Most Recent 100 Mondoweiss Comments

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 3:02 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "I didn’t say that the self-identification of the Palestinians had anything to do with the “right” of return. You just assumed that."

      Do you people discuss this theory for any reason other than to libel the Palestinian people's right of return?

      "As to the right of return. Never going to happen. They can get over it, or keep fighting, but it isn’t going to happen."

      Well, people said the same thing about the Jews living in large numbers in the Middle East, and some of them have. Who knows what the future will bring?

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • Danaa May 28, 2012 at 2:54 pm in reply to anonymouscomments

      I am with you mous on Slater. I can't just get over his petty temper tantrum. When someone reveals themselves as he had, it's awfully hard to not take everything else they say with a grain of salt.

      Sometimes the hardest thing is to ignore that which may be brightly written but not enough to lighten the darkness of the secret rooms behind. There are many great writers and thinkers. What's his name - Bernard levy something is pretty good too, I hear. I prefer to pick and choose, and Neta's piece today shines with a light that's clear enough to show at least the outlines of the darkness behind the zionist enterprise. Slater could never go to where she is because real justice is too high a threshold for some to step over. And knowing that in oneself is no excuse.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • giladg May 28, 2012 at 2:42 pm

      Weiss talks about an imbalance of power. Power is only a temporary commodity. You have it one day, you use it wisely or not, and then the next day its gone. So why strive to artificially create a balance of power when we know that no sooner than this balance is achieved, so the next phase begins. But the most frustrating thing for right wing pro-Israeli conservatives, is that very little, and it seems in many critical cases, zero weight of Jewish history is added to the equation, the formula, of how and what balance means. By artificially leaving out Jewish history (PC and the fear of offending Muslims), there is no way to find an equilibrium. The end result becomes far more volatile as it allows some to dream dreams they have no right of having.

    • traintosiberia May 28, 2012 at 2:36 pm

      There is a reason we dont hear that Israel attacked Egypt in 1967.There is a reason we hear Ahmednaezad want to wipe out Israel. There is a reason it is said that 2006 Israel-Lebanon was started by hizbullah and Hamas. It all goes back o the positioning and calculation for ultimate aims of Zionist in Herzl's class room in Bazel This is why same neocons who say Iran, hamas,Hizbullah are against Oslo while the Likudniks have from 1994 with their American counterpart have gone to overdrive to scuttle the peace process. One of this accusation ( Iran is against peace process) along with charges of "yellow ribbon canard" by the free media of Canada-US ,attempted murder of Saudi ambassador ,infiltration of central and Latin america by Iranian have kept the pot boiling from where to seduce America to mount another attack on Iran .Now the fear of existential threat from nukes of Iran despite the admission by the warmongers that Iranain nukes will do nothing but only will stop unprovoked Israeli excursion in Lebanon and West Bank is being distilled and redistilled to feed the memepry-impaired world citizen.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Blake May 28, 2012 at 2:34 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      Fredblags: Most historians mark the start of Palestinian Arab nationalist sentiment in 1834, when Arab residents of Palestinian region revolted against Ottoman rule. Israel, founded amid 1948 Arab-Israel war, took shape along the lines of a 1947 UN plan for ethnic partition of then-British ruled territory of Palestine which natives rejected. More than 800,000 Palestinians were forced from their lands by Zionist terrorist groups in 1948, in an episode Palestinians refer to as the Nakba or "catastrophe".

      During the years of the Yishuv, pre-Israeli-statehood Zionist community in Palestine, Jewish-Zionist settlers called themselves “Palestinians”. In this way, Zionists ironically affirmed thing that many of them wish now to deny: Palestinian identity. In 1948, amid the massacres & military forced mass expulsions of “nakba”

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 2:30 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "The Palestinians like enemy humans"

      "enemy humans"... Has such a fascist ring to it.

      "and the Israeli Arabs like citizen humans."

      They're called "Palestinians" and they're treated as second-class citizens. Hell, they were under military law until a relatively short time ago.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 2:23 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      Fredo, as usual, you have causation backwards. This Russian, Oleg, invaded Palestine; Siberia wouldn't be "exile," it would be "going back where he came from." It's odd that you zionists commit the most vile bigotry, oppression and murder and then asks why the Palestinians don't welcome you.

      Do you want to know why the Israelis view the Palestinians as mortal and eternal enemies? Because they stand witness to the Israelis criminality. So long as the Palestinians exist, the Israelis will be unable to sweep their crimes under the rug. The Israeli's view is the view of the guilty.

  • Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism (122)
    • Citizen May 28, 2012 at 2:18 pm in reply to giladg

      filadg, do you support the right of the Roma people to move to northern India and forcefully take over that land where they originated? Consider that they suffered as proportionately as the Jewish people under the Nazi regime, and indeed, have a long history of victimhood in Europe, and do not have a state of their own.

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • rws450 May 28, 2012 at 2:16 pm in reply to Annie Robbins

      Annie -

      Your quote is from the cockburn article which was quite good. I mentioned and contrasted that in my comment.

      If you look at other stories, like the one I linked to, or look a the actual AP story which claims no attribution of responsiblity there is headline "UN Blames Syrian Forces for Massacre". Some elemens of UN are trying to retain some objectivity while others just go along as Clinton and company rail against the dictator and claim their solidarity with peaceful protesters.

      The massacre was probably NOT perpetrated by Syrian army. The "rebels" are the only ones who stand to gain by it. WTF they have been promised tens of millions of dollars in SALARIES! All reports indicate that while portions of population support the 'rebels' there are many other sectors fearful or deeply opposed to them. If there were investigators looking into this, it would be revealing to learn the sentiments of the community that was massacred ... not the city but the actual community. Were they pro or anti "rebel"?
      Back to the original point: the UN has been thoroughly corrupted and is sometimes used as a tool by you-know-who.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 2:16 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "Ok, doesn’t make them a separate people then. Still Americans."

      But again, so what? The fact that the Palestinians didn't view themselves as a people in the same exact way as citizens of a Western nation-state do is not something that should come as a surprise to anyone who isn't a hopeless bigot, and is wholly irrelevant to their self-image as a people. They were a people within a larger Arab people, with a unique culture that was and is different than the cultures of other Arab peoples. Their self-image changed in response as the larger world around them changed. That should a surprise to no one, as all cultures do this.

