Rhode Island Anti-War Committee

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Tuesday, August 4, 4 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the U.S. end its war on Iran. Let Cuba live. End the oil embargo. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. Stop all U.S. military incursions around the world. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1349091523955136/1349091547288467.
Help spread the word.
We Follow the Mainstream Media So You Don’t Have To. Poor Fareed Zakaria on his CNN show was asking a NYT reporter what could be done to get Iran to negotiate an end to the war with the United States. Abdi Latif Dahir replied that although the Iranian people are tired of war, they are ruled by a military dictatorship and have no say on the issue. Sound familiar? Like how although the America people are overwhelming against this war (>60%), we, too, being ruled by the dictatorship of the billionaire class, have no say in this matter either.
Too bad our mainstream Washington reporters are so addicted to their Friday night cocktail hours, Saturday night supper parties and White House briefings that their foggy brains can’t focus on the pertinent questions to ask Trump and his acolytes. For instance, since the U.S. started the war, why don’t they just quit it? End the blockade of Iranian ports. Stop supporting Israel. Work toward genuine worldwide nuclear disarmament instead of singling out Iran (which still does not have a nuclear weapon). Stop being a hegemon trying to dominate the world and strive for equal rights and peace with justice.

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Friday, July 31, 4 PM in Providence
Join with the RI Anti-War Committee to stand against American militarism. Demand a permanent end to the U.S./Israel war on Iran. Stop the oil embargo on Cuba. No more aid to Israel and support self-determination for the Palestinian people. Call for the U.S. to sign on to the UN Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1819072209473823/1819072239473820.
Help spread the word.
Israeli Banks Threaten West Bank Economy. Since the Oslo Accords were signed in the mid-1990s, two Israeli banks have been charged with facilitating financial transactions between Israel and Palestinian banks. These transactions are necessary for imports and exports between the West Bank and the rest of the world. The Israeli banks claim that the Palestinian banks are involved with funding terrorism and want to cut these ties because they fear lawsuits over their involvement. However, the function the Israeli banks provide allows the West Bank to import food, fuel, water, electricity and other items that are vital to the Palestinian economy. In addition, one U.S. official who served in the Treasury under Obama verified that the Palestinian banking system is not involved in funding terrorism.
If the Israeli banks did cut their ties with Palestinian banks it would amount to a commercial blockade of the territory. Trade with Israel accounts for 55% of Palestinian imports and 85% of its exports. West Bank Palestinians are already under tremendous economic pressure because Israel has withheld billions of dollars in import taxes that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and the cancellation of work permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians who used to work inside Israel.
Besides these economic threats, West Bank Palestinians are being squeezed by land confiscations from the Israeli military for the construction of its outposts and the building of more settlements. There is also the violence they face from armed Israeli settlers who engage in the destruction of homes, property and farmland.

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Tuesday, July 28, 4 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the U.S. end its war on Iran. Let Cuba live. End the oil embargo. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. Stop all U.S. military incursions around the world. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1349091523955136/1349091543955134. Help spread the word.
The World Turns Its Back on Palestine. While Hamas agreed to a ceasefire with Israel in November and released all the hostages, Israel continued since then to commit violence against Gaza and killed 1,100 people. A total of 71,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 21, 2023 with over 200,000 wounded. Hamas also accepted Trump’s 20-point peace plan despite its very vague details. Although there has been little progress since the first phase of the peace plan was completed (releasing the hostages), the facts on the ground give a good indication of where things are heading. Israel is pushing the Palestinians into smaller areas of Gaza and now militarily controls about 65% of the territory.
Phase two of Trump’s peace plan called for eventually constructing a billion-dollar futuristic “New Gaza” and the administration now talks about building a major military and personnel base for multinational forces. The Netanyahu government envisions the continuing hardships for Palestinians driving them to leave Gaza. (Where to is anyone’s guess.) Those remaining will become the construction workers of the New Gaza and the Israeli settlements that almost surely will follow.
Forgotten is the push by European powers in the Spring of 2025 to recognize Palestine as a state in response to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. Now that Israel’s killing and destruction in Gaza is no longer headline news, England, France and other powers feel free to ignore the plight of Palestinians. President Macron of France now says that the question of genocide in Gaza will be determined by “historians, in due time.” In other words, now that the worst of the violence has passed, we will revert to ignoring the issue.

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Friday, July 24, 4 PM in Providence
Join with the RI Anti-War Committee to stand against American militarism. Demand a permanent end to the U.S./Israel war on Iran. Stop the oil embargo on Cuba. No more aid to Israel and support self-determination for the Palestinian people. Call for the U.S. to sign on to the UN Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1819072209473823/1819072226140488.
Help spread the word.
Yellow Line Keeps Moving. When the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was brokered last November, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) was set to control 53% of Gaza. The demarcation line separating the IDF and Hamas controlled areas was marked by yellow concrete blocks. In the ensuing 8 months these blocks have continually been moved to squeeze Hamas and the Gazan Palestinians into an ever smaller area. In several places the movement of the Yellow Line has displaced Palestinians living nearby. Israel now controls more than 60% of Gaza and PM Netanyahu has said he wants it to be 70%.
The Israeli military is now building an earthen barrier in the Hamas controlled area that extends far beyond the Yellow Line thereby increasing the IDF’s control of Gaza’s territory. Satellite images show that at one point the earthen barrier is nearly one mile into Hamas’ territory from the Yellow Line. The IDF has unilaterally established an Orange Line in what was designated to be the Hamas controlled area. In the area between the Yellow and Orange lines, the IDF restricts movement of Palestinians and international aid workers. Now 65% of Gaza is under movement restriction.
At one point the earthen barrier is very close to the major north-south road that connects southern and northern Gaza. In addition, the IDF is building three new military bases in Gaza.
Since November, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while just four IDF soldiers have been killed.

