Last month in Gaza, I was at a presentation by five members of the International Solidarity Movement when I noticed longtime legal activist Dennis James walking away, shaking his head. I went up to ask him what had hit him but he was too overcome by emotion, and asked me to try later.
The next morning at the Marna House hotel, we had a conversation. James begins by talking about the incredible footage of Palestinian fishermen being attacked by the Israeli Navy. The cruelty and "colossal inhumanity" were what had upset him so much the night before. "Unbelievably," he said, Palestinians had refused to become docile.
We moved on to the political impact of the Code Pink trip to Gaza. James then explained that Gaza opened Americans' eyes, much as Tet did in 1968, to the awareness that Palestine/Vietnam is under occupation; and the return to the States of the Code Pink delegation that he and I were on is a vital step in the education of the American people. But listen to him. The Vietnam stuff starts at 4 minutes or so.
Related posts:
- For people who believe Israel stopped occupying Gaza in 2005
- ‘Code Pink’ announces its fourth trip to Gaza, in September
- Post-Gaza, Palestinian issue has finally entered the American progressive bloodstream
- ‘Code Pink’ organizes end-of-year march in Gaza
- Report: Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy to Gaza stopped by 2,000 Egyptian riot police
{ 26 comments }
No Gaza is not Tet, Jews are not Nazis, Palestinians are not victims, and Jews are not occupiers. No matter how many times you say it. Doesn't make it true.
My thesis on this is that Zionism as an ideology and hopefully as a practice is not based on barbarity, but on kindness and ethical reflection of one's actions and consciousness. It is important to accurately describe what you and others observed and as a good journalist restrain yourself from editorializing at all. That you have any glee at comparisons with the Vietnam movement is a distraction. It keeps you from expressing yourself clearly. It keeps you from being heard. And, it concludes false arithmetic. The left LOVES its "successes". And, we imagine to repeat former successes. "Proven" tactics seem reliable. "Proven" group process seems reliable. So, "this is parallel to Vietnam", and "this is parallel to South Africa". I get the hoping, the searching for a path, a solution. I despise the process of conclusion before full discussion, and the willful ignoring of critical differences between both. Gaza is not Tet, is an accurate statement. What network of relationships construct the brutality, is the important question. And, you can't answer that question by just bearing witness, though bearing witness is important.
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RE: The cruelty and "colossal inhumanity… FROM HAARETZ, 11/14/08: (excerpt) …Last week, soldiers from the Golani infantry brigade posted a video on YouTube depicting a blindfolded Palestinian being forced to repeat phrases in Hebrew as the soldiers manning the checkpoint laugh in the background. One of the lines is: "Golani will bring you a log to stick up your ass." As the detainee repeats the words, the soldiers are heard laughing raucously in the background…. ARTICLE / VIDEO - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037217.html
*** Rachel Corrie Soccer Tournament Fundraiser *** What: A community soccer tournament in the Yebna neighborhood of Rafah, Gaza. Why: Cut off from the world by a brutal siege, the people of the Gaza strip live with hunger, massive unemployment, and frequent attacks by the Israeli army. Stress and anger lead to hopelessness and rage, with the youth being particularly vulnerable. This innovative, community-developed soccer tournament gives neighbors a chance to strengthen bonds and relieve the stress caused by the dire situation. When: The month of Ramadan, August 21st – September 14th. Funds Needed: $10,500 U.S. / Fundraiser Ends: August 3oth MORE INFO – http://www.palestinereview.org/Rachel_Corrie_Socc...
You deliberately distort the comparison. Of course Gaza is not like tet. What he said was there was one similarity. That is, what happened after tet is that the American people stopped believing Johnson's lies and what is happening today, after Gaza, is that the American people are beginning to stop believing Israeli lies. That is a cusp has been crossed. In both cases a change in political perception. I think it might be too soon to say that this change is irreversible, as it was in 1968, but it is an interesting conjecture and comparison. Are you really this dense that you can't comprehend a simple analogy, or is this just another of your attempts to distract and dissemble.
Gaza is Tet. Israeli right-wingers and AIPAC members are Zionazis, Palestinians are victims, and Israel is a cruel occupier. No matter how many times you deny it, it's all true.
