Commenter Profile

Total number of comments: 4505 (since 2010-01-30 17:02:32)

Sumud

Mondoweiss.net supporter

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  • End your illusion: Israeli government will never implement a two-state solution, top official says
    • Is there anyone here who supports the “2 states solution”?

      Can you please expand on what you mean by "supports"?

      I don't have an ideological bent towards either one- or two-states as an outcome, and I suspect hardly anyone – especially non-Palestinians & non-Israelis – does.

      Practically though, I believe two-states is now 99.9% impossible. So I will not expend any energy advocating for one, and I would question the sanity of anyone who does.

      If you are Israeli or zionist and understand that one-state means the end of jewish supremacism in mandate Palestine, and don't want this, then I can see why you'd be opposed to this single state ideologically. Such a person is in denial though, as practically the window on two-states closed long ago.

      What do you hope for, and what do you think is practical asherpat?

    • ‘The international community can say whatever they want, and we can do whatever we want,’ he said.

      Danon is bluffing of course - without the US using the UN SC veto to shield Israel from the consequences of it's actions Israel is in BIG trouble. Turning off the spigot of US each year will go some way towards shocking some sense into Israelis also, but the SC veto is they key.

      Shimon Peres was on record worrying last year the the EU will apply trade sanctions to Israel over the settlements. Israel will not be robust like Iran is under sanctions. With the Te Aviv bubble burst, those who can leave, will leave. What happens next is anyone's guess but it won't likely be pretty, resulting in more and more sanctions, and possible UN blue hat intervention.

      Israel has no future, and no-one to blame except itself. The Great Gamble of 1967: lost.

  • Bennett slams European labelling measure, saying occupation demonstrates 'true coexistence between people'
    • In practice, whoever decides to label these products, tears down any chance for peace and threatens the livelihood of hundreds and thousands of Palestinians, who are paid 4 times higher the average pay in the Palestinian Authority.

      I call on the global community to stop this nonsense, to stop this injustice of labeling these products. If at all we should label them as peace products.

      Why is Bennett calling on the "global community"?

      The call for BDS came from Palestinians. If, as he postulates, Palestinians benefit from the occupation, they would not be asking for support from civil society around the world.

      What he really means is "can you please look away as we continue to stomp on the natives".

      Bennett is an idiot. Zionism causes brain rot.

    • Bill ~ Australian politicians from both major parties have used similar schtick, trying to link BDS with the nazi boycott of jewish goods.

      Problem is, it just doesn't work; no-one believes it and Australian's negative view of Israel increased by a few percentage points in the last year alone, as per the latest BBC survey.

  • Prestigious int'l soccer tournament begins in Israel-- and dignifies Jim Crow
    • Is Israel’s conceding the territories it gained in 1967 (after it conceded the vast majority of them already) enough to end the conflict without any further demands? For if the answer is “no”, then demanding this concession is hypocritical.

      Yes or No?

      Oh please.

      1. Israel giving up land it occupies by force is NOT a concession, it is Israel complying with the international law(s) that territory cannot be gained by force.
      2. Palestinians do not need your, nor anyone else's permission to demand ALL of their rights. If you think that is "hypocritical", well, too bad for you. No-one cares!
      3. For what it would take to end the conflict permanently please see the Arab Peace Initiative from 2002 and the 2005 BDS call for a general answer. The largest and longest refugee population in the modern world cannot be ignored.
      4. CHALLENGE!!! Please name one genuine concession Israel has ever made in peace negotiations with Palestinians – not just Israel giving up something it wants but that it has no legal right to, a genuine concession. I'll bet you can't.

    • Page: 45
    • ...what you call “Palestinian”.

      And if you meant that “Palestinians” living...

      Quote marks? I'm not confused about where Palestine is, and who is Palestinian. I don't think many here are, asherpat.

      Are you?

  • The wandering Europeans: European Council on Foreign Relations report outlines failed EU policy in Israel/Palestine
  • Hey New York, get ready for the big (anti-Zionist) parade!
    • Celebrating people who believe in permanent Jewish subservience and suffering.

      Please explain how members of NK endure "subservience and suffering" as American citizens with equal rights as everybody else.

    • Did you know that the largest community of Jews in the Middle East, outside of Israel, is in Iran?

      I did Ned.*

      It's at once good and bad – good that there is a jewish population there, but also bad, or rather – sad, that in the wider ME jewish arabs made aliyah (under Israeli duress sometimes, eg Mossad bombings in Baghdad) to Israel only to be treated as second class citizens by the ashkenazi. From what I see there seems to be a kind of loathing among the mizrahi for arabs, despite the fact they are arab.

      *I was just thinking it would be interesting to hear from some Iranian jews living in Iran about their circumstances.

      Of course, Iran is a theocracy, but Israel comes pretty close, with the Orthodox rabbis having a lot of power, far more than clergy have in the US.

      If I had to live as a religious minority in Israel or Iran I would chose Iran, no question.

    • Old news now, but I came across it for the first time recently: footage of Ahmadinejad meeting with rabbis from Neturei Karta in NYC in 2007.

      He didn't even try to kill them all, can you believe it?

  • Video: On 3rd anniversary of 'Mavi Marmara' attack, witnesses return to the boat
    • Are you willing to share Sumud?

      Why are you asking me? I'm not Palestinian and have never claimed to be.

      As for building churches, temples and mosques, if you can come by the land legally then I think you should be able to build as you wish.

