Ilan Pappe in the Electronic Intifada:
It seems that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as discrete events, unconnected to anything that happened in the past and not associated with any ideology or system. In this new year, we have to try to realign the public opinion to the history of Palestine and to the evils of the Zionist ideology as the best means of both explaining genocidal operations such as the current one in Gaza and as a way of pre-empting worse things to come.
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{ 24 comments }
"Genocide" in Gaza.
Isn't that enough to dismiss his comments already.
Violence yes. Genocide?
Certainly it's genocide, not all at once, but in fits and starts. But I disagree with Pappe and all other mere anti-zionists who think they can isolate and castigate 'zionism' as if it had fallen out of a clear blue sky. Zionism is the organic expression of the JHVH cult. Other, 'Christian' imperialist genocides are mere imitations of it.
It certainly is NOT genocide in the slightest.
Its not the murder of a million Indians, with all of us beneficiaries of free land (even if 80% of the deaths were from disease).
Its not the murder of 1 million Armenians. Its not the mass murder and INDISCRIMMINATE shelling Sarajevo. Its not the murder of 6 million Jews, 500,000 Gypsies, homosexuals and others in orchestrated, planned camps.
Phil knows English, but he abuses it.
It is not necessary to exagerate. It is far better to describe as a perspective, in that that is more believable than propaganda and invective.
It also can be contested, whereas invective becomes incontestable.
A portion of Phil's analysis I imagine includes an unarticulated fear that he will lose the limited audience that he now has, that we will have to recant years of assertions, that his empire will be seen to have different clothes, if any.
And that makes me suspect that he conforms, more than thinks freely, more than analyzes accurately.
It requires COMPLETE assessment, acknowledging even relative truth in others' perspectives, even if he differs in conclusion and analysis.
And, to get there, it requires INVESTIGATION into other perspectives.
That he went to Hebron on a leftish guided tour and NEVER interviewed a settler, appalls me. I doubt that he or I would conclude that the neo-religious parts of the settler movement is right, that the land was permanently given to the children of Abraham via Isaac via Jacob.
But, at least he wouldn't simply trivialize the perspective, the urge, at times the need.
Media.
The ONLY mass media that I encounter are newspapers.
I do not watch TV.
I expect that differs from the VAST majority here. I expect that most derive 80% of their information from TV, and rationally describe that as incomplete.
The combination of reaction to TV, with the blogosphere adds up to an entirely different conclusion than the combination of press and blogosphere.
The effect of images (violence and other) are lost on me. I don't see them. I haven't seen images of Palestinian suffering, even of explosions and smoke.
The only images that I've seen are the exagerated and misrepresentative ones that are presented here.
They complement and maybe fill in gaps between the TV and reality, but stated alone they MIS-represent.
Here are two good charities people might like to support–
United Palestinian AppealUnited Palestinian Appeal
Middle East Children's AllianceMiddle East Children's Alliance
(Both of these groups are genuinely getting aid to to Palestinian people, not funneling it into the pockets of parasitic Jewish "peace workers".)
Please add the names of other charities you can recommend.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052299.html
Israel launches ground operation in Gaza Strip
By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Yanir Yagana, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies
Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Israel news
Israel entered the second week of its offensive against rockets from Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday evening by launching a much-expected ground operation into the coastal strip. "
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052315.html
EU presidency: Israel ground op in Gaza 'defensive not offensive'
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Tags: Gaza, Israel, Israel news
PRAGUE – European Union president, the Czech Republic, said Saturday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action.
"At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik said.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is leading an EU delegation to the region Sunday, and Potuznik said the presidency will wait to see the results of that visit.
An ideology is justification for a land grab and ethnic cleansing. You don't need it anymore once that's achieved. It's just pure naked capitalist statist militaristic imperialism. At that point, the ideology is for show. Settler radicalism can be stamped out in weeks. U.S./Israel choose not to. They need the eggs–that is, land, power, oil, hegemony. I love Pappe, but his use of ideology as explanation is reductive. Lets call greed and barbarism for what they are. Thugs don't need ideology; the NYT just needs it to sanitize murder.
Witty never looks at the larger view, except the one his particular G-D has chosen in his view, the one he adores, the sole tribal one of those most
known across the first current wealthiest world.
Don't waste your money with those charities! Send everything to the Holy Land Foundation!
For those who are rooting for Truth and Justice, here's a better charity.
http://www.israelsoldiers.org/
David, You make anti-Semitism respectable.
Things change, yet remain the same:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/opinion/19kristof.html?_r=2&scp=5&sq=Gaza%20Kristof%20&st=cse
Freudian projection in verbal action: Witty on Phil.
David Green, interesting point.
I don't entirely disagree, but I think the zionist "scaffolding" (to use Ben Gurion's phrase) is still quite important.
Look how often dupes like Richard Witty cling to myth of a "homeless Jewish people".
I disagree with Rowan that this is something inherent in modern Judaism but then again all of his JHVH posts go way over my head. (Please explain more, Rowan, if you would.)
My new year's resolution: I promise to look at the USA First before
I agree to anything; and when something is not in the USA's best interest, I will call against it to the best of my ability. Instead of
viewing Israel as GM, I will really look to what's in the USA's and the World's best interest.
@rabbi kook(pbuh),
I agree with what Witty says almost all the time and I'm an athiest so this has nothing to do with God. The founders of Israel were very secular.
Of course it IS Genocide:
UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html
Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948.
Article 1
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
* (a) Killing members of the group;
* (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
* (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
* (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
* (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Wasn't their 6 million jews and another 6 million others (including gypsies, handicapped, homosexuals, etc_)according to standardized western historical accounts of
WW2?
Anybody know?
Was THERE that many non-jews KILLED is what I meant to say, lol
Sorry…
On my seeing the larger view.
I've read Morris, Finkelstein, Chomsky, Pappe, Kimmerling, Walt and Mearsheimer.
I'm familiar with the history of suffering and dispossession that Palestinians have endured, and sympathetic to it.
I do NOT advocate for an expanded Israel in any way. I am on consistent record as favoring the 67 borders in the application of the literal Arab League proposal, with the exception of the Jewish portions of the old city.
I am on record has favoring the day in court for all Palestinians to make claims for land that they previously resided on, both individually and collectively.
Those are to the left of positions by Meretz even in most cases.
But, I am a Zionist.
The narrative of the time INCLUDES the NEED and the earned recognition of Israel as the national affirmation movement of the Jewish people (even as many Jews don't choose to live there, or actively support Israel's policies or character).
Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and its solidarity refute that, and seek no accomodation between the peoples.
If they stated, we accept the state of Israel in 67 borders and renounce terror as means to firm that in fact, MUCH would change in the world, for the positive.
'"Genocide" in Gaza.
Isn't that enough to dismiss his comments already.
Violence yes. Genocide?'
Lucky for them they didn't try to use Holocaust (TM), eh Rich?
Never going to happen because of zionism, Witty.
Zionism means war. And with it the destruction of Israel.
Inevitably. So, isn't it true, Witty that 6 million non-jews also perished in concentration camps during WW2?
Or do you only know about the jews?
Btw Witty – if you don't already have one you should think about having your own blog.
You certainly take yourself very seriously and are obviously committed and willing to look at things in a really refreshing and new way.
And you know I'd be there!
Hey!
!
Witty could call his blog "Affirmative Action."
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