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Local police arrest Chris Kluwe for telling the ugly truth about MAGA
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No Nazis: Be Like Chris Kluwe, And All Who Came Before

Amidst the dark chaos, we got a "masterclass in effective resistance" this week when former NFL punter Chris Kluwe rose in a California city council meeting to decry a dumb, unctuous proposed plaque that spells "MAGA," which he deemed "explicitly a Nazi movement." As the packed room cheered, he declared he would "now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience," went limp as police rushed him, and got arrested for the crime of telling the truth.

Kluwe's action came as the ravaging of democracy continues apace. The figurehead president is so out of it he didn't know Russia started the war in Ukraine - sullenly calling the popular Zelensky a "dictator" who "never shoulda started it" - or that his sycophant Treasury Secretary met with Zelensky who no wasn't "sleeping." He also didn't know the head of Social Security just resigned, Medicaid is being massively cut, plundering Fuhrer Musk "accidentally" fired several USDA avian flu experts as the disease spreads widely and the agency is "working to swiftly rectify the situation." Some suggest he may not know those things 'cause he's a demented ole man who's spent more than half his first ungodly 31 days "in office" at his golf courses or crappy hotels, though he did emerge to randomly kill New York's new "congestion pricing" tolls to raise money for mass transit, approved after four years and 4,000 pages of federal review, by posting, "New York is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!" Not so fast, Jack. New York, along with everyone else, is suing.

Also, buyers' remorse is in the air, and some people are memorably speaking up. Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, despite being a billionaire, offered up a furious. eloquent tirade about "watching (what's) happening in our country right now with dread" as "the authoritarian playbook is laid bare." "The root that tears apart your foundation begins as a seed of distrust, hate, and blame...They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems," he said. "Tyranny requires your fear, your silence, and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage." Echoing him, AOC was in Tennessee to proclaim, “Every day our job is to wake up and say ‘what can I do today?’ There is no act too small. Every action matters." And so, somewhat improbably, to Chris Kluwe, a former NFL punter for the Minnesota Vikings and, more vitally, a longtime champion of good who made headlines years for speaking up - yes, a straight football player ! - for same sex marriage. Kluwe played in the NFL for eight years, retiring in 2012.

For the last 15 years he's lived in Huntington Beach, California, a rabidly MAGA-infested town whose cringy city council giddily proclaim themselves the “MAGA-nificent 7." Look at them: Ewww. In recent years they've banned the rainbow flag from City Hall for Pride Month, moved to screen children's books for sexual content, pushed for voter ID at the polls and, last month, just to confirm its viciousness, voted to make it "a non-sanctuary city" for brown people. Now, upping the toadying factor - also the dumb one - they've proposed an acrostic plaque to be set outside the town's public library to celebrate its 50th anniversary. "Through hope and change, our nation has built back better to the golden age of Making America Great Again," it reads, and then ingeniously, vertically declares, “Magical," "Alluring," "Galvanizing," and “Adventurous." Get it?!? It spells MAGA!! See?!? AAMG!! (Alluring, Adventurous, Magical, Galvanizing). What, are they all 8 years old? Just kill us now.

So Chris Kluwe, 43-year-old Huntington resident and decent guy, showed up at Tuesday's City Council meeting to tell them what he thought of their “propaganda” and offer a calm but robust indictment of what MAGA really means. And it was great.

"MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for resegregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds to education, including for disabled children. MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy and most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is."

The room erupted in cheers. Then, still calm, almost weary, he announced, 'I will now engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience." And he did. He walked up to the council on the dais, stood there a moment, and as frantic cops rushed around him, sat down and went limp.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Kluwe is not an elected official, an unelected bureaucrat, a billionaire, a pundit. He's just a white guy, former football player, patriot and mensch who's fed up with what's being done to what is still his country. His small act of good trouble made headlines everywhere, from the LA Times to Sports Illustrated to Fox News. A phalanx of brave police carried him out; he was arrested on a charge of disturbing an assembly, and spent about four hours in the city jail - four hours, we suspect, he felt were well-spent. "What you’re seeing in Huntington Beach is a microcosm of what’s happening nationally,” he later told the Times. “This is what happens when MAGA gets power.” Citing his own "position of privilege and power" - he played America's game! - he insisted he has "the responsibility to step up and do something," as do others of his ilk, when faced by Nazis. "I can help protect the oppressed," he said. "Because it shouldn’t be on the people who are being oppressed to fight by themselves.”