      Unless you are out of your mind, you would have to admit that Jews today have a self-image that has changed repeatedly over the last 3,000 years, yet you have no problem conceptualizing them as being a people throughout that time, but are unwilling to view the exact same process by the Palestinians as being irrelevant to the historicity of their self-image as a people is nothing less than a demonstration of your disgusting anti-Arab bigotry.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 2:15 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "when they were a separate people"

      Who said they had to be "separate"? That they were a subset of a larger people is to be expected, given their reality. The fact that they conform to their own culture in their own way and did not reflect Western thinking about how people "should" view themselves is surprising to no one but a bigot.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Les May 28, 2012 at 2:13 pm

      Alterman fears the success of BDS will end the Israel that we know. For him, that's the problem -- an Israel minus occupation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, all in the name of saving Judaism from its Jewish and its non-Jewish enemies.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Hostage May 28, 2012 at 2:10 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      Consuls in the region of Palestine. Not the country.

      The Sanjak was an independent administrative district of the Ottoman Empire that functioned as a state.

      In addition, the United States operated its own Consular Courts there under the system of capitulations. They exercised civil and criminal territorial jurisdiction over US citizens living in the country from Consulates in cities, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Acre, and Jaffa. --See Ruth Kark, American consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914, Wayne State University Press, 1994

      By the late 19th Century, the Consuls in "Jerusalem, Palestine" submitted Daily, Annual, and Special reports on the Trade and Commerce of the Country of Palestine to the US Bureau of Foreign Commerce, e.g.:

      "Fruit Culture in Palestine Report By Consul Merrill of Jerusalem"

      In answer to the circular from the Department of State dated December 4 1883 respecting fruit culture in this country, I have the honor to make the following report on the culture of olives, oranges, grapes, and figs in Palestine:" . . . & etc.

      -- Consul report for 1884.

      Here is an extract from a regional report which mentions the responsible local authorities of the countries visited, including Palestine:

      Commerce Of The East And Of North Africa And The Share Of The United States Therein Report of Minister Noyes Of Paris

      I have the honor to report that in compliance with instructions contained in State Department dispatch No 178 of date August 29 1879 I left France on tbe 16th day of October last and returned on the 27th day of February 1880 I should have arrived in Paris at least three weeks earlier but for unavoidable delays occasioned by severe and almost unprecedented storms on the Mediterranean Sea which interrupted the various steamship lines During my absence I visited Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Brindisi in Italy; the islands of Corfu, and Syra, the Piraeus and Athens in Greece; Mytelene, Constantinople, Smyrna, Rhodes, and Cyprus; Beyrout and Damascus in Syria; Jaffa and Jerusalem and the neighboring places of interest and importance in Palestine; Alexandria, Cairo and the other principal points for several hundred miles up the Nile . . .
      . . . At all the points visited by me I conferred freely with the diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States wherever such were to be found regarding the subject matter of my special mission consulted many private persons of business capacity and prominence in commercial affairs and had many interviews with the responsible local authorities of the several countries. Among the latter may be mentioned the leading members of the Sultan's government at Constantinople, the governors general at Beyrout, Damascus, and the Lebanon district in Syria, the governor general of Palestine at Jerusalem, . . .

      --Commercial relations of the United States: Reports (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) 1880 By United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce link to books.google.com

      Here is an extract from a monthly report:

      Jaffa Jerusalem Railroad Report By Consul Merrill of Jerusalem

      I have the honor to report that the formal opening of the Jaffa and Jerusalem Railroad occurred on the 26th of September, on which date the company that had contracted to construct the road gave it over into the hands of the company which owns it. The event was celebrated on the part of the Mohammedans by an address from an imam one of their priests of high rank in Jerusalem . . . it was celebrated by a dinner given in the evening under tents at the Jerusalem station Djelal Pasha aide de camp to the Sultan was present from Constantinople to represent the Sultan in the opening exercises M. Collas the president of the road and several eminent engineers from Paris were also present likewise the governor of Jerusalem and Palestine together with the civil and military authorities and the members of the diplomatic and consular corps.

      -- Monthly consular and trade reports, Volume 41, Issues 148-151
      By United States. Bureau of Manufactures, United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce (1854-1903)., United States. Dept. of Commerce and Labor Bureau of Statistics link to books.google.com

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 1:59 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      I didn’t say that the self-identification of the Palestinians had anything to do with the “right” of return. You just assumed that.

      I didn't assume anything. I was just trying to get back on topic (the post is about Palestinian refugees).

      As to the right of return. Never going to happen. They can get over it, or keep fighting, but it isn’t going to happen.

      As I said, Israel should be honest and say that it is willing to discuss the terms of Palestinian surrender, but not a peaceful solution to the conflict. Maybe BDS will help put an end to Israel's ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. Negotiations certainly won't.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • tree May 28, 2012 at 1:48 pm in reply to Annie Robbins

      Here's a talk by Neta from 2002 about her childhood and early fears and the progression of her thoughts.

      My name is Neta Golan. I was born in Tel Aviv. My childhood was scary, and simple. There were good guys and bad guys. We were the good guys. The bad guys… could be anyone, but they were mostly Arabs. Now I'm a 3rd generation Israeli: my grandmother was born in what was still called Palestine. My mother was born in 1948. And yet, I grew up in the shadow of the holocaust. It was always my reference point, for everything.

      As a child, I met Palestinians. They were there, working in construction or sanitation. But there was never a chance to meet as equals. Instead there were fears, being fed by the media, by what we learned in school. I learned always that we were defending ourselves from people who wanted to kill us.

      It wasn't until I was 15 years old that I learned of the occupation. It was during the first intifada, because before the first intifada Palestinians, the occupation, simply didn't exist to us. The first intifada made it impossible for Israelis to ignore Palestinians. But I was raised on Jewish history, a history of oppression, dispossession, suffering ethnic cleansing, of being forced out of community after community. Could we really be doing these things to another people?

