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Submarines, Gaza, and the Village Square

Einstein spoke to the UN in 1946 saying that the "village square" did not want a nuclear arms race. The iconic Armageddon Clock of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is 90 seconds to midnight, rating the current and never-before-faced proximal threat of nuclear war. Currently the US is "showing force" near Gaza--Meanwhile, blatently disregarding its US Treaty Obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed by the US in 1968, the U.S. Navy has announced the commissioning site of a submarine still under construction.  

1. Nuclear Weapons and Gaza, 2. USS Massachusetts to be commissioned in Boston

Nuclear Weapons and Gaza

The US silence on Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is one violation of the Non Proliferation Treaty. I point to the foundations of this in the Golda Meir-Nixon agreement in my essay "Gaza Babies and Achille Mbembe's Necropolitics" but disarmament activists are making other connections. Nine were arrested Nov. 13 in blockade of General Dynamics-Electric Boat pointing to Biden's off-shore "gunboat" diplomacy. Al-Jazeera reported that an Ohio-class nuclear submarine is off the coast of Gaza. The specter of Israel using nuclear weapons in Gaza was raised on radio by an extreme far-right Israeli Minister of Heritage, who was subsequently censored by Netanyahu, but not dismissed from government. 

After 100 activists led a die-in protesting Raytheon in Tucson, Six others were arrested protesting Raytheon in DC. Two dozen members of Mass Peace Action's Raytheon campaign on Wednesday noon-1pm  collected signatures in Harvard Square following Sunday's rally.  Merchants of Death served supoena failed to appear to face charges of war-crimes. The Sunday evening activist-led hearing was attended by over 1,200 participants. 




USS Massachusetts: An Opportunity 

Boston was selected by the Navy as the commissioning site for the USS Massachusetts. The 2025  commissioning will follow current construction at Newport News, VA. The Boston Herald and local 10Boston covered the press release from USS Massachusetts (SSN#798) Commissioning Committee. Welcoming the Navy's announcement, Gov. Healey referenced the legacy of boats bearing the state name going back to the Continental Navy.  City Council President Ed Flynn said the boat was "purposefully designed" to be inclusive of women sailors.

A Virginia-class submarine, the boat is designed to carry cruise missiles. 

Peace History Resurrection

In the early 1980s activists organized to resist the US transfer of cruise missiles to the UK which would violate international treaties and destabilize relations with the USSR. Following Nuclear Freeze resolutions in New England towns, 2,000 buses were charted for a massive June 12, 1982 rally in New York's Central Park. We marked the fortieth anniversary of the march remembering one million strong took to the streets. According to New York Times report June 13, citing an estimate of the Police Department, 700,000 attended the rally. "It's just like a resurrection," one participant said. 

In 1982, in addition to the commissioning of USS Houston, the ninth of the Los Angeles class a fast-attack submarine added to the US Fleet, during which the Senator from Houston called for an increased military budget in order to keep pace "maintaining" greater production schedules,  the US. Navy also commissioned the ballistic missile submarine the USS Ohio.


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