MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I just received and read my first issue of Under Lock &
Key. Thank you and your contributors for putting out such a thought
provoking publication! I especially appreciated the reporting on
Palestine and Syria.
…Would it be out of line for me to offer a criticism? In the graphic
of Hitler and Netanyahu – a legitimate comparison! Netanyahu is
portrayed with a yarmulke, which he seldom wears, and side-locks, which
he has never(?) worn, thus emphasizing his Jewishness, when the real
problem is his Zionism. I happen to believe that all of us have a degree
of anti-semitism (and anti-blackness, misogyny, etc.) instilled in us by
growing up in this society and it’s important to keep centering love and
solidarity toward our Jewish anti-Zionist brothers and sisters.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Yes, we always welcome
criticism, especially from our fans and comrades. And we completely
agree that Zionism is the enemy, as an extension of imperialism, and not
Jews or even Judaism. Jewish people in this country have been
represented disproportionately at the front lines of opposing the
genocide in Gaza in recent months.
We would agree that we all have sexism and racism implanted in us by
virtue of being in this society. Don’t necessarily agree about the
anti-semitism, as that is not universal in the context of the United
$tates. Though we can’t speak for the artist behind that art, which was
made some years ago. It may have been that the artist just didn’t know
what Netanyahu looks like, we don’t know. And as we’ve published the
slogan before, “Zionism is Anti-Semitism.” We’d also point out that
citizens of I$rael, just as citizens of the United $tates, are criminals
(some of us in the process of reforming) for their roles in oppressing
and exploiting other nations. As you say, we are all impacted by this
oppressive society in negative ways. But yes, we agree with you in
opposing any blanket condemnation of Jews because of I$rael and did not
intend to promote such a message.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, where the Palestinian resistance factions
(of which the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, was the largest)
united in response to the continued occupation of their homeland by the
Zionist entity, was launched on 7 October 2023. Since then, the brutal
daily oppression by the occupation forces, and the continued desecration
and assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque atop al-Haram al-Sharif in occupied
Al-Quds continues.(1) In the last 15 months, there have been many
occasions to have political discussions and pass out literature
regarding Palestine in the hopes of bolstering the support for Palestine
among the imprisoned lumpen here in the South Bay. I would never assume
this to be an easy task, and it hasn’t been, but slowly but surely more
people are breaking from the miasma of post-9/11 anti-Arab/Islamophobic
sentiments (which itself is an accomplishment as this has been deeply
ingrained in the Amerikan consciousness since the beginning of the
so-called “War on Terror”).
Here in the majority liberal South Bay, the main sources that
prisoners get their news from is the San Jose Mercury News
newspaper and the local news channel, Fox 2 News. Like all
bourgeois media, both have been reporting on the genocidal Zionist war
on Palestine from the general viewpoint of the Democratic Party, that
is, a pro-U.$., pro-i$rael view (with some small exceptions, most coming
in the form of re-prints of articles by New York Times columnist
Nicholas Kristof and the occasional pro-Palestinian letter to the
editor, though they have never printed any that I persynally have
sent).(2) So on that note, it has been of paramount importance to combat
the repetitive assertions of the usual incessant line, “the war began
when Hamas terrorists (sic) launched a surprise attack on southern
Israel (sic) …”, which is taken as unquestionable truth in line with the
discourse of post-9/11 hysteria plaguing the psyches of those here on
Occupied Turtle Island.
Being that the events of 11 September 2001 (9/11) are the main source
of today’s generalized sentiments in a large portion of Amerika’s
collective psyche, I believed it to be fitting to begin my organizing
work by passing out and making available copies of Ward Churchill’s
wonderfully insightful 2001 essay “On the Justice of Roosting Chickens
(Some People Push Back),” which echoes a quote made by Malcolm X shortly
after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963. I chose
this essay because it, more than any other short and concise work on the
subject, blows out of the water the commonly accepted reasons,
propagated by the U.$. government, on the causes of 9/11. Churchill
centers the reasons firmly on the shoulders of Amerikan imperialism and
neocolonial exploitation and oppression of the Arab world.
