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The War of Ideas in the Middle East
So the 'settlers' and their brats who throw stones at Palestinians and their cars should be charged with attempted murder too! Tell us, OgleR, why aint that happenin?
You might note David, that while Israel has a place in the Eurovision song contest, Palestine does not.
You might note David, that while Israel has a place in, and indeed is hosting UEFA under 21's this year, Palestine does not.
You might note that immense barriers are placed *by Israel* on Palestinian participation in any sporting or cultural events. Young footballers are killed during practice, or playing outside their home. Others, like Mahmoud Sarsak receive permits to play in the West Bank, and are then arbitrarily abducted and imprisoned for years *by Israel*. Young musicians do not receive permits from *Israel* in order to perform in other parts of their *own* country. Et damning cetera. And you advocate 'normalisation' by competing against each other? Ha bloody ha.
Maybe you'd enjoy The Mumbai Chuzzlewits? India's been having a Dickens love affair (or, reportedly was last year).
link to bbc.co.uk
hophmi
" They are responsible for stealing property, impoverishing those who were left, the time those people spent in DP camps, and the pain and suffering these people have experienced their entire lives since the war."
This is true of 67 years of Israeli impact on the Palestinian people.
Perhaps one could modify your last paragraph, and pretend it had been written several years in the future:
"It will never be enough, and any Israeli with any kind of historical consciousness should be glad the Israeli government has done the right thing. Doing the right thing has had a tremendous benefit for Israel, which has rebuilt its reputation and has become Middle East’s strongest economy."
asherpat
Your 'question' is juvenile nonsense.
Israel is the aggressor, the thief, and the entity which claims to be at war with the people of Palestine who have no army. It is a country which dares not to make peace of any kind, in part because the costs in all spheres would be too great. So it is on a slow suicide mission.
Wow. Chills down the spine beautiful. Even though I had to listen quietly (moggy thinks this is her room, and there's five tiddlers to consider! - she grumbles at me. :( ).
Here's one I haven't had time to watch yet (just noticed it a few mins ago, have to watch tomorro) re the UEFA U21's:
link to leftfutures.org
"In the autumn of 2011 Philosophy Football met Honey Thalijeh, then captain of the Palestine Women’s Football team. Inspired by what she told us about what football meant to her country we promised that when Euro 2013 opened in Israel we would be in Palestine."
"Throughout the tournament Israel will do everything it can to keep attention away from football on the Palestinian side of the wall. Our film, shot over the pat few days will help to break this silence. On Tuesday it was premiered in Ramallah at the HQ of the Palestine Olympic Association and simultaneously released on YouTube."
Oh Citizen. They lived in an Illegal Settlement in Palestine. Perhaps they went there from Israel, perhaps from elsewhere.
"Ibrahim Foxmadinejad" - titter.
"Alan Dershameini" - snort!
just
It's words in the Israeli msm, so they can point to it and carry on with the UEFA U21's this month. "What, Israel, racist?! What an anti-semitic thing to accuse us of!"
No-wonder scumbag Blair has built nearly impenetrable walls around the sources of his sudden, post-office fortunes. How does one go from a big mortgage on a fairly average London house on becoming PM, to multi-millions in the bank? As much as possible protected from the tax-man of course. I always swear I could see the £ signs in his eyes, could see him setting his ducks in a row, in the run up to Iraq. He'll do nothing of any substance whatsoever for Palestine.
I'm glad someone else found that a bit off. I wondered if it was about 'green' cars or setting up an eternal revenue stream!
Funny (peculiar) how they "remember" the fairy stories but not the history, such as the lostJewish kingdoms in Yemen or Khazaria.
Israel has already said it will bomb arms shipments from Russia:
link to guardian.co.uk
"Russia has said it will supply one of its most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems to the Syrian government, hours after the EU ended its arms embargo on the rebels, raising the prospect of a rapidly escalating proxy war in the region if peace talks in Geneva fail next month."
