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The Israeli Smashing of Gaza and International Silence
I knew that 1026 of the 1330 who were killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza were civilians. Of the 1026 civilians, 282 were children, 111 women, 168 civilian policemen and 501 civilian men died in Israeli bombings. 274 have been classified as combatant deaths.
I knew that the estimates for the cost of reconstruction to the destruction done by Israeli bombing is over $2 billion. After seeing the destruction in Gaza City, I thought I would be prepared for North Gaza. I had heard the damage done by F-16s and tanks was substantial, but I was stunned by the large number of apartment buildings and industries that had been blown up and destroyed by the Israeli military in the northern Gaza border region with Israel.
The Israeli military destroyed virtually everything in a corridor along the border in Jabalia and forced the evacuation of Gazans back into the center part of Gaza, a tiny area 45 kilometers long and 8 kilometers wide. Homes and factories were leveled and tens of thousands of citizens were left homeless. We saw five tent camps that had been set up by relief organizations. Living conditions are spartan.
Nahed, a project manager for Palestine Medical Relief Society, guided us through the wreckage of North Gaza. We visited one of the four primary health care facilities PMRS operates, with an overworked staff trying to cope with the medical and emotional challenges of those who have returned to their bombed out homes with family members dead or injured.
37 Members of One Family Killed as Israeli Military Orders 150 into a Building then Bombs it
In the Al Zaiton area in northern Gaza, we met with the remaining members of the al Samouni family. The large extended family lived in many houses and some family members operated a poultry farm in the area. After the Israeli army invaded, Army personnel ordered 150 members of the family into one large home and then bombed the home as well as all the numerous homes and buildings of the family. 37 members of the family were killed and many were injured. The Israeli government said the military had made a mistake.
The al Samouni family set up several large tents for the numerous visitors who come by the area to pay respects. One tent had eight women inside. All had family members killed and wounded in the attacks. We spoke with Ibtessana al Samouni who had two children killed and her husband and daughter seriously injured and are being treated in Saudi Arabia. One of her sons was also injured and is in a military hospital in Cairo. She and her remaining 5 children are living with other relatives in Gaza City. Ibtessana had a glazed stare and kept repeating that no one in her family had done anything to the Israelis. We saw in her eyes the disbelief that some of her children were dead and that she would not see her husband and other children for months. The emotional health of the al Samouni extended family considering the large number of deaths and injuries in the family seemed precarious.
The family area, a section of land about ½ mile by ½ mile was completely bombed. It looked like a huge tornado or hurricane had wiped out the area. The poultry farm was totally destroyed and bulldozers were pushing the rotting chicken carcasses into a pit while we were there.
Life Without Your Home
Dressed in her black abaya, Izbet Abed Rabu told us she and her family of five children and her husband now live in a tent provided by the United Nations after her home was destroyed in Jabalia, northern Gaza. She showed us her two story concrete block home that was flattened into rubble. Her eyes teared over as she said she was lucky. No one in her family had been killed in the Israeli naval shelling and rocket attacks, but her neighbors had been hit hard. Two neighboring families each had three family members killed.
Izbet pointed to the white tent provided by the United Nations and said that after two weeks they still have only blankets, but no cots or any "furniture" inside the tents. With the night desert temperatures falling into the low 40 degrees, she said her four children are cold. The children are not yet in school.
Industries Systematically Destroyed
There are few industries left in northern Gaza and the Israeli military destroyed 10-15 of those remaining industries including two cement companies, a dairy, gas station, an aluminum recycling company and a health products company. The production capacity of Gaza has been severely impacted by the Israeli warplanes.
Agricultural Lands Purposefully Destroyed
We walked in the agricultural lands mangled by Israeli tanks that had been positioned in the fields near the medical clinic. The fruit trees in one field had been completed knocked down and bulldozed over. Olive orchards throughout Gaza were systematically destroyed by Israeli tanks.
