By Adrienne Fong

Not back posting on a regular basis.

Things are happening very rapidly in the Middle East – Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen etc….

RESOURCES:

 UPDATES WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

Center On Conscience and War: 800-379-2679 (toll free) In Washington DC

Home

  – Share these numbers to people who know active duty service members

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar: ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. 2 Years ago today, 26 Bay Area community members were arrested for taking direct action on the GG Bridge – April 15, 2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXKHmRFlH67/?hl=en

       – Message: “…we refuse to let our tax dollars fund the genocide in Gaza…”

   See event # 2

B. “Scorched-Earth Campaign”: Israel Uses “Gaza Playbook” to Turn Southern Lebanon into Rubble– April 15, 2026

“Scorched-Earth Campaign”: Israel Uses “Gaza Playbook” to Turn Southern Lebanon into Rubble | Democracy Now!

C. The largest ever Gaza aid flotilla has set sail from Barcelona.April 13, 2026⁣

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXFnw_TASjm/?hl=en

   70+ boats have set sail to GAZA

D. Chelsea Manning and Hari Nef Arrested at Anti-War Protest  – April 13, 2026

https://www.them.us/story/chelsea-manning-and-hari-nef-arrested-at-anti-war-protest

E. Second Contractor Steps Forward to Blow the Whistle on Israeli Attacks at Gaza Aid Site – April 13, 2026

Second Contractor Steps Forward to Blow the Whistle on Israeli Attacks at Gaza Aid Site

F. ‘Everything is gone’” Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon

‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon | Lebanon | The Guardian

G. Map of California data centers: See where projects are operating or planned near you – April 11,2026

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2026/ca-data-center-map/

   See Petition  #7

H. “Solidarity is not a crime.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXBdFkcDq-e/?hl=en

I. Trump Reportedly Agreed to Include Lebanon in Ceasefire But Lied About It Anyway – April 10, 2026

Trump Reportedly Agreed to Include Lebanon in Ceasefire But Lied About It Anyway | Truthout 

J. DNC Panel Rejects Resolution Condemning AIPAC’s Spending on Elections – April 9, 2026

DNC Panel Rejects Resolution Condemning AIPAC’s Spending on Elections | Common Dreams

K. ‘Shameful’: $4,049 of Average US Taxpayer’s Bill Last Year Went to War and Weaponry  – April 9, 2026

‘Shameful’: $4,049 of Average US Taxpayer’s Bill Last Year Went to War and Weaponry | Common Dreams

See Event # 2

L. Why is the City Attorney’s Office ‘investigating’ a leaked document? It’s unprecedented and alarming = April 9, 2026

Why is the City Attorney’s Office ‘investigating’ a leaked document? It’s unprecedented and alarming

M. Israel moves toward executing Palestinian children – April 8, 2026

Israel moves toward executing Palestinian children | Arab News

  See Events  # 4 & 6

N. After Trump fired him, S.F. immigration judge went to see the border for himself – April 3, 2026

After Trump fired him, S.F. immigration judge went to see the border for himself

O. Trump asks for $152 million to rebuild Alcatraz and reopen it as a prison  – april 3, 2026

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/trump-asks-152-million-rebuild-alcatraz-reopen-22187580.php

9 PETITIONS 

1. Block Trump from sending 20,000 bombs to Israel and end the war on Iran!

MAKE CALLS TODAY: Block Trump from sending 20,000 bombs to Israel and end the war on Iran! | Demand Progress

Capitol Senate Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 

Senator Alex Padilla

  (415) 981-9369 – SF

  (202) 224-3553 – DC

Senator Adam Schiff

  (415) 393-0707 – SF

  (202) 224-3841 – DC

2. Block the Sale of Bombs and Bulldozers to the Israeli Government

  SIGN: Block the Sale of Bombs and Bulldozers to the Israeli Government | Win Without War

3. REJECT Trump’s massive $1.5 trillion military budget!

  SIGN: REJECT Trump’s massive $1.5 trillion military budget! | Demand Progress

4. No Death Penalty for Palestinians

  SIGN: Avaaz – No death penalty for Palestinians!

5. Block Trump’s persecution of protestors and political opponents under NSPM-7!

  SIGN: Block Trump’s persecution of protestors and political opponents under NSPM-7! | Demand Progress  

6. Tell Congress: Protect Haitian TPS Holders

  SIGN: Tell Congress: Protect Haitian TPS Holders | National Domestic Workers Alliance

7. Pause permits and construction of data centers

  SIGN: Pause permits and construction of data centers!

8. CONGRESS: Don’t Means Test Social Security!

  SIGN: CONGRESS: Don’t Means Test Social Security! National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

9. Elder Neighbor Battling Cancer Faces Eviction

  SIGN: Petition · Elder Neighbor Battling Cancer Faces Eviction – San Francisco, United States · Change.org

    This is regarding Jackie Barshak – Please consider signing.

