"On this day, Pennsylvania troops begin digging a tunnel toward the Rebels at Petersburg, Virginia, in order to blow a hole in the Confederate lines and break the stalemate." Were those terror tunnels as well?
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Inspiration of ISIS
People didn't notice, or noticed but did not want to mention for obvious reasons: but ISIS on Twitter a few days ago explained their practices of destroying tombs of prophets. They said that Muhammad Ibn `Abdul-Wahab had done that. How many times do we have to tell you that the inspiration for those fanatics come from the ideology of the regime you most like in the Middle East--after Israel.
Did you say "Israeli peace camp"?
"Even some of the veteran activists in what is known as Israel’s “peace camp” have declined to speak out against the prime minister or the war."
So does the US condemn Israeli shelling of civilians?
"QUESTION: When you say that you condemn the shelling, whose shelling are we talking about here?
MS. HARF: Well, we understand that UNRWA has put out a statement on its views. We would underscore the importance of a full and prompt investigation to determine the facts here.
QUESTION: So you are not ready to condemn Israel per se for the shelling of the school.
MS. HARF: Correct. We have said that there needs to be a full investigation to see what happened here.
QUESTION: But you’re condemning whoever it was that did it.
MS. HARF: Correct. That’s correct." (thanks Marc)
MS. HARF: Well, we understand that UNRWA has put out a statement on its views. We would underscore the importance of a full and prompt investigation to determine the facts here.
QUESTION: So you are not ready to condemn Israel per se for the shelling of the school.
MS. HARF: Correct. We have said that there needs to be a full investigation to see what happened here.
QUESTION: But you’re condemning whoever it was that did it.
MS. HARF: Correct. That’s correct." (thanks Marc)
I know that American correspondents are just waiting and hoping for Palestinians to erupt in anti-resistance sentiments but
Don't think that the French press is any better: "Ils Pratiquent la Taqiya"
From Jérôme in France: "I know that you find quite entertaining that alleged Hizbullah commanders and leaders regularly give discrediting information about their groups to their most vocal journalist opponents.
A French "specialist" who is neither a scholar nor a journalist wrote a book claiming that he met the amir of AQ in France (!) who revealed him all his organisation's secret plans for France.
There is an interview of him there:
According to him, "Al-Qaida possède une structure quasiment parfaite dans notre pays avec des armes et des agents qui exploitent les failles de notre système et contournent ses forces pour s'y infiltrer sans éveiller les soupçons"
Even better, all Muslims are potentially suspects. If a Muslim is not practising, he could as well be part of this machiavelic plan:
"Ils pratiquent la Taqiya, l'art de la dissimulation. Ils mènent une vie discrète, "normale". Les célibataires doivent se marier, à une femme arabe, qui travaille, mais qui ne portera jamais le voile. Lui ne porte ni la barbe ni la djellaba. Leurs enfants doivent fréquenter de bonnes écoles. L'agent est encouragé à éviter les contacts au sein de sa propre communauté, à dénigrer, si besoin, publiquement l'islam radical."
The guy is invited everywhere and nobody questions his credentials. We're just expected to take everything at face value..."
A French "specialist" who is neither a scholar nor a journalist wrote a book claiming that he met the amir of AQ in France (!) who revealed him all his organisation's secret plans for France.
There is an interview of him there:
According to him, "Al-Qaida possède une structure quasiment parfaite dans notre pays avec des armes et des agents qui exploitent les failles de notre système et contournent ses forces pour s'y infiltrer sans éveiller les soupçons"
Even better, all Muslims are potentially suspects. If a Muslim is not practising, he could as well be part of this machiavelic plan:
"Ils pratiquent la Taqiya, l'art de la dissimulation. Ils mènent une vie discrète, "normale". Les célibataires doivent se marier, à une femme arabe, qui travaille, mais qui ne portera jamais le voile. Lui ne porte ni la barbe ni la djellaba. Leurs enfants doivent fréquenter de bonnes écoles. L'agent est encouragé à éviter les contacts au sein de sa propre communauté, à dénigrer, si besoin, publiquement l'islam radical."
The guy is invited everywhere and nobody questions his credentials. We're just expected to take everything at face value..."
Children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor
"children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN-designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced. We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts."
Notice that Isareli war crimes--unlike Syrian regime war crimes--are all "possible" or "probabl" or "likely"
"Today's attack on the Jabaliya Elementary Girls School has been described as a possible war crime by the UN." Does that mean that it is possible that an attack on a school girl could be considered not a war crime?
Another Palestinian burned to death
"A Palestinian youth has been found burned to death in Hebron, on Tuesday. Karama al-Hashlamon, age 25, was pronounced dead early Wednesday in Hebron's al-Ahli Hospital, according to Ma'an correspondence." (thanks Amir)
Arab nations silent on Gaza?
From Alfred: " I am not sure what the Zionist pandering American media means by Arab "nations" silent on gaza. If they are comparing Arab heads of states to Erdogan statements in turkey about Israeli aggression, then yes, leaders like SISI and Gulf Kings have not made strong statements against Israel. But, the Israeli collaborator Abbas have called the Israeli attacks on Gaza "genocide" and "massacres". It is interesting how the Zionist pandering American media is not paying attention to what Abbas is saying when he denounces Israel (even though he is very willing to start negotiating "peace" with the "genocidal" Israeli leaders very soon). If you read the Gulf media like Arab News, it shows pictures of injured children and they are denouncing Israeli "genocide". Even though their leaders do nothing, the Gulf media HAVE TO show sympathy with the Palestinians to their outraged population. To say that the Arab" nations" are silent on Gaza is another attempt by the Zionist pandering media to justify Israeli aggresion and to say that Hamas is an extremist "terrorist" group and the Arabs hate them anyway so the world should be upset with Hamas and not Israel. "
You may think that Isarel is a war criminal but look at this:
"At least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a packed Gaza market Wednesday in a deadly raid that came as Israel was observing a four-hour humanitarian lull. It was supposed to have been a rare pause for Gaza's battered population of 1.8 million to go out in safety to stock up on goods, and for medics to evacuate the dead and wounded. Instead, there was further bloody mayhem with more than 30 people killed across Gaza in the first three hours of the lull alone, sending the death toll from 23 days of unrelenting Israeli attacks soaring to 1,336." (thanks Basim)
Judith Butler: on how every Palestinian is an artillary in Zionist thinking
"The Israeli government and the media started to say that everyone who was killed or injured in Gaza was a member of Hamas; or that they were all being used as part of the war effort; that even the children were instruments of the war effort; that the Palestinians put them out there, in the targets, to show that Israelis would kill children, and this was actually part of a war effort. At this point, every single living being who is Palestinian becomes a war instrument. They are all, in their being, or by virtue of being Palestinian, declaring war on Israel or seeking the destruction of the Israel.
So any and all Palestinian lives that are killed or injured are understood no longer to be lives, no longer understood to be living, no longer understood even to be human in a recognizable sense, but they are artillery. The bodies themselves are artillery. And of course, the extreme instance of that is the suicide bomber, who has become unpopular in recent years. That is the instance in which a body becomes artillery, or becomes part of a violent act. If that figure gets extended to the entire Palestinian population, then there is no living human population anymore, and no one who is killed there can be grieved. Because everyone who is a living Palestinian is, in their being, a declaration of war, or a threat to the existence of Israel, or pure military artillery, materiel. They have been transformed, in the Israeli war imaginary, into pure war instruments.
So when a people who believes that another people is out to destroy them sees all the means of destruction killed, or some extraordinary number of the means of destruction destroyed, they are thrilled, because they think their safety and well-being and happiness are being purchased, are being achieved through this destruction. "
So any and all Palestinian lives that are killed or injured are understood no longer to be lives, no longer understood to be living, no longer understood even to be human in a recognizable sense, but they are artillery. The bodies themselves are artillery. And of course, the extreme instance of that is the suicide bomber, who has become unpopular in recent years. That is the instance in which a body becomes artillery, or becomes part of a violent act. If that figure gets extended to the entire Palestinian population, then there is no living human population anymore, and no one who is killed there can be grieved. Because everyone who is a living Palestinian is, in their being, a declaration of war, or a threat to the existence of Israel, or pure military artillery, materiel. They have been transformed, in the Israeli war imaginary, into pure war instruments.
So when a people who believes that another people is out to destroy them sees all the means of destruction killed, or some extraordinary number of the means of destruction destroyed, they are thrilled, because they think their safety and well-being and happiness are being purchased, are being achieved through this destruction. "
"Why do they hate us"? What have we done to them (besides killing them, that is)?
