Total number of comments: 172 (since 2011-02-26 17:49:48)
Kris
I lived in Lebanon for six years when I was a little child. My first memory is of Palestinian refugees who brought their babies to my parents' apartment, to get infant formula that my mother gave them. Almost 60 years have passed, and I have had a happy life. I am a grandmother, still enjoy my work as a registered nurse, and yet in all these decades, the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel has continued.
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Showing comments 172 - 101
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AllenBee, your statement that "Jesus was a canny politician; he understood that you attract more bees with honey rather than vinegar," is offensive, and is not supported by anything that you can find in the New Testament. Jesus's life and teachings had nothing to do with "attracting" anyone. The Jewish religious leaders of the day thought that Jesus was a dangerous demagogue and a threat to the survival of the Jews. Jesus said that those who oppress the poor will spend eternity in hell. Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple, violently disrupting their legal business. Jesus encouraged law-breaking, and was so uncompromising in his view of the straight and narrow path that God required, that he said you should pluck out your eye if it was tempting you to sin. He said to give away everything you had (although you could keep the bare necessities, like one coat) to the poor. There is no evidence that Jesus would have advocated compromising with evil, and every reason to think that he would not have. Jesus would not have cared how anything would "play in Peoria," or anywhere else.
Your argument that investing in Palestine would be more in keeping with Christian values than divesting from businesses that profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine is offensive, both as a call for Christian collaboration with evil, and also because it is an insult to our intelligence. The evidence of how Israel treats development projects is there for you to see: Israel has a long, well-documented history of deliberately destroying development projects--schools, hospitals, solar panels, sanitation treatment systems, etc.--that have been financed by the EU and other outside groups for the Palestinians. Jesus said that we know the tree by its fruit. We have seen many times that "investing" in Palestine just means watching more money and lives being blown up by U.S.-financed Israeli bombs.
It will be a great thing if the Methodists vote for divestment, but it will be no surprise if they don't. Mammon is the god we worship in the U.S., and that is why people can advance arguments like yours without being overwhelmed by shame, finding virtue in collaborating with evil because it MAKES MONEY, like Caterpillar's production of the bulldozers that continue to destroy so many Palestinian lives.
I don't think that making Gaza into an open-air concentration camp qualifies as "leaving Gaza."
"Reap what you sow?" I'm astonished by this, Fredblogs, since I thought you were a supporter of Israel.
Hosea 8:7: For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
from Clarke's Commentary on the Bible:
"They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind - As the husbandman reaps the same kind of grain which he has sown, but in far greater abundance, thirty, sixty, or one hundred fold; so he who sows the wind shall have a whirlwind to reap. The vental seed shall be multiplied into a tempest so they who sow the seed of unrighteousness shall reap a harvest of judgment. This is a fine, bold, and energetic metaphor.
"It hath no stalk - Nothing that can yield a blossom. If it have a blossom that blossom shall not yield fruit; if there be fruit, the sower shall not enjoy it, for strangers shall eat it. The meaning is, the labors of this people shall be utterly unprofitable and vain."
That describes Israel perfectly, of course, and is why Israel will end up on the dustheap of history.
This is a fascinating account, Sarah Ziyad, and beautifully written. I hope you will continue to write; yours is a compelling voice.
Thank you for posting this. What can I say?
"Iran and the Terrorism Game," another excellent article by Glenn Greenwald, is here: link to salon.com
Greenwald does his usual outstanding job of writing, but the picture that accompanies his article says it all: It is a snapshot of the young Iranian scientist who was just assassinated, with his little boy. That photo of the proud young father and his baby represents so much. The young father's parents, his extended family, his wife, his children.
Here's a new Ron Paul ad, "War Propaganda," juxtaposing the lies presented in the run-up to the U.S. war on Iraq, with the lies now being advanced against Iran:
link to youtube.com
Noam Chomsky points out, in "Recognizing the 'Unpeople,'" link to truth-out.org
that the widely-supported
call for measures to protect civilians in Libya, was rapidly followed by attacks on Libya by the U.S., France, and Britain that were NOT widely supported. Prof. Chomsky goes on to explain that Africans, like Palestinians, are "non-people" as far as the dominant world powers are concerned.