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Wednesday, April 15 – Sunday, April 19

Wednesday, April 15

TAX DAY

1. Wednesday, 12Noon – 1:00pm, SF Public Workers Rally Against SF Mayor Lurie Layoffs At SF General

In front of Bld 25 at roundabout
SF General Hospital
SF

S.F. to close 3 health clinics amid budget cuts, including longtime youth centers
https://missionlocal.org/2026/04/dph-cuts-sf-youth-clinics-huckleberry-larkin/
Workers at Haight and Tenderloin youth clinics, and senior mental health clinic, report closures

Organizer: SEIU 1021

Info: SF Public Workers Rally Against SF Mayor Lurie Layoffs At SF General : Indybay

2. Wednesday, 4:30pm, Our Taxes Their Wars: Stop Funding ICE, EMPIRE & GENOCIDE

Zionist Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF

On Wednesday, April 15 at 4:30pm, gather at the Zionist consulate (456 Montgomery Street #2100, San Francisco) to protest the use of our tax dollars to fund wars, genocide, and the detention of immigrants.

Our taxes should serve our communities, not fuel militarism, imperialist agendas, or the inhumane practices of ICE. This action is a call to challenge systemic violence, raise our voices in solidarity, and take action against ongoing atrocities funded with our taxes.

Info: Our Taxes, Their Wars: Stop Funding ICE, Empire, and Genocide : Indybay

Thursday, April 16

3. Thursday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, Tell Target To STAND UP TO ICE!

Metreon Target: 789 Mission Street.

Meet on the sidewalk by the Mission Street entrance.
SF 

Tell Target: We will boycott until they Stand Up To ICE!

Join us to say: Until Target acts to protect its workers and guests from ICE, we will not shop at Target!
We will hold signs, hand out flyers, and explain why we must all boycott Target until they Stand Up To ICE!
Bring a sign if you have one.

Info: Tell Target To STAND UP TO ICE! : Indybay

Friday, April 17

4. Friday, 9:00am- 10:30am (PT); 12:00Noon – 1:30pm (ET), They Tried to Silence Us: Personal Stories of Political Imprisonment

Online
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/they-tried-to-silence-us-personal-stories-of-political-imprisonment

The voices of Palestinian prisoners are critical– now more than ever.

Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, observed annually on April 17, is a national day dedicated to supporting the liberation of Palestinians held in Israeli detention, advocating for their rights, and acknowledging their role in the national struggle for freedom.

This Prisoner’s Day, hear from journalist and former political prisoner Lama Ghosheh about her story and her work to tell these important stories under severe repression.

For more information: https://www.eyewitnesspalestine.org/

Info: They Tried to Silence Us: Personal Stories of Political Imprisonment : Indybay

5. Friday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm, “Steal This Story, Please!” Film: Reporter Amy Goodman & Democracy Now! 30th Anniversary

Roxie Theater
3125 16th Street
SF

Documentary on Independent Media & News Career of Reporter Amy Goodman

Friday, April 17 at 6:00 PM
Oscar®-Nominated filmmaker Tia Lessin IN PERSON!
Co-Presented by SF Independent Media Coalition

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 6:15 PM

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 3:40 PM

Amy Goodman takes on soldiers, politicians, and corporate media in a fearless pursuit of truth.

Undeterred by armed soldiers, smooth-talking politicians, and riot police, journalist Amy Goodman has reported some of the most consequential stories of our time. Steal This Story, Please! is a gripping portrait of the trailblazer whose unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history. From the frontlines of global conflicts to the organized chaos of her daily news show Democracy Now!, Goodman broadcasts stories and voices routinely silenced by commercial media.

Directed by Carl Deal & Tia Lessin. Featuring Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman, David Isay, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Jeremy Scahill & Nermeen Shaikh.

For more information: https://roxie.com/film/steal-this-story-pl…

Info: “Steal This Story, Please!” Film: Reporter Amy Goodman & Democracy Now! 30th Anniversary : Indybay

Saturday, April 18

6. Saturday, 10:00am (PT); 1:00pm (ET), End the Medical Apartheid in Israeli Prisons! Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya! Free Them All!

Register: Webinar Registration – Zoom

In honor of Palestinian Political Prisoners day, USPCN alongside Doctors Against Genocide and Healthcare Workers for Palestine are hosting an online webinar to hear directly from Palestinian doctors and former political prisoners on their first hand experiences of working within the healthcare system in Gaza under genocide and inside the prisons.

Info: End the Medical Apartheid in Israeli Prisons! Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya! Free Them All! : Indybay

7. Saturday, 11:30am, – 1:00pm, Earth Day Protest: “Energy From Heaven” Human Banner at Sunny Ocean Beach SF

Ocean Beach – Stairwell 17
1000 Great Hwy
SF 

Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblesf/event/933311/

There is free public parking at and around Ocean Beach, but a large crowd can quickly fill that. There is also free public parking in the western end of Golden Gate Park, but this too becomes crowded during events. People sometimes report having walked twenty minutes to reach Stairwell 17. Best to arrive early.

You need to arrive AT the beach no later than 11:30 in order for us to all be in position for the airborne photography (drones, possibly a helicopter) that will begin at noon. The event will conclude by 1:00 pm, possibly much sooner.

