COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, August 01, 2014

After the last three weeks it is clear which country is in the business of actually wiping other countries off the map: Israel

The RT report below shows UN aerial photos showing entire neighborhoods in Gaza razed by the Israeli military. Over 5,000 building have been destroyed and over 26,000 have been damaged. This is a significant proportion of Gaza’s housing stock, and the Israelis want to make sure that the damage cannot be repaired. As the Gandolfo article makes clear, water sewage treatment plants aren’t working because the Israelis bombed the power station (this was deliberate; they knew exactly where it was). Babies have died in Gaza hospitals because their incubators ceased functioning.




Wiping another Country off the Map: Israel does it to Palestine
1

Back when the warmongers had hopes of ginning up a war between the United States and Iran during the Bush administration, one of their propaganda talking points was the Iran had “threatened to wipe Israel off the map.”

When we look at Gaza’s before and after pictures (below) it becomes clear that the charge is more appropriate to Israel itself.

The late Christopher Hitchens, who went off the deep end at the end of his life, joining with the Neoconservatives in hoping for Iran to be so targeted, was furious with me for questioning this underpinning of the war effort.
I pointed out that there is no such idiom in Persian and that the phrase was a quotation from Imam Khomeini in the 1980s, quoted by then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What Khomeini had said was “This Occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.” Ahmadinejad said he hoped the Zionist enterprise would collapse just as had the rule of the shah in Iran or that of the Soviet Union. Iran’s then president (who is not head of the armed forces) had no authority to order tanks to roll on Israel. There were several countries in between, so Iran cannot attack Israel militarily even if it wanted to. Israeli fighter jets would make mince meat of a conventional Iranian invasion, and anyway Israel has several hundred atomic bombs, which are rather a deterrent.

The argument from Ahmadinejad’s use of the Khomeini quote was based on a bad translation. But it was also a logical fallacy, belonging, I think, to the family of “irrelevant appeals.” The Iranian leadership does not like Zionism or Jewish nationalism, and wishes it would fade away and collapse (“vanish from the page of time”). This rhetorical hatred, however, has nothing to do with military threats. Iran has no air force or navy to speak of and its military budget is in the same ballpark as Norway and Singapore. Equating hateful speech to an intent to launch aggressive warfare is silly.

Note that the current president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, elected last summer, doesn’t engage in over the top rhetoric and so there have been no attempts to demonize him and use him as a pretext for attacking Iran. Iran has the same regime, so the real difference in only that propaganda via ad hominems has become more difficult.

But after the last three weeks it is clear, in any case, who is in the business of actually wiping other countries off the map. The RT report below shows UN aerial photos showing entire neighborhoods in Gaza razed by the Israeli military. Over 5,000 building have been destroyed and over 26,000 have been damaged. This is a significant proportion of Gaza’s housing stock, and the Israelis want to make sure that the damage cannot be repaired. As the Gandolfo article makes clear, water sewage treatment plants aren’t working because the Israelis bombed the power station (this was deliberate; they knew exactly where it was). Babies have died in Gaza hospitals because their incubators ceased functioning.

THE COURAGEOUS MAX BLUMENTHAL:

78 comments:

  1. Democratic Governor of New York Cuomo ran on an anti-corruption platform.

    Once elected he formed a Corruption Commission, telling the follow the corruption where ever it leads.

    Much of it led back to Governor Cuomo.

    Where upon he dissolved the Corruption Commission.

    :)
    ...................
    After the last three weeks it is clear which country is in the business of actually wiping other countries off the map: Israel

    It's is over the top headlines like the above that undermine the credibility of this place.

    There is however an admission there that Gaza is actually a country.

    Israel should declare war and demand unconditional surrender of the country of Gaza.

    If Mexico launched two or three thousand missiles at us, for the third time in five years, that is what we would and should do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. telling them to follow the corruption where ever it leads...

      Delete
    2. Cuomo may be facing corruption charges himself, and soon too. He is being investigated.

      Delete
    3. I think this is funny as hell -

      Facing possible investigation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office laywers up

      http://www.cbsnews.com/news/facing-possible-investigation-gov-andrew-cuomos-office-laywers-up/


      Ha ha ha

      Delete


    4. Israel claims that it is acting in self-defense in Gaza, thereby portraying itself as the victim in the present conflict. President Barack Obama and both houses of the U.S. Congress have endorsed this justification for the use of force. But is it an accurate assessment?

      Gaza is not an independent state like Lebanon or Jordan. Israel accepts this but instead sees Gaza as a “hostile entity,” a concept unknown to international law and one that Israel has not sought to explain.

      But the status of Gaza is clear. It is an occupied territory — part of the occupied Palestinian territory. In 2005 Israel withdrew its settlers and the Israel Defense Forces from Gaza, but it continues to retain control of it, not only through intermittent incursions into and regular shelling of the territory but also by effectively controlling the land crossings into Gaza, its airspace and territorial waters and its population registry, which determines who may leave and enter.

      Effective control is the test for occupation.

      Delete
    5. Well, it's an effective test for deterrence.

      lesson? Dont kidnap Jews and don't shoot 8,600 rockets at the civilians of Israel or your living areas (where you launch and store your "firecrackers" will be destroyed.

      Do you think the leaders and supporters of Hamas have learned their lesson yet?

      No? they want to KEEP on shooting?

      OK...

      Israel will keep taking out the homes that fire the rockets...