OPPOSE U.S. WARS. Tuesday, July 21, 4 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the U.S. end its war on Iran. Let Cuba live. End the oil embargo. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. Stop all U.S. military incursions around the world. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1349091523955136/1349091533955135. Help spread the word.
This is getting bizarre. As Trump escalates U.S. attacks on Iran, the Iranians are hitting American bases and allies in the Gulf. Desalination plants and infrastructure have been damaged in both Iran and U.S.-allied nations in the Gulf. Much has been made of the deaths of three U.S. service members, but many Iranians have been killed by American bombings. The mainstream media is hardly covering the conflict except to parade the war hawks before cameras to encourage Trump to keep pounding Iran. Before our eyes the conflict is growing in intensity.
Last week Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni airport near Sanaa. Now the Houthis may get involved in the war by attacking shipping in the Red Sea. The U.S. has not been successful in degrading Iran’s ability to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The danger is that Trump might be tempted to up the ante by launching a U.S. ground invasion of Iran. As gasoline prices have fallen recently, Americans have paid less attention to the conflict. However, the conflict is in danger of spiraling out of control. As we have seen, wars are easy to start, but not so easy to end.

OPPOSE U.S. WARS. Tuesday, July 14, 4 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the U.S. end its war on Iran. Let Cuba live. End the oil embargo. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. Stop all U.S. military incursions around the world. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1349091523955136/1349091537288468.
Help spread the word.
Population Decline. The NY Times ran an editorial bemoaning the fact that the U.S. fertility rate has fallen below 1.6 births per woman. This is far below the replacement level (where the population is stable) of 2.1 births per woman. The editorial lays out a case whereby the population of the U.S. will begin to decline in the 2030s. A major concern is that the working age population will shrink and the burden of supporting retirees will grow. Real estate values and productivity will fall as well. The solution envisioned is to increase the birth rate. The MAGA crowd is on board with this as their leaders push for trad wives and 5 or 6 children per family.
Is this the desired solution though? Our planet is already stressed with supporting 8 billion people. We have finite resources with depleted water levels as just one example. With our political leaders focused on ever more production and consumption and A.I. gobbling up energy, water and money, the future of humanity is anything but rosy. We need a rational economy that doesn’t just enrich the already wealthy, but works for everyone. The war machines must be dismantled. That the U.S. is trying to dominate the world only makes matters worse.

Free healthcare -No to endless wars, free free Palestine, US hands off CUBA, Let Cuba live, end the blockade, no war on Iran, end US aid and support for Israel.

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Friday, July 10, 4 PM in Providence
Join with the RI Anti-War Committee to stand against American militarism. Demand a permanent end to the U.S./Israel war on Iran. Stop the oil embargo on Cuba. No more aid to Israel and support self-determination for the Palestinian people. Call for the U.S. to sign on to the UN Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1819072209473823/1819072229473821.
Help spread the word.
How’s that Working Out for You? It’s been half a year since the U.S. invaded and captured President Maduro of Venezuela. After making a token show of protest, its government decided to throw its lot in with the Americans. Trump promised that the U.S. would open up Venezuela’s economy and its people would prosper. With the lifting of some U.S. sanctions, oil exports from Venezuela have increased, but the fortunes of its people have not fared so well. Inflation is above 500% while wages have increased only slightly. The U.S. has collected $800 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil sales and deposited the money in American banks. In response to the recent earthquakes in Venezuela, the U.S. has contributed only $300 million to relief efforts. No surprise that approval ratings for Delcy Rodríguez, the new Venezuelan president, has fallen to 25%.
The money that the U.S. collects for Venezuelan oil eventually is funneled to that country’s largest banks and distributed to select companies whose owners deposit it in American banks instead of productively investing it in their country’s economy. The effort to increase oil production has made the Venezuelan government choose to provide power to the oil fields instead of people’s homes. There has been no fix to its crippled electric grid. The Venezuelan people are not prospering. Government officials, currency speculators and the corporate elite are.

PROTEST U.S. WARS. Tuesday, July 7, 4 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the U.S. end its war on Iran. Let Cuba live. End the oil embargo. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. Stop all U.S. military incursions around the world. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 4 PM at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1349091523955136/1349091530621802.
Help spread the word.
The Pot Calls the Kettle … The American media has noted that the Chinese Coast Guard has expanded its patrols in the South China Sea to the eastern side of Taiwan for the first time. A retired Air Force officer called the activities an attempt to squeeze Taiwan like a boa constrictor. Evidently forgotten are the U.S. naval actions in the Caribbean. These include the bombing of unarmed boats which have killed over 200 people and the blockade of Cuba which has starved the island of much needed oil.
Americans need to keep their focus and protests on the illegal provocations of the U.S. military.