    • Once again, a demonstration of why Israel's star has fallen so far, so fast (#HasbaraFail):

      1. Gaza is a largely civilian population, in fact 60% children.
      2. Gaza is under military occupation by Israel, which has Geneva Convention obligations to protect the population. Obviously, Israel is in massive breach of those obligations, on multiple counts.
      3. Hamas are but one faction in Gaza, and the militants (Al Qassam Brigade) one faction of Hamas.
      4. All members of Hamas are human and entitled to universal human rights. These rights cannot by extinguished by Israel or any of her ziobot cheerleaders.
      5. Palestinians are legally entitled to resist their oppressors militarily, also a right which cannot be extinguished at will.
      6. The Free Gaza flotilla carried aid for all people in Gaza, not just members of Hamas.

      Let's switch it up a little:

      Israel, the embodiment of peace. If there was ever anyone who deserved support from others because of their non-violent struggle and willingness to accept others who are different to them, it is Israel.

      Apartheid Israel is a sick place, and it's terminal. Start thinking about one state with equal rights for all giladg.

  • Updated: al-Aqsa Foundation discovers mass graves of Palestinians killed during the Nakba in Jaffa
    • They are clearly pretty freaked out about this latest discovery because it would explode the whole idea that the Jews were facing annihilation in 1948.

      Well, that was exploded decades ago by the New Historians such a Simha Flapan - tree has the vital quote above documenting how the majority of zionist casualties occurred while they were undertaking offensiveaction outside the area allocated to Israel in UN181.

      But finding mass graves of as many as 600 Palestinian men women and children (as per Daily Mail article MRW references below) is going to reinforce to millions more people the importance of the Nakba to the Palestine/Israel. Israel's downhill slide just got another push.

  • Roger Waters joins Alice Walker in plea to Alicia Keys not to play Israel
    • I think she has character. Not sure if she will perform in Israel this time but she will come to BDS sooner rather than later. Stevie Wonder is the key - I know she has massive admiration for him, so his refusing to play in Israel will be significant.

      Keys and Stevie Wonder singing a bit of acapella "Higher Ground" at the Grammys to honour Coretta Scott King:

      link to youtube.com

      Keys closes off saying she wants to always keep striving to reach higher ground... So now is her chance!

  • The lost city of Gaza (Part 1)
    • Heaven forbid, what is wrong with these people!

      We ethnically cleanse 80% of them and stole their land and profited massively from looting their property, we invade Gaza multiple times until 1967 and committed massacres in the refugee camps in Khan Younis & Rafah in 1956, and finally invaded and occupy Gaza permanently in 1967 – and still they won't love us zionists!!!

      /sarcasm. Pull your head out your posterior Obsidian. You and your kind are as a nazi to a jew – loathed – and personally, I don't think that is unreasonable.

  • Alice Walker to Alicia Keys: Boycott, because Palestinian conditions are worse than they were in US South
    • ...why isn’t she urging Keys to boycott the US?

      HAHA this is an all-time classic from The Hophmi School Of Hasbara Misdirection, AKA the 'Look-Over-There Institute'.

      According to hophmi, of all the people in the world even Alice Walker isn't allowed to participate in BDS, because she hasn't yet done enough activism in the US.

      Hilarious!!!

    • Just, wow! Eloquent doesn't even to begin to describe it.

      Alicia Keys has always struck me as a very grounded, intelligent person – I hope she hears the message here, and learns about Palestine. I can see her becoming outspoken in support of BDS, in time.

  • The Solyndra of Israel, adored by Tom Friedman and NPR, goes bellyup
    • What would happen if you cross-bred Henry Ford and Yitzhak Rabin? You’d get Shai Agassi.

      OMG. How does he manage to deliver so much dreck in so few words?

    • If Friedman gets around to commenting on Better Place’s bankruptcy, he will probably defend his gushing support for them by saying it was about telling Detroit, “Suck on this.”

      Friedman will try to mythologise Better Place and Agassi, and somewhere along the way I'm sure he'll invoke Preston Tucker...

  • Personal reflections on the Nakba
  • Memo to the world: Israel is never leaving the West Bank
    • If you want me to acknowledge the important the Nakba plays in the Palestinian narrative, you have to acknowledge the role the Holocaust and historical antisemitism in both Europe and the Middle East plays in the Jewish narrative. Not only does that not happen here, but commentators engage in virtual Holocaust denial by making obscene arguments about how many other people died in the war, as if Jews were somehow supposed to be less aggrieved because of that, or that they do not care about other people because they are aggrieved at all.

      Boring. You want to use the holocaust as an excuse for zionist terrorism, ethnic cleansing, looting and theft, and no-one wants to hear about it. Boo-hoo for you! The Nakba doesn't excuse Palestinian terrorism. And equally, boo-hoo for any Palestinian who thinks it does.

      That's all there is hophmi. Quit whining.

  • George Orwell would hate Israel
    • Good, thanks Donald; I see Miriam is as incoherent as ever.

      On Orwell, I have the book Phil references in his article above, and wrote a little about it further up the thread here:

      link to mondoweiss.net

      Even after 1948 he doesn't talk about Israel but rather Palestine - but is very mindful of the post-war plight of European jews trying to get to Palestine. The indigenous population don't rate a mention...

    • He would have been disgusted by blogs like this.

      Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just having a tantrum because nobody falls for your "look over their" schtick.

    • weindeb – I haven't read that book of Orwells from 1933, but I do happen to have Volume 4 of his collected Essays, Letters and Journalism (titled In Front of your Nose) which Phil references in his article above.

      They are a great read. That volume covers the time period 1945-1950. I had a look through the index and there are no specific mentions of Israel, he does refers to Palestine though, about a dozen times and in universally sympathetic with the plight of European jews tying to get to Palestine after WW2, and critical of European governments for impeding this. No mention of Palestine's non-jewish arab population, whatsoever. Indexed are also "jews" and "anti-semitism" with about a dozen references between the two, again, mostly about Europe's jewish population after WW2, including a suggestion that Britain admit a population of 100,000 jewish refugees immediately.

