Yemen is on the brink of famine, with millions of people at risk of starvation, because of Saudi Arabia's war and blockade that has been backed by the United States. Now the Trump Administration wants to send Saudi Arabia even more weapons, which would be perceived as a U.S. seal of approval on the continuation of Saudi Arabia's catastrophic war. [1] Senators Murphy, Paul, Durbin, and Franken have introduced SJRes40 [2], co-sponsored by Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Jeff Merkley [3], which would restrict arms deals with Saudi Arabia on human rights grounds. Last September, Senator Klobuchar voted with Senator Franken and Senator Murphy against sending more weapons to Saudi Arabia. [4] Urge Senator Klobuchar to co-sponsor SJRes40 by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.thenation.com/article/congress-is-drawing-a-red-line-over-trumps-support-for-the-saudi-war-on-yemen/ 2. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/40 3. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/40/cosponsors 4. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=2&vote=00145

Yemen is on the brink of famine, with millions of people at risk of starvation, because of Saudi Arabia's war and blockade that has been backed by the United States. Now the Trump Administration wants to send Saudi Arabia even more weapons, which would be perceived as a U.S. seal of approval on the continuation of Saudi Arabia's catastrophic war. [1] Senators Murphy, Paul, Durbin, and Franken have introduced SJRes40 [2], co-sponsored by Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Jeff Merkley [3], which would restrict arms deals with Saudi Arabia on human rights grounds. Last September, even Republican Senator Mark Kirk voted with Senator Durbin against sending more weapons to Saudi Arabia. [4] Urge Senator Duckworth to co-sponsor SJRes40 by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.thenation.com/article/congress-is-drawing-a-red-line-over-trumps-support-for-the-saudi-war-on-yemen/ 2. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/40 3. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/40/cosponsors 4. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=2&vote=00145

Foreign Policy magazine reports: "Ivanka Trump Wants to Highlight the Humanitarian Crises Her Father Ignores." [1] But so far Ivanka hasn't highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. By speaking out on Yemen, Ivanka could single-handedly save millions of Yemenis from famine, because the main cause pushing Yemen towards famine is the Saudi war and blockade that the U.S. is backing. Aid groups, the UN, former US officials and 55 House Members have warned that if the U.S. helps Saudi Arabia attack the Yemeni port of Hodeida, that will almost certainly push Yemen into famine. [2] An 8 minute CNN interview with Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council has the information Ivanka needs to convince Dad to spare Hodeida. Egeland told CNN: "There is one port here called Hodeida where we get all of the relief through and where most of the commercial import has come through. That port is now threatened by attack. If it is attacked, that lifeline will be cut and millions will surely not have food." [3] Urge Ivanka to watch the CNN video and press Dad to spare Hodeida by signing our petition. References: 1. http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/04/ivanka-trump-wants-to-tackle-the-humanitarian-crises-her-father-ignores/ 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/02/alarm-grows-in-washington-as-saudi-coalition-attack-on-yemen-port-appears-imminent/ 3. http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/05/02/intv-amanpour-clarissa-jan-egeland-yemen.cnn/video/playlists/amanpour/

Because the current policies of our Administration threaten to bring us to a catastrophic military confrontation with North Korea, and perhaps with China as well.

On Thursday April 27, a bipartisan group of nine U.S. Senators wrote to the ambassador of Saudi Arabia demanding that Saudi Arabia spare the Yemeni port city of Hodeida from military assault to avoid pushing Yemen into famine. The nine Senators were: Todd Young (R-IN), Chris Murphy (D-CT), John Boozman (R-AR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Christopher Coons (D-DL) and Ed Markey (D-MA). The Senators made five demands to help “Prevent Millions of Innocent Yemenis From Starving to Death": - Lend full support to Secretary Mattis’ call for a political settlement in Yemen. - Refrain from bombing the port of Hodeida and call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire around the port. - Reform the inspection regime at the port of Hodeida to eliminate unnecessary delays in the delivery of severely needed humanitarian and commercial supplies. - Facilitate the delivery of cranes to the port of Hodeida to increase humanitarian aid and commercial capacity. - Redouble efforts to ensure airstrikes do not hit key economic facilities and civilian infrastructure. [1] Urge your representatives to join the nine Senators in telling Saudi Arabia "Hodeida must be spared" by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.young.senate.gov/content/young-leads-bipartisan-group-senators-calling-saudi-arabia-take-specific-steps-address

Amnesty and “Human rights watch” to investigate Israel violations against Palestinian prisoners. We call for Amnesty International and Human rights watch to investigate Israel human rights violations and the Israeli policy of mass imprisonment of Palestinians • Thousand imprisoned with no charge • Imprisoned children • Regular mistreatment, torture, isolation, deprivation of visits We CALL FOR AN END to administrative detention (imprisonment with no charges or trial and SUPPORT the demands made by 6500 Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strike in Israeli jail calling for decent treatment of prisoners. We the undersigned citizens of the world urge Amnesty and Human rights watch to take practical steps in investigating Israel’s continued violation of human rights against Palestinian prisoners. We urge Amnesty and Human rights watch to investigate Israel human rights violations by assigning an emergency team to visit the Palestinian prisoners ASAP and to provide a report about their condition and human right situation in accordance with the fourth Geneva Convention and International law, as we believe such willful negligence can lead to further violence across the Middle East. Meanwhile, ending these prisoners’ plight will lead to peace in the region.