""The shipments haven't set out yet and I hope they won't," Moshe Ya'alon, the Israeli defence minister, said. "If they do arrive in Syria, God forbid, we'll know what to do.""
hoppity
" a fringe conspiracy theory"! What a load of bollox! Who wrote the "Clean Break" policy document for Netanyahu's first go-round at the helm in Israel? Why, it was those very same fellas who re-wrote it as "Project for a New American Century" and tried to flog it first to the Clinton admin, then successfully to the G W Bush admin, and look how that turned out!!
Not only is it that Jewish Israelis think this or that, but very obviously, Bronner is only concerned with a particular economic class of Jewish Israeli, and that appears *not* to be those who are hurting financially! So, rich Israelis have become dangerously complacent. And Bronner only visits/lives in the geographical/political bubbles of both US and Israel. Reporting on the 1% by the 1% for the 1%!
99% of the picture lost because considered irrelevant.
Oooh! Just heard Medea's gonna be on 'my' radio station - bbcR5 "Up All Night"! I'll have to wait a few hours tho, I expect.
Israeli "democracy" is limited. Not just by the fact that millions who are under Israel's jackboot cannot vote, buy also by the fact that all politicians must follow the tenets of zionism. That automatically means a supremacist state, just as it also means an expansionist state determined to swallow up as possible of the land of Palestine. Anyone wishing to enter politics who does not follow both those 'rules' would not be considered acceptable to the majority of the electorate, or to most of the parties (I expect the charters of many parties claim occupied Palestine, just as Likud's does), and is doomed to failure. Those two tenets in particular are simply non-negotiable in Israel. Both those areas should be part of the political space, but are not, and those who would dare to contest that are completely marginalised.
You'll be disappointed / disgusted to learn that we Brits, as discovered by Craig Murray, seem to have the same problem re Israeli visitors to our green and soggy land:
link to craigmurray.org.uk
"From Hansard
Asked by Lord Warner
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian Territories require a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom, but Israeli citizens living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories do not require a visa to come to the United Kingdom for six months or less.[HL59]
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration has been given to changing immigration rules to restrict access to the United Kingdom by all Israeli citizens who live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.[HL60]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach):
Visa regimes are based on nationality, not place of residence. Palestinians are required to obtain a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom. Israeli citizens, regardless of where they reside, are able to visit the United Kingdom visa free for up to six months.
No consideration has been given to changing the Immigration Rules to restrict access to the United Kingdom by Israeli citizens who live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Visa regimes are kept under regular review."
No you don't! Done and dusted.
T-shirt slogan "Help for Heroes", a charity that provides assistance to those wounded in the latest batch of wars. Listening to a phone-in this morning, one muslim said he'd be wearing that t-shirt tomorrow when he attended mosque.
The political response seems over the top to me, making too much of it. That fires up the wrong people. The man with the bloody hands turns out to be a convert from a religious christian background (and a Nigerian family), there have been mosque attacks, etc. EDL decided to have a 'vigil' outside the barracks last night that wound people up. The video footage is now everywhere on the msm.
You're right about the western-centric narrative. Didn't happen on those occasions when the IRA targetted troops (sometimes their families) on the mainland.
These killers stuck around and engaged passers-by deliberately. The footage is from a man on his way to the local jobcentre taken on his cellphone.
The link is in high demand, keeps going wrong.
link to itv.com
The man speaking, with his machete and bloodied hands, sounds like a London native. The lack of fear shown by passers-by is surreal.
I hear the attack is filmed and flying around the internet.
Here in UK, we seem to have suffered a 'blowback' attack just this afternoon.
A young soldier leaving Woolwich Barracks in London was beheaded in the street outside. The attackers have been shot and wounded. It is now being referred to as 'terrorism', since they were shouting "Allahu Akbar".
Hop:
"And complete “Judaization?” Have you forgotten that Israel within the 1967 borders is 20% Palestinian?"
Annie wrote " judaization of the land". Through state theft, that stands at around 95% within Israel. You should read more carefully.
