El Magonista Newsletter | November 9, 2023 | Vol. 11, No. 34

CNN — Hamas’ massive, brutal attacks and kidnappings perpetrated against Israelis on October 7 violated humanity’s most fundamental international legal principles. Those same principles govern Israel’s right of response, and they are best fulfilled through an immediate ceasefire by all parties, not an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.

International law is the law that governs all relations at the interstate level. It is thus the law clearly relevant to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Within international law, two sets of rules have particular application. They are human rights and the law governing the use of force, which consists of both rules on resorting to armed force and the rules on the conduct of force, also known as the law of armed conflict, the law of war or international humanitarian law.

International human rights law is found in widely adopted treaties and protects such basic rights as the right to life and freedom from arbitrary detention. It requires that Hamas cease its fire and release its hostages. There is also a well-established right under human rights law that permits Israel to use limited force to rescue nationals held by Hamas... READ MORE

SACRAMENTO — One of Mexico's most famous resort cities is still cleaning up after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Otis.

The category five storm made landfall near Acapulco on Wednesday, killing at least 27 people. It also damaged 80% of the area's hotels and left hundreds of thousands of people without power as well as roads flooded.

Now, many of the survivors are in dire need of aid and support. Some Sacramento-area organizations have stepped in to help.

Working to help is Convoy of Hope. This Sacramento nonprofit is one of the local aid efforts trying to bring resources to those impacted in Mexico.

"Currently, for us, we are in a situation where we are looking to our partners to see what their needs are, the best way that we can help," said Steve Bertrand of Convoy of Hope. "Typically, in the very early stages of a response, [that is] is by resourcing our partners that are already on the ground."

Resources like food, water, and generators, and with a massive distribution center in Sacramento and headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Convoy of Hope says it's currently trying to navigate with its partners on the ground.

"Get them what they need so they can go locally, source those things locally, which will help the economy and then get them in the hands of people right away," Bertrand said... READ MORE

Four weeks ago, Israel began its military campaign to defeat Hamas, in retaliation for the attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,400 people, kidnapped some 240 others and destroyed a fundamental sense of security for all Israelis. Israel has a right to defend itself against this threat at its border, and the United States, its closest ally, has rightly pledged to stand by its side until that sense of security is restored.

But the fight against Hamas is not a war against another nation, one that respects international law or the laws of war. Hamas is a terrorist group, one whose founding charter called for nothing less than the destruction of the Jewish state. “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it,” the group’s founding charter says in its preface, quoting Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. And while it may cling to the idea that it represents Palestinians, Hamas has shown that it has little regard for the lives of civilians in Gaza: Hamas militants have long hidden themselves in mosques and schools and hospitals, intentionally placing civilians in harm’s way.

People around the world, including in the United States, who have justified the attacks by Hamas would do well to understand exactly what this group continues to stand for... READ MORE

The destruction in Gaza has reached staggering levels. More than 4,000 children have died — equivalent to 600,000 children as a share of the U.S. population. It is not sufficient to say war is tragic, although it is. It is true that Israel doesn’t deliberately aim to kill civilians. But for the Palestinians who must mourn their dead, are they supposed to find solace in the notion that Israel didn’t intentionally target their loved ones, when the outcome is the same?

What might a plausible cease-fire look like in practice? The specifics matter. Any proposal must take seriously Israel’s legitimate security needs. First, Hamas must agree to release hostages and commit to halting rocket fire into Israel. In exchange, Israel would agree to stop its bombardment of Gaza as well as any ground incursions into Gazan territory.

Once this first step is taken, a cease-fire would allow for further negotiations on what comes next. These talks should be led by the United States, with the active support of governments in communication with Hamas — namely Qatar and Turkey. These countries should demand that Hamas offload its governing responsibilities in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

While it will be challenging to iron out the specifics of such an arrangement, some rough outlines can be sketched. Just as it is unrealistic to ask Israel to accept an unconditional cease-fire, so, too, is the notion that Hamas can be “eradicated.” Unlike al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, both of which often relied on foreign fighters, Hamas members and their families are Palestinian. Truly eliminating the organization — one with hundreds of thousands of supporters and sympathizers — would require mass killing on an unprecedented scale.

