Commenter Profile

Total number of comments: 9134 (since 2009-08-06 23:45:24)

Kathleen

57 year old mother of three, activist, concerned citizen

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  • Barbara Boxer's visa bill for Israel comes under concerted attack
  • Islamophobia is as widespread and acceptable as anti-Semitism used to be
    • Islamophobia is far more accepted than anti semitism. Especially with the Pam Geller's of the world being able to go on national T.V. and radio programs and spread the hate so freely.

  • NPR twice celebrates Israeli army-- once as 'rite of passage' for minorities and beacon to US Jews
  • Coalition says investigations into campus Palestine activism chill student speech rights
    • Berkeley is not the place it used to be when it comes to social justice and human rights issues especially when it comes to protecting the apartheid state of Israel

  • 'My grandmother thought it was temporary' -- Huffpo features Nakba discussion with 5 Palestinians
    • "The calmness in the face of tragedy, the reasonableness of all the participants as they say it is time for democracy between the river and the sea, "

      At one of the largest Palestinian solidarity marches (of course did not make the MSM) in D.C. that I went to a good 12 or so years ago I audio taped one older Palestinian person after the next. Focused on the older people, Ran into many who were there during the late 40's. The often horrific stories of being driven out of their homes, villages, relatives being killed were all described in calm clear not hateful ways.

  • The meaning of solidarity in the Palestine movement
    • Sandra thank you so much. So much in your piece. Encouraging folks to reexamine, reflect, step back, allow the space and encouragement for those most effected by the destructive policies of the Israeli government to step forward. Although so many Palestinians have for decades have not always had access to the means to get the facts out.

      Sandra a dear friend Art Gish link to mideastchristians.virtualactivism.net went and lived with Palestinians in Hebron etc for over a decades used to talk about non violent Palestinian activist who had been pushing for this approach for long periods of time who had been imprisoned over the years. He mentioned names but wondering if you or someone else would do a post about this history of Israeli imprisonment of early non violent Palestinian activist going back decades.

  • 'AP' says Barbara Boxer is favoring Israeli travelers over American ones
    • "MJ Rosenberg always said: things won't change till reporters put politicians on the hot seat over their slavish support for Israel. AP is doing that. "

      Significant change

  • Richard Engel says Syrian rebel journalists are 'noble,' but journalists whose cause is Hamas aren't really journalists
    • Engel seems like the perfect candidate to be an agent promoting what the U.S. and Israel's agendas are in the middle east streaming it through MSNBC

    • Spot on US Citizen...not once. This is what people define as a good reporter? Total bull

    • "That has surely washed out any Zionist indoctrination" Obviously not at all.

      Engel has had thousands of opportunities to dip his toes into the truth about the Israeli Palestinian issue. Thousands of opportunities. He does not have to go out on a limb just dip his toes into the truth for heavens sake. He has not. Not ever. In fact when I used to watch Maddow regularly as I stated earlier they would skip right over the I/P issue when they would be describing the Arab spring. As if nothing was going on with the Palestinians often peaceful effort to bring attention to the apartheid situation they are in. Come on....Engel and Maddow could have just just for a few seconds mentioned what has been going on for the Palestinians a few fucking seconds...but they do not. In fact in the past they have both repeated unsubstantiated claims about Iran. Doing the work for the I lobby and Israel.

    • Engels "And just because you carry a camera and a notebook doesn't make you a journalist. A journalist has the responsibility to seek the truth, no matter what it is, even if the story hurts your cause. Journalists shouldn't have causes. They should have principles and beliefs."

      Shallow words coming out of Engels. I have seen and heard him on Rachel Maddows etc covering the Arab Spring from Tunisia, to Egypt, Libya and then jump right over to Iran skipping over peaceful Palestinian protest over and over again. This so called journalist have never been after the truth in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. In fact he and Maddow make a special effort to skip right over it. Have watched Engel do this over and over again on MSNBC.

  • International Criminal Court opens preliminary investigation into attack on Mavi Marmara
  • Dershowitz should stop lying about Tutu's record
  • Newseum honors newsman who ran guns for ethnic cleansing of Palestine
  • The Newseum's 'further investigation' must be public, credible, and thorough - and what we should do if it isn't
    • Joe such great points. Will you do a petition where we can sign and stand behind your reasonable request for a "public, credible and thorough" investigation. It seems like the investigators should clearly be neutral experts. If "neutral" investigators exist

  • 'Newseum' folds under pressure, will not include Gaza cameramen in program honoring fallen journalists
    • good one

    • So Kennedy pardoned Greenspun. Going to read all later. Thanks for all of your incredible work Grant. Just let some other folks in D.C. know about Newseum folding.

    • Was linking this to one of the debates going on about the Nablus sister city proposal in Boulder for someone who said Carter had said that Israel does not practice apartheid
      Jimmy Carter: Israel's Apartheid
      Great clip with David Shuster (where did he go?)
      link to youtube.com

    • thanks Henry. Pathetic and telling decision by the Newseum.

  • Another landmark: 'Boston Globe' honors Hawking's boycott as nonviolent effort to pressure Israel
  • Glenn Greenwald brings facts and reason to 'Real Time', ruins Bill Maher's night
    • Guatemala and Israel have historically shared a warm, if sometimes dark, relationship—and it is one that is bearing new fruit today
      link to tabletmag.com

      But there’s a darker side to the friendship, particularly during the bloody chapter of Guatemala’s civil war. When human-rights abuses led the Carter Administration to cease military aid to Guatemala in 1977, Israel filled the vacuum. By 1983, the New York Times was reporting that Israel was not only acting as a surrogate for the United States (in a similar fashion to its actions in Nicaragua) but also working to oppose the Soviet Union and grow the market for Israeli arms. The cooperation didn’t just involve UZIs and hand grenades; it also included providing intelligence and operational training, both in Israel and in Guatemala, to the right-wing government."