State troopers prepare to attack John Lewis and other Selma marchers on Bloody SundayBillboard photo of Spider Martin's 1965 Two-Minute Warning from art collective For Freedoms

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The Bresvelbreen iceberg in Svalbard and Jan Mayen
News

'Geoengineering Fails Again': Coalition Cheers End of Arctic Ice Project

Environmental and Indigenous activists declared Thursday that "geoengineering fails again," welcoming the shutdown of a project that aimed to use "a reflective material to protect and restore Arctic sea ice," which is rapidly disappearing as humanity's reliance on fossil fuels heats the planet.

Noting that "we committed to moving forward only if we could conclusively demonstrate both the safety and effectiveness of our approach," the Arctic Ice Project team confirmed in an online statement that it "will be concluding its research and winding down the organization."

"While our climate impact simulations have shown promising results (with a new scientific paper forthcoming), recent ecotoxicological tests have revealed potential risks to the Arctic food chain," the team said. "Our initial approach was to continue research aimed at addressing these concerns. Upon further reflection, however, the board decided that the combination of these new test results with broad skepticism toward geoengineering, resistance to introducing new materials into the Arctic Ocean, and the increasingly challenging funding environment (and paucity of federal research dollars), the most realistic path was to conclude our research."

"Nature is not a laboratory; it is a living entity we are in relationship with."

Responding in a Thursday statement, Hands Off Mother Earth Alliance global coordinator Coraina de la Plaza said that "the cancellation of the Arctic Ice Project marks another monumental victory for our planet and future generations, a victory where Indigenous peoples' resistance has been central. This outcome reflects the power of community advocacy, and while the fight against geoengineering is far from over, this is a significant step to continue protecting the Arctic against industry greed and vested interests."

Panganga Pungowiyi, climate geoengineering organizer at Indigenous Environmental Network, called the decision "long overdue."

"We are concerned for the community members in Utqiaġvik who were made to spread football fields of this material onto their frozen lake. For years, we stood in defense of Indigenous lands and the sacred ice that has sustained our communities for generations," Pungowiyi explained. "Our concerns about the reckless use of harmful materials were dismissed, yet we knew that the health of our ecosystems and the wisdom of our people must not be overlooked. We continually showed up in defense of free prior and informed consent, and made our presence known."

"We continue to state firmly that nature is not a laboratory; it is a living entity we are in relationship with," the organizer added. "While we find relief in this victory, we remain vigilant against other forms of geoengineering that threaten our sacred spaces. Together, we will continue to educate and empower our communities, standing with our lands, waters, and air for the generations to come."

Silvia Ribeiro, Latin America director at ETC Group, said that "today we celebrate the wisdom, experience, and work of Indigenous peoples and organizations in Alaska that stopped this project and stand in solidarity with their vigilance against similar experiments that are planned in Arctic regions."

Mary Church, geoengineering campaign manager at the Center for International Environmental Law, also framed the development as "a huge victory for the Indigenous communities at the forefront of resistance to the industries and vested interests that are polluting the planet and gambling with our collective future."

"Geoengineering approaches do nothing to address the root causes of the climate crisis and instead delay real solutions, offering a free pass to polluters," she stressed. "Following the recent reaffirmation of the global moratorium on geoengineering at the U.N. biodiversity summit in Colombia, governments need to act to prevent harmful outdoor experiments and the slippery slope to legitimizing deployment. Instead of betting on highly speculative techno-fixes, governments must prioritize an urgent and just transition away from fossil fuels to protect vital Arctic ecosystems."

Benjamin Day, a senior campaigner for climate and energy justice at Friends of the Earth U.S., also looked to the fight ahead.

"The decision to shut down the Arctic Ice Project completes the Geoengineering Hype Cycle that we now see so often: Entrepreneurs swoop into local communities claiming they have a solution to global warming, assuring everyone it's completely safe and ignoring the red flags raised by those with deep knowledge of local ecosystems," Day said. "After countless wasted dollars and press attention, it's revealed the community was right and geoengineering is not a safe or responsible way to address climate change."

"Collectively," he argued, "we must stop enabling this cycle and work towards rapidly and equitably transitioning our communities to sustainable energy and land-use practices."