Schools Destroyed
Close by was Khalil al Noubany High School that had been used by Israeli soldiers. To secure the building they blew holes in it setting part of it on fire. The remaining part was occupied and used to fire on any one remaining in the area. The Israeli soldiers trashed the school. They left h military trash everywhere. School books and supplies had been thrown on the floor and walked on in virtually all the classrooms. It was quite obvious that they soldier had intentionally damaged the insides of the classrooms and purposefully destroyed books and educational materials. The headmaster of the school, who arrived as we were looking at the school, said that the school had served 550 girl students in the morning and 530 male students in the afternoon. She told us that the school is so severely damaged that it cannot reopen this year and students are having to travel to the few remaining schools that are open in Gaza.
Later in the day while he was serving double duty as a Gaza government official at the Rafah, Gaza border crossing, Mr. Ahmed Ayes Alnajjar of the Ministry of Education told us that 7 schools in Gaza were totally destroyed and 135 schools were substantially damaged.
The Prison Called Gaza
We left northern Gaza and headed for the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. We had to be across the border into Egypt by 5pm as the Egyptian government was closing the border. If we did not exit Gaza by 5pm we too would be imprisoned in Gaza until the border crossing reopened-which might be months. So after only 48 hours in Gaza, we were forced to depart.
On the way to the Gaza border, we stopped to see a few of the 1500 tunnels that Palestinians have dug since the borders of Gaza were closed and the siege began. Palestinians have been locked into the prison called Gaza for the past sixteen months.
Bombing Tunnels With a Blind Eye
The tunnel area is in plain sight next to the Egyptian border. It is a surreal scene. Buildings behind the tunnel area have been bombed and are destroyed. Trucks and cars are parked under the remaining roofs of a large bombed out fresh air market-- ready to move goods from the tunnel area.
Mounds of fresh sand are everywhere indicating that tunnels are still being dug. Generators hum providing air into the tunnels and powering the cables that pull loads of every imaginable type of goods from vegetables, canned goods, bags of rice and sugar, merchandise for hardware stores, etc. through the tunnels to the surface on the Gaza side.
Every tunnel is surrounded by barriers made of light fencing covered with large plastic bags. Young men are busy hauling up goods that have been brought through the tunnel from Egypt.
The tunnel "managers" we spoke with were surprisingly open in allowing us to come into the areas and talk with them. They said that about 900 tunnels have been destroyed or partially damaged by Israeli bombs. Most are being rebuilt, despite the almost daily bombing by Israeli war planes. The tunnels we saw had openings about 4 feet across. The entry holes were from 50 to 65 feet deep and the tunnels were 500 to 1,000 feet long. One tunnel opening was built with concrete blocks and another opening was built with wood.
The tunnel manager said that to rebuild a tunnel that has been blown up takes about half the time to reopen and digging a new tunnel. The tunnel areas are little cities with electricity, water, food and coffee at each tunnel entrance.
Tunnel digging is about the only employment for young men in Gaza. They earn 100 shekels ($25) per day for digging in the tunnels. One manager said many tunnel diggers had died when the reinforced sand tunnels collapsed during construction. But young men continue to risk the dangers as tunnel construction is one of the few jobs available to them.
While we did not see the other end of the tunnel operation on the Rafah, Egypt side of the border, it is inconceivable that Egyptian authorities do not know where the tunnel openings are. All they have to do is to follow the parade of trucks loaded with merchandise that come into Rafah, Egypt.
After coming through the border we stopped in Rafah, Egypt to see what the smuggling town was like. The police presence was tremendous. We had barely gotten our bags out of the taxi when a policeman was at our side asking why we were in Rafah. We replied that we were hungry and wanted to get something to eat. We stopped at a small falafel stand and for the next hour were watched by police. As one of us would go to explore the main street, police would follow in the distance. They definitely did not want us straying off the main road and back into the houses and businesses where the tunnel entrances are.
It is remarkable that all the tunnels haven't been bombed. With the sophisticated satellite views, cameras from drones, tethered radar and surveillance balloon and the $32 million tunnel detection equipment provided by the U.S. government, the Israeli, Egyptian and United States' governments know exactly where the tunnels are.
But, closing the border provides Egyptian and Israeli businessmen a tremendous opportunity to sell goods to people in Gaza at very high prices. No doubt, Egyptian and Israeli government officials are paid to turn a blind eye to the tunneling and "smuggling." Determining who profits economically from the occupations and sieges is fascinating. A new Israeli website www.whoprofits.org tracks who profits financially from the occupation and no doubt profits from the blockade and will profit from the rebuilding of destroyed Gaza.
