Commenter Profile

Total number of comments: 53 (since 2010-09-05 16:15:02)

Showing comments 53 - 1
Page:

  • Syria wrap: Grumbling This won't be easy, NYT's Bill Keller suits up for another Mid-East war
    • Empiricon May 6, 2013 at 3:39 pm

      "Kill Bill" Keller at it again, huh?
      "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry for blood, more vengeance. More desolation." -- William Tecumseh Sherman

  • Hea culpa: 'New Yorker' editor backed Iraq war because Saddam had WMD and wanted to liberate Jerusalem
    • Empiricon March 22, 2013 at 10:51 am with 1 replies

      It's a gentleman's agreement, seafroid. If they acknowledged their nukes, US law dictates that we couldn't subsidize them, and in fact could impose sanctions on them. But heaven forbid the US actually adhere to it's ideals when it comes to foreign policy in the Middle East.

  • NY synagogue banishes panel on Israel, saying BDS discussion is 'forbidden'
    • Empiricon March 12, 2013 at 12:01 pm

      From the Ansche Chesed website, it sounds like the prototypical PEPper synagogue (my edits in parens): link to anschechesed.org

      [We are] an egalitarian, participatory Conservative synagogue, filled with learning, prayer, celebration and social action (as long as it's not about about Israel/Palestine).... We are a diverse community that comes together to pray, to learn, to laugh and to cry (except about Israel/Palestine).... There is something for everyone here (except those who want to discuss Israel/Palestine): Shabbat, holiday and daily services, organic vegetables in our lobby, writers reading on our roof, opportunities for social action, and classes for people of all ages all backgrounds.

      We welcome you! (as long as you don't criticize Israel)

      "Ansche Chesed is home to thoughtful, questioning Jews dedicated to prayer,
      learning and action (unless it's about Israel/Palestine). It's a synagogue where tikkun olam is not just another mantra; it's a place where Jewish values are taken seriously (as long as it's not about Israel/Palestine) and where I feel proud to belong." --Michael Wise

      (Then Wise breaks out in song:
      "I'm a PEPper, he's a PEPper, she's a PEPper, we're all PEPpers, wouldn't you like to be a PEPper too?....Be a PEPper, drink Zion PEPper..." link to youtube.com

  • Covering Hamas and Palestinian society: A response to Peter Beinart
    • Empiricon March 11, 2013 at 4:52 pm with 8 replies

      Back up two sentences, hophmi: "If the U.S. government were funding Hamas we'd feel differently, and if there was a propaganda and lobbying effort in the U.S. to justify and promote oppressive Hamas practices we would cover it. But this isn't the case."
      As Americans, we subsidize Israel's behavior and are therefore responsible for it. Such is not the case with Hamas. Your unwillingness to comprehend the difference is inevitable given your loyalty to the cult of Zionism.

  • 'Emergency Committee for Israel' can dish it out, but it can't--
    • Empiricon February 28, 2013 at 12:06 pm

      You're right, Lysias. It's a paraphrased quote widely misattributed to Thucydides. Actual quote is from British historian Sir William Francis Butler: "The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards."

      Still fits Bill the Bloody like a glove though, regardless of the authorship.

  • Hagel news: Abrams says lobby is mostly Christian, JVP wants Americans to say 'apartheid'
    • Empiricon February 22, 2013 at 4:30 pm

      Interesting tack by Abrams. He must fear that the gig is up. To paraphrase the Luther character in the movie "The Warriors": "No. No... It wasn't us. It was them. It was the [Christian] Warriors."

  • Sen. Graham is merely enforcing Sen. Schumer's 'behind the scenes' deal with Hagel -- Fineman
    • Empiricon February 14, 2013 at 12:22 pm with 2 replies

      Matthews is a Beltway cocktail party coward. You can tell which way "progressive" thought is blowing by what he's saying. In a recent commercial for his Hardball show, Matthews says he's no hawk but we MUST do something about Iraq, err I mean Iran.

  • Bloomberg backs Brooklyn College over BDS event as another official withdraws funding threat
  • Such were the joys of my Muslim education (Updated)
    • Empiricon January 9, 2013 at 11:22 pm with 1 replies

      I was just going to make this point, Stephen. Islam isn't the problem -- religious fundamentalism is. Be it Islam, Christian, Jewish...or Druid.