The winding down of the Arctic Ice Project comes amid global fears about what the recent return of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump—who cozied up to Big Oil executives on the campaign trail and promised to "drill, baby, drill," despite the devastating impacts of fossil fuels—will mean for the future of a planet that last year saw record-shattering temperatures.

Already, Trump has ditched the Paris climate agreement (again), lifted a freeze on new liquefied natural gas exports, declared a "national energy emergency," and named various fossil fuel allies to key positions. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took their posts earlier this week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate Thursday evening, and Chris Wright, Trump's pick for energy secretary, awaits confirmation.

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Prop. 1A campaign
News

'Inspiring': Seattle Voters Say Yes to Corporate Tax Hike to Fund Social Housing

Seattle housing advocates look to have defeated Amazon, Microsoft, and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce this week with the likely passage of a ballot initiative to fund social housing through an "excess compensation" tax on city businesses paying salaries of over $1 million.

According to early returns for a special election Tuesday, 68.32% of voters backed funding for social housing and 57.55% chose to fund it specifically with the proposed tax. Advocates estimate that the 5% marginal tax on $1-million-plus salaries could raise around $53 million per year for affordable housing, funding 2,000 units in 10 years.

"This victory is just the latest sign that Americans are fed up with overpaid CEOs—and want to use tax policies to crack down on the problem," Sarah Anderson, Inequality.org co-editor and global economy project director at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Common Dreams.

For Seattle housing advocates, the victory was a long time coming. While much of the country struggles with an affordable housing crisis, Seattle's housing costs are around 50% higher than the national average, playing a large role in making it the most expensive U.S. city outside of California, according to a 2024 analysis. Twenty-three percent of Seattle renters spend over half their income on housing, and Washington state has the third-highest homeless population in the U.S., trailing only California and New York. More than half of the state's homeless population—or over 16,000 people—spend their time in Seattle's King County.

There is also a very real sense in the city that Big Tech businesses in particular are directly to blame for the high costs, as rents in the Seattle metro area rose by 17% from 2011 to 2015, as Amazon and other tech giants developed the formerly industrial South Lake Union area into an office park. One local columnist even labeled the phenomenon the "Amazon effect."

House Our Neighbors, a group of housing activists that first came together in 2021 to defeat stricter sweeps of homeless encampments, has been working on a solution for years, according to In These Times. The solution they came up with was a model of social housing pioneered in places like Vienna and Singapore that is "removed from the profit motive, available to all, permanently affordable, and held as a public good in perpetuity."

"Last night's results left no doubt that Seattle voters want our city to act quickly to create permanently affordable social housing for people living on a range of incomes—and we believe that our wealthiest corporations should help pay for it."

First, they succeeded in passing a voter referendum in 2023 creating a new affordable housing agency, the Seattle Social Housing Developer.

To fund the agency, the coalition then gathered more than enough signatures to put the excess compensation tax, first dubbed Initiative 137, on the ballot for the high-turnout November 2024 presidential election. However, the Seattle City Council voted to delay the vote until a lower-turnout February special election. Then, following lobbying from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and other business interests, the council introduced a competing measure that would fund the social housing agency using an existing JumpStart payroll expense tax that was already earmarked for existing affordable housing and Green New Deal programs.

"The City Council would rather take money from low-income programs than from millionaires and billionaires," House Our Neighbors policy and advocacy director Tiffani McCoy told local publicationThe Stranger at the time.

The competing measures were put on the ballot as Proposition 1A (for the excess compensation tax) and 1B (for the council alternative.) The latter option was promoted heavily by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. Since January 1, its campaign received more than twice as much money as the 1A campaign, with tech giants Amazon and Microsoft each contributing $100,000, as local outlet Real Changereported.

"The Proposition 1A campaign had huge odds placed in front of it," Washington State Rep. Shaun Scott (D-43), whose district includes parts of Seattle, told Common Dreams. "It was a… low-turnout February special election in which some of the wealthiest corporations in human history spent gobs of money to defeat it. Many of the political proxies of those corporations… also opposed 1A."

"And yet," he continued, "it won. It won because of working people. It won because it's good for working people."

While many ballots are still to be counted, 1A is currently leading 1B by a 15-point margin, according to The Urbanist.

"Despite a half-million dollars in corporate spending and the unscrupulous tactics of our City Council and mayor, last night Seattle voters delivered an unambiguous message: Now is the time for Seattle to take bold, innovative action to meet our housing and homelessness crises," McCoy said in a statement.