Join thousands of earth-loving people and faith leaders from across the Bay for an “Energy From Heaven!” banner on Ocean Beach on the Saturday before Earth Day (April 18th).

The team at Human Banner-SF (https://humanbanner-sf.com/) and the interfaith coalition GreenFaith (https://greenfaith.org/about-us/) are combining to spread a powerful message:

Our energy should not come from poisonous fossil fuels that compel countries into the hell-on-earth of war, but arrive freely, in endless, clean abundance via sun and wind from the skies above us.

Info: Earth Day Protest: “Energy From Heaven” Human Banner at Sunny Ocean Beach SF : Indybay

8. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)

Van Ness & O’Farrell (corner)
SF 

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community

What you can do:
• If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend.
• If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em!

Host: Indivisible SF

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

Sunday, April 19

9. Sunday, 11:00am, Oakland Arms Embargo – Mass Meeting

Islamic Cultural Center of Northern CA –
 1433 Madison St.
 Oakland

 (Child care will be provided)

Get killer cargo out of Oakland!

Want to be involved in the Oakland Arms Embargo Campaign but don’t know how? Join us on April 19 to learn more about the status of the campaign and how you can be a part of this critical fight!

It has been 8 months since the release of our report exposing Oakland’s shipments to the Israeli military. We have garnered thousands of petition signatures, hundreds of endorsements, and mobilized sectors ranging from labor to community organizations. As we continue to build momentum and support for the campaign, we need you to join on. It’s our responsibility to do everything in our power to advance the struggle for an arms embargo in Oakland! 

Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWo11jQFG87/?hl=en

(whowhatwhy.org)

by Randy Shaw on April 13, 2026 (BeyondChron.org)

Shifting Away from Permanent Supportive Housing

San Francisco will soon announce plans to “decommission” four city-funded permanent supportive housing sites. The city plans to reveal specifics by April 30 but it appears the Lurie Administration is more focused on scaling back permanent supportive housing than expanding it.

That’s a monumental shift in San Francisco’s homeless strategy.

Since the late 1980’s San Francisco has prioritized providing permanent housing for the unhoused. The Lurie Administration is quietly moving away from this, Its shift in city homeless strategy reflects both economic and ideological factors.

I’ve been involved in running housing programs for the unhoused since 1988. Here’s my thoughts on the city’s new direction.

What it Means to “Reduce” Homelessness

People are “homeless” who lack permanent homes. That’s why those staying in shelters or moving from sofa to sofa every few days or weeks are “homeless” despite having a temporary roof over their head. Transitional housing only reduces homelessness if residents have the opportunity to transition to a permanent home.

When widespread visible homelessness began in 1982, San Francisco’s Mayor Feinstein saw it as temporary. She refused to invest in permanent affordable housing for the unhoused. The city instead spent hundreds of millions of dollars for the unhoused to stay one to three nights in SRO hotels. The mayor’s hotline hotel program was a disaster.

Feinstein also invested heavily in shelters. As many of us argued to her until she left office in 1988, shelters that fail to lead to permanent exits from homelessness are not reducing the crisis.

Mayor Art Agnos understood that reducing homelessness required providing affordable homes. Agnos backed the closing of the hotline. He shifted to a permanent housing Modified Payment Program (MPP) strategy conceived by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which I head. The MPP got permanent housing for the over 1000 people who previously only got short-term hotel stays via the hotline.

Agnos soon confronted a problem every big city mayor has since felt: the lack of federal money for affordable housing. Reagan’s 1981 HUD budget cuts devastated affordable housing funding. HUD has never served anywhere near the percentage of eligible families it helped prior to 1981. Yet the public expects big-city mayors to solve homelessness without the federal funds necessary to do so.

Lurie’s Quiet Shift

Mayors Brown, Newsom, Lee and Breed all expanded permanent supportive housing (hereafter PSH) through master leasing to nonprofits. Newsom’s voter-backed Care Not Cash brought in millions of dollars for PSH. I laid out the success of this strategy last November. See “Permanent Supportive Housing is a Rousing Success.”

The Lurie Administration does not dispute this success. But it believes it is not economically sustainable.

That’s a tough conclusion to accept. But it’s understandable in the short-term. San Francisco’s PSH strategy provides lifetime rent subsidies to thousands of indigent residents. Since the Board of Supervisors lowered all PSH rents to 30% of a tenant’s income, San Francisco is effectively using general fund money to run a local Section 8 program for thousands.

Lurie took office after Mayor Breed made some ill-advised multi-million-dollar SRO purchases via the state’s Project Homekey. The city patted itself on the back for taking advantage of the state picking up 50% of the cost. But the city vastly overpaid for some of these projects. This includes a former youth hostel at 685 Ellis and the Granada and Gotham Hotels. These huge purchases tied up Prop C money that could have housed hundreds and potentially thousands more through master leasing.

