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By Yuval Abraham, +972.August 3, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/settlers-move-in-on-palestinian-world-heritage-site/
Palestinians In The West Bank Agricultural Village Of Battir Are Encountering Armed Israeli Settlers Trying To Push Them Off Their Land.
Khaled and Miriam Muammar live in Battir, an agricultural village in the occupied West Bank, just south of Jerusalem. Khaled works in construction and Miriam in the family’s field, where she grows eggplants, for which Battir — which was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage and World Heritage in Danger lists in 2014 — is known. “Every eggplant is 40 centimeters [16 inches]. They are huge. The entire world wants them,” says Khaled.
A month ago, when Miriam came to work in the fields, she saw something that made her immediately turn around and run back home: eight armed Israeli settlers and a Doberman walking around the field. They built a tent in a nearby plot of land belonging to Battir resident Ghassan Alyan, where they tethered their sheep. They stayed until sundown before leaving.
“This is what they have been doing for a month, a group of settlers, several times a week. Yesterday (July 26) they came again,” Alyan says. “I have a cistern from which I drink. The settler routinely undresses and climbs into the cistern in order to swim in it.
“If I gave you a glass of water, and put a finger in it before, would you drink it?” Alyan asks. “My guess is no. So now imagine what I feel. It’s repulsive. It drives me crazy. I’m helpless.”
The man Alyan refers to is Lior Tal, a settler leader who comes to this spot east of Battir from his home in the illegal outpost of Neve Ori, just 2.5 miles away, which he built less than a year ago.
Alyan says that he first saw Tal herding sheep on Battir’s land. “I didn’t have an issue with that, as long as he doesn’t destroy anything — why should I care? But now it has gone beyond that. He arrives, tethers his sheep in the sun from 8 a.m. until evening, and doesn’t herd. He just stays there. For the sake of provocation. Last week, he knocked on the doors of Battir’s residents and demanded they present him with land ownership documents.”
Khaled Muammar explains that the area is strategically important for the settlement enterprise in the West Bank. “They want to take over this area for three reasons: first of all, because of its elevation; it overlooks the region. Secondly, it separates [Battir from] al-Walajeh; settling there creates a wedge between two Palestinian villages. And thirdly, because it creates geographical continuity between [the Israeli settlement] Har Homa and Jerusalem.”
Dror Etkes, one of Israel’s foremost experts on the settlements and the head of Kerem Navot, an organization that monitors and researches Israeli land policy in the West Bank, believes the settlers’ arrival in Battir at the end of June is not a coincidence. “Why? Because of the Trump plan,” he explains. “This area, according to the plan, is supposed to be Palestinian territory. They want to take over the area now, before the government signals that it is going to accept the plan. To create facts on the ground.”
This is not the first time settlers have tried to take over this area. In December 2018, hundreds of settlers arrived overnight with bulldozers and tractors, dug an access road through the mountain, and tried to establish an outpost. They failed: it rained, the vehicles got stuck, and in the morning the Civil Administration — the arm of Israel’s military government that governs the 2.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank — evacuated them.
“The effort in 2018 was well-funded,” Etkes adds. “Everything was done very professionally, with heavy vehicles. That’s an investment of hundreds of thousands of shekels.”
An Uninterested Army
When Alyan saw Tal’s tent on his land, he called the Israeli police, who in turn called the army.
“A few soldiers arrived quickly,” recounts Muammar, who was with Alyan at the time. “We pointed at Lior. We said that he was just sitting here with his Dobermans and a weapon, and that there were all kinds of people with him, all with weapons. We explained that they had entered the olive and date groves, that they were creating unnecessary friction that will lead to someone getting hurt. We told them that this is bad, that we don’t want trouble.
“The first three times, one of the soldiers told me, ‘Don’t speak with Lior. Ignore him. We’ll remove him,’” Muammar continues. “Then the soldier went to Lior and told him, ‘You are on private Palestinian land. You need to leave.’ And that’s what happened.
“But things changed. The last two times, a different soldier came. He sat with Lior on the side and spoke to him. Afterward, he told me that I couldn’t be here. I said, ‘What do you mean? This is my land, here are the documents.’ But he didn’t listen to me. He said Lior can be here and if there is a problem, I need to go to the Civil Administration in Gush Etzion [the nearby settlement bloc] and prove that it is my land.”
When Tal and his gang arrived once again on July 25, the residents of Battir decided not to call the army. “We realized they wouldn’t do anything. There is no point.”
Yearly Confiscations
There is nothing coincidental about the settlers’ decision to build their tent on Alyan’s land. In 1982, Israel declared his property, along with a substantial portion of the land in the area, “state land,” using the Ottoman Land Code — a 19th century legal mechanism adopted by Israel that gives it the authority to turn uncultivated agricultural land into state land.