Well, TweetyPie, I guess most of us here would think the answer to "Why she can?" is that *Israel* does not want that 3% either attending US educational institutions, or - gasp of horror! - disseminating unapproved/non-zionist political views. And as we know, the US always, always, does as Israel demands.
Obdurate
If you look at the map with your magnifying glass, you'll be able to see a few specks of countries which have been included in the survey. Singapore is smaller than Israel, is it not? So is Albania, which also appears to be there.
Giladg
I thought you of all people, would have considered Allison to have "come home"!
Wassamatta, can't handle truth tellers in your midst?
And Israel attempts to "legalize" it's theft:
link to guardian.co.uk
"The government said it had taken steps to confer legal status on the four outposts, which have been slated for demolition since 2003, in response to a petition submitted to the supreme court by the Israeli settlement monitoring organisation Peace Now."
Strange how Palestinians have only days to try to prevent Israeli pseudo-legal demolitions, while these go on for year after year after year after year until they skate free.
Danaa, Britain was guilty of plenty, but the Congo was Belgian! You can't blame us for that one!
As for jon s, he can remind us just how many times we've seen video where at least one Israeli soldier claims to be "at war" with the Palestinians in the West Bank. And mebbe he knows which well armed army Israel's up against? All we've seen is sling and hand thrown stones, with the occasional molotov, in response to the provocation of theft (of homes, land, resources), abuse, denial of movement, assaults, home destruction, crop destruction, etc, etc. On and on and endlessly on.
I had a book called "War Junkie" by an ITN foreign correspondent somewhere on my shelves, but I think it's migrated to my son's home (and I can't remember the author's name). Anyway, I doubt Engel works as a foreign correspondent due to any high ideals (which may have led him towards his career), but for the addictive thrill, the sense of danger. If he had principles, surely they would include the lives of the Gaza journalists. But no, he verbally wriggles and squirms to exclude them while including the Syrian opposition journalists.
Poor persnickety RoHa.
Let it amoose you instead!
Poor ol' Dersh. He's got his work cut out for him, defending the indefensible - and here's a bit of great news (for us, not him!):
The ICC has *fianally* opened and investigation into an Israeli crime!!!!!
link to maannews.net
"THE HAGUE (AFP) -- The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary probe into Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, the prosecutor's office said Tuesday.
"My office will be conducting a preliminary examination in order to establish whether the criteria for opening an investigation are met," Fatou Bensouda said in a statement issued from the court based in The Hague."
Should BDS involvement be restricted to near non-entities, or celebs so that you can sneeringly dismiss them?
Your second sentence denies the man his own agency. Why? Do you think he's some kind of manipulable puppet? Just because his body won't work? Are you the sort of man who simply cannot look a disabled person in the eye, associating physical malfunction with mental/intellectual malfunction? Some of the sharpest wits I've known were 'caged' inside bodies like Prof Hawkings, a double loss to them and the rest of us, because they'd either become disabled as kids, or been born so and (over 40+ years ago) educated separately and less well.
The entrenchment of the occupation, the vast expansion of the settlements in the West Bank post 67, the 'validity' of Erez Israel, can only be workable using arguments 1 and 2 since the religious claims to historic mausoleums existing there, or historic places. The other arguments - 3 being a place of refuge from anti-semitism, 4 being we stole it fair and square -were met within the recognized State of Israel. No country is prepared (officially at least) to recognize either of those in relation to the occupation of the rest of Palestine.
Also from the Guardian/Chomsky link above - this could be *really* significant, Phil -
"News of Chomsky's role in what has been considered the coup of Hawking's decision for the movement came amid growing signs in UK academia of interest in supporting boycotts of Israel. At its annual congress beginning on 29 May, the University and College Union will urge its 120,000 members to consider rethinking links with Israeli academic institutions. Teachers and lecturers will be asked to "consider the appropriateness of Israeli institutional associations", according to a draft motion.