      "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." ~ Thomas Jefferson

  • Israeli army releases video of Dec. 12 killing of Palestinian youth at Hebron checkpoint
    • Empiricon December 17, 2012 at 4:35 pm

      Far too grainy to see much of anything. What we do see conflicts with the story that the IDF told that "he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the head of one of the soldiers.” Salayme looks more or less calm, swinging his bag as he waits -- though perhaps understandably frustrated by the whole process as any rational human would be. But that changed in an instant after the soldier approached him, and said something to him. Salayme then starts punching. Also, I see other soldiers moving to help, but doing so quite calmly (arms swinging) as if there was no real threat. Then the heroic lioness Nofar puts the Lieberman doctrine in action: “It is unacceptable that Palestinian[s] slap and punch IDF soldiers and stay alive.”

      I guess the vaunted Israeli technology hasn't made it to their border cameras, which seem to be have night vision technology circa 1985. Stone Age technology allows Israel to release a video that shows some level of hostility by the victim so Obsidian, dimadok et al can see what they want to. Perhaps someone can digitally enhance this to get better information.

  • One day later: B'nai Jeshurun leaders regret voicing support for Palestine UN bid
    • Empiricon December 7, 2012 at 3:27 pm

      "a fellow democracy [sic] with which they share values"
      How true! All four Pacific nations (with a combined population of under 200,000) are protectorates of the US and recieve billions in "aid." Marshall Islands is a haven for US manufacturers because we imposed a "no minimum wage" law there. So the "shared values" is the subjugation of an indigenous population by "democratic" immigrants. One big difference: the US is the dog who wags the tail of those four nations, but Israel is the tail who wags the US dog.

    • Empiricon December 7, 2012 at 2:05 pm

      Another example of how Zionism is a collective cult, in which "questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. The collective "dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel.... The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment... and regards [its] belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law. " The parallels are eerie. More here: link to csj.org

  • No balance: CNN slobbers over Peres, grills Meshaal
    • Empiricon November 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm

      Wolf Blitzer is a product of his environment. His parents fled the Nazis from Poland, he spent early career in Israel where he worked at the right-wing Jerusalem Post. He also wrote for AIPAC. Jonathan Pollard thought so much of him he contacted Blitzer to write his side of the story, a book which reviewer Robert Friedman called "a slick piece of damage control that would make [Blitzer's] former employers at AIPAC (not to mention Israel's Defense Ministry) proud."

  • On crossing cultures as a western visitor to Palestine
    • Empiricon November 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm

      Sash, I applaud your recognition and your journey. But I think it depends on how much baggage you come in with. It seems that so many Americans are totally brainwashed vis-a-vis the humanity of Palestinians, Muslims or Arabs. So if you have that mindset to begin with, it's a heavy load to lose. But, if like Pamlea or myself, you never were indoctrinated or somehow threw it off, there isn't much you need to get over, other than the fact that you can't fix over night conditions that are so clearly and maddeningly unjust.

  • 7 Palestinians, including 3 children, killed and 52 injured as Israeli attack on Gaza continues
    • Empiricon November 12, 2012 at 6:48 pm

      They intended to perhaps kill someone by chance, but as they are unguided, more to terrorize. There your question is answered. But ParkSlopeGuy, what about the Torah? Will you answer THAT question?

      “If men quarrel and one hits the other with a rock[et] or with his fist and he does not die..., the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around..."

      Unguided rockets are usually just scaring, sometimes injuring, sometimes killing. Israeli missles are usually killing and injuring and always scaring.

    • Empiricon November 12, 2012 at 1:49 am

      Good point, because as the Torah says, "ten eyes for the fear that an act might take one eye" Oh wait, no it doesn't. Israel is like every other bully state in human history. It's a self-righteous thugocracy.

  • Romney's 'no daylight' pledge between US and Israel means that Israel will lead us -- Dajani
  • Free Gaza Movement Twitter controversy leads Jewish Voice for Peace to distance itself from group
    • Empiricon October 8, 2012 at 4:33 pm

      I agreee totally, at least based on what is posted here. Having a hard time seeing "racism" in a critical claim -- no matter its veracity -- about a political movement. How is this not buying into the (totally racist) Zionist mantra that any criticism of Zionism is anti-Semetic?