"It should be recalled that there were two interventions. The first, under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, adopted on March 17, called for a no-fly zone, a cease-fire and measures to protect civilians. After a few moments, that intervention was cast aside as the imperial triumvirate (U.S., France, UK) joined the rebel army, serving as its air force.
"At the outset of the bombing, the A.U. (African Union) called for efforts at diplomacy and negotiations to try to head off a likely humanitarian catastrophe in Libya. Within the month, the A.U. was joined by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and others, including the major regional NATO power Turkey.
"In fact, the triumvirate was quite isolated in its attacks – undertaken to eliminate the mercurial tyrant whom they had supported when it was advantageous. The hope was for a regime likelier to be amenable to Western demands for control over Libya’s rich resources and, perhaps, to offer an African base for the U.S. Africa command AFRICOM, so far confined to Stuttgart.
"No one can know whether the relatively peaceful efforts called for in U.N. Resolution 1973, and backed by most of the world, might have succeeded in averting the terrible loss of life and the destruction that followed in Libya. ..."
No one cares when the "unpeople" are slaughtered, so maybe that's why J. Slater seems to accept the idea of only two choices: (1) do nothing or (2) start killing people. You can talk about "just war," and you can pretend that you have only two choices, and you can ignore the fortunes that our financial and political elites make from war, and the resources they will steal as a result of war, but, underneath all the "educated" rationale, there is only evil. It's as if I were to whip up a batch of delicious cherry frosting and spread it on a dead rat: it might look good for a minute, but it would still be disgusting.
Maybe you are wrong about Ron Paul. Given that once a person of color has a criminal record, his opportunities shrink from limited to nil in the U.S., you would think that the "non-racist" position would be to end the War on Drugs. Oddly, supposedly "racist" Ron Paul is the only candidate who is speaking out on this subject. Here is what Paul said Saturday night at the New Hampshire Republican debate:
"And one of my heroes is Martin Luther King because he practiced the libertarian principle of peaceful resistance and peaceful civil disobedience, as did Rosa Parks. But, also, I'm the only one up here and the only one in the Democratic Party that understands true racism in this country is in the judicial system. And it has to do with enforcing the drug laws. Look at the percentages.
"The percentage of people who use drugs are about the same with blacks and whites. And yet the blacks are arrested way disproportionately. They're -- they're prosecuted and imprisoned way disproportionately. They get -- they get the death penalty way disproportionately. How many times have you seen a white rich person get the electric chair or get, you know, execution? But poor minorities have an injustice.
"And they have an injustice in war, as well, because minorities suffer more. Even with a draft -- with a draft, they suffered definitely more. And without a draft, they're suffering disproportionately. If we truly want to be concerned about racism, you ought to look at a few of those issues and look at the drug laws, which are being so unfairly enforced."
Coincidentally, the new issue of "Rethinking Schools," all of which is available for free, online, is all about the school-to-prison pipeline that we now have in the U.S.A.: link to rethinkingschools.org
In "Schools and the New Jim Crow," for example, which is an interview with Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," Alexander points out that the War on Drugs is an even more effective tool of racial discrimination than the Jim Crow laws, which the War on Drugs replaced, ever were. The U.S. imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. Since 1970, the number of people in jail in the U.S. has increased 600 percent. That's SIX HUNDRED PERCENT.
You might be interested also in Glenn Greenwald's latest, "The Evils of Indefinite Detention and Those Wanting to De-Prioritize Them"--
link to salon.com
Here's an interesting excerpt, describing a tactic that is being used by those who want progressives to get back into the veal pen. (I'm not saying that you are using a variant of this tactic, I just am puzzled that you seem to think that people can't support BDS and also, at the very same time, support the only anti-war/anti-police state candidate.):
"(4) As we head into Election Year, there is an increasingly common, bizarre and self-evidently repellent tactic being employed by some Democratic partisans against those of us who insist that issues like indefinite detention (along with ongoing killing of civilians in the Muslim world) merit high priority. The argument is that to place emphasis on such issues is to harm President Obama (because he’s responsible for indefinite detention, substantial civilian deaths, andwar-risking aggression) while helping competing candidates (such as Gary Johnson or Ron Paul) who vehemently oppose such policies. Thus, so goes this reasoning, to demand that issues like indefinite detention and civilian deaths be prioritized in assessing the presidential race is to subordinate the importance of other issues such as abortion, gay equality, and domestic civil rights enforcement on which Obama and the Democrats are better. Many of these commentators strongly imply, or now even outright state, that only white males are willing to argue for such a prioritization scheme because the de-prioritized issues do not affect them. Seehere (Megan Carpentier), here (Katha Pollitt) and here (Dylan Matthews) as three of many examples of this grotesque accusatory innuendo.