I paired this essay with copies I made of AIPS comrade Lila’s equally
insightful and engaging article “What is
Hamas?” (see Under Lock & Key No. 85). USW comrade Da
Pale One’s October 2023 article “A
Brief History on Palestine” from ULK No. 84 was also very
helpful for laying a basis for those willing to challenge their
preconceived notions on Palestine, and those who had no previous opinion
on the region and its indigenous inhabitants and wanted to learn
more.
The conversations I had regarding the above writings led to much more
interest into what the actual truth is behind the Palestinian people’s
valiant struggle against the ideology of Zionism and its
settler-colonial project, and why it seems that Amerikan media has over
the decades either been completely silent or ambivalently acquiescing to
the will of the Zionist entity, protecting its blatant aggression and
genocidal mentality towards the Palestinian people and its denial of
their legitimate claims to the hystoric land of Palestine.
Who Supports Palestine
vs. I$rael?
Though it is probably obvious, those who are most against Palestine
in this jail are most of the Euro-Amerikans, as well as the
bible-thumping Christians. On the flip side, the people I have been
working with and who I have persynally found to be most interested are:
the Vietnamese prisoners and the Samoans/Pacific Islanders. There are
large communities of both in San Jose and, just like the New Afrikan
neighborhoods and the Chican@ varrios, they are also subject to brutal
occupation and surveillance by SJPD pigs and at times also catch the
ever-watching gaze of the FBI, which has a main field office in the
largely gentrified town of Campbell, west of downtown.
I have had many interesting conversations with Vietnamese prisoners,
not just on Palestine, but also on the the genocidal Amerikan war
against the people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I get a general
feeling from these discussions that, though they are fiercely proud of
their peoples’ decisive victory against the world’s #1 bully,
imperialist Amerika, they are also troubled by the largely unanswered
and undiscussed questions of, “What went wrong? What happened to our
peoples’ beautiful vision of a future communist nation?” I am glad to
see them attempting to answer these questions, decades after many of
their family members fled the atrocities of the Amerikan military and
their South Vietnamese puppets.
On a final note, both the people of Vietnam and the people of Samoa
have had firsthand experience with European colonialism and Amerikan
hegemony. The fact that they are able to connect their peoples’
struggles to the relatable struggles of the people of Palestine is a
success that I am willing to celebrate.
Prison Tablet
Propaganda Continues, With a Victory
A barrier that those organizing for Palestine behind the walls, have
had to deal with since Al-Aqsa Flood is the Christian Zionist prison
ministries whom, as comrade Firewater noted in ULK No. 87,
“have a monopoly on [the] tablets … [that] needs to be broken up!”(3) I
want to thank both comrade Firewater and comrade Triumphant very much
for their insights on this topic in the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ). Before writing my original article on it, comrades in
California began submitting multiple complaints related to the education
app on Our tablets, “Edovo”, which allows ministries like the right-wing
evangelists who produce the “Real Vida TV” podcast from their studio in
Tyler, TX, to continue to upload content that radiates conservative
Christian or Christian Zionist rhetoric and beliefs. Much of this
messaging is equal parts antisemitic, anti-Arab, Islamophobic, queer and
transphobic and anti-immigrant. Thankfully, in apparent response to this
deluge of complaints, Edovo removed all of Real Vida’s content from
their platform, which is as much of a win as We could have hoped. A more
long-term goal would be to get MIM content on our tablets for a
refreshing counterpoint to Our enemies’ propaganda.
This removal of Real Vida from Edovo does not account for the fact
that on other tablets and apps in other states’ jails and prison
systems, Real Vida continues to be available as Triumphant and Firewater
have noted from the Texas prison system. In research I conducted after
reading both comrades’ responses, I found out several things. Firstly,
the tablet app called “Pando” is indeed, as Firewater suspected, created
and maintained by “right-wing evangelist kooks” as I was able to
ascertain from watching a podcast interview with the main creator of the
app, Isaac Holt.(4) I further learned that the apparent go-to excuse for
Pando refusing content from providers is because “they only want to
upload high-quality Christian content”(4), which apparently means
refusing content from Christian organizations and denominations with a
more liberal/progressive worldview like Unitarian Universalists.