Since the occupation began in 1967, Israel used the Code to seize hundreds of thousands of dunams of land; 99.76 percent of state land in the occupied territories has been allocated for Israeli settlements, while a miniscule 0.24 percent has been allocated for Palestinian use.
Alyan explains that he did not cultivate his land for a brief period because he had used it to grow tobacco and wanted to let it rest before growing different crops. “When I returned to work on my land, a representative from the Civil Administration came and told me that I was on state land. He asked me to vacate the premises and handed out fines to my employees. The Civil Administration didn’t even inform me that they had expropriated the land.”
Alyan continues: “It is good land. It has belonged to my family for generations, with a deed of ownership. I want to plant on it, but in order to work the land I need tractors for plowing. We brought a tractor and used it for three or four hours. Then the Civil Administration came and told us that this was forbidden because we were on state land. They confiscated the tractor. Every year we try to work the land and they come and confiscate.”
Beating The ‘Deal Of The Century’ To The Punch
Tal’s outpost, Neve Ori, was built without a permit just a five-minute drive from Battir. Teenagers from across Israel come to volunteer at the outpost, where they “work, sweat — and absorb many values,” as per Neve Ori’s website. Families are also invited “to have fun with their children and take part in Jewish presence on the mountain and the protection of land.” There’s even a petting zoo.
I called Tal to question him about why he is invading Battir’s land. He insisted that his actions are being carried out “legally” on land that the state “took back,” claiming that “They [Palestinians] stole the land from me.”
Asked why he came to Battir given that it is 2.5 miles away from his outpost, Tal replied, “My farm is on land that belongs to the Jewish National Fund and is surrounded by private land with olive groves. [Battir’s land] is the only land in the area that no one can claim ownership over.”
Tal is overt in his antagonism toward the Palestinians of Battir. “I want all of Battir to go to hell…the State of Israel belongs to the Jewish people,” he says. “I have no problem with [Palestinians] staying if they agree to the Seven Laws of Noah [a set of prohibitions that Orthodox Jews believe are binding for everyone] or if they want to convert.”
It is easy to frame Tal as a religious fanatic. But the essence of his words — the desire to maximize Jewish settlement at the expense of Palestinians — has always defined the left wing of the Zionist movement, too. This includes the dovish Meretz party, which has representatives in the Jewish National Fund — the same organization on whose land Tal built his outpost.
When Neve Ori was established in 2019, the Civil Administration asserted that the settlement structures “were erected illegally and without an appropriate permit and will therefore be evacuated.” Almost a year has passed since then, and the outpost still stands. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Civil Administration said that “on-site enforcement will be carried out in accordance with the authorities and procedures and subject to [the Administration’s] priorities.”
According to the NGO Kerem Navot, settlers have established 37 new Israeli outposts in the West Bank over the past five years. The process across these outposts is very similar: a family settles on “state land” and starts building structures without permits, and those structures remain “illegal” until the state retroactively approves them.
The most recent outpost was established only a week ago, east of the Palestinian town of Yatta near Hebron, also on land that according to Trump’s plan is supposed to be on the Palestinian side. “The timing and location are not a coincidence,” says Etkes of Kerem Navot.
‘Space Is Running Out’
Vivien Sansour, a Palestinian ecological activist, was born in the West Bank city of Beit Jala, a scenic area full of ancient terraces, springs, vineyards, and olive groves — and also the site chosen by Israeli settlers to establish the Tal outpost.
Exploring the surroundings of Beit Jala “molded” Sansour as a child, she says. But Tal has changed things. “Ever since the outpost was established last year, I no longer feel comfortable coming near,” she says. “An armed man is there constantly. I do not feel safe as a woman, and certainly not as a Palestinian woman.”
The outpost, Sansour adds, is also harmful to the environment. “There is a huge, ugly, black plastic animal pen there that does not fit with the traditional [Palestinian] way of building on a mountain — the kind that relies on natural materials. The outpost has cut through a geographical contiguity that has existed for centuries. We used to walk here from hill to hill on foot, on paths, and then it stopped. This damages the environment, the ecology and, of course, human beings.”
Sansour manages an heirloom seed library in Battir. “Palestinian ecological culture is being destroyed. By saving these seeds, I am saving who I am, my culture, and reminding the following generations that we are valuable,” she says.
“The land taken by this settler is Battir’s last room to breathe,” Sansour continues. “People are being forced to emigrate to Bethlehem because they do not allow us to build here.”