      Most interesting, a review from 1948 of Sartre's Portrait of an Anti-Semite. He takes Sarte to task for not exploring sufficiently what underpins anti-semitism, as Sarte merely classifies anti-semites in a similar way you would classify "jewish", "French", British", ie Sarte suggests an anti-semite is a type of person rather than a set of beliefs anyone could come to hold. Orwell writes:

      It will be seen that this position is itself dangerously close to anti-semitism. Race prejudice of any kind is a neurosis, and it is doubtful whether argument can increase or diminish it, but the net effect of books of this kind, if they have an effect, it probably to make antisemitism slightly more prevalent than it was before. The first step towards serious study of antisemitism is to stop regarding it as a crime. Meanwhile, the less talk there is about "the" Jew or "the" anti-Semite, as a species of animal different from ourselves, the better.

      This is a nuanced position and does not sound like the words of an anti-semite to me. Do you have any later references regarding Orwell's anti-semitism, or is it possible his views evolved between 1933 and the mid-to-late 40s?

    • I believe Orwell would detest this site and the mendacity and hatred it embodies.

      I believe you & many other zionists embody exactly Orwell's concept of Doublethink.

      You see hatred, mendacity and anti-semitism where there is none. You see Israel as a light unto nations when it is a vicious racist colonial apartheid state, descending into fascism. And most absurd of all, you idealise the aggressors as victims.

      I'm sure Orwell would have an opinion on Israel, not what you might fantasise though.

    • Jeepers Norman, you're still peddling entry-level hasbara?

      At least entertain us with some more elaborate lies, please!

  • Jamal al-Dura calls on Israeli government to bring him his son
  • Glenn Greenwald on the Woolwich attack and blowback from the 'war on terror'
    • He didn't strike me as having any mental issues* but the 'hyper', yes. May have been adrenalin, attacking someone with a meat cleaver is going to do that I suppose.

      *well, beyond the sort of mental issues anyone who can kill has...

    • Are you kidding?

      Did you read the article? [my emphasis]:

      I know this vital caveat will fall on deaf ears for some, but nothing about this discussion has anything to do with justifiability. An act can be vile, evil, and devoid of justification without being "terrorism": indeed, most of the worst atrocities of the 20th Century, from the Holocaust to the wanton slaughter of Stalin and Pol Pot and the massive destruction of human life in Vietnam, are not typically described as "terrorism". To question whether something qualifies as "terrorism" is not remotely to justify or even mitigate it. That should go without saying, though I know it doesn't.

  • More on the 'creepy' al-Dura report
    • or is it part of a new theory?

      I think "clutching at straws" best covers it!

      Unless TonyRiley knows something the Israeli government does not? Tony...?

  • Kerry goes for the Hail Mary, but Obama is punting
    • I'll send you [this many] blue ties and you damn well make sure I don't see another Democrat on TV wearing anything else, ever!

    • Meantime, J Street is desperate about the two state solution.

      No doubt J Street are desperate. Pretty soon they'll have to openly declare they support Israeli apartheid, rather than a single state with equal rights for all people in mandate Palestine.

      They don't want to have to do that.

  • 'Forward' piece on destruction of Palestinian neighborhood fronting Western Wall is not embraced by all 'Forward' readers
    • He wrote about how before 1967 a person would wind their way through a maze of Arab residential streets before the ‘Wall’ would suddenly loom up above them. He considered that drama to be a very important part of the experience of visiting the ‘Wall’.

      Very interesting, I visited Petra in Jordan and you walk between high stone cliffs down and down and down for about 2km until you turn a corner and suddenly there is the huge beautiful carved Treasury building looming up in front of you. It's a masterful piece of design - just wouldn't be the same without the long walk to the site...

    • For example :The Hurva synagogue.

      Given the Hurva Synagogue was re-built in 2010, does this mean you support a rebuilding of the Mughrabi Quarter?

  • Israel cracks down on American travel to West Bank by requiring tourists to obtain military permit
    • All Arab countries agree to accept the Green Line as Israel’s border with Palestine.

      Yes I know, but that doesn't change the fact Israel already has declared and recognised borders. Absent a permanent settlement, Israel's borders remain Israel's declared borders.

      They can't just undeclare them because they want to steal more Palestinian land – though they have been trying...

    • Germany is rated most favorably. Check out the few comments, half of which appear to be made by folks who hate Germany’s popularity and, no doubt, Israel’s lack of it. “A light to the world.”

      As much as it would irrationally pain [some] citizens of both nations, Israel and the US should look to Germany as a role model – change your bad behaviour and the word will change its opinion of you accordingly.

      Israel's deep unpopularity in the world has little if anything to do with anti-semitism and likewise for the US, "they hate us for our freedoms" is so ridiculous it does not even bear comment.

    • Is anyone surprised that this spear-catcher is a boot-licking fascist, ratting people out to the israeli Gestapo?

      I'm not surprised at all.

    • You do know Israel has no declared borders, right?

      Wrong, wrong and wrong.

      Israel declared it's borders on multiple occasions in 1948 and 1949, to be those of UN181. Israel's application to join the UN specified Israel's borders as those of UN181.

    • I look forward to adding this piece to the other materials that have been sent to the proper authorities in Israel. I hope that they will make good on their word and keep you and the other troublemakers out of the country for the next decade.