      Israel/Montt
      link to books.google.com

      ISRAEL SAID TO AID LATIN AIMS OF U.S.

      By PHILIP TAUBMAN, Special to the New York Times (The New York Times); Foreign Desk
      July 21, 1983, Thursday
      link to nytimes.com

    • Had read years ago that Israel was the main supplier of weapons and trainer of Montt's forces.

      great that people brought this up

      Quite the read

      "http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Israel/CAmer_Experience_ILAMC.html

      "With the exception of Nicaragua, which has purchased n1 weapons from Israel since the overthrow of the Somoza government, all the countries of the region are important clients and have signed military agreements with Israel. At the end of 1982, the New York Times quoted U. S. officials as saying that Israel was the largest supplier of infantry equipment to El Salvador and Guatemala, and had a "comparable role" in Honduras and Costa Rica.' Israel's role in the region goes beyond the provision of weapons and military communications and electronics equipment to include a broad range of military assistance, such as training, counterinsurgency and intelligence advice, and military-agricultural development projects based on the Nahal-type projects of the 1960s. Moreover, Israeli-Central American military ties are fraught with a political significance which by and large has been lacking elsewhere in Latin America.
      Perhaps as a result of Israel's importance as a supplier, the governments of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica have been more forthcoming in their support of Israel than those of any other region. Guatemala, like Nicaragua under Somoza, has not supported a single UN resolution critical of Israel; Honduras has supported only four, and El Salvador and Costa Rica seven (Venezuela and Peru each supported eighteen anti-Israeli votes; Argentina 14; Mexico 13; Brazil and Bolivia 11 each; and Ecuador, 10). All the Central American states except Guatemala voted for the 1980 UN resolution condemning Israel's "Basic Law of Jerusalem" and subsequently moved their embassies from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, however, returned their embassies to Jerusalem several years later. The only countries to have done so, they incurred the anger of the Arab states. "

    • " But Greenwald has a knack for quickly and directly applying his universal principles across a range of issues and in conversations like this, on camera, that seems unique. I wish there were many more like him. God I hope he’s inspiring some journalism school students to emulate him."

      Greenwald really listens to the other person. And if they make no sense and are clearly racist, nationalist etc he takes them down quickly limb by limb. It is an absolute joy to listen to someone who is so fair, so consistent and knows constitutional and international law so well just makes me feel high and that there is hope.

      Ever watch Greenwald and Dylan Ratigan take Cliff May's lame arguments apart and wipe up the floor with them. Wish the MSM would have him on more often. Think he scares them with his brilliance and matter of fact statements
      link to videocafe.crooksandliars.com

      The other point Glenn made about Benghazi is that clearly there should be an investigation as to whether mistakes were made and how involved Clinton was in those mistakes. All of us who have been shouting for over 10 years now about Bush and team and the lack of accountability in regard to their "pack of lies" that have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not over a million. While the Bush administration crimes are far more serious ...crimes against humanity the same rules that we want applied to the Bush criminals should apply to Benghazi. Even though the Republicans will never apply those standards.

    • And he has suffered serious consequences for his truth telling

      link to non-intervention.com

    • With the few times Chris Hayes cultivated real discussions about the I/P issue, Maddow (her first breakthrough) having Carter on awhile back to talk about I/P talks (Rachel tip toed) but Carter took the opportunity and ran with it, Greenwald making it on several MSNBC programs (Dylan Ratigan, Up), Greenwald on Maher's program...more cracks in the wall. Keep hammering on campuses, with your Reps, contacting MSM outlets, letters to your local newspapers, calls into national radio and T.V. programs, conversations, fact based information at churches, synagogues, mosques. Keep politely hammering

    • Glenn knocks it out of the park again. Maher was tripping over this own tongue..could not catch up to Greenwald...ever. Maher's film about Religions was so obviously biased you could see right through it with in the first 15 minutes

      Bill Maher interviews Micheal Scheuer...This is a great piece. Maher freaks out because of Scheuer's comments about Israel
      link to youtube.com

  • San Francisco bus ads condemn Israeli apartheid: backlash begins
    • "The group, a project of the Jewish Federations of North America and the jewish Council of Public Affairs, which my family and many others have given much money to in the past, had gone to the effort of using (perfectly legal) means of spying on our activities."

      Do you know what those "perfectly legal means" were?

    • A good ten years ago Micheal Ledeen was on a panel focused on the middle east at the Baker Peace Conference at Ohio University. Leon Fuerth, Prof Mearsheimer and weapons inspector David Kelly were the other panelist. I asked several questions one about the invasion of Iraq and IAEA inspections, one about Israel's continued unwillingness to sign the IAEA's Non Proliferation Treaty and illegal settlements.
      The response from Micheal Ledeen went very much like the general response posted above

      Q “Isn’t the occupation wrong?”-
      A “You want to destroy Israel!”
      Q “Doesn’t it seem unfair that 93% of the land in Israel is reserved for Jews only-what about the 25% of non-Jews?”
      A “You want to destroy Israel!”

      Ledeen responded to my question about Israel's decades long refusal to sign the NPT and open up to international inspections like their neighbors.

      Ledeen "you don't like Israel do you"
      my response "don't put words in my mouth and please answer my specific question"
      Ledeen did not
      Fuerth picked it up and said "well the holocaust"
      I said "what does the holocaust have to do with international inspections and being willing to play by the same rules that you want your neighbors to abide by

      Later after the panel broke up had quite the conversation with Prof Mearsheimer about his soon to be released paper and new book about the I lobby.