I also heard a radio show/podcast that our TX comrades are likely
familiar with called “The Prison Show” (which airs every Friday night
from 9-11 PM central on KPFT 90.1 FM out of Houston). They recently
uploaded about 50 of their previous episodes to Edovo, from December
2023 to November 2024. In several episodes they discuss the ridiculous
game of stringing along and avoidance that both TDCJ and Securus
Technologies played with David Collingsworth (the current producer of
the show) for over four years in the shows quest to get on the tablets
so everyone across TDCJ and in other states could tune in. He also spoke
about their meetings with Pando executives who asked them to sign a
mandatory contract, that states that in order to be allowed to upload
content, you must agree that all content will emphatically “preach the
word of Jesus”.(5) This ridiculous prerequisite should tell you all you
need to know about Pando, its CEO Jake Bodine and what they and the TDCJ
are trying to promote: an endless cycle of brainwashed evangelic “field
ministers”, of which I’m told TDCJ already has a great deal of.
Origins of Zionism and
Christian Zionism
Central to the understanding of the land of Palestine and the
Palestinian liberation struggle is understanding the twin ideologies of
Zionism and its mostly Amerikan cousin, Christian Zionism.
Both ideologies are antisemitic in nature and began that way from
their respective origins. Zionism, like any other settler colonial
project, is based in the genocidal erasure of the indigenous inhabitants
of a land, in this case the Palestinian Arab people, and the
self-indigenizing of the settlers. The strange thing about Zionism is
that far from being helpful to the Jews, both ideologies are grounded in
antisemitism. This can be hard to grasp for people, as one would think
that something supposedly in favor of the Jews couldn’t possibly be
antisemitic. The truth however, as with most things, lies in its
hystory.
Zionism, began as a political ideology, grounded in the antisemitic
belief that the Jews did not belong in Europe and therefore should be
removed from Europe to some other locale. The land of Palestine was also
not the first place that Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, proposed
to remove all of the Jews to, as Herzl considered locations in Uganda in
East Afrika and South America before landing on Palestine.(6)
This removal to Palestine was of course fully backed by Britain,
culminating in the oft-cited Balfour Declaration of 1917 written by Lord
Arthur Balfour, himself an antisemite, with strong backing from other
British and Amerikan antisemites like Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson, and
Harry Truman. Britain was the major imperialist power vying for control
of the region at the time, with France a close second.(7) This is the
same Arthur Balfour who was quoted as writing in an August 1919
memorandum, “The four great powers are committed to Zionism, and Zionism
be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in
age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes, of far
profounder import than the desire or prejudices of the 700,000
Arabs [the actual number at the time was at least several hundred
thousand more] who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion
that is right.”(8)
Having an ostensibly European outpost in the Arab world was also
thought by the Amerikans and Western Europe to be a strong tool for
holding the spread of both Islam and communism at bay.(9)
As the horrors of the Nazi genocide became apparent and as European
Jewish refugees continued to flood out of German-occupied Europe aside
other groups singled out by the Nazi regime, instead of accepting these
refugees into U.$.-allied countries, they were vehemently refused and
forwarded on to seek refuge in the New Yishuv (in Hebrew:
settlement/community) created by the Zionists in the land of
Palestine.(10)
The Old Yishuv of Jews had been living in Palestine long before the
creation of Zionism and the First and Second Aliya (Zionist-sponsored
immigration waves of Jews to Palestine beginning in 1882). It bears
mentioning that the Old Yishuv was, until the end of 1945 and WWII,
majorly against Zionism and the hopes of the Zionists of creating a
Jewish state on top of and instead of Palestine. However, this mostly
changed after the world was made fully aware of just what the Nazi
regime planned and carried out in regards to their so-called “Final
Solution” to the so-called “Jewish problem”.