But if Hamas members won’t disappear, what happens to them? Any intra-Palestinian negotiations should include a path for low- and mid-level Hamas cadres, as well as members of the group’s political leadership, to be incorporated within any future governing structure. Without one, the Palestinian Authority will continue to suffer from a major legitimacy deficit. Under any such “reconciliation” agreement between Palestinian factions, armed groups would need to demobilize and integrate their military forces within those of the Palestinian Authority. Elections would need to be held within a reasonable time and, in order to participate, members of Hamas and other militants would need to commit to pursuing any political aims through the ballot box.

All of this might sound like a fantasy... READ MORE

We must advocate for the implementation of pro-DACA legislation in Los Angeles.

You want to work; they want to work; we all want to work! If you live in Los Angeles County, chances are that you have a neighbor, colleague or friend that wakes up every morning with the fear of deportation. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is an immigration policy that impacts our city because it allows undocumented young adults to live here and develop their skill set by means of a work permit, social security number and deferred deportation.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports there are approximately 580,000 DACA recipients residing in the United States in 2022. In the L.A metropolitan area there are 89,900 active DACA recipients according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

DACA addresses the grand challenge of reducing extreme economic inequality in L.A. County and stimulates economic growth as it provides the opportunity for these Angelenos to go to school, expand their skill set and apply it in the workforce. Without DACA recipients, the U.S. will lose 343,000 skilled workers who are deemed essential to our economy and lose $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes each year.

These young adults are not here to steal your jobs; they are here to build a life just like you and I. Sadly, there are entities who would love to see DACA die. Texas, for example, has declared DACA unlawful per the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and it has put DACA at a halt from moving forward to permanent law while temporarily blocking new enrollees according to the American Progress... READ MORE

In this story of dual ‘uncitizenship,’ the lives of two undocumented Fresno State students diverge because of a single piece of paper

Richard Puerta, the youngest of five children, was born in Mexico. When he was six months old, his mother committed suicide. She suffered from postpartum depression, a type of depression that happens after giving birth. 

Before her death, Puerta’s mother disposed of his birth certificate and failed to register him at a register office in Mexico (Oficinas del Registro Civil). Now, as a soon-to-be college graduate at Fresno State, Puerta’s future and livelihood are at a disadvantage due to the consequences of being stateless, meaning he cannot claim citizenship of any country.

“Besides the people who raised me, the person who has impacted me the most would be my mother,” Puerta said. “Ever since that moment, my life and my siblings’ lives have changed drastically.”

Each of the siblings had their own journeys arriving in the United States. Puerta’s eldest sibling, Miguel Puerta, first arrived in 1991 while the rest of the siblings stayed in Mexico. In Mexico, Puerta and his other siblings shuffled near the Mexico City region to be taken care of by family members. 

Puerta and I have similar stories of coming to a new country at a young age. I was born in El Progreso, Honduras, and emigrated to the U.S. when I was 5-years-old, whereas Puerta was 2 years old when he first arrived in the U.S. for the first time.

Puerta and I share some of the same struggles. We both had to quickly adjust to a new language and culture while also learning how to be a child... READ MORE

Con un excelente nivel de inglés, Claudia Sheinbaum se reunió con empresarios durante su visita a Los Ángeles, California; así lo compartió en vídeo

Durante su visita a Los Ángeles, California, en Estados Unidos, la ganadora de la encuesta de Morena, Claudia Sheinbaum demostró su excelente nivel de inglés en reunión con empresarios de la asociación L.A. Area Chamber.

Posteriormente, Claudia Sheinbaum se reunió con militantes de Morena en Los Ángeles, en donde compartió las medidas cautelares dictadas por el (INE) Instituto Nacional Electoral, sobre reducir sus asambleas solamente a integrantes de Morena.