      I couldn't believe it because I was a part of the consensus opinion in Israel, that we are morally superior. They are violent. We have purity of arms. If we do kill a civilian or an innocent, it's by mistake. Even if these mistakes happen every single day. I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. I refused to believe that a soldier would open fire on an innocent child, but I saw it. Unfortunately in Nablus where I live, I see it too often. When I would hear about a child being killed by a soldier, I would think-no, he must have thrown a stone, he must have been doing something that endangered the soldier and forced the soldier to shoot back. I wanted to believe that the children were throwing stones. But when you are in the West Bank, and you see a child throw a stone at a tank, you understand that if that child is killed, that is murder. And very recently, 5 internationals were with Baha, one of the children who we knew well, and soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier picked him out from among the internationals, shot him twice in the chest, and killed him.

      As a child I wouldn't have been able to believe this. I would say-the proof of their violence is suicide bombing! We would never do something like that. One of my classmates asked me: what's the difference between a suicide bombing and a Phantom jet bombing a refugee camp? I said-we don't bomb refugee camps. I couldn't believe the only difference between us and them was that we had better weapons. But I went home and asked my father.

      "Is it true that we bomb refugee camps with Phantom Jets?"
      "Yes. The terrorists think they can hide in the refugee camps, so we prove that they cannot" he told me.

      But that wasn't even enough to change me, because the conditioning runs very deep. So deep that when I first went to the West Bank, during Oslo, I would have anxiety attacks. Once a week I would go, and every trip I would be filled with anxiety, filled with fear, thinking: "they all want to kill me!" And it took at least fifteen minutes of seeing people going about their business, talking to each other, working, doing almost anything other than thinking about how much they wanted to kill me, before I calmed down. Seeing their openness, their willingness to accept me, their generosity, that has been the greatest gift of overcoming my fear-the chance to discover the wisdom, the beauty of the Palestinian people. Israelis who can't overcome their fear are much poorer for not having the chance to do that.

      more at link

      link to zcommunications.org

      Neta's talk is second, after George Rishmawi's. Both are worthy of a read.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Danaa May 28, 2012 at 1:46 pm in reply to Shmuel

      OlegR - you are putting up a strawman - just like Alterman - and you both know it. Israel has never as much as hinted that it accepts the fundamental right of the Palestinians to seek redress for their expulsion, much less any RoR, even if in principle on;y. The negotiations through the ages - such as they were - never went as far as israel offering a blanket apology for past wrongs. Most israelis don't even see the explulsion, persecution and continuing displacement of Palestinians as a "wrong", except to brush it aside with the ephemeral - "what's done is done".

      The anti-BDS argument from the right at least makes sense - in their world, right really makes right. It's on the progressive side is where it breaks down into shards of cognitive dissonance. It is just too difficult to argue for the rights of some and oppose the rights of others while maintaining the facade of a righteous person.

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • Citizen May 28, 2012 at 1:45 pm

      Capt Zio: "More Money! And just bomb, bomb, bomb Iran and let us take what's left of Palestinian land. After you do that, we will see..."

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 1:44 pm in reply to Newclench

      "They were concerned that a non-Palestinian minority might grow and eventually displace them."

      No, they were concerned that the horde of invaders would commit ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide. Which turned out to be the case.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 1:42 pm with 1 replies in reply to Woody Tanaka

      @Woody Tanaka

      LOL, well that attitude is exactly why the Israelis see the Palestinians as mortal and eternal enemies. If all they have to look forward to is exile to Siberia, why should they ever do anything to help the Palestinians?

    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 1:40 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      @Shmuel, I didn't say that the self-identification of the Palestinians had anything to do with the "right" of return. You just assumed that. As to the right of return. Never going to happen. They can get over it, or keep fighting, but it isn't going to happen.

    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 1:35 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      @talknic
      Great, and that passport went to everyone in the region, not just to the Arabs. Back then, when you said "Palestinian" you were just as likely talking about a Jew. So as to the question of when they were a separate people, it is proof of exactly nothing.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 1:28 pm in reply to Dan Crowther

      "I like the approach of the countries that did the campaigns for labeling where sht was made, israel proper or settlements."

      Does that make any difference? Is there any moral basis to do business with israel or even with people who support it? If I know someone supports israel, for any reason, I will refuse to do business with that person. When the Palestinians are free, I will reconsider my position, but until then, the money the blood suckers get from me from US taxes is more than enough.

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • Annie Robbins May 28, 2012 at 1:28 pm in reply to Annie Robbins

      not really following your logic oleg? how does massacring civilians make retribution for Syrian rebels allegedly carrying out this unconfirmed action.
      plus, it doesn't address my question. can’t figure out why syria would agree to UN observers and then carry out a big massacre.

      maybe your logic is impaired.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • Danaa May 28, 2012 at 1:27 pm in reply to Newclench

      Newclench:
      I distinctly recall some concerns that Palestinians had about demographic changes they opposed. They were concerned that a non-Palestinian minority might grow and eventually displace them.

      Palestinians reacted the way the American Indians did when the waves of settlers started taking over the land. People, natives, know when they see displacement and greed for land. If the earlier Jewish yishuv had any intention of living side by side with the natives, things would have been different. But that was not the plan, was it?

      Israelis hate and fear the palestinians because they can't help but wonder how they'd feel in their place. Israelis - and Jewish people who support them blindly around the world in that quest for an ethnocentric theocratic state - also know that the trust deed represented by the bible is hog-wash. They know they stole the land plain and simple - their reasons notwithstanding. Now all they want now is to steal some more so in the vain hope they can sleep a little more soundly. That's the lot of the thief - fear of those they wronged, the nightmares of a perpetually disturbed sleep.

      Neta really put her finger on it, I think. Problem is, neither fear nor greed are curable by rational means. These twin motivators also tend to fuel each other ad infinitum. The appropriation of ever more land will not cure the fear, except momentarily. Then, with every additional dunam extracted and taken from a palestinian farmer, the fear will return ever stronger. It has already expanded to include the entire non-Jewish world (anti-semites, all....). It has now all but taken over American government. Next is what?

