Archive for January, 2009

Understanding the Experiences of Others

January 30, 2009 at 7:58 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , ,

I was watching a documentary in school yesterday, called something like Women of Peace. It was about war and making peace, but I’m not writing specifically about the movie, just one quote. There was a scene where they were discussing the Israel/Palestine situation (the movie was made in ’03-’04, so they weren’t talking about the latest flare-up, rather the situation in general.) While discussing specifically the Israeli settlements, she said something along the lines of “we have to look at how the Palestinians experienced the settling of their land. We have to understand that they experienced embarrassment and felt less human.” She did not place the blame on Israel for settling land, nor on Palestine for firing rockets or whatever else they do- she simply asked that we try to understand the way the Palestinians experienced it, putting aside for a moment who we think is right and who we think is wrong. If we could also look at the way the Israelis feel about the rocket fire or about someone getting up and saying, “the Holocaust never happened” or “death to Israel”, just think of the paths we could make towards peace. If each Israeli could put her or himself in the shoes of a Palestinian of the same age and gender and each Palestinian could do the same with their Israeli counter-part, it would be hard for the war to continue. Once we see someone as a human being, it is very hard to kill that person, or even to make their life as hard as the people in this conflict’s lives are.

The class I’m taking is called “Dialogue and the Art of Peacemaking”; it is an amazing class, but it is pretty pathetic. Have we always needed to take classes or have a specialty in order to know how to communicate with other human beings? A story we read in the class as well, took place during the Cuban Missile Crisis- the Russians had put missiles in Cuba with absolutely no camouflage. The USians took this as an insult and assumed the Russians were arrogantly taunting their plans to destroy the United States, and the crisis escalated. Thirty years later, the Russian general in charge of overseeing the placing of the missiles and some unspecified USian had a dialogue. The USian asked why the Russians would be so bold as to blatantly display their missiles, just 90 miles off the cost of the US. The Russian, taken aback, replied that up to that point the Russian army had only installed missiles in Russia, where there was no need to camouflage anything. When they got the orders to install missiles, they did it the way they always did, without even thinking about it. The world was a press of a button away from starting WWIII, which would probably have ended in the complete annihilation of human kind, all because people do not know how to talk to each other.

Let’s talk to the resistance movements in Iraq and Afghanistan, let’s talk to the Taliban, let’s talk to Al Qaeda, Let’s talk to Hezbollah, let’s talk to Hamas, and let’s try to understand the way all of these people are experiencing what is going on in the world. Let’s also try to explain to them the way we are experiencing things- who knows what would happen. I’m not saying that, by having a conversation with some dude from Hamas and the Israeli government, the Middle East would see peace, but I think it would be a much larger step in that direction than killing a third of their population.

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O-BA-MA

January 26, 2009 at 7:36 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Recently there has been some anger directed at me (I guess I shouldn’t say recently, since it’s most of the time) because of my dislike for hope. I’ll say something about hope that I heard from Derrick Jensen- he said that hope is something you have when you are in a position where the end result is out of your control. For example, when you get on a plane, you hope that it reaches its destination, but when you’re hungry (and have food) you don’t hope that you’ll eat, you eat. I get aggravated by the fact that people hope Barrack Obama will save the world, and I get almost as aggravated by the fact that the good things he has done already (i.e. his order to “close” Guantanamo) has blinded people from other things.

I’m going to keep it short today- people are dying and living in misery all over the world. I’m not saying that any of it is Obama’s fault or that we need to pressure him to end all suffering, because that is just unrealistic. What I’m saying is that we should look at the death and suffering that is taking place because of the hegemonic policies of the United States- policies that are being continued under the Obama administration. As I said, it’s a great step to promise to close down Guantanamo within the next year, but what does that even mean? What will happen to the people who have been locked up for five or six years with no charges; the people who have been tortured day in and day out, but have done nothing wrong other than being born the wrong color in the wrong hemisphere? Will closing down Guantanamo give these people their lives back? Will it end the wars that are being waged in our names? Does anyone even remember that our country is involved in multiple wars anymore? Does anyone stop to think that each and every day people are dying in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, and dozens of other places, because of policies that are being carried out with our money?

Many people voted for Obama because he was the anti-war candidate, but this was based on nothing. This man constantly voted for funding the war in Iraq and never said he would even make an attempt to end the war in Afghanistan. Now, this anti-war fellow is officially the leader of the world- record amounts of people braved the freezing cold of Washington DC to watch him be inaugurated, while hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people throughout the world watched hopefully on TV. It has been less than a week, yet he has already committed war crimes. I’m not even talking about the fact that there is a US backed illegal occupation happening in Gaza (despite the ceasefire) or that genocide is still being waged in Iraq. Obama is sticking firm to his promise to increase the troop level in Afghanistan and officially killed his first civilians as leader of the world. Innocent people have officially died because of orders that were given by President Barrack Obama- enough said.