      Alex Kane does not seem to want to visit Israel at all, just the occupied Palestinian territories which is outside Israel's own declared borders. Of course you referring to Palestine as "the country" (ie. Israel) indicates you believe all of mandate Palestine belongs to Israel.

      Let me guess, 'god' gave it to you?

      Be careful what you wish for eh? Multiple Israeli leaders have now acknowledged Israel will lose when Palestinians move en-masse to a demand for one-person/one-vote across all of mandate Palestine...

      You might also like to check yourself on describing Alex Kane as a "troublemaker". To besmirch everyone fighting for human rights for Palestinians, says much more about you and zionism, than it does about Alex.

      Do not wonder why Israel's reputation around the world is in tatters; it is because of people like you.

  • Obama's secret wars in Muslim world make Americans vulnerable
    • The closing line of the ITV report:

      "Soldiers who fight abroad, finding themselves under attack at home, the place they should have been safe".

      Typical western-centric narrative; zero questioning of why British troops are attacking a foreign country, and zero acknowledgement that British troops have been and continue to be involved in aggressive wars that kill large numbers of civilians.

      Strange strange event. I'm surprised that ITV chose to play the footage of the attacker justifying his actions, normally such a person is killed ASAP to silence them.

  • The etymology of anti-Semitism
    • Storm in a tea cup.

      You're bothered because the cartoonist uses the literally correct meaning of the word, and doesn't wish to use the inaccurate common meaning.

      Why can't jews come up with a new word that accurately describes jew-hatred?

      Israel and a lot of zionists do practice anti-semitism, it isn't just hatred of Palestinians it is arabs more broadly and it isn't just muslim arabs but christian arabs also. So anti-Palestinian doesn't cut it, and neither does islamophobic.

      Israel and a lot of zionists also abuse the term anti-semite and often use it to slanderously imply jew-hatred when more accurately they should be saying "anti-zionist".

      The cartoonist is not the misleading one.

    • Effective and misleading.

      Misleading, how...?

  • Israel blocks UNESCO fact-finding mission to investigate assaults on holy places in Jerusalem
    • I don't think they withdrew from UNESCO, rather they said the would withhold funding, and there were murmurs at the time this action may jeopardise the US' right to vote on UNESCO matters. Have not heard anything about the matter since sorry.

  • Mohammed Assaf, singing sensation out of Gaza refugee camp, torches Arab Idol competition
    • RJL – you do realise everyone's comment archive is searchable, right?

      You are attributing quotes and beliefs to Annie with no actual evidence. Nobody will take you seriously while you just hurl accusations without evidence, and especially not while you fabricate quotes.

      Example: I searched Annie's comments for "ziofascist" and received one hit in 2011. One use of that word in 20352 comments over about 4 years. Yet you quote her as calling JPost "ziofascist" and also calling jewish Israelis the same. Source?

      Until you pull your head out your behind, if I were Annie I wouldn't waste a single second providing a "a serious, thoughtful answer" to a juvenile hasbara-peddling schmuck like yourself. And you may quote me on that.

  • Lapid says 'Israelis want peace and security and Palestinians want peace and justice'
    • “I am saying what we need to do is something.”

      What a bight spark this Lapid chap is.

  • Guatemalan genocide got assist from US, Christian Right, and Israel
    • How to spot a ‘liberal zionist’ in a car.

      Blinker to the left, when time to move, turn to the right.

      Very good. Applies to Obama also...

  • 'If I had to choose between the wealth of the world and going home, I would go back'
    • Very interesting gingershot.

      Though I think Ben Gurion was wrong about 1948. The critical thing is not whether Palestinian refugees were expelled or advised by their leaders to flee, but the fact that Israel refuses to let them return...

  • Intense video challenges Catalan and Spanish collaboration with the Israeli occupation
    • Maybe you should contact SNL with your "getting down on their knees" joke Obsidian. It's a real blast.

  • Clashes break out across the West Bank as Palestinians mark the Nakba
    • Then again, you consider people who blow up busses and cafes to be freedom fighters so why should we be surprised at this extension of your warped view of the world.

      Please provide quote and links to back up your claim on Allison's views please.

  • Infographic: An Ongoing Displacement - The forced exile of the Palestinians
  • The Ongoing Nakba: The continuous forcible displacement of the Palestinian people
  • Israeli airport sorts passengers with 'Jewish stickers' and 'Arab stickers'
    • The fourth most popular comment so far claims that Mondoweiss is a white supremacist site and ‘the they are the sons of Stormfront’.

      Don't give it a second thought Qualtrough!

      The clowns saying ridiculous stuff like that are too thick to realise they are doing Mondoweiss a big favour. They can't tackle MW with legitimate criticism so are trying to scare people. But, what happens when you tell people: 'don't do that'? Invariably they get curious, will look for MW and then have a read.

      Will they discover white supremacism and toxic Stormfront-style anti-semitism?

      Of course not; they will find a source of high quality news on Palestine & Israel. There's a reason MW readership is high and funding drives are a big success every time.

    • Sounds like airport security, not El Al's own procedure.

    • Why don’t they just make the Palestinians wear yellow crescents?

      seafoid ~ now you're being ridiculous!

      Crescents for Palestinians should be green, not yellow.

      'Teh gays' get pink triangles so Israel can subject them to some pinkwashing as they move through airport security, and the VIPs get their yellow star for express service, and would you like some citizenship with that automatic entry visa...?

  • Washington state bus-ad campaign dares to state: 'Equal rights for Palestinians'
    • Thank you tree, exactly my point.

      We will wait for Mayhem and TonyRiley's response.

      I'm sure it will be ...entertaining.