Battir is surrounded by Area C, under full Israeli military control, and where Palestinians are rarely granted building permits. The Civil Administration rejects 98.6 percent of applications for permits in these areas, and destroys what Palestinians build on their own initiative.
“People are crammed into cities where space is running out,” says Sansour. “From day to day, Palestinian cities are turning into ghettoes, concrete refugee camps. It is impossible to grow food on concrete. From a rich agricultural society, we are growing dependent on Israeli companies to feed us.”
By Richard D. Wolff, Economy for All.August 3, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/the-consequences-of-inequality-can-be-fatal/
The Effects Of Covid Are Much Greater For The Poor And Even The Middle Class Than The Rich.
This is not a biological phenomenon, but an economic one.
Capitalism, as Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century shows, relentlessly worsens wealth and income inequalities. That inherent tendency is only occasionally stopped or reversed when masses of people rise up against it. That happened, for example, in western Europe and the U.S. during the 1930s Great Depression. It prompted social democracy in Europe and the New Deal in the United States. So far in capitalism’s history, however, stoppages or reversals around the world proved temporary. The last half-century witnessed a neoliberal reaction that rolled back both European social democracy and the New Deal. Capitalism has always managed to resume its tendential movement toward greater inequality.
Among the consequences of a system with such a tendency, many are awful. We are living through one now as the COVID-19 pandemic, inadequately contained by the U.S. system, savages Americans of middle and lower incomes and wealth markedly more than the rich. The rich buy better health care and diets, second homes away from crowded cities, better connections to get government bailouts, and so on. Many of the poor are homeless. Tasteless advice to “shelter at home” is, for them, absurd. Low-income people are often crowded into the kinds of dense housing and dense working conditions that facilitate infection. Poor residents of low-cost nursing homes die disproportionally, as do prison inmates (mostly poor). Pandemic capitalism distributes death in inverse proportion to wealth and income.
Social distancing has destroyed especially low-wage service sector jobs. Rarely did top executives lose their positions, and when they did, they found others. The result is a widened gap between high salaries for some and low or no wages for many. Unemployment invites employers to lower wages for the still employed because they can. Pandemic capitalism has provoked a massive increase in money-creation by central banks. That money fuels rising stock markets and thereby enriches the rich who own most shares. The coincidence of rising stock markets and mass unemployment plus falling wages only adds momentum to worsening inequality.
Unequal economic distributions (of income and wealth) finance unequal political outcomes. Whenever a small minority enjoys concentrated wealth within a society committed to universal suffrage, the rich quickly understand their vulnerability. The non-wealthy majority can use universal suffrage to prevail politically. The majority’s political power could then undo the results of the economy including its unequal distribution of income and wealth. The rich corrupt politics with their money to prevent exactly that outcome. Capitalists spend part of their wealth to preserve (and enlarge) all of their wealth.
The rich and those eager to join them in the U.S. dominate within both Republican and Democratic parties. The rich provide most of the donations that sustain candidates and parties, the funding for armies of lobbyists “advising” legislators, the bribes, and many issue-oriented public campaigns. The laws and regulations that flow from Washington, states, and cities reflect the needs and desires of the rich far more than those of the rest of us. The peculiar structure of U.S. property taxes offers an example. In the U.S., property is divided into two kinds: tangible and intangible. Tangible property includes land, buildings, business inventories, automobiles, etc. Intangible property is mostly stocks and bonds. Rich people hold most of their wealth in the form of intangible property. It is thus remarkable that in the U.S., only tangible property is subject to property tax. Intangible property is not subject to any property tax.
The kinds of property (tangible) that many people own get taxed, but the kinds of property (intangible) mostly owned by the richest minority do not get taxed. If you own a house rented to tenants, you pay a property tax to the municipality where the house is located. You also pay an income tax on the received rents to the federal government and likely also the state government where you live. You are thus taxed twice: once on the value of the property you own and once on the income you derive from that property. If you sell a $100,000 house and then buy $100,000 worth of shares, you will owe no property taxes to any level of government in the United States. You will only owe income tax on dividends paid to you on the shares you own. The form of property you own determines whether you pay property tax or not.
This property tax system is excellent for those rich enough to buy significant amounts of shares. The rich used their wealth to get tax laws written that way for them. The rest of us pay more in taxes because the rich pay less. Because the rich save money—since their intangible property is not taxed—they have that much more to buy the politicians who secure such a tax system for them. And that tax system worsens inequality of wealth and income.
Unequal economic distributions finance unequal cultural outcomes. For example, the goal of a unifying, democratizing public school system has always been subverted by economic inequality. In general (with few exceptions), the better schools cost more to attend. The tutors needed to help struggling students are affordable for the rich but less so for everyone else. The children of the wealthy get the private schools, books, quiet rooms, computers, educational trips, extra art and music lessons, and virtually everything else needed for higher educational achievement.