      I think the Hamas needs to learn the arabic world for "we surrender", or don't..



      Delete
  2. Max gets Morton into a Tourette syndrome spasm.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Relax Bob, check in and await further orders. When you go off script, it gets a little sloppy. Adlib is not your long suit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, OK, Boss.

    But I must answer this from confused Rufus -

    Rufus IIFri Aug 01, 01:57:00 PM EDT

    I'm still trying to figure this out. How does someone Become half Jewish, and half Lutheran?
    Reply
    Replies

    Rufus IIFri Aug 01, 01:59:00 PM EDT

    Do you start off Jewish, and decide the Lutherans are "half right?"

    or, vice versa?

    It's a mom and dad deal, Rufus. His mother probably was the Jewish half, and his father the German Lutheran part. You know, the egg and sperm deal.

    He was a Marine in Vietnam.

    Perhaps you met him sometime. First name is Gregg. Ring a bell?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gaza is Palestine? And is a Country?

    Will wonders ever cease.

    Well if you want to call the Lands of Gaza "Palestine", then the rockets they sent across the border and the kidnapping of the Israelis was an act of war...

    So sorry your "country" is an abortion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      And act of war?

      Of course it was an act of war. However, Israel has been at war since at least 2009 when it instituted the Gaza blockade, an act of war.

      While the blockade may have been legal initially one of the five rules determining whether a blockade is a legal blockade is whether it is considered temporary. Is 5 years temporary? I don't know.

      Another aspect to be considered is the intent of the blockade. Is it meant strictly for defense or is its intent to starve the population of Gaza. If Gaza is allowed only enough supplies to keep the population at a subsistence level as some have charged, not only is the blockade illegal it is against the Geneva Conventions.

      .

      Delete
  6. Effective control is the test for occupation.

    then Egypt "occupies" gaza

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      What was a private party enterprise has now become a joint venture. It doesn't change the definition or nature of the business.

      .

      Delete
    2. Egypt OWNED gaza 1st.

      it lost it due to it's own war efforts against Israel.

      Israel gave it up and Gaza was FREE.

      Until Hamas took it over and murdered it's democratic competition..

      then Hamas started bombing Israel

      Delete
  7. Numerous ceasefires have been arranged by the UN and the arab world. Israel has accepted each and everyone, Hamas gets its rocks off breaking them and trying to murder Jews...

    No one ever said the Hamas was the brightest bulb in the jihadist closet...

    ReplyDelete
  8. "It's a mom and dad deal, Rufus. His mother probably was the Jewish half, and his father the German Lutheran part. You know, the egg and sperm deal."

    :) :) :) :) Holy fucking God :) :) :)

    His mama's "egg" was Jewish, but his daddy's "sperm" was Lutheran.

    Lutheran Sperm !!!

    That Powerful Lutheran Sperm

    Nobody would believe this shit.


    Lutheran fucking sperm.

    (shakes head, staggers off)


    Lutheran sperm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course, it gets better. :)

      DNA has proven that there is no such thing as a "Jewish Race," just a Jewish Religion.

      SO, his "egg" was from one religion, and his sperm was from another.

      :)

      Delete
    2. Who knew that a "Lutheran sperm" could fertilize a "Jewish egg?"

      :)

      Delete
    3. :)

      Lutheran sperms have remarkable powers......

      Delete
    4. Bob, you are now, the Undisputed Titleholder.

      That is, without a doubt, the single stupidest thing that has Ever been posted on the internet (not the elephant bar, brother, the whole damned World Wide Web, brother. The Whole, Unexcepted World. Fucking. Wide. Web.)

      :) Congratulations.

      Delete
    5. Why thank you Rufus. Coming from you it is indeed quite a compliment !!

      My vote would have gone to Quart, but, like you say, what do I know ??

      Delete
    6. I also, if you recall, but up the best thread ever on the Internet.

      It was contentless, immaculate, pure as a blue blue sky, without blemish, beyond thought, like Nirvana.

      And it was done by mistake.

      I was attempting to email Mat some pictures at the time.

      Delete
  9. That guy, Morton, reminded me, a little bit, of "Baghdad Bob." :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. But the status of Gaza is clear. It is an occupied territory — part of the occupied Palestinian territory.


    Yep ole Deuce thinks Israel is "occupied Palestine"

    ReplyDelete
  11. Replies
    1. Is not.

      ninner ninner ninner

      Delete
    2. So once again, Deuce's position is that Israel has no "right" to be, it's occupying someone else's land. Deuce tells us this from Occupied Philadelphia.

      The hypocrisy of deuce's position will guarantee war.

      Israel is LIBERATED Jewish lands. You don't have to like it but it's the fact. AND even if the whole Jewish title to the land is crap? THEN it certainly throws out any "arab" claim to the land also.

      Delete
  12. The Israeli abuse the rights of the Palestians with walls and military suppression. They limit commerce and access. Israel has proved to the World the dangers of a society built on religion and self-declared exceptionalism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so silly.

      The countries really built on religion and self declared exceptionalism are the Moslem countries.

      Delete
    2. the arab world, has abused Jews for 1400 years. Strike that. The moslem world have abused Jews for 1400 years.

      The arab world has abused Jews for 2800 years.

      The arab world has conquered from many folks the middle east. they are just pissed that 1/900th of it aint theirs...

      greedy pricks.

      Delete
  13. Of course it is Occupied Palestine.