"In the last week the U.S. has provided Israel with tank rounds and illumination rounds for grenade launchers requested as part of a foreign military arms sale. The weapons came from a $1 billion stockpile of ammunition stored by the U.S. military in Israel for that country's use if needed for an emergency. However, a U.S. defense official stressed the delivery of weapons from the existing stockpile in Israel was more a matter of convenience to rotate U.S. ammunition stocks than an emergency request from Israel." How...convenient.
This is Zionism
"Some 66% don’t believe Israel is a shared homeland for Jews and Arabs; 53% think Israel should prioritize its Jewish citizens over the Arab ones."
ISISism: in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism, etc
Of course, the fanaticism and intolerance of ISIS speak of a trend in every religion (no, not in atheism for those who keep asking me in Arabic when I say that). Here is a Lebanese Christian bishop fulminating against Muslims and Jews. (Today, he said that his words were distorted when there is an actual recording).
The FBI would like to learn more from "Mustafa"
"Meanwhile, Caesar is scheduled to hold private meetings this week with lawmakers and State Department officials, as well as the FBI, who want to learn more about the photos."
Qasim Sulaymani
By the way, regarding the statement that was made by Qasim Sulaymani yesterday about resistance. It was noteworthy that he saluted the resistance work of Kata'ib Abu `Ali Mustafa (the military branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). It is probably the first time that an Iranian official ever praised a communist group.
PS Hasan Nasrallah, under pressure from communists, did acknowledge publicly the roles of Lebanese communists in the resistance against Israel a few years ago.
PS Hasan Nasrallah, under pressure from communists, did acknowledge publicly the roles of Lebanese communists in the resistance against Israel a few years ago.
These Israeli atrocities
The propaganda by Israel and its advocates in US media may work on the ignorant but for somebody of my age none of those atrocities are new. Israel managed to kill some 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians (overwhelmingly civilians) back in 1982 and there were no tunnels to speak of, and no Hamas and Hizbullah.
(thanks Fadi)Shaykh Zayid in Iran in 1975
I came across this picture from An-Nahar of 1975. It seems that Shaykh Zayid did not discover the Arabness of the occupied islands before the fall of the Shah."Arab nations silent on Gaza"? For real?
Of course, there is a whole article in the Times about the subject and comrade Kieran tells me that he saw this headline ""CNN DEVELOPING STORY: ARAB NATIONS SILENT ON GAZA". This is very convenient for the US media: to claim that why criticize Israel when Arab "nations" are silent. Now it is most convenient (as in the Times story) when they conflate the Arab tyrannical regimes (who are all clients of the US) with the Arab people themselves. This makes the silence or acquiescence of Sisi and Saudi King representative of the Arab people. Yesterday, two New York Times reporters even dared to criticize Arab tyrants for their silence. I replied that it is quite convenient and safe for them to express criticisms of allies of Israel but not of Israel itself. If you know Arabic, you should just follow the debate and outrage by Arabs from the maghrib to the Gulf about Gaza.
"Mustafa" at the Holocaust Museum
This was not a big story due to the coverage of the war on Gaza (or the war of the tunnels, according to US news). But the photographer who defected from the Syrian regime (and his defection has been considered the most notable since the defection of Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl in 1937) has been under wraps by the Qatari and American governments who control him. We still don't know why the Syrian regime was taking pictures of its victims except to keep historic evidence of its crimes of repression but leave that to another time. "Mustafa", his real name has not been released, was revealed to a select group of press people at the Holocaust Museum, of all places. But why the Holocaust museum? We have been accustomed to Zionist dismissal of anyone who ever invokes the word Holocaust or Nazi in reference to Israel as a clear and unabashed anti-Semite, but Israel and Zionists seem rather casual in their invoking the words Nazi and holocaust to all enemies of Israel. The person who hosted the event was none other than Michael Chertoff , one of the most fanatic Zionists and enemies of civil liberties especially for Arabs and Muslims. The event ended with "Mustafa" promising to release some of his collection of pictures--but only for the website of the...Holocaust Museum. Kid you not.
PS Of course, the Holocaust Museum is not new to political games and tricks. It was in fact founded, according to historians of the Jimmy Carter era, as a cheap and exploitative political move by Carter to improve his standing with the Jewish community while seeking reelection.
PS Of course, the Holocaust Museum is not new to political games and tricks. It was in fact founded, according to historians of the Jimmy Carter era, as a cheap and exploitative political move by Carter to improve his standing with the Jewish community while seeking reelection.
Characteristics of Israeli propaganda in the West
My latest blog post for Al-Akhbar English: "Characteristics of Israeli propaganda in the West".
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
If you need to verify how "surgical" Israeli bombing has been, check this headline of the Washington Post
Don't you like the phrasing: "Gaza power plant disabled"? It is like they sent electricians and simply disabled it.
In a nutshell
"It’s worth listening carefully when Netanyahu speaks to the Israeli people. What is going on in Palestine today is not really about Hamas. It is not about rockets. It is not about “human shields” or terrorism or tunnels. It is about Israel’s permanent control over Palestinian land and Palestinian lives. That is what Netanyahu is really saying, and that is what he now admits he has “always” talked about. It is about an unswerving, decades-long Israeli policy of denying Palestine self-determination, freedom, and sovereignty.
What Israel is doing in Gaza now is collective punishment. It is punishment for Gaza’s refusal to be a docile ghetto. It is punishment for the gall of Palestinians in unifying, and of Hamas and other factions in responding to Israel’s siege and its provocations with resistance, armed or otherwise, after Israel repeatedly reacted to unarmed protest with crushing force. Despite years of ceasefires and truces, the siege of Gaza has never been lifted."
What Israel is doing in Gaza now is collective punishment. It is punishment for Gaza’s refusal to be a docile ghetto. It is punishment for the gall of Palestinians in unifying, and of Hamas and other factions in responding to Israel’s siege and its provocations with resistance, armed or otherwise, after Israel repeatedly reacted to unarmed protest with crushing force. Despite years of ceasefires and truces, the siege of Gaza has never been lifted."
One of the best background articles you need to read about the Israeli war: "The Thrasybulus Syndrome: Israel’s War on Gaza"
This is the most comprehensive article that you need about the Israeli war on Gaza. It is written not by a leftist radical, but by a mainstream well-known professor of international relations. David C Hendrickson is a professor at Colorado College, where I knew him (and liked him) during my several visiting appointments there.
"Indeed, the key prize in their geopolitical strategy of leaping over their opponents to find allies on the other side has been to secure a vital redoubt in American public opinion and in the organs of American state power. Here they have shown extraordinary success, the most potent symbol of which (not counting the annual bill of over $3 billion in military aid) is the twenty-nine standing ovations given to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he addressed Congress in May 2011. (Who sat down first? One wonders.) Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies; those whom they denominate as terrorists, we denominate as terrorists: Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Sudan...This support does not simply reflect the adeptness of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups in granting and withholding favors from members of Congress, but exists throughout the corporate commentariat and is well rooted in broad swathes of U.S. domestic opinion. The latest polls show that 57 percent of Americans believe Israel’s actions in Gaza are justified, with 40 percent opposed. An earlier Pew poll from 2013 showed that 51 percent of Americans sympathize with Israel; only 14 percent sympathize with the Palestinians. The findings are remarkably stable over time. According to a CNN poll, the same 57 percent thought Israel’s actions were justified against Hamas in 2012. In 2009, the approval rate was 63 percent. (The margins are closer in Gallup polling, with a July 22-23 poll showing a 42-39 split on whether Israel’s actions are justified and—disturbing for Israel—a 25-51 split among people aged 18-29.)...There are three expert timelines of the Israeli assault on Gaza published by John Judis, Larry Derfner, and Scott McConnell. They make clear that the first rockets fired by Hamas, after having observed a cease-fire since November 2012, came after a wide range of Israeli provocations. Israel had to deal with intermittent rocket fire from Gaza splinter groups, especially Islamic Jihad, throughout the previous eighteen months, but Hamas kept its fire. In March 2014, Netanyahu acknowledged that the number of rocket attacks from Gaza in the previous year was the “lowest in a decade.” The shock of the three Jewish teenagers kidnapped on June 12 led to widespread official calls for collective punishment, 1500 building searches, and some 500 arrests in the West Bank in the following two weeks, even though the government had every reason to believe that the teenagers were dead and that a group antagonistic to Hamas was behind the kidnappings. The clear purpose was to disrupt the accession of Hamas to the Palestinian “national consensus” government in early June. Israel not only arrested fifty-one Hamas members released in the exchange for Gilad Shalit, but also conducted thirty-four airstrikes on Gaza on July 1 and killed six Hamas men in a bombing raid on a tunnel in Gaza on July 6. After these Israeli actions, came a big volley of Hamas rockets, then Operation Protective Edge...