"There are numerous glaring flaws with this divisive tactic. For one, it relies on a full-scale, deliberate distortion of the argument being made; demanding that issues like indefinite detention, civilian deaths and aggressive war be given high priority in the presidential race does not remotely advocate the de-prioritization of any other issues. For another, many women and ethnic and racial minorities – as well as gay Americans — are making similar arguments about the need for these issues to receive substantial attention in the election...."
These are wonderful stories, and I loved them. But now I'm worried about you. Please stay off the property of your nut-job Christian neighbor who is always trying to kill things, to protect yourself from his poor judgment and itchy trigger (or bow!) finger.
I don't think Zionists' fear that Israel will be "delegitimatized" is unrealistic, because, as they know and as the rest of the world is starting to understand, Israel has always been an illegitimate state, and has absolutely no "right to exist."
Joseph Mossad explained this very well in his essay, "The Rights of Israel":
link to english.aljazeera.net
Thank you, Sarah Ziyad, for this beautiful story. I am humbled by the faith and dignity of the Palestinians.
Thank you, Pat Carmeli--great article!
Maybe the author is trying to stay in the realm of reality, so he would realize that Israel, based on its entire history, is the enemy of the Palestinians.
It seems to me that Israel is also an enemy of God, since it claims to be a "Jewish state," yet consistently acts in ways that every world religion, including Judaism, understands to be evil.
I third it.
"Divide and conquer" is the game Ratner is playing, and that is a game that always ends up with us as the losers.
Wonderful video, thank you for posting it! It seems obvious to me that no matter who is elected, domestic suffering is a given.
Since Ron Paul would stop the wars, stop aid to Israel, stop the war on drugs (which is really a war on minorities), and restore the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus, I support Paul for President.
In fact, I am even planning to attend a Republican (gasp!) caucus in my state (Washington), so I can vote for Paul there.
And now we're being prepared to do the same to Iran.
This is an excellent article, Andrew Haas. Thank you very much. I hope we will see more of your articles here.
Funny that you link to the Geneva Conventions, since Israel is notorious for its violations of them. In fact, the contribution Israel has made to international law has been to succeed in degrading it. Here's a good summary of Israel's singular successes in corrupting international law:
link to original.antiwar.com
"As the former head of Israel’s 20-lawyer International Law Division in the Military Advocate General’s office, Daniel Reisner, recently stated: "If you do something for long enough, the world will accept it. The whole of international law is now based on the notion that an act that is forbidden today becomes permissible if executed by enough countries … International law progresses through violations. We invented the targeted assassination thesis and we had to push it. At first there were protrusions that made it hard to insert easily into the legal molds. Eight years later, it is in the center of the bounds of legitimacy." " (from the article linked to, above)
Thank you for posting this. Rafeef Ziadah is truly wonderful.
Me, too.
It seems so strange to me that anyone can get into discussions about Jewish "ties" to Palestinian land, as if that means anything at all. My family has "ties" to Sweden, since my forebears emigrated from there.
Like many U.S. citizens of Swedish ancestry, I wish my great-grandparents had stayed in Sweden. So do I and a bunch of fellow Americans with "ties" to Sweden get to invade Sweden and take over part of it? What if we took only the property that is now owned by, say, African-Swedes, since obviously their claim to the land, as recent immigrants, would be less than ours, since there is no question at all about our being part of the "Swedish gene pool?"
I know the answer is "no;" I'm just not sure why not, if it's supposed to be a rationale for the Jews to dispossess the Palestinians.
