We held another of our monthly protests in Farmington, Maine yesterday. (Each month we go to a different part of Maine.) Farmington is in a rural central part of the state. We've been doing these protests each month since February, 2022 to gather people opposing our nations enormous war appetite. Farmington is a part of the University of Maine system though a smaller school than most. It was originally a college for teachers.
Maine's population is 1.4 million, making it one of the least populated states in the nation. The largest city is Portland, which accounts for about 40% of the state's population. So we don't have a huge population base to draw on for these protests. Thus getting 30 people from across the state (from Biddeford in the south to the Belfast area further north) is a good deal.
In this moment many war strains are causing great stress for us. From the ever expanding genocide in Palestine, attacks by Israel (with full US support) on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran, continued US-NATO weapons shipments to Ukraine and the insane plan to move NATO into the Asia-Pacific putting a clear target on China.
If there was ever a time for people of conscience to be in the street this is surely it.
I read just days ago that 44% of those who have been killed in Palestine are children. What does that tell you about the western support for the genocidal zionist war program?
Three big guys dressed in camo yelled at us at one point as they walked by saying 'You should have voted for Trump!' I yelled back 'We are not Democrats!' On their return I stopped one of them and we had a good chat. I told him I was a veteran which always kind of takes the hot air out of the balloon. He said he was opposed to the wars and I asked him what he would do if it turns out that Trump was just bluffing and keeps the wars going. He took a moment and basically said we'd be screwed for sure.
Because Farmington is in a rural part of the state we reached an audience that we don't get in the bigger cities. It was good to hear the steady numbers of honks we received - including some big blasts from truckers that drove through the town.
I know it was also very uplifting for the several folks who live in Farmington to get folks from around the state to join them. That kind of solidarity goes a long way.
We ended the day with a closing circle in a nearby gazebo and then many of us had a late lunch together. The circles are always a good time to get to know each other a bit more and to share our heartfelt reasons for coming together no matter the distance or the temperature.
Our next monthly protest will be in Freeport on December 21 at 1:30 pm. Freeport is the home of L.L. Bean and just days before Xmas we are guaranteed a huge audience. Please plan to join us for that one.
There are worrying signs that the well-funded pro-zionist lobby in the US intends to crack down on Palestine solidarity activity across the US during the in-coming Trump administration.
Don't sit back and watch the fireworks. Help stand for peace, justice and freedom of expression.
Bruce
No comments:
Post a Comment