Israeli bombing of tunnels is, of course, only on the Gaza side. No one is bombing the entrances to the tunnels on the Egyptian side of the border.
The tunnel economy means that for the ordinary citizens of Gaza, where there is a 70% unemployment rate and where over 900,000 of the 1.5 million in Gaza are on United Nations rations, closing the border and forcing commerce through the tunnels they pay exorbitant fees for every item brought through the tunnels.
SILENCE from the International Community
The sights we saw in Gaza were tragic-a goliath Israel pounding a small Gaza David with international silence and complicity in the 22 day military attack on Gaza and on the 16 month siege of Gaza. 1330 Palestinians have died, 5400 have been wounded and hundreds of thousands with memories of the bombings and invasion and occupation. Over $2 billion will be spent on rebuilding destroyed homes, businesses and factories. And there is SILENCE!!
Smashing of Gaza is a War Crime
I deplore the use of rockets against Israeli towns by Hamas and other groups in Gaza which have killed approximately 20 Israelis.
But, as a military officer who taught the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Land Warfare in US military schools, I fully believe the disproportionate response by the Israeli government and military in the smashing of Gaza is a violation of international law and a war crime.
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Show AllDresden was payback for the London Blitz, in particular. Victor Klemperer was there and left an account "I Will Bear Witness." The city center was demolished, but the residential outskirts were only lightly damaged.
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stood by
genocide
live
Describing the Palestinians as "the Jews at Warsaw" or "the Sioux at Little Big Horn" or "the Zulus at Blood River" are all attempts to divert attention from who the Palestinians really are.
""fakedemocracy February 13th, 2009 10:22 pm
...
Where's that quote when you need it, "We see things not as they are, but as we perceive them."??"
I SUPPOSE that that's one manner of expression, but the way I seem to recall a similar expression is, "We see things not as they are, but as we want (or wish) to see (or perceive) them".
The "as we perceive them" expression can be analysed enough to amount to not essay-length but nevertheless considerable explanation, while the "as we want to see them" is straight-forward simple, requiring no analysis. The question about using "as we perceive" is that we can perceive correctly, accurately, and in-depth, or not; we could perceive only the superficial while neglecting the greater substance involved.
AIPAC is not superficial; it's a key player, it plays a role that serves the interests of the real ruling elites of the U.S. govt. But AIPAC is superficial compared to the latter people, and they must be focused upon; they're the ones who must be stopped first and foremost. Stop them and AIPAC will become [insignificant]. Israel won't become insignificant though. Heh, it has 200 to 400 nukes!
"DavidC February 13th, 2009 10:08 pm
DC
The world is silent about Israel, because they are beaten with the "anti-Semitic" club if they dare say anything. The Zionist control most of the mass media, which is another reason for the "silence". The only place there is dissent, is on the internet. Because of the internet, most of the world now knows the Jewish "Holocaust" is a hoax-scam. ..."
Yes, or I suppose yes anyway, about the being "beaten with the 'anti-semitic' club if ...", but when that happens, then I don't think people are treated as criminals in courts of law, as has happened to some Holocaust deniers; one, if not more than one, in Canada, and I think also some in Europe, if recalling that latter case(s), while the recall is still vague.
As for the msm "news" media, it tows the line the govts want them to tow, rendering them and their corporate owners complicit in Israel's, or rather Israel's and the US govt's, extreme criminality.
Hoax?
As for the Jewish Holocaust being a hoax, this is more conspiracy theory and apparently proven to be false. For those who are interested in a considerable portion of an essay in which the holocaust deniers are debunked, see the section entitled or subheaded, "Other "Myth Debunking" Concerning the Holocaust", in Wade Frazier's extensive essay, "The Business of War", linked below. He excellently refers to authors of the "Jewish Holocaust" denial vein who actually used plenty of important truths, but who either neglected truth, or else deliberately employed un-truths, that is, lies or else errors (falsehoods), and in using the truths that they did employ they made the un-truths seem believable to many people. He does this with two, if not more, such authors and excellently explains.
http://www.ahealedplanet.net/war.htm
I greatly appreciate having come across Wade Frazier's essays, very recently too. I had read some Holocaust deniers who actually were very credible and in reading what Wade Frazier says I don't feel guilty at all for having thought that the deniers I had read and found them to be credible, without being able to say whether they were right or not though. (Lies can be credible, they can seem to be truths, while other lies are easily discerned, if not obvious.) I was right about them being credible for myself and many other people, for they employ a lot of truth and then screw it up with one or more untruths that unless we know them to be untrue we just don't know. That's when we especially need people like Wade Frazier to explain and in excellent ways like he does; instead of only saying the denial authors are spewing out lies, f.e., he [explains], specifying important truths provided by the deniers, while adding their untruths.
