites’) the names and faces of students allegedly affiliated with student groups that signed onto a controversial statement” drove… through the streets surrounding Harvard’s campus ….”

“As Students Face Retaliation for Israel Statement, a ‘Doxxing Truck’ Displaying Students’ Faces Comes to Harvard’s Campus,” Crimson Staff Writers J. Sellers Hill and Nia L. Orakwue, October 11, 2023, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/10/12/doxxing-truck-students-israel-statement/

Is Freedom Mere Fancy

Is freedom only free for the few? Does freedom exist only by permission of the whimsical and their whims?

Are the multitudes of nations, cultures and peoples’ assertions and exercise of free expression, free speech, free assembly, free association—indeed, freedom of life and liberty, freedom of security and serenity, freedom to be left alone—only to be had and sustained or ensured by fiat or the fancy of the moneyed mighty?

Say it isn’t so, Sam. Say it isn’t so.

Composition, Compilation Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett

Author’s links: https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

nolandanisland@hotmail.com

Ending Baseball Season Looking toward Columbus Day

Caribbean Vicinity USA MLB 

Players Starting 2023 Season

Dominican Republic: 104

Venezuela: 62

Cuba: 21

Puerto Rico: 19

Mexico: 15 [Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of Mexico]

Colombia: 7

Panama: 4

Bahamas: 2

Nicaragua: 2

Brazil: 1 [on the Atlantic Ocean pm southern borders of Venezuela and Colombia]

Honduras: 1

Article “MLB players list by country (non-US)” (excerpted) https://en.as.com/mlb/how-many-mlb-opening-day-2023-players-were-born-outside-the-united-states-n/ Plus References 

Then to Now 

USA Weekend (shopping) Commemoration before October 12

Caribbean reportedly derives from “Caribs” (the name of an indigenous people who lived in the sea region dating back to the late 15th century)

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus

reportedly was the first European to enter the Caribbean Sea and (in 1492) land on the Island of Bahamas. After Columbus came Spanish, British, Danish, Dutch, French, among other colonialists. https://www.worldatlas.com/seas/caribbean-sea.html

Caribbean Sea Vicinity (South) Colombia, Panama, Venezuela; (West) Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula; among the in the Greater and Lesser Antilles: Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico

Lest we Forget

Caribbean peoples didn’t wake up one morning and decide “I don’t like my homeland” “I think I’ll sell myself and my children to some human traffickers, buy myself a dangerous journey to somewhere else,” and at the end of my journey suffer further the contempt and often violence of strangers.

Consequences have causation, preconditions, prior happenings. Down through the decades, individuals in the United States of America have ordered unspeakable acts. They have unleashed all manner of elements and entities (including criminal elements), various governmental and nongovernmental personnel and operatives to intervene relentlessly in the Caribbean Basin.

USA Reign of terror

Violent aggression

in the Caribbean

1898-1934 was pejoratively named the era of “Banana Wars.” Often, today, Americans, amid their made-in-the-USA moment of chaos, are heard to say, “we are acting like” or “we are not a Banana Republic”—when in fact USA born and bred elements are the creators of the construct or pattern that results in what is called “Banana Republic.”  The culprits just brought their usual pattern home. 

The United States callously and criminally has staged numerous military invasions and interventions and occupations in Central America and the Caribbean. 

The following is a shortened version of their impunity. The crimes they have committed and gotten away with in the Caribbean alone. 

CUBA 1898 – through 20th into 21st century

1898–1902, 1906–1909, 1917–1922 U.S. occupation; U.S. and its militaries invasions, occupations, capriciously courting, then threatening, then overthrowing heads of state

1960s (before, after, continuing) U.S. forces involved in training, supplying, supporting traitorous external efforts to overthrow Cuba’s head of state. After 1960, U.S. intelligence operatives persisted in attempts to assassinate Cuba’s head of state.