      People are more ready for these knee jerk and automatic responses about Israel and the effort to shut down the conversation based on facts.

  • The power of Stephen Hawking
    • "I cant get over Israel,s hypocrisy in whining about Academic Boycotts given Israel,s refusal of entry to Chomsky/ Finkelstein and refusal to allow Palestinian students to travel to the USA to take up Fulbright Scholarships they earned."

      Would be great to see more focus put on these issues. You can bet "On the Media" with Brooke Gladstone will not touch the lack of coverage in our media on these issues. Or the lack of experts on Iran on our MSM outlets.

    • Page: 91
    • Phil, Annie, Adam etc...anyone watching and listening to whether Chris Hayes switch to a prime time slot on MSNBC shut his mouth with more money in regard to discussing the I/P issue based on facts or at all on his new program? I watched for about a week and then stopped watching. His tendency to talk to fast for me became even more exaggerated on a one hour program with topics that everyone else on those MSNBC one hour mostly tirades about the same subjects have gotten monotonous to me. I still watch Chris Matthews because he often has several views on his program. So disappointing to watch his great program UP (long and in depth conversations) lose ground. Has anyone been watching Chris Hayes...did he have his mouth shut about the I/P conflict via this move? Did his producers go with this move or has there been a guard shift there too?

      MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes Highlights NPR's Discredited Disability Report
      link to mediamatters.org

  • Say 'thanks' to Stephen Hawking
    • Thanks we need to support Stephen Hawking any way we can for doing such an honorable and brave thing. Go Hawking!

  • 'Newseum' comes under pressure from Israel supporters for honoring Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza
    • Grant do you have any information about Mendelson's in Dayton Ohio having access to Wright Patterson Air Force Base military technology and other material possibly sent to Israel from that base over the decades? Was talking with someone in Dayton who mentioned this. I grew up in that town and a good portion of my large Catholic family worked there going back 50 60 years (and no it was not a family member who mentioned this to me)

    • Latest on this at HP

      Only 13 comments
      link to huffingtonpost.com

  • Dershowitz calls Hawking an 'ignoramus,' a 'lemming,' and likely an anti-Semite
    • Anti Goy indeed...for decades. Probably all of his life.

    • "If Jews choose to assimilate, that's a question of free will, choice and freedom... But I defend Israel against its external enemies, external threats. 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."

      When will this guy stop undermining U.S. National Security by looking out for alleged Israeli security over U.S. National security. Move to Israel give up your U.S. citizenship and put your allegiance where it wants to be fully. Stop undermining U.S. National Security...Dershowitz. People have had it with this loyalty for Israel that trumps what is best for the U.S....and really ultimately best for Israel.

  • Senator Boxer’s far-fetched defense of the visa waiver exemption for Israel
    • "In any case, how is it possible that the U.S. needs more leverage to hold Israel accountable? Perhaps the Senator can explain to her constituents how $30 billion in military aid over a decade, unconditional diplomatic support, loan guarantees, and pre-existing treaty obligations are insufficient leverage for Congress to demand better treatment for U.S. travelers."

      Clearly Israel and the I lobby all ready have way too much "leverage." Boxer is so disappointing on this issue. She has shown signs of being reasonable...can't remember when she has done so on the I/P issue. Oh I know she voted no on the Iraq war resolution..thumbs up for that vote...

  • Israeli right-wing flys off the deep end following Hawking boycott
    • "the baseness of some of the right wing responses is still rather shocking." Not shocking at all. Routine.

      "To this day hardly a week goes by in which Iran and its proxy Hezbollah do not threaten to obliterate Israel, even though they have no direct conflict with Israel about anything."

      Do you think Zionist just have the simple formula of always flipping the script. Repeatedly blaming the other person or country of exactly what you or your country does. We all know it has been Israel who continually threatens Iran. Israel and the I lobby trying to convince the U.S. to attack Iran. Israel has to know that this move would be catastrophic for the U.S. Do you think this is ultimately what Israel would like.

    • going to come back later and read the whole thing. wondering if anyone knows how we can directly support Hawking? Wondering if Anna Baltzer will be doing a petition of some kind to thank and support his stance?

  • US promotes regional states/Israeli alliance against Iran while leading provocative naval drills in the Gulf
    • Flynt Leverett's latest. A worthwhile watch and listen. Leverett's doing their best to get in the way of an attack on Iran. If there is an attack we will have folks like Chris Matthews saying oh I was always against a pre-emptive attack on Iran but you know forgot to have the experts questioning the U.S. and Israel's aggressive behavior on my program. Have been begging the Matthews team to have the Leveretts on...Matthews owners must object to having real experts on Iran on MSNBC outlets.
      Dissecting America’s Iran Debate: Flynt Leverett on “Conversations from Penn State”
      link to goingtotehran.com

  • 'The policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster': Stephen Hawking pulls out of conference hosted by Shimon Peres, backs academic boycott of Israel (Updated)
  • Colbert lumps opposition to Palestinian freedom with opposition to marriage equality
  • Mainstream turns against intervention, this time (Tom Friedman has spoken)
    • Reading Scahill's book now. Have not gotten far. But disturbing all ready. Scahill is one of the best if not the best investigative reporter going right now. No nonsense..the brutal and yes disturbing facts

    • "Tom Friedman has spoken" Who listens to what this man says. The pro invade Iraq crowd was so deadly wrong (and I for one believe they knew it) who cares what they have to say about anything. Friedman should be behind bars with any other journalist who pushed the false intelligence, the invasion for being complicit to war crimes. Tom is bloody very bloody

      The U.S. has all ready intervened in Syria..the rebels (who ever they are) would not have gotten as far as they have gotten without the Obama administrations help

    • A very rich clown. Not sure why folks give his opinion any thought. Just where did his alleged credibility come from? Self appointed?