"Last night's results left no doubt that Seattle voters want our city to act quickly to create permanently affordable social housing for people living on a range of incomes—and we believe that our wealthiest corporations should help pay for it," McCoy continued. "This is now the second time that Seattle has told its elected leaders, loud and clear, that we want social housing!"

Shemona Moreno, the executive director of 350 Seattle—which helped with the get-out-the-vote effort—told Common Dreams: "Last night Seattle showed that not only do we want social housing but that we reject the austerity policies of this City Council, mayor, and their corporate backers. A huge thank you to the hundreds of volunteers that made this happen and to House Our Neighbors' leadership. Seattlites deserve safe, affordable places to call home. Social housing is good for our planet and for our communities."

The victory could make a big difference for housing in Seattle itself, though social housing advocates believe the fight is not over.

"Despite this clear mandate, we fully expect a legal challenge from the corporate interests who sought to defeat this measure," McCoy said. "Because let's be clear, their opposition was never about any of the issues they raised—it was about making sure the wealthiest among us don't pay a dollar more in taxes to solve the housing crisis. With two citywide council seats and a mayoral election coming up, we hope our city's elected leaders will listen to their constituents and embrace the work to come."

Beyond the city limits, however, state and national advocates also say it has the potential to inspire change across the country.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see this spread to 'red' communities as well as officials see such taxes used effectively to raise revenue for social programs—revenue that will be even more needed in the face of federal cutbacks."

Scott has introduced a state bill to increase spending on low-income housing and support for the homeless by closing a corporate tax loophole that favors large banks.

"The city of Seattle has shown us the way," Scott said, adding that he wants Washington state to be able to support Seattle and other cities that may follow its model. The win for Proposition1A may increase support for his bill from other legislators.

"I think it's a clear signal to state lawmakers that this is something that we can win on that's popular," he said.

And the signal doesn't have to stop at the borders of Washington state.

"Seattle can play a very important role for leading the way for what it looks like to address housing unaffordability through progressive revenue," Scott said.

Further south, California Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-24) recently introduced A.B. 11, The Social Housing Act.

"It's inspiring to see the grassroots support for social housing in Seattle," Lee told Common Dreams. "Voters see the value in embracing social housing as a public good, and Proposition 1A is a major step toward bringing this successful housing model to the city. As we've seen in Vienna and Singapore, social housing can actualize housing as a human right. That's why I will continue to push for social housing in California, so that housing can be attainable for everyone."

Anderson agreed the Seattle win could have national implications, especially when it comes to holding corporations who overpay executives to account. She noted that Seattle's excess compensation tax follows measures in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon to penalize companies with large gaps between CEO and worker pay.

And while these efforts may have begun on the progressive West Coast, there is a voting bloc for similar polices to succeed in other parts of the country.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see this spread to 'red' communities as well as officials see such taxes used effectively to raise revenue for social programs—revenue that will be even more needed in the face of federal cutbacks," Anderson told Common Dreams. "And polling shows that taxing companies that overpay their executives is very popular—across the political spectrum. One 2024 survey, for instance, asked voters their views on a tax hike on corporations that pay their CEO at least 50 times more than they pay their median employee. Large majorities in every political group supported the idea (89% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 71% of Republicans)."

On the national level, there are three bills set to be reintroduced this session that seek to address excessive compensation: the Curtailing Executive Overcompensation (CEO) Act, the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, and the CEO Accountability and Responsibility Act.

"Once these policies start spreading at the state and local levels, they will give a boost to similar bills that have been introduced at the federal level," Anderson said.

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Kash Patel, nominee to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
News

Watchdog Demands Release of 'Critical' Documents on Patel Ahead of Confirmation Vote

As the U.S. Senate headed toward a likely vote to confirm Kashyap "Kash" Patel, a conspiracy theorist and loyalist to President Donald Trump, to lead the FBI, a government watchdog warned the vote will serve as "a historic test" of Republican lawmakers' priorities as it called for the release of a special counsel report that could reveal "critical information" about the nominee.

Accountable.US demanded that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allow the release of the second volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump's handling of classified documents after he was voted out of office in 2020.

The report, said the group Wednesday, may show that Patel misled the public with his claim that Trump declassified documents before leaving office. Trump said after government documents were found at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, that the papers had been appropriately declassified—a claim several of his administration officials said was baseless but which Patel quickly tried to corroborate.