"It is brave of Hawking for the straightforward reason that someone who has his prominence will be targeted for vilification," said Tom Hickey, a member of the UCU's executive committee who put forward the draft motion. "If he can do that then all of us should think of doing it. This isn't about targeting Israeli scholars but targeting the institutions.""
Hawking was also responding to the over 20 academics who lobbied him - including Chomsky:
link to guardian.co.uk
"Chomsky, a US professor and well-known supporter of the Palestinian cause, joined British academics from the universities of Cambridge, London, Leeds, Southampton, Warwick, Newcastle, York and the Open University to tell Hawking they were "surprised and deeply disappointed" that he had accepted the invitation to speak at next month's presidential conference in Jerusalem, which will chaired by Shimon Peres and attended by Tony Blair and Bill Clinton."
I don't want to know what Dersh has to say about Chomsky!
"My job is to protect Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people, along with many other people, from external threats so that Jews can obsess about their internal problems and drive themselves crazy. I want to get back to the point where we are divided and fight among each other and have these kinds of arguments-- as long as the Stephen Hawkings of the world leave us alone and don’t try and destroy us."
So Dersh is a self-appointed warrior for Israel, wielding his mighty sharp tongue in its defence! Wot a weapon. And all so that other Jews - Israeli and not - can navel gaze and argue amongst themselves, and themselves alone as no one else is qualified to participate.
"I have never met anybody except perhaps Palestinians who really give one good goddamn about the Palestinian people. "
Oh, and sod the Palestinian victims, they are an irrelevant nuisance and should shut up already! I mean, who cares? they're not Jews, and they're in the way.
The Guardian's fourth Hawking article today(!):
link to guardian.co.uk
"The full text of the letter, dated 3 May, said: "I accepted the invitation to the Presidential Conference with the intention that this would not only allow me to express my opinion on the prospects for a peace settlement but also because it would allow me to lecture on the West Bank. However, I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics. They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott. In view of this, I must withdraw from the conference. Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.""
Then the pushback:
""The academic boycott against Israel is in our view outrageous and improper, certainly for someone for whom the spirit of liberty lies at the basis of his human and academic mission," said conference chairman Israel Maimon. "Israel is a democracy in which all individuals are free to express their opinions, whatever they may be. The imposition of a boycott is incompatible with open, democratic dialogue."
Daniel Taub, the Israeli ambassador to London, said: "It is a great shame that Professor Hawking has withdrawn from the president's conference … Rather than caving into pressure from political extremists, active participation in such events is a far more constructive way to promote progress and peace."
The Wolf Foundation, which awarded Hawking the Wolf prize in physics in 1988, said it was "sad to learn that someone of Professor Hawking's standing chose to capitulate to irrelevant pressures and will refrain from visiting Israel"."
These people are so deluded if they think their blatant lies will prevent the "disaster" they've wished upon themselves.
The pathetic Shurat HaDin has weighed in now, accusing the Prof of hypocrisy for using "Israeli" technology to communicate:
link to guardian.co.uk
"His whole computer-based communications system runs on a chip designed by Israel's Intel team. I suggest if he truly wants to pull out of Israel he should also pull out his Intel Core i7 from his tablet," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat HaDin."
miriam6
It's the unconditional, uncritical support of nasty apartheid Israel that is 'mindless', not BDS.
It is Israel that "seeks to curtail freedom of expression and exchange of ideas and interaction between people" - by impeding educational opportunities available to Palestinians: vastly less resources put into education for its Palestinian citizens, and for the non-citizens, everything from school demolition to preventing students taking their exams, attending their schools or universities, etc. Check points, settler attacks, curfews, arbitrary arrests and road closures, endless impediments. All highly deserving of academic boycott support.
But of course, you have to play hasbara troll "ugly bandwagon campaign that seeks to single out and vilify one nation only" - waaaahhhh!- and then smear Professor Hawking!