Although this is all upsetting, I’m obviously not surprised that Obama has criminalized himself already. I have already accepted the fact that politicians are corrupt and that Barrack Obama – while perhaps better than most mainstream politicians – is nonetheless a politician. In order to become president of one of the most corrupt empires of all time, one has to be somewhat criminal. What bothers me the most is the lack of people on the street; where have all the people gone who were so active in the year leading up to the election? I believe that now is the time for pressure and protest- instead of thinking we have a reasonable president and should therefore take a nap for four years, we have to think that since we have a reasonable president we should be doing everything we can to get his ear. Again, human beings are dying each and every day because of policies passed in our name, with weapons paid for by our tax dollars and it’s not gong to end through hope- it’s going to end when we the people end it.

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Warning- Obamamania May Lead to Loss of Sight

January 24, 2009 at 9:15 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

I sat at Harpo’s Bar and Grill on Tuesday mid-morning and watched Barrack Obama get sworn in as the first black(ish) President of the United States. Forty years ago – not too far back at all – black people were still fighting for equal rights and now one is president. I don’t think this means the US is not a racist country, but I do think it’s a huge step forward. I think Obama will do some great things and I know that we are a safer, stronger, better-off country with George W Bush not in the White House. I had cautious optimism leaving Harpo’s; I didn’t cry or think my activism work was done, but I was excited. When – the next day – President Obama acted to shut down Guantanamo and other secret prisons and end torture (along with some transparency orders that I’m not too familiar with) I almost got caught up in the blind hope. Then, yesterday I had a class with a guest speaker. The man speaking was intelligent; he has a radio show, has been involved in protests and activism since the Civil Rights movement, is very well spoken, and has a borderline obsessive love for Barrack Obama (who he – as well as others in the class – kept calling Barrack, which – in my opinion – is strange). After sitting in a room for three hours and listening to a dozen people go on and on about how Obama is the second coming, I was snapped out of my dreamland.

For the past eight years, the insane group that was in charge of our country destroyed the constitution, killed millions of people, practically took away all our civil rights, and ignored national and international law. If I did this, I would be facing massive amounts of charges right now, but for some reason these men and women are going to walk free, spending the next 5 (in the case of Cheney) to 50 (in the case of some of the younger psychopaths) years profiting off of what they have done. Obama has said that he will not make these obviously guilty people face charges- even though the majority of the rest of the world is demanding trials, or at least investigations into the almost uncountable amount of war crimes that have taken place. The Anonymous Liberal – who is a “litigator at a large national law firm” – says that the Bushies deserve to face charges, but shouldn’t. He claims that there is no way to convict them – because of their ability to amass a “dream team” of lawyers – so it’s better that we shouldn’t try. I agree that pressing charges against any of the major players – Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzalez, Rice – would somewhat divide the country, and probably result in not-guilty verdicts, but these people committed internationally recognized war crimes! It was hard work to convict the Nazis, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try. Even if years are spent trying to convict these men and women, and not one case results in a guilty verdict, they will still have to face the world and answer questions about what they have done. What’s to stop future presidents – or anyone else with power and money – from doing what these people have done? And worse, if they know they will never be held accountable then what’s the deterrent? This may be “looking backwards”, but if Obama has any sense of right and wrong, he will pursue it.

My main reason for being cynical about the next four years is that while Mr. Obama is acting to (probably) stop torture, with the other side of his face he is allowing the murder of more innocent people. I’m not even talking about the fact that he will keep permanent bases in Iraq, send more troops to Afghanistan, and possibly endanger more human lives in Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere. Our new President has kept silent for the past month and a half about the situation in Gaza because “we only have one president at a time”. Obama apologists everywhere were quick to agree, despite the fact that he spoke out about almost everything else that is affecting the United States. Now, Mr. Obama is president, and what did he do? He blames the Palestinians for the brutal attacks that have been visited on them, and thinks turning power to a corrupt government full of puppets will solve everything. Not once did he condemn Israel or mention the fact that we enable them to carry out war crimes. I won’t analyze his speech any further, but will instead direct you to read Chris Floyd. I’ll say one last thing though- Israel is using the oldest, most successful tool in the genocide book- divide and conquer. If the Palestinians were able to all agree that the fact that it is unacceptable that Israel is occupying their country, there would be no more need for weapons.

