SHUT IT DOWN!

I'm sick and tired of waiting. The fascists don't care who they kill and how they're screwing up the planet. It's time for us to take charge and...

SHUT IT DOWN!

rants and original photos by C. A. Matthews

After several late nights watching the livestreams from the various boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla, cringing as the activists were pummeled with skunk water before being kidnapped by the Israeli Navy and taken to prison to be beaten and called “terrorists,” I’m in the mood for screaming:

SHUT IT DOWN!

The very last of the first flotilla boats was boarded by the Israelis by very early Friday morning Eastern time. But the next wave of boats to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza, a flotilla called “Thousand Madleens to Gaza”, had already launched, and are on their way. (Learn more about them at https://www.thousandmadleens.org/ Update: the flotilla boats were intercepted and their crews taken by the IOF. Fingers crossed they’ll be released soon under the “Trump ceasefire agreement”.) There’s no stopping a good idea and good people who want to help others live a good life.

And keeping the Israeli Navy busy hunting for the small boats of the flotilla in the Mediterranean has actually helped the starving in a measurable way. Gazan fishermen were able to slip their boats out into the sea and fish without being shot at by the IOF. Even if the Israelis threw the humanitarian aid into the bottom of the sea, the flotilla really did break the blockade after all.

Greta and the others did what they intended to and weren’t persuaded to stay home and sit on their backsides. They worked hard and suffered much to—

SHUT IT DOWN!

Palestinian supporters in Europe have been marching in record numbers protesting their countries’ lack of help for the victims of Israel’s ethnic cleansing. In Amsterdam alone a quarter million were in the streets. In Italy over a million turned out. Workers and students demonstrated after the largest unions called for a one-day general strike. Hundreds of trains were cancelled or delayed, some flights were cancelled, and many schools were closed.

These same sorts of actions should be happening everywhere. In North America, we’re slow on the uptake. No major shut downs yet. No general strike. A meme says, “The problem with American protests is that we schedule protests one by one instead of showing up every night until the change happens.”

Word! We should show up every night until we—

SHUT IT DOWN!

It’s now been two years since this nightmare began. If Americans honestly believe there should be an immediate end to the genocide and the opening of the borders (land and sea) to allow food and medicine to freely enter the Gaza strip, then we should be following our friends in Europe and make good on our threat that if we don’t get what we want we will—

SHUT IT ALL DOWN!

Now is not the time for Western activists to sit back and nurse our wounds. Now is the time to lace up our boots and start marching. Our governments are still selling arms to Israel, aiding and abetting a United Nations declared genocide. Westerners are still feeding their fat faces as thousands starve to death every week. The clock is ticking for the Palestinian people.

Frankly, it’s ticking for us in the West as well as we witness our civil rights being taken away for speaking out against the genocide that our governments support militarily and financially. In the UK we’re locked up for simply saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” The time for polite discussion with these genocide-enablers is over. It’s time to—

SHUT IT DOWN!

But what do I mean by SHUT IT DOWN? Is it even possible to boycott everything from Israel or products from companies associated with Israel? Can we live without all the creature comforts of a capitalist society? Surely Americans can’t shut down the entire federal government just for breaking its own laws against committing war crimes—or can we?

Who says we can’t? Only cowards whine about how everything Trump or Netanyahu are doing is illegal and do nothing to stop them. We need many more heroes who aren’t afraid to SHUT IT DOWN!

The following is an example of a group that didn’t hesitate to SHUT IT DOWN!

Toledo area Veterans for Peace and the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition didn’t take zero response from their elected representatives as an answer. If Ohio’s senators won’t take action to help secure the release of local veteran and flotilla member Phil Tottenham from an Israeli prison (where he and other flotilla members are currently on a hunger strike), then We the People take action. We take our concerns directly to Senator Husted’s district office and sit on his doorstep until a response is made and Phil and his compatriots are freed and the blockade of aid to Gaza is lifted.

Of course, the office building owner wasn’t very happy about the negative publicity that a bunch of vets and peaceniks camping out in front of his property could generate, so the cops were called and the inevitable arrests ensued.

No local television network reporters came to witness the arrests in person. (The only video of the action was taken and posted on Facebook by a fellow activist). The Blade sent a reporter and a photographer, but the story in the paper turned out to be 75% dry facts and one long quote from a local Zionist repeating debunked lies such as beheaded babies and mass rapes on October 7th.

All I can say to this local media’s creepy attempt at Zionist propaganda is we will SHUT IT DOWN!

Vets for Peace former president Mike Ferner stands up to be counted for Phil’s release and to Free Palestine.

(There’s an online petition demanding that the city of Toledo get Phil released that you can sign and share at https://chng.it/JBThFYdd9t UPDATE: Phil and the other veterans were released, and he has since returned to the US.)

If mainstream media won’t play fair and report fairly, then we boycott them. All of them. There are plenty of alternative news sites, podcasters and channels out there willing to tell the whole story. You can sponsor them if you like and share their links with others. All of us showing a distinct lack of interest in the mainstream’s pro-Zionist programming, along with a lack of our income being thrown at their worthless advertisers, is what it’s going to take to—

SHUT THEM DOWN!

And it serves them right. We don’t have to play fair anymore. What’s “fair” about bombing schools, tents, hospitals, universities, churches and mosques in Gaza? What’s “fair” about starving children and denying them the medicines and medical care they need? If the corrupt system and their sycophants (like the mainstream media) refuse to play fair, continue to promote lies and hasbara, then why should we? We should simply—

SHUT IT DOWN! FOREVER!

Are you getting the picture now? If they can’t play fair and they can’t even follow the laws of the land, then we don’t have to either. We must rid ourselves of these vermin in office who hold so little respect for human life. We should hunt them down and trap them in a cage and—

SHUT THEM DOWN!