Today's Guardian poll "Is Stephen Hawking right to join the academic boycott of Israel?":
link to guardian.co.uk
Presently, the yeas have it - 66%
the nays at 34%
and nearly 900 comments!
Pamela's article over at IAK adds up the $numbers of your tax dollars spent on Israel:
link to ifamericansknew.org
including jobs lost because of 'special' agreements that no other nation has, of course. Israel is sooooo speshull.
Must be in the cement. Or the bricks. Or the red roof tiles. Somewhere.
I think he was last here on Feb 6. I asked if he'd got the sack. He and seanmcbride seemed locked in an interminable squabble at the time, and both have disappeared. Eva Smagasz found him as Mooser42001 elsewhere.
Stephen Hawking's boycotting too:
link to guardian.co.uk
He's pulling out of a conference in Israel hosted by Shimon Peres:
"Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there"."
What a contrast your experience seems. I saw far more tolerance/acceptance in people bumping along the economic bottom (including families like you describe) than I've seen in the well-heeled middle-class and successful people who are not ashamed of being either racist or homophobic, and making sure their neighbors know where they stand (often assuming their views are universal)!
Listening to radio last night, the presenter of the next show popped up to say a few of the things he'd be talking about in his show, including this particular google "controversy". I popped off a text, saying that actually, it was the legally correct term, esp since Nov at the UN. I propped my eyes (and ears) open til almost 4am, but it seems not to have appeared. Wonder if they junked it because of the text?
Donut, how many Palestinian negotiators were in in on this plan? Is the answer zero?
It's like the English speaking world, excluding New Zealand, decided that NZ has to give up either the North or South island, once the sh*t hits the fan, to give displaced Israelis a new place where they can "self-determine". What self-respecting New Zealander would be up for that?? Up sticks, abandon homes and businesses, move to the other island, on the say so of a bunch of foreigners who speak the same lingo, by and large follow the same faiths, so they're the same, right? They can speak for each other wherever they are, yeah? The people of the world aren't necessarily as dumb as you'd obviously wish them to be.
He may be seeing things thru the pale blue hue of his ziostalgia glasses.
What "new life and momentum" has appeared in the 2ss? Could you expand on where this is coming from? I thought we were just in for another round of the interminable piece process, which only ever maintains the status quo - Israel steals, attacks Palestinians; the Palestinians have no recourse; Israel demands no Palestinian preconditions, while setting a ton of its own, etc.
Using that same quote, the Dersh is conflating Palestinians not just with all Arabs, but with all Muslims. Kinda sorta forgets the diversity not just of Palestinians themselves, but of Arabs and of Muslims in general. He seems to think peace with Palestinians is pointless, being completely blind to the fact that a just peace with them would vastly reduce any perceived threat to Israel, by, ooohh, 98%? More?
@ Mike_Konrad
I presume by "contested area", which you repeat, you are using your pet euphemism for occupied Palestine?
That's nice to hear about Hoffman, he was here in my town in the 70's making the film "Agatha". What's with the ed's of that paper if they allow an article dripping with the kind of stuff they'd be screaming about in any other paper?
The "dream of a viable Palestinian state" is somewhere near cloud cuckoo land just about now. Given the present set of geo-political facts. "Change" is not about to happen in an instant, as it most certainly did not with either of your examples - the first was decades of activism followed by war, the second was decades of activism before some political change. How do you a) propose ending US support for Israel or b) getting Israel out of occupied Palestine "without a pout"?
And...not a single government supports the 2ss - they pay lip service to it and then undermine it (most especially the US - see the Susan Rice thread).
The one state solution requires a whole new constitution - no, that's wrong, Israel never wrote a first one - actually means rewriting all the laws and ending zionism as its founding and permanent philosophy. We all know that leads to wails of "destruction of Israeeeeeel! Waaaaahhhhh!"
ohhh. Giladg is conflating anti-semitism with anti-zionism. What a clever boy, not. Zionism is a political ideology, not a faith, ethnicity or anything else.