When U.S. presidents order military action, the American people need and deserve a strong, vibrant, and independent news media, one that not only challenges the assumptions that lead us to war, but also one that holds our leaders accountable for the way in which they are conducted. When President Trump illegally launched military strikes on Syria, and later, when the U.S. military dropped one of the largest conventional weapons in its arsenal on a target in Afghanistan, we witnessed some of the most irresponsible and reckless coverage from the corporate media since they helped President Bush launch the Iraq war. War is not entertainment. But the media is glorifying Donald Trump’s warmaking, and it’s time we make them stop.

I know many Palestinians who have been suffering for decades under Israel's Occupation of their land, a slow but lethal ethnic cleansing completely illegal under international law yet virtually ignored by our US media.

Whereas there are Bills pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs titled "Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017", WE THE PEOPLE support that these bills be enacted into law, which would prohibit the President from using the Armed Forces to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a congressional declaration of war expressly authorizing such strike. "First-use nuclear strike" means a nuclear weapons attack against an enemy that is conducted without the President determining that the enemy has first launched a nuclear strike against the United States or a U.S. ally. These bills pertain only to a US first strike with nuclear weapons and not to any other relevant situations such as the use of nuclear weapons defensively while America is under attack by such weapons from another nation. In view of escalating world tensions around whether the President of the U.S. would use a first strike nuclear attack, there is an immediacy to move these bills with many co-sponsors to the floor of the Senate and the House for full discussion of the merits of preventing a world-wide nuclear holocaust.

On Wednesday, April 19, Indiana Senator Todd Young welcomed [1] Defense Secretary Mattis' call [2] for a political solution to the conflict in Yemen without delay. Sen. Young called on Saudi Arabia to: - refrain from bombing the port of Hodeida, through which a majority of food, fuel, and medical supplies enters Yemen - a military attack that closed the port would likely result in a famine within a few months; - reform its inspection regime at Hodeida to eliminate unacceptable delays in the delivery of severely needed humanitarian supplies; - facilitate the delivery of U.S.-funded World Food Program cranes to the port of Hodeida that would dramatically increase the port’s humanitarian aid capacity. [3] Urge Members of Congress to join Senator Young's call on Saudi Arabia not to attack Hodeida by signing our petition. References: 1. https://twitter.com/SenToddYoung/status/854807390184669184 2. https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1154616/media-availability-with-secretary-mattis-en-route-to-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia/ 3. https://www.young.senate.gov/content/following-mattis-visit-young-calls-saudi-government-help-alleviate-humanitarian-crisis-yemen

On Thursday, April 13, President Donald Trump authorized U.S. forces to drop the military's largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan. The 21,600-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), nicknamed the "mother of all bombs" is GBU-43, which reportedly contains 11 tons of explosives. A week before, Trump killed 300 civilians in Mosul in one of the deadliest airstrikes in decades and, in March, he broke records for the number of bombs dropped on Syria. Politicians and pundits often ask in reference to Muslims, "Why do they hate us?" implying that Islam and Muslims are inherently violent. But rather than blaming Islam for terrorism, President Trump and Congress must stop fueling hatred and helping create radical extremists by bombing Muslim-majority countries. While Trump has escalated airstrikes in the Middle East, it is important to note that his bombing campaigns follow bipartisan policies of the two previous administrations which have targeted 7 Muslim-majority countries since 9/11.

Progressive French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon - the "French Bernie Sanders" - is now a "frontrunner" in the first round of the French presidential election. That is giving him an unprecedented platform in global media, which he has used, among other things, to attack Trump's military attack on Syria. When he addressed tens of thousands of people in Toulouse Sunday, the crowd roared when Mélenchon attacked Trump over Trump's illegal attack on Syria. "No Frenchman can accept a global gendarme who decided all by himself the good and the bad," Mélenchon said. [1] As a leader of what will soon be the only EU country with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Mélenchon has a unique ability to serve as a "check and balance" on Trump's global warmongering. It was France that led the global opposition to Bush's illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq. If Mélenchon can stand up to Trump on Syria, he can stand up to Trump on Saudi Arabia's catastrophic war in Yemen, which the Trump Administration wants to escalate. Trump Administration officials want to help Saudi Arabia and the UAE attack the Yemeni port of Hodeida, which the UN, aid groups, former US officials, and 55 Members of the House have warned would likely push Yemen into famine. [2] Urge Mélenchon to use his bully pulpit to challenge Trump's support for Saudi Arabia's catastrophic war in Yemen by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/world/europe/jean-luc-melenchon-france-presidential-election.html 2. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/04/12/55-bipartisan-lawmakers-demand-trump-pump-brakes-military-action-yemen