I think that the conversations we need to hold are with the Jewish-Americans in our communities. Jewish-American "progressive" support of Israel is the last taboo subject. When that taboo is broken, our Jewish friends have to listen to themselves explaining that because Jews were victims of the Holocaust carried out by the Germans, Jews are therefore entitled to benefit from inflicting ethnic cleansing, murder, torture, etc., on the Palestinians.
Our silence allows Jewish-American "progressives" to remain in denial. The most bitter opponents to a proposed boycott of Israeli products at my local Food Coop were Jewish-American "progressives" who felt that the boycott effort was "divisive." I think what they meant was that the boycott effort was starting to break the powerful taboo that prevents us from criticizing Israel to Jews who are our friends, and challenging their support for Israel's crimes against humanity.
This is wonderful! Congrats, Annie!
Wonderful action by this group of young people!
The little boy is Handala, who was created by Naji al-Ali. Here's the info from wikipedia:
Handala, also known as Handhala (Arabic: حنظلة) is the most famous of Naji al-Ali's characters. He is depicted as a ten-year old boy, and appeared for the first time in Al-Siyasa in Kuwait in 1969. The figure turned his back to the viewer from the year 1973, and clasped his hands behind his back. The artist explained that the ten-year old represented his age when forced to leave Palestine and would not grow up until he could return to his homeland; his turned back and clasped hands symbolised the character's rejection of "outside solutions". Handala wears ragged clothes and is barefoot, symbolising his allegiance to the poor. In later cartoons, he is actively participating in the action depicted not merely observing it.
Handala became the signature of Naji al-Ali's cartoons and remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance. Handala is also the web mascot of the iranian green movement.The artist remarked that "this being that I have invented will certainly not cease to exist after me, and perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that I will live on with him after my death".
link to en.wikipedia.org
Handala appears also in this beautiful music video of "Freedom for Palestine":
link to waronwant.org
Shame, DanMazella. There are not hours enough in one lifetime to watch all the youtube videos of Israeli brutality and human rights abuses against the Palestinians.
It is not the Palestinians who are stealing land and water resources, and it is not the Palestinians who cynically use their children as human shields as they squat on stolen land. Israelis are like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings: their love of an idol (which for Gollum was the ring of power, and for Israelis is the land belonging to the Palestinians) has deformed their souls.
I am astonished that Lynsey Addario didn't refuse to pass through the screening machines, even if she would have had to strip behind a glass wall. Or even right out there in front of crowds of people. Prenatal exposure to x-rays increases a baby's chances of developing childhood leukemia.
Thank you, Ray, for your heartfelt and informative post.
As I glanced down the very lengthy "Today in Palestine" column, I was seeing news of one pogrom after another. Pogrom after pogrom. And then I got to your comment, and watched the very appropriate, and heartbreaking, videos.
Thank you, dumvitaestspesest.
Thank you for posting this.
Full bore sanctions on EVERYTHING Israel does is a terrific idea.
I can't wait to see this film! The book is wonderful, and I'm so grateful to you, Annie, for recommending it to us.
This is an excellent report, written by two young women who graduated from high school last May--kudos!
Very powerful! Thank you, Annie!
To watch the "Occupy the Occupiers" action to which this article refers, you can click on "video" under the photo at the top of the article. But just in case there are other readers like me who didn't notice that link immediately, click on the link here:
link to mondoweiss.net
This video is delightful! Beautiful young people, entertaining action, uplifting in every way.
If you heard "distortions," please be specific and identify them.
Mine, too. The integrity of these young people is truly heartwarming.
I love flash mobs, too, but am equally enchanted by these beautiful young people and their "mic check" strategy. This action was terrific, and the video will touch the hearts of many thousands of other people.
(I am surprised you like flash mobs; here are two of my favorites. First, from Jewish Voice for Peace ("We Divest From Israel's Occupation" performs a flashmob in Times Square):
link to youtube.com
and second, a BDS flashmob at a New Seasons grocery store in Portland, OR: link to youtube.com
"How exactly does this help the Palestinians?"
