In “My people who say yes to death,” Yuval Ben-Ami at +972 writes that Israel has only one answer to Palestinian aspirations– violence– and the people approve it. In a word, the country has lost its soul, and boycott is all that will bring it to heel. Some wise Americans have cottoned to the Israeli tragedy (Steve Walt, John Mearsheimer, Yousef Munayyer, David Remnick), but our media generally continue to paint Israel as enlightened, even as it now threatens our national security. This is why we will see liberal Americans and even former liberal Zionists coming out for BDS in months to come: the rogue state must be tamed. Ben-Ami:
A survey conducted in Gaza this September showed that a majority of its residents would prefer Fatah to Hamas if elections were held. Early this month President Mahmoud Abbas spoke again of a two state solution and even hinted at compromising on the right of return.
What could Israel do in light of this but start a war? Israel can’t deal with peace. It has become a war machine, and I’m not referring only to its over-militant decision makers and those who take their orders. Decades of media bias and dogmatic education managed to turn its citizens into a blinded mob that always support violence…
We Israelis deserve the eternal war we live in. We deserve our murderous government, which is now sailing to the safe port of reelection on a river of Gazan (and some Israeli) blood. We deserve all that for saying yes to death again and again, but the Palestinians, who suffer of the same Bibi’s whims, don’t. They actually reach out for peace, both on the popular level and in formal speeches. Well, maybe not anymore. Not at the moment, not even if the ceasefire does come tonight. Yet another opportunity massacred.
Can we change? Should we never say die? Should I ask all of you, my readers around the world, to put pressure on us, to deny us business and culture so that we are forced to evolve? I don’t know anymore. Do so but without great expectations.
Every democracy deserves the government it has.” De Toquiville (sic)
Democracy Now is livestreaming the conflict Gaza in IN FULL CONTEXT (historical, root, proximate causes: Watching Democracy Now! http://livestre.am/sYC via @livestream
Youseff Munayyer (The Palestine Center ) v James Colbert (Jewish Institute For National Security Affairs). Great back n fourth on the code language used by each side.
Too bad most Americans will not take advantage of this most excellent coverage and excellent exposition of each sides’ justification). http://www.democracynow.org/
1745 viewers now, stats going up by the minute.
Glenn Greenwald puts a fork in the US govt and Us media for its complicity:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/21/israel-gaza-us-support
Demanding clear objectives (see below) — each nation should first remove its ambassador and embassy staff and order the Israeli ambassador and embassy staff to leave. Next they should suspend all visa for Israel passport holders and expel Israeli visitors. Next, they should suspend all commercial air traffic to and from Israel. Next they should forbid trade in agricultural goods with Israel. finally they should forbid all trade with Israel and all payments to Israel or to Israelis for services other than imported goods. All this well publicized, scheduled, announced, and EXPLAINED.
Goals: [1] end Gaza slaughter irrespective of rockets. [2] remove all settlers (one year to do it) (compliance requires a published uniform schedule within one month, schedule thereafter complied with by Israel). [3] remove or dismantle or destroy wall in West Bank (same one year, same schedule requirement). [4] remove, dismantle, demolish all settlements buildings (same year, same schedule).
If even ONE country does this, it may create the courage in all other countries for them to do it also. Arab states (or majority Muslim countries) should be FIRST and should act together (to avoid the wrath of USA aimed at a single country).
Keep in mind that Israel promoted Hamas’ rise to power as a replacement for the PLO. Brilliant!
”the country has lost its soul”
when did Israel ever have a ‘soul’?
Zionism has ALWAYS been about inflicting extreme violence on the native people, from the birth of the Israeli state, and long before. At times it was easier for Israel to present an ‘enlightened’ face to the world, but that mask has long been stripped away. But beneath the ‘reasonable’ exterior, Palestinians were always treated with extreme harshness. Israel has not lost its soul. It never had one to begin with.