    The Palestinians never were consulted, never agree to the Israeli unilaterally declaring "statehood".
    The colonization and annexation of Palestinian lands has no legal merit in Palestinian Courts

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Non sense.

      Israel accepted the 1947 United Nations General Assembly recommended partition plan of Mandatory Palestine.

      The Arabs of Palestine rejected the same.

      Having lost all the wars so far, some keep on keeping on with the missile launching option.

      "The colonization and annexation of Palestinian lands has no legal merit in Palestinian Courts"

      This is too stupid to comment upon.

      Delete
  14. Dead Simple: WE took part of Palestine away from the Palestinian People, and gave it to a group of Jews from, primarily, Eastern Europe.

    WE are 100% complicit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now, I have a prediction. Those Palestinians will be there a thousand years from now; the Zionist won't.

      Delete
    2. I think I would have been just as accurate had I said "a hundred years."

      Delete
    3. Rufus, you have reclaimed The Prize.

      Congratulations !!

      Delete
    4. I have a prediction, 100 years from now? There will be no such thing as "palestinian" people, they will return to being arabs.

      Since there is no P in arabic

      Delete
  15. Deuce has said the country of Israel is a criminal conspiracy.

    Here is a short list of some countries that really are criminal conspiracies -

    North Korea
    Cuba
    Zimbabwe
    Iran
    Iraq under Saddam
    Parts of Iraq under ISIS
    Gaza
    Russia under Putin
    Zimbabwe
    Syria under Assad
    Northern half of Nigeria
    Sundry other S. American and African states.....


    Here is a list of countries that are not criminal conspiracies:

    USA
    EU
    Israel
    Canada
    Australia
    India
    Japan
    Some countries in S. America and Africa
    South Korea

    ReplyDelete
  16. WE were complicit in the invasion of Palestine. WE started that war.

    Whether you call us "criminal conspirators," or, simply "War Criminals," we did that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh bullshit Rufus.

      You are simply impossible.

      It's more profitable to take a nap than argue with you, which is what I am going to do.

      Delete
  17. Dress the Israel Gaza situation up all you like, but the truth hurts

    BY ROBERT FISK – 01 AUGUST 2014

    There was a time when our politicians and media had one principal fear when covering Middle East wars: that no one should ever call them anti-Semitic.

    So corrosive, so vicious was this charge against any honest critic of Israel that merely to bleat the word “disproportionate” – as in any normal wartime exchange rate of Arab-to-Israeli deaths – was to provoke charges of Nazism by Israel’s would-be supporters.
    Sympathy for Palestinians would earn the sobriquet “pro-Palestinian”, which, of course,  means “pro-terrorist”.

    Or so it was until the latest bloodbath in Gaza, which is being so graphically covered by journalists that our masters and our media are suffering a new experience: not fear of being called anti-Semitic, but fear of their own television viewers and readers – ordinary folk so outraged by the war crimes committed against the women and children of Gaza that they are demanding to know why, even now, television moguls and politicians are refusing to treat their own people like moral, decent, intelligent human beings.

    Yet still – every time another blood-soaked child appears on the screen – the news presenters talk about the “blame game”. BLAME GAME? Do they think this is a bloody football match? Or a bloody tragedy? It goes like this. Civilians are killed. Reporters call it “tank fire”. (Hamas has no tanks.) Israel says it is a misfired Hamas rocket. Hamas says it is Israel’s work. So it’s a “blame game”. No one can actually BE blamed – and thus we can shrug off the responsibility and shake our head at it all.
    {---}

    ReplyDelete

  18. {,,,}
    And we must forget we did the same when US bombs killed civilians in Tripoli in 1986 (a “misfired Libyan anti-aircraft missile”, I recall, was to blame) or when the Nato attack on the Shuala district of Baghdad killed civilians in 2003 (a “misfired Iraqi anti-aircraft missile” was to blame, of course).

    Several Americans have called me to point this out, adding that the US Senate vote of 100-0 in favour of Israel sounds a bit like the 98 per cent that Arab dictators claim for their presidency – except that the US vote, which does not represent them, really was the true figure! Now to the get-out clause of all of us.
    {...}

    ReplyDelete

  19. {,,,}

    Yes, Hamas is corrupt, cynical, ruthless. Most of its “spokesmen” are so prone to bawling abuse at the top of their voices, that they far outdo the ever-so-gentle Mark Regev in turning the world against Hamas. But the world is turning against Israel, as EU ministers repeatedly (though ever so gently) tell the Israelis.

    ReplyDelete


  20. And it’s turning against our politicians and media masters who go on insulting them.

    How many times does The New York Times expect its readers to tolerate editorials like last week’s pusillanimous effort? There had been “deadly attacks” in Gaza, readers were told. The total dead came to 750, “a vast majority being Palestinians”. And then the get-out: there were “competing charges” – Israel or Hamas or a Hamas ally – over the attack, and thus “what really matters now is that some way be found to stop this carnage”. So that’s OK, then. “Blame game” equals “no blame”.

    France, there’s been derision at the way the government has reacted to Gaza’s calvary. François Hollande wanted Israel to “correct” its aim “a bit” (un peu)! He criticised Hamas’s aggression and Israel’s reprisals. But then an angry Benjamin Netanyahu came on the blower to the Elysée. Change of tune.