These purchases, combined with the city’s budget deficit and Trump’s attempts to further slash HUD, sharply reduced Lurie’s short-term options. Yet Lurie has kept using 685 Ellis as a shelter despite it being purchased for the express purpose of PSH.

The most economically viable strategy for expanding PSH is step-up housing. Step-up housing moves longterm SRO residents into higher quality SRO’s with less support services, significantly saving costs.

But Prop C funds cannot be used for the formerly homeless (only the currently unhoused). This led the Breed Administration to stop acquiring step-up housing. To revive this effective strategy Mayor Lurie should consider legislation expanding Prop C’s reach.

Lurie Favors Treatment, Shelters Over Permanent Housing

Lurie ran for mayor vowing to add 1500 shelter beds. I’m glad he abandoned that plan, which would represent a massive misuse of funds. But the mayor sees investing in treatment and shelters as a higher priority than expanding permanent supportive housing.

Treatment is the name of the game in Daniel Lurie’s San Francisco. Everyone supports the city helping addicts recover.

But treatment unconnected to permanent housing does not reduce homelessness. That’s a point often missed. Graduates of the Salvation Army hotel programs that have gotten virtually all of the new SRO money under Lurie are not assured of a permanent place to live when their program ends.

Some graduates of recovery programs find jobs and get housing on their own. But I doubt most can afford market rate housing in expensive San Francisco.

This means taxpayers are investing in treatment for those unlikely to remain in the city. In contrast, the beneficiaries of permanent supportive housing remain San Francisco residents. And they are no longer homeless.

I’ve suggested to the city that they open a permanent-drug free hotel where residents would be limited to two-year stays as at the Salvation Army but would be guaranteed PSH in another building after graduation. This interim housing model would ensure that those receiving funding for treatment get to stay in San Francisco if they choose.

Shelters were designed as short-term, transitional facilities. They are supposed to lead people to permanent housing. If the city is no longer providing shelter residents with exits to housing, the millions spent on navigation centers and shelters is not reducing homelessness.

Is San Francisco Done Expanding PSH?

As one of the earliest advocates for master leasing permanent supportive housing, I never imagined the city would stop expanding it. It’s far and away San Francisco’s best strategy for housing the unhoused.

But what if San Francisco cannot afford further expansion?  And what if the public has gotten tired of providing longterm rent subsidies to the unhoused without seeing a meaningful decline in the overall homeless numbers?

I don’t hear the public blaming Mayor Lurie for not housing more unhoused. As the vast majority of sidewalk drug-users now refuse shelters or housing, people don’t blame the mayor for failing to expand housing options.

So what is San Francisco’s homeless strategy in 2026?

To quietly reduce its longtime commitment to expanding PSH while shifting money to treatment. Permanent supportive drug free housing remains on hold until city finances improve.

The Lurie Administration will make it appear that San Francisco is as committed as ever to housing the unhoused—all while stopping PSH’s expansion. And reducing opportunities for the unhoused to become longterm residents of San Francisco.

Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.

by Randy Shaw on April 13, 2026 (BeyondChron.org)

Op-ed said SF sidewalks were now clear

Visitor’s Misleading Account of SF

Last week the NY Times featured an op-ed titled, “San Francisco Sobers Up.” The piece credited Mayor Daniel Lurie with transforming the city’s culture. Former President Bill Clinton tweeted the op-ed, calling it “A great in-depth look at the real progress being made in the fight against overdoses and addiction in San Francisco.”

But was German Lopez’s op-ed really an “in-depth look?” Not by an historian or reporter’s standards. In fact, I would describe the op-ed as a powerful work of fiction. Or a highly-skilled example of gaslighting.

For example, the premise of the op-ed is that Lopez found San Francisco much improved from his prior visit. That visit was in 2023, when San Francisco had far more sidewalk drug activities and encampments than when Daniel Lurie took office.

“When I visited San Francisco in 2023, parts of the city looked like open-air drug dens. Users made homes in tents that lined block after block. They bought, sold and smoked fentanyl, crack and meth in public. They used drugs in front of a police station, visibly undeterred by the threat of the law. I once saw four people hunched over, in what’s called the fentanyl fold, along a sidewalk in sight of City Hall. It was a startling vision of what had gone wrong with West Coast progressivism.”

In contrast, during his recent visit Lopez “spotted public drug use much less frequently. Officials didn’t ignore the remaining addicts. Community ambassadors made sure that people didn’t treat sidewalks as campgrounds. I could move through the city without having to walk in the road—something most of American mercifully takes for granted.”

Lopez never identified what neighborhoods he recently visited. He clearly did not walk in the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin has multiple sidewalks where drug activities require people to walk in the street (see above photo from last week). And the city’s most drug-filled intersection is only a block from Tenderloin Police Station.

Lopez could easily have asked members of the Tenderloin Business Coalition whether they thought San Francisco has sobered up. He did not do so. In fact, his portrait of San Francisco ignores the Tenderloin entirely.

Lopez’s op-ed came out the same day as my story on the Lurie Administration’s backing nonprofits handing out drug paraphernalia in the Tenderloin. Does that sound to you like the city is “sobering up?”