Unequal economic distributions finance unequal “natural” outcomes. The U.S. now displays two differently priced foods. Rich people can afford “organic” while the rest of us worry but still buy “conventional” food for budget reasons. Countless studies indicate the dangers of herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, food processing methods, and additives. Nonetheless, the two-price food system delivers the better, safer food more to the rich than to everyone else. Likewise, the rich buy the safer automobiles, more safely equip their homes, and clean and filter the water they drink and the air they breathe. No wonder the rich live years longer on average than other people. Inequality is often fatal, not just during pandemics.
In ancient Greece, Plato and Aristotle worried about and discussed the threat to community, to social cohesion, posed by inequalities of wealth and income. They criticized markets as institutions because, in their view, markets facilitated and aggravated income and wealth inequalities. But modern capitalism sanctifies markets and has thus conveniently forgotten Plato’s and Aristotle’s cautions and warnings about markets and inequality.
The thousands of years since Plato and Aristotle have seen countless critiques, reforms, and revolutions directed against wealth and income inequalities. They have rarely succeeded and have even more rarely persisted. Pessimists have responded, as the Bible does, with the notion that “the poor shall always be with us.” We rather ask the question: Why did so many heroic efforts at equality fail?
The answer concerns the economic system, and how it organizes the people who work to produce and distribute the goods and services societies depend on. If its economic organization splits participants into a small rich minority and a large non-rich majority, the former will likely be determined to reproduce that organization over time. Slavery (master versus slave) did; feudalism (lord versus serf) did; and capitalism (employer versus employee) does. Inequality in the economy is a root cause contributing to society-wide inequalities.
We might then infer that an alternative economic system based on a democratically organized community producing goods and services—not split into a dominant minority and a subordinate majority—might finally end social inequality.
By Alys Samson Estapé, August 3, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/15-lessons-from-15-years-of-bds/
July Marked The 15th Anniversary Of The Launch Of The Boycott, Divestment And Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
Much has happened over those years. Here are 15 lessons I’ve learned on the journey to dismantle Israeli apartheid.
A Grassroots Movement Is Powerful Because It Is Grassroots
Anyone who adheres to the BDS principles can join the movement. This empowers and enables everyone to effect extraordinary changes.
The BDS movement speaks directly to people of conscience who understand that by not acting they are allowing states, companies, artists, institutions, universities and businesses to remain complicit and fuel Israeli apartheid.
Joining and taking action allows each one of us to take responsibility and make sure we are at the very least not contributing to harming the Palestinian people. It allows us to speak out and mobilize others to take action too.
The power of the equality that grassroots mobilization brings to politics and the community is instrumental in making every single member give their best and take ownership. No single person in the movement is more important than anyone else. This powers collective leadership.
We Don’t Work With Everyone Who Works On Palestinian Freedom
Unfortunately there are still those who stand up for freedom for the Palestinian people but do not care about the rights and dignity of other discriminated and oppressed groups.
Our deep commitment to anti-racism and intersectionality means we do not liaise with just anyone who agrees on Palestinian rights unless they also respect and support rights and dignity for all. We cannot build and fight for a new world while agreeing to oppress others.
Think Small To Win Big
Every little success matters. Small victories can help in reaching a much larger aim.
Getting a small pension fund to divest from the weapons firm Elbit Systems can contribute to discussion of the need for a military embargo against Israel. This small pension fund can encourage others to follow suit.
As we tackle local issues, we must remember the global picture and how being part of a global movement means that what happens somewhere can affect the movement as a whole, positively and negatively.
BDS Is Also About Correcting The Narrative
The BDS movement has already contributed to mainstreaming awareness of the fact that Israel is an apartheid regime.
Why is this so important? In a world with such biased media and even schoolbooks that are still deeply embedded in a colonial narrative, it is essential we take time to clarify reality.
When calling for a boycott or organizing a campaign, we must always remember how doing so helps to clearly explain what Palestinians are facing and how injustice is taking place. Even campaigns that may not reach their objective can contribute to explaining what is happening on the ground and what the Palestinian people are calling for, and to raising awareness about Israel’s regime of disposession and colonization.
BDS Supports The Largest Coalition Of Palestinian Civil Society Groups
The fact that we support Palestinian rights does not mean that we know best what Palestinians should do, and it does not give us a free pass to say whatever we want. Moreover, when facing attacks, we must defend our right to freedom of expression in a manner that centers Palestinians and keeps the focus on the crimes perpetrated by Israel against them.