    Hollande uttered the usual mantra. “Israel has the right to take all measures to protect its people.” But then French Assembly members became so sickened by the “collective punishment” of the Palestinians that Hollande urged an end to the “escalation” in violence. Phew.
    In Ireland, traditionally pro-Palestinian, The Irish Times, alas, has been playing the same tune as its New York namesake.

    On the day after Israel bombed a UN school, killing 19 civilians, it ran a front-page article which began with Israel’s declaration of a ceasefire, continued with a paragraph of the truce details, then ran a paragraph that Hamas had no reaction – and then told its readers about the 19 dead.

    A reader castigated the paper for “balancing” its letters page with correspondence designed to make the Palestinians look as guilty as the Israelis.

    “Such disinterest is really a kind of moral apathy,” he said. And said it rather well. The world can at least thank the journos in Gaza – even if their bosses are still on the run.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Replies
    1. now that I agree with, the world is de-evolving via islam.

      Delete

  22. Ah, settling in for a profitable nap, I turned on Fox and had the pleasant surprise of watching Megan Kelly interviewed Mosab Hassan Jousef for the second time.

    He is the son of one of the founders of Hamas.

    It's nice to listen to someone that actually knows what they are talking about........as long as Hamas is around, there will never be peace, he states.

    Some of the people here should take a good listen to Mosab Hassan Jousef, or read the books he has written, which I am going to do.

    Many here have the up down, and the down up.

    But this guy knows whereof he speaks, as he was born into it.

    Back to nap.....

    ReplyDelete
  23. From Australia

    LETTER. 25 July 2014

    We the undersigned members of Australian federal and state parliaments, call on all Australian politicians to condemn the ongoing Israeli military bombardment and invasion of Gaza .

    We call on Australian politicians to support an immediate cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire deal which includes an end to Israel 's occupation of the Palestinian territories and to the blockade of Gaza .

    We call on all Australian politicians to also support the United Nations Human Rights Council's decision to launch an independent inquiry into purported violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory , including East Jerusalem .

    Over 1200* Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, since Israel started its military attack on Gaza three weeks ago. The United Nations says at least 75 percent of the dead are civilians, including an estimated 168 children. In the last two days, Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of one per hour.

    The rockets fired from Gaza are not in any way justified and insofar as they threaten and harm civilians are illegal under international law. However, these imprecise rockets cannot be compared with the broad-scale bombing of Gaza by Israel which has one of the world's largest military forces.

    Collective punishment is not permitted under the Geneva conventions and is a war crime.

    Hospitals, places of worship, and a centre for people with disabilities have been among the Israeli military's targets.

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is providing shelter to more than 102,788 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

    The international community including Australia has a vital responsibility to put pressure on Israel to end its current military attack on Gaza and broker a solution of justice and peace.

    *updated 30 July 2014

    Signed by -
    1. Maria Vamvakinou MP, Labor
    2. Melissa Parke MP, Labor
    3. Laurie Ferguson MP, Labor
    4. Alan Griffin MP, Labor
    5. Sharon Claydon MP, Labor
    6. Adam Bandt MP, Greens
    7. Barbara Perry MP, Labor
    8. Andrew Giles MP, Labor
    9. Paul Lynch MP, Labor
    10. Jamie Parker MP, Greens
    11. Lynda Voltz MLC, Labor
    12. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC, Labor
    13. David Shoebridge MLC, Greens
    14. Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, Greens
    15. Dr John Kaye MLC, Greens
    16. Jeremy Buckingham MLC, Greens
    17. Jan Barham MLC, Greens
    18. Senator Claire Moore, Labor
    19. Senator Nick Xenophon, Independent
    20. Senator Christine Milne, Greens
    21. Senator Lee Rhiannon, Greens
    22. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens
    23. Senator Larissa Waters, Greens
    24. Senator Janet Rice, Greens
    25. Senator Richard Di Natale, Greens
    26. Senator Penny Wright, Greens
    27. Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens
    28. Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens
    29. Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Greens
    30. Senator Sue Lines, Labor
    31. Tammy Franks MLC, Greens
    32. Graham Perrett MP, Labor
    33. Senator Anne Urquhart, Labor
    34. Terri Butler MP, Labor
    35. Julie Owens MP, Labor
    36. Lisa Chesters MP, Labor
    37. Senator Gavin Marshall, Labor
    38. Senator Anne McEwen , Labor
    39. Senator Carol Brown, Labor
    40. Senator Doug Cameron, Labor
    41. Cassy O'Connor MLA, Greens
    42. Senator Jan McLucas, Labor
    43. Lynn MacLaren MLC, Greens
    44. Jill Hall MP, Labor
    45. Jackie Trad MP, Labor
    46. Malcolm Fraser, former Liberal Prime Minister
    47. Shane Rattenbury MLA, Greens
    48. Yvette Berry MLA, Labor
    49. Bronwyn Halfpenny MP, Labor
    50. Tony Piccolo MP, Labor
    51. Andrew Wilkie MP, Independent
    52. Senator Lisa Singh, Labor
    53. Khalil Eideh MP, Labor
    54. Lee Tarlamis MP, Labor
    55. Johan Scheffer MP, Labor.

    END LETTER.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ACT!
    ACT! End relations with apartheid Israel now!


    Published on 31 July 2014
    Written by South African National Coalition for Palestine


    Sign the petition here demanding that South Africa end relations with Israeli apartheid now!