That America should be deeply associated with these Israeli attacks on Arabs and Muslims cannot be beneficial to American security. Osama bin Laden once revealed that he got the idea for blowing up skyscrapers from witnessing the Israeli shelling of Beirut in 1982; and the plan took shape after he observed the devastation wrought upon Iraq by Desert Storm in 1991. Everyone says that it was the stationing of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia that most offended bin Laden, but it was what the United States did with those forces—the war and the ensuing large civilian death toll in Iraq—that was the greater offense in his book. Violence motivates people, often to kill; that is a universal trait of our divided and depraved humanity.
No prudent foreign policy should ignore the motive for retaliation we give by recklessly using force in the Islamic world ourselves or by identifying the United States so closely with Israel. Adverting to this phenomenon two centuries ago, then-diplomat John Quincy Adams wrote that to take an eye for an eye allowed the allied powers ranged against France to “glut their vengeance for the wrongs” they had received from France, but Adams believed that they were “laying up stores of wrath for the day of wrath in revenge for those which they are inflicting.”"
"Indeed, the key prize in their geopolitical strategy of leaping over their opponents to find allies on the other side has been to secure a vital redoubt in American public opinion and in the organs of American state power. Here they have shown extraordinary success, the most potent symbol of which (not counting the annual bill of over $3 billion in military aid) is the twenty-nine standing ovations given to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he addressed Congress in May 2011. (Who sat down first? One wonders.) Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies; those whom they denominate as terrorists, we denominate as terrorists: Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Sudan...This support does not simply reflect the adeptness of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups in granting and withholding favors from members of Congress, but exists throughout the corporate commentariat and is well rooted in broad swathes of U.S. domestic opinion. The latest polls show that 57 percent of Americans believe Israel’s actions in Gaza are justified, with 40 percent opposed. An earlier Pew poll from 2013 showed that 51 percent of Americans sympathize with Israel; only 14 percent sympathize with the Palestinians. The findings are remarkably stable over time. According to a CNN poll, the same 57 percent thought Israel’s actions were justified against Hamas in 2012. In 2009, the approval rate was 63 percent. (The margins are closer in Gallup polling, with a July 22-23 poll showing a 42-39 split on whether Israel’s actions are justified and—disturbing for Israel—a 25-51 split among people aged 18-29.)...There are three expert timelines of the Israeli assault on Gaza published by John Judis, Larry Derfner, and Scott McConnell. They make clear that the first rockets fired by Hamas, after having observed a cease-fire since November 2012, came after a wide range of Israeli provocations. Israel had to deal with intermittent rocket fire from Gaza splinter groups, especially Islamic Jihad, throughout the previous eighteen months, but Hamas kept its fire. In March 2014, Netanyahu acknowledged that the number of rocket attacks from Gaza in the previous year was the “lowest in a decade.” The shock of the three Jewish teenagers kidnapped on June 12 led to widespread official calls for collective punishment, 1500 building searches, and some 500 arrests in the West Bank in the following two weeks, even though the government had every reason to believe that the teenagers were dead and that a group antagonistic to Hamas was behind the kidnappings. The clear purpose was to disrupt the accession of Hamas to the Palestinian “national consensus” government in early June. Israel not only arrested fifty-one Hamas members released in the exchange for Gilad Shalit, but also conducted thirty-four airstrikes on Gaza on July 1 and killed six Hamas men in a bombing raid on a tunnel in Gaza on July 6. After these Israeli actions, came a big volley of Hamas rockets, then Operation Protective Edge...
That America should be deeply associated with these Israeli attacks on Arabs and Muslims cannot be beneficial to American security. Osama bin Laden once revealed that he got the idea for blowing up skyscrapers from witnessing the Israeli shelling of Beirut in 1982; and the plan took shape after he observed the devastation wrought upon Iraq by Desert Storm in 1991. Everyone says that it was the stationing of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia that most offended bin Laden, but it was what the United States did with those forces—the war and the ensuing large civilian death toll in Iraq—that was the greater offense in his book. Violence motivates people, often to kill; that is a universal trait of our divided and depraved humanity.
No prudent foreign policy should ignore the motive for retaliation we give by recklessly using force in the Islamic world ourselves or by identifying the United States so closely with Israel. Adverting to this phenomenon two centuries ago, then-diplomat John Quincy Adams wrote that to take an eye for an eye allowed the allied powers ranged against France to “glut their vengeance for the wrongs” they had received from France, but Adams believed that they were “laying up stores of wrath for the day of wrath in revenge for those which they are inflicting.”"
Let me translate Washington Lingo to you
"Washington "deeply troubled" by Israel's targeting of Gaza power station". This translates as follows: Washington does not think that Israel has butchered enough women and children and is troubled about the low number of Palestinian casualties but will be sending ASAP more bombs for Israel to use at once on Palestinian civilians.
A Palestinian girl cries while receiving treatment for her injuries
"A Palestinian girl cries while receiving treatment for her injuries
caused by an Israeli tank shelling at a UN school in Jebaliya refugee
camp, 30 July 2014. Photograph: Khalil Hamra/AP"
And now a word from the US Senate
"The U.S. Senate unanimously supported Israel’s goals in its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a posture that distances the body from President Obama’s call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
In a rare joint action, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader, initiated the resolution passed Tuesday evening by unanimous consent.
The resolution “supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ unrelenting and indiscriminate rocket assault into Israel and Israel’s right to destroy Hamas’ elaborate tunnel system into Israel’s territory.”
That aligns with the goals set forth Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel would stay in Gaza until the tunnels reaching into its territory are destroyed, a day after Obama had phoned him and asked him to agree to an “immediate, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire.”"
In a rare joint action, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader, initiated the resolution passed Tuesday evening by unanimous consent.
The resolution “supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ unrelenting and indiscriminate rocket assault into Israel and Israel’s right to destroy Hamas’ elaborate tunnel system into Israel’s territory.”
That aligns with the goals set forth Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel would stay in Gaza until the tunnels reaching into its territory are destroyed, a day after Obama had phoned him and asked him to agree to an “immediate, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire.”"
What about J Street, you may ask
"This time around, J Street has taken a radically different position, sticking close to other mainstream Jewish groups. J Street has asserted Israel’s right to defend itself, and has condemned Hamas while expressing concern for Palestinian and Israeli civilians."
Ben Hubbard of the Times denies that Gaza is under the siege and notes the humanity of the occupiers
"Throughout the war, Israel has continued to allow food and electricity into Gaza, complicating Palestinian claims that they are besieged." So what are the Palestinians really complaining about: they have food and electricity and Israel is dropping bombs over the heads and butchering them albeit humanely. Only an American correspondent can write such callous words on this day.
Contrast
Palestinians mourn the death of civilians, while Israelis mourn the death of an Israeli terrorist soldier. This is supposed to be equivalent in the US press.
This was the Bush speechwriter who proudly coined "the axis of evil" term
"Conservative pundit David Frum apologized on Wednesday for alleging that the New York Times and other outlets had run faked photos from the violence in Gaza."
Israel needs more US money to kill more women and children
"The Obama administration's $225 million request to aid Israel during its war with Hamas may not be enough, warned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday afternoon."
Israeli-Canadian cooperation
"Recently, a senior Elbit official — speaking only on background because of the sensitivity of discussions — said they've been working through the newly established defence co-operation channels with Canada and hope to sell the advanced device to the air force." (thanks Amir)
Look at this headline in the Post: "Israel hits symbols of Hamas rule; 128 killed"
"Israel hits symbols of Hamas rule; 128 killed": "multiple members of at least five families were pulled from the rubble after airstrikes and tank shells struck their homes, including the mayor of the Bureij refugee camp, his 70-year-old father and three relatives". (thanks Basim)
"When the UN resorts to the passive tense"
From comrade Laure: "What would the statement look like had the UN offices in Israel been hit?
Forget the UNRWA schools, their own OCHA offices were hit 6 times last night within one hour, and they dare say this:
"communities coming under rocket fire in Israel are also fearful."
Forget the UNRWA schools, their own OCHA offices were hit 6 times last night within one hour, and they dare say this:
"communities coming under rocket fire in Israel are also fearful."
Thomas Friedman's foreign policy framework
"For me, the movie line that perfectly captures this moment was uttered by the leader of the Somali pirates who hijacked a cargo ship in “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks."
rarely asked question on American TV
""That is a lot of dead children," he said. "At what point does the Israeli government say, enough, we're killing too many innocent children?""
Is this an example of dark humor?