By helping to raise consciousness in the U.S. The more times that Americans are shown that it is NOT antisemitic to criticize Israel or to advocate for justice for the Palestinians, the less power Israel's favorite card, the Antisemitic Card, has. This video will be watched by thousands.
"Mic check" is a great strategy, and this video is enchanting to watch! Bravo to these beautiful young people!
Yes, your comment was stupid. And I'm surprised you object to seafoid's comment. Why would Zionists care about Judaism's "most holy place on earth," since they have made such a mockery of Judaism since they began their unholy enterprise of stealing the Palestinians' land? What good is dust after you have destroyed the spirit?
What's YOUR point? As is stated in the article, the family changed from their original name, Milikovsky, to a Hebrew name they picked out, Netanyahu. That's fine, but I could change my name to Netanyahu, too, and it would also prove nothing about my family's (non-existent) origins in the Middle East.
Thanks, Annie, excellent graphic.
Here's another thing that brightened my day:
"How to really annoy the banks and finance companies This works..."
link to youtube.com
Wherein a young business man explains how to turn the unsolicited credit card applications that clog our mailboxes into an effective tool of protest that will Keep Wall Street Occupied.
Very entertaining, and now I can't wait for some more credit card applications to come in the mail.
I think we can look forward to "the worse 4 years of this country's history" no matter who is elected, Republican or Obama (who is a Republican, too, as we have seen). Obama and the other Republicans are all determined to destroy the regulations and social programs that most of us depend on.
Ron Paul is the only one of them who opposes and would end our wars, opposes attacking Iran, opposes our "special relationship" with Israel, and opposes the Patriot Act.
The misery that you see ahead for this country is misery that we have brought upon ourselves; at least we could stop inflicting death and terror on millions of people overseas. The only choice we seem to have in the upcoming elections is whether we will choose misery for ourselves and everyone else, or misery for only ourselves.
What a great interview with this lovely, brave young woman; thank you!
Schalit was not a hostage, he was a captured soldier. But more than 160 Palestinian children are hostages right now. Israel has a long history of using terror as a tool of occupation and ethnic cleansing; these children are being used as hostages to terrify every Palestinian family with the threat of midnight raids where IDF soldiers drag children away from their parents.
The prophet Micah tells us that the Lord requires us "to act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with (our) God, " but Israel deliberately mocks every one of these requirements. If you "love Israel," aren't you embracing cruelty, injustice, and contempt for God?
link to imeu.net
According to the latest figures released by the Israeli Prison Service and DCI-Palestine, on 1 October there were 164 Palestinian children (aged 12-17) in Israeli detention facilities, including 35 aged 12-15. Seventy-six of these children have been sentenced, while 88 children are being held in pre-trial detention.
The number of Palestinian children detained in Israel fluctuates, said UNICEF spokesperson Catherine Weibel in Jerusalem. In 2010, on average 250 children were in detention each month, and in 2009 the monthly average reached 300, she said.
DCI estimates that each year about 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17 from the West Bank are prosecuted in Israeli military courts after being arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli military, police or security agents. According to UNICEF, more than 7,000 Palestinian children were arrested and detained by Israeli authorities over the past 10 years.
What a great post, thank you! Amazing and disgusting to see just how deliberately misinformed Rep. Ackerman insists on being.
Here's an excellent flashmob performance by members of Jewish Voice for Peace. Retirement fund giant TIAA-CREF can run, but it can't hide from Jewish Voice for Peace! "We Divest From Israel's Occupation" performs a flashmob in Times Square:
link to youtube.com
Wonderful, thank you, Sara Besbes!
I wonder if eee has seen this yet, since the other day he was wondering why anyone would accuse Israeli Jews of "pogroms" against the Palestinians.
One pogrom by Israeli Jews after another, 24/7, for so many decades.
This is so beautiful; now I have to buy the book. If there are showings of your film near Seattle, I hope you will post the time, date and place here, so that I can come to see "Local Angel".
Since Foxman and the ADL define any criticism of Israel to be "anti-Semitic," they will never be out of a job. The more we learn about Israel, the more reasons we have to be "anti-Semitic."
po·grom (p -gr m , p gr m). n. An organized, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of a minority group, especially one conducted against Jews.