Lopez could have argued that the city’s ongoing support for drug handouts to street addicts proves the city has not sobered up. But he ignored the city’s official legal position entirely.

Instead, Lopez claims that “San Francisco still has harm reduction services, such as needle exchanges, but they’re treated as a bridge to treatment, not the end game.”

How does handing out drug paraphernalia to street addicts become a “bridge to treatment”? Lopez neither acknowledges this contradiction nor provides evidence to support his claim. Facts can’t get in the way of his San Francisco is sobering up thesis.

Lopez’s op-ed came soon after Emily Hoeven of the SF Chronicle wrote about ongoing drug activities in SOMA. She offered a very different picture of San Francisco from the New Yorker who visited the city for a few days. Unlike Lopez, Hoeven talked to members of the SOMA West Neighborhood Association who have long complained about sidewalk behavior that contradicts Lopez’s thesis. SOMA West is backing a state complaint about conditions in the neighborhood. Its members do not see SOMA as “sobering up.”

Lopez also apparently ignored the videos of sidewalk drug activities in the Mission that JJ Smith regularly posts on social media. I don’t think those living or working around Mission and 16th would say the area has “sobered up.”

Lopez also ignored Beyond Chron’s ongoing coverage of drug activities on Van Ness near Cathedral Hill. As Sebastian Luke wrote in January 2026, “Many mentally ill and drug users still roam around the Van Ness corridor, leaving residents and businesses to deal with them alone.”

Given his before and after thesis, knowing precisely where the improvement he claims to have witnessed has taken place matters. Last week I sent multiple tweets to Lopez asking where he went in San Francisco. I got no response.

Lopez’s piece came only days after former FOX News host and serial sex harasser Bill O’Reilly did a scathing story on San Francisco. O’Reilly found a city overwhelmed by sidewalk drug activities, not one that sobered up.

I know what O’Reilly reported because people told me. I did not watch his episode because I don’t believe he has any credibility.  He and Lopez parachuted into San Francisco and then felt confident promoting broader conclusions about what they saw.

Let’s stop claiming these op-ed and television claims have any substantive rigor. Those who live or work in San Francisco know the realities of city streets.

San Francisco Has Improved

Most agree that San Francisco has improved under Lurie. He’s made people feel better about the city’s direction. But Lurie has yet to meaningfully reduce drug activities in the neighborhoods most beset with these problems when he took office. Most neighborhoods that never suffered from open air drug markets prior to Covid are doing great. But they were also on the rise prior to Lurie taking office.

What Lopez should have reported is that affluent neighborhoods are thriving but that San Francisco still has the most visible open air drug activities of any other major city. The mayor’s commitment to treatment has not changed this.

Lopez states in his bio that “My goal with every story is to uncover the truth, which requires hearing from multiple sides of a major event or issue.” He failed to hear from multiple sides in this op-ed.

Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.

More Posts

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) speaks at a town hall event on February 20, 2026 in Stanford, California.

 (Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)

“The extremist Netanyahu government that has committed genocide in Gaza does not need more military support from American taxpayers.”

Jessica Corbett

Apr 13, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

With members of Congress returning to Washington, DC, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday pledged that he will, yet again, force a vote aimed at cutting off the flow of US weapons to Israel over its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“I will be forcing a vote on legislation to block the sale of nearly half a billion dollars worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media, taking aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the mass slaughter in Gaza.

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“The extremist Netanyahu government that has committed genocide in Gaza does not need more military support from American taxpayers,” declared Sanders, who has forced multiple votes on measures targeting US arms to Israel since it began bombarding Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.

The next vote, which could come as soon as Wednesday, follows a similar effort last July, when a majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus backed his resolutions disapproving of the Trump administration’s sale of 1,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, and tens of thousands of assault rifles to the Israeli government. Previous votes had garnered less support.

“The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza,” Sanders said last summer, after the resolutions failed. “The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future.”

Republicans currently have narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, though Democrats aim to flip both in the November midterm elections.

According to a Pew Research poll released last week, 60% of US adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year, and 59% have little or no confidence that Netanyahu will do the right thing regarding world affairs, up from 52% in 2025.

Although much of the world’s attention has been focused on Netanyahu and President Donald Trump’s war on Iran—and Israel’s related assault on Lebanon—in recent weeks, Israeli forces have also continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza, despite an October 2025 ceasefire agreement.

As of Monday, Gaza officials put the death toll at 72,333, with another 172,202 wounded, though global experts have warned the true figures could be far higher. Over 750 deaths and 2,100 injuries have been recorded since the ceasefire took effect, with another 760 bodies recovered during that time.

“At least two children a day have been killed or injured in the six months since the ceasefire for Gaza was agreed,” said Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing last week, as her group and others released a report marking six months since the deal was reached. “This is not peace for children in Gaza. The ceasefire agreement has not translated into meaningful protection for children or created conditions for recovery.”