"US bars some Venezuelan officials accused of rights abuse". (thanks Marc)
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
What the New York Times is not reporting
"he army says that it launched 3,800 attacks in the Strip during the three weeks of fighting, with some of the targets hit twice. The defense establishment says, however, that there are enough additional targets in Gaza to continue the offensive for another several days...To date 179 Gazans have been taken prisoner and questioned by Unit 504 or by the Shin Bet Security Service. A substantial number of the prisoners turned out to be noncombatants". Notice that Israeli terrorist propaganda does not count the number of tons of missiles or rockets or bombs but only "attacks" to make the number seem less.
One picture says it all
"Israeli settler children ordering a Palestinian child to walk on the narrow footpath reserved for Palestinians. They only have the wide street for themselves." (thanks Haifaa)Flyers by terrorist Israeli army make direct threats against "civilians" in Gaza
Funny man, Abe Foxman explains comedy to the public
And who can best explain comedy than funny man himself: ""Not everything can be reduced to a joke," Foxman told The Hollywood Reporter. "I know comedians would sell their mother for a joke, but Jon crossed a line.""
How the statement by Qassam commander will be interpreted tomorrow in the New York Times
Given the record of the Times in distorting the words of Khalid Mish`al, I predict that the New York Times will tomorrow translate the words of Qassam commander, Muhammad Dayf, in the following manner. He said that "we opted to target the soldiers while the enemy chose to target our women and children". In the Times it will read: we opted to target women and children, while they opted to target our fighters.
Obama's statement
Obama has denied that he is in any way opposed to Israeli murder of Palestinian women and children. He also denied that he ordered Netanyahu to stop the slaughter of women and children.
Who?
You read this headline (written for the enjoyment of ill-informed Western reporters) and you ask yourself? Who is this guy, again? A top official that we have never ever heard of? "Hizbullah Top Official, Three Fighters Die in Qalamoun Clashes". And then you read his name: "They identified the slain party official as Ibrahim al-Hajj, a.k.a. Abou Mohammed Salman". Top official? But wait: there are sources here: "These deaths were confirmed by websites close to Syria's opposition and others to Hizbullah." By Hizbullah they mean "sources close to Hizbullah". Good night.
ICC on Israel
ICC has just announced that it can't act against the Israeli war criminal because he belongs to the "wrong" race and religion.
Look how the New York Times "balances" a story that is damaging to Israel
" the Foreign Press Association in Israel condemned on Wednesday what it called “deliberate official and unofficial incitement against journalists” who are reporting on the fighting in Gaza. That includes “forcible attempts to prevent journalists and TV crews from carrying out their news assignments,” the association said." So the intro is damaging to Israel. Here is some balance: It tells that that the fact a reporter was beaten live and cursed on the air is due to the fact that the city was a target of Hamas missiles: "Firas Khatib, who was shoved during a live report from the city of Ashkelon, a frequent target of rockets fired from Gaza." ALL OF GAZA is a target of Israel's bombs, does that justify in your mind if Palestinians were to attack foreign journalists there? The paper then admits: "The treatment of foreign correspondents in Gaza has been generally more positive" but find one tweet to contradict this: "Jonathan Miller of Britain’s Channel 4 News reported that some residents of the destroyed Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya treated his crew with hostility."
This just in
In response to Hamas video of an infiltration into an Israeli military base, Israeli TV will air momentarily a video of Israeli soldiers infiltrating a base of women and children.
The Terrorism discourse in the attack on Gaza
"Often, the most vivid illustration of the criminality of this attack comes not from data but from isolated stories. Yesterday, for instance, “in Khan Younis, five members of the Najjar family, which lost 21 people in a previous strike, were killed.” Meanwhile, “in the Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, an airstrike from an F-16 killed the mayor, Anis Abu Shamala, and four others in his home, some of whom had taken refuge there from intense artillery shelling nearby.”
At the same time, the Israeli government’s messaging machine quickly switched from hyping rocket attacks, which were causing relatively little damage, to featuring what it began calling “terror tunnels”. The U.S. media dutifully followed suit, with CNN anchor (and former AIPAC employee) Wolf Blitzer touring a “terror tunnel” led around by the IDF and his flashlight, while the New York Times’ Jodi Rudoren did the same in an article headlined “Tunnels Lead Right to the Heart of Israeli Fear,” quoting “Israeli military officials”, “an Israeli military spokesman”, and “Israeli experts”."
What would get Americans to sympathize with Palestinians
My friend Maysa wrote this on Facebook (I cite with her permission): "I wonder...if the people of Gaza had the luxury of keeping 1-2 dogs per household, would Americans be more inclined to denounce the bombing of their neighborhoods? Or would they mumble about the use of Doggy Shields by Hamas? How would democrats weigh in vs republicans? I can't come to a conclusion..."
What Israel bans from Gaza
"In February 2009 United States Senator John Kerry visited the Gaza Strip and heard from Palestinians there that the banned items that Israel did not allow bringing into the strip included pasta. His shocked response was reported by the media. On March 3 legumes and pasta were still banned, but in May they were permitted into Gaza.
At one of COGAT's weekly meetings, between March 21 and May 2009, the officers decided to permit bringing toilet paper and hygienic products - "on the basis of examining every request individually" - into Gaza. In May the list includes "toilet paper" and "hygienic pads" with no conditions.
In the second half of 2007 Palestinians reported a shortage of toilet paper and hygienic pads for women. The list of hygienic items permitted into Gaza between March and May 2009 included toothbrushes and toothpaste.
In August 23 shampoo and conditioner were listed together with toilet bowl cleaners, in a category of "cleaning products that cannot be used for other purposes." "
At one of COGAT's weekly meetings, between March 21 and May 2009, the officers decided to permit bringing toilet paper and hygienic products - "on the basis of examining every request individually" - into Gaza. In May the list includes "toilet paper" and "hygienic pads" with no conditions.
In the second half of 2007 Palestinians reported a shortage of toilet paper and hygienic pads for women. The list of hygienic items permitted into Gaza between March and May 2009 included toothbrushes and toothpaste.
In August 23 shampoo and conditioner were listed together with toilet bowl cleaners, in a category of "cleaning products that cannot be used for other purposes." "
Let me report to you this from Qassam commander since it will not be in any US media
Muhmmad Dayf, commander of Qassam, said: "We have deliberately targeted Israeli military targets while our enemy targets civilians and children."
The US State Department on Ukrainian military bombing of civlians
""Civilian casualties a concern, but what we have seen is #Ukraine has taken every step to minimize civilian casualties,"" At least the US government is consistent. IT allows all ally governments to murder civilians.
so now Hamas tunnels are formidable but Israeli weapons are not formidable at all
"Israel, after encountering a more formidable Hamas tunnel network than it had expected". 1) notice this new terminology: formidable tunnels. Israeli propaganda, thanks to the Times in particular, has now been elevating the tunnels to the status of WMDs. The very presence of a tunnel becomes a justification for yet another war crime and massacre. 2) it says here--of course based on statements by Israeli propagandists--that the tunnel network is "more than expected". Like Israel would really admit if they found the tunnel system less than expected?
How can we really understand Palestinian culture? Well, US media has one method: they can turn to an Israeli expert to explain
"“The way to understand the Hamas decision-making calculus is not by Western perspective but by their own perspective,” said Alex Mintz, dean of the school of government at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. “Hamas, the leadership does not care so much about the civilian casualties; what he looks at is the military balance. They think they can gain more. They do not feel pressure as much as we perceive.”"
Look at the various tricks that Israeli propaganda resorts to inflate the number of its civlian casualties
"An Israeli reserve soldier was killed overnight". Why does it matter whether he was reserve soldier or not. He was a damn soldier. I can't (no, I can but still) that the Times would add this description. This is like saying: Israel shot and killed a Hamas reserve fighter today.
There is oddly no time code in the video but hell, take the word of the Israeli colonel for it
"Colonel Lerner said the mortar strike shown in the video was the only Israeli ordnance that hit the school that day. The video did not include a time code, but Colonel Lerner said it was shot between 2 and 4 p.m. "
Again, Israel bomb "sites" and "targets" while Hamas fires "at Israel"
" The Israeli military said it bombed 40 sites and targeted six militants on Sunday, while Gaza fighters fired scores of rockets into Israel, most of which fell in open areas." In every case, just like Israel, Hamas and other groups in Gaza states that they were firing at targets in Israel, and notice that when they hit the target soldiers and not civilians are killed--unlike Israeli hits.
the new generation in Hollywood and Israel
""There's a generational change right now in the U.S. and elsewhere as World War II and those memories fade into the rearview mirror," Walt said. "The public discourse on Israel has changed. A lot of it is due to social media. It gives people, especially celebrities who have a lot of influence, a platform to say how they feel without being pressured by editors and publishers, who are themselves being pressured by outside organizations.""
a matter of time
There will come a time when the Palestinians obtain access to devastating weapons and they will use them against Israelis. I will make sure when that happens to invoke your discourse: that the Israeli solders were hiding behind civilians, and that Israeli shelters posed great threat to Palestinians, and that the Palestinians were exercising restraint, and that the Palestinians are only engaged in self-defense.