For good. I don’t care if I insult or disrespect senators or presidents or prime ministers. Why should I? They demonstrate zero respect for me and for the innocent victims of Gaza and the West Bank. They insult our intelligence every time they open their mouths. They insult us every time they try to lie themselves out of being held accountable for their part in the genocide of the Palestinian people. So it’s time to tell them to—

SHUT THE F*CK UP!

And listen to us, We the People, the 99%. We’re the ones dictating the terms now. If they don’t like our terms, then tough-titty-cupcakes. They can learn to listen to us from inside of a jail cell. If they still won’t cooperate, they’re welcome to take a short trip to the guillotine.

The time for the Zionists to repent of their heinous genocidal ways has long since past. It’s time for a new world, one where we no longer live in a fascist state that funds genocide and oppression because we have—

SHUT IT DOWN!

Links to Inspire You to SHUT IT DOWN!

3 Demands to States Uniting for Peace at the UNGA https://protect-palestine.com/unga

Take Action for The Global Sumud Flotilla https://newscord.org/action/gsf-flotilla

Israel kidnaps Gaza flotilla https://www.owenjones.news/p/israel-kidnaps-gaza-flotilla

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/04/greta-thunberg-israel-gaza-sweden

Kidnapped members of the Global Sumud Flotilla begin hunger strike in Ketziot prison https://www.pressenza.com/2025/10/kidnapped-members-of-the-global-sumud-flotilla-begin-hunger-strike-in-ketziot-prison/

Veterans For Peace Condemns Israel’s Attack on Gaza Flotilla and Calls on Veterans to Join Local, National and International Protests https://www.pressenza.com/2025/10/veterans-for-peace-condemns-israels-attack-on-gaza-flotilla-and-calls-on-veterans-to-join-local-national-and-international-protests/

Workers shut down Italy again in solidarity with Palestine https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/10/03/workers-shut-down-italy-again-in-solidarity-with-palestine/

Six people, including former Toledo City Council member, arrested during protest outside downtown Toledo building https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/people-arrested-in-protest-in-downtown-toledo-outside-ohio-building-local-news/512-422787cc-4d4b-480c-97e0-eaaa4c6def31

Global Sumud Flotilla vows to keep sailing ‘until Gaza is free’ following Israel’s interception of over 40 of its vessels https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/global-sumud-flotilla-vows-to-keep-sailing-until-gaza-is-free-following-israels-interception-of-over-40-of-its-vessels/

The Media’s Shameful Coverage of The Gaza-Bound Flotilla: How Kidnapping Becomes “Intercepting” https://realleecamp.substack.com/p/the-medias-shameful-coverage-of-the-8f0

On the ground with Northern Gaza’s Trail of Tears https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/on-the-ground-with-northern-gazas

Tony Blair and the Gaza Trap: Continued Colonial Control Disguised as “Transition” https://kucinichreport.substack.com/p/tony-blair-and-the-gaza-trap-continued

America Is Overdue for a General Strike https://inequality.org/article/america-is-overdue-for-a-general-strike/

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/03/trump-canceled-94-million-pounds-of-food-aid-heres-what-never-arrived/

USC (University of Southern California) is Selling American Bodies to Israel for Experiments by the IDF https://www.thenorthstar.com/p/usc-university-of-southern-california

They Really Think They’ll Be Able To Propagandize The World Into Liking Israel Again https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/they-really-think-theyll-be-able

She Sent Money to Family in Gaza. ICE Claimed It’s Evidence She Supports Hamas. https://theintercept.com/2025/10/02/gaza-remittance-wire-transfer-hamas-ice/

World leaders rebel against US & Israel: to save Gaza, they demand international intervention https://www.geopoliticaleconomy.report/p/un-speeches-us-israel-gaza-genocide

Pete Hegseth Calls For More War Crimes! https://realleecamp.substack.com/p/pete-hegseth-calls-for-more-war-crimes

Hegseth Says Four ‘Narco-Terrorists’ Killed in Latest US Attack on Venezuela Boat https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/03/hegseth-says-four-narco-terrorists-killed-in-latest-us-attack-on-venezuela-boat/

Trump administration celebrates the perpetrators of the Wounded Knee Massacre https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/10/01/trump-administration-celebrates-the-perpetrators-of-wounded-knee-massacre/

Leave the Military Now https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/leave-the-military-now

“Capital or Life”: President Gustavo Petro’s 2025 UNGA Speech — Annotated https://themindness.substack.com/p/capital-or-life-president-gustavo

AIPAC’s and Israel’s influence is falling in Congress, two opposing letters show just how much https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/aipacs-and-israels-influence-is-falling-in-congress-two-opposing-letters-show-just-how-much/

How Crazy Is Germany? https://dianeengelhardt.substack.com/p/how-crazy-is-germany

Support for digital IDs has collapsed in the UK https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/support-for-digital-ids-has-collapsed

Chris Hedges: The National Press Club of Australia, Caving to the Israel Lobby, Cancels My Talk on Our Betrayal of Palestinian Journalists https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/04/chris-hedges-the-national-press-club-of-australia-caving-to-the-israel-lobby-cancels-my-talk-on-our-betrayal-of-palestinian-journalists/#respond

‘Unconstitutional, Un-American, and Wrong’: Journalist Mario Guevara to Be Deported to El Salvador Friday https://www.commondreams.org/news/mario-guevara-deportado

Citizens and children, zip-tied in Chicago: Is this what Congressman Max Miller wants to bring to Cleveland? https://www.ohioimmigrant.org/blog/2025/10/2/citizens-and-children-zip-tied-in-chicago