Anytime people make comparisons of Jews to Nazis it just rings hollow. It's better to make arguments based on reality of one's actions rather than comparisons. Calling Jews Nazi is just a "low blow" in order to make us feel bad about the tragic event. I never compare anyone Jew or Arab to Nazi and I think that from right to left it would be a great recommended practice to lay off the Vietnam, Nazi, etc etc. comparisons. I'm not saying that to be argumentative I just think it inflames people, like Jews who were victims of nazis and it diverts the real debate to an area of hypothetical and name calling that just inflames emotions on both ends.
My thesis is that Zionism is an ideology and as actually practiced on Gentiles, especially in the former Palestine Mandate land, is based on Fascism's key principles and modes of operations (under a fig leaf of superficial democracy in Israel proper). Any kindness and ethical reflection always as a practical matter employs a double standard, and to believe otherwise in the face of historical facts is a fantasy. It is important to accurately describe history, both in the past, and as it has been occurring day by day–admittedly hard to do since there is a blanket of censorship on this issue over the USA. Your are emotionally perverted to conclude without any evidence that there is any glee in comparing the Vietnam movement. Your emotional bias has choked your brain. What you say and how you say it shows us this. Every group loves its "successes"–Check out AIPAC archives. What collective agency ignores full discussion more than AIPAC, or its partner, the US MSM? Your ignoring this powerful reality is despicable. Gaza is Tet is accurate in the sense although the US military won the Tet battle, it lost the hearts and minds of the American people (beyond simply college draft dodgers and their female companions), and Lebanon to Gaza IDF showed many more US citizens what Israel they had been supporting; Gaza was clearly an IDF victory in terms of attrition and demolition, but it's been losing US hearts and minds ever since. The network of relationships that have constructed this brutality is AIPAC-Israel, and the US whore congress and executive branch. If you don't see this Witty, your brain circuits are too compartmentalized a la Clinton; if you do, you're just a malignant Jesuit in Jewish Zionist format.
"Emotionally perverted" It is important that Americans, and particularly Jewish Americans, become aware of Palestinian understanding of history, and motivated to improve their current condition. Gaza is not like Tet even in the obvious analogy that Phil suggested. There aren't 500,000 American soldiers in Israel. Israel is NOT a fascist state like Vietnam was. Only the odd neo-conservatives regard Israel/Palestinian as a global war. (It could be if more terrorist influences than even Hamas militia get involved).
Witty, since it's against site rules to be mean to you, let me quote Syvanen: "Of course Gaza is not like tet. What he said was there was one similarity." As in, the American epiphany that we've been lied to.
All you have anymore are the facts on the ground. Zionists are still occupying Palestine, they call themselves Israelis, and they are murderous assholes since day one to the last day. There is no such thing as believable propaganda anymore. Only other assholes repeat it.
Nothing you have said on this blog (and likely elsewhere you troll) is honest. You are a morally bankrupt individual and intellectually dishonest. No sane and rational person supports Israel and Zionism. Purely on a rhetorical level, any moderate would be immediately disgusted with your comments. Go away scumbag.
Everyday, educated, rational Americans (true Americans) like the gentleman in the video are the target audience. We need to reach out to them. We need to cut Israel loose. They are a parasite. We are a better country than this and if we were given the entire story, we'd NEVER support Israel or Zionism.
Gaza 2008 is exactly Tet! But that's not good news. Israel was created by megalomaniacs with tunnel vision. The US armed it equally to herself and handed over the keys to our castle prior to 9/11. Israel wasn't created as a stoppable , or a negotiating force. The end is it's total destruction. So where does that leave us? Will we go down with her? It looks that way. We still have an attack on Iran looming ahead….well, what the US is out to achieve is too late to save herself anyway so we are in the same boat with Israel in more ways than one. It keeps life interesting though! I still have the mental picture of the Third world people walking over our bones. "when the lion is dead the hares jump over his body." I get the mental pictures from everything I hear projected from Israel about Iran. Especially the suicidal thing and them not taking into account her own citizens. That's Israel 101!
you : "Jews are not Nazis" you: "Anytime people make comparisons of Jews to Nazis it just rings hollow" you: "Calling Jews Nazi is just a "low blow" in order to make us feel bad about the tragic event." earth to you, why are you talking about nazis? to make us feel sympathy about the tragic event that happened to jews? did the guy in the video mention nazis? no, he did not. did you watch the video? is it too hard for you to grasp the connection to the tet offensive was when americans woke up. they realized the lie. gaza was the wakening call to america, the world. israel blew it bigtime. why is it you want to talk about nazis on the first post of the thread?