It's important to take that approach; instead of simply calling others liars, explain what they say that's true and untrue, like juxtaposing the two. Being able to [explain] well and doing so is an art, or very like an art anyway. It can certainly be considered part of the art of communication.
I'm against persecutions of Holocaust deniers though, for if we do have proof of the truth of the Holocaust, then the proof should be simply and publicly presented. After all, if the deniers truly believe the Holocaust, the Jewish Holocaust, that is, didn't happen, then they're wrong, but innocent, really. I prefer [educational] approaches for teaching; not punishments. Debunk the erroneous deniers and do it publicly, after which if the deniers continue, then there's no need to punish them for then everyone will have been informed that what the deniers say is false. I guess we might call that a diplomatic approach.
This is an apocalyptic account from reality, indeed, and Ann Wright closes with:
"I deplore the use of rockets against Israeli towns by Hamas and other groups in Gaza which have killed approximately 20 Israelis.
But, as a military officer who taught the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Land Warfare in US military schools, I fully believe the disproportionate response by the Israeli government and military in the smashing of Gaza is a violation of international law and a war crime."
I differ a little with that, for:
a) I do not "fully believe ..." as she says to believe. Instead, I [KNOW] that what she says to only believe is indeed violation of intl law and a war crime; and that's while the whole Dec. 27 2008 and rather ongoing Israeli or U.S.-Israeli war of aggression on Gazans is full of war crimes, and the launching of this aggression is a supreme international crime, as all wars of aggression are.
b) Wherein she refers to the 20 Israelis killed by Palestinian-fired rockets, or else rockets fired from within Palestine by ... some party(ies) and then refers to Israel's response as 'disproportionate', I understand that as inferring that Hamas is or else possibly is at fault for provoking an response from Israel, BUT that would be a false inference, for Hamas is not at all to blame for Israel's response. Hence the response is not disproportionate; it's not even a response, for it [is] aggression and it's due to Israel's or U.S.-and-Israel's acts of aggression that rockets are fired from Palestine into Israel.
We don't need to believe it's a violation of intl law and a war crime, we need to understand that we do know that it is and must prosecute all guilty leaders, including those of the U.S. govt, ideally.
I'd also like to see all guilty leaders of European govts and in the msm "news" media also prosecuted, but must of course start with Israel's leaders and if that's achieved, then move on to prosecuting the guilty U.S. leaders, first. That's clearly never going to happen, for we live in a world in which the legal bodies are spineless and corrupt.
There is no need for the UN and the ICC to at all question if these are war crimes committed by Israel. We [KNOW] they are! There's no point in pretending that the obvious fact that Israel has definitely committed extreme war crimes many times since Dec 27th is possibly not fact. It is obvious fact!
The UN should not only be investigating if the Israeli strikes on UN compounds in Gaza are war crimes, which they certainly are. Instead, the UN should investigate all of the extreme crimes committed by Israel since Dec. 27th, and only to tabulate each one of them for purpose of prosecutions on each count, which includes the initial launching of this war of aggresion, this supreme intl crime.
No need for debate. This is not school-room theory class stuff; this is about real and extreme crimes of war and against humanity! People who want to take the debate route are either ignorant, or are illustrating that they are [spineless], really having no concrete principles of justice in their bodies or minds, hearts, souls. Ann Wright doesn't fall into the latter category, but that she refers to Israel as having responded, instead of launched aggression, this alone is in error. It's obvious aggression!