Of course, these pogroms we are discussing are not conducted against Jews, but are instead conducted BY Jews.
Why do you bother to post here, eee, if you're not going to read the articles on this website?
If you had been reading "Today in Palestine," which appears every single day, you would know of many, many, many pogroms by Israeli Jews against the Palestinians, since these pogroms are practically a daily occurrence.
Thank you, this is a beautiful post.
Annie, is there a way to see and order one of those t-shirts online?
Excellent analogy!
Outstanding analogy!
Probably you know that Gilo is an illegal Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem. The Fatah "militants" were trying to resist Israel's illegal land grab.
It is not okay to steal someone's land, and then whine when the owners try to fight back.
Thanks to Israel's deliberate long-term strategy of conflating "Zionism" with "Judaism," and "Israel" with "Jew," Zygmunt Baumann is correct when he says that Israel is achieving Hitler's goal: for the world to hate Jews.
And you are absolutely correct, Dex, in pointing out how dangerous that conflation is, and that it is Zionists that the world hates. Unfortunately the Jewish American community is mostly Zionist, either supporting Israel's atrocities actively through fundraising, political pressure, and attempts to silence criticism of Israel, or passively, through their silence.
In my own small town, for example, the local Jewish community was absolutely furious when our food coop considered supporting BDS. They got an Israeli official to fly here from the Israeli consulate in San Francisco to try to set up a private meeting (in violation of the coop bylaws) with the coop board. The levels of self-pity and entitlement expressed by the Jewish anti-BDS people were astonishing, as was their indifference to the suffering of the Palestinians.
A friend of mine even said (and she meant this) that because of the BDS controversy, she felt "too uncomfortable to self-identify as a Jew" in our community. For her, to be a Jew is to be a Zionist. But being a Zionist means supporting ethnic cleansing and other human rights abuses. So it would be best, she thinks, for all of us to agree not to think or talk about it. Complicity through silence.
When I was growing up in Jim Crow Texas, a small minority of whites actively opposed segregation. The majority, however, were segregationists who saw themselves as stalwart Christians who were upholding a righteous social order. It was not until they experienced the shame, over and over and over again, of seeing themselves, through the unwinking eye of the media, as others saw them--disgusting, racist bullies--that their attitudes began to change. This seems to be starting to happen in the Jewish American community.
What I'm talking about is that once the media silence is broken, and "Today in Palestine" is common knowledge almost every day in the U.S., which we hope will happen, the majority of Jewish Americans are going to be forced to look at what they have been supporting, either actively or with their silence.
At this time, Muslims in the U.S. are expected to apologize for everything other Muslims do; no matter that this expectation is absurd. I think that many Jewish Americans are going to be placing themselves in the same uncomfortable position, because they will absolutely not like the thought of being associated in any way with the things that they are successfully ignoring right now.
And I think it is unrealistic not to realize that Israel's campaign for decades to conflate "Zionism" and "Israel" with "Judaism" and "Jew" has had huge success. The big lie technique works and has been effective up until very recently to stifle criticism of Israel.
But because of the successful conflation of Zionism and Judaism, Jewish Americans will realize that their friends and neighbors are wondering if they are the kind of people who support atrocities against the Palestinians.
It will no longer be possible for Jewish Americans to be PEP--progressive except Palestine. The cognitive dissonance will become overwhelming.
I grew up in Jim Crow Texas, and I can tell you that the consciences of most of the whites in my community did not change until they experienced the shame of being in the media spotlight and seeing themselves as others saw them, over and over again. It was the shame of realizing that people didn't see them as devout Christians trying to maintain a traditional social order, but as disgusting bullies beating up defenseless victims. The clincher, of course, was the changes in the law. If blacks had had to wait for civil rights until white consciences changed in the U.S. south, they would still be waiting.
"In months to come, we can expect probing coverage of the occupation at last from the American press, reports on the children seized in the middle of the night, the demonstrators shot, the cisterns destroyed, the olive trees uprooted."
I hope you are right. And I hope that Jewish Americans will start feeling the same kind of societal pressure that is on Muslim Americans, who are expected to step forward and condemn every violent act committed by any Muslim, anywhere.
