We call on the newly elected, American Pope Leo XIV to do whatever it takes to save Gaza and stop the bombing, and end the starvation. Let him go to Gaza and stand with the suffering people who are being massacred by Israel and the Western posers. Is there anything more important in today's world than this?
If you call on the Pope to act, I also hope you work to protect the Pope and the Catholic Church from gross slander and lawfare.
Do you understand that there is a war against The Catholic Church every bit as much as there is a war on all the countries that stand up to Israel? Do you trust the same media who slanders the leaders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon to the extent that they oppose Israel? Do you trust history presented in books published by companies that slander Israel's enemies and shade truth for Israel? Do you trust academics in universities that are already dominated by Zionist administrations and now forced to police academics to keep government funding coming?
If you have not carefully researched claims about the Church and worked to understand what the Church means to Catholics, then I suggest you do so before advising him on what his actions should be.
Thank you, Sam, especially for your last sentence. I feel very alive and happy when I am intensely working on some (possibly meaningless) intellectual chore, but right now I am shedding tears imagining the slow death of the 1,500,000 Palestinians still imprisoned in their "sovereign" ghetto.
ZioBeasts in Falls Church, Va. Forced students to watch Night, a film about the “Holocaust “ recently. During the Gaza Genicide. Jews form 10% of the town’s population
I love what you bring in your essays. The suffering is so overwhelming I feel foolish in anything I try to say or do. But I do it anyway, because of what you wrote here. It is indeed up to us.
My partner and I found it helpful for her concussion healing when the concussion clinic explained to us that it is not simply a bruised brain; it is that part of the brain slides a bit. Thus, healing calls for developing new neural pathways (neuroplasticity). Putting yourself in relaxed spaces (parasympathetic NS) with massage, restorative yoga, meditation, good sleep, minimizing coffee, etc., all support the growth of these new neural pathways.
Thanks Michael. That's helpful, been doing some of those things but should do more. Been challenging to relax with what's happening, but I've not gone to State Dept the last couple of weeks because that's incredibly stressful. Another thing is that my hayfever has been the worst ever and so it's hard to enjoy Nature, which has always been such a source of strength and solace. I've actually taken to wearing a mask outside.
Glad to hear of your self-care, Sam. One other thought is to turn the blue light way down on your computer. I find this helps me a great deal with avoiding headaches from onscreen time. Blessings to you.
Wonderfully expressed Sam. You have insight and the gift of being able to express it. Powerful messaging surrounding a metaphorical gem: "the raft is not the shore." Thank you so much.
NYU, along with denying Logan Rozos his diploma for speaking about Gaza at his graduation ceremony, NYU Law School is telling student protesters to agree to give up their constitutional right to free speech or not be allowed to take their final exams. If you don't think this sort of thing ought to happen, here's a campaign to let NYU know this is not acceptable.
Microsoft workers oppose ties with Israel. Microsoft claims that after conducting its internal investigation, with “external fact-finding,” they’ve found “no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”
We do not accept that claim, and neither do the workers who issued a statement in response to the company’s PR.3
Take action with us — and support the Microsoft workers organizing to cut the company’s ties with Israel’s military
It’s a call for him to do the right thing. He, and his church, are responsible for weighing the factors, of which they are better situated to know, and then making a decision. That’s not an issue for any one else.
No one would ever actually do anything if such preliminary efforts were required for every request.
The people of Gaza are being murdered. I doubt equivocating about the fate of the institution would have been the paramount concern of the Christ his church claims to represent.
Terror and ecstasy. My, Sam, what a perceptive juxtaposition to characterize life. I realized when my mother passed a couple years ago that when someone dies, the earth cracks open and from the abyss fervent shifts of potentiality can pour forth. At the stygian antipodes of death, the tyrannized Palestinians are holding the space for the possibility of humanity's luminescence. The Israelis on the other hand are creating a ghastly karma for themselves.
"After a year of tireless investigation, we have identified the military unit responsible, as well as the commander who led the operation that killed Hind, her family, and the two medics who tried to save her."
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on M<ay 3, Hind Rajab's 7th birthday.
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights:
Students and faculty at Stanford University announce they are joining the nationwide campus hunger strike movement to protest attacks on academic freedom and complicity in the Gaza genocide.
If ever there was a moment that demands civil disobedience, it is the hour of genocide.
An urgent ask from Stanford SJP is to sign and circulate the Drop the Charges petition https://actionnetwork.org/forms/supportstanford12?source=direct_link& which demands that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office drop the felony charges brought against twelve Stanford University students and alumni following their participation in a protest advocating for Stanford’s divestment from corporations implicated in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“The raft is not the shore.” Thank you Sam for helping to shape a community with your writing.
Thank you.
Full disclosure --
https://plumvillage.shop/products/study/buddhism-and-christianity/the-raft-is-not-the-shore/
I came across that book in my research about self immolation, which they talk about, likening it to Jesus' crucifixion.
We call on the newly elected, American Pope Leo XIV to do whatever it takes to save Gaza and stop the bombing, and end the starvation. Let him go to Gaza and stand with the suffering people who are being massacred by Israel and the Western posers. Is there anything more important in today's world than this?
https://chng.it/gkvBfY44rq
Please sign the petition and share widely.
If you call on the Pope to act, I also hope you work to protect the Pope and the Catholic Church from gross slander and lawfare.
Do you understand that there is a war against The Catholic Church every bit as much as there is a war on all the countries that stand up to Israel? Do you trust the same media who slanders the leaders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon to the extent that they oppose Israel? Do you trust history presented in books published by companies that slander Israel's enemies and shade truth for Israel? Do you trust academics in universities that are already dominated by Zionist administrations and now forced to police academics to keep government funding coming?