Finally, after the initial 1948 Nakba (“the catastrophe”, or ethnic
cleansing of Arabs) and into the present day, the Zionist entity has
supported, partnered with, trained the military forces and death squads
of, and aligned themselves with some of the most genocidal and
virulently antisemitic regimes and individuals in recent decades. These
range from Somoza and the Salvadoran and Guatemalan generals and Central
American dictators (11) to recent interactions in late 2023 and 2024
between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other i$raeli leaders and
Elon Musk, a purveyor of antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric and
conspiracy theories, all in the name of Zionism apparently.(12)
The ideas behind Christian Zionism were around long before Herzl’s
ideology in Christian Europe. Christian Zionism, like its cousin
Zionism, is predicated on antisemitic tropes about the Jews which date
back to the Christian belief that the Jews (in the biblical form of the
Pharisees, an ancient Jewish sect) are responsible and to blame (and to
be hated for eternity) for the death of Jesus. As I’ve discussed
previously in ULK, Christian
Zionism is led in Amerika primarily by sections of the Christian
Right, mostly consisting of right-wing evangelists.(13) These
evangelists descend from the Protestant sect of Christianity that
seceded from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation and
adhered to the doctrine of Martin Luther, a staunch antisemite who
authored the antisemitic work, “On the Jews and their Lies”, in
1543.(14) Hitler and the Nazis were admirers of Martin Luther, as
exemplified by a 1933 Nazi propaganda poster that read, “Hitler’s fight
and [Martin] Luther’s teaching are the best defense for the German
people.”(15) Today the Trump administration supports Netanyahu, includes
Evangelical Christians and the richest man in the world Elon Musk who
gave a Nazi salute at the inauguration.
Christian Zionists see the Jewish people as simply a pawn in their
deranged so-called “End-Times prophecies”, believing that the only Jews
who are “redeemable” in their eyes are those who accepted Jesus as the
“messiah” and their “lord and savior”, thus converting to Christianity
and leaving their own religious beliefs behind. They call these converts
“Messianic Jews”. According to these “prophecies”, those who do not
convert will burn in hell with the rest of the non-believers, as the
true believers ascend in “glorious rapture” with their “messiah” Jesus
Christ to the pearly gates of Lala Land. In short, those “washed in the
blood of Jesus” are worthy and all others are the scum of the Earth.
The largest specific grouping of those who hold these hateful and
outrageous beliefs in the United $tates are known as the New Apostolic
Reformation (NAR), a right-wing Christian nationalist movement of around
3 million Pentecostal and evangelical Christians whose ideology also
commands adherents to capture the so-called “Seven Mountains” of
societal influence – education, religion, family, business, the
government and military, the arts and entertainment, and the media.(16)
They are an organization that we, as revolutionaries, should keep an eye
on, especially in lieu of the “Oompa-Loompa Man” and his MAGA fanatics
taking control of the presidency and both houses of Congress this
year.
Groups like the Proud Boys have been relatively inactive since the
Capital riot on 6 January 2021, mostly due to fracturing after their
leadership was locked up. In addition, other white
supremacist/nationalist formations, like the “White Lives Matter” crowd,
the virulently antisemitic Goyim Defense League, Identity Evropa,
Patriot Prayer, Blood Tribe, Nick Fuentes and the “Groypers”, the
so-called “Active Clubs” and many others (some of which have been
reported as trying to worm their way into the Palestine solidarity
movement with antisemitic signage, chants and pseudo anti-Zionist
discourse, i.e. anti-Jewish rhetoric masquerading as being
pro-Palestinian or anti-i$rael) may feel they have some wiggle room to
recruit and organize after Genocide Joe leaves office and MAGA becomes
the “law of the land”. These concerns stem from discussions I’ve had
with some of my outside comrades that have been active in the Palestine
solidarity movement recently in college campus “Liberated Zones” and in
the streets.
Concluding Thoughts
As the Palestinian resistance continues on, steadfast in their
struggle for liberation and return and in fierce opposition to the
genocidal logic of Zionism and settler-colonialism; as the Lebanese
resistance takes time to restructure their leadership apparatus in lieu
of the aggressive Zionist
assassination operation of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the majority of
the political and military leadership of Hezbollah; as the brave
members of the Yemeni Ansar Allah party continue their assault on the
Zionist entity and their widely successful operation to throw
innumerable monkey wrenches into the gears of the imperialist war
machine and a global capitalism in unshakable support of the Palestinian
people and their resistance; and as uncertain possibilities
open up in Syria, all of Our eyes should continue to be firmly
focused on Palestine and the Levant. The Christian Right’s “stand-in
messiah”, Trump 2.0, is threatening there will be “hell to pay” if the
Palestinian resistance doesn’t return the i$raeli citizens taken during
Al-Aqsa Flood. Trump may also take revenge against the Islamic Republic
of Iran for allegedly plotting to assassinate him before the
election.
