From the category archives:

AC

On calling Palestinian Authority ‘Vichy’

by Philip Weiss on March 2, 2009 · 6 comments

Two weeks back, my correspondent AC sent me the following note about nonviolent protest of the Gaza war in the West Bank.

FYI, although Israel is the chief culprit in quashing non-violent protest, it has, with the assistance of Gen. Dayton and U.S. taxpayers (see here & here), a willing abettor, the PA. Here's but one instance of the PA suppressing non-violent protest of the Gaza war: The point isn't that their suppressing protest — everyone does that –, it's that their doing in in collusion. Vichy regime comes to mind.

I was uncomfortable with the Vichy word and challenged AC. Yes, I mean Vichy, he said. I asked Adam Horowitz and he said, AC's view is widely shared among Palestinians. I never got around to running his statement. My bad. Today this Times of London several times quotes Palestinian speakers comparing the Fatah leadership to a Vichy government supporting the occupation.

Note that the Times piece does front-and-center what the New York Times has not been able to do: report that the 2-state solution is all but dead, on both sides.

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Why American writers are censored, and censor themselves, re Israel/Palestine

by Philip Weiss on February 21, 2009 · 33 comments

AC writes:
Take a look at this critique of Waltz with Bashir by Gideon Levy in Haaretz. Look at his diction — bloodthirsty soldiers, shelling women and children, propaganda, fraud and deceit, the lines about the Holocaust and victims — and unrelentingly scolding tone.
Now tell me: if such a piece a were written and seen by someone in the U.S., or anywhere outside of Israel in the "west", for that matter, and even if it was seen by a critic of Israel, or even an anti-Zionist, would they not be taken aback by it in the slightest way, and be ever so hesitant about endorsing or publishing it for its "harsh" or "carping" or "obsessive" or "bitter" or "acrid", and therefore possibly antisemitic, nature? Would they not contemplate editing it for a gentler choice of words, especially regarding the Holocaust and victims? It's not inconceivable that this would be the case, is it? But not in Israel, and not for Gideon Levy. As for the movie itself, the piece says it all.

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Israeli army forces Palestinians to serve as ‘human shields’ in raids

by Philip Weiss20 February 2009

AC writes: Amira Hass has an article on the front page of today’s Haaretz.com that documents the Israeli army’s use of Palestinians as unwilling “human shields” in raids inside the Occupied Territories. Israel is the prime employer of Palestinians as…

32 comments

The sovereign in action: Israeli backhoes uproot Palestinian olive trees, yesterday

by Philip Weiss17 February 2009

AC writes: Live action occupation: King Leopo– er, Israel ordered its forces to deracinate Palestinian olive trees and destroy private Palestinian land to create an apartheid road, fire teargas at school children, attack protesters, and shoot an ambulance while in…

5 comments

Two sickening videos document Israeli house occupation in occupied territories on Friday

by Philip Weiss15 February 2009

AC writes: For those wanting compelling, video evidence of Palestinian non-violent resistance and the sin inherent in subjugating humans to live under the boots of others, see the following two videos shot on Friday February 13, at the International Solidarity…

14 comments

Palestinian Gandhis are there– and starved of international support

by Philip Weiss13 February 2009

Yesterday at Columbia, Mustafa Barghouti said that 10 Palestinian protesters in the West Bank were killed during the Gaza onslaught when Israelis fired on them during the protests that arose in virtually every village in the occupied territories. AC adds…

25 comments

How the Merkava tank was dethroned

by Philip Weiss10 February 2009

AC writes: Some context for the “video posted below” The tank that the cute child is perched upon at 0:09 is evidently the Israeli-designed-and-built Merkava. It’s based on the the Hebrew word for chariot, Merkabah, a reference to the chariot…

10 comments

Let’s not kid ourselves, Palestinian state is ‘exotic little hamlets’

by Philip Weiss8 February 2009

AC writes: Have you read this article on Netanyahu in the Times of London? You don’t have to read the whole thing; there’s nothing new in it if one has been paying attention. Just read the first and eleventh paragraphs:…

30 comments

Farmers cannot harvest parsley crop in Gaza, as Israeli soldiers are firing at them

by Philip Weiss7 February 2009

AC writes: Reports are coming in from Gaza that the IDF is firing at civilians and farmers accompanied by international volunteers as human shields. An account [from International Solidarity Movement], with unnerving video: Returning to farm-land… east of Khan Younis,…

16 comments

To kill the doctor’s daughters, first kill the conscience

by Philip Weiss6 February 2009

AC writes: The Israeli military has concluded in a report that the shelling of Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish’s house that killed his daughters was “reasonable”. In Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov, after deciding that he was indeed an übermensch, and,…

29 comments

Amnesty International alleges Israel targeted medics

by Philip Weiss1 February 2009

AC writes: An Amnesty International team in Gaza is reporting on the targeting of medics by Israel and has found evidence of US missiles being used in the attack. The munitions appear to be AGM-114 HELLFIRE missiles, anti-tank, anti-armor laser-guided…

4 comments

Olmert threatens ‘fierce and disproportionate’ force. I.e., they know Gaza was ‘disproportionate’ too

by Philip Weiss1 February 2009

AC writes: The post about unbounded optimism wasn’t a challenge to you [as Weiss framed it in posting it: AC accuses me of deluded optimism in believing in a sea change"] . It was a challenge to all the thinking…

18 comments

Internet is driving the ’sea change’ in American response to Israel/Palestine

by Philip Weiss31 January 2009

Nim Chimpsky takes Weiss’s side in the challenge posed by AC the other day, Is Weiss deluded that a sea change is occurring: This is obvious but since no one seems to have said it I’ll throw my two cents…

11 comments

Some are cynical about the 2-state solution. Why?

by Philip Weiss30 January 2009

AC writes: Peace Now just released a report which found that settlement growth has increased 69% in 2008 as compared to 2007. A similar report was issued by the group in August of 2008. A similar report was issued by…

13 comments