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Cease-Fire

January 18, 2009 at 9:03 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , ,

I read yesterday that Israel has announced a “cease-fire” in Gaza (and then today that Gaza has agreed), whatever that means. I suppose it means that the denial of food, water, and medical supplies will continue. I’m pretty sure it means that Palestinians will still be harassed every time they want to cross the border into Israel, even if it’s to work or go to a hospital. I can almost guarantee that it doesn’t mean Palestine will get any land back. It is also the perfect excuse for the media to move on to the next exciting subject; as long as the Israeli Defense Force (what a great name) isn’t overtly killing dozens of children a day, the majority of people are willing to accept almost anything.

Just because we aren’t going to be seeing as much about what is happening does not mean that things are not going down. It does not mean that the genocide is not ongoing; dropping bombs and shooting schools is not the only way to kill people. The people of Palestine are still starving, the hospitals are still overwhelmed, and the schools in Gaza are all pretty much ruined. Yet, Ehud Olmert still has the audacity to go on television and say,

“we have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond.”

That is some sick shit, spoken like a true madman. That sounds like something Hitler would have said, after sending another train full of people into the chambers. I’m a little confused as to what happened? Is Hamas no longer in existence? Have their numbers decreased? Is Israel now living in complete safety? Does the entire world now love and sympathize with all Jews? The only thing I noticed for the 22 days of this shelling were lots and lots of dead people- including way too many women and children. If that is reaching one’s goals – and beyond – then something is seriously wrong here.

Israel has one week to leave the strip – this is something that both Israel and Hamas have agreed on – but will they really leave? Eventually, someone from Gaza is going to get so fed up by the way he and his brothers and sisters have to live, that they will fire a rocket into an abandoned field in Israel, and then it’s back on. I have heard so many people use the analogy of – “If Canada was shooting rockets into Maine” or “if Cuba was shooting rockets into Miami, the United States would do the same thing”, as if it’s that simple. As if Israeli’s just go through life minding their own business, not harming a fly and then those crazy brown people – due to their hatred of all things Jewish – start firing rockets at them. Now, poor Israel has no chance but to respond with the destruction of an entire people. Randal Kuhn has used his words better than I can use mine, so I suggest reading that.

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Killing People Creates Friends

January 14, 2009 at 7:48 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The reason we get for being at war in Iraq and Afghanistan (and – in a different way – in dozens of other countries) is because we were attacked on 9/11 by a bunch of terrorists who targeted civilians. People were shocked and outraged because this group of crazies had the audacity to kill thousands of unarmed, so-called innocent people. We couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, we had to fight back; we had to start a global War On Terror. Had they attacked a base or killed some of our soldiers in a firefight, we wouldn’t have had to be so extreme, but those bastards killed innocent civilians. This is not widely disputed; even among those who know that this war started long before 9/11 it is still true that the reason why we were so up in arms was because of the civilian thing. Tom Friedman was one of the (millions of) people who were demanding revenge for the brutal slaughter of innocent USers. One of the major reasons why people (including Tom Friedman) are supporting Israel’s actions (and I don’t just mean the past few weeks) is because groups like Hamas target civilians. I am not pro-war, in fact I cannot really think of any situation where all out war is completely necessary. However, I can see a difference between soldiers fighting soldiers and people killing random civilians. The thing that bothers me the most (and thanks for Glenn Greenwald for leading me to the Friedman article) is that we respond to the murder of innocent civilians by killing ten times as many innocent civilians. I take that back- that isn’t what bothers me the most, what bothers me the most is that people can’t see what’s happening. People get up in arms that Al Qaeda and Hamas kill innocent people, but turn away and close their eyes when the US or her allies to the exact same thing, only with bigger and badder weapons.

Tom Friedman actually claims that the killing of civilians is a good strategy (when done by the side he is on anyway). He – and many others – claims that it is not what they would choose, but that it gets the job done. His theory is that killing mass amounts of civilians (especially women and children?) will get people angry at groups like Hamas or Al Qaeda, thereby capturing hearts and minds. Of course this is true; when Al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center I remember all the USers being up in arms over the terrorist policies of the US government. The people revolted and took down the system, thereby creating peace throughout the world. Right? When Hamas and other organizations began firing rockets into Israel and blowing themselves up in markets, Israeli citizens realized the error of their ways, overthrew their government, and opened up all borders. Didn’t they? Of course not! All the so-called patriotism of USers rose to the top, people joined the military in record numbers, and hardly anyone batted an eye when we started bombing countries that have similar looking people to those who bombed us. Israeli’s became an even more tightly knit group and blindly stood behind their Defense Force when it began dropping bombs on Lebanon and now Palestine. Wouldn’t it make sense that Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Lebanese, and other effected people would get angry at the countries killing their brothers and sisters? Isn’t it obvious that killing civilians only increases animosity towards the killers, which we can see by the fact Al Qaeda has grown ten-fold since the fist bomb was dropped in Afghanistan. I don’t understand how someone spewing this bullshit could be considered a serious reporter for a top-notch newspaper. Do they have the audacity to put this out there because we are such a stupid country or are we such a stupid country because garbage like this is out there?