May we all continue to learn from the steadfast courage of the
Palestinian people, and may they find swift victory against the Zionist
entity in the coming year.
Glory to the Marytrs
Freedom to the Prisoners
Healing to the Wounded
Revolution until Victory
Notes: 1. Hamas Media Office, January 21 2024, “Our
Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”,
www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PDF.pdf 2.
Nicholas Kristof, November 24 2024, “Warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest also
implicates United States”, San Jose Mercury News 3. Firewater and
Triumphant, October 2024, “Christian Zionism Tablet Propaganda Helps
Keep Support for Palestine Small”, Under Lock & Key 87 (Fall
2024) 4. Inside Out Podcast, Season 1 Episode 7, “The International
GPT Version” 5. The Prison Show, September 27 2024, KPFT 90.1 FM
6. Edward W. Said, 1992, “The Question of Palestine”, Vintage Books, pg.
23; and Ilan Pappé, 2022, “A History of Modern Palestine” (3rd Edition),
Cambridge University Press, p.47-48 7. Noam Chomsky, 2014, “The
Fateful Triangle - The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians”,
Haymarket Books, p.96-97 8. Said, op. cit., p.16-17 9. Ibid,
p.29 10. See generally, David S. Wyman, 1984, “The Abandonment of
the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945”, Pantheon Books 11.
Chomsky, op. cit., p.29-31 12. Shane Burley and Ben Lorber, 2024,
“Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism”,
Melville House, p.219-220 13. Grim, July 2024, “On Christian Zionism
and the Prison Tablet Propaganda Machine”, Under Lock & Key 86
(Summer 2024) 14. Burley and Lorber, op. cit., p.82 15. Facing
History and Ourselves, June 2022, “Nazi propaganda depicting Martin
Luther”,
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/nazi-propaganda-depicting-martin-luther
16. Burley and Lorber, op. cit., p.160 and p.163-164
As we go to press, the prospects of an inter-imperialist war loom
heavy once again. The upcoming U.$. presidential election contributes to
the uncertainty as various forces posture and attempt to exert
influence. What is clear is that U.$. imperialism is set on backing its
Zionist outpost in the Levant (Middle East) while the majority of the
world stand in opposition, and even most Amerikans want their government
to stop sending arms to I$rael.(1)
Despite public opinion, the imperialists are offering no presidential
candidate that will slow aid to I$rael. Military aid also continues
despite the United $tate’s own laws.
“ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees
bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked
deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of
the agencies even though they’re considered the two foremost U.S.
authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the
U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is
required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the
delivery of U.S.-backed aid. Days after receiving the reports, Blinken
told Congress, quote, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli
government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or
delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
“On [24 September 2024], the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
CAIR, called for Blinken’s resignation, accusing him of lying to
Congress.”(2)
I$rael received at least $12.5 billion in U.$. aid as of May 2024.(3)
And as the 2024 fiscal year comes to a close, they just announced
another $8.7 billion in military aid to I$rael in an aid package that
also includes $17 billion to “reimburse U.S. operations in response to
recent attacks.”(4) This came in the midst of increased attacks on
Lebanon and the killing
of the leadership of Hezbollah.
“Most of the aid—approximately $3.3 billion a year—is provided as
grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, funds that
Israel must use to purchase U.S. military equipment and services. …U.S.
aid reportedly accounts for some 15 percent of Israel’s defense budget.
Israel, like many other countries, also buys U.S. military products
outside of the FMF program.”(3)
Israel gets 78% of its arms imports from the United $tates.(3) This
circulation of capital into the U.$. economy is one reason why the
imperialists won’t offer an anti-war candidate. Meanwhile, family
members in Gaza send photos of bombs and military equipment used against
them stamped with “Made in USA”.
An April 2024 Pew Research poll showed much lower opposition to
sending military aid to I$rael among Amerikans than other polls, but its
breakdown by age reflected who is out in the streets, and who is putting
their bodies on the line to stop the genocide here in the United $tates.