NICARAGUA 1912 -1933; 1981-1990

1912 -1933 USA and US Marines (promoting big business interests) invaded and occupied Nicaragua and when the citizenry rebelled the invaders slaughtered them; and continued the foreign occupation

1981-1986-1990 U.S. (CIA) recruited and organized group (called “Contras”) funded by Reagan government’s illegal transnational arms sales to overthrow Daniel Ortega-led Sandinista government and install a U.S. favored head of state.

GUATEMALA 1954

USA backed overthrow of democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1961, 1961-1963, 1965

US (CIA) supplies weapons involved in assassinating head of state (1961)
US entities support then remove successor head of state (1962-1963)
U.S. government orders invasion to put down the consequences of their previous interventions (1965)

GRENADA 1983

The actions taken by the United States declared by UN General Assembly and by the UN Security Council (before a USA veto) to be a “flagrant violation of international law” included the U.S. military and lackeys’ invasion and overthrow of the sitting government (Grenada October 25, 1983).

PANAMA 1981-1994

USA courts Panamanian ruler-drug dealer (Manuel Noriega) as convenient ally in quest to overthrow Nicaraguan government; later USA labels enemy and Reagan government (Elliott Abrams) promotes invasion of Panama (and overthrow of former ally turned enemy Noriega)

1989-1994 U.S. military invasion, occupation, regime change

HAITI 1909 through 1900s (continuing)

Precursor to Economic Sanctions: Financial and economic plunder, strangulation, obstruction

Big banking business and investors backed by USA Government acquires managing stake of the National Bank of Haiti creating a “Bank of the Republic of Haiti” that held payments from the Haitian government and led to citizenry unrest. U.S. elements calling themselves “diplomats” conspired to take possession of Haiti’s finances.

1915 – 1947 with everlasting consequences

USA invasion, occupation, and takeover of government, declaration of martial law, installation of military regime (US Marines and lackeys) as actual head of state (despite Haitian elected heads of state). From 1919 through 1947, the United States controlled Haiti’s banking and financial affairs.

The foreign (USA) regime in Haiti resulted in uprisings and caused the deaths of “several thousand” and “numerous human rights violations” (including Marines-inflicted “torture and summary executions”); the USA regime also caused “hundreds of thousands of deaths” through its practice of “forced labor.” U.S. personnel were reportedly well-compensated while Haitians languished in poverty (extending to the present day).

 

1985 – 1991; 1994-1995

USA operatives infiltrate, train criminal elements and lackeys; then these entities conduct regime change of newly elected head of state (1985-1991)

USA government and operatives threatened and removed from office Haiti’s head of state, i.e., the previously USA trained criminal coup element, and promoted return of Haiti’s democratically elected the head of state previously overthrown by USA elements (1994-1995).

Composition and Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett

Author’s links: www.BennettsAmericanEpitaph.com

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph

Now RUST once was the “HEARTLAND of American Industry,” “Focal point of United States Manufacturing”

Then came (or were there always) Narrow interests and Carelessness, Poor Planning and Off shoring replacing Effort and Innovation resulting in Disabling and Demise all round(?)

Callously and corruptively, U.S. policy makers have colluded with sinister influencers, partners and wannabe powers more and more deeply entrenched and shuttling in and out and around Federal Washington. 

They have carried on continuous pageantry—diversions, distractions, blame fests against any individual or entity “other than themselves” (any other person, place or thing including actual victims). 

They have turned America’s heart to RUST.

From the latter half of the twentieth century onward, the United States of America BETRAYED by its “leaders” saw closed then abandoned factories (vital workplaces).

Physical infrastructures (together with health, educational, welfare, social institutions) have failed or are in freefall leaving a blight on the land, causing outflow, brain drain, the hemorrhaging of populations (precursor to twenty-first century America’s on-the-street-under bridges-in-tunnels unable to flee homeless) in search of fruitful work, living wages, better chances, better living conditions—

(just as millions of migrants, under the constant onslaught of US policy makers and their partners’ rulemaking, orders and conduct of unspeakable global aggression—THEN ABANDONED—are forced to flee their homelands in search of fruitful work, living wages, better chances and better living conditions).