    • Shocked by Clemons. And yes Anne Marie Slaughter has been everywhere anyone would have her on pushing for an intervention in Syria for several years now. Did not know Andrew Sullivan had supported the Iraq invasion he sure has changed his tune.

      Would it not be more appropriate and specific to say some of these individuals do not support intervening any further than the U.S. all ready has. As former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit and the Leveretts have pointed out U.S. support as it has all ready been in Syria ( CIA helping with weapons, intelligence etc) has absolutely fueled the Syrian rebels (who no seems to know who they are) and has caused the immense amount of Syrian casualties

      On Syria, Our interventionists ensure America’s luck is running out
      link to non-intervention.com

      Diplomacy, Not More Weapons, for Syria
      link to goingtotehran.com

      The U.S. and the Obama administration have been doing plenty of intervening in Syria all ready

      link to nytimes.com

  • Sen. Boxer is on the defensive over legislation OK-ing Israeli discrimination against Arab-Americans
    • "Israeli's visa free entry" Trouble
      "But Boxer herself was on the defensive. She also wrote a letter to the LA Times defending her legislation and saying that Israel is one of our "strongest allies"-- notice, she doesn't say it's our best friend-- and it has the right to deny entry "based on national security concerns." But watch her wiggle:

      In fact, it gives us important leverage to ensure Israel welcomes Americans by requiring a certification from our secretaries of Homeland Security and State that Israel has made "every" reasonable effort to grant reciprocal travel privileges to "all" Americans."

      How many Americans has Israel turned away from entering their country? I have been reading about hundreds of people being turned away.

      How many Israeli's have come into spy on the U.S. for Israel?
      link to counterpunch.org

      link to antiwar.com
      9/11: WHAT DID ISRAEL KNOW?
      – and when did they tell us?

      Israel had foreknowledge of 9/11 – that was Carl Cameron's explosive contention, made last year in a blockbuster series of reports on Fox News exposing an Israeli spy ring in the U.S. New evidence confirms his story – and points to a rather ominous conclusion….

      Reporting the round-up and deportation of scores of Israeli agents – masquerading as "art students" – Cameron noted last December that several were "active Israeli military" and the rest had skills that one normally associates with spies: electronic interception, explosives, and special operations. Several failed polygraph tests when asked if they were engaged in "surveillance activities against and in the United States." Aside from trying to penetrate U.S. government facilities, this network, which went into high gear in the months prior to 9/11, was also watching the Al Qaeda terrorists, according to Cameron:

      "There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that the Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are – quote – 'tie-ins.' But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, – quote – 'evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information.'"

      This was denied up and down by the U.S. and Israeli governments, and the story was derided as an "urban myth," denounced as an "anti-Semitic" canard, and subsequently banished from the pages of the "mainstream" media. But evidence began to pile up: reports of hundreds of Israelis descending on U.S. government facilities, and a massive round-up of these operatives claiming to be "art students," began to leak out.

      The story refused to die. A secret government report (originating with the Drug Enforcement Agency) detailing the highly suspicious activities of these aspiring Israeli "artists" was subsequently uncovered, and a series of stories appeared in the international media: Le Monde, the British media, and then leaping across the Atlantic. An excellent article in Salon, by Christopher Ketcham, and wire stories detailing the leaked contents of the DEA report raised awareness of a possible Israeli connection to the events surrounding 9/11.

  • Oberlin College Student Senate votes to support divestment from companies profiting from Israeli occupation
    • my oldest went there. She is 35 school. Folks have been dropping BDS and If Americans Knew literature off on that campus as well as about 7 other campuses in Ohio for quite some time now. Things are shifting here in Boulder too

    • You are welcome.

    • Real movement on college campuses in Ohio and elsewhere.

      Right now here in Boulder there is a serious struggle between those proposing Boulder city counsel take on a Palestinian sister city and right wing Jewish groups opposing.
      A Path Forward
      The Boulder Nablus Sister City Project (BNSCP) is a people based initiative that is dedicated to promoting and facilitating connections and friendships between citizens of Boulder, CO and citizens in Nablus Palestine. Citizens of both cities will benefit from the opportunities to exchange cultural treasures with each other. With the simple act of befriending others we can create a more beautiful, understanding, and peaceful world.
      link to bouldernablus.com

      Jewish groups oppose Nablus as Boulder sister city
      link to thedenverchannel.com

      ADL Sends Statement to Boulder City Council Opposing Nablus Proposal
      Date: April 29, 2013
      link to regions.adl.org

      Jewish groups oppose Nablus as Boulder sister city
      link to denver.cityandpress.com

      As most folks know Boulder has been touted for decades as a seat of progressive thinking and action. But when it comes to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and exposing the facts about the issue Boulder has been as stuck as any place in the U.S. A large part of the Jewish community in Boulder has blocked real discussions and actions in response to this human rights issue for literally decades. I lived here 40 years ago and am living here once again. The facts on the ground about the I/P issue have finally begun to crack through the standard wall that has been built up around this issue in communities across the U.S. and even in so called progressive communities like Boulder.