While 45% of 18-29 year olds opposed U.$. aid to I$rael according to
Pew, this number decreases with age, getting down to only 22% of
Amerikans 65+.(3) This conflict between the young and the old has been
reflected in the anti-imperialist movement for decades, and we see this
as the principal contradiction within the Amerikan nation where class
contradictions and the contradictions between male-bodied and
female-bodied people are generally not antagonistic.
The military-industrial complex (MIC) ensures politicians represent
economic interests by massive investments in lobbying:
“Lobbying expenditures by all the denizens of the MIC are even
higher—more than $247 million in the last two election cycles. Such
funds are used to employ 820 lobbyists, or more than one for every
member of Congress. And mind you, more than two-thirds of those
lobbyists had swirled through Washington’s infamous revolving door from
jobs at the Pentagon or in Congress to lobby for the arms
industry.”(5)
Weapons manufacturers have bigger budgets than those in charge of the
wars, and more influence than any other industry. In 2020, Lockheed
Martin received more money from the U.$. government than the budgets of
the State Department and the Agency of International development
combined. Meanwhile, more than 75 percent of the top foreign-policy
think tanks in the United $tates are at least partially funded by
military contractors. These weapons manufacturers are also deeply
involved in Hollywood movie production. This is why we think it is
misleading to use terms like “prison industrial complex” or “non-profit
industrial complex”. The size, influence and importance
to the U.$. economy of military production is not comparable to such
theories.(6)
According to statistics gathered by the National Defense Industrial
Association, there are currently one million direct jobs in arms
manufacturing compared to 3.2 million in the 1980s.(4) But we all
benefit indirectly in this country, and the east coast dock workers
agree:
“Dating back to World War 1, the ILA was always proud to note that
‘ILA Also Means Love America’ when it came to its “No Strike Pledge” in
handling U.S. military cargo at all its ports,” said ILA President
Harold Daggett, who served in the U.S. Navy and saw combat duty during
the Vietnam War. “We continue our pledge to never let our brave American
troops down for their valour and service and we will proudly continue to
work all military shipments beyond October 1st, even if we are engaged
in a strike.”(7)
While it is not clear exactly what the U.$. strategy is for I$rael
right now, two things remain true: 1. I$rael is an outpost for U.$.
interests in the Levant (which is rich in fossil fuels), and 2. weapons
production is a key prop to the U.$. economy by continuously increasing
the circulation of capital.
France announced it has ceased any military aid to I$rael to be
consistent with their calls for a cease fire. The United Nations called
on I$rael to withdraw its military from Palestine and Lebanon and
evacuate settlers from lands occupied since 1967 (124 countries voted in
favor, 14 against, 43 abstained). Weeks later, I$raeli troops fired at 3
UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon, injuring a number of UN
peacekeepers. Countries continue to join the International Court of
Justice case against I$rael, including Chile, the Maldives and Bolivia
most recently. Meanwhile, Nicaragua, an early signatory, has just cut
off diplomatic ties with I$rael.
I$rael has killed an estimated 8% of the population of Gaza after one
year of war and displacement.(8)
Comrade Grim was spot on with what was said about the ideas and
ideals driving Christian Zionism generally and as it manifests itself in
the prison tablet space.
Regarding the group Grim mentioned by name, Real Vida TV, i
was able to work closely with Real Vida while organizing on behalf of
Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. At the time their line on solitary confinement was
that they saw it as torture and that it should be shut down in its
totality. This matched Our own line on solitary confinement and Real
Vida was willing and did assist us in spreading Our message, connecting
us with interested groups and opening their platform up to us and our
supporters. At the time it was only an audio radio show, not a podcast,
and there were no tablets. They also acted as communication assistants
helping us make important contacts with each other from plantation to
plantation as we organized a state-wide hunger strike against solitary
confinement. All this is to say that at the time we had a working
relationship, regardless of their Christian Zionist beliefs.
However, this changed after Operation Al-Aqsa flood. Personally
speaking i couldn’t even listen to the garbage they were spewing let
alone look past it. Ties were severed. To me the question of the Third
World proletariat and the Palestinian nationalist struggle far
out-weighs the U.$. prisoner class-based struggles.