      Neta faced her fear and found it a paper tiger. But takes great courage. Something the majority of ordinary israelis will find too difficult.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 1:16 pm in reply to Dan Crowther

      You're right, Dan. The Israeli position on labelling is completely untenable by any reasonable standard, but they're bluffing their indignant way through (including an outrageous dressing down of the South African ambassador) just the same.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • Annie Robbins May 28, 2012 at 1:10 pm with 1 replies

      heartwarming article Neta, thanks you so much. i have a question for you. you said I first started visiting the occupied Palestinian Territories I was, like most Israelis, terrified of Arabs. It took me years to chip my way through this fear.

      how did you happen to start visiting the oPT if you were terrified of the people? did you know in your mind there was another, better way and for this reason you pushed beyond your fears? or was there something else motivating your visits, a job or something that took you there?

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Dan Crowther May 28, 2012 at 1:07 pm with 2 replies

      Pro/Anti BDS "arguments" are becoming a real cottage industry.

      I like the approach of the countries that did the campaigns for labeling where sht was made, israel proper or settlements. that seems like such a no brainer to me, i have no idea why you cant rally support behind a simple slogan of " we want to make sure consumers know that these products are made in illegal settlements etc etc etc"

      You got to talk to Shir Hever, Phil. He makes the pro-bds case, and without comparing people to 19th century american white southerners.. :)

    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 1:07 pm with 1 replies in reply to Woody Tanaka

      They do treat them like humans. The Palestinians like enemy humans and the Israeli Arabs like citizen humans.

    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 1:03 pm in reply to BradAllen

      No, he's saying that even though they use terrorism, they still have no credible military option. Terrorism just makes things worse for the Palestinians. They have no way of doing enough damage to seriously disrupt Israel's military might. All terrorism can do is persuade the Israelis to crack down harder on them.

  • Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism (122)
    • Hostage May 28, 2012 at 12:44 pm in reply to giladg

      The Jewish population of Palestine consists of three distinct strata. The first is made up of those Sephardic Jews who have lived in the country for centuries, have become closely assimilated, in mores and in the general mode of life, to the local Arabs and who, side by side with Spaniolo, speak Arabic too. A good picture of the life of these Jews is furnished by the town of Saida (the ancient Sidon) where 2000 Jews -- all of them Sephardic -- may be found. They receive no 'Halukkah, earn a difficult and pitiful living as small merchants and artisans, are poorly educated and of a not particularly high moral standing. -- Dr. Arthur Ruppin: "The Picture in 1907"
      -- link to jewishvirtuallibrary.org

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 12:41 pm in reply to Shmuel

      Shmuel you are now arguing that the Palestinians use RoR as a pressure
      point on Israel because Israel is to blame for the failure past negotiation

      No, I am arguing that Israel cannot dictate Palestinian interests and concerns, and that the argument that Israel should not be pressured to live up to its obligations under international law because the violations of Palestinian rights will be resolved through negotiation might have had a little more credibility had Israel ever seriously engaged in such negotiations. See e.g the preamble to the Palestinian Unified Call for BDS.

      It is ironic that you feel that the Israeli left, which actually bothers to ask Palestinians what they want, knows less about the subject than the Israeli right and centre that oscillate between declarations of "no partner" and affirmations of Palestinian "pragmatism". Of course it is not up to Israelis of any political stripe to decide what Palestinians want or what is good for Palestinians. This is an essential component of the Palestinian-led BDS movement.

      Palestinian claims regarding ROR have always been on the Palestinian agenda, precisely because it is a core Palestinian concern that (from the Palestinian perspective) lies at the heart of the conflict. I believe that Arafat largely ignored this concern (except as occasional rhetoric), with disastrous results.

    • mudder May 28, 2012 at 12:40 pm in reply to Les

      Alterman compares Omar Barghouti to Ahmadinejad, while Netanyahu and Cpl. Goldberg compare Iran to Amalek. I see where this is headed.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 12:40 pm

      "Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the neoconservative think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies... 'Under the leadership of Knesset member Einat Wilf, this idea now has the backing of the prime minister's office, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.'”

      So now this fifth columnist, israel-firster piece of garbage is conspiring with foreigners to manipulate US law?? Time to cut zionism out of US politics completely.

    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 12:35 pm with 2 replies in reply to OlegR

      "Neither we plan to allow, ever, so …"

      Who's "we", comrade? When the redemption of Palestine is achieved, you'll be sent on the first plane to Siberia where you belong.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • justicewillprevail May 28, 2012 at 12:32 pm in reply to OlegR

      Good luck with your total misunderstanding and mischaracterisation of the debate, along with your macho posturing and snide comments. You have a friend in the cliched ramblings of Alterman who thinks he can press the same old buttons to hide his similar lack of arguments.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 12:28 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "Your entire understanding of Palestinian national (pre-67) identity and Pan-Arabism strikes me as a description for (Zionist) convenience."

      Of course it is. As I've pointed out on a number of occasions, Fred doesn't care about facts or logic or anything. He asks, "what position do I have to/need to take in order to advance the cause of zionism?" and that's what he argues. If zionism required him to defend human sacrifice and belief in elves, he'd do it without a second thought.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 12:25 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      "The people of New York call themselves New Yorkers, doesn’t make that a separate country either."

      Are we talking people or country? Because if we're talking country, then the Jews haven't been a people for the majority of their existence. Sure, they had a tribal polity for about 15 minutes back in the bronze age, but nothing else until the coming of the zionist entity.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • MHughes976 May 28, 2012 at 12:25 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      The story of Abraham does not have to be 'literally true' in order to be of historical value. It has that value at two levels. One level concerns the time when Genesis was being more or less finalised, presumably around 500 BCE. The Eerdmans Bible Commentary, p.57, says that the presence of the various other nations, which we would call Arab. in the Abraham story, indicates the degree of affinity that the Israelites felt with them at the time of writing - the text accepts or admits that there had been centuries of intermarriage and cultural influence. The other level concerns the more ancient times in which Abraham's story is set, the early second millennium BCE. What the story accepts must have been more or less true. The Israelite civilisation was a branch of the civilisation of Canaan and Syria.