  • Israel strikes Syria, explosions rock Damascus like 'an earthquake'
  • It's World Press Freedom Day, and cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh is locked away
    • Was just over at Huff Po linking Annie's piece over there under an appropriate thread. And then went on over to the Israel attacks Syria thread and finding lots of very abusive genocidal comments towards Arabs. Generally I hit abusive comment and they come down. But not going to do that with a few of them. Amazing how much hatred there is towards Arab countries here in the states. No way to tell if it is in one particular religious or cultural group over there. But you sure can feel the hate. Here is one
      HUFFPOST SUPER USER
      heikhali
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      A swift, EFFECTIVE, Isreali unilateral military intervention against Iraqi, Syrian, & Palistinian ("Hezbollah") terrorism.

      BRAVO!
      Favorite (15) Flag as Abusive
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      cathleen
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      Here we see another example of the hateful ethnocentrism that exist among many Jews towards Arabs and others. Genocidal threats that cultivate hatred. This comes out of Israel and out of Zionist communities in the U.S. Just look at how many times it has been clicked "favorite" I generally would mark this as "abusive" which it clearly is but interesting to see how many times hateful individuals who wish genocide on others click as a "favorite" My question for the moderators is do you allow these type of comments to go up if they reference wanting to destroy Israel because I have never seen any comments like that go up

      Israeli Warplanes Strike Syria In Escalation: Official
      link to huffingtonpost.com

    • Powerful Annie. And just one more of thousands of examples of how an apartheid state works.

  • Islamophobic 'Foreign Policy' article compares Boston bombing and Palestinian resistance to occupation
    • The problem is expanding empire no matter what the cost in life and treasure. No matter how spiritually bankrupt the U.S. and Israel continue to become Expanding empires continue to be the problem.

  • 'NPR' suggests that opponent of Syrian intervention has dual loyalty
    • Here you go Yonah
      link to hrw.org

    • Here you go Yonah
      link to hrw.org

      Israel: White Phosphorus Use Evidence of War Crimes
      Indiscriminate Attacks Caused Needless Civilian Suffering
      25 mars 2009

      Email

      Related Materials:

      Q & A on Israel’s Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza
      10 janvier 2009
      Q & A

      More Coverage:
      Witness accounts and additional analysis of IDF use of white phosphorus
      Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza

      Video: White Phosphorus Use in Gaza

      Photos: White Phosphorus Use in Gaza

      Maps: White Phosphorus Use in Gaza

      "For the needless civilian deaths caused by white phosphorus, senior commanders should be held to account."
      Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report

      (Jerusalem) - Israel's repeated firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military campaign was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

      The 71-page report, "Rain of Fire: Israel's Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," provides witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza. Human Rights Watch researchers in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school. The report also presents ballistics evidence, photographs, and satellite imagery, as well as documents from the Israeli military and government.

    • link to independent.co.uk
      "The assessment was published in a declassified report on the American Department of Defence website. The file was headed: "Possible use of phosphorous chemical weapons by Iraq in Kurdish areas along the Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian borders."

      In late February 1991, an intelligence source reported, during the Iraqi crackdown on the Kurdish uprising that followed the coalition victory against Iraq, "Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have possibly used white phosphorous chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. The WP chemical was delivered by artillery rounds and helicopter gunships."

      According to the intelligence report, the "reports of possible WP chemical weapon attacks spread quickly among the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from these two areas" across the border into Turkey.

      "When Saddam used WP it was a chemical weapon," said Mr Ranucci, "but when the Americans use it, it's a conventional weapon. The injuries it inflicts, however, are just as terrible however you describe it."

    • "These people dont even realize that they are using xenophobic arguments…"

      I believe they do and know they can and do get away with it

    • "I find this fascinating. For if Landis's marriage is fair game-- and I think it is-- then so are the social and ideological adhesions of neoconservatives. Are they Zionists? Do they have family living in Israel? Why did neoconservatives Richard Perle and David Wurmser-- who is married to an Israeli-American-- write "A Clean Break" for Netanyahu in 1996, calling for regime change in Iraq? Given these connections to a rightwing foreign regime, should these men have served in George Bush's foreign-policy braintrust? Did not Elliott Abrams and Paul Wolfowitz, who also were part of that brain trust, have family living in Israel?

      What about liberal Aaron David Miller, who tells us in his book that concern for Israel was part of his "ethnic DNA." Should he have been a peace processor? What about Chuck Schumer, who says his name means guardian in Hebrew and he is a guardian of Israel?

      Do we ever hear mainstream media buttonholing these people about their connections to Israel or asking, sincerely, Can you help us understand Zionism in Jewish life? No."

      Have been finding this hypocrisy on NPR fascinating for decades So great that you have turned the spotlight on NPR's dual loyalty and unwillingness to be fair in their lines of questioning. Asking Landis about the possibility that a dual loyalty could trump loyalty to the U.S. That same line of questioning should have and should be always asked of Perle, Kristol, Feith, Wolfowitz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Schumer, Tabler etc etc. They should be asked the same line of questioning.

      And of course Brandeis would know about the dual loyalty issue trumping loyalty to the U.S. He used his power and position to disproportionately support Israel over what would be best for the U.S.

      ot
      But not sure if you folks have done a post about how absurd it is that Israel a country that has absolutely used chemical weapons is the country coming up with the alleged intelligence that Syria has used chemical weapons. So friggin absurd one would think we would just get used to this hypocrisy. And the fact that the Obama administration is just not rolling over to this questionable Israeli intelligence. Good sign in many ways

      Israel’s Illegal Use of White Phosphorus During ‘Operation Cast Lead’
      And How the U.S. Media Tries to Cover Up Israeli War Crimes

      link to foreignpolicyjournal.com

  • Anonymous sources in the Israeli US Embassy don't like what they see on television
  • The gun lobby, the Israel lobby, and the double standard
  • Potemkin Village in NY: Dersh and Beinart hold second debate over whether Zionism is in crisis
    • Zionism was birthed out of ethnocentrism and is elitist at its very roots. That is a crisis in and of itself.