We must remember that, by defending the right to freedom of expression, we are defending the right of Palestinians to make their experience and views heard – directly or through us – by the public and decision makers in our country.
Privilege Palestinian Voices
Earlier this month, Rafeef Ziadah and Riya Al’sanah wrote how “it is worth reflecting on why Palestinians are treated as mere spectators in debates concerning our daily lives.”
While the BDS movement calls on allies around the world to take action, Palestinians have a clear, pivotal role. When this isn’t happening, it means we are doing something wrong.
We must keep on decolonizing our actions and make sure Palestinians are being heard and that we take guidance from them while organizing in the BDS movement.
BDS Has To Be Part Of The Struggle For A Just And Free World
Our oppressors are more connected than ever.
At a time when the right and the far-right are gaining power in many institutions worldwide, the left and progressive groups and movements have the opportunity and duty to rethink themselves and to create stronger, more solid and inclusive movements. We must make sure Palestine is a part of that.
We also must be more connected than ever.
Everywhere You Look You Will Find Allies
We have often been surprised to find allies where we wouldn’t expect them. We usually have more allies than we think.
To connect to them we must consider different approaches, language and context-sensitivity. We must ask ourselves, are we helping the movement grow? Are we empowering others to join?
The World Changes And So Do We
“The BDS movement has shown itself to be highly adept at pivoting to new strategies and building influential alliances. There continue to be numerous arenas in which it faces little effective resistance.” These are the words of Asher Fredman, who used to work with Israel’s strategic affairs ministry.
We must learn from other liberation struggles, while bearing in mind that times and political relations change.
While the BDS movement is highly inspired by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the world is very different from how it looked 30 years ago.
We should not look for patterns to copy, but politically analyze the present and adapt to new times. This means continuing to learn, grow and use the best opportunities in a changing context.
Stick To The Principles
Like all social movements, the BDS movement is facing severe and sustained attacks. Israel’s government and its lobby groups are regularly attacking and smearing us in an attempt to delegitimize our struggle.
We must not let their attacks shape our plans; strategizing and sticking to our anti-discrimination principles and our proactive and effective campaigning are what protect us the most.
While they seek to distract us from our target, the most powerful thing we can do is to keep on working for Palestinian rights. The best way to defend our right to boycott is to keep on boycotting while mobilizing mass support for our right to freedom of expression.
Supporting Our Allies Is A Matter Of Principle
Solidarity is not unidirectional. At all times we must take responsibility and reject any form of racism, sexism, LGTB-phobia, and any other form of discrimination or bigotry within the movement.
While we call on others to support Palestinian rights, we must show support for other struggles too. Palestine is an Indigenous, anti-racist, feminist, LGTBQAI+, anti-fascist and climate justice issue, and this makes all these struggles crucial to ensuring Palestinian self-determination.
Social Movements Have Always Been Repressed
The Israeli government and its supporters spend hundreds of millions of dollars on criminalizing and persecuting the BDS movement and groups in solidarity with Palestine.
But this cannot be understood as something unique or isolated. Social movements have always been repressed by those seeking to maintain injustice and oppression.
Activists everywhere have been imprisoned for criticizing governments, and many calls for justice are being repressed in the streets and online. Let us not forget that those most oppressed by the Israeli government are always the Palestinians.
Never Underestimate Creativity
Using different tactics helps us reach a broader audience. As racism, sexism and disaster capitalism adapt and reconfigure, finding different ways to keep on oppressing, we must also keep on finding creative new ways to engage with others and accomplish our goals.
Political resistance can be beautiful too.
The Most Important Actions Happen Behind The Scenes
Holding events, lectures, protests and public activities are crucial to show and visualize support for Palestinian rights. But talking to people, organizing, doing research, building alliances and strengthening relations all happen behind closed doors and are what enable us to then go public.
We should never forget how important it is to plan, foster relationships and carefully organize to then build our campaigns.
Hope Is A Political Tool
It is incredible how many cities and cultural spaces have declared themselves “apartheid free zones,” how many companies have divested from Israeli apartheid, how many artists have decided not to play in Israel and how many academics have ended relationships with Israeli institutions as a result of BDS campaigns.
Yet it is often difficult to keep our hopes up while knowing that Israeli apartheid is the cruelest it has ever been, knowing ongoing Palestinian pain and suffering, and seeing Israel maintain its impunity despite its televised crimes. But we keep on struggling and growing because we know that justice can and will prevail.