When Jewish Americans have to start apologizing for Zionist atrocities, and to start worrying that their non-Jewish neighbors are suspecting them of being the kind of people who support shooting at children on their way to school, detaining pregnant women at checkpoints until their babies die, and flooding Palestinian farms with raw sewage, things will start changing for the better very fast.
Not the 51st state, since a state would get only two senators, and Israel gets 100.
Thank you very much!
Israel has deliberately, for a long time, conflated Judaism with the state of Israel in order to prevent criticism: this is why criticism of Israel is "antisemitic."
So when non-Jews observe Israel's vicious actions toward the Palestinians, it is inevitable that they start to wonder about their own Jewish neighbors in the U.S. Are they the kind of people who would shoot little girls on the way to school, threaten little boys with rape, and bomb defenseless families they have imprisoned in a concentration camp? Are they the kind of people who would steal from the poor and defenseless? Are they the kind of people who look aside while "never again" is revealed to be just another lying slogan?
Many of the people who post here are Jewish and may have family ties to the Holocaust, and for you the Holocaust will forever loom large. But the Holocaust has lost its power over many non-Jews, because we see that the descendants of the Jewish victims of Nazi brutality are as ruthless and cruel as the Nazis were. There are too many films on youtube of present-day Israeli abuses of the Palestinians to watch in one lifetime, and it is all happening right now. Not 60 years ago.
We see that Jews wield an influence over the U.S. government far out of proportion to their numbers, are disproportionately wealthy and privileged, and yet are constantly crying victim. They are determined to prevent any criticism of Israel's human rights abuses, and even shut down exhibits of Palestinian children's drawings.
Rabbi Lerner is like someone who claims the right to steal a farm in Alberta, Canada, as an escape hatch, just in case his neighbors get too fed up with his bullying and whining in California. Jews may indeed face vulnerability and hatred, but maybe there are good reasons for it, not just existential ill will.
Maybe Rabbi Lerner should read the book of Hosea again: the prophet warns us that if we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.
The more that people learn about what Ron Paul really says and does, as opposed to the propaganda put out by the corporate bosses, the more people tend to like him. I myself am also very influenced by the fact that Ralph Nader likes Ron Paul.
Nevertheless, even though I know that Ron Paul is the only Repub/Dem candidate who says he'll end the wars and actually speaks out against our "special relationship" with Israel, it was hard for me to put the "Ron Paul for President 2012" bumper sticker on my car.
I had to give myself a firm pep talk, and ask myself if avoiding social ridicule (I live in a "liberal" community) is more important than trying to save all the people who will certainly be killed by the U.S. if Obama or any of the other Repubs wins in 2012.
I had to ask myself why I have no problem with wearing my homemade button everywhere (except work) ( superimposed on a photo of a bleeding, screaming, Palestinian little girl are the words: "Your taxes at work. Israeli soldiers killed her family. This is what Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians looks like." It's a very large button.) , but felt uneasy putting the Ron Paul sticker on my car.
Maybe it's because the truth about Israel is now out in the mainstream, and most people seem to like my button, but the propagandists are working overtime to discredit and marginalize Ron Paul, the only non-corporate, non-war candidate with a chance to shake up our national discussion and stop the killing.
It is very hard to see through the constant spin that surrounds us, and remember that identifying with the oppressors (who are trying hard to discredit and marginalize Ron Paul) is a fool's game. (Surely we all remember how this worked in junior high school: the "popular" clique would gang up on some kid who was different, and somehow the rest of the kids, who weren't even in the powerful clique, would disdain the hapless victim, too.)
If all we can accomplish is getting Ron Paul elected as the Republican candidate, by voting in the Republican primaries, that will be a huge step toward breaking the silence in our corporate-controlled media.
Thanks, Shingo, these are excellent links.
Aref, we in the U.S. can be certain that either a Democrat or a Republican will be elected president in 2012. Either way, we can expect to suffer, big time. However, Ron Paul is the only potential candidate in either party who advocates:
ending the foreign wars, ending the Patriot Act, ending NAFTA and GATT, etc., ending the War on Drugs, ending the two-tier justice system, and ending the corporate control of our government, and ending our “special relationship” with Israel.