If you have not carefully researched claims about the Church and worked to understand what the Church means to Catholics, then I suggest you do so before advising him on what his actions should be.
Thank you, Sam, especially for your last sentence. I feel very alive and happy when I am intensely working on some (possibly meaningless) intellectual chore, but right now I am shedding tears imagining the slow death of the 1,500,000 Palestinians still imprisoned in their "sovereign" ghetto.
Sam’s right
ZioBeasts in Falls Church, Va. Forced students to watch Night, a film about the “Holocaust “ recently. During the Gaza Genicide. Jews form 10% of the town’s population
It’s time to control the ZioNazis
I love what you bring in your essays. The suffering is so overwhelming I feel foolish in anything I try to say or do. But I do it anyway, because of what you wrote here. It is indeed up to us.
My partner and I found it helpful for her concussion healing when the concussion clinic explained to us that it is not simply a bruised brain; it is that part of the brain slides a bit. Thus, healing calls for developing new neural pathways (neuroplasticity). Putting yourself in relaxed spaces (parasympathetic NS) with massage, restorative yoga, meditation, good sleep, minimizing coffee, etc., all support the growth of these new neural pathways.
Thank you for all you do.
Thanks Michael. That's helpful, been doing some of those things but should do more. Been challenging to relax with what's happening, but I've not gone to State Dept the last couple of weeks because that's incredibly stressful. Another thing is that my hayfever has been the worst ever and so it's hard to enjoy Nature, which has always been such a source of strength and solace. I've actually taken to wearing a mask outside.
Glad to hear of your self-care, Sam. One other thought is to turn the blue light way down on your computer. I find this helps me a great deal with avoiding headaches from onscreen time. Blessings to you.
Wonderfully expressed Sam. You have insight and the gift of being able to express it. Powerful messaging surrounding a metaphorical gem: "the raft is not the shore." Thank you so much.
NYU, along with denying Logan Rozos his diploma for speaking about Gaza at his graduation ceremony, NYU Law School is telling student protesters to agree to give up their constitutional right to free speech or not be allowed to take their final exams. If you don't think this sort of thing ought to happen, here's a campaign to let NYU know this is not acceptable.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/nyu-law-students-take-finals/?source=group-just-strategy&referrer=group-just-strategy&redirect=https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nc4j_nyu_students_rights&link_id=0&can_id=a707410023f29d0530df1e255f3edf18&email_referrer=email_2730578&&&email_subject=nyu-law-is-punishing-peaceful-student-protests&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_2730578
Microsoft workers oppose ties with Israel. Microsoft claims that after conducting its internal investigation, with “external fact-finding,” they’ve found “no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza.”
We do not accept that claim, and neither do the workers who issued a statement in response to the company’s PR.3
Take action with us — and support the Microsoft workers organizing to cut the company’s ties with Israel’s military
https://act.mpowerchange.org/go/71588?t=3&akid=10199%2E809623%2EH7UcG5
Microsoft and other tech partners, like Google and Amazon, are helping redefine the ugly underbelly of U.S. technology’s use in war.
We’ve set up a digital action where you can send emails to Microsoft leadership, including AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, with just a few clicks.
And let’s tell Google to stop weaponizing AI, and to cut ties with Israel.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-google-stop-using-your-ai-for-genocide-apartheid-and-border-violence?source=mc_GoogleNext_2025_04_10
Israel delenda est
It’s a call for him to do the right thing. He, and his church, are responsible for weighing the factors, of which they are better situated to know, and then making a decision. That’s not an issue for any one else.
No one would ever actually do anything if such preliminary efforts were required for every request.
The people of Gaza are being murdered. I doubt equivocating about the fate of the institution would have been the paramount concern of the Christ his church claims to represent.
Agreed. No one is coming to save Gaza - and least of all Trump. Here's my different take why:
Trump is hoodwinking us into an Abraham Accords 2.0
https://uppityupstart.substack.com/p/trump-is-hoodwinking-us-into-an-abraham
Terror and ecstasy. My, Sam, what a perceptive juxtaposition to characterize life. I realized when my mother passed a couple years ago that when someone dies, the earth cracks open and from the abyss fervent shifts of potentiality can pour forth. At the stygian antipodes of death, the tyrannized Palestinians are holding the space for the possibility of humanity's luminescence. The Israelis on the other hand are creating a ghastly karma for themselves.
They are my children.
"After a year of tireless investigation, we have identified the military unit responsible, as well as the commander who led the operation that killed Hind, her family, and the two medics who tried to save her."
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on M<ay 3, Hind Rajab's 7th birthday.
Please join me in making a contribution.
https://buy.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights:
https://chng.it/8D4pkxPhWS
Please sign the petition and share widely.
Hunger Strike!
Students and faculty at Stanford University announce they are joining the nationwide campus hunger strike movement to protest attacks on academic freedom and complicity in the Gaza genocide.
If ever there was a moment that demands civil disobedience, it is the hour of genocide.
You can read more about this moral stance here:
https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/hunger-is-our-weapon-against-injustice/?ml_recipient=154375676232730169&ml_link=154375611833386238&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2025-05-14&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation
An urgent ask from Stanford SJP is to sign and circulate the Drop the Charges petition https://actionnetwork.org/forms/supportstanford12?source=direct_link& which demands that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office drop the felony charges brought against twelve Stanford University students and alumni following their participation in a protest advocating for Stanford’s divestment from corporations implicated in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.