Fifteen years on, and during a time of global uprising against an entire system of racist exploitation and oppression, the BDS movement continues learning, adapting and growing, making connections, and exposing and challenging Israeli apartheid.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200803092123.htm
One of the immune system's oldest branches, called complement, may be influencing the severity of COVID disease, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Among other findings linking complement to COVID, the researchers found that people with age-related macular degeneration -- a disorder caused by overactive complement -- are at greater risk of developing severe complications and dying from COVID.
The connection with complement suggests that existing drugs that inhibit the complement system could help treat patients with severe disease.
The study was published on Aug. 3 in Nature Medicine.
The authors also found evidence that clotting activity is linked to COVID severity and that mutations in certain complement and coagulation genes are associated with hospitalization of COVID patients.
"Together these results provide important insights into the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and paint a picture for the role of complement and coagulation pathways in determining clinical outcomes of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2," says Sagi Shapira, PhD, MPH, who led the study with Nicholas Tatonetti, PhD, both professors at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Findings Stem from Study of Coronavirus Mimicry
The idea to investigate the role of coagulation and complement in COVID began with a sweeping survey of viral mimicry across all viruses on earth -- over 7,000 in all.
"Viruses have proteins that can mimic certain host proteins to trick the host's cells into aiding the virus with completing its life cycle," Shapira says. "Beyond the fundamental biological questions that we were interested in addressing, based on our previous work and the work of others, we suspected that identifying those mimics could provide clues about how viruses cause disease."
Coronaviruses, the survey found, are masters of mimicry, particularly with proteins involved in coagulation and proteins that make up complement, one of the oldest branches of the human immune system.
Complement proteins work a bit like antibodies and help eliminate pathogens by sticking to viruses and bacteria and marking them for destruction. Complement can also increase coagulation and inflammation in the body. "Unchecked, these systems can also be quite detrimental," says Shapira.
"The new coronavirus -- by mimicking complement or coagulation proteins -- might drive both systems into a hyperactive state."
Macular Degeneration Associated with Greater COVID Mortality
If complement and coagulation influence severity of COVID, people with pre-existing hyperactive complement or coagulation disorders should be more susceptible to the virus.
That led Shapira and Tatonetti to look at COVID patients with macular degeneration, an eye disease caused by overactive complement, as well as common coagulation disorders like thrombosis and hemorrhage.
Among 11,000 COVID patients who came to Columbia University Irving Medical Center with suspected COVID-19, the researchers found that over 25% of those with age-related macular degeneration died, compared to the average mortality rate of 8.5%, and roughly 20% required intubation. The greater mortality and intubation rates could not be explained by differences in the age or sex of the patients.
"Complement is also more active in obesity and diabetes," Shapira says, "and may help explain, at least in part, why people with those conditions also have a greater mortality risk from COVID."
People with a history of coagulation disorders also were at increased risk of dying from COVID infection.
Coagulation and Complement Pathways Activated
The researchers then examined how gene activity differed in people infected with the coronavirus.
That analysis revealed a signature in COVID-infected patients indicating that the virus engages and induces robust activation of the body's complement and coagulation systems.
"We found that complement is one of the most differentially expressed pathways in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients," Tatonetti says. "As part of the immune system, you would expect to see complement activated, but it seems over and above what you'd see in other infections like the flu."
Some Coagulation and Complement Genes are Associated with Hospitalization
More evidence linking severe COVID with coagulation and complement comes from a genetic analysis of thousands of COVID patients from the U.K. Biobank, which contains medical records and genetic data on half a million people.
The authors found that variants of several genes that influence complement or coagulation activity are associated with more severe COVID symptoms that required hospitalization.
"These variants are not necessarily going to determine someone's outcome," Shapira says. "But this finding is another line of evidence that complement and coagulation pathways participate in the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19."
Targeting Coagulation and Complement
Physicians treating COVID patients have noticed coagulation issues since the beginning of the pandemic, and several clinical trials are underway to determine the best way to use existing anti-coagulation treatments.
Complement inhibitors are currently used in relatively rare diseases, but at least one clinical trial is testing the idea with COVID patients.
"I think our findings provide a stronger foundation for the idea that coagulation and complement play a role in COVID," Tatonetti says, "and will hopefully inspire others to evaluate this hypothesis and see if it's something that can be useful for fighting the ongoing pandemic."
More Information
The study, "Immune complement and coagulation functions in adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection," was published on Aug. 3, 2020, in Nature Medicine.
Other authors: Vijendra Ramlall (Columbia University Irving Medical Center), Phyllis M. Thangaraj (CUIMC) Cem Meydan (CUIMC and Weill Cornell Medicine) Jonathan Foox (WCM), Daniel Butler (WCM), Ben May (CUIMC), Jessica K. De Freitas (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), Benjamin S. Glicksberg (Icahn/Mount Sinai), and Christopher E. Mason (WCM.