Dichas asambleas las realiza en calidad de coordinadora nacional de defensa de la Cuarta Transformación, tras ganar la encuesta de Morena, realizando la firma de acuerdos de la unidad.

Y repite también su intención de ganar en las elecciones 2024, no solamente la presidencia de México, también las gubernaturas que cambiarán de Ejecutivo estatal, para las cuales ya se realiza el proceso interno de Morena mediante bases de una convocatoria... LEER MAS - TO VIEW IN ENGLISH PLEASE TRANSLATE USING YOUR PREFERRED WEB BROWSER

Luis C. Garza hosts its World Premiere screening as part of the Special Shorts Program

Walls littered with art pieces ranging from his own to paintings by David Alfaro Siqueiros, mementos accumulated from his travels and a balcony view of Echo Park barely begins to sum up Luis C. Garza’s meticulously put-together Los Angeles apartment. As we sat across from each other at his dining table with our place mats topped with a healthy slice of flan next to a steaming cup of hot coffee, he laughed at the dull noise coming from the unit above him. 

“[It sounds like] they are running an illegal bowling alley up there,” Garza joked. 

Throughout his youth, Garza documented the Chicano civil rights movement in Southern California to New York where he captured his own South Bronx neighborhood and demonstrations on women’s rights, as well as his experience at the World Peace Conference in Budapest, Hungary from the 1960s-70s. 

Now, having recently turned 80-years-old and on the receiving end of questions about his background and extensive photographs in lieu of the 12-minute documentary, “RAZÓN DE SUR: Luis C. Garza,” directed by Alessandro Gentile which beautifully sums up his life and will be showcased at the Special Shorts Program: Latin/Latinx Film Series in Downtown LA on November 4, the rare Chicano photographer feels nothing but gratitude for the recognition he’s getting. 

“It’s a sense of appreciation that’s taken 50 years, but I’m glad that it’s happening,” Garza said. “Because when I pass to the spirit, my work will be my legacy that will live on. My memory will not just be in a tomb, it will be in the history books, it will be written about and it will be referred to. That is an honor. A very humble one that people see in my work now the value of what it is that I did over those decades of work, in film, television and theatrical work, and all the other things that are involved in my life story... READ MORE

Alondra Ordaz and other women from the Grupo Folklórico Mexica squeeze into the cramped teachers’ lounge at Minnie Gant Elementary in Long Beach, their makeshift dressing room for the day.

They step into bright, colorful skirts, drape white lace shawls over their shoulders and take turns putting on different shades of red lipstick. With delicate hands, Ordaz helps place the braided yarn and ribbon tocados on their slicked-back hair, pinning everything in place.

It’s 5 p.m. on a Friday and school is out but a crowd of students, parents and educators is beginning to swell outside at the school’s Latinx Heritage Month celebration.

One by one, the women walk out onto the blacktop toward the crowd, heads held high. The whispers of little girls in awe of the Disney princess lookalikes are drowned out by powerful gritos of encouragement and the sound of the zapateado before “El son de La Negra” begins to play.

A woman dances folklorico at an elementary school.
Ordaz is president of the Grupo Folklórico Mexica at Cal State Long Beach, a cultural dance group that teaches traditional dances from the various regions of Mexico. While she wears this title proudly, she never realized the effect her dancing would have on her sense of identity.

At age 2, Ordaz moved with her mother to the U.S. from Purépero, Mexico, to reunite with her father in Moreno Valley. Here, she was teased for not knowing English and grew up with a distant memory of what her home country was like. She remembers the feeling in third grade, when her older cousin dragged her to dance folklórico at church.

“Once I stepped into the dance room, it was like being transported into México. Everyone was speaking Spanish. The songs were in Spanish, the dresses looked like the ones from México. That’s what I knew México was,” said Ordaz... READ MORE