Here, sillykid77, check out this link for some of the deliberately discriminatory laws against Palestinians *in* Israel, and then in occupied Palestine:
link to angryarabscommentsection.blogspot.co.uk
"Mexicans just can’t freely drive on American roads" So explain why Israelis get to drive on ethnically cleansed roads in Palestine? Anyhoo, if you were a Mexican in the US, what the heck is there to stop you driving on American roads? Do Americans get to drive on ethnically cleansed roads in Mexico?
Silly hasbara troll.
Dammit!! They're not digitized, have to be able to visit the National Archive to view 'em. :(
Annie -
UK govt releases info from archives pre -48:
link to guardian.co.uk
(hot off the press - it's already 'tomorrow' here!)
"In the weeks leading up to the partition of Palestine in 1948, when Britain gave up its UN mandate, Jewish terrorist groups were mounting increasing attacks on UK forces and Arab fighters, the Colonial Office papers show.
And they reveal how senior British officials were occupied in deciding how to allocate between them two Rolls-Royces and a Daimler."
(It's really better than that - I'm off to look at the links.)
A quote from our then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Libby:
""It's a toss-up whether [he] is working for the Israelis or the Americans on any given day."
link to en.wikipedia.org
Am I hearing right on this new 'foiled plot' story out of Canada? Al Qaeda in IraN? They're havin us on!
My immediate thought is no way, this is a 'plot' set up by secret services of a 'third' country, who undoubtedly also revealed it to the authorities! Gotta get & keep 'em onside for an attack on Iran!
I was thinking he would prefer a 'blander' sounding label, since he seems to have taken umbrage at the other harsh ones. Still means just the same.
Aw, poor ol' 'no Christmas trees' on his watch Shimon Gafsou! How can those fools at Haaretz call him a racist and/or fascist thug! He's so sure he's not. Maybe he's just an 'ethnic chauvinist'? Same thing, different label?
Thanks Harry. I knew about Oborne, but not Morrison.
link to david-morrison.org.uk
Published yesterday:
"A Dangerous Delusion: Why the Iranian Nuclear Threat is a Myth"
By David Morrison and Peter Oborne
"In 2013 it is possible that Israel, backed by the United States, will launch an attack on Iran. This would be a catastrophic event, risking war, bloodshed and global economic collapse.
In this passionate, but rationally argued essay, the authors attempt to avert a potential global catastrophe by showing that the grounds for war do not exist, that there are no Iranian nuclear weapons, and that Iran would happily come to the table and strike a deal. They argue that the military threats aimed by the West against Iran contravene international law, and argue that Iran is a civilised country and a legitimate power across the Middle East.
For years Peter Oborne and David Morrison have, in their respective fields, examined the actions of our political classes and found them wanting. Now they have joined forces to make a poweful case against military action. In the wake of the Iraq war, will the politicians listen?"
link to eandtbooks.com
Another:
The wealthiest 300 people in the world have wealth geater than the bottom 3,000,000,000.
asher splat
If Ramallah was not occupied, then Ms Jouda would have been able to travel there and take up her post at the school without *any* Israeli interference, no?
She would have been able to travel directly to Palestine without passing thru either Israel *or* thru Israeli controlled checkpoints *in* Palestine, no?
Andrew Marr isn't that up to date on the human mixing:
link to news.discovery.com
Asians are included, and also have a few Denisovan genes mixed in.
Gosh! From 11 fuzzy stills and 30secs of video he can extrapolate so much! I could see two young males.
"We are the go-to source for credible, factual information on Israel"
Uh huh. A handful of wounded Syrians in an Israeli hospital. Ignoring that Israel denied the request from Palestine to let in 10,000 refugees from Syria, TO Palestine (not Israel, mind). So lets reword that:
"We are the go-to source for up-to-date Israeli propaganda"
So what if it doesn't sound as good? It's a lot more credible.