Why not this exchange?
Take the tunnels and give the Palestinians Isareli WMDs. That would be a fair fight, by your standards.
and now for a sample of restrained Zionist rheotoric
"We are looking at the beginnings of a Holocaust'"
And now a word from a US member of Congress about Israeli war crimes
"Israel practices the highest levels of self-restraint. It takes extreme caution to minimize the damage to civilians and their basic rights, sometimes at the grave cost of Israeli soldiers." (thanks Aaden)
An original take on the study of ISIS
"The Saudi response (as outlined in an opinion-piece by a top Saudi establishment commentator, Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, who heads Al-Arabiya television) is that the ISIS threat needs to be understood properly – since there is a “genuine [Sunni] revolution against a sectarian repugnant rule” in both Syria and Iraq. ISIS tapped into this ‘Sunni anger’ to become “the star at the box office” for Sunnis all over the world … However, “were it not for Assad and Maliki, ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front would not have existed.” (This Saudi meme is the ‘narrative’ that has almost universally been taken up by the mainstream western media.)
Saudi Arabia is prepared, Abdulrahman suggests to confront ISIS, but only – and only if - “a political solution [is] imposed in Syria and Iraq” — a regime change that leads to wider Sunni mobilization. The sectarian policies of Assad and Maliki “triggered this chaos. Therefore, the solution lies in strong central governments in both Baghdad and Damascus with American, Western and regional support.”
But let us be clear: When Abdulrahman insists that Nouri al-Maliki must be ousted, he is not proposing that another Shi’i simply take his place – as would occur under the present political dispensation in which the Shi’i amount to 60 – 65% of the electorate. He is calling for the overthrow of the system – with a Sunni (or a Riyadh approved Iyad Alawi) ‘strongman’ placed in power (à la Sisi). Ditto for Syria. It is a call for the purging of the Middle East." (thanks Talal)
Saudi Arabia is prepared, Abdulrahman suggests to confront ISIS, but only – and only if - “a political solution [is] imposed in Syria and Iraq” — a regime change that leads to wider Sunni mobilization. The sectarian policies of Assad and Maliki “triggered this chaos. Therefore, the solution lies in strong central governments in both Baghdad and Damascus with American, Western and regional support.”
But let us be clear: When Abdulrahman insists that Nouri al-Maliki must be ousted, he is not proposing that another Shi’i simply take his place – as would occur under the present political dispensation in which the Shi’i amount to 60 – 65% of the electorate. He is calling for the overthrow of the system – with a Sunni (or a Riyadh approved Iyad Alawi) ‘strongman’ placed in power (à la Sisi). Ditto for Syria. It is a call for the purging of the Middle East." (thanks Talal)
Why has Palestine been ignored by American political science
"But the long freeze and endless repetition suggests another possibility. It might be that for many political scientists, strange as it may sound, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is just sort of boring." A lot of topics that are boring (especially in American politics) are studied over and over again, and many courses are offered about it (talk about Rational Choice Theory for example). But the real reason is actually political: most political science departments are top schools even avoid the Middle East altogether (Stanford and Yale have ignored the Middle East specialty for decades and Yale's political science department only recently hired a Middle East specialist). Secondly, people are discouraged from studying Palestine: I know of an anthropologist who was actually discouraged by her adviser from doing research in the Palestinian refugee camps. 3) Many professors are afraid of teaching the Arab-Israeli conflict (and I am talking about progressive colleagues) because they fear this will lead to campaigns against them by Zionists. I know a new hire at a "top" American university who refused to teach about the Arab-Israeli conflict when asked to do so by her department for this very reason.
50% of the American public think that Israel's "response" is either "about right" or "not far enough"
Of course, all such polls should be viewed with a critical eye. Look at the question about "Israel's response to conflict with Hamas": when you put Israeli war crimes in terms of "response" to a largely ignorant American public, you already have swayed the respondents. (thanks Michele)There were no militants, just children
"Nearly all the eyewitnesses say the same thing: children were playing on the street in the Al-Shati (Beach) refugee camp north of Gaza City. They scurried between a swing set on the sidewalk and a small grocery shop selling sweets and chips. At around 4:30 pm there was a loud explosion. Then many of the children lay still, some of them in pieces."
Israel fired missile at children on a swing
"The children were hit by a missile while playing in the Beach refugee camp, adding to the already extraordinarily high numbers of young victims in this war. The massacre came on Eid, the day of celebration after the end of the holy month of Ramadan." "Six of the boys had been using the swing, which had been set up for Eid, with four others waiting their turn."
U.S. is a full partner in the murder of Palestinians
"Well, there are two facets to it. On one side, the U.S. government is a full partner in the murder of Palestinians, including my brothers. The United States provides over $3 billion of direct military aid to Israel annually. The Congress has just approved or in the process of approving an additional $600 million in military aid to Israel. They tagged onto the bill, the immigration bill for dealing with undocumented children—they tagged on about $225 million in additional aid for the Iron Dome in Israel. And the U.S. provides blank backing to Israel in the U.N., in the Security Council, everywhere, although we know sometimes it goes against the U.S.'s stances. "
myths about Gaza
"Beyond the tit-for-tat of "who started it" many are busy debating, it is crucial to emphasize that Israel has illegally occupied the Palestinian territories for many decades, is actively engaging in land theft through illegal settlement expansion, and is imposing a system of apartheid. Under those circumstances, Israel's very posture is offensive, and it cannot claim to be engaging in "self-defense" against the very people whose land it has illegally usurped." (thanks Amir)
So even when Palestinians attack soldiers, the Times allow the Israeli military to claim that, no, they intented to attack...women and children
"Palestinian gunmen emerged from a tunnel running beneath the border and clashed with Israeli soldiers. The military said the gunmen had intended to attack civilians in a nearby Israeli border community.". But they attacked soldiers, damn it. Israeli propagandists are allowed to claim anything in the paper, and get away with it. Imagine if a Palestinian is allowed to say: and the Israelis are planning to drop a nuclear bomb on us (of course, I have always believe that Israel would drop a nuclear bomb on Palestinians if 1) they can get a way with it; 2) if they can do it without harming Jews on the land. Leave it to Israel to manufacture a bomb that discriminates on the basis of religion.
Look at this sentence in the Times
"[Israelis] have gained widespread international support for eliminating them". By "international support" she actually means the US (and maybe Micronesia).
Of course, the American correspondent would not dare tell the Israeli terrorist: but they did not. They attacked people like you, Israeli terrorists
"“We don’t have a base of soldiers close to here,” he noted. “If they want to attack us soldiers, it’s O.K. for us to be in battle, but they want to use these tunnels to attack women and children.”" And the fact that professional killers of women and children, like the Israeli soldiers, be allowed without rebuttal to accuse the other side of PLANNING (not actually doing it but planning) to kill women and children is an indication of the propaganda advantage that those terrorists are given in US media.
Did Palestinians do those things? Oh, no, they did not. They focused attacks on soldiers but NYTimes say that those are fears
So as Palestinians focus their attacks on soldiers and as Israeli terrorist focus their attacks on civilians, the New York Times comes up with this description. It is not real, mind you, and it did not happen but it says that those are fears of Israelis in cafe: "armed enemies popping up under a day care center or dining room, spraying a crowd with a machine gun fire or maybe some chemical, exploding a suicide belt or snatching captives and ducking back into the dirt." Imagine if the New York Times were to publish--by way of justification of Hamas rockets--stories about Palestinian fears of Israeli nuclear weapons.
Notice that only Israelis have a psyche
"Far more than the rocket barrages that have sent Israelis scrambling for shelter throughout the bloody 21-day battle, the tunnel attacks — Monday’s was the sixth of the current conflict — have shaken the collective psyche and stiffened resolve to continue or even expand the fight." So the tunnels have shook the Israeli psyche but thousands of tons of bombs and missiles on civilians in Gaza didn't shake the Palestinian psyche?
The new propaganda ploy: tunnels are deadlier than Israeli weapons
The Israeli military yesterday took all American correspondents in Israel on a guided "tour" of the tunnels and they were all fed the talking points of the Israeli terrorist ministry and they all reproduced it this morning. I suggest that resistance groups in Gaza invite American journalists armed with cameras on a similar tour: take them underground to feel even briefly what dead Palestinians who are buried underneath are feeling. That would be a symmetry of guided tours between both sides. Tunnels versus grave sites.