This work was supported by the NIH (grants 5R01GM109018, 5U54CA209997, R35GM131905, F30HL140946, S10OD012351, S10OD021764, R21AI129851, R01MH117406, and R01AI151059), Scientific Computing Unit, XSEDE Supercomputing Resources, the Starr Cancer Consortium (I13-0052), WorldQuant Foundation, The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, and NASA (NNX14AH50G, NNX17AB26
Story Source:
Materials provided by Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Vijendra Ramlall, Phyllis M. Thangaraj, Cem Meydan, Jonathan Foox, Daniel Butler, Jacob Kim, Ben May, Jessica K. De Freitas, Benjamin S. Glicksberg, Christopher E. Mason, Nicholas P. Tatonetti, Sagi D. Shapira. Immune complement and coagulation dysfunction in adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nature Medicine, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1021-2
"One hundred fifty thousand coronavirus deaths, 30 million without an unemployment lifeline, five million newly uninsured, 14 million children going hungry. But Trump is too busy playing golf and boasting about the stock market."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/03/sanders-rips-trump-obscene-boasting-over-stock-market-30-million-americans-face
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday slammed President Donald Trump for bragging on Twitter about the booming stock market just days after Republican inaction allowed the $600-per-week boost in unemployment benefits to expire, slashing the incomes of nearly 30 million Americans as the economy remains mired in deep recession.
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump hailed the "record high Nasdaq" and warned "it would all come crashing down, including your Jobs, Stocks, and 401k's, if Sleepy Joe [Biden] ever became president.""One hundred fifty thousand coronavirus deaths, 30 million without an unemployment lifeline, five million newly uninsured, 14 million children going hungry," Sanders tweeted. "But Trump is too busy playing golf and boasting about the stock market. Obscene."
The president didn't mention that the jobless rate under his leadership is already at historic highs—last week marked the 19th consecutive week that "unemployment claims have been more than twice the worst week of the Great Recession," according to the Economic Policy Institute.
"Tweeting this during the worst economic downturn in 70 years, a housing, hunger, and healthcare crisis, and days after extended [unemployment insurance] benefits expired because of the Senate GOP, is both shameful and shameless," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) wrote in response to the president's boast.
Trump's tweet came as the prospect of a deal between Democratic negotiators and the White House to extend the enhanced unemployment benefits at any level appeared as slim as ever.
The Washington Post reported that with relief talks at an impasse, "the Trump administration is looking at options for unilateral actions it can take to try to address some of the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic."
"It's not clear what steps the administration could take without the help of Congress on issues such as lapsed enhanced unemployment benefits or the expired moratorium on evictions," the Post noted.
Many congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have shown little interest in extending the boosted unemployment benefits even as coronavirus cases continue to surge and tens of millions of Americans struggle to afford food and rent.
The American Prospect's David Dayen argued Monday that the GOP's lack of urgency in the middle of worsening public health and economic crises stems from the fact that Republicans already secured the bailout they really wanted in March, when Congress approved a $4.5 trillion "slush fund" for big corporations.
"The suffering on Wall Street has been lifted," Dayen wrote. "On the day that expanded unemployment benefits expired last Friday, the stock market rose. It's back up again today. As we know, this is the cause of an ironclad vow from the Federal Reserve to do whatever it takes to protect asset prices, and a $4.5 trillion money cannon facilitated by Congress to back up the promise."
"The corporate bailout was the rescue Republicans wanted," Dayen added. "It was valuable to them and they were willing to give up a lot to get it. Democrats secured some pretty good terms but they were all temporary, and now they've mostly expired. The Fed money cannon, you will note, has not."
"Trump and his allies have always been motivated by partisanship, even at the expense of American lives."
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Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/03/trump-proclaims-nevada-has-made-it-impossible-gop-win-expanding-voting-rights-during
In a Monday morning tweet attacking Nevada's proposed expansion of mail-in voting as "an illegal late night coup," President Donald Trump once again openly admitted that increasing access to the ballot amid the Covid-19 pandemic poses a dire threat to the Republican Party's ability to win elections.
"Nevada's clubhouse governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state," Trump wrote, referring to the Nevada State Senate's passage Sunday of legislation that would send every active registered voter a mail-in ballot ahead of the November elections. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill.
"Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation," continued Trump, whose administration, critics warn, is currently attempting to sabotage and undermine the U.S. Postal Service.
"Using Covid to steal the state," the president added. "See you in Court!"