The right wing settler, indeed every Israeli, engaged in violence when thay voted for the continuation of the occupation, the continuing theft of resources, land, destruction of homes of Palestinians, denial of their own resources to them, continuation of the humiliation of checkpoints, the wall, roaming violent gangs of press-ganged youth in uniform, and so forth. Every zionist living outside of Israel who squawks that justice for Palestinians equates to the 'destruction of Israel' is guilty of continuing the violence. Every donor to zionist causes, every Israeli taxpayer, continues the violence. Occupation is violence. It violates the human spirit every minute of every day. Of course the Israeli governments bear the primary responsibility, but the settlers are second on the list.
Two short poems from Yip Harburg, who wrote "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead", from "At This Point in Rhyme" (1976)
On militarism:
"Build Pentagons and armories
From Boston to Lajolla
There is no fortress strong enough
To placate Paranoia."
and democracy under capitalism:
"Sing a song of politics
With bottles full of Rye
Fourteen hundred delegates
That anyone can buy
When the voting opens
The price begins to rise
And this, my little citizens,
Is called Free Enterprise."
link to socialistunity.com
An interesting piece.
Too damn many would-be leaders, wherever they may be, whatever ethical tradition they're from, can too easily be bought off.
New book out today, hoping to rein in the warmongers:
"A Dangerous Delusion"
authors: David Morrison and Peter Oborne
"In 2013 it is possible that Israel, backed by the United States, will launch an attack on Iran. This would be a catastrophic event, risking war, bloodshed and global economic collapse.
In this passionate, but rationally argued essay, the authors attempt to avert a potential global catastrophe by showing that the grounds for war do not exist, that there are no Iranian nuclear weapons, and that Iran would happily come to the table and strike a deal. They argue that the military threats aimed by the West against Iran contravene international law, and argue that Iran is a civilised country and a legitimate power across the Middle East.
For years Peter Oborne and David Morrison have, in their respective fields, examined the actions of our political classes and found them wanting. Now they have joined forces to make a poweful case against military action. In the wake of the Iraq war, will the politicians listen?"
link to eandtbooks.com
I think a lot of the world's mopes try to say the nastiest thing possible just in their effort to be noticed. It's pretty pathetic.
As for the young Saudi, he's been completely cleared and released (it was his apartment that was searched), and said to be a victim just as much as anyone else.
I've also heard a reputable security expert say the bombing is more likely to be an act of domestic terrorism carried out by a lone individual, partly due to the type and style and the lack of anyone claiming responsibility.
The silliest thing I've heard so far was when one of the surgeons was answering questions from the press pack, and one asked (or rather, demanded that he say) that he had learned his trauma skills from the Israelis! What on earth?! Surgeon denied it and sounded as bewildered as I was at the weirdness of that one.
Uh oh - better tell us more - all that pops up now is this site & your message!
From that time, I remember when hearing/reading criticism of the UK in Northern Ireland from abroad a feeling of automatic knee-jerk defensiveness which is something I now notice in Israelis and zionists who comment here. The only 'action' I took was to examine where that feeling came from and to put an end to it. I wish some of the zios here could do that, and stop being so irrational in their endless defense of the indefensible. Which will be first, Irish unity, or Palestinian freedom and justice?
Way back when I was a little kid and Dad was coming to the end of his time in the Royal Navy, he briefly contemplated joining the South African navy. I was appalled, horrified! and terrified at the thought that I or my siblings would 'absorb' and become racist because the people around us would likely be. (I was only 9 or 10)
At a later period, I became aware that we had various embargoes on providing certain military equipment to SA, and that contracts had to be checked to ensure nothing of the banned kind would ever eventually wind up there.
However, the difference is that Israel, unlike SA, has wiggled its way into the highest, most secretive crevices of our 'installations' (as well as those of the US). I only discovered this recently, when talking to someone who described exactly the kind of people Danaa describes. It frankly scared me that they were in this particular place. How the heck do we fight to 'bds' them from these most important places?!
Ruined by the ending. Completely unnecessary playing with 'stereotype', imo wrecks the whole message it could have had.