I want to close by linking to an article in the Socialist Worker; it won’t blow and minds or solve and problems, but you can see the growing number of people who think what’s going on is wrong and aren’t afraid to stand up against it.

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8 Days

January 12, 2009 at 8:24 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

This past Saturday, local peace activists (including myself) held a rally and march in support of the people suffering in Gaza. At the march were four or five speakers – two of whom made me think. There were also a number of counter-protestors who completely (like most people who blindly support war) misunderstood what we were trying to do. Three or four of them were 20-year-old kids looking for fights, but most of them were adults with the ability to be rational. A number of us talked with a number of the adults – including a former Israeli soldier and his wife – and some progress was made. The next day – yesterday – there was a talk in Boulder by Rabbi Michael Lerner and a couple of other folks, followed by a number of us having a conversation at a local Chinese restaurant. All of these things made me think, and I have much to write, but I’m going to need some time to digest and sort it all.

Today I’d like to talk about the man who is eight days away from becoming the next President of the United States of America- Mr. Barrack Obama. Michel Lerner has been having conversations with Obama for between fifteen and twenty years now, and guaranteed us that Obama is not as cold as he has seemed in the news lately. He mentioned that in their conversations Obama was very understanding of the fact that Israel is occupying Palestine, Hamas was democratically elected, there needs to be a fair solution, and that the US cannot blindly back – especially with weapons of mass destruction – either side. He mentioned the same thing that I’ve been hearing (and have said) a lot: Obama has a liberal mind and knows the difference between right and wrong, but is unable to act on anything he knows is right unless we the people force him. I can understand if he needs a movement in order to do something about gay marriage or universal healthcare, but he should be able – hell, he should be forced – to speak out against genocide because his conscience should not allow him to be silent. Instead, he says one thing to one group of people (the Spiritual Progressives) and another thing to a different group (AIPAC).

One of Obama’s biggest promises during his historic run was that – within the first 100 days of his presidency – he would shut down Guantanamo Bay. I understand that there are people inside Guantanamo who are guilty of some kind of crime and I understand that even those who are innocent may have nowhere to go, but that shouldn’t matter. Those who can be proven guilty (without using evidence obtained through torture) should be brought to trial, and those who have nowhere to go should have a place found for them since our country has just taken away years of their lives. These are solutions that need to be found by the President and the people who he appointed to key positions. It is now eight days before Obama takes office and he has already backtracked enormously about what he plans to do regarding Guantanamo. Glenn Greenwald discusses this, but not really until you get to the update section.

The enormous amounts of people who rose up and organized in order to elect Obama have now become deafingly silent. All the people that I saw running around my campus inviting people to Obama meetings, knocking on doors to register voters, and preaching Obamaness every chance they got are now nowhere to be seen. They are mostly either banging their heads against the wall and wondering what they did or telling us that Obama ran on hope, so that’s all we need to do. As one of my favorite writers, Arthur Silber, says:

Let it be noted that “hope” of this kind — hope which disregards history, even very recent history, and which eagerly discards genuinely serious political analysis as “cynical” or “irresponsible” — is an exceedingly dangerous gateway drug, which may in time lead its users and countless truly innocent victims into a hell on earth beyond our worst imaginings.

Although what the tiny amount of hope I had that Obama was different, is now all but gone, I still feel like he doesn’t deserve all the blame. It’s the millions of people who proved that they aren’t just lazy USers who vote once every four years and then complain or obey, but rather that they have the ability to stand up and make something happen. The same people who get the credit for registering new voters, driving seniors to the polls, and making sure that everyone’s vote is counted… but then went back to sleep as soon as that portion of the job was done, are the people who share at least half the blame with Obama. The people who don’t understand that in order to make it to the position of President of the United States – no matter how likeable someone seems – there has to be a bit of lying and deceiving, are the people who will have the most blood on their hands.