As Common Dreams reported in May, the Republican National Committee and right-wing advocacy groups are spending millions on lawsuits combating state efforts to expand mail-in ballot access as a safe alternative to in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's incredible that the president of the United States keeps openly saying that the only way that he and his political allies can keep their grip on power is by making it harder for large swaths of the population to vote," said Robert Maguire, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Trump's tweet Monday was just his latest baseless attack on vote-by-mail expansion, which the president has repeatedly claimed—without evidence—will lead to a surge in voter fraud and cost him the presidential race.
Contradicting the narrative pushed by the president and the GOP, Nevada's Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske told state lawmakers last week that her office is not aware of any voter fraud from the state's June primary, which was conducted largely by mail.
William McCurdy II, chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, said in a statement Sunday that Trump's "protestations against mail-in voting represent an utterly hypocritical attempt to deny Nevadans the same rights" he and members of his administration have exercised repeatedly in past elections.
"Trump and his allies have always been motivated by partisanship, even at the expense of American lives," said McCurdy. "That he would threaten Nevada Democrats' work to protect voting access through a crisis of his own making is both despicable and par for the course. But Democrats will not be intimidated. We stand with Nevadans and will do the necessary work to ensure every eligible voter can participate easily and safely in what will surely be the most important election in a lifetime."
"Inflicting suffering on tens of millions of Americans by cutting unemployment benefits because of an anecdotal 'some cases' argument that has been refuted again and again is a stupid way to make policy."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/03/trumps-millionaire-treasury-secretary-uses-debunked-gop-talking-point-justify
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday recycled a debunked right-wing talking point to justify the GOP's proposal to cut by more than half the $600-per-week federal boost in unemployment benefits that expired at the end of last week, depriving around 30 million Americans of a key economic lifeline as joblessness remains at historic levels.
In an appearance on ABC's "This Week," Mnuchin claimed "there's no question" that the $600 weekly boost in unemployment insurance (UI) created a disincentive to work.
As a counterpoint, the Treasury Secretary cited a "Chicago study"—apparently referring to May research from the University of Chicago showing that under the $600-per-week boost, 68% of unemployed workers who were eligible for UI could have received benefits that exceeded their previous work income. That study, however, did not examine whether the benefits created a disincentive for the unemployed to seek work.When host Martha Raddatz pointed to a recent Yale study that found "no evidence that more generous benefits disincentivized work," Mnuchin responded, "I went to Yale, I agree on certain things, I don't always agree."
"There are cases where people are overpaid," said Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker whose net worth is estimated to be around $400 million.
The $600 weekly payment amounts to around what a worker would earn working 40 hours per week at a $15-an-hour wage. The fact that some workers earned more under the enhanced unemployment benefits than they did from their jobs makes the case for raising wages, not cutting benefits, progressives have argued.
Senate Republicans have proposed cutting the $600 weekly boost to $200—a $1,600 monthly benefit cut for tens of millions of people.
In response to Mnuchin's remarks, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) tweeted that "inflicting suffering on tens of millions of Americans by cutting unemployment benefits because of an anecdotal 'some cases' argument that has been refuted again and again by studies of actual data is a stupid way to make policy."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed Mnuchin for wanting to to "slash $600 a week in unemployment benefits for 30 million workers who lost jobs" while supporting "the continuation of a $500 billion slush fund for corporations."
"The Trump administration loves socialism for the rich, unfettered capitalism for everyone else," said Sanders.
The $600-per-week increase in unemployment benefits expired on Friday as Republican and Democratic negotiators failed to reach an agreement to extend the payments—even amid dire warnings that a lapse could lead to a surge in evictions, increased hunger, and massive job loss.
Mnuchin on Sunday touted the White House's offer of a one-week extension of the $600 payments, but Democratic congressional leaders and other critics dismissed the proposal as a "sham" given that it would likely take weeks for states to distribute the payments.
"They proposed it after it was too late to prevent a benefits lapse," tweeted HuffPost's Arthur Delaney. "The last checks had already gone out. State workforce agencies have thoroughly demonstrated they don't do policy changes on a dime. Republicans opposed the $600 from before anyone received their first check and they made sure the benefits stopped."
Democratic leaders met with Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Saturday for a rare weekend discussion as the two sides remain far apart on key priorities for the next Covid-19 stimulus package, from unemployment benefits to additional aid for state and local governments.
In a Dear Colleague letter on Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) described the weekend meeting as "more productive than our previous discussions" but added that no agreement was reached.
"This is a very different kind of negotiation, because of what is at stake," Pelosi wrote. "Millions of children are food insecure, millions of families are at risk of eviction, and for the nineteenth straight week, over one million Americans applied for unemployment insurance... All parties must understand the gravity of the situation in order to reach an agreement that protects Americans' lives, livelihoods, and the life of our democracy."