      “Every time Israel subsidizes more Israelis to move to the West Bank we make those Palestinian leaders, who reluctantly accept Israel’s right to exist, look like fools,” said Beinart,

      Makes Palestinian leaders look like saints and very reasonable individuals. Makes Israel and the U.S. look like the bullies that they continue to be.

  • Video: Olmert booed in NYC for saying Israel should re-engage in the 'peace process'
    • important point

    • Olmert "painful concessions" He has seen the writing on the wall for a long time. Israel starts to play fair or one state one vote is coming sooner than later.

      Adam over at Huff Po they have the Conan O'Brien white house correspondents speech up there are some funny lines towards the end about Congressman Israel's last name. Conan "there is pandering and then there is PANDERING" Damn funny. Conan also takes a swipe at Eric Cantor for being just another Republican Jewish Congressman from the South. Conan rolls his eyes as if there are so many of these Reps who falls into that category. Funny

  • An interview with Ben Ehrenreich, author of 'extraordinary' Nabi Saleh piece in 'NYT Magazine'
  • Andrea Mitchell asks Michael Oren 7 questions. How many mention Palestinians?
    • Why would anyone in their right mind ask Israel about substantiated intelligence especially about chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. Israel has lied about intelligence over and over again and have used chemical weapons themselves. Andrea Mitchell has been a long time rep in the US MSM for Israel. The hypocrisy runs deep.

      Syria has been on the neocons and Israel's hit list for a long time. The blueprint all at the PNAC website along with the Securing the Realm plans.

  • Our deadly democracy: 225,000 killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan
    • Oops sorry to repeat down below.

    • So how did the Lancet report in 2006 come up with a figure at that point that 650,000 Iraqi people had been killed? Along with Iraqi people killed in Desert Storm, sanctions the figures have to be close to a couple of million Iraqi people dead because of our government and military. How much time do you hear the US MSM and Andrea Mitchell talk about these numbers. No need to wonder why they hate us. No need at all
      link to thelancet.com

  • 'I know you have another email address, give it to me' (Deported at Ben Gurion)
    • the "shades" covering up the apartheid state of Israel are being slowly but surely opened up for the world to see.

  • Send in the clowns
  • Post-Boston vulnerability will at last force Americans to consider 'why they hate us'
    • Thanks Citizen. Started making these phone calls after Bush and team stole the 2000 election. Went ballistic calling six months before the invasion. Was successful at politely hammering enough to get particular quest and topics on the Diane Rehm show, Talk of the Nation, Washington Journal, Huffington Post. But you do have to hammer unless you are somebody they normally listen to.

      We can have an influence on the MSM but you have to be persistent. And as others have pointed out millions of people listen to these programs. Have been politely hammering for the Leveretts on many shows. There seems to be a well constructed roadblock on much of the MSM when it comes to what they have to say about the situation with Iran and Syria. They have been on some of these outlets in the past but not so much the last three or so years. Although Huff Po has them on now

      The increased calls from well informed folks about the I/P issue, Iran, U.S. foreign policy etc has definitely been on the increase. This is one way to keep up the pressure for a more sane U.S. foreign policy in the middle east

    • "Because those political causes are associated with American foreign policy, we are back to the old question, Why do they hate us? But this time, Americans may at last be interested in the answer"

      Was able to get in just exactly this point the day after bombing on C Span's Washington Journal

      Kathleen/Athens Ohio OPEN PHONES 14:18
      link to c-spanvideo.org

      Remember folks you can call into this program and share factual information about the Israeli Palestinian conflict, Iran and bring them to this site as well as others that you feel share accurate information about U.S. foreign policy, Millions watch this program daily.

  • Gideon Levy: It's time for a 'one person, one vote' movement to end Israeli oppression
    • Awareness has been rising quickly

    • One expert (Mearsheimer led the way) after the next have been saying the two state solution has been dead for a long time. The facts are on the ground..Israel keeps stealing more and more land. Apartheid is just not going to work much longer

      One state one vote.

  • U.S. ambassador to UN says 'huge part' of her work is defending Israel
  • Israeli attorney general affirms policy of e-mail searches of foreign travelers
  • D.C. speakers: Walt and Siegman on the conflict, Madar on Bradley Manning
  • 'This American Life' shines some light on that Palestinian life
    • Over the last 10 years many more folks have been willing to cover what has been going on for decades. A good thing.

    • Have been wondering when Ira Glass and his program would get there. Again better late than never crowd. And now Ira hope you step up to the plate and do your own program. Way way overdue

      Another crack in the wall

  • Obama's 2 guests on Air Force One to Israel/Palestine both undermine his policy
    • Interesting point

    • I have always wondered if Wasserman Schultz and her supporters had anything to do with Soledad O'Briens demotion at CNN after Soledad took Wasserman Schultz and her spin down during the Dem Convention

      Wonder if Schultz made a few phone calls
      Soledad O’Brien blast CNN after demotion
      Entertainment- | jobsjusticedreams | February 23, 2013 10:00 am

      link to jobsjusticedreams.com

    • Soledad O'Brien cleans Dem Chair Wasserman Schultz's ziobot clock.
      DNC Chair Torn Apart Over Removal Of Jerusalem From Platform
      link to youtube.com

      Wasserman Schultz ignores Soledad's specific questions about the vote on the floor
      Schultz "small amount of objection" Total hooey spin

    • Was so blown away when Obama picked Dennis Ross to be on his team during the first administration..guess your comment must apply to that pick