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Yup, More on Gaza

January 10, 2009 at 9:28 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , ,

I wake up in the morning and I think to myself, “today I’m going to read about something other than the situation in Gaza”. I try, I really do, but nothing else interests me right now. Obama will be taking office in ten days and all I can think about is whether or not he’ll have the courage to take a stance against the genocide. There’s this whole thing in the Senate with Al Franken and this Burress guy, but I know that neither of them will take office and speak up about the situation, so I don’t care enough to really follow it. Inevitably I end up staring at a screen with pictures of dead children or emancipated women lying in the middle of a destroyed street.

Every morning I wake up hoping that the bombardment will be over and every morning I am sorely disappointed. I don’t understand the goals of the Israeli/US government; can it really be to wipe out terrorism? If it were, would they be bombing random people with illegal weapons? Even if their intentions are respectable, how far are they willing to go? It seems to me like their goal is to completely wipe out the population of Palestine, or to see how far they can go before another country finally decides to stand up and do what’s right. First, they dropped bombs onto random buildings that they had heard might possibly be near where a (Israeli defined) terrorist once visited, then they started sending in ground troops to more easily wipe out as many people as needed, now – according to notices dropped by the Israeli Defense Force they officially have plans to increase the ground actions. According to Haaretz:

“The notice says Israel is about to begin a ‘new phase in the war on terror.’ It says it will ‘escalate’ an operation that already has killed more than 800 Palestinians.”

I have trouble imagining how to increase something that is already using illegal weapons to commit genocide. Are they talking about some kind of final solution? When is someone going to step up and say, ‘enough is enough’? When will the majority of Israelis finally snap out of whatever paranoid state they are living in and demand that this stop being done in their name? When will my fellow USers realize that this is not just something that’s going on halfway around the world? This is something that’s almost completely funded with money and weaponry supplied by our country with our tax dollars, and only we can end it.

A common argument I hear from war defenders is one of the same ones I heard during the beginning of the Iraq war- it’s not our army’s fault that civilians are dying; it’s because these crazy militants are hiding among the citizens. Chris Floyd points out today that this argument is complete malarkey; where else are they supposed to live? Maybe they should have special forts outside of where all the civilians stay- oh wait, no one has been allowed to leave or enter the Gaza strip for months.

“Taking cover among civilians.” This is a curious locution. When you launch missiles to kill the democratically elected officials of a government — especially when you target their private homes — where else do you expect to find them? Gaza is a giant, open-air prison which no one can leave and where, as the story notes, 1.4 million people live in densely-packed urban areas and refugee camps. Where else are the “Hamas militants” supposed to exist in this seething sardine tin except “among civilians”? Naturally, it would be far more convenient if every member of Hamas — including, again, the democratically elected officials of the government — painted themselves bright red and gathered in, say, a soccer stadium, where Israel could then drop bombs on them with no muss, no fuss. But we are dealing with the real world, where human beings of every description, profession, ideology and belief must of necessity live and work in close proximity to one another — especially in the reconstruction of the Warsaw Ghetto that is Gaza today.

It does make it complicated when militants look and dress just like other members of a city, but in a way Israel is forcing this situation. Normally, in a war situation people who are not involved in the fighting and are seriously afraid for their lives flee. They go to other cities in their country or they head for the nearest border and form makeshift refugee camps. During the Democratic National Convention this year, there was a protest that was happening on the streets of Denver. The police decided that they were going to break it up, so they cornered dozens and dozens of people. They didn’t individually pick out the people protesting and arrest them; instead they made anyone who happened to be in the area – protestors or civilians – back into a corner. The police then randomly and indiscriminately fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd because they wouldn’t disperse. A 12 year old girl was arrested, a dog was shot by a rubber bullet, and an 80 year old woman was hit with some tear gas, but hey, that’s what happens when random people allow a group of terrorist protestors to blend in with them. This is the same tactic being used by the IDF- the do not allow the population to leave the strip and then kill everyone because they population didn’t leave the strip- the perfect excuse for genocide.

Two more quick things- first of all, it has been confirmed that the Israeli’s are using White Phosphorous, which is banned in use against civilians.

The Times has identified stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells from high-resolution images taken of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) artillery units on the Israeli-Gaza border this week. The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made WP munition. The shell is an improved version with a more limited dispersion of the phosphorus, which ignites on contact with oxygen, and is being used by the Israeli gunners to create a smoke screen on the ground.

The rounds, which explode into a shower of burning white streaks, were first identified by The Times at the weekend when they were fired over Gaza at the start of Israel’s ground offensive. Artillery experts said that the Israeli troops would be in trouble if they were banned from using WP because it is the simplest way of creating smoke to protect them from enemy fire.