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 12:08 pm in reply to Fredblogs

      Yes, but at the time that was just a description for convenience

      Well, that settles that then. I count 21 such "descriptions for convenience" in the relatively short document.

      Your entire understanding of Palestinian national (pre-67) identity and Pan-Arabism strikes me as a description for (Zionist) convenience. There is no contradiction between the concept of Arab nationhood and Palestinian (or Egyptian or Syrian) peoplehood - as the charter itself explains.

      I agree that a distinct Palestinian national identity is a modern invention, precipitated (like Zionism and in direct relation to Zionism) by modern conceptions of peoplehood and nationhood promulgated in the 19th and early-20th centuries. To suggest that no such identity existed prior to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, is self-serving nonsense. Coupled with the assertion that Jews have had such a national identity for 3,500 years, it is simply nonsense.

      To return to the topic at hand, the ROR is an individual right, not a national one, so that Palestinians could have become a people yesterday or never, and Jews can be direct descendants of exiled Judeans or Khazari Johnny-come-latelies or the product of Heinrich Graetz' fevered imagination. It doesn't really matter in this context.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • American May 28, 2012 at 12:05 pm

      Alterman is just another Zio Supremo...same old, same old. I have heard and seen this statement of Alterman's literally verbatim a thousand times from every single Zio mouthpiece:

      "For this [domestic Israeli] pro-peace majority to become politically empowered, Israel’s citizens must be able to trust that the Palestinians with whom they negotiate are able to enforce the agreements they reach. This is, literally, the only path to genuine Palestinian self-determination. No American president, much less Congress, will ever attempt to force Israel into a peace agreement against its will"

      Humm.....'will ever' and never again'.... destined to be famous last words.

    • traintosiberia May 28, 2012 at 11:59 am

      Use of the image of Ahmednezad serves two purposes.One of them is to permanently consign Ahmednezad to the league of Mao,Hitler,Stain,and Satan. In future any opposition to Israel will be evaluated by how close the exercise is to the desire of Ahemdnezad, AKA: Satan obviating any need for soul searching on the part of the great unwashed American,Indian,Nigerian ,or Macedonian citizen who still support the dastardly policies of Israel out of the hatred for muslim people amidst themselves.For the zionist ,its a new replacement card as antisemitism credit card reaching the limit. Who knows if one day the descendents of today's zionist will not use the word Ahemdnezad to describe the American people as they use the word Amalek to the descendents of the Cyrus .But the signs are there. Iranain/Ahmednezd is Amalek .BDS is Ahmednezadian. With this imagery, a gut wrenching visceral hatred is all that is nurtured with the hope that reason and legality will not be used to address the problems. The "liberal" Eric will always have ta fallback position to occupy like he had in the wake of Iraq disaster blaming everybody excepting his own liberal tribe.

    • OlegR May 28, 2012 at 11:54 am in reply to Shmuel

      /Palestinians have been left with no choice but to pursue a rights-based agenda (including ROR)/

      Shmuel you are now arguing that the Palestinians use RoR as a pressure
      point on Israel because Israel is to blame for the failure past negotiation, it's the usual condescending fallacy of the Israeli left they always know better then the Palestinians what the Palestinians actually want and why do they act as they act.
      RoR was always on the table in Palestinian internal and external rhetoric pre 1967 post 1967 pre Oslo during Oslo and post Oslo.
      You can't ignore that.

    • Citizen May 28, 2012 at 11:51 am

      Israel will do whatever it wants--so long as Dick and Jane America allow it, and pay for it. At present, the lovely couple don't even think about it.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 11:50 am in reply to Fredblogs

      Consuls in the region of Palestine. Not the country. The Swiss have a consulate in Hawaii, that doesn't make it a separate country from the USA. As for the "Arabs of Palestine". The people of New York call themselves New Yorkers, doesn't make that a separate country either.

    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 11:47 am in reply to Fredblogs

      @Shingo
      Well, neither did Jesus, but you still see people acting as though he did. And Mohammed was probably different from how he is portrayed in the Muslim holy texts. So what?

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Fredblogs May 28, 2012 at 11:43 am in reply to Fredblogs

      @Shmuel
      Yes, but at the time that was just a description for convenience, Remember that it wasn't the "Palestinian liberation organization" but the "Palestine liberation organization".

      The idea in 1964 was that after they destroyed Israel that the Palestinians would just be part of a Pan Arabist state. The idea of an independent Palestine as a goal of the PLO wasn't floated until 1974. That is why in 1964 they foreswore any claim on governing the West Bank and Gaza, then in the hands of Jordan and Egypt.

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • American May 28, 2012 at 11:42 am with 1 replies in reply to aiman

      "Couldn’t agree more. I have found most comments on both religion and the Enlightenment on Mondoweiss to be seriously uninformed and sometimes downright ridiculous."....aiman

      LOL......you have no idea how sophomoric, pseudo intellectual, and totally useless to the issue of Israel- I/P the seasoned adults here find all the nattering about religion and the Enlightenment.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • BradAllen May 28, 2012 at 11:37 am with 1 replies

      I thought this was a remarkable statement;
      "Terrorism aside, Palestinians have no credible military option vis-à-vis Israel"

      Is he really saying what I think he is saying. Would Palestinians have a more credible military option if they resort to "Terrorism".

      Wow.

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • tokyobk May 28, 2012 at 11:31 am in reply to tokyobk

      Gamal,

      please follow the thread from the beginning.

      I have no love for Sharon and being born in Palestine gives him no merit other than making the idea he should be buried "in a vegetable patch in Poland" a Helen Thomas-like absurdity, though a revealing one.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • Newclench May 28, 2012 at 11:30 am with 2 replies

      I distinctly recall some concerns that Palestinians had about demographic changes they opposed. They were concerned that a non-Palestinian minority might grow and eventually displace them.
      Ha. I guess those concerns were unfounded.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 11:30 am with 3 replies in reply to OlegR

      The fact that it is a core concern means that it must be addressed seriously with the sincere intention of finding a "just solution". If Israel is only interested in addressing its own concerns or matters of little consequence to its ruling elite (such as some of the territories occupied since 1967), it should honestly declare that it is willing to negotiate the terms of Palestinian surrender, but is not interested in finding a mutually acceptable resolution.