    • but the others I see here like “I’m not allowed on Israel’s Segregated Buses” that attempt to convey an image of Israel as a segregated apartheid society are grossly misleading...

      Are they?

      So is it not correct that an Israeli settler living in the Israeli-settled West Bank is subject to one legal system, and a West Bank Palestinian who lives 50 metres away is subject to a completely different legal system?

      Granted, the differences inside Israel's declared borders are less stark, but they remain. You can't just pretend the occupation doesn't exist because you don't like seeing 'apartheid' and 'Israel' in the same sentence.

  • Boston Globe's groundbreaking salute to BDS will bring 'fierce criticism,' US Campaign says
    • So you (and fellow Palestinians) would happily become Israeli citizens? Minus Gaza and the diaspora?

      This seems highly unlikely.

    • ...you would lobby the Palestinians to accept?

      mondonut, "...the Palestinians"? Ramzi is Palestinian.

  • 'Newseum' folds under pressure, will not include Gaza cameramen in program honoring fallen journalists
    • gamal ~ you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions about my use of the word militant. I understand the way the term is interchangeably used [and abused] with 'terrorist' but there is zero value or moral judgement on my part when I use the word militant.

      who gets to designate someone a militant, or does one apply, like subhuman its not a designation i assume anyone applies to themselves, in the sense that you use it here

      As I said there is zero value judgement applied when I used the word militant. I would say it is a person bearing arms with political intent. The IDF is a militant organisation, but also an army. I don't think it is appropriate to designate Al Qassam Brigade as an army since they are enduring a military occupation.

      what policies towards them are justified by some persons or peoples perceived “militancy”

      That would depend on what they did with their militancy.

      If they attack citizens (such as the suicide bombing campaigns of the 2nd intifada, now thankfully a thing of the past) they are terrorists, and I do not use that nonsense disclaimer that terrorism can only be performed by non-state actors. So the IDF practices terrorism on a far larger scale than Hamas ever have, and US army terrorism is off the scale.

      If they do not attack citizens they are just garden variety militants and I assert the right of Palestinians to resist their oppressors militarily. I don't believe it is the best option strategically but their right to resist militarily is indisputable. As for rockets from Gaza, if they are aimed at a military installation I have no problem with that. But I am oppose to targeting civilians whether they be Palestinian, Israeli, or other.

      It would seem in the current world it is a kind of death sentence, for Muslims, sometimes and being designated militant for Palestinians always seems to result in a loss of support for their inalienable rights...

      This is not my opinion. It is an inalienable Palestinian right to resist their oppression militarily.

      ...a militant Hamas journalist would surely enjoy the same protections as non-militant one, how does one know when one has drifted along into militancy?

      A journalist doesn't bear arms.

      So if the person bears arms they are a militant, not a journalist. But the gentlemen that were killed were from Al Aqsa TV not Al Qassam Brigade. And no-one has been able to produce any evidence they were militants, see Joe Catron's follow up article; a number on journalist organisations have been asking the IDF to produce evidence here, and they have not:

      The Newseum’s ‘further investigation’ must be public, credible, and thorough – and what we should do if it isn’t

      are you not conflating militant with terrorist, which i believe is how the journalists were characterized in the above piece, are militant and terrorist synonymous?

      No, see above. But, on this topic, lots of people do use the term interchangeably, often to deceive and deny Palestinians their rights. The Israeli/US demand that Hamas renounce violence altogether is unacceptable.

      what do you mean Hamas and Hezbollah are militant organizations, that have become political organizations, so they started with miltantcy and then found politics?

      That is the trajectory for both isn't it? I "found politics" is wrong, they were always political, but the emphasis has shift from armed resistance to political and social organisation and action.

      Al-Qassam are a military rather than militant formation, are they not, is a militant an Arab with a weapon?

      Both I suppose, a military and a militant organisation. I already said until they have sovereignty over territory, I think it is wrong to call them an army.

      I have to say Americans finding Hamas murderous is very funny, or “terrorists” reprehensible, Chris Hedges...

      Agreed, but I didn't say that, and I'm Australian :-)

      Since it is a long time since Hamas renounced suicide bombings I disagree with the Australian Government's designation of the Al Qassam Brigade as terrorists. I can't get worked up over a few bottle rockets; the effects are negligible, about 20-25 deaths in more than a decade. By comparison about 4,000 Israelis died in motor accidents over the same timeframe, during which time more than 6,000 Palestinian killed by the IDF.

      Chris Hedges I love. Eloquent, fierce:

      America: The Silence of a Nation.

      I largely agree with the rest of what you've said so won't respond specifically.

      As for Clinton, I think he is responsible for one of the worst human atrocities in the history of mankind, the US-led sanctions regime that killed more than 500,000 Iraqi children in the mid-1990s:

      Madeleine Albright - 60 Minutes

      When I said US terrorism is off the scale, this is but one of many acts I have in mind. Polite language cannot capture my opinion of Clinton, and Obama is little better than Clinton and Bush. Gives good speeches though.

      As much as I love my American friends and wish them no harm, the sooner the US is bankrupt the better. It is time for a second American Revolution – the country has been hijacked by smiling hyenas lining their pockets.

    • The idea that any journalist from Gaza or working in Gaza is automatically affiliated to Hamas is grotesque to say the least.

      Yes, but these journalists did have a connection to Hamas - Al Aqsa TV is Hamas owned.

      More to the point Hamas is the *government* in Gaza and has a huge number of employees, only a small number of them are militants.

      Israel and the US have done a splendid job of obscuring what Hamas (and Hezbollah) actually are, militant organisations that have also become political organisations. Surprisingly (since our PM is a total Israel fangirl) the Australian Government has designated the Al Qassam Brigade – the militant wing of Hamas – as a terrorist organisation, but Hamas itself is not.