Ron Paul is the only candidate who doesn’t get corporate contributions. The corporations fear him, and the corporate media methodically marginalizes him, as they are today, in reporting that Paul said an uninsured, injured person should be left to die, when in reality, Paul didn't get a chance to answer that question at all.
I think we should stop letting our overlords play the “divide and conquer game” with our lives. We are in the same sinking boat as the “rednecks” (many of whom support Paul) we are encouraged to disdain, yet we identify with the guys on the yachts. Wasn’t it “rednecks” who were beaten and killed fighting the great battles to organize the unions? Which side are we on, anyway? No, Ron Paul is not a fan of unions, Medicare or Social Security. Neither are Obama or any of the other Republicans. I’m just saying we need to stop identifying with our oppressors, and make common cause where we can with the people we have been encouraged to despise and ridicule.
We in the U.S. are bound to suffer, whoever is elected in 2012, so I'm not hoping for much. All I want is for the U.S. to stop killing people all around the world, and to stop facilitating Israel's slow-motion genocide against the Palestinians. That's why I'm going to vote in the Republican primary for Ron Paul. If he were nominated, things MIGHT change. Certainly the political discourse in this country would change.
Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, and Bernie Sanders seem to like Ron Paul; maybe we should take a closer look:
link to counterpunch.org
link to counterpunch.org
link to blackagendareport.com
link to youtube.com
– Ron Paul on ending the War on Drugs
Ron Paul and Ralph Nader — link to youtube.com
Ralph Nader on the new political dynamic of an alliance between Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul on cutting the military budget and corporate welfare –
link to youtube.com
link to counterpunch.org
How is Ron Paul racist? He is against our wars overseas, which are directed mostly against brown-skinned people, and he is against the War on Drugs, which is a war against poor and black or brown people. Paul would pardon all non-violent drug offenders and free them from prison; most of these people are black or Latino.
I think this great BDS flashmob in Portland, Oregon, is worth watching again:
Portland BDS Flash Mobs New Seasons grocery store
link to youtube.com
Here's what's happening in Washington state: Stand With Us, a Zionist organization, is threatening the Olympia Food Coop, and the Evergreen State College, with "expensive" lawsuits.
Why? Because the Olympia Food Coop voted to take Israeli products off their shelves. And because at the Evergreen State College (where Rachel Corrie was a student), some Jewish students claim to feel threatened because other students criticize Israel's human rights abuses against the Palestinians. It is no surprise to anyone that the Israeli government is directing these attempts to stifle criticism of Israel, from behind the scenes. The full story is here:
"Uncovered: Israel’s role in planned US lawsuit to fight BDS"
link to electronicintifada.net
If cowards would stop capitulating, the Zionists bullies would lose their power, so it seems appropriate to direct anger and protest against the cowards as well as against the bullies.
Good thing that there weren't Nazi sympathizers powerful enough to prevent the publication of "The Diary of Anne Frank."
Since Ron Paul is the only candidate the Repubs or Dems will run in the primaries who does not advocate unquestioning support for Israel, what about voting for him in the Republican primaries?
I disagree with Ron Paul about almost everything, but agree with him fervently on one important issue: STOP THE WARS. So this life-long Democrat is going to vote for Paul in the Republican primary in my state.
And if Paul (or anyone) were to win the general election, instead of Obama? Good. Obama has been a total sell-out, beginning with his silence during Operation Cast Lead. He has achieved more for the Republican agenda than any Republican could have. We would have been much better off with McCain and Palin. Obama kept single payer health care off the table, expanded the wars, enriched the upper economic elite, claims the right to have anyone, anywhere assassinated or imprisoned forever, and is determined to destroy Social Security and Medicare. Obama, as many have observed, is Bush on steroids.
I was so happy when Obama was elected that I cried. Because I thought there would be real hope and change in this country, and it would be led by a black man, something that, having grown up in Texas, I would never have believed possible. Obama's cynical betrayal of all the "folks" (as he likes to call them) who really believed in him and contributed money that they couldn't afford to his campaign is unforgivable.