US media would never dare ask this obvious question
"Could Israeli soldiers, not civilians, be the target of the attack tunnels?" Well, this does not require much brain power. Ask yourselves: Have they been used in this conflict against soldiers or against civilians?
The humiliation of the Israeli military elite: and their resort to massacre of women and children for revenge
"“The Golani Brigade in Shejaia sustained heavy casualties, the source recalled, after Hamas intelligence units mapped out its location. Operatives sent the information to waiting terrorists in tunnels. In a coordinated fashion, the gunmen emerged from “the metro under Shejaia,” the source said, referring to the tunnels, and launched a massive wave of antitank, mortar, sniper and automatic gunfire from buildings surrounding the Golani force. ‘I saw that enemy cells had come to within 40 meters of our forces,’ the source added.[…] The Artillery Corps Support Unit watched the battle with alarm, and took drastic action, the source said. ‘Otherwise, I knew we would be getting 600 body bags back.’”" (thanks Don)
It is now official: tunnels are more dangerous than Israeli WMDs
Tunnels are now talked about like they are weapons.
Saud Al-Faysal in Wikileaks about the 2006 war
"We understand the concern with calling for a ceasefire and it doesn't hold. But I wish you would call for a ceasefire and (let) Hizbollah reject it. Then Hizbollah would be seen as the renegades they are. Instead you are turning Hizbollah into heroes."
Monday, July 28, 2014
Saudi royal media
The father asks his son: He who lies, where does he go? The son: He goes to Al-Arabiyya (TV station).Peter Jennings
Today, more than ever I missed the wonderful, Peter Jennings. He was one rare star American TV journalist who was unabashedly pro-Palestnian. Don't get me wrong. I don't expect bimbo TV journalists of today (men and women) to know better. Chris Cuomo? Are you kidding? I wouldn't hire him to deliver the news about the county fair.
GazaNames
I was about to post a link to Gaza names as I was watching until I reached the last segment when it started invoking "peace" and "love" as a solution. What the fuck does that mean? What kind of peace are we talking about? Peace as in the US "peace process"? No, the victims of Gaza would not have wanted to associate their names with such a message. The word Israel was not even mentioned--except once and only in passing, i am sure to avoid "controversy". It is as usual in the passive voice.
Missiles from Gaza hitting military targets in Israel
I know that US media and the Zionist human rights organizations, like Human Rights Watch have been insisting that missiles from Gaza are being fired indiscriminately "at Israel". That is the cliche phrasing that they receive from the media office of the Israeli terrorist military. But look at the facts: today, Hamas announced that it was hitting military targets in Israel, and sure enough soldiers were killed. Even if you take the alleged cases of three Israeli "civilians" killed. One of them, by Israeli admission, was visiting a military installations where he was "volunteering" to bringing food to the terrorist soldiers. SO even by the standards of the US government, this was a legitimate military target. I won't be surprised if by the end of this war, Israeli has only hit civilians while Hamas and other groups in Gaza have only hit (and miss sometimes) military targets in Israel.
Firing at targets in Tel Aviv: what US media NEVER report
"Hamas claimed responsibility for firing two at Tel Aviv." But Hamas always lists targets in Israel that is hitting but US media never reports that. They only say: firing at Israel, while when Israel butchers civilians, they report: Israel hit targets in Gaza.
Humanizing the spokesperson of the terrorist state of Israel in the US: you knew this was coming
"There, he hung on his wall an Israeli flag given to his father by a Miss Israel during a beauty pageant in Miami Beach. The flag led to debates and friendships with Muslims, one of whom visited Mr. Dermer’s Miami Beach home for a Seder and returned to Pakistan with boxes of matzo." So is the New York Times telling us that "his best friends are Muslims"?
Isareli settler terrorists
"The "International Campaign for the Inclusion of Israeli Settler Groups in List of Terrorist Organizations" campaign was launched in London, on Sunday, as the West Bank continues to be consumed by antiwar demonstrations and ensuing confrontations. Israel resumed its assault on the Gaza Strip, Sunday, following a temporary ceasefire over the weekend, during which the Israeli army killed at least 10 Palestinians."
NBC News Lies
"NBC host David Gregory was forced to issue a correction at the end of his weekly Meet the Press program on Sunday after a United Nations official confronted him for using a unconfirmed Israeli video that allegedly showed Hamas shooting rockets from a UN school."
European foreign fighters in Syria
""U.S. intelligence agencies estimate around 7,000 of the 23,000 violent extremists operating in Syria are foreign fighters, mostly from Europe."" (thanks Amir)
After Abu Khdeir murder, an ugly collision of homophobia and racism
"After Mohammed Abu Khdeir was burned to death, many Israeli Jews insisted he died at the hands of Palestinians. They seized on unfounded rumors of his alleged homosexuality rather than facing the truth of the horrible act."
The Gaza prison
"Most of the time Palestinians living in Gaza can go to the corner grocer, buy their kids some milk; they can drive a little ways to their desk job or try to hawk their strawberries and cabbage at the best price in the loudest voice. But whatever they do, they cannot leave Gaza. They can’t get out to Israel or Egypt, or anywhere else. They cannot accept the scholarships to British universities and live out their plans for higher education; they cannot see their aunties in Jordan or New York; they cannot go on business trips or get top-notch chemotherapy or take some vacation days to be Maid of Honor in their best friend’s wedding in Florida. These are humans living in a cage controlled by Israel and ignored by most of the world. 1.8 million live patrolled and contained like this—that’s about the population of Hamburg, or Detroit in its heyday. It is difficult to convey the utter wrongness of this city-sized prison-house to someone who has not experienced or witnessed the daily indignities and frequent atrocities of the occupation. Only the pinnacle of human creativity could help one imagine it. It needs a Jim Jarmush film-set, with lighting that’s not quite right, where strange things happen, things are somehow off, and nobody seems to notice. And a melting Dalí clock—to convey the slow creep of time when every day brings more of the same caged existence with no apparent hope for escape. Only Hannah Arendt’s moral clarity and Graham Greene’s sardonic, slicing prose could adequately condemn the banality of this evil, the routinization of the occupation’s violence and the calm general acceptance of the humiliations it inflicts on so many people. Maybe Shakespeare could pierce the fog of obfuscating propaganda and disinformation that spews forth from the governments so intent on justifying this unjustifiable human cage (Israel, the United States, Egypt, for example).
Our lazy swilling of government propaganda, our silence in the face of these wrongs is inexcusable, because the facts are all there for the knowing, all clearly laid out. Human rights organizations, humanitarian workers, the United Nations, journalists, scholars have documented with care and in detail the many dimensions of injustice that shore up the Israeli occupation and holds 1.8 million residents of Gaza hostage. They have been telling us for almost half a century about the ways military occupation crushes Palestinian lives". I am in no mood for the rest of the last sentence when she says: "and corrupts Israeli society". All arguments that basically dwells on the harm occupation and war crimes cause to the killers is an immoral and racist argument at best.
Our lazy swilling of government propaganda, our silence in the face of these wrongs is inexcusable, because the facts are all there for the knowing, all clearly laid out. Human rights organizations, humanitarian workers, the United Nations, journalists, scholars have documented with care and in detail the many dimensions of injustice that shore up the Israeli occupation and holds 1.8 million residents of Gaza hostage. They have been telling us for almost half a century about the ways military occupation crushes Palestinian lives". I am in no mood for the rest of the last sentence when she says: "and corrupts Israeli society". All arguments that basically dwells on the harm occupation and war crimes cause to the killers is an immoral and racist argument at best.
Don't you like the iconsistencies of Zionist "atheists"
"Though I just said that I don’t think Israel should exist as a Jewish state, the justification for such a state is rather easy to find." If I were to say: I find the justification for an Islamic state rather easy to find" I would rightly be laughed at. But hey: he is a Zionist atheist.
Director of HRW tells Israel that its crimes are bad PR
Kenneth Roth @KenRoth 2m
"If abiding by laws of war isn't incentive enuf for #Israel to avoid killing civilians, the p.r. disaster should be"
"If abiding by laws of war isn't incentive enuf for #Israel to avoid killing civilians, the p.r. disaster should be"
Israeli victory
"If victory is measured in the number of dead, then Israel and its army are big winners. From the time I wrote these words on Saturday, and by the time you read them on Sunday, the number will no longer be 1,000 (70-80 percent civilians) but even more.
How many more? Ten bodies, 18? Three more pregnant women? Five dead children, their eyes half-open, their mouths gaping, their baby teeth poking out, their shirts covered with blood and they are being carried on a single stretcher? If victory means causing the enemy to pile up a number of slaughtered children on one stretcher, since there are not enough stretchers, then you have won, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – you and the nation that admires you.