    We, the undersigned, respectfully and yet urgently demand that

    The South African Parliament debates the current war on the people of Gaza by the Apartheid Israeli regime and adopts a resolution to condemn the attacks on and killing of innocent people and the destruction of property, including health facilities, and to call for the termination of diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.

    The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation implement the various relevant resolutions formally adopted by the ANC Parliamentary Caucus, the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, the ANC Youth League and the South African Communist Party to recall the South African Ambassador to Israel and to ask Arthur Lenk, Israel’s Ambassador to Pretoria, to return to where he comes from.

    The South African Government to give concrete expressions to the numerous calls from civil society, the trade unions, religious and community leaders – including more than 100 Jewish leaders – to end South Africa’s military agreements/sales to and all economic relations with the State of Israel.

    The gap between what civil society and the ruling party proclaim and demand on the one hand and what the government does and appears to be prepared to do, on the other is far too wide!

    We expected an elected government to listen to the voice of the people!

    We expect a government whose members are deployed to their positions by a specific party to heed the voice of that party – not lobbies for a foreign government – even these lobbies masquerade as the representatives of a specific religious group!

    Enough is enough!

    ReplyDelete
  25. ISRAELI APARTHEID

    Hilal Kaplan 01 August 2014,

    Friday Last year, Israeli authorities segregated public buses to prevent Palestinians and Jews traveling together upon the request of illegal settlers in the West Bank. Today, there are separate roads that exclusively serve illegal settlers in occupied territories, who also enjoy a better and separate electrical grid and water supply network.

    Studies show that the average Palestinian is four times more likely than the average Israeli to be found guilty by Israeli courts. Palestinians populate 36 out of the 40 districts with the highest level of unemployment in the country.

    Israeli nationals of Arab origin are paid 30 percent less than Jewish employees - which is why 61 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line. Rabbis and various NGOs call upon Israelis to not rent their apartments to Palestinians and refrain from hiring Arabs.

    In 2012, just 6.25 percent of the national budget was allocated to Israeli nationals of Arab origin. During the same period, the state of Israel spent $1,100 on the average Jewish child versus $192 for each Palestinian child. Public schools with Palestinian students receive 20 percent less government aid than Jewish schools. Palestinian villages in the south, home to a handful of elementary schools and no high school, receive almost no assistance for education.

    Furthermore, the Palestinian community residing near illegal settlements also endures abuse from government officials and humiliation at check points on a daily basis.

    The state of Israel is obsessed with population counts and ethnic demographics. In 2003, for instance, Shai Hermesh, the then-treasurer of the Jewish Agency, warned that the Arab population in the south was rapidly rising and called for the establishment of new settlements in order to meet the need for "a Zionist majority."

    Similarly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to do everything in his power to prevent nearly 4 million Palestinian refugees, who have a right of return under international law, from coming back to their homeland.

    A number of observers point out that Israel has been implementing policies akin to the apartheid regime in South Africa. Among them is John Dugard, a former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, who wrote in 2007 that the conditions in the West Bank "certainly resemble[d] aspects of apartheid" and proceeded to ask: "Can it seriously be denied that the purpose [...] is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group [Jews] over another racial group [Palestinians] and systematically oppressing them?"

    Israel is a colonialist apartheid regime that views itself as the sole and rightful owner of Palestine and refuses to identify its borders in order to facilitate further expansion. Nothing sets Gaza, a small piece of land under blockade, embargo and bombardment from the air, the sea and land, free from concentration camps. Ignoring these concrete facts would only amount to what Lawrence Weschler calls "an American delusion."

    Today, Israel looks the world in the eye, flushes international law down the toilet and commits war crimes. The most recent developments in Gaza serve yet another clear reminder of Israel's credentials as a terrorist and colonialist apartheid regime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "prevent nearly 4 million Palestinian refugees, who have a right of return under international law, from coming back to their homeland"

      Interesting point...

      4 MILLION refugees?

      there were only 850,000 arabs in the entire region, from the river to the sea in 1948.

      Where did this invented number come from?

      4 MILLION?

      If it wasn't so sick an twist on international norms it would be funny...



      Delete
    2. "Israel is a colonialist apartheid regime that views itself as the sole and rightful owner of Palestine"

      Actually Israel accepted a 2 state solution in 1948. As per the UN.

      Why post out and out lies?

      Delete
  26. Speech

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2SHCSD74o

    by the author of "Son of Hamas"

    Take a little time to listen to this guy, Deuce.

    I listen to your videos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the author of "Son of Hamas" Mosab Hassan Yousef.

      Delete
  27. From Salon

    What do NBA basketball player Dwight Howard, singer Zayn Malik and actress Selena Gomez all have in common? Each one spoke out on Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip. A flood of celebrities, including Rihanna, Amar’e Stoudemire, John Cusack, Madonna, Mia Farrow, Mario Balotelli, Javier Bardem, Kerry Washington, Rob Schneider and many others have also chimed in, ranging from Malik’s “#FreePalestine” to Schneider’s “the ugly inhuman siege has had its deadliest day.”

    There is good reason for the outpouring of support. Over the last three weeks, Israel has massacred more than a thousand Palestinians, wounded over 6,200, struck hospitals, shelled schools, hit U.N. shelters, cut electricity, and bombed media vehicles. The gruesome images of four Palestinian children bombed to death on the beach penetrated a mainstream media that predominantly reports from the Israeli side of the border and ushers in an endless parade of Israeli officials on cable networks.