The IDF has to use an illegal weapon, which can literally burn the skin off of its victims (most of whom are innocent civilians) because it provides a nice smoke screen. Notice also that these illegal weapons were given to the IDF by the good old United States of America- paid for with YOUR tax dollars.

This brings me to my final point- there are protests, rallies, speeches, and discussions going on across the country each and every day. I suggest that everyone get off of the fence- if you read these articles and see these pictures and get angry or think it is unfair, then attend something in your town and find out what you can do. If you think that Israel is right and only defending herself, then go to a rally and start a conversation, do a little bit of learning.

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We the People?

January 9, 2009 at 9:05 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , ,

I’m sorry to keep repeating myself and writing blogs about the same thing over and over again, but I just can’t seem to get my mind off of it. The situation in Gaza is getting worse by the day and it needs to be talked about. More and more people are beginning to realize that it is OK to speak out against genocide and the destruction of country. Normally I don’t quote from the NY Times, but they featured a very interesting article today- even the United Nations and the Red Cross are speaking out about the atrocities. The United Nations has ceased aid to the region after another one of its drivers was killed and a UN school was bombed by the seemingly soulless Israeli Army. Since Israel is refusing to let media into the Gaza Strip (pretty much admitting that what’s going on there is too horrible to show the rest of the world) it’s hard to get an idea of just how bad things are. Even if the media was over there, releasing truthful stories every day I don’t think we would really understand what was happening unless we were there. Even so, the picture that was left in my head after reading this:

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported finding what it called shocking scenes on Wednesday, including four emaciated children next to the bodies of their dead mothers. In a rare and sharply critical statement, it said it believed that “the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded.”

is not going to go away any time soon. Just try to imagine walking down a random road in your town and seeing a scene like that. If there was some kind of natural disaster it would be tragic, but the fact that this is something that another, more powerful country is doing purposefully while the whole world watches, is enough to make someone don a suicide vest.

One of the most frustrating aspects of this whole situation is that most of the world is against what is being done to these human beings. Almost all the countries of the world are speaking out against the genocide, even though that doesn’t seem to be the picture one gets from reading most mainstream newspapers or – especially – from listening to our elected representatives speak. The majority of USers either feel that what Israel is doing amounts to genocide or – at the very least – that it needs to stop immediately. Normally, in a Democratic society when a high majority of the public feels a certain way, the representatives represent that. In some situations the representatives pretend to do what is asked of them, while really ignoring the situation. However, what is happening in the United States right now is just insane. The US public just spoke overwhelmingly about the need for change; we have a Democratic (some would even say, left-leaning) President-elect and we increased the lead of Democrats in both the House and the Senate. How do our public servants respond to our screams of change? They pass a resolution encouraging Israel to do what they think they need to do, and blaming Hamas for it all. It’s a pretty short resolution, and can be found here; I recommend reading it in its entirety. If this was almost any other country there would be riots in the streets and these so-called representatives of the people would be literally getting carried from their offices. Instead, we have a country where people think that voting once every two (or – more likely – four) years fulfills their civic duty.

All of this makes me wonder why. Why does the US government – despite the objections of its citizens and the world – consistently and blindly support each and every horrible thing that Israel does? I have heard a lot of people speak ignorant comments like, “the Jews run the world”, but I’m pretty sure this is untrue. People seem to have this misconception that the United States is a puppet of Israel, but no one can really say exactly why or how they think this is the case. In reality, Israel is a country full of people who look more like the average USer than any other country in the Middle East (an area of the world with A LOT of oil). It’s the same reason the US blindly supports repressive regimes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while condemning the ones in Iraq and Iran. This country needs to have control over the oil fields of the world in order to survive. If that means that we have to sit back and watch (and supply sometimes free weapons to) countries systematically destroy millions of people, then so be it. There is a good article in the Socialist Worker that breaks it down more than I can, so I suggest reading that. I also suggest – plead would be a better word – attending a rally in a neighborhood near yours and trying to find as many people as you can to have conversations with. We all have a responsibility to speak up for our brothers and sisters getting destroyed for no good reason.

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More on Isreal- Now They’re Using Chemical Weapons

January 5, 2009 at 9:39 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , ,

I have been obsessed with the situation in Gaza since the embargo began a few months ago and even more so the past week or so since the genocide began. The most common misconception among the people who disagree with me has been that since I am against the actions Israel has been taking, I must be pro-Hamas; this is bullshit. Things are not always that black and white- if I am against something, it doesn’t mean that I am for its opposite. I was strongly against John McCain, but that didn’t mean I was a fan of Barrack Obama. I am for human beings to have food to eat, a shelter over their heads, an education, and the ability to live a life in which their country is not occupied. I am against the fact that the Israeli government, with the help of the United States, has been denying the Palestinians these basic rights for the past sixty years. I can understand the need of Hamas to fight more than I can understand the Israeli army completely destroying the way of life of an entire people, but that does not mean I am pro-Hamas.

