The Weekly Standard has published a cover piece by Gershom Gorenberg on that ancient and somewhat dubious question, Where is the Palestinian Gandhi, that portrays Palestinians as human beings. A rapid scan produces this sentence:
That said, absolute nonviolence is a terribly unfair standard to demand
of those on the other side--the weaker side--of a conflict, even if it
has a potential of being politically effective.
Gershom Gorenberg is center-left. Where does this leave Bill Kristol and David Frum and Richard Perle? Note that AEI, in the same building as the Weekly Standard, lately purged a few neocons... Thanks to Jeet Heer for tip.
This lady, Sabah abu Halima, was not a terrorist, but her body is scarred by white phosphorus burns – She is in a constant pain, her family had horrendous burns as well. Maybe she has no time for this "Gandi" thing, especially as she lost use of her hand…..
Mahatma Ghandi stated ”Where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advice violence… but I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence.” (Mohandas K. Gandhi, the doctrine of the sword” Young India, November 8, 1920, volume 21, p. 133-134, Collected Work of Mahatma Gandhi, new delhi, ministry of information and broadcasing, government of India.
"…I do not think that Palestine could ever become a Jewish state, nor that the Christian and Islamic worlds would ever be prepared to have their holy places under Jewish care. It would have seemed more sensible to me to establish a Jewish homeland on a less historically-burdened land. But I know that such a rational viewpoint would never have gained the enthusiasm of the masses and the financial support of the wealthy. I concede with sorrow that the baseless fanaticism of our people is in part to be blamed for the awakening of Arab distrust. I can raise no sympathy at all for the misdirected piety which transforms a piece of a Herodian wall into a national relic, thereby offending the feelings of the natives…"
Dr. Sigmund Freud on the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Vienna: 26 February 1930: Letter to the Keren Hajessod (Dr. Chaim Koffler) "
"In reflecting on Apartheid South Africa people in the West tend to forget that the African National Congress under the leadership of the jailed Nelson Mandela was a guerrilla movement fighting violently for liberation (and has never renounced violence). But on the other hand some individuals who believe very strongly in violent also tend to minimize the roles of people like Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Ghandi or MLK jr. Ironically in both situations, a similar argument is made. On the one hand some argue that liberation could not succeed without violent resistance and others would argue that it would not have succeeded without nonviolent resistance. I think this is a moot question because it remains a hypothetical situation that never existed: i.e. all struggles to date [certainly not the jews in Palestine] contained various mixtures of violent and nonviolent struggles. Can we really know exactly what the tipping points were in each situation? Can we truly say that we know what would have happened to the civil rights movement without the "good cop" of the MLK Jrs of the world or the "bad cop" of Malcolm X. What would have happened in South Africa without the Desmund Tutu's?"
Howard Zinn stated that "you can't be neutral on a moving train".
most of us are long past given the AEI, weekly standard, PNAC, kristol, perle and frum the benefit of the doubt.
most likely this is not a purge: it's just neocons running for cover as their association with exxon, their need for new pearl harbor", their expressed need for a another 9/11, and the logic of the situation creep into more and more skulls.
it should be noted here that PNAC is/was located in the same building as the AEI and the weekly standard.
In the early 1980s, Mubarak Awad expanded Palestinian non-violent resistance (which has had a long history) such that the Israeli authorities considered him such a danger that he was arrested and deported (see Jonathan Kuttab and Mubarak Awad, “Non-violent Resistance in Palestine: Pursuing Alternative Strategies“ Information Brief No. 29, of the Jerusalem Fund,
link to thejerusalemfund.org
)
How can we understand Israeli Hafrada (Segregation) if we do not know about Afrikaaner Apartheid (Segregation)? What was the role of violent and nonviolent resistance in achieving civil rights or an end to slavery in America? How can we understand why French colonial settlers were evicted from Algeria while Spanish colonial settlers succeeded in South America? The American official stance, copying Israel's–does not even ask these questions; they assume some comic book right and wrong–and the world is paying for it in so many ways.
Fuck nonviolence. Palestinian Gandhi's have died over and over. Mostly innocent children.
Fuck the Zionists. All the Palestinians have to do is keep resisting. They are already dying and we can't change that. Zionism and the Jewish Establishment's sanctimony cannot be defeated by peaceful civil disobedience.
And it's not even entirely the fault of Zionism.