      'Newseum' are evidently too dumb or too gutless to understand this distinction. Too much mediocre and dishonest journalism will do that...

    • How Israel has been instilling hatred,fear,and paranoia to the youth through the holocaust industry. It’s almost as if they’re training them to hate outsiders so its less likely for political reform.

      Bingo Yasmeen, that is exactly what they've been doing: Israelis are as much victims of hasbara as anybody else.

      If you want to punish yourself check out the same filmmaker's older documentary called "Checkpoint", it's all footage in the field taken at Israeli checkpoints in occupied Palestine. You will be screaming in frustration at the incredible injustice of it all.

  • Another landmark: 'Boston Globe' honors Hawking's boycott as nonviolent effort to pressure Israel
    • Well that is progress from your previous statement along the line of Hawking should "Not have been brought into this"...

      But you still haven't explained why, despite repeatedly being asked.

      Hawking is a highly intelligent sentient being, and is free to makes choices as he sees fit. What is your problem with this?

  • The power of Stephen Hawking
    • All that Abunimah has to offer in his article is the same old polemic about BDS and, just because Hawking had signed up, the Guardian gave the BDS campaign another free kick.

      Speaking of polemics, do you actually dispute anything Abunimah wrote in that Guardian piece? Can't see how they have given BDS "another free kick" if Abunimah has stuck to facts.

      And what is this sudden concern with facts anyway Mayhem? Hasbara is one lie after another. I don't see you on any of the Dershowitz articles calling him on the disgusting things he has said about Hawkings.

    • I do not think Hawkings should have been brought into this.

      Condescending! Hawkings is a free agent, and he made his decision based on his own assessment of the situation.

      He wasn't "brought into" anything by anybody.

  • More on the Church of Scotland's controversial report on occupation
  • 'Newseum' comes under pressure from Israel supporters for honoring Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza
    • The neocon think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies is threatening pull an annual policy summit out of the venue in protest.

      Everyone knows Hamas was elected to power in Palestine in 2006 in EU-monitored elections declared to be free and fair...

      FDD need to change their name, i propose something a little more modest:

      Foundation For The Defense of Democracies Sometimes

  • Dershowitz calls Hawking an 'ignoramus,' a 'lemming,' and likely an anti-Semite
    • Convert to what hophmi?

    • Not at all Woody ~ I want Dershowitz to be alive when Israel fades to black, as is now inevitable. I want him to understand that he has been a major contributor to Israel "winning" it's way to oblivion.

      I want Dershowitz to fall to his knees and beg his god for forgiveness.

      You reap what you sow.

    • What was before the occupation in 1967, peace and nirvana……

      For someone lecturing another below about 'History' you sure seem to have a flimsy understanding of it, if you can't work out what possible grievances Palestinians might have from before 1967.

    • And who are ALL of you here, that tell Israelis and Palestinians what’s good for them….

      When Israel is consigned to the pages of history, no Israeli or zionist is going to be able to claim:
      – we never knew what Israel really had done to Palestinians
      – we never understood that making 2 states impossible made 1 state inevitable, and that meant the end of Israel
      – we thought US power could always protect Israel from itself.

      No, no and no. Israel is a country like any other that will thrive or fail (or something in between) based on it's merits and behaviour.

      As for Palestinians you might not have noticed but they are leading BDS, and those who advocate follow their lead. Palestinians know what is good for them and are rational actors.

    • I wish for Dershowitz a long, long, long life.

  • Israeli right-wing flys off the deep end following Hawking boycott
    • Unbelievable: a person who writes about a highly intelligent person with motor neuron disease: "But he’s limited by his condition, so we make excuses for him" then goes on to lecture same person about manners.

    • The Arabs struck first in 1973.

      Yes they did Mike Konrad. But they did NOT attack or invade Israel – Egypt attacked Israeli troops occupying Egyptian land.

      Big difference. In occupying the Sinai, Israel remains the aggressor.

      You said "Israel is surrounded by a hostile sea of Arabs" and "They see every slight as a life and death matter" yet none of these arab countries have ever started a war with Israel. Seems you don't understand who the hostile party really is.

    • 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.

      Yes, for sure.

      Unfortunately, the US is little better when it comes to foreign policy.

    • Actually Shmuel, he’s a genius and also an idiot. A man with common sense would have scoped out the issue before hand, not been surprised by his Palestinian colleagues. But he’s limited by his condition, so we make excuses for him.

      Wow! You couldn't be more condescending if you tried.

    • Shamefully, and because they exploited it ruthlessly, Israel was given a free pass by much of the world, and for many years. Those days are over.

      The holocaust is the "it" I'm referring to above...

    • What do you expect the Israelis to do?

      Simple:

      Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights

      Steven Hawkings should have stayed out of this.

      Says who? Except you, someone who appears to be opposed to free speech?

      Israel is surrounded by a hostile sea of Arabs (whether you admit it or not)

      They see every slight as a life and death matter.

      As eljay says, "aggressor-victimhood is a tough gig".

      If you can name one war which Israel did not act as aggressor, please do. I challenge you!

      Shamefully, and because they exploited it ruthlessly, Israel was given a free pass by much of the world, and for many years. Those days are over.

    • Qualtrough ~ there is a very funny article (funny because it's true funny) from Jews Sans Frontiers parodying hasbara:

      How to make the case for Israel and win

  • US promotes regional states/Israeli alliance against Iran while leading provocative naval drills in the Gulf
    • Thanks for the insight Maximus.