Public and Private Powers have colluded in the decimation of industry: failing to update and to incentivize updating industry, equipment, materials, employee training; failing to plan for the future, to innovate and incentivize substantive innovation. Instead, the partners chose narrow and short-termed interests (over the public good, America’s general welfare), laziness over effort. The public official-major media-owner company cabal practiced obfuscation and deregulation, exchange of payoffs and kickbacks; hoodwinking workers, begetting owner-worker battles stretching into the present day—CODE BLUE RED permanent breakdown. The patient is DOA. 

United States Presidents 42-46 NET WORTH

42. William Jefferson Blythe III (“Bill” “Clinton”) before, after presidency: $1.3 million -	$241.5 million
43. George Walker Bush before, after presidency: $20 million -	$40 million
44. Barack Hussein Obama Jr. before, after presidency: $1.3 million -	$70 million
45. Donald John Trump before, after presidency: $3 billion -	$2.3 billion
46. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. before, during presidency: $8 million -	$10 million

Rich to RUST

Baltimore Pittsburgh Buffalo Cleveland Detroit 
Focal point of American industry lost

• Baltimore, Maryland once was “a Mecca” for metal and ship-building production

• Buffalo, New York State once was the world’s “largest grain port”

• Chicago, Illinois once was America’s great railroad hub: one of the country’s “largest railroad centers” and serving “as a base for the manufacture of freight and passenger railroad cars.”

• Cleveland, Ohio once was “home to Standard Oil Company” (dating back to the nineteenth century) and “a notable transportation hub”

• Detroit, Michigan once was the “center of the American automobile industry,” home of ‘Big Three’ automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania once was “a center for steel manufacturing” (also dating back to the nineteenth century)

Of the abandoned and betrayed poverty-stricken States of the United States of America, which ones are within the RUST BELT?

RUST Belt States

ILLINOIS	MISSOURI	7. PENNSYLVANIA
2.   INDIANA	NEW YORK	8. WEST VIRGINIA
MICHIGAN	OHIO	9. WISCONSIN

 RUST Belt States’ Poverty Rates

1.      Illinois	8.6 percent
2.      Indiana	11.1 percent
3.      Michigan	10.6 percent
4.      Missouri	10.0 percent
5.      New York	12.1 percent
6.      Ohio	12.5 percent
7.      Pennsylvania	9.7 percent
8.      West Virginia	14.0 percent
9.      Wisconsin	8.2 percent

117th U.S. Congress (RUST Belt-COVID 19 Era) 

RICHEST Members

1.         Sen. Rick Scott (Florida):                             $200,327,223

2.         Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas):                    $125,880,292

3.         Rep. Darrell Issa (California):                     $115,850,012

4.         Rep. Vern Buchanan (Florida):                   $113,384,088

5.         Sen. Dianne Feinstein (California):             $96,518,036

6.         Sen. Mark Warner (Virginia):                     $93,534,098

7.         Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah):                            $85,269,083

8.         Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut):    $85,231,232

9.         Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (Indiana):            $74,629,062

10.       Rep. Doris Matsui (California):                   $73,872,062

11.       Rep. Roger Williams (Texas):                      $67,438,045

12.       Rep. Peter Meijer (Michigan):                     $60,514,285

13.       Rep. Suzan DelBene (Washington):            $52,156,097

14.       Rep. Nancy Pelosi (California):                   $46,123,051

15.       Rep. Scott Peters (California):                     $39,738,062

16.       Rep. Jay Obernolte, (California):                $39,250,014

17.       Rep. David Trone (Maryland):                    $32,927,094

18.       Rep. Don Beyer (Virginia):                          $29,805,092

19.       Rep. Kathy Manning (North Carolina):     $27,202,287

20.       Rep. Kevin Hern (Oklahoma):                     $26,761,380

21.       Rep. Dean Phillips (Minnesota):                  $24,778,495

22.       Rep. Fred Upton (Michigan):                      $24,692,218

23.       Rep. John Rose (Tennessee):                       $23,362,065

24.       Rep. Sara Jacobs (California):                    $21,428,125

25.       Rep. Ralph Norman (South Carolina):       $20,679,156

  