    Israel’s actions prompted a cascade of indignation on social media and it wasn’t long before a long list of celebrities weighed in. Predictably, these celebrity tweets and Instagram posts didn’t go unnoticed. Within eight minutes, Rihanna deleted her tweet. Howard apologized, stating, “Previous tweet was a mistake. I have never commented on international politics and never will,” and Gomez followed up her “Pray for Gaza” Instagram post with, “And of course to be clear, I am not picking sides.”

    So what gives? Why be compelled to speak out, then hurriedly delete? The reality is celebrity brands are big business and a rush of criticism instantly catches the eye of P.R. handlers and agents. As comedian D.L. Hughley noted to TMZ, simply saying “#FreePalestine” comes with “repercussions.” These celebrities, varying from concerned to downright outraged, posted their thoughts instinctively. In response, a small group of incensed fans went on the attack, including some who said they would unfollow Gomez in protest and one commenter who proclaimed, “I hope you burn in hell with cancer.” Faced with such controversy, it’s safe to assume that these celebs’ handlers sprang into action and had the posts deleted.

    The fact that some celebrities are still at the “tweet and delete” stage doesn’t diminish their heartfelt reaction to Israeli violence being exacted against Palestinians in Gaza. The key takeaway is that celebrities are increasingly disturbed by Israel’s policies and are speaking their minds. That is commendable. Hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, who recently withdrew from a concert in Israel to respect the Palestinian call for boycott, responded to Howard on Twitter, “To @DwightHoward I understand that NBA is a corporation & you have certain obligations. I still appreciate your efforts to be human.”

    Despite the backlash, many artists did in fact stand firm. Waka Flocka Flame, John Cusack, Joey Barton, Mark Ruffalo and Eddie Vedder all responded by pushing back on angry fans. After criticizing the U.S. for allowing suffering to take place in Palestine, Waka Flocka tweeted, “Investigate b4 u open your mouth,” while Cusack remarked, “govs bombing innocent people trying to live – resort to murder to solve 0political problems and should be condemned- by all human beings.” Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain tweeted out a now infamous photo of the beach massacre, saying, “Maybe it’s the fact that I walked on that beach – and have a small child that makes this photo so devastating. #Gaza”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mosab Hassan Yousef would call them useful idiots.

      Useful idiot
      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      For other uses, see Useful idiot (disambiguation).

      In political jargon, useful idiot is a term for people perceived as propagandists for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause.


      " propagandists for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of"

      Delete
    2. :)

      heh

      Of course I was thinking the term useful idiot applied perfectly to you.

      You certainly put a lot of energy into it.

      Things are much worse in Nigeria or Sunni Iraq but we would never know those places exist from reading here.

      ;)

      Delete
  28. More from Salon

    Those in support of justice in Palestine are out-funded, out-resourced, and out-lobbied. Yet as politicians continue to approve billions of dollars a year in military aid to Israel, BDS campaigns and coalition-building efforts are directly challenging the status quo through alternative means. From the celebrity to the college student, Americans are moving beyond empty words and into concrete actions. This is reflected in the Presbyterian church, university academic associations, campus student senates, and on the Facebook walls of rock stars.

    As Israel’s oppressive policies become increasingly devastating for occupied Palestinians, many more people, including celebrities, are going to speak up. While celebrities speaking their consciences are risking alienating rabidly pro-Israel fans and creating a backlash from Israel lobby groups, Israel has admittedly paid students to tweet pro-Israel propaganda and Foreign Ministry Director-General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit stated, “We are seeing culture as a hasbara (propaganda) tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture.” The daily carnage coming out of Gaza, the expanding settlements and apartheid policies in the West Bank, the denial of refugee rights, and the sweeping discrimination and racism against Palestinian citizens of Israel is only going to continue to take a toll on Israel’s image and inspire people to act.

    Just as the killing of the four Palestinian boys on the beach or the near beating to death of Palestinian American Tariq Abu Khdeir couldn’t be ignored by the U.S. mainstream media, Israel’s overall policies of occupation, siege, blockade and dispossession are becoming harder and harder to ignore as well. So much so that celebrities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are compelled to join the conversation.

    MORE REMI KANAZI.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Salon - THURSDAY, JUL 31, 2014 6:00 PM UTC
    Tweet and delete: On Gaza, celebrity courage — and cowardice — over social media
    While some gutsy celebs have tweeted support for Palestine, others have backed down under harsh online criticism
    REMI KANAZI


    The Israeli brand is broken. There are many too timid to speak out, but it is there. New media has outed the real face of present day Israel. It ain’t pretty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually the moral compass of the west is broken.

      Hamas, a terrorist organization that uses civilians as human shields and launches thousands and thousands of rockets at civilians has been embraced and supported by a Jew hating world.

      Just as in Iraq, the Christians are being slaughtered by the ISIS not a peep out of that same press or stars...

      hypocrites.

      Delete
  30. From The Economist

    Israel and the world
    Us and them


    The pummelling of Gaza has cost Israel sympathy not just in Europe, but also among Americans. Israelis are debating how to respond
    Aug 2nd 2014 | JERUSALEM AND NEW YORK | From the print edition


    “WAS Israel all a mistake?” asks a lawyer at a debate on the Gazan war in a grand Georgian library in Manchester. None of the 40 or so professionals present says no. In the streets outside noisy, heavily policed anti-Israel demonstrations are taking place. “Death to Jews,” a few protesters chant at ultra-Orthodox Jews on their way home through Broughton Park, in the north of the English city.