And the trophy also goes to the Startup Nation, this time to the startup renowned for knowing and reporting as little as possible with as many international media and available websites as possible. “Good morning, it was a quiet night,” the Army Radio host announced cheerfully on Thursday morning. In the day preceding the happy announcement, the Israel Defense Forces killed 80 Palestinians, 64 of whom were civilians, including 15 children and 5 women. At least 30 of them were killed during the same quiet night, from overwhelming shelling, bombing and firing from Israeli artillery, and this is without counting the number of injured or the number of houses blown up.)
If victory is measured in the number of families wiped out within two weeks – parents and children, one parent and a few children, a grandmother and daughters in law and grandchildren and son, brothers and their children, in all the variations you might choose – then we also have the upper hand. Here, names from memory: Al-Najjar, Karaw’a, Abu-Jam’e, Ghannem, Qannan, Hamad, A-Salim, Al Astal, Al Hallaq, Sheikh Khalil, Al Kilani. In these families, the few members who survived the Israeli bombings in the past two weeks are now jealous of their dead.
And let’s not forget the laurel wreaths for our legal experts, those without whom the IDF does not make a move. Due to them, blowing up an entire house – whether empty or filled with residents – is easily justified if Israel characterizes one of the family members as an appropriate target (be he senior or junior Hamas member, military or political, brother or family guest). "
How many more? Ten bodies, 18? Three more pregnant women? Five dead children, their eyes half-open, their mouths gaping, their baby teeth poking out, their shirts covered with blood and they are being carried on a single stretcher? If victory means causing the enemy to pile up a number of slaughtered children on one stretcher, since there are not enough stretchers, then you have won, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – you and the nation that admires you.
And the trophy also goes to the Startup Nation, this time to the startup renowned for knowing and reporting as little as possible with as many international media and available websites as possible. “Good morning, it was a quiet night,” the Army Radio host announced cheerfully on Thursday morning. In the day preceding the happy announcement, the Israel Defense Forces killed 80 Palestinians, 64 of whom were civilians, including 15 children and 5 women. At least 30 of them were killed during the same quiet night, from overwhelming shelling, bombing and firing from Israeli artillery, and this is without counting the number of injured or the number of houses blown up.)
If victory is measured in the number of families wiped out within two weeks – parents and children, one parent and a few children, a grandmother and daughters in law and grandchildren and son, brothers and their children, in all the variations you might choose – then we also have the upper hand. Here, names from memory: Al-Najjar, Karaw’a, Abu-Jam’e, Ghannem, Qannan, Hamad, A-Salim, Al Astal, Al Hallaq, Sheikh Khalil, Al Kilani. In these families, the few members who survived the Israeli bombings in the past two weeks are now jealous of their dead.
And let’s not forget the laurel wreaths for our legal experts, those without whom the IDF does not make a move. Due to them, blowing up an entire house – whether empty or filled with residents – is easily justified if Israel characterizes one of the family members as an appropriate target (be he senior or junior Hamas member, military or political, brother or family guest). "
collaborators and informers in Gaza
Now the Israeli media are starting to shed tears over the plight of Israeli collaborators and informers in Gaza. Personally, I wish that they be treated very much the French resistance dealt with Nazi collaborators.
Military press releases in Gaza
Western media (typically) are not commenting about the clear pattern of deception and lies in Israeli military press releases. They deny that their soldiers are killed, only to confirm it a day or more later. They denied that a soldier has been captured, only to confirm it two days later. It seems that Qassam has far more credibility in military press releases. Arabs on social media are taking note.
Who are the civilians?
Egyptian journalist, Wa'il Qandil, said on Aljzeera that "all Israelis are soldiers even if they are not carrying weapons, while all Palestinians are civilians even if they are carrying weapons."
New York Times Gaza toll counter
"Latest totals updated July 28
3,289
targets in Gaza struck by Israel
1,023
Palestinian deaths
2,319
rockets launched at Israel from Gaza
51
Israeli deaths". Notice that Israel hits "targets in Gaza" while Hamas lauches rockets "at Israel". If that is the case, how come the ratio of civilian deaths is 1 to 300 by Israel?
3,289
targets in Gaza struck by Israel
1,023
Palestinian deaths
2,319
rockets launched at Israel from Gaza
51
Israeli deaths". Notice that Israel hits "targets in Gaza" while Hamas lauches rockets "at Israel". If that is the case, how come the ratio of civilian deaths is 1 to 300 by Israel?
Al-Arabiyya
By far the most hated TV news channel in the Arab world by young Arabs everywhere is Al-Arabiyyah (the TV news station of the in-laws of King Fahd). They call it Al-`Ibriyyah (the Hebrew one).
Zionists in the US
What will Zionists do when Israeli is no more? Who will they hate then? Historians?
Resistance movements
Each resistance movement builds on the one that preceded it, and so on until full liberation.
#a_matter_of_time
#a_matter_of_time
Correction
It should be incompatible of course, not compatible. See what happens when I blog as soon as I wake up?
Logic of US news coverage
Palestinians kill Israel soldiers and Israelis kill Palestinians civilians but Palestinians are the terrorists.
New York Times makes a correction: only 117 Palestinians were butchered by Israel
"The article also misstated, using information from the ministry, the number of bodies recovered from the rubble during Saturday’s lull in fighting. One hundred seventeen bodies were recovered, not 147."
Look at the crude propaganda allowed by US newspapers
Forget about the content, just see this headline to an article by the former head of Israeli terrorist military intelligence: "To Save Gaza, Destroy Hamas". What if I send an article to New York Times titled: To save the Middle East, destroy Israel". Will they print it, you think?
are they militants or suspected militants?
Notice that US media are careful in their language except when it comes to enemies and victims of Israel. Look at this sentence: "Suspected militants patrolling a road in western Afghanistan shot and killed 14 Shiite Muslim travelers". So those people commit a massacre and they are "suspected militants" but when Israel kills Palestinians or target practice on them, they are immediately labeled "Hamas militants".
No looting in Gaza
"There was no looting, nor any police on the streets." Of course. Unlike the thieves of the Israeli army. Israeli terrorist soldiers are known to steal whatever they see in Arab homes. Family members in South Lebanon in the 1980s used to say: don't leave money or cigarettes on the tables. Israeli soldiers will steal them. Kid you not. But then again: those who steal the land would refrain from stealing cigarettes?
maybe the dead animals in Gaza will get Western sympathy, but I doubt it
"There were many dead animals, too. Donkeys, horses, cows were scattered at the edges of fields and in the marketplaces. The farm towns at the edges of Gaza are where the shepherds live, and in the shelling they were forced to abandon their flocks."
The US media now refer to tunnels as terror tunnels but with this historic exception
"The value of tunnels is magnified in asymmetric conflicts, in which a small insurgent force takes on a larger, more powerful enemy. In the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea (132-136 A.D.), Jewish rebels used tunnels to launch lightning commando raids on superior Roman forces, the aim being to sow fear and undermine morale." Now that was resistance.
look at this propaganda headline in the WP
"The enemy below: Why Hamas tunnels scare Israel so much". Next: Why Palestinian children scare Israel so much.
Justice and freedom of the Palestinians
Zionists habitually distort our words and invent sayings and attribute them to their enemies. It is a long established Zionist method. But let me tell you: the quotation attributed to me in the new book The BDS War Against Israel is very much mine: "Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel". But is not axiomatic? Who can dispute that?
What about those Palestinians killed in West Bank?
How will the US media sell those murders? Will they say that they were launching missiles at Israel? Will they say that this was Hamas? Will they say that Hamas fighters were hiding behind them? Will they say that Israel was protecting itself from youth throwing firecrackers?
Explosions of unknown origins hit Gaza: possibly from another planet
Washington Post headline: "Hospital in Gaza hit by explosions, causing numerous civilian casualties"
Son of the Saudi King is a business partner with a Mossad-linked Israeli company
"The drive by foreign companies to grab a piece of the action in gas-rich Turkmenistan is reported to be producing some strange bedfellows -- like PetroSaudi, owned by the son of King Abdallah, and Merhav, an Israeli conglomerate run by former intelligence officer Yosef Maiman.
According to Intelligence Online, a Paris-based Web site that covers global security issues, the companies from these longtime Middle Eastern adversaries are negotiating a partnership "through intermediaries" to explore the Serdar field that straddles the border between Turkmenistan and oil-rich Azerbaijan....Maiman once worked for the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, and is reputedly linked to a network of companies owned by the agency."