      I haven't tracked any of Khanfar's writing since he left AJ, just noted AJE's objectivity seemed to evaporate around the same time.

      I lived in UAE (Dubai) during the late 2000s for a period – became aware of the internal tensions within the GCC with Qatar and the UAE trying to wrestle away some of KSA's power.

      The interesting thing about Dubai is there is a huge Iranian population there, several hundred thousand at least. Iran was Dubai's largest training partner, though I don't think this would still be the case anymore because of the tightening sanctions, I know the local Iranian banks became very restricted in what they could do.

      While Dubai was quite friendly towards Iran, Abu Dhabi with its gas and little interest in trade, decidedly less so. They purchased a lot of US weapons, worrying over Iran. Can't help but think there is some collusion going on between KSA and the US to stoke tension on Iran, for the express purpose of driving up US arms sales in the region.

      Had it not been for the GFC cutting short my time in UAE, I was planning a trip to Iran, would still like to go.

    • ?? Did you mean CloakAndDagger?

      I didn't mention what might come next if regime in KSA was overthrown.

    • Tick, tock – both Israel and the house of Saud and all the other tyrants that we have propped up in the ME will soon fade from the pages of time.

      I hope so but i think the GCC states are going to have more staying power than we realise at this point. Qatar and UAE have more than enough money to throw at their people to fend off an arab spring, and KSA have not nearly as much money as the other two (per capita) but such a repressive regime they only need to chuck Saudis a bone now and then to quell dissent.

      I'm still shocked at Al Jazeera's non-stop coverage of Syria for the past 2 years – it is so obvious they are trying to get rid of Assad but, unlike Egypt, there is no popular support to topple the leader. Would love to know the real reason Wadah Khanfar resigned as AJ Director in 2011, I suspect it was a response to the leaders of Qatar interfering with their editorial freedom.

  • Walt and Siegman urge Washington to imagine a future without the two-state solution
    • If the Palestinian Arabs wanted to get rid of the settlements, if this was really their most urgent priority in terms of terminating Israeli rule, nothing would stop them from going to the negotiating table to negotiate a peace agreement to achieve it.

      Quite right, the actions of the second party in no way impact the final outcome of negotiations.

      In reality, they don’t want a state because they want to destroy Israel.

      Well it looks like those craft ay-rabs have lured Israel into a trap from which escape is impossible – and Israel has fallen for it hook line and sinker: the two-state solution is now impossible because of the settlements, and the international community will not tolerate Israeli apartheid for long, making a single state non-jewish majority state inevitable.

      For the Arabs, the dream is exactly the reverse: to take over another people’s country.

      Yes! Shame on the Palestinians for flooding into Palestine from that foreign country from which they originated (it's called Palestine I think). Did you know they ethnically cleansed 750,000 of the indigenous Israelis, looted all of their property and stole their land, and erased off the face of the earth 500 Israeli villages?

  • One-woman wrecking crew of Jewish community's image, Geller brings her show to Toronto
    • One-woman wrecking crew of Jewish community’s image, Geller brings her show to Toronto

      As satisfying as the title is, and as nutty an Geller is, the jewish community is larger and better than her. The zionist community, on the other hand...

  • '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)
    • On British Web sites, they call him “Bliar”.

      And when he published his memoir Brits were moving them en-masse in book stores to the CRIMES section.

      The man is a toad.

    • Yeah, it should throw things in the relief when you realize that both Bill Clinton and Tony Blair are attending, even if Hawking isn’t.

      Do you mean Bill Clinton during whose presidency US-led UN sanctions killed more than 500,000 Iraqi children in the 1990s?

      And do you mean international war criminal Tony Blair who took the UK to war in Iraq in 2003 all the while knowing there were no WMD, who remains unrepentant to this day, and who cannot make a public appearance in Britain without it being protested?

      It certainly does "throw things in the relief ", the company Israel keeps, and who zionists admire.

    • Noam Sheizaf writes: ...

      Again with the cherry-picking of quotes hophmi?

      If your strategy is representative, no wonder zionism is edging closer to oblivion every day.

      Noam Sheizaf continues where you left off [my emphasis]:

      But all this is beside the point right now. While I myself have never advocated a full boycott, I think that the least Israeli leftists can do is to not stand in the way of non-violent Palestinian efforts to end the occupation. It’s not only the moral thing to do, but also a smarter strategy because as long as Israelis don’t feel that the status quo is taking some toll on their lives, they will continue to avoid the unpleasant political choices which are necessary for terminating the occupation. Since the Israeli left is often unable to admit its own share in the occupation – and therefore acknowledge the legitimacy of Palestinian resistance – again and again it acts against its own stated goals.

    • “Israel is perhaps the most successful totalitarian state in history”

      LOL. In other news, chrisrushlau proclaimed North Korea the world’s most successful democracy.

      FYI hophmi - in partially quoting someone to make a point, it is you who presents as a jerk. The full quote:

      Israel is perhaps the most successful totalitarian state in history, in terms of mobilization of social resources for an irrational objective.

    • I am not a Zionist.

      Seriously Miriam, if you are not a Zionist, then you are simply a racist supremacist without a cause, which is even worse.

      Hilarious Shingo! And more than a bit tragic...

    • Most likely Al-Masri and Gorbachev will advocate for the two-state solution, but I don’t know what the others will be saying.

      "Where's my fee?"

    • i read that article gingershot it was pick up by Fairfax papers in Australia:

      Israel rocked as Hawking joins boycott

      ... and I also noticed she had written anti-Israel instead of anti-apartheid. The news is so overwhelmingly bad for Israel it must have pained her to write it, and that's her one little petty dig.