    As the toll from the war in Gaza rises, its echoes are rumbling in Europe’s streets. Israel says it is fighting terror—trying to halt rocket attacks by Hamas, the strongest force in the strip, and destroy tunnels through which Hamas fighters can raid Israel. But civilians and civilian infrastructure have borne the brunt of Israeli operations. Palestine’s health ministry lists some 1,400 dead since July 8th, of whom four-fifths are civilians; one-fifth of these are children. Palestine’s only power station has been destroyed, as have more than 4,000 homes, some with families inside. Fifty-six Israeli soldiers, including ten on July 28th, three Israeli civilians and a Thai have also been killed. Hamas’s rockets continue to fly, though in smaller numbers.

    From Antwerp to Warsaw, demonstrators’ placards have ranged from criticism of Israeli policy (“1,2,3,4, Occupation No More”) to denouncing Israel itself (“5,6,7,8, Israel is a Terror State”) to the most wounding anti-Semitism (“Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas”). In France, which has Europe’s largest Jewish and Arab (mainly north African) populations, trouble may be no surprise. But its extent—attacks on synagogues, raids on Jewish shops—has been shocking nonetheless. Even in Oslo, the Jewish museum closed its doors.

    Clearly, Europe’s antipathy towards Israel is more than just loud protest. Many Israelis think they can no longer count on public opinion in Europe—and, to a much lesser extent, America—and that where popular sentiment leads, democratic politicians will sooner or later follow. They see the rising number and vehemence of demonstrations against Israel’s wars, and as a result fear “delegitimisation”: the turning of Israel into a pariah state, outside polite international society.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Death to the Jews"

      That says it all...

      Of course an ARMED and STRONG Israel is needed.

      "Death to the Jews"

      Yep... the mask has dropped.

      It aint about Israel. It's about pure evil Jew hatred...

      Delete
  31. that where popular sentiment leads, democratic politicians will sooner or later follow. They see the rising number and vehemence of demonstrations against Israel’s wars, and as a result fear “delegitimisation”: the turning of Israel into a pariah state, outside polite international society.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The doubting young

    Israel remains much surer of its friendship with America. But even here, tempers have frayed. Last weekend anonymous Israeli officials accused John Kerry, America’s secretary of state, of proposing a Gaza ceasefire agreement tilted towards Hamas. And some Americans, especially the young, are becoming more likely to question the Israeli government’s version of events.

    Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly sympathise with Israelis more than with Palestinians—even more so now than they did in the 1990s. But they also show a widening generational split. Younger Americans are far likelier than older ones to say Israel is more responsible than Hamas for the fighting in Gaza. A recent Gallup poll found a majority of those under 30 thought Israel’s actions in Gaza unjustified (see chart 2). Baby-boomers whose views were shaped by Israel’s wars against Soviet-aligned Arab states in 1967 and 1973 may still see Israel as a plucky little David standing up to Goliath. But for many younger Americans, who have mainly seen a powerful Israel occupying the West Bank and battering Hamas, the picture is different.

    ECONOMIST

    ReplyDelete
  33. The Israeli brand is not broken. The Hamas brand is broken.

    Support for Hamas in USA - 14%
    Support for Israel in USA -52%

    The rest take the option of not really giving a damn one way or the other, or are too stoned to care.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Free Gaza - Get Rid of Hamas


    Free Gaza
    Column: Rid it of Hamas

    AP

    BY: Matthew Continetti
    August 1, 2014 5:00 am

    Three. That is the number of times Israel has fought Hamas since 2007, when the terror group seized control of the Gaza Strip. There was Operation Cast Lead in 2008, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and now Operation Protective Edge in 2014. In all three cases the story has been the same: Israel is attacked; Israel responds; Israel is condemned; Israel ceases fire. Hamas is weakened. Hamas recovers. The rockets return. Rewind and repeat.

    Prime Minister Netanyahu says the war won’t end until the tunnels Hamas uses to attack Israel are destroyed. After that, one presumes, the Israelis will withdraw. And then? We know the answer. Hamas will rebuild. Hamas will rearm. Hamas will dig. Hamas will kill.

    This isn’t speculation. Inciting, arming, digging, and killing are what Hamas does. Theft, murder, terror, hatred, paranoia, propaganda—these are not affects of Hamas. These are not learned behaviors. They are the elements of its DNA.

    Want to end the war? I am not asking if you want to end Operation Protective Edge. I am asking if you want to end Hamas’ war on Israel. And if that is what you want, then the answer is simple: Free Gaza from Hamas.

    I understand I am in the minority. “Israel’s ideal outcome,” write Eli Lake and Josh Rogin, “would be for Hamas to capitulate to Israel’s demands to disarm and reform into a defanged version of its current self—a troublesome but manageable part of a larger Palestinian infrastructure.”

    That is an “ideal” outcome, indeed. It is not a realistic one.

    Hamas capitulate? Its charter reads, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” Hamas disarm? Its patron Qassem Suleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, says, “Disarmament of resistance is a daydream that will only come true in the graveyard.” Hamas reform? Its leader Khaled Meshaal says, “I do not want to live with a state of occupiers.” Hamas defanged? It booby-traps homes, kills children, conceals weapons in schools, builds headquarters under hospitals. A defanged tarantula dies because it cannot kill. A defanged Hamas would die for the same reason.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Writing in Haaretz—the flagship of the Israeli left—historian Benny Morris notes the high cost of regime change in Gaza. Long, polarizing, and bloody, the campaign would “exact a serious price in lives from both Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Palestinian civilians.” Nevertheless, Morris argues, Hamas rule must end.