  • David Gregory walks back bow to Netanyahu as 'leader of the Jewish people'
    • Empiricon September 17, 2012 at 5:08 pm

      How about this exchange starting right at the 4:00 mark. Has to be a world record for totally contradicting onself and lying about doing so:

      NETANYAHU: ...Come on. We know that they're working towards a weapon. They're not -- we know that. It's not something that we surmise. We have absolutely certainty about that. And they're advancing towards that nuclear program.

      CROWLEY: Do you mean you and the U.S. know that, because I don't from what I read, from what I hear, I don't get the sense that the U.S. has the certainty that you do or the urgency that you seem to have. Is there a disconnect there?

      NETANYAHU: First of all, I talked about the certainty of their enrichment program, and I didn't talk about the other elements. And I spoke about the difficulty of knowing other things...

    • Empiricon September 17, 2012 at 12:57 pm

      Interesting. Over the past few years, Gregory studied Judaism with Erica Brown, who from what little I read seems to be a mainstream liberal American Jew, i.e. progressive except when it come to Israel and Palestine. Her Rosh Hashanah message barely touches religious wisdom or faith before plowing into a litany of Judeo/Israeli-centric celebrations or claims of victimhood. There is literally nothing in her message that connects Judaism to the rest of the world -- but plenty that separates it. I find this urge for separateness chilling. If this is who Gergory has learned his "faith" from, no wonder he sees Bibi as the leader of the Jewish people. link to shalomdc.org

  • Video: Israeli youths violently detain Palestinian under eyes of soldiers
    • Empiricon August 17, 2012 at 12:28 pm

      I hear ya Ranjit, but I wanted the comparison to hold up over several categories, e.g. children killed by "terrorism" vs God's chosen army. link to ifamericansknew.org

      That's why I did say "at least 10x".

    • Empiricon August 16, 2012 at 8:08 pm with 2 replies

      Yeah, right gildag. Can't determine much from the short clip but Elfakhouri is not seen doing anything to warrant what he receives-- all the force comes from the brown-shirts, err I mean Israelis. I count 10 Israelis against one Palestinian. Says a lot about you that you view it as "reasonable".

      It's a great metaphor. Evidence suggests Zionists values their own lives lives at least 10x more worthy than Palestinians based on comparative prison sentences, number of civilians killed in conflict, etc. "An eye for an eye" is now 10 eyes for an eye. "Beacon of freedom" indeed.

  • Paul Ryan describes Israel as issue of 'Homeland Security'
  • Foxman in American translation
    • Empiricon June 26, 2012 at 1:32 pm with 2 replies

      But Israel is more than a hometown. It is a manifestation of an ideology. A better analogy would be to the defenders of communism in the face of the horrors of Stalin & Mao. “My love and support for the Soviet Union is unconditional, it does not depend on the the Kremlin's acceptance of my ideas. My Communism is not in crisis because my Communism is not conditioned on an embrace of an idealized view of what I’d like the Soviet Union to be.”

  • Military dictatorships are good for Israel
    • Empiricon June 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm with 1 replies

      Hophmi , your last 5 words (or really the last 2) say it all. "[S]elf-determination" not for the Israeli people, but for the "Jewish" people. No self-determination for Arabs, Palestinians, etc. Only for Jews.

  • The things I miss (confessions of an activist)
  • State Dep't official's 'Are you Jewish?' question to US citizen keeps rattling Foggy Bottom
  • Israel's reliance on US has turned it into a 'global pariah'
    • Empiricon June 6, 2012 at 2:49 pm

      Amen. Clearly, we are Israel's ally. Clearly they are not ours -- and it can be argued they are our enemy.

  • US Embassy to American in trouble in Israel: 'You're not Jewish? Then we can't do anything to help you'
    • Empiricon June 1, 2012 at 3:51 pm with 20 replies

      You make a very good point, Fred, but that leaves the elephant in the room: Israel is an openly racist state, our government knows it, and not only does not care, it actively protects and subsidizes them. Sorry for stating the obvious, but thought it bore mentioning.

  • 9th grade Palestinian boy arrested at 3:45 am, soldier leans close and whispers 'F*ck your mother' as they haul him off
    • Empiricon May 31, 2012 at 2:47 pm with 1 replies

      Not sure if this will make it through or not, but reading about the Silwan 9th graders, I must ask how far must things go before the right-wing Israelis can be compared to Nazis? They didn't start out with death camps, only got there over time.