"No evidence has emerged to support Mr. Patel's claim," reportedThe New York Times in January. "No written blanket declassification order—or any written contemporaneous reference to any such oral order—has ever surfaced. And nobody communicated to national security officials any records or information that they should now treat as declassified."

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida barred the Department of Justice (DOJ) last month from releasing the second volume of Smith's report, and rejected a motion filed by the watchdog group American Oversight last week calling on her to reverse the order.

With a separate case filed by American Oversight in the D.C. District Court, arguing that portions of the report should be released under the Freedom of Information Act, Accountable.US said Wednesday that the court "must allow the special counsel's report to be swiftly released before the Senate votes on Kash Patel's nomination."

"With Kash Patel's confirmation vote looming, Trump's DOJ and a Trump-appointed judge are standing in the way of the release of critical information which would shine a light on Patel's ability to serve as FBI director," said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US. "Kash Patel has a dangerous track record of putting his loyalty to Trump before our national security, and the U.S. senators and the American public deserve to know where his allegiances would stand if confirmed."

"Patel's vote should be held until Americans can read [the special counsel report] for themselves," Carrk added.

In addition to Patel's unverified claims about the security of secret government documents, Accountable.US on Wednesday catalogued numerous other "reasons for disqualification," including the millions of dollars he amassed doing consulting work for a Czech arms company and other foreign entities; his threat to "come after people in the media"; his alleged perjury during his confirmation hearings regarding reports that he had given orders to fire FBI officials without having the authority to do so; and his profiteering off false claims that Trump won the 2020 election, which he has peddled to children in the form of a book titled The Plot Against The King: 2000 Mules.

"Kash Patel is not just uniquely unqualified to serve as FBI director, he shouldn't even be allowed in the building," said Carrk. "There's clearly no limit to where Patel will go to make a quick buck for himself and friends, including selling election denial propaganda to children and consulting for sketchy companies linked to forced labor and foreign adversaries."

Ahead of the expected Senate vote, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee held a press conference outside the FBI headquarters to warn that if confirmed, Patel would "misuse the resources of the bureau" and "weaponize the FBI against the president's opponents."

"Kash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). "And Republicans who vote for him will rue that day."

On Thursday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced she would vote against Patel's confirmation, saying his "political profile undermines his ability to serve in the apolitical role of director of the FBI."

Carrk said that "it should not take courage for Senate Republicans to reject Patel as a dangerously dishonest and unqualified choice for FBI head who will make the nation less safe and more vulnerable to foreign influence."

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Patel would "be a political and national security disaster if confirmed," and noted that the Trump administration has plans to purge the FBI's ranks of thousands of agents who have investigated Trump supporters' violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Agents have filed a lawsuit to bar the DOJ from releasing the names of people who worked on the investigation, to avoid retaliation from Trump.

"Mr. Patel has been open about his plans to dismantle the FBI and seek retribution," said Durbin. "His directives as a private citizen have already thrown the bureau into chaos."

He called on Senate Republicans to "do publicly what they have told agents they want to do, and that is vote against Kash Patel."

"What is at stake," he said, "is the future of the FBI."

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Sign supporting Missouri abortion rights amendment
News

'A Triumph for All Missourians': Judge Blocks State Abortion Restrictions

Reproductive rights groups celebrated on Friday after a Missouri judge temporarily blocked significant abortion restrictions that were kept in place despite voters' approval of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to the procedure.

Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Great Plains announced that "abortion care will be restored immediately" following the decision from Judge Jerri Zhang, who sided with Planned Parenthood in blocking licensing rules that advocates said were a major obstacle to abortion access.

As The Associated Pressreported, "Planned Parenthood argued that the licensing law required providers to give 'medically unnecessary and invasive' pelvic exams to anyone receiving an abortion, including medication abortions."

"It also included 'medically irrelevant' size requirements for hallways, rooms, and doors," AP added.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that the Friday ruling "is the direct result of Missouri abortion providers' tenacity and determination to fight for their patients."

"As our fight for patients' access to abortion continues across the country, we will look towards the brave providers and advocates in Missouri, who weathered years of attacks while continuing to serve their communities," said McGill Johnson. "Not only are they making abortion access a reality in Missouri, but they are showing us the way forward. Planned Parenthood Federation of America is proud to continue this fight alongside Missouri's advocates and healthcare providers, until every person can exercise their right to reproductive freedom."

Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, applauded the ruling as "a decisive win for the people, for reproductive freedom, and for direct democracy."

The judge's decision came as Missouri Republicans continued working to reverse the abortion rights amendment approved by state voters in November.

The Missouri Independentreported last month that "Republican lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills aimed at weakening or overturning Amendment 3," proposals that include "returning to voters to ask to re-impose Missouri's abortion ban, as well as smaller measures attempting to set parameters around" the amendment.

Emily Wales, president and CEO of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Friday that "today's decision is a triumph for all Missourians: for the voters who demanded their rights, for the medical providers we trust to provide care, and most importantly, for patients who will now be able to receive high-quality care without fear."

"The people voted, the court responded, and we will do our part: serving Missourians in their home state," Wales added.

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Displaced Palestinian children sit on a sand mound overlooking tents
News

100+ Groups 'Decry and Oppose' Trump Push to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza

A coalition of over 100 organizations on Monday forcefully denounced U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip of Palestinians and take over the coastal enclave recently decimated by an Israeli military campaign conducted with American weapons.

Led by A New Policy—a group founded by Biden administration officials who resigned in protest—and the Quaker organization Friends Committee on National Legislation, the coalition said that "we are deeply alarmed by President Trump's recent statements, tracing them back to January 25, just days after the Republican returned to power.

"We, the undersigned organizations, decry and oppose any effort or initiative, and any calls for, the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and support the joint statement of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League that similarly rejected any such steps," the coalition wrote, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The letter highlights the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in the 1940s during the formation of the modern state of Israel, which Palestinians call the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe; that since 2006, Gaza "has been in a state of siege," with residents enduring repeated bombardment and restrictions on necessities; and that since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, they have faced what various experts have found to be a plausible case of genocide, with over 48,000 people killed.

"Through this all, the Palestinians in Gaza have stood with remarkable dignity and perseverance, insisting throughout the immense suffering and loss that they will never abandon their homeland," the letter continues, echoing recent remarks from residents. "We are deeply concerned by clear statements of intent from Israeli government officials over the past year concerning the creation of new Israeli settlements within the Gaza Strip, which further reinforce the intent of ethnic cleansing."

"The United States has no right to dictate to the Palestinian people in Gaza to leave, and direct other countries to participate in their displacement. We are also aware that even a temporary external displacement could be used by Israel to enact permanent exile," the letter says. "While we agree that the short and medium-term humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza may be difficult to meet given the nearly complete destruction that Israel has wrought, if the necessary services cannot be provided in Gaza, the people of Gaza must be able to access them elsewhere within the historic borders of Palestine and must be able to return."

The coalition also expressed alarm over "an uptick in settler violence" and deadly Israel Defense Forces operations in the illegally occupied West Bank, writing that "these actions are part and parcel of a strategy that seeks to make not just Gaza, but all Palestinian areas across historic Palestine, unlivable for the Palestinian people, and are thus contributory to a process of ethnic cleansing."

"Palestine is not just an idea—it is a place. It is a homeland to the Palestinian people," the groups stressed. "To participate in, facilitate, or endorse their removal from it would violate every precept of international law, devastate the rules-based international order that protects us all, do irreversible harm to America's global influence, and be an act of unconscionable immorality."

The letter concludes with a poem from Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish, who wrote:

My country is not a suitcase
I am not a traveler
I am the lover and the land is the beloved.
The archaeologist is busy analyzing stones.
In the rubble of legends he searches for his own eyes
to show
that I am a sightless vagrant on the road
with not one letter in civilization's alphabet.
Meanwhile in my own time I plant my trees.
I sing of my love.

In addition to the coalition leaders, signatories to the letter include ActionAid USA, CodePink, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Demand Progress Education Fund, Democratic Socialists of America, IfNotNow Movement, Just Foreign Policy, Madre, National Iranian American Council, Oil Change International, Peace Action, Progressive Democrats of America, and September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

The letter came amid a fresh wave of alarm over Trump's latest comments about Gaza and Palestinians, which aired Monday morning on "Fox & Friends." He said: "We'll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this—think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land."

Asked by Fox News' Bret Baier whether Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza, the president said, "No, they wouldn't."

The letter also came as Hamas on Monday suspended its next planned release of hostages taken in October 2023, citing Israel's deadly violations of a fragile cease-fire deal that took effect last month.

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