      Since Israel has shown that it has no interest in such a mutually acceptable resolution any time in the foreseeable future, the Palestinians have been left with no choice but to pursue a rights-based agenda (including ROR). If Israel wishes to negotiate seriously it is free to do so at any time.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
  • And we live on… (5)
  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • tokyobk May 28, 2012 at 11:26 am in reply to tokyobk

      He was born in Palestine and therefore assuming he is more naturally buried in "a vegetable patch in Poland" evokes the notion that Jews as Jews don;t belong naturally in Palestine.

      Its an important point -especially- if you believe in a one state future.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • American May 28, 2012 at 11:26 am

      ''I think that it is essential to understand that it is greed, the desire to possess another's land and resources, and not fear that lies at the root of the Israeli-Arab conflict"..Neta

      American May 15, 2012 at 1:53 pm ....
      ......safe haven for Jews bs....it's clear what Israel is about and that isn't it...it's about domination and greed, that's all.''

      How will the hasbara refute Neta? It's easy to claim that when non Jew outsiders like myself say exactly what Neta said it's just because they are anti semitic and want Israel destroyed........but they can't dismiss Neta that way can they?
      Greed and domination is what Israel is about.....nothing else. And it doesn't matter what zionism was, should have been, blah,blah,blah, doesn't matter how victimized Jews were in the holocaust 65 years ago......none of that matters 'today' because Israel 'is what it is' right now.

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • tokyobk May 28, 2012 at 11:22 am in reply to tokyobk

      So fleeing pogroms and buying land to start a farm collective is "land theft" because?

      I guess you have your 1967 people and then your 1948 people and then there are your super purists; the 1916'ers.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • eljay May 28, 2012 at 11:19 am in reply to tokyobk

      >> tokyobk: Sharon, whatever legacy he (de)merits, was born in Palestine.
      >> Wiki: Sharon was born in 1928 in Kfar Malal, then in the British Mandate of Palestine ...
      >> WT: Of Lithuanians who, along with their evil son, participated in the zionist theft of Palestine from the Palestinians. He should be buried in Lithuania or just dumped into the sea somewhere.

      Sharon deserves/d to be tried as a (war) criminal and to have his "legacy" bear the stains of his crimes.

      But IMO he also deserves to be buried near his birthplace.

    • gamal May 28, 2012 at 11:17 am in reply to tokyobk

      "was born in Palestine." and so what? is that an achievement or something what does being born in Palestine have to do with anything? you are so slippery you an only work through innuendo, you need to flesh that out bit and nice touch with the history is yet to decide on his legacy?

      what good did being born in Palestine do for the 800,000, what did being in Palestine do for the 531 villages, sharon born in the Palestine he so actively destroyed gets some credit? and any one whose battle honours include qibya and kafr kassem well let history be the judge, oh well of course murderous brutality is natural in the middle east, where racists go to pose as injured liberals.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Les May 28, 2012 at 11:14 am with 4 replies

      Is Alterman responding to anything Ahmadinejad actually said, or is he confusing that with the many things so very many people claim Ahmadinejad said?

    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 11:10 am

      Alterman is just another in the long line of supposed liberal American Jews who show themselves, when their principles are attached to their own ethnic group, to be reactionaries, if not outright fascists. One wonders how they would have reacted to a call in days past for an emancipation of all the world's oppressed peoples, except for the Jews, who were to be kept as a permanent underclass, for some lame, clearly pretexual reason.

    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 11:10 am with 5 replies

      Maybe this is what Phil means by "conservative", but it's not just that Alterman approaches the entire issue from the perspective of power; he expects Barghouti and Palestinians in general, to do the same. While demanding greater Palestinian sensitivity to Israeli and Jewish identity and history, Alterman shows complete (and necessarily wilful) ignorance of Palestinian history and experience. Lots of nerve, no sense of irony.

      Were Barghouti to ask American Jews to join him in pressuring Israel to come to its senses and negotiate a secure settlement based on the 1967 lines, with necessary adjustments on both sides and some sort symbolic (and perhaps financial) redress for Palestinians without the “right of return,” he might stand a chance of attracting significant support even among American Jews and within the Israeli peace camp.

      The "Israeli peace camp" already supports that agenda. As for American Jews, or at least their institutions and leaders, even Beinart flesh-of-their-flesh, speaker-of-hard-truths-wrapped-in-soothing-reassurances is fighting an uphill battle to get that very message across. What chance could Barghouti (who does not love Israel, and is not a member of any known Zionist organisation) possibly have - and to what end, if such a campaign fails to address core Palestinian concerns in any meaningful way? I have little doubt that Alterman could successfully negotiate a peace deal with Jeremy Ben-Ami, but what would be the point?

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • eGuard May 28, 2012 at 11:04 am

      This is the picture Slater paints.

      All Zionists aboard ship Zionism are strolling and fighting on the starboard (righthand) side. Those against the railing are laughing & waving loudest. Beinart has left that close to rail position, but still has a hand or two firmly grabbing the nice wooden top. But he is standing at arms length.

      Already NYT and Washington Post have pushed their puppet people into his earlier pace. They are talking to distract Beinart. One of them is a birder. The other one shouts insults. Only "Jewish radicals or anti-Zionists (see Mondoweiss generally) simply reject the concept that Zionism was ever truly “liberal,” or could even become so. ". But hey: those are on the port (lefthand) side of the ship. Really, have you ever been aboard? These sides do not communicate.

      The ship is listing (tilted) to starboard, and those on the lower side are stil trying to get people pushed overboard on the higher side (the anti-Zionist side) to save the ship somehow by illogic.

      There is no punchline here. It is just a Zionist ship with Zionists aboard who rearrange deckchairs, thinking that the ship will save itself while they take positions on the listed deck. Well, actually there is a punchline. A Zionist ship that does not accept or even ask help from outside: captain Zio, can I help? What is your request?

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 11:03 am in reply to tokyobk

      "Sharon, whatever legacy he (de)merits, was born in Palestine."