Among the children killed was Ritaj Rihan, a 9-year-old girl reportedly shot by Israeli forces in front of her third grade class at Abu Ubaida bin al-Jarrah School in Beit Lahiya last week. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that “it was not an isolated incident, but a direct extension of a systematic policy targeting the Palestinian people.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Jessica Corbett

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

A person holds a sign reading “impeach, convict, remove” as they rally at Grant Park during the “No Kings” national day of protest in Chicago on March 28, 2026. 

(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

“He’s a clear and present danger to America and the world,” wrote one critic. “We’ve got to do whatever we legally can to remove him from office.”

Jake Johnson

Apr 13, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

US President Donald Trump’s flurry of increasingly deranged late-night social media posts over the weekend—combined with his continued violent belligerence overseas—prompted fresh calls on Monday for congressional Democrats to immediately force an impeachment vote.

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump last week, accusing the president of usurping congressional war powers by waging unauthorized assaults on Iran and other nations, illegally deploying National Guard troops in US cities, unlawfully detaining and deporting citizens and immigrants on the basis of their political views, lawlessly dismantling worker- and consumer-protection agencies, and other offenses.

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‘A Constitutional Emergency’: Psychiatric Experts Say Congress Must Confront Mentally Unstable Trump

Dems Say Iran Ceasefire Doesn’t Change Fact That ‘Unstable, Unhinged, and Unfit’ Trump Must Go

In a statement on Monday, constitutional attorney John Bonifaz applauded Larson for introducing the impeachment articles but said that “we need the congressman to now take the next step and force an immediate floor vote on these articles at this critical hour for our nation.”

“And, Democratic leaders in the Congress should stop standing in the way of such a vote,” said Bonifaz, co-founder and president of Free Speech for People (FSFP). The group’s petition urging the US House to impeach Trump a third time has received more than a million signatures, but the Democratic leadership has so far shown no willingness to push ahead with another impeachment process—which would require some Republican support to be successful.

“Momentum is on the side of action,” FSFP said Monday, warning that “further delay only emboldens the president.”

Bruce Fein, a constitutional scholar who served in the Reagan Justice Department, said Monday that the “impeachment of President Donald Trump is urgent.”

“How can any decent person indulge Mr. Trump’s Hitler-like declaration that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ with our tax dollars-paid weapons?” asked Fein, referring to the US president’s genocidal threat against Iran last week.

By one count, more than 85 Democrats in the Republican-controlled US House have called for Trump’s removal via the impeachment process or the 25th Amendment in recent days. Last week, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he would introduce legislation to establish a commission tasked with removing the president if he is deemed unfit to serve.

“This is plainly out of the realm of normal politics,” said Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, urging the White House physician to immediately evaluate Trump’s cognitive fitness. “When the president of the United States threatens to extinguish a civilization on social media, rants about combat missions with children at the Easter Egg Roll, and drops profane tirades on Easter morning, we have indisputably entered the realm of profound medical difficulty and concern.”

Growing calls for Trump’s impeachment and removal came after the president launched into an unhinged social media tirade late Sunday, hours after high-level talks with Iran ended without an agreement to halt the war that the US president and his Israeli counterpart started in late February.

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Trump said Sunday that he would impose a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz—an illegal act of war—and is reportedly considering a resumption of aerial strikes on Iran.

After the talks concluded, Trump posted a lengthy attack on Pope Leo XIV, a vocal critic of the war on Iran. The president then posted an artificial intelligence-generated image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure.

“Beyond mentally unstable,” Rep. Yassamin Ansar (D-Ariz.) wrote in response to Trump’s post.

Robert Reich, the former US labor secretary, wrote in a blog post on Monday that “the president of the United States is stark-raving mad.”

“He’s a clear and present danger to America and the world. The American public is beginning to see it,” Reich continued. “We’ve got to do whatever we legally can to remove him from office. The 25th Amendment would be useful if Trump’s Cabinet and key advisers had any integrity, but they don’t. They’re ambitious, unprincipled traitors. Which leaves impeachment.”

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Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