Sh*t, the Israeli leadership (and their U.S., and European, backers) make Hitler and the Nazis look not so bad; he was, or they were, more humane, as says, or rather explains, Wade Frazier in his essay "The Business of War".
http://www.ahealedplanet.net/war.htm
This is the price humanity must pay for the rich pigs of Big Oil, etcetera, in the U.S. to gain "full spectrum dominance"; these extreme slaughters of peoples and destructions of countries are the price?!
And has Israel or U.S.-Israel escalated their genocidal criminality against Palestinians or Gazans for the sake of profiting from the offshore oil and gas fields legally belonging to Palestinians, or else the Gazan Palestinians? Doing a Web search on "gaza oil gas "british gas"", minus the outer quotes while retaining those for "british gas", turns up plenty of article links on this topic. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky says that these fields were "discovered in 2000" in the following article of his.
"War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields",
by Michel Chossudovsky, Jan 8 2009
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680
An article at Ha'aretz of Oct. 21, 2007, says Israel gave the fields to the Palestinian Authority in 1999, and that the fields, as of the date of the article, belonged to British Gas, around 60% worth, a Lebanese family's corporation, and the PA, the latter having something like around 10% belonging to it. But the above article and others say that instead of belonging to those forgeign corporations, they only have exploration rights there and that this is from an agreement or deal with the PA. Having exploration rights does not mean ownership rights, imo, and the articles also say that the fields are in Gaza's coastal waters, not Israel's, so these fields certainly should not have been owned by Israel, which in turn means that if Israel indeed gave the fields to the PA in 1999, then Israel had illegal ownership and therefore no legal right to have any say over these fields at all. Israel would've then been returning to the rightful owners what it had stolen from them. IMO.
Is this recent war of aggression and of major killings and destruction, which clearly is aimed at trying to force Palestinians to flee from Palestine, about trying to secure those oil and gas fields, which are said to have an estimated value of $4bn, if that figure hasn't since risen or changed?
Just 20 Israelies---boo-booo!
I came across this posting on Yahoo--couldn't say it any better
"Well there are no good guys, but I'm getting a bit sick of hearing people saying that this is all Hamas' fault. Why do think they were firing rockets in the first place? Because as soon as they came to power, the Israelis blockaded Gaza and turned it into a giant refugee camp, that's why. See how friendly you would be, if you were prevented from importing food, water and fuel.
Right, so to prevent arms getting into Gaza, you prevent FOOD and WATER getting in as well? Please spare me the IDF rhetoric, it doesn't hold any water.
"The Palestineans in Gaza can get food and aid as needed so long as such goods pass through normal customs."
That's a crock and you damn well know it.
Yes I do know Hamas were democratically elected, and I know that their agenda is reprehensible. Let me ask you why they were elected in the first place? Is that because the Israelis have treated the Palestinians with such humanity in the recent years?
Hamas is not the only government with a hostile attitude towards Israel. The bottom line is that Israel is collectively punishing the people of Palestine for the political rhetoric of a democratically elected organisation.
Let's stop with this specious argument that Hamas are the baddies, shall we? Unless you thnk bulldozing a house with people inside it is somehow less of a crime than a suicide bomber?"
Juice have infiltrated all NATO countries.The Juice are back in Germany, France and Poland. Nato (United Tits for Israel) are all gunning to get even with Russia.Israel is just another big military base for USA.The Gaza is just a prelude to what is to come--WWIII. The Germans tried to settle the Juice into Palestine--600,000 Polish/Russian.When Zionist Hitler failed--the limp attack dog was slaughtered. Bad times are coming, the Gaza killings are just small potatoes :^(
Is "Juice" a pseudonym for "Jews" perchance, mine commandant??
For your edification, it's spelled "mein". German courses are available.
Thank you for being so diligent. I shall make a correction. And thanks for letting me know i can learn another lanquage as well!
"Mein commandant"
Dear Ms. Wright, I admired your action taken concerning the "war" in Iraq. War is one of those words used to terrify people -- what took place wasn't a war --it was a slaughter, like Gaza...
Just as true pictures from Iraq were denied to us, as well as returning coffins, so too are pictures from Gaza denied to us.
A picture is worth a thousand words, it has long been said.
Were you allowed to take pictures?
Isn't is weird that Egypt gave you access, and for only 48 hours. What kind of deal, situation, conspiracy is that?