      Of Lithuanians who, along with their evil son, participated in the zionist theft of Palestine from the Palestinians. He should be buried in Lithuania or just dumped into the sea somewhere.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • eGuard May 28, 2012 at 10:37 am

      In his 4700 word piece, Slater uses liberal (or illiberal) 21 times, of which 9 times in quotes. Mostly in the combination: "liberal Zionism", but also "liberal American Jews", "liberal democracy".

      And still not one of the people mentioned in the piece has defined the word up to a single consequence. Has anyone of these people mentioned refused Israeli military service for that reason (or for any other reason)? Has anyone advanced an inch of peace? Has anyone lost a career for being a "liberal Zionist"? I do not even trust the NYT birder.

      For me, this is the hypothesis: A "liberal Zionist" is a Zionist who lives in the US and talks. Non-liberal Zionists, or "illiberal Zionists", or plain "Zionists" as the word is, are those living in Israel. That is the only, I repeat only, choice with consequences made.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Steve Macklevore May 28, 2012 at 10:31 am

      "Alterman calls for incremental political progress that will engage Israelis and American Jews..."

      [Sigh] Right. As if that hasn't been tried, along with dialogue groups, staged withdrawals, back channel communications and thousands of other meetings, conferences, proposals and whatever for 45 YEARS!!!

      In the meantime, there's a serious risk that many Israelis will die from laughing too much while they steal more land, kill more Palestinians and recieve more American financial and military aid.

      An incremental (i.e stationary) political process is exactly what Israel wants.

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
    • aiman May 28, 2012 at 10:26 am in reply to Citizen

      Your point?

      Here's a similar link to Whig history: link to en.wikipedia.org

      The Whiggish view of history has been categorically debunked. Eagleton is just one of the thinkers. Your American example is Chris Hedges who has persuasively written that this Whiggish whitewashing of history is common to fundamentalists, both religious and secular, in his extensive study of the Christian Right and subsequently the New Atheists. While religious subscribers of Whig history believe in their own collective rapture, secularists who subscribe to a Whiggish view of history believe that humanity is marching toward some sort of progress, that religion is a an antiquated prehistoric germ. In fact, many modern anthropologists believe that religion is a separate sphere of human activity, it cannot be compared to racism though religious discourses can promote racism or not. Depends on the theologian just as it depends on the scientist, whether to use technology for good or ill.

  • Alterman says BDS shares Ahmadinejad's agenda, and Hezbollah's too (28)
    • Nevada Ned May 28, 2012 at 10:25 am

      In the American South, the Jim Crow system of racial segregation had endured since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870's, and didn't end until the 1960's. In the absence of pressure, it would still exist today. The overthrow of Jim Crow required a revolt by the oppressed African-Americans, and the realization by the US ruling class that racism was an embarrassment and handicap that helped the Soviets in the Cold War. The Jim Crow system had popular support among southern whites, because they benefited (or thought they benefited), because it flattered their sense of racial superiority.
      Compare with the plight of the Palestinians. Even those Palestinians who are Israeli citizens do not have the same rights as Israeli Jews, and it's a lot worse in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel's systematic racism has popular support amond Israeli Jews, because they benefit. It flatters their sense of racial superiority.
      Eric Alterman calls himself a liberal, but evidently he has no problem squaring his liberalism with the systematic exclusion of Palestinians from Palestine. He's against equal rights for Palestinians.
      One final point: Palestinians were deprived of their property: their lands and houses, by Israel. The property was just taken by force, and the Palestinians didn't receive a penny in compensation. The nakba continues on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem today.
      In contrast, the Jewish owners of property in Europe, who had their property taken by Germany, have received compensation, in the billions.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
    • Sherri Munnerlyn May 28, 2012 at 10:03 am

      What a beautiful story this is, about how letting go of illegitimate claims to the land frees a person! We all have choices, we choose how to respond to the Injustice that is the Occupation, from where ever we are in this world, in what ever positive and nonviolent ways we can find to do it. And in this endeavor, there is no shame to face and no real reason to fear anything. Maintaining human dignity and treating others with human dignity and seeing others as all deserving of human dignity and basic human rights requires taking stands, from all of us. We may face painful situations in taking such stands, but it is always worth it!

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • Shingo May 28, 2012 at 9:55 am in reply to OlegR

      And i can’t figure out why would any liberal defend this regime,
      i really don’t.

      And we an’t figure out why would any liberal defend Netenyahu, or Sharon, or Olmert, or Barak.

  • Fear, the African refugees and the cost of maintaining Israel as a Jewish state (10)
  • Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism (122)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 9:23 am in reply to giladg

      "Jews did not “go” to Palestine. They we always there. At a pont in history many were forced to leave. Now they are returning."

      What racist twaddle. That there have always been people in Palestine of Jewish descent is true, if trivial. Further, the fact that some Jews, centuries or millenia left (whether by force or choice) Palestine is, again, true, but trivial. But "they" aren't returning. They -- those who left -- are dead. The Jews who have invaded Palestine in the past 150 years are not "returning" -- they were never there to begin with. They're invaders and squatters, with no legitimate claim on the land, and have stolen the land from the Palestinians, who are the people with the legitimate claim on the land.

  • Bob Simon misses the story on Tel Aviv (20)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 9:09 am in reply to Fredblogs

      Of course they think the war is 'very much still on' because the Jews are still fighting it every minute of every day. What do you expect the Palestinians to do, sit by passively while the Israeli Jews oppress them, murder them and kill their children?

      If the israelis don't want the firecrackers being fired at them or don't want israeli kids getting murdered, they should accept the Arab Peace Plan. The fact that they don't means that they like to these things because it fits in with their plans.

  • US official -- we went to Israel first (15)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 9:06 am

      Oh, this is disgusting. When US officials act in such a blatant way as agents for foreigners, it's time to get these zionists and zio-symps out of the government.

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 8:53 am in reply to Fredblogs

      "The “Roots” of both Jewish peoples and Arabic peoples can be traced back to Abraham,”the Father of many nations” who had two sons"

      No, they can't. That "Abraham" nonsense is myth. No more real than Ganesh or Apollo. How much of the idiocy in the Middle East and the world in general would be solved with the wholesale recognition that these stupid myths are just fairy stories from the infancy of civilization and proceed accordingly.