They’re the most reactionary manifestation of the christian prison
ministries and also one of the most popular. A lot of their videos are
widely discussed afterwards and i’ve had more than a few disputes and
even fisticuffs surrounding the B.S. they spew. The cold truth is that
as MIM(Prisons) says, not all prisoners are swayed by this garbage. But
the Palestinian struggle has unearthed the reactionary, patriotic
amerikkkan spirit among the lumpen here. What i observe is that only the
most politically and socially conscious prisoners side with the
Palestinian struggle, and this is the minority.
The tablets play a role in that they have very limited selection of
voices and ideas, particularly on this sort of issue. Pando App
dominates the landscape and prior to March 2024, when podcasts were
uploaded onto all tablets, Pando was basically the only source of
entertainment. i have filed complaints concerning discrimination in
content that is available on the KA Lite app, which is an education app
that has a wide variety of scientific and hard historical factual
knowledge, but the prison admin has to allow permission to download
content. My complaint came after observing that there was no content
concerning Africa, the Black Liberation struggle, and anti-colonial
revolutions. Although these videos have been made by the app creator,
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has not allowed us
access to the content. i also filed a complaint on the podcast platform
for similar reasons but pertaining solely to Palestine.
The final comment is that outside comrades have to begin to get their
content on the music and/or podcast platforms. i sent a previous note to
MIM(Prisons) on how to do that with the Securus people.
Firewater of USW also responded: Grim, read your
article in ULK 86. I totally agree with you about the Christian
religion and these “evangelists” supporting mass murder and exploitation
around the world. The people at Real Vida are real nice folks, but they
are brainwashed and misguided like all Christians. We need to be able to
copy what they do only for our revolutionary work.
We need to be doing what Real Vida is doing but like you said the
Christian Zionists have a monopoly on these tablets and it needs to be
broken up! I was in medium and high security and all we could watch was
“Pando App”, which is nothing but Christian Evangelists and we have an
FYI App that is run by TDCJ and is all Jesus all the time!
TDCJ is run by these Christian Chapels and they oppress other
religions such as Muslim, Native American, Eastern religions, etc. The
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Unitarian Universalists’ Prison
Ministry said that the “PANDO” App would not allow the CLF to
participate. Probably because the PANDO folks are right-wing evangelical
kooks and the CLF and UUA are extremely liberal organizations.
Grim is right on when ey talks about the genocide of Turtle Island
and the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth’s treasures. They love to
tout capitalism as the greatest engine of wealth ever created. But it’s
like Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the farm animals are ruled by
their newly formed governance of PIGS!
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is a pro-Zionist, reactionary
watch-dog organization that has posed as an unbiased civil rights
organization since 1913.
The ADL is one of the main groups whose connections and influence
help drive the false narrative that anti-Zionism is anti-semitic. This
false narrative is now driving the erosion of First Amendment free
speech protections, backlash against university campus protests and
their demands related to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). As
such, ADL is not only a threat to those of us who support the national
liberation of Palestine, but also otherwise unengaged people in the
Corporate States of Amerikkka.
ADL is funded, as a non-taxed 501(c)(3), by mega donors on the far
right. And has been lobbying for legislation to criminalize political
dissent against settler-colonialism in I$rael. The ADL did the same
thing during the South African apartheid years. Even going as far as to
spy on anti-Zionist and anti-apartheid activists for the FBI during the
1980s and early 1990s. In total ADL spied on 700 socio-political
organizations. In the McCarthy era the ADL snitched on communists and
anarchists to the House of Un-Amerikan Activities Committee.
The ADL runs and operates a non-governmental police education program
which sends police to I$rael for training. The ADL has said publicly,
through its “research director”, that the “American Left that’s the
biggest threat to American Jews”.
It is this conclusion that has led the ADL to insult, snitch, and spy
on nearly every major New Afrikan organization from the era of SNCC and
the BPP to today’s Black Lives Matter.
For this reason we believe that you, the reader, should contribute to
exposing the ADL’s track record. Sign the open letter, “Open Letter to
Progressives: The ADL is Not An Ally” (DropTheADL.com).