Thank you for your courage in going there, and your reporting.
Palestine Stands For Every Colonized People, Past & Present
"Based on?"
"There being nothing so precious as freedom and independence.*"
*Ho Chi Minh
Well, now, if the good Saint Ann and one or two other people can keep up this tone and form of "realism" the human recognition movement might get somewhere. This, with Dahr Jamail's last offering, mixed with some Kathy Kelly and Rev. Jeremiah Wright is the standard to be strived for.
The only item in this report to which she is an actual witness, is to the tunnel/smuggling operation. There, she tells us that Gaza is cut off, while describing a not-cut-off situation.
Agreed, Puck!
Justina
Ann Wright's is one of the best, and most comprehensive, brief accounts I have read.
In the US, and also in countries like Australia where I live, Israel, despite its disproportionate might, is usually portrayed as the victim valiantly fighting wicked Palestinians. Accurate accounts of the destruction and suffering of the people of Palestine are rare - Gaza is only the latest site of regular attempts that seem aimed at obliterating these occupied people. Tunnels to Egypt, dug and traveled at great risk to those making and using them, are depicted as channels for weapons. That may sometimes be the case, but the tunnels are often the only way people can get essential food and medicine. In any event, the weapons so acquired are mostly pathetic rockets, invariably answered by massive bombs, artillery and tanks.
Don't forget too, that Hamas is not only democratically chosen in elections deemed free and fair by outside observers, but in its infancy Hamas was aided and abetted by Israel in an effort to undermine Fatah.
When people like Ann Wright, Jimmy Carter et al speak truth about Israel's deplorable actions, they are vilified. We know from countless examples that all human societies are capable of inhuman acts; the fact people have undoubtedly been victims in the past does not absolve them of responsibility for crimes they later commit. Unless some modicum of justice is offered to the Palestinians, they will never get past being deeply aggrieved.
readytotransform must be shunned. He never answers any questions concerning Israeli or Jewish transgressions against any country or peoples (even America without whom Israel couldn't survive). Did you notice he even slammed former President Carter. "readytotransform" is a typical Jewish apologist and justifier. Just read his defence of that trouble-making, hated country and its people. How is it that no country can get along with their people? In 1864 during the Civil War, Gen USS Grant barred them from military encampments since they were constantly sucking on the tits of the military and defrauding the US troops. Sure enough, a group of Jewish citizens requested and received a meeting with Pres Abraham Lincoln to complain that Gen Grant had barred Jews from the encampments. Of course Pres Lincoln did the honorable thing and revoked Grant's edict since it was an edict against one group of people. There you have it. Long before the holocaust they presented themselves as"victims" despite the fact they were preying upon the troops who were trying to save the Union. I guess this has been their modus operendi since they gave the world their history (or fairy tale)via the Torah. What a phony book. They can have their made-up Yahway. My God has a son named Jesus, their god has no son so we must worship different gods.
Sioux Rose
JONAH: Ready to transform is a humanist who seeks peaceful conflict resolution without the need to assign blame. There is more than enough to go around! Your hatred of Jews shows up in this post, as your taking the government policy of a nation that has moved into aggressive stances THAT MIRROR THOSE OF OUR OWN, is not the same thing as a castigation against all Jewish persons.
Do you feel personally responsible for what Bush invoked in your name? If so, you do not belong in this forum. Go back to your right wing think-alike tanks of automoton clone authoritarians. Only then will you find others who applaud tactics of war in the (false) name of God.
The wise souls in this forum recognize injustice, and certainly do not condone it, but they seek peaceful solutions. The blame game goes on and on from generation to generation ever creating new enemies, which in turn fuels the war machine: THAT is our common enemy. Modern wars are making no one safe, and they INSURE a continuum of contempt lest ALL put down their ARMS to join HANDS. So long as the military-industrial complex, its government enablers and media puppets continue to bang the drums for war and use high-paid shrinks to come up with the appropriate Pavlovian buzz words, WE, persons of conscience, are at a distinct disadvantage. And the M.A.D.ness will continue.
The premise of God is beyond what ANY religion can explain or articulate, thus the fair-minded recognize that it's one thing to believe in a Creator Spirit, and another to proclaim a false monopoly on Truth regarding a thing that can never be proven.