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 8:49 am in reply to upsidedownism

      "or can somebody say when it was that the state of Israel outlawed irony?"

      Fascist and totalitarian states have always had a problem with irony. Why should the judeo-fascists be any different?

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 8:48 am in reply to Fredblogs

      "Zionist propaganda likes to use the Six Day War as a cut-off point for Palestinians, but the Palestinian National Charter, ratified in 1964, repeatedly uses the terms “Palestinian Arab people”, “Palestinian people” and “people of Palestine”."

      Shmuel, you're using facts and logic. What you have to remember is that Fred will say anything, no matter how false, racist or ludicrous -- such as this claim about the Palestinians being a people invented in 1967 -- to defend Israel or an Israeli Jew.

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • OlegR May 28, 2012 at 8:47 am in reply to Annie Robbins

      One possible explanation is that
      the massacre was a retaliation for this.

      "Arabian network Al-Arabia presents circumstantial evidence to support the claim of Syrian rebels that they have successfully assassinated Assad’s brother-in-law, Assaf Shaukat, describing black flags of mourning flown over his home town, and a high-security Assad visit to a Damascus hospital.

      The FSA announced a long list of top Syrian brass they assassinated, and the Assad regime attempted to refute this by broadcasting interviews with three of them. Damascus insists the rest of the list is also alive and well."

      They attempted poisoning this guy.
      The massacre followed a few days later.

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • eljay May 28, 2012 at 8:36 am in reply to eljay

      Regev appears not to know that "hatred of foreigners contradicts the foundations of Judaism"...according to President Shimon Peres, anyway.

      I wonder: Was Peres saying that hatred of foreigners contradicts the foundations of :
      - Judaism, the nationality (which, according to playforpalestine, "has a religion attached to it"); or
      - Judaism, the religion itself?

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Woody Tanaka May 28, 2012 at 8:35 am in reply to Fredblogs

      I hold out hope that the evil at the heart of you demonic zionists will change and you will see the evil of your ways, get some well need humility and beg the forgiveness of those who you have oppressed for generations.

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • Annie Robbins May 28, 2012 at 8:29 am in reply to Abdul-Rahman

      NO these Black Africans (either migrant workers or Black Libyans themselves) were not supposed “mercenaries” for Gaddafi that claim was refuted even by anti-Gaddafi Western organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights

      Abdul-Rahman, have you watched the humanitarian war? Amnesty International's credibility is in the tank as far as i am concerned.

      link to laguerrehumanitaire.fr

    • Annie Robbins May 28, 2012 at 8:14 am in reply to Samuel T

      The public announcement reflects ambiguity, retractability, plausible deniability as to confirmed sources, in an effort to postpone immediate and decisive action.

      sammy, the public announcements also reflect deceit. or do you think using a photo from iraq 03 was merely a glitch/oversite?

      again:

      link to telegraph.co.uk

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • eljay May 28, 2012 at 8:13 am with 1 replies

      >> Speaking in Tel Aviv, the prime minister said "We will complete construction of the fence within two months, and soon we will begin sending infiltrators back to their countries of origin."

      I'm surprised Bibi didn't also threaten to "cut off their hands!"

      >> Regev, who said during the rally that "the Sudanese are a cancer in our body," told Haaretz ...

      Classy.

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • Annie Robbins May 28, 2012 at 8:08 am in reply to Avi_G.

      thanks avi, i should have remembered that. susie abulhawa explained that to me once, we were discussing a character in a play..someone had named a child abdul and she informed me that would be unlikely for the same reason.

  • Netanyahu govt to impose fines on mayors of cities that employ migrant workers (24)
    • Hostage May 28, 2012 at 7:57 am in reply to Avi_G.

      is an Israeli contractor still the proposed builder or did the U.S. government give the contract to someone else?

      The Government scrapped the idea after they wasted a billion on 53 miles of fence built by Boeing. link to reuters.com

  • Slater on Beinart (32)
  • Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism (122)
    • Hostage May 28, 2012 at 5:43 am in reply to giladg

      Thanks, Hostage. The State Department’s evaluation is consistent with Israeli attitudes to Jerusalem

      Well the Israeli logic was completely circular, i.e. its already part of Israel and it's unreasonable expect one section of Israel to be governed by different principles than another section of Israel.

      The Knesset adopted an ordinance, retroactive to 15 May 1948, which applied Israeli law to any territory the Minister of Defense had defined by proclamation as being held by the Defense Army of Israel. See the Area of Jurisdiction and Powers Ordinance, No.29 of 5708-1948 link to israellawresourcecenter.org

  • Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (33)
    • Avi_G. May 28, 2012 at 5:43 am in reply to Avi_G.

      Sumud,

      Well, here's the thing, the shortened version --when used -- should be "Abed", not "Abdul".

      But, the shortened version is informal/familiar. Therefore, it should only be used when one knows the person on a personal level. Otherwise, it can be misconstrued as either rude, or in some cases, racist (depending on the context).

  • US to differentiate between 'personally displaced' Palestinian refugees and their descendants (154)
    • Djinn May 28, 2012 at 5:42 am in reply to Fredblogs

      No dissolving neccesary, just give equal rights to all those living under Israeli rule. Does it really not bother you to think the ONLY way Israel can exist as a state is as an institutionally racist (AKA apartheid) one?

  • Israel lobby's favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (55)
    • Shmuel May 28, 2012 at 5:38 am in reply to Fredblogs

      All Peoples are invented.

      That's a truism. The real questions are what does the term mean in a given context and what are its ramifications. The words people, nation, am, goy, umah, gens, ethnos, etc. have meant different things at different times.

      the Palestinian People were invented after the 6 day war.

      The concept of a Palestinian people in the modern sense is, of course, a modern invention (as are the corresponding concepts of Jewish, Israeli, French, German, Italian, Iraqi, Libyan, American, etc. peoples). Zionist propaganda likes to use the Six Day War as a cut-off point for Palestinians, but the Palestinian National Charter, ratified in 1964, repeatedly uses the terms "Palestinian Arab people", "Palestinian people" and "people of Palestine".

Comments are closed.