    • How tragic that apparently Hawking has become the latest to grab some attention for himself by jumping on the mindless boycott Israel bandwagon.

      Tragic that any academic should seek to join an ugly bandwagon campaign that seeks to single out and vilify one nation only – above all others when there are so many other countries violating human rights and international law.

      It’s pretty repugnant in fact.

      That must feel better miriam, dropping the pretence of "liberal" and just being a plain old "zionist".

      I can't speak on behalf of anyone else but:
      • country in violation of more UN resolution than any other: Israel
      • country undertaking longest military occupation in modern history: Israel
      • country responsible for creating & maintaining the largest refugee population in the world: Israel

    • And the debunking is debunked.

      See Adam's article UPDATE.

  • We cannot fix the national problems of Syria
    • Citizen - recommend the documentary "RFK Must Die", sheds a lot of doubt on official story of RFK's assassination; there was likely more than 1 gunmen...

      There are some shorter documentaries on same subject on YT also, by the same filmmaker.

  • The three whoppers of Alan Dershowitz
    • I read Beinart's article and it is tedious. He is tedious, tying himself up in knots when even Israeli zionists are claiming Israel practices apartheid.

      Give the man a laxative.

  • It's in Jerusalem's DNA to be under 'sole Jewish rule,' mayor declares
    • Speaking to The Times of Israel news site, Nir Barkat said it was in Jerusalem's DNA to be under "sole Jewish rule" and pressure from the international community to stop building on occupied territory was "illegal."

      Barkat is an idiot, and claiming a city has DNA (even metaphorically) is idiotic nonsense.

      "The answer is no separation of the city … If the world pushes us there, it’s just a matter of time before things will fall apart," Barkat told the Times on the eve of Jerusalem Day, a controversial national holiday celebrating what Israelis call the "reunification" of the city.........

      Without a Palestinian state there will be no Israel in a decade or two. At this late point, only an idiot can't see this.

  • Mainstream turns against intervention, this time (Tom Friedman has spoken)
    • Krauss is no lover of zion, but his understanding of the complicated war in Syria is better than seafoid’s, or Annie’s.

      Krauss' understanding of the "complicated war in Syria" is not relevant, at all.

      Israel chose to join the UN and agreed to abide by it's treaties. Neither Israel nor any other country is allowed to attack a country, not even as a "pre-emptive strike".

  • Sen. Boxer is on the defensive over legislation OK-ing Israeli discrimination against Arab-Americans
    • As previously noted Boxer is a traitor, and I don't doubt she knows it.

      When confronted by a sufficient number of outraged constituents she will withdraw – it is that simple. AIPAC gets away with what it can, but it is the proverbial house of cards.

  • Arab League slights boycott of Israel by backing 'land swaps'
    • The sentiment of "already owning" the West Bank is common in official Israeli discourse. "I think the answer to this killing should be by building. That we should find an appropriate place and an appropriate time to do it legally,” said Israel's Defense Minister Danny Danon. Danon was making condolences for a settler who was stabbed to death while hitchhiking days ago in the West Bank. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, "We will make sure that there will be more Jews in Yehuda and Shomron [the West Bank]," continued Danon.

      Danon must be particularly dense since even Netanyahu has now realised that the illegal settlers will be the ultimate undoing of the jewish state of Israel.

  • Oberlin College Student Senate votes to support divestment from companies profiting from Israeli occupation
    • 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

      Sometimes you just want to scream at the malicious and vindictive behaviour exhibited by these groups. I mean, SERIOUSLY – protesting a sister-city proposal!?!

      At this stage it seems like the ADL is actively seeking to give jews a bad name and promote therefore anti-semitism. Disgusting.

    • Fantastic news and well done to the local student group Students for a Free Palestine, hope their next move in the following semester is also successful.

  • Israeli minister: Google decision to recognize Palestine 'pushes peace further away'
    • “To learn who rules over you,simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize”,. Voltaire.

      Gee I wonder why Americans are stupider [correction: less informed] than everybody else in the world about the reality in Palestine and Israel. Could it be because corporate media in the US consistently lies to everyone and hardly ever reports accurately on the situation?

      Applying Voltaire's theory, which presumably you quote in agreement, Israel rules the US. While I wouldn't go that far...

    • How disappointing – with Israel about to withdraw to the 67 borders, evacuate the settlements and pay every refugee a final settlement of 2 million dollars each – Google has come along and wrecked it all!

  • Syria wrap: Grumbling This won't be easy, NYT's Bill Keller suits up for another Mid-East war
  • Fear of democracy-- Netanyahu calls for Palestinian deal so as to avert 'binational state'
    • The Wikileaks US embassy cables leaks contained one from Netanyahu from 2009 with him outlining his 'dream' Palestinian state:

      Netanyahu said his government is reviewing Israel's policy toward the Palestinians. There is a consensus in the government and among 80% of the Israeli public that the Palestinians should be able to govern themselves. The only limits on Palestinian sovereignty would be elements that affect Israel's security. A Palestinian state must be demilitarized, without control over its air space and electro-magnetic field, and without the power to enter into treaties or control its borders. Netanyahu concluded that he and opposition leader Tzipi Livni "only disagree about the name," i.e. the two-state solution.
      Link: link to cables.mrkva.eu and if that doesn't work in future search "wikileaks 09TELAVIV936"

      Sound familiar? Sound like Netanyahu would like to do to the West Bank what they have done to Gaza, and slap on the name "Palestinian State"? That's what I thought. And since Israel would control the borders AND the airspace of the Palestinian state, if the natives become unruly Israel can easily put them under a Gaza style siege.

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