no he is not really that dense, he is a propaganda artist so of course he does not want to deal with the topic. his post was nothing more than an ad hominem w/'advice'.
hey WITTY My thesis on this is that Zionism as an ideology and hopefully as a practice is not based on barbarity, but on kindness and ethical reflection of one's actions and consciousness. you should listen to your spamola advice giving sidekick eitanbenshlomo : It's better to make arguments based on reality get that, zionism has nothing to do with "kindness and ethical reflection of one's actions and consciousness" as a practice or an ideology. i swear where on earth do you guys come up w/this total bullshit. It is important to accurately describe what you and others observed and as a good journalist restrain yourself from editorializing at all. excuse me? you saw the video. i'd say it was very accurately described. why don't you do us all a favor and go hang out constantly at a blog who's writers you respect. why are you here anyway? who the F are you telling anyone to restrain himself? why don't you restrain yourself, it would be a great relief. what the hell is this supposed to mean? : What network of relationships construct the brutality, is the important question. And, you can't answer that question by just bearing witness, though bearing witness is important.? do you think we are all total idiots here??????? well i will tell you, i did bear witness but even if i hadn't i could tell you what 'network of relationships construct the brutality'. it is the network of of oppressor to oppressed. but don't play dumb w/me. the point as i am SURE you are aware, was not comparing israel/palestine to US/vietnam. the comparison was the american audience after the tet offensive vs the american audience after gaza. gloves off.
Here, let me help you with a little historical definition of what Israel is – The logic of both Israel and apartheid-era South Africa can be found in their common origins as settler states. In both cases, the settlers CREATED MYTHS, semi-religious or explicitly religious, including that GOD HAD PROVIDED THE LAND for them and that the land was unoccupied upon arrival, a very, very common theme in every settler state, whether it's the United States, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. In both cases, the settlers portrayed themselves to be VICTIMS against natives who were described as SEMI-BARBARIC OR INTOLERANT. Given the permanent state of siege, every settler state AGGRESSION came to be DESCRIBED as a DEFENSIVE ACT, an approach also common with the United States. By way of example, for South Africa, incursions into Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe or anywhere else always against alleged TERRORISTS were justified as alleged defensive actions. GET IT? I hope so
Ironically, you didn't state any AGREEMENT with the suggestion that Jews, Israelis, Americans get educated as to the history and condition of Palestinians, but only to your raging objection to the nuance of actual inquiry, and implication for potential remedy.
I'm not sure the Gaza situation should be compared with TET. Indeed, they seem almost opposite in that with the former, you had a totally defenseless population essentially massacred, while in the later case, the underdog managed an enormous, herculean retaliation against the Amero-Nazi invaders. To paraphrase george galloway, the Vietnamese gave the Americans "a bloody good hiding." TET can and TET SHOULD serve as inspiration for resistance movements worldwide, especially, the Palestinians. The weaker can prevail. I don't know what would have to happen for the tables to turn on israel militarily, but I become ever-more gloomily convinced that the Palestinians must inflict severe harm on the Israelis or they will never cease their murderous onslaught and take-over of Palestinian land. Non-violent strategy should be discussed, debated, refined and used. But alone, I don't see how it can succeed. Every serious political victory against Israel has come through violent struggle, from what I can see.
I just love weenies who sip their drinks on the rocks and complain about "colossal inhumanity" just outside the hotel. Boy, there are some REAL injustices in the world, but the weenie class rather enjoys the comforts of easy criticism. Try sipping your drinks in, oh, Saudi Arabia (no drinks allowed, Infidels not tolerated either). Try your "colossal inhumanity" criticism in Egypt (criticisms not allowed; the prisons are full of critics) Try being a weenie in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, aww.. the list goes on and on… MondoLoser.
Jake's dad on Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258299,00.htm...
Unable to face facts, MondoLiars revert to sensationalism. Not connvincing, sonny boy…
He's worse than a troll. He's a spammer. I've seen this same entry by him at least 3 times today.
Stop making Nazi comparisons and I won't need to remind you any longer
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