As I have said dozens of times and will probably say dozens more, I do not support the firing of (decade old) rockets into residential sections of Israel and I think if this is happening unprovoked it deserves some sort of response. The reason why Hamas feels the need to shoot rockets is because – even during the cease-fire – foreigners are occupying their country. Hamas is firing rockets because their people have nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no medical supplies, and hardly any educational system; most of which is the fault of the occupation and embargo by Israel (with huge support by the United States). I understand that things are complicated and that Israel feels the need to respond. I have never been military minded, nor have I studied the art of war, but I am thinking that there has to be a way to deal with the rocket problem that doesn’t involve the killing of innocent people and the destruction of a country and its people. I am greatly disturbed that Israel is not choosing to seek this solution, but rather is choosing to use weapons that dwarf anything any Palestinian has ever had her or his hands on to commit genocide. As if that isn’t bad enough, Chris Floyd points out that the Israeli’s are now (as they have done in the past, including two years ago in Lebanon) using chemical weapons.

The Israeli military is reportedly using napalm-like white phosphorus shells in its all-out attack on Gaza, according to the conservative Times of London. The phosphorus in the smoke-emitting shells causes agonizing, unquenchable burns, sometimes searing flesh right down to the bone.

These savage tools of terror are “legal” when used as smokescreens to mask military operations, although their use as an offensive weapon is war crime. This is a rather ludicrous distinction when the shells are fired into heavily populated civilian areas, exploding and spraying phosphorus in all directions. Anyone who orders their use on cities and refugee camps knows with iron certainty that civilians will be burned, maimed and killed by this chemical weapon. That is to say, they know they will be murdering and mutilating innocent people in the most gruesome manner — and they give the order anyway.

I try to picture myself as a Palestinian who lives in the Gaza strip and is completely against the methods that Hamas is using. I see Israel’s occupation as a necessary evil and their recent invasion as something that will make it easier for me to be free. Then, while walking down the street I see an Israeli plane drop phosphorus shells on a university dorm building. I see dozens of innocent students running into the streets screaming with their flesh burning off. Something tells me that instead of making me more supportive of Israel, this may have the opposite effect. It may cause me to pick up a gun and fight for my country, it may help me sympathize with Hamas a little bit more, but it certainly would not make me think of how lucky I am to be rescued by the wonderful Israeli army.

If this situation was simply the Israeli military fighting against a militant group in Palestine, I might not feel such a need to get involved. However, the country that is being armed to the teeth to fight a clandestine group that has decades old weapons, is being armed by my country- the country that I pay taxes in. I feel that it is my duty to put pressure on my fellow citizens and representatives to end this nonsense. Just two months ago, citizens in this country came out in record numbers to elect Barack Obama as our next president. They did it because Obama promised change, he promised to listen to the people that got him elected, and he made it seem like he could change the face of politics. I wrote blog after blog, had conversation after conversation, and posted article after article trying to inform people that he was not the person who they thought- he would not pull troops out of Iraq, he would increase the bombing in Afghanistan, he would possibly invade other sovereign nations, and he would continue to help arm Israel. I hate to say I told you so, but has anyone heard from the President Elect recently? Simon Tisdall wrote an article in which he shared my opinion; Obama is losing ground among Arab nations because he is in Hawaii playing golf instead of doing what he should be. It has been claimed by many – including Obama himself – that we have only one president at a time and right now it is George W Bush. Obama claims that he cannot say or do anything because it would be disrespectful to the sitting president, however he has no problem holding almost daily press conferences to discuss how he will handle the economic situation, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and his opinions on what happened in Mumbai.

Finally, if you get a chance you should read this article in the Socialist Worker; it is a bit sarcastic in tone, but it really gets the point across about what’s happening. It talks about how backwards the US and Israeli press is and features some great quotes by high government officials blaming the Palestinians for what they are going through.

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It’s So Much Easier If Arabs are Savages

January 4, 2009 at 9:55 am · Filed under Blogroll ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Normally I like to wake up in the morning, read a whole bunch of blogs and newspapers, connect them all together in my head, and then try to write about them. Today, however, I was pretty blown away by the blog of Glenn Greenwald, who I read almost every day and almost always agree with, but today he took it above and beyond what he normally writes. Due to this, I would just like to write a blog that goes over Greenwald’s blog; I’ll try to be as original as I can, but I’ll probably just end up copying everything he says.