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1. Prepare for the next national day of action on the “Communities Not Cages” training call (Tues 8pm ET/5pm PT). The Trump regime is purchasing and converting warehouses all over the nation to serve as concentration-camps for those disappeared by ICE and Border Patrol — but local communities are already fighting back. Detention Watch Network is leading the planning for a National Day of Action on April 25; on tomorrow’s training call, we’ll learn tactics and strategies for hosting actions in defense of immigrants in our local communities.
2. Tell your Members of Congress: Say NO to reauthorizing a highly controversial law that lets the government spy on US citizens by sidestepping the Constitution. Section 702 of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is set to expire on April 19 — but in the past, it’s been routinely reauthorized with bipartisan votes. Let your Members of Congress know that they have a choice: Will they greenlight warrantless mass surveillance of American citizens super-charged by AI? Or uphold the Constitution and demand actual guardrails to reject authoritarian access to our private data?
3. Plan your participation in a day of economic disruption on May Day: No work. No school. No shopping. We’re flexing our economic power on May 1, sending a message to Trump and his oligarch enablers: We refuse to do business as usual as you trample our rights, terrorize our communities, and conduct your war. Led by May Day Strong, this will be a day of mass refusal to engage with the American economic engine, featuring rallies, marches, and non-violent disruptions across the country (find an event near you here). Not everyone will be able to refuse work, school, or spending entirely, but it’s vital that each of us does whatever we can do to show the regime that we don’t just have numbers — we have economic leverage.
4. Tell Congress to stop dragging its feet on the Iran War! This weekend, Trump once again failed to achieve a (real) ceasefire in the bloody war that he and Israel launched on Iran. Democrats have repeatedly tried to bring an end to the carnage by forcing a War Powers Resolution and Republicans continue to stand in their way. There are more votes this week to end the war. Tell your Members of Congress, no matter their party: Americans never wanted this war and Congress must do all it can to bring it to an end — and if they don’t, we’ll hold them accountable for the blood on their hands.
5. Join Indivisible’s phone banks for Jasmine Clark in GA-13 (tonight, 7pm ET/4pm PT). Join us as we make calls to voters in GA-13 to let them know why Indivisible is supporting Jasmine Clark for that district in Georgia’s upcoming Democratic primary (May 19). Help us send a real fighter for families and defender of democracy to Congress! (Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or committee).
6. ON WEDNESDAY: Join “What’s the Plan?” with Leah + Ezra at 3pm ET/noon PT Our weekly interactive Q&A with co-founders and executive directors Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin will be on Wednesday this week.

English-only poll puts Scott Wiener, Saikat Chakrabarti far ahead of Connie Chan

by Yujie Zhou April 13, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)

Saikat Chakrabarti is just five percentage points behind frontrunner Sen. Scott Wiener, according to a new poll commissioned and shared by Chakrabarti’s campaign and conducted by Data For Progress.

The poll, which surveyed 537 likely primary voters in California 11th congressional district in English only, found Wiener leading Chakrabarti 33-to-28 heading into June’s primary. The margin of error is four percent. Connie Chan, the District 1 supervisor, polled at 13 percent.

San Francisco political observers have long expected that Wiener will win the June primary election, where only two top candidates can advance to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. That would leave Chan and Chakrabarti to battle for second place.

Chakrabarti, a former tech engineer and centimillionaire, joined the race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi with little to no name recognition in San Francisco, compared to the other two leading candidates, Wiener and Chan, both longtime politicians in the city. 

But he has quickly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and is self-funding his campaign to the tune of $1.5 million, seeking to buy that visibility.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cFj9y/1/

The poll, if accurate, shows that strategy is working. Still, there are limitations for Chakrabarti: Wiener holds a commanding lead among Democratic voters — 47 percent of those respondents chose him during a hypothetical primary vs. 26 percent for Chakrabarti. About 63.4 percent of voters in this race are registered as Democrats.

The polling was conducted from April 3 to April 8, 2026 by Data for Progress, a progressive pollster often used by left-of-center campaigns. Nate Silver, the statistician and founder of FiveThirtyEight, gave the pollster a C+ and ranked it as having a slight Democratic bias.

The pollster asked 537 likely voters (who were almost entirely Democrats and Independents) for their views on the congressional race. It surveyed them using online forms and text messaging.  

Non-English-speaking voters were excluded from the poll. Those include at least 4.5 percent of the district’s voters who request ballots in Chinese. Monolingual Chinese voters are likely to be part of Chan’s base, though Chakrabarti is spending big to make inroads into that population.

The poll also asked about favorability, and found Chakrabarti had the highest net ratings.

Among the 537 likely voters, 52 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Wiener and 46 percent unfavorable, a difference of six percent. Some 48 percent have favorable opinions of Chakrabarti and 34 percent unfavorable, a 14 percent difference. A full 97 percent of respondents have already heard of Wiener, however, while 18 percent said they “haven’t heard enough to say” about Chakrabarti.

For Chan, 36 percent had a favorable view and 37 percent unfavorable, a negative 1 percent rating, though 27 percent said they hadn’t heard enough to say.

Chakrabarti is an Indian American who made a fortune as an early employee of the payments platform Stripe. He joined Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign before launching Justice Democrats to recruit new leaders to run for Congress.

Justice Democrats’ greatest success was helping then-unknown Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez overtake longtime congressman Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District in 2018. Chakrabarti joined her on Capitol Hill as her chief of staff, but left a few months later, after being criticized on the Hill for publicly disparaging more moderate Democratic lawmakers online. 

Chakrabarti’s resignation occurred shortly after a private meeting between Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi, and was widely perceived at the time as a peace offering between the two lawmakers.

A decade later, Chakrabarti is running to succeed Pelosi.

His campaign has raised $1.77 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, with $1.47 million of that coming from his personal fortune. The next campaign finance filing deadline is April 15.

So far, Chakrabarti’s campaign is running one of the largest paid canvasser operations in San Francisco’s history — well over 250 people — and spending tens of thousands of dollars on ads alone every week.