      "If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

      "And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all." -- Milton Meyer, They Thought They Were Free -- The Germans, 1933-45
      link to press.uchicago.edu

  • Bill Kristol celebrates Republican Party purge of 'oldfashioned Arabists' Scowcroft, Baker and Bush I
    • Empiricon May 21, 2012 at 5:47 pm

      "...the Jewish success in America that you so often boast about was due above all to a ruthless combination of maintaining Jewish cohesion whilst shattering the cohesion of the rest of America. "

      I've come to this sad conclusion as well. After WWII, America was forced to open its eyes to anti-Semitism in Europe and at home and slowly began to work to right those wrongs. But I can't help but feel that, in a classic example of "give 'em an inch and they'll take a yard", we have experienced a real-world version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" within the power structure of our nation. This is simewhat simplsitic, but the old guard Mainline Protestant patricians of the 50s and 60s (who rightfully imposed an arms embargo on Israel) were gradually swept away and Zionism emerged to rule our foreign policy with no room for those who view all people equally (aka "Arabists").

  • 1200 rabbis threaten an end to interfaith harmony if Methodists support divestment
    • Empiricon April 20, 2012 at 12:23 pm with 1 replies

      I'd like to congratulate the rabbis for reaching a pinnacle of power previously held by Chrisitan clergy, aligned with the power structure and standing against basic human freedoms. We saw it in South Africa in the 70s and 80s, the South in the 50s and 60s, etc.

      "In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer engine for their purpose." -- Thomas Jefferson to Horatio Spafford, 1814

  • Jewish press concoct threat against 200 Jewish students in Florida university
    • Empiricon April 10, 2012 at 4:47 pm with 2 replies

      Let me agree -- just excellent reporting. Sad to say but today's Judaism seems to be steeped in the tradition of Jews scaring Jews. A Jewish friend once told me in jest, "All Jewish holdidays are the same. We say 'They tried to kill us...we survived...let's eat.'" At the time, it struck me as humorous, and yes, I get the historical context, but I have since come to see the pernicious side of that mindset.

  • 'I didn't say I liked Beinart's book' -- J Street head sells his star guest out to his antagonist, Goldberg
    • Empiricon March 23, 2012 at 5:16 pm

      True dat, WB. Or for that matter, Palestinians. But of course, if - and ONLY if - he doesn't think Iranians or Palestinians are "people" his logic holds. Herein is exposed the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of Zionism.

  • The video that pushed Peter Beinart to speak out against the occupation
    • Empiricon March 23, 2012 at 10:52 am

      Yeah, I get it guys. While not Jewish, "some of my best friends...." And being raised a conservative Southern white boy in the 60s & 70s, I lived in the midst of an oppressor-as-victim society. But like Mooser, I started to question it all at a pretty young age and by the time I was in college I knew the score. But I'm not keeping score -- I'm always happy to see progress regardless of when it comes. And my society certainly had no historical reason to see itself as victim, so I understand that can make the Zionist narrative harder to overcome.

    • Empiricon March 22, 2012 at 3:51 pm with 4 replies

      I'm not one to question motives, but Beinart really had to commit willful ignorance (imbued by his tribal bias) to not know this kinda stuff has been happening for years, if not decades. It seems "the internets" has made it too obvious to avoid anymore. Despite this criticism, I welcome his evolution, though his attempt to modify rather than reject the cult of Zionism shows he still has a way to go.

  • Pentagon fears Israeli strike on Iran would drag US in
    • Empiricon March 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm

      Maddow took the spot Cenk Uygur should have. Now we know why -- yet another PEPpy (Progressive Until Palestine). She's pretty damned intelligent otherwise so it seems a concious choice.

  • Iran's Oscar win reveals Israeli movie-goers to be brainwashed bumpkins
    • Empiricon February 27, 2012 at 4:25 pm with 3 replies

      Of course, American Zionists no better. At the party I attended to watch the Oscars, one guy was rooting for the Israeli entry desite never seeing it (or "The Separation"). When "The Separation" won, he quipped that the movie was about "separating uranium." I quipped back that the Israelis had already won that award.

      Stone...cold...silence...

  • Assault on Beinart begins with poll claiming young American Jews love Israel
    • Empiricon February 22, 2012 at 12:06 pm with 1 replies

      Ditto Annie. As one of Southern WASP heritage, I can empathize greatly. I grew up in the 70s as Jim Crow was fading, but grew repulsed by its remnants that remained through the 80s. So when I moved to LA, I thought I would escape it (and the humidity). Yet, over the years, as conversations with some (though certainly not all) Jewish friends and acquiantences meandered to Israel, I was truly shocked to find attitudes even more racist that what I left in Tennessee -- and even more shocked that it seems socially acceptable to this day.