This is an American tradition. We did the same shit to the Native Americans.
We're killing how many people in Arab countries? We have our eyes all over their resources.
The only way to end this, is for the Arab people to keep killing our Nazi soldiers like every other country that has resisted TYRANNY.
You don't reason with imperialism.
note also that lee raymond, the guy who joined the AEI while he was CEO of exxon, the guy who became vice-chairman of the AEI's board of trustees, the guy khodorkovsy attempted to sell yukos to when raymond was still CEO of exxon, has also disappeared himself from the AEI.
Non violent resistance is risky–Rachel Corrie, the Brit, the other American recently drilled in the head with a canister. Happens to Palestinians all the time–there's a whole long history of Palestinian non-violent resistance that is virtually unknown in the West, especially the USA. All the average American gets
his how rockets are fired into Israel, who are the most tolerant people in the world, as is the IDF. Gimme a break. Tolerance has been a device to use, not to really practice, when given the power to do whatever one wants–the test of virtue is power. That explains lots of history, including Jewish history. Keep you eyes wide open–it won't hurt so long as you don't want to get ahead in USA politics or keep your job. Or get one–in the politically influential arenas.
the logic of the PNAC/AEI/exxon/neocon plan
how exxon got hooked up with the israeli americans
i spose if you're inclined to believe in "might makes right", the palestinians are nothing more than a fly in the neocon ointment, and it doesnt really matter how they resist… the project is simply too grand to allow for such piddling concerns as human rights, geneocide, ethnic cleansing or palestinian gandhis… not to mention the fact that a palestinian gandhi would be sniped out of existence within days of being spotted as a contender.
so any smarmy whining about lack of palestinian gandhis, coming from the weekly standard, smacks of an attempt to slime palestinians… "how could palestinian dirtbags produce a gandhi, fer chrissakes?"
From Gorenberg: Two events shifted the balance, making the new view the mainstream. The first was the Holocaust. It gave Jews the feeling, Golani says, that "I am the ultimate victim, [so] I can't be the aggressor." Whatever Jews did, it was in self-defense. Immediately after came Israel's victory in the 1948 war of independence. Using military power now appeared effective as well as morally correct. Henceforth, one's Israeliness "was measured by one's ability to fight," Golani says. An Israeli, that is, was the opposite of a Jew.
This certainly helps to support my interpretation of why I found no Jews when I was in Israel. Jews as I know/knew them are neither masculinize nor militarized, nor committed to violent colonization and dispossession.
More from Gorenberg–a passage that makes even more sense of Caryl Churchill's play:
In a 1978 book, Tin Soldiers on Jerusalem Beach, Israeli psychologist Amia Lieblich described a young Israeli man in a group therapy session. He talks about a recurring dream of being with his parents, before his own birth, in their home in Poland, as German soldiers pound the door. "The knocking is the most frightening sound I have ever heard. You have to kick the door with your nailed boots and rap it with the butt of your gun to get the right blend. . . . When I was on a patrol searching for Arab terrorists in an Arab village, I was the one to knock like that on doors." In the dream, he says, "Outside the door I am a man . . . I have a rifle and lots of ammunition. I am with my unit, we are together. We are the victors," wearing Gestapo uniforms. He is horrified both by being strong and being the victim. If the whole country could have been put on the couch, it might have spoken like this.
@ LD,
Try to keep in mind that the US military was lied into war, too, and is actually paying a heavier price than anyone other than the many innocents who have been killed at the direction of the Commanders in Chief. And certainly many in it have mixed feelings about the so called “War on Terror,” which Obama recently re-labeled the "Overseas Contingency Operation," in an Orwellian turn of phrase.
Obama may in fact be the last stop before the US military gets off the corrupt two party regime and its Israel lobby string pullers.
Ghandi on Palestine:
"I am not defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regarded as an unwarrantable encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds."
Ed's on the hot button. kylebisme is practical. Next?
"Jews as I know/knew them are neither masculinized … "
What about Suzanne?
I think further to Alice's comment about Mubarak Awad, this quote speaks for itself: ''This nonviolence is a smart way to trigger Israeli violence and thus incite the uprising,'' an Israeli official said.
here's the actual url:
Great find there, Citizen.
I think the more important question is, where is the Israeli Lincoln?
what a horrible thought, an Israeli Lincoln…