According to Intelligence Online, a Paris-based Web site that covers global security issues, the companies from these longtime Middle Eastern adversaries are negotiating a partnership "through intermediaries" to explore the Serdar field that straddles the border between Turkmenistan and oil-rich Azerbaijan....Maiman once worked for the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, and is reputedly linked to a network of companies owned by the agency."
Arabs on US TV screens: regarding Hamas
How I despise any Arab who appears on US TV screens and prefaces his remarks by pointing out how much he detests Hamas, as if we are having an ideological discussion and as if Israel is bombing Hamas ideology. This is a typical tactic of those loyal to UAE and Saudi royal interests. The tricks are too obvious. I can discuss my views and opinions of Hamas when the story is about Hamas. The story now is that Israel is launching a war on the Palestinian people. When Israel was bombing Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon all throughout my years growing up, there was no Hamas and no Hizbullah.
Chris Gunness does not mention Israel when he talks about the bombing of Beit Hanoun
"On the record quote from UNRWA Spokesperson, Chris Gunness:
According to the information UNRWA has gathered so far about the fatal incident at the UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun on Thursday, there were hundreds of people at the installation when it was hit. We had staff at the school when the incident took place reporting in, as the shelling, which caused multiple fatalities and casualties, occurred. In addition we have spoken to numerous eye witnesses. According to our reports, after the first shell, there were several others in the close vicinity of the school within a matter of minutes.
We reiterate our condemnation and dismay at the incident and the loss of life. We call for a full investigation. It is important in a case like this where a clearly marked UN school in which hundreds of people took refuge is hit in this way, that there should be full transparency and accountability. We look forward to a report that is fair and objective in establishing the facts."
According to the information UNRWA has gathered so far about the fatal incident at the UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun on Thursday, there were hundreds of people at the installation when it was hit. We had staff at the school when the incident took place reporting in, as the shelling, which caused multiple fatalities and casualties, occurred. In addition we have spoken to numerous eye witnesses. According to our reports, after the first shell, there were several others in the close vicinity of the school within a matter of minutes.
We reiterate our condemnation and dismay at the incident and the loss of life. We call for a full investigation. It is important in a case like this where a clearly marked UN school in which hundreds of people took refuge is hit in this way, that there should be full transparency and accountability. We look forward to a report that is fair and objective in establishing the facts."
In Israel, an Arab would be arrested for insulting a Zionists, but Israeli mobs regularly chant racist insults to Arabs
“Gaza is a graveyard,” sing joyful Israeli youths"
Sunday, July 27, 2014
The truce according to Israel
I don't think that I have seen this mentioned or highlighted in the US press, but according to the interpretation of the truce by Israel, its terrorist soldiers can continue their "operation" in the tunnels and can continue to kill whomever they see and can continue to occupy parts of Gaza--the parts that they dared to advance to.
Shujaiyeh had about 100,000 Palestinian inhabitants
Make no mistake about it. It is the logic (and dialectic) of history--and future. There will come a day when Palestinians will do to Israelis what Israelis have done to Palestinians.
Palestinian Children Tortured, Used As Shields By Israel, UN Says
"Palestinian Children Tortured, Used As Shields By Israel, UN Says"
inspiring: the new Arab generation
I wrote this in Arabic but wish to write it hear for those Arabs in the diaspora who don't read Arabic: the new Arab generation (and from all Arab states) have done a great job in social media in support of Gaza. They are responsible for tipping the balance in the coverage against the Israeli war criminals. Keep it up, non-stop, because Israeli aggression is non-stop.
They were killed while killing children
And the American media could not be prouder of them. Imagine if this story begin thus: Ahmad so and so and Basim so and so grew up in America and had a passion for Palestine. Their love of that nation led both to join Hamas and fight against Israeli occupation in Gaza." Can you imagine. Look at this actual trashy intro: "Max Steinberg and Nissim Sean Carmeli grew up in America and had a passion for Israel. Their love of that nation led both to join the Israel Defense Forces and fight against Hamas in Gaza Strip, where they were killed Sunday." (thanks Khaled)
The cult of Abu `Ubaydah
I have written this week that the Qassam spokesperson, Abu `Ubaydah, is probably the most popular Arab these days. This shows a t-shirt (with the caption "I am with the resistance") and a cologne by the name of Abu `Ubaydah. This is a classic rule in Arab politics: the more you are demonized by Israel, the more popular you are, and vice versa. (thanks Hossam)Correction: it is a parody account of the Israeli terrorist army: The Israeli terrorist army tweeted this picture with this caption:
"One of our brave soldiers defending himself against a Hamas member who's in the deadly running away position #Gaza pic.twitter.com/5w9j74w0lk" What does "deadly running away position" mean?
UAE foreign minister tweets against Israel
It calls on people to retweet and it was retweeted, Sultan reports, more than 10,000. I think such posts are intended to cover up UAE complicity in the Israeli war on Gaza.
HRW
Do you notice that HRW is harsher in its tone against US war crimes than against Israeli war crimes?
Our country is a graveyard but Tawfiq Ziyad (not by Mahmud Darwish, take note)
"Our Country is a Graveyard"
Our Country is a Graveyard (my translation):
"Gentlemen, you have transformed
our country into a graveyard
You have planted bullets in our heads,
and organized massacres
Gentlemen, nothing passes like that
without account
All that you have done
to our people is
registered in notebooks".
Our Country is a Graveyard (my translation):
"Gentlemen, you have transformed
our country into a graveyard
You have planted bullets in our heads,
and organized massacres
Gentlemen, nothing passes like that
without account
All that you have done
to our people is
registered in notebooks".
Dumb Israeli propaganda in Arabic
I always say that it pleases to live to a day when Israeli propaganda has become dumber than Ba`thist and Saudi propaganda. It really does. Look at this Arabic language silly propaganda "ID card" of Hamas released by the Israeli terrorist army. It lists Hamas "roots" as atheist, and I don't even know what that means and no one in the Arab world will know. Also, in the section of "course" (manhaj): it misspells the Arabic word كسر and write قسر which has a whole different meaning. The British Israeli lobby
"Pro-Israeli organisations in Britain look set to see their influence increase if the Conservatives win the next election, a film scrutinising the activities of a powerful but little-known lobby warns today.
At least half of the shadow cabinet are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), according to a Dispatches programme being screened on Channel 4. The programme-makers describe the CFI as "beyond doubt the most well- connected and probably the best funded of all Westminster lobbying groups".
Inside Britain's Israel Lobby claims that donations to the Conservative party "from all CFI members and their businesses add up to well over £10m over the last eight years". CFI has disputed the figure and called the film "deeply flawed".
The programme also describes how David Cameron allegedly accepted a £15,000 donation from Poju Zabludowicz, a Finnish billionaire who chairs Bicom (the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre). Zabludowizc, the film reveals, has business interests in an illegal West Bank settlement. He also gave £50,000 to Conservative Central Office. Zabludowicz says his contributions "are a matter of public record"."
At least half of the shadow cabinet are members of the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), according to a Dispatches programme being screened on Channel 4. The programme-makers describe the CFI as "beyond doubt the most well- connected and probably the best funded of all Westminster lobbying groups".
Inside Britain's Israel Lobby claims that donations to the Conservative party "from all CFI members and their businesses add up to well over £10m over the last eight years". CFI has disputed the figure and called the film "deeply flawed".
The programme also describes how David Cameron allegedly accepted a £15,000 donation from Poju Zabludowicz, a Finnish billionaire who chairs Bicom (the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre). Zabludowizc, the film reveals, has business interests in an illegal West Bank settlement. He also gave £50,000 to Conservative Central Office. Zabludowicz says his contributions "are a matter of public record"."
And the award for the dumbest comment of the week goes to Richard Engel (a previous recepient)
"Huge damage in #gaza. But didnt see hamas men out helping with relief and recovery". Somebody should tell this genius that the men he sees around him are Hamas men but that they did not brandish their weapons for the cameras, unless he thinks "Hamas men" don't like like human beings and are distinguished by special physical feature that makes them identificable in a crowd of people. US TV news correspondents tend to be the worst of all correspondents especially that they never reside in the region that they cover, with the exception of a few.
In numbers: Israel is a more efficient killer than either the Syrian regime or the Syrian rebels
From comrade Talal on those who argue that Syrian war is worse than Israeli massacres: "If you include the 3 recent episodes in Gaza (Cast Lead, Pillars of Clouds, and the Firm Edge), we are probably talking about 3000+ civilians dead and 15,000 wounded out of a population of say 2 million. If you assume that the population of Syria is 12 times bigger than that of Gaza, the equivalent figures would be 36,000 dead and 180,000 wounded. And the Gaza figures were accrued over 3 short periods. In essence, I think the Israelis are the more efficient killers. "