    • When Wasserman Schultz was chosen/directed to be the Chair of the DNC the message was clear the walls would stay up, nothing would change in the Dem party and the support for the illegal, destructive and apartheid policies of Israel would stay in place. Wasserman Schultz is the new old Aipac guard. Illegal settlements are "suburbs" to Schultz.....An apartheid guard

  • State Dept human rights report on Israel: 'most significant human rights problems during the year were terrorist attacks against civilians; institutional and societal discrimination against Arab citizens'
  • Colbert: 'Let's fix Palestine'
  • 'Obies' urge Ben & Jerry’s to end complicity with occupation
    • Go Obies...A real shift about the I/P conflict on some of Ohio's campuses the last 10 years. Some have been pounding the pavement in that state as well as in Colorado. On the University of Dayton, Ohio Allison Weir was a guest speaker recently

      The case of Ben and Jerry's is and has been another example of how so called liberals and supporters of human rights and social justice in many cases have and continue to support the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. One would think they would see the brutal hypocrisy but somehow they do not.

      Knew I had read that Unilever had decided to move one of their plants on the West Bank somewhere. Right here at Mondoweiss
      Unilever shuts down Ariel settlement factory, moves production west of the Green Line (Updated)
      link to mondoweiss.net

  • All that furor over Carter at Cardozo, and who shows up? Jews for Jimmy!
    • He never apologized for telling the truth. And he has been out on the front lines of this issue for decades and has been ruthlessly attacked and he just keeps telling the truth. Remarkable man. Truly one of Israel's best friends

    • Alex thanks for the report. So great that the school did not cave in. Carter ultimately one of Israel's best friends...willing to speak the truth.

  • In landmark case on Israel and Jewish identity, British tribunal says anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism
    • BumbleB. Saw that but have not listened yet. Posted Flynt and Hillary's latest on this thread yesterday. Amazing piece. Posted down below in this thread

    • What a powerful image above for breaking the silence

    • ot Adam, Phil think you will be interested in the latest by Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett over at Going to Tehran about how they have been pulverized by the US MSM for their newest book, views and efforts to inform the American public about the facts on the ground with Iran. Incredible piece
      Suppressing Reality-Based Analysis: Chomsky, the Leveretts, and America’s Iran Debate
      link to goingtotehran.com
      "What is at play here is this destructive dynamic that the more one dissents from political orthodoxies, the more personalized, style-focused and substance-free the attacks become. That’s because once someone becomes sufficiently critical of establishment pieties, the goal is not merely to dispute their claims but to silence them. That’s accomplished by demonizing the person on personality and style grounds to the point where huge numbers of people decide that nothing they say should even be considered, let alone accepted.”

      By referencing Glenn’s article here, we do not mean to compare ourselves to Noam Chomsky—among other reasons, whatever abuse we have suffered from our critics hardly comes close to the accumulated ad hominem vituperation directed at Prof. Chomsky for decades. But we want to make the analytically crucial point that much of the critical reaction to Going to Tehran and our other work on Iran and U.S.-Iranian relations—including attacks on our character, our motivations, our personalities, our “style”—is, in important respects, reminiscent of the assaults launched against Prof. Chomsky over the years. And such attacks are directed against us for much the same reason that they have been directed against Chomsky—as Glenn puts it so well, to enable “the substance of [our] critique to be avoided in lieu of alleged personality flaws.”

      Consider just a few examples of mainstream media treatment of us and our book:

      –Expatriate Iran “experts” whose own analytic records are marked by serial misreadings of the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy and internal politics are given platforms in mainstream outlets like The New Republic, Survival (the journal of the International Institute for Strategic Studies), and the Wall Street Journal—not to take on, in any intellectually serious way, our historically documented, thoroughly referenced assessments of these matters, but to dismiss us as “morally deformed” and “apologists” for evil. (Anti-Islamic Republic Iranian expatriates aren’t the only ones to label us as “apologists.” No less than Dennis Ross describes us this way—and, to be fair, what American knows more about explaining away another country’s crimes than Dennis Ross—as has The New Republic in its own editorials.)"

    • "Good for that Brit court!" Indeed!

  • Thatcher pushed for Palestinians to be merged into Jordan
    • "so why should I admire her" Have been trying to figure that one out. Sometimes can not figure the Brits out...all of that fawning over the bloody royal family and all. What have they done to accumulate all that wealth. Killed, raped, pillaged for centuries...what it to fawn over?

  • AIPAC president (tries to) defend Israel's rejection of WMD-free zone
  • Kerry suggests that Palestinians change Arab Peace Initiative to suit Israelis
    • "small changes"..... Israel plans 16,000 more illegal settlement units in West Bank and Jerusalem ... water day March 22, 2013 presenting the key indicators related to water in ..... much controversial E-1 area, link to mondoweiss.net

  • Jimmy Carter to receive award from law school with Jewish affiliation; and opposition arises
    • "When all Carter has ever supported is a two-state solution, and the autonomy promised to Palestinians in the peace deal he brokered with Egypt in 1978, and in the UN Partition resolution of 1947, promises never fulfilled. "

      Yes Former President Jimmy Carter has been telling the truth about the I/P conflict for a long time. In reality he is one of Israel's best friends. What great company to be in with Walt and Mearsheimer. When Carter has directly been verbally attacked at conferences his grace, facts and commitment to both the Palestinians, Israeli's and peace is undeniable. He cuts through the hatred with facts and love of both people and his sincere desire for peace and justice. Love that man

  • Hiroshima epiphany
  • NY synagogue's invitation to Geller to 'promote bigotry' elicits call to cancel event
    • Chris Matthews has put up some clips of Pam Geller making Islamophobic comments on his program. Basically poking fun. Glad those Jewish groups that you mentioned above are pushing back.