      Why? Because the terrible price in human life is already being paid. It is being parceled out in increments. It is death on an installment plan: a killing here, an act of retaliation there, a mortar attack on one day, an airstrike the next, a war for three weeks, another one three months after that.

      Collapse the tunnels or collapse Hamas. Lives will be lost either way. The difference is in the end state. Leave Hamas in charge, and you guarantee the war will resume, and more lives will be lost. Topple Hamas, and you remove the source of the conflict, the first cause of the death and destruction. Lives will be saved over time. Want an example? Casualties spiked during the Iraq surge in 2007. Then both American and civilian casualties plummeted. They remained low for years—until America withdrew.

      The main objection to toppling Hamas is fear of the unknown. What would replace it? General Michael Flynn, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently spoke for many when he said: “If Hamas were destroyed and gone, we would probably end up with something much worse.”

      How much worse? “Something like ISIS.”

      But “something like ISIS” is exactly what is in charge of the Gaza Strip. Hamas took over Gaza in an illegal coup, runs a one-party totalitarian state, tramples on human rights, steals from its people, kills its political opponents, uses boys and girls as shields, fires rockets at airports, and murders Israelis whenever it can. Hamas was planning a mass casualty attack to coincide with the Jewish New Year. This is the best we can do?

      Hamas isn’t the Rotary Club. It’s a terrorist group. Like a search for moderate Taliban, arguing that one violent faction is more acceptable than the other is an exercise in wishful thinking.

      Say Islamic Jihad replaced Hamas tomorrow. Would we be able to tell the difference? How would its rhetoric be more genocidal, its propaganda more manipulative, its aims more maximalist, its tactics more barbaric than what Israel experiences now? Would Islamic Jihad have two Palestinian Mickey Mouses exhorting schoolchildren to kill Jews, rather than one?

      It’s the same argument made against intervention in Syria: The devil we know is better than the devil we don’t. So for three years America has done nothing. And look at what’s happened: We now have to worry about both devils.

      Yes, there would be costs to regime change in the Gaza Strip. But the choice is not between a costly policy and a cost-free one. The choice is between the costs of removing a terrorist group from power and the costs of leaving it injured but able to fight another day. To prevent a fourth war, to bolster ties with the Sunni powers, to improve the chances of a two-state solution, to help the Palestinians, above all to secure Israel, the decision is clear. Destroy Hamas. End the war. Free Gaza.

      This entry was posted in Columns and tagged Hamas, Israel, terrorism. Bookmark the permalink.

      http://freebeacon.com/columns/free-gaza/

      Delete
    2. The Palestinian Mickey Mouse tells the kids to kill Jews.

      "There will not be peace until the Arabs teach their children not to hate."

      Golda Meir

      Delete
    3. I recall when she said that.

      It was long ago.

      Ash probably wasn't born at the time.

      Things have not changed.

      Delete
    4. Except in the minds of a few remarkable men like Mosab Hassan Yousef.

      Such people are all too rare.

      Delete
  35. Babies have died in Gaza hospitals because their incubators ceased functioning.


    So there are no gasoline generators at the hospitals? It was reported that Gazans only got 3-4 hours a day when the power plant was up and running... Now we all KNOW that the Hamas USES hospitals for cover, are you telling me these bunkers UNDER the hospitals are connected to the power grid ONLY?

    Babies have died in Gaza hospitals because their incubators ceased functioning.???


    I call BULLSHIT

    ReplyDelete
  36. Boobie,

    I know this is a tough notion for you to wrap your head around but outrage at Israeli actions does not imply support for Hamas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ash,

      I know it's a tough notion for you to understand, that outrage at Israeli actions are not just at Israeli action but it's because it's Jews.

      At the same time a total of 1200 people, fighters, men, women and children have died in Gaza in a war, TENS of thousands have died at the hands of Islam across the globe with nary a peep.

      There are no "death to moslem" placards being held up in rallies because of what is being done in Iraq, yemen, sudan, tunsia, iran, or even gaza....

      the FAKE, and I do mean FAKE outrage about Israel's actions are nothing but ginned up Jew hatred wrapped in the flag of "anti-israelism"

      Those that claim to support the poor innocent victims of Israeli aggression do not seek to actually HELP Palestinians, they seek to delegitimize or harm Israel.

      no wonder they might be a vocal over-rated bunch of hacks...

      Delete
    2. Nope, that is BULLSHIT. One can criticize Israel without any "Jew Hatred".

      Delete
  37. The very fact that Hamas is, by definition, the Moslem Brotherhood, which is al queda, which is ISIS it boggles the mind that anyone doesn't call for the freedom of the Palestinian people FROM the very Islamic nazis they in fact INVITED to lead them..

    ReplyDelete
  38. Like I've said before - when Palestinians, die, its ALWAYS the fault of Hamas, ALWAYS. Israel is never to blame. No. Israel is dropping bombs day and night, from land, sea and air - they fall on the ground like flower petals. Yes. Its Hamas that is killing its own people. How f**king grotesque can your arguments get?! Where is your humanity?! Stop treating the rest of the world like idiots and grow some humanity!!! Pig!!!!

    ReplyDelete