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Yujie ZhouStaff reporter

yujie@missionlocal.com

Yujie is a staff reporter covering city hall with a focus on the Asian community. She came on as an intern after graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and became a full-time staff reporter as a Report for America corps member and has stayed on. Before falling in love with San Francisco, Yujie covered New York City, studied politics through the “street clashes” in Hong Kong, and earned a wine-tasting certificate in two days. She’s proud to be a bilingual journalist. Find her on Signal @Yujie_ZZ.01More by Yujie Zhou

By Anabel Sosa, Senior California politics reporter April 13, 2026 (SFGate.com)

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Bay Area congressman, is officially resigning from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.

The news broke Friday afternoon that Swalwell, a Democrat who was also a leading candidate for governor of California, had allegedly sexually assaulted one of his former congressional staffers. Three other women also spoke out with their own accounts of Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct. Gubernatorial candidates immediately called on Swalwell to drop out of the already crowded race, and members of Congress called on him to resign. 

Swalwell immediately responded to those allegations, denying all of them. His lawyer, Elias Dabaie, also sent cease-and-desist letters to some of the women for “false statements accusing Mr. Swalwell of sexual assault and nonconsensual sexual encounters,” as shared on X by Gen-Z for Change Executive Director Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer and former congressional candidate.

On Sunday, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race, and on Monday, after calls for his resignation from Democrats and Republicans, Swalwell decided to step down.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” he wrote Monday afternoon on X.

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In his short, three-paragraph resignation statement, Swalwell also said that he was aware of the effort to “bring an immediate expulsion vote” against him. He said he believes that expelling anyone from Congress without due process “within days of an allegation being made is wrong” but he also said it was unfair to his constituents for him to be so distracted.

He said he will work with his staff in the coming days to ensure the needs of the constituents of the 14th Congressional District in the East Bay, which includes Dublin, Fremont and Pleasanton, are met.

It’s unclear whether a special election will be called to replace Swalwell. The governor’s office has not responded to requests for comment.

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April 13, 2026

Anabel Sosa

Senior California politics reporter

Anabel Sosa is the senior California politics reporter at SFGATE. She previously covered the statehouse and elections for the Los Angeles Times. She has a masters degree in investigative journalism from UC Berkeley. You can reach her at anabel.sosa@sfgate.com.

(Original Caption) 3/04/1968-Des Moines, Iowa: Mary Beth Tinker and her brother, John, display two black armbands, the objects of the US Supreme Court’s agreement March 4th to hear arguments on how far public schools may go in limiting the wearing of political symbols. 

(Photy by Getty Images)

If the goal of the movement is to engage people as broadly as possible, as well as to demonstrate power, then the armbands can offer additional options and bring the day of protests into more places.

Paul Rogat Loeb

Apr 12, 2026 Common Dreams

Major unions like the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, and citizen groups like Indivisible and Public Citizen, are calling for a national May Day strike. It’s a powerful idea, building off of a Minnesota day this past January where people didn’t go to work or school, didn’t shop, and didn’t otherwise participate in ordinary activities. The Minnesota day was spearheaded by major unions, 700 local businesses closed in solidarity, and 75,000-100,000 people marched in the streets.

For the national day, I’d suggest adding one more element: incorporating armbands, like black armbands, so people who are participating can make clear their sympathies. And those who can’t take off from work or school, or who are retired, so have no jobs to leave, can show support as well.

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The armband idea comes from the October 15, 1969 Vietnam Moratorium. They didn’t call it a strike, but it was a similar day of marches, walkouts, teach-ins, and other activities that gave as many ways as possible to participate. Two million participated in the day’s marches, but far more in other activities. New York City’s Council endorsed it. Milwaukee held a funeral procession. Small towns rang church bells to commemorate the dead. The Moratorium took place while President Richard Nixon was threatening North Vietnam with nuclear weapons, and although Nixon said at the time the protests made no difference to him, he later revealed that the breadth of support led him to back off from the threat.

I was in high school in Los Angeles. I wore my black armband to school and my after-school job at a drugstore. My manager told me to take it off. I resisted as politely as I could. As I recall, he finally backed down. Another friend wore his armband at his high school in a mill town north of Seattle. In both cases, the armbands got people talking and thinking. They gave an additional way to participate for those who couldn’t join the walkouts. They reinforced anti-war solidarity. US soldiers in Vietnam even wore armbands as a way of joining the protests, following a full-page New York Times ad signed by 1,366 active service members.

So why not include a call for armbands as part of the May Day strike? It’s true that some people might use them as a substitute for visibly leaving jobs or schools. But if the goal of the movement is to engage people as broadly as possible, as well as to demonstrate power, then the armbands can offer additional options and bring the day of protests into more places. They’re an alternative for retired people who don’t have jobs to walk out of. They’re one more antidote to powerlessness, allowing people to participate step by step. It seems important to add them as part of the day’s organizing.

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• DIY Option: A piece of black cloth, ribbon, or fabric securely pinned to the sleeve is a common, traditional method. Common Dreams +2

Paul Rogat Loeb

Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of “Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times” (2010) and “The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear”, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. See www.paulloeb.org

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