  • Video: right-wing groups attack U.S. professors over Ilan Pappe speaking tour
    • Empiricon February 17, 2012 at 12:13 pm

      "They are a cult." Sad but true. See below a few of the the charactersitcs of a cult -- all you need do is change "leader" to Zionism or Israel and these all fit well.
      link to csj.org

      * The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

      ‪ * Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

      ‪ * The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members .

      ‪ * The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

      ‪ * The leader is not accountable to any authorities .

      ‪ * The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group.

      ‪ * The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

      ‪ * The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

      ‪ * Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

      ‪ * Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

      ‪ * The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.

  • New book explores the history of 'New Jewish Agenda'
    • Empiricon February 15, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      But that doesn't take into account the historical context of Zionism. For that we need several paragraphs of hand-wringing to excuse what is plainly wrong. (snark)

    • Empiricon February 15, 2012 at 4:44 pm

      Good on ya, mate.

    • Empiricon February 15, 2012 at 1:48 pm with 4 replies

      Admittedly few if any of us know Ezra, and we could be misinterpreting the author's mindset. But rather than using exclusionary language by calling people "fools," perhaps you would be more effective in simply testifying to Ezra's character. I'm infintely more likely to respectfully consider someone's opinion if they are also respectful of mine. Ironically, your outright rejection of what has been a pretty logical discussion is akin to critics of Israel being called anti-Semitic.

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 5:03 pm with 5 replies

      Worthy point. More detail from Ms. Nepon would be helpful.

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 4:48 pm

      See above. I definitely agree with these refinements. But my overgeneralization doesn't invalidate the arguement. So to repeat, now that we've trimmed that tree, how does the forest look?

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 4:46 pm

      Now that we've trimmed the tree, how's the forest look?

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 3:31 pm

      Point taken. I like your wording better.

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 3:03 pm

      Not to mention that any right claimed by Jews should not be at the expense of rights of the current inhabitants of the land for which they claim a right of return. Any moral concept of "right of return" cannot include "right of expulsion" or "right of majority status."

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 2:58 pm with 4 replies

      Not sure what you mean by "uggh". Open to criticism though.

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 1:46 pm

      Small correction: I should have said "However in my opinion, Zionism in it's current form is patently racist". I'm not well versed in historical Zionism, but very comfortable commenting on the modern day version based on 30+ years as an observer.

    • Empiricon February 14, 2012 at 12:57 pm with 21 replies

      Annie Robbins struck me when she wrote above that she "still would not define zionism ‘as racism’ because there is plenty of racism that doesn’t involve zionism." It was an "ah-hah" moment for me. "Zionism = racism" is not true logically because "racism = Zionism" is not true. However, Zionism is patently racist, if not in its ideology then in its effect. Like Jim Crow laws were racist here in the US, some policies are blatantly racist, others are so only in their effect.

      But that is difficult to see if you've been raised Jewish, I guess. From my experience attending a dozen or more Jewish services over the years (each at a different location), it seems to me that Zionism and victimhood are part and parcel of American Judasim (not unlike fundamentalist Christianity, but that's another topic). There was not one service I attended that did not highlight both Zionism and victimhood. Combine that with the unique fact that the Judaism is both religion and race, and it's easy to see why any objection to Zionism is seen by many if not most Jews an objection to Jews themselves. Sad.

  • JTA wonders why 'Jewish influence' is so 'pervasive' in our politics
    • Empiricon November 4, 2011 at 12:53 pm with 1 replies

      Before the '08 election, a friend of mine said "I always vote for whoever is best for Israel." In a discussion with another friend, I backed him into a moral corner where his response to the inhumanity of the Israelis toward Palestinians became, and I quote, "I don't care." Every Jewish service I've been too (bar/bat mitzvahs for friends' children) has included a somewhat militant prayer for Israel in their fight against their "enemies."

      As a non-Jew, it seems to me that for many if now most Jews in the US, Judaism means blind, fervent support of Israel. Of course, they are supported in this view my the Zionist Chrisitans in the fundamentalist sects. But until and unless this is challenged, I hold out little hope for a change in US policy or in Israel's direction toward moral decay.

Showing comments 53 - 1
Page:

Comments are closed.