USA Poverty Rates (RUST Belt States in red)

Rank       State       Percentage of Population

below Poverty Line

1	Louisiana	23.10  percent
2	Mississippi	22.10  percent
3	Arizona	21.20  percent
4	West Virginia	20.60  percent
5	Kentucky	20.00  percent
6	New Mexico	20.00  percent
7	District of Columbia	19.00  percent
8	Arkansas	18.40  percent
9	Alabama	17.80  percent
10	Tennessee	17.30  percent
11	Oklahoma	17.30  percent
12	North Carolina	17.10  percent
13	Nevada	17.00  percent
14	Georgia	16.80  percent
15	Florida	16.70  percent
16	South Carolina	16.50  percent
17	Texas	16.40  percent
18	California	15.80  percent
19	Ohio	15.60  percent
20	Michigan	14.80  percent
21	Maine	14.60  percent
22	Indiana	14.60  percent
23	Oregon	14.40  percent
24	New York	14.00  percent
25	Illinois	13.70  percent
26	Massachusetts	13.60  percent
27	South Dakota	12.80  percent
28	Pennsylvania	12.50  percent
29	Idaho	12.40  percent
30	Colorado	12.30  percent
31	Kansas	12.10  percent
32	Montana	12.00  percent
33	Washington	12.00  percent
34	Alaska	11.90  percent
35	Nebraska	11.80  percent
36	Rhode Island	11.30  percent
37	New Jersey	11.30  percent
38	Delaware	11.00  percent
39	Wisconsin	10.90  percent
40	Hawaii	10.80  percent
41	Missouri	10.40  percent
42	Iowa	10.30  percent
43	Virginia	10.20  percent
44	Utah	10.20  percent
45	Maryland	9.90  percent
46	Wyoming	9.70  percent
47	North Dakota	9.70  percent
48	Vermont	9.30  percent
49	Connecticut	8.60  percent
50	Minnesota	8.30  percent
51	New Hampshire	7.20  percent

Sources

• World Atlas “Rust Belt United States,” https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/rust-belt-united-states.html World Atlas “US Poverty Rate by State,” https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-poverty-rate-by-state.html

• Wikipedia “Rust Belt”

“‘Rust’ refers to the impact of deindustrialization, economic decline, population loss, and urban decay … attributable to the shrinking of the once-powerful industrial sector especially including steelmaking, automobile manufacturing, and coal mining.”

Hardest hit Cities and Regions: Northeast and Midwest regions including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jersey City, Newark, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toledo, Trenton, Youngstown; other areas of New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York.

Though “New England was also hit hard by industrial decline …, cities closer to the East Coast (e.g., New York metropolitan, Greater Boston) … have been able to adapt by diversifying or transforming their economies to shift focus toward services, advanced manufacturing, and high-tech industries.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt

• Investopedia “Rust Belt: Definition, Why It’s Called That, List of States,” James Chen updated November 29, 2022

“The COVID-19 pandemic hit the Rust Belt hardest.” Remaining factories were forced to close, gains manufacturing jobs were lost. Blue-collar workers were unable to “work from home.” Double crises of the pandemic and mental health declines hit “nine out of 13 cities studied in the Rust Belt.” https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/rust-belt.asp

• Business Insider “Meet the 25 wealthiest members of Congress,” Madison Hall and Angela Wang December 14, 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-members-congress-house-senate-finances-2021-12

• The Inquisitr “How President Joe Biden's Net Worth Increased By $2 Million Being in the White House for 2 Years,” Juwairiya Shariq, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-president-joe-biden-s-net-worth-increased-by-2-million-being-in-the-white-house-for-2-years/ar-AA1hCBfC

• Cheapism, “U.S. Presidents' Net Worth, Before and After Taking Office,” Andrew Lisa, February 17, 2023, https://blog.cheapism.com/what-presidents-are-worth/#slide=5

Composition and Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett

Author’s links: www.BennettsAmericanEpitaph.com

https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett

https://insightbeyondtodaysnews.blogspot.com/

https://www.xlibris.com/en/search?query=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett

https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828689-epitaph