I’d like to start things off with a quote that Greenwald posted, by Michael Goldfarb:

The fight against Islamic radicals always seems to come around to whether or not they can, in fact, be deterred, because it’s not clear that they are rational, at least not like us. But to wipe out a man’s entire family, it’s hard to imagine that doesn’t give his colleagues at least a moment’s pause. Perhaps it will make the leadership of Hamas rethink the wisdom of sparking an open confrontation with Israel under the current conditions.

The Palestinians, especially the people who join Hamas, are not human beings. If they are human beings, they are not quite as evolved as the people in Israel and the Western World; they are savages. The mindset of Goldfarb (and – from what I have seen the past couple weeks – the majority of the supporters of Israel’s occupation) is that since Palestinians are not people, we cannot talk to them as people- the only thing they understand is dropping bombs on their families and friends. This has worked so well over the past few years in getting rid of terrorism- we didn’t hear of many terrorists in Iraq until we went in there and started dropping bombs. Afghanistan had a small problem, until we went in there and starting killing innocents. Israel has been taking the land of and killing the families of Palestinians for sixty years, and the amount of Palestinians signing up for suicide bombings has not decreased in the slightest because of killing random people. To publicly state that the way to defeat terrorists is to kill arbitrary innocent civilians is beyond my ability to understand. How do people become so cold that they do not blink an eye – shit, they even cheer – when innocent people are killed en masse so that other people can feel a little bit safer? (Although, talking to people who have lived in Israel makes this point seem untrue; they seem to be the most fearful people involved).

Greenwald has been writing about the Israel/Palestine situation with consistency in the year and a half that I have been reading his blog, but – like most people – more so in the past couple weeks. He says:

I can’t express how many emails I’ve received in the last week from people identifying themselves as “liberals” (and, overwhelmingly, American Jews); telling me that they agree with my views in almost all areas other than Israel; and then self-righteously insisting that I imagine what it’s like to live in Southern Israel with incoming rocket fire from Hamas, as though that will change my views on the Israel/Gaza war.

I’m sure I don’t receive as many emails as Greenwald (judging by the fact that he receives more comments in a week than I get hits in a month) but the disagreeing ones that I do receive often say the same thing. I lived 4 miles outside of New York City on 9/11; I saw the towers fall, I smelled the burning in the air, I have a neighbor who died, I have friends who still aren’t the same, I lived in great fear for months afterwards. However, there is not any part of me who wants to kill entire families of people with the same color skin as the people who committed the inexcusable acts. There is not one cell in my brain that thinks – even if I accepted war as necessary and civilian deaths as a part of war – that doing this would end terrorism and make us safer. I’m sure if I were to live in Israel – or even visit – I would be afraid and I would see the need to work out some kind of agreement where murders stop on both sides. However, I’m just as sure that if any of the people spouting this nonsense were to live on the Gaza strip for a week they may see the other side. This is something I have been saying for years now (if any of the war supporters spent time getting to know the people of Iraq – seeing their faces, knowing their fears and dreams – it would be a lot harder to support the killing of them), but no one has listened. If one of the people emailing Greenwald or myself would agree to spend time living on the Gaza Strip, I would be willing to live in Israel, but I highly doubt that is going to happen.

There are many more sections of Greenwald’s blog that I would like to dive into with more depth, but I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll just focus on one more part:

Those who giddily support not just civilian deaths in Gaza but every actual and proposed attack on Arab/Muslim countries — from the war in Iraq to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon to the proposed attacks on Iran and Syria and even continued escalation in Afghanistan — are able to do so because they don’t really see the Muslims they want to kill as being fully human

This is something else that I have been trying to get people to understand since I have been writing this blog- we are all human. Such a simple statement, and yet how many people – especially among those who make important decisions – really, truly grasp it? Israelis are living, breathing human beings who should have the right to live any way they want as long as they are not hurting anyone else. They should not have to live in fear of getting blown up on a bus or of their house getting hit by a rocket. Each Israeli who has been killed by the violence of a Palestinian has left waves of suffering- parents, siblings, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors… This is very easy to see and all the people who disagree with what I have been posting will not argue with this- Israelis are human beings who deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, when things are switched around, when I say that the brown people are human beings who do not deserve to die for no reason, who also leave waves of grief, who also bleed and breathe and eat, it suddenly becomes very hard for Zionists to understand. I will not quit, I will continue to post blogs, I will continue to share as many articles as I can, I will continue to organize, I will continue to host any debate that people feel like having.

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