You have much to learn and perhaps if you stay in this forum and do some listening without casting judgment, you might grow.
Thanks Sioux...And a teachable moment. This person's hate shows up in all his posts-which are only on one subject. And that is all he appears to be doing on this site.
Jimmy Carter deserves to be slammed for the toast he gave to the Shah of Iran.
Steelgray, i didn't know Carter toasted the Shah of Iran, and that is pretty offensive. However, if you read the comment i made further down, you can see that i wasn't actually doing that at all. It was directed at Jonah.
Jonah. readytotransform is one of Common Dream's most sage, most informed posters.
Spiritual & Intellectual. Period.
And appreciated. By my humble self and more than you know. azjoe.
Thank you Joe, for such a sincere affirmation in my defense.
I was a little humorously sarcastic to some of his posts. The subtlety was lost on him, but it was obvious that i was not appreciating his hate speech. It has been my observation that he sounds like a right wing, gun toting kind of individual who obviously has a problem with anyone who is not of his own 'religion', as referenced in his last comment.
I find it sort of difficult to believe that he is for real. But i guess he found this site and the rest is history....I just got tired of it and began calling him out on his offensive and intentionally provocative calls for hatred, etc.
In Peace
The author confuses "silence" with "lack of sympathy." Here's why: sixty years of grudge-mongering, outbursts of pointless violence, plus zero constructive output. You do the addition.
The Israel justifiers have come out for the second and third shifts. Rather than answer questions, they cling together, pat one another on the back and spew their hatred. Notice how they again attacked an American President, Carter. They never condemn Ariel Sharon, Menachem Begin, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Meir Kahane, the JDL, AIPAC or Jonathan Pollard, Lawrence Franklin. You intelligencia and academia make me laugh. Is there an Arab or Muslim that you praise? Or even an American like Pres Carter? How about Mandela or Bishop Tutu or the Pope. By the way, I own no guns, am Christian and liberal but just anti-Israel BIG TIME. If you can call names so can we. Now refrain and answer questions that are posed by plenty of posters. And for the edification of all: my children are semitic from both grandparents: Lithuania Jewish(escaped holocaust in caskets) and Arab American. Foreign lands and allegiences have been forsaken for American customs, ideals etc. I cannot justify what some Arabs do nor what Israel always does.
Thank you sister Sioux Rose. Your posts are always well thiught out and devoid of hatred. It is just very difficult for me to continue to put up with steelgrey,azjoe and readytotransform. Although "readytotransform" appears to be the most sensible, but I am not sure yet. As proof of the deep hatred of the anti-Arabs and anti Americans notice how the three pulled out the "Carter toasted Iran" morsel. Have they ever spokern of how Hillary Clinton bowed to the rabbis in New York and denounced Arafat's wife. I don't fear the semitic clamoring. So get over it trolls. Quit denouncing America. You folks act as if the Shah was invented and embraced by only Pres Carter and I guess in all of one term in office. For all you intelligent folks how long before Pres Carter did we "use and embrace and fortify" Iran and the Shah? Did we not depose the duty elected govt of Iran before installing the Shah? Give me a break!
Sioux Rose
JONAH: Thank you for being respectful in your response to my earlier post. It is awful to know of injustice, to read about the slaughter of others and feel powerless. I am not sure if we are powerless, but our government and other governments under the influence of militarism seem to put consideration for citizens LAST on their agenda. Just reading today about the new stimulus that has $ for nuclear weapons but less for schools TELLS IT ALL. I hear your passion, your anger at persons pulling the switches; and I would just ask that you and all of us, separate that anger from a judgment against an entire people. These types of hatreds can get entangled and cascade, indeed the fact that "the Holy land" is the seat of so much blood thirst and unrest (some would say religion merely utilized to mask strategic real estate dealings, illegal of course) tells us that RELIGIONS have much to answer for. They should be on the cutting edge of peace accords! If theirs is a God of peace, not war... but for those who really think it's God's will that they complete for kill numbers, excel at the art of slaughter... then when I say Mars rules, it is NO hyperbole. Indeed I wish it were.
Jonah, I will actually attempt to say something meaningful in response to you, although your cursing and vile talk of "pissing on Jews", and worse, in many of your posts is just pure hate speech and speaks volumes.