  • '92d Street Y' says Roger Waters appearance is cancelled -- Updated
  • In Iraq, and now Syria, US seeks secular outcome by... promoting sectarian division
    • Watched that segment. Then Raed Jarrar appeared on Democracy Now also. The country is a fiasco with old boundaries broken down, hundreds of thousands dead, millions displaced and hundreds of thousands injured. Little to no changes in better electricity, water etc. When you add up the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people killed during Desert Storm, then close to a million Iraqi people (500,000 reported children) killed as a consequence of sanctions and the Lancet reporting that 650,000 Iraqi killed by 2006 as a direct result of the invasion that adds up to close to 3 millions Iraqi people dead as a direct consequence of U.S. actions. I used to sob myself to sleep as a teenager asking why it had taken the U.S. so long to respond to the genocide during WWII wondering always wondering why people had not responded and I see so clearly that as Americans rush to the mall, yoga classes, some of course really struggling to pay the bills but many not so much that it has happened again and most people do not care. Peggy Gish (Art Gish's wife) was in Iraq before the invasion and close to six years over the last 10 has lived with Iraqi families etc. Took reports in the spring of 2003 about family members concerned with what was going on in Abu Gharib (Seymour Hersh used some of Christian Peace Makers Reports about Abu Gharib) Peggy has reported that many Iraqi people believe that what the U.S. wanted in Iraq was chaos to break the system down, privatize the oil industry, cast Iraqi families to the wind across the globe and not have a working system in place....Chaos being the goal, structure broken down. When you read the plans at the Project for a New American Century and Securing the Realm it does not sound far off. Syria was on the neocons hit list....and the U.S. has been funding Syrian rebels that they really do not know who they are which has fueled the violence and the humanitarian crisis that has been taking place there now for two years. This is not new behavior for the U.S. we have fueled revolutions all over the world that have ended up killing millions.

      Former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit Micheal Scheuer has written a great deal at his website "Non Intervention" about Syria and the rebels being closely affiliated with Al Qeada. Best coverage about Syria at Informed Comment, Non Intervention, and Going to Iran

  • My 72 depressing hours on Obama's trail
    • Really thought Obama would really focus on the facts on the ground and put some pressure on Israel which Dr. Zbigniew Brezinski and others recommended. Clearly that is not happening. Instead Obama kissed BB's ring and confirmed nothing has or will change and many are facing time to push hard for
      ONE STATE ONE PERSON ONE VOTE.

    • Alex such an honest yet brutal post. So appreciate your observations. Israel with Obama's assistance closes the door to a two state solution. The reality on the ground tells the real story.

      One state, one person, one vote!

  • Another bad review: 'Obama takes Palestinians for granted'
    • What was it four or five times that the U.S. (proxy vote) voted against sending in UN observers/peacekeepers into the conflict based on the 67 line. Vetoed four or five times by the U.S. Israel had to put up that wall on Palestinian land for a land grab and keep stealing more land on the West Bank. Can't have UN observers in the way

    • Marching with you Ramzi and encouraging others to do the same. Israel has shut the door to a two state solution and Obama helped seal it shut by choosing not to push linking U.S. aid to Israel to the ongoing expansion of Israel's illegal settlements.

      One state, one person, one vote.

  • Breakthrough: Mennonites divest from 'companies that support Israel's occupation'
  • NPR can't stop talking about Jews
    • oops Chris Hayes

    • At that time (73) I don't remember necessarily being in love with Israel but do remember feeling immeasurable compassion towards European Jews and the horrific crimes that had been committed against them and millions of others. Of course noticed that those millions of "others" murdered by the Hitler killing machine were never mentioned in our mainstream media. Still are not.

      In our MSM then (70's) there was never a mention of the crimes being committed by the Israeli's against the Palestinians. Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Said turned by light bulbs on about the facts on the ground in the conflict.

      Norman Finkelstein's book "The Holocaust Industry" is a must read.

    • then those are Adam and Phil's decisions and should be questioned. Easy to point the finger without looking at one's own organization and questioning the hiring practices, patterns etc

    • Thousands of innocent Muslims have been killed during Obama's watch.

    • so more "puff pieces" on NPR and less in depth programs on the conflict say on the Diane Rehm show, or Talk of the Nation.

    • "They are usually light-hearted puff pieces. Seriously though, I don’t think the fact that they feature Jewish-friendly stories is because of Israel, they feature Jewish stories because it seems that Jews are directing the news over there."

      Believe these "Jewish friendly stories" have increased the last five or so years. But Henry could figure that out by looking at the line up say 15 years ago.

    • "Turn on the TV, go to the movies, pick up a newspaper, follow an election, and in every case Jewish involvement is far above 2.5%."

      Right here at Mondoweiss hiring practices should be in line for questioning. Clearly a small group but Phil, who says he has his reasons has chosen to hire mostly Jewish individuals to dominate the upper tiers of this small group of writers etc. Again I know he has expressed his reasons. But I think this hiring practice is typical in the media etc. Hiring from the tribe

    • Former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit Micheal Scheuer has repeatedly said that the Syrian rebels are affiliates of Al Qeada
      link to non-intervention.com

    • There was a tiny opening on Up with Chris Hedges awhile back where he actually did a program that had reps from the Palestinian side. Am betting this new position at MSNBC and more money will shut this down.

    • Great research piece Henry. Many folks have been noticing the feel good about Israel stories has increased. But has that been the case the last five or so years or has it always been this way on NPR and people are just taking notice. Would be interesting to see what you have discovered compared to stories on NPR 10 years ago?

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