You obviously don't comprehend my comments. I don't appreciate any form of violence, not even when it is in words and trying to encourage any group to hatred toward any other group under any circumstances. That is why our world is in the precarious and disastrous condition it is in. I am a pacifist, which obviously you are not. That is your personal right.
I have been active in anti occupation work regarding israel and palestine, for a long time and also regarding the u.s. and iraq. You may support the invasion of iraq, and the occupation by the americans, but i do not. I was active before the u.s. invaded afghanistan the first time.
Having said all of that, whatever your background, because who the heck knows, this site has been very civil until fairly recently. Progressive human beings do not incite hatred and violence. Your obscenities are not limited toward a particular nation, but an entire religious group. I happen to find that regressive, primitive and unhelpful.
I am also a fan of Tutu and respect Carter, although Carter is not far enough to the left for me. He is a centrist democrat but has conscience and compassion. And i know nothing of him "toasting the Shah" until it was mentioned here. But i am not a fan of the shah. He was a puppet, by the way, for the u.s.
If you have a problem with people not supporting u.s. wars and hedgemony, then you must have a problem with most every poster on this site, not to mention the articles.
By the way, no, i am not a big supporter of Pope Benedict. I do not support empire in any form. Especially when it is fear based and is profoundly mysogynist. But then so is all empire at the core.
All posters review all the posts of steelgray, azjoe, readytotransform and the new troll: and introducing IzakFriend. By the way,most of the posts I read on CD betray all your cheerleading and attempts to justify every transgression of Israel. I think many of us can see right through your tactics and even your hatred of America and Americans. The proof is in reading the posts. You four, plus a few insignificant others, have created more hatred of Israel by trying to justify their murderous history. Please keep it up and enlist others, as will I. Please do the unthinkable if you can: praise Bishop Tutu, President Carter, the current Pope, Pat Buchanan. What are your real reasons for trying to besmirch Pres Carter? Is it due to his truth-telling about the mideast?
SiouxRose your words are wise and soothing and indeed comfort me in view of all the slaughter of innocents. I thank you for your words of solace, I agree our govt is entwined in all the savageness, but with Pres Obama ( I worked hard and donated to) things may change in the mideast and America can be an honest broker. It was the Pro-Israel, dual citizens such as Rep Berman, D.CA and Rep Ackerman D.NY and other lackeys who drew up the bills to declare Hamas and Hezbollah" terrorists. I cannot find any constituents (except Pr-Israel)who considered that a priority. Our priorities were jobs, no war, health care, education and infrastructure, not Israel and foreign aid. We didn't even take care of Katrina victims in food and housing, yet we allow and furnish Israel housing in occupied territory! Where were those legislators then, when it was Americans impoverished? George Mitchell is a welcome appointment. In the future I will keep your words of truth with me, BUT I truly see through the hatred of azjoe, steelgray, and sometimes readytotransform. I will try to ignore their caustic ramblings, hatred (which must be put in its place)of all things "not Israel." In truth, I cannot abide them! Amen
Readytotransform: I have been against wars since being a veteran. I opposed VietNam, Iraq wars. I am against any peoples attacking defenseless people. Believe as you wish, me and my family are semites and thus it makes our children right in the middle (from both sides). That does not mean we cannot see disproportionate use of political power and military power.
shalom
I agree. Now you are talking respectfully. I have always said that "Never again!" must apply to ALL human beings, or else nothing has been learned.
I have no idea where you got the idea that i support the policies of israel because none of my comments allude to that whatsoever. I am sickened and outraged.
However, to read your comments that are so venemous toward all Jews is offensive to me personally and i wouldn't care who you were saying it about. It does not move anything forward. And then i read your comment further down about your spying group "infiltrating" synagogues; to find out?
Peace.
Readytoreform carefully read posts before you attribute the lack of civility and hatred to me alone. I am reviewing them now. Just to please you, I will not post for a while to see if the negativity and less than civil comments vanish altogether. I will monitor other sites. Bye for a while. God Bless SiouxRose and others.
I'll say it again. Add up the damage the Israeli's caused, multiply by five, then take that money from what we give to the Israelis each year and give it to the Palestinians.