Daily Archives: July 12, 2014

News

Documentation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza

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Israeli rocket in Gaza July 12 2014ic cleansing in

Are these traumatized Israelis examining a Qassam rocket lobbed by Hamas from Gaza? No. It’s documentation of Israeli war crimes against Gaza–& it isn’t the only evidence, which mounts in photo after photo of Israeli aircraft exploding massive bombs over Gazan cities with homes, schools, clinics. These are in fact Palestinians in the town of Deir El-Balah (on the coast of central Gaza) examing a missile dropped from Israeli aircraft.

One would hardly take present international law as a guide to the oxymoronic (with emphasis on moronic) “humanitarian conduct of war”. But Israeli bombing of Gaza violates umpteen international treaties about bombing civilians & civilian property. And it must be remembered, every single person in Gaza is a civilian because there is no form of military & homemade rockets are no form of self-defense against one of the most sophisticated military arsenals in the world.

Deir al-Balah, which has a nearby refugee camp, is a frequent site of Israeli military incursions by land & by air because of its location & because it is a center of political opposition to Israeli apartheid. Israeli bombers & bulldozers have razed acres of orchard land in the area; tanks have occupied the area under the pretext of routing out Hamas arsenals shooting off rockets to Israel. Since in several decades of military incursions in the region Israel hasn’t been able to rout them out, maybe it’s a failed military strategy–or more likely, those arsenals don’t exist & never existed at all.

Deir al-Balah was once a center of Zionist settlements but under the despicable prime minister Ariel Sharon, Israel implemented a disengagement plan in 2005 & forcibly removed the Zionist settlers from Gaza. It now seems evident Israel’s strategy was not to generate peace between Israel & the bantustate of Gaza but to isolate Gaza to more effectively bombard it, ethnically cleanse it of Palestinians, & return it to Zionist freebooters.

Many Palestinian supporters around the world are traumatized watching the carnage & feel helpless to stay the hand of Israeli genocide. Maybe that partially explains why the antiwar movement is so weak: because military power is so daunting & seemingly impregnable. But we must never underestimate the power of resistance, of political education, of persistence. Our strength lies in numbers & in commitment & in steadfast solidarity with Palestinians, Afghanis, Iraqis, Pakistanis, & all others.

(Photo by Ashraf Amrah/Reuters)

News

Rare photo of rocket damage in Israel? Or fire at the petrol pump?

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Ashdod, Israel July 12 2014

In the interests of journalistic integrity, we post this rare photo of rocket damage in Ashdod, Israel, about 23 miles north of the Gaza border, halfway to Tel Aviv. The caption says residents are watching firefighters douse fire from a rocket that hit a petrol station & does not claim it is a Hamas rocket. For all we know, it could be a fire at the pump or a car fire having nothing to do with rockets. Why do we say that? Because if ABC news can put up footage of a Muslim woman in veil standing in bombing rubble & claim it’s Israel rather than Gaza, then truth in journalism doesn’t mean squat. If Israel can rain down thousands of tonnage of bombs on cities in Gaza, calling it precision bombing to take out Hamas commanders, & media howls only about home-made rockets from Gaza, then war reporting becomes a farce.

It cannot be said often enough: there is no military parity between Gaza & Israel since Gaza has no military & Israel has one of the mightiest in the world. But there is a distinction between self-defense & ethnic cleansing. The caption doesn’t accurately report the number of deaths, injuries, & massive property damage in Gaza. It claims 90 have died in Gaza but admits not a single soul has died in Israel. That harsh & telling contrast does not give media pause because they are not reporting news; they are fabricating an alibi for Israeli genocide.

The death toll in Gaza is now well over 100 with hundreds & hundreds of injuries. And when we say injuries, we don’t mean just scratches, but broken limbs, concussions, permanent disabilities from being bombed. There is massive property damage which Israel claims are Hamas arsenals but photojournalism clearly identifies as homes. And according to the Israeli government, this genocidal siege has only just begun.

There are massive protests around the world in solidarity with Palestinian justice & opposed to Israeli ethnic cleansing. Palestinians are less politically isolated today than they were ten years ago or even since the last genocidal bombing siege over Gaza–because with every new murderous assault, more & more people around the world are learning the truth in place of media alibis for Israel.

Find a rally in your area to join with; if there is none organized, call one. If necessary, be the voice in the wilderness & take a picket sign to a busy corner demanding “No military aid to Israel!”

(In 1967, I was disturbed by the media frenzy in support of Israel & saw a young Palestinian picketing at the University of Minnesota student union. I wanted to understand–even though I couldn’t have found Israel or Palestine on a map at that time–& asked the young man why he was picketing. He was afraid, because the political climate then was nourished by the Israeli propaganda film “Exodus”, & he answered me gruffly, “They stole our land.” Didn’t tell me much except that I needed to investigate the issue more deeply.

There was no solidarity movement at that time in the US, except a handful of Arab students, some socialists, & odd & end activists like myself. BDS has changed all that & that lone Palestinian no longer stands alone. If you have to stand on a street corner alone with a picket sign, keep that young man in mind.)

The political defeat of Zionist racism is a historic mission of our generation. A Palestinian victory heralding a democratic secular state where Jews & Arabs can live in harmony would reverberate around the world, fatally weaken the stranglehold of racism & colonialism, & inspire resistance in millions of human beings still held in the grip of tyranny.

If you can’t picket, join the boycott in support of Palestinian justice.

(Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

News

Israel preparing massive occupation of Gaza

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Israeli tanks at Gaza border July 11 2014

During the Vietnam War, there was widespread opposition among US soldiers to the war & they played a central role in mobilizing antiwar sentiment. It was common to see photos of US GIs in Vietnam flashing the peace sign or wearing it as an insignia on their helmets in solidarity with the antiwar movement. The breakdown in military discipline justifiably made the Pentagon sweat bullets about its ability to conduct the war. That’s a proud part of GI antiwar activity.

But that history makes this photo even more repugnant. These are two of the tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers lined up in tanks on the Gaza border preparing for what Netanyahu & the Israeli war minister claim will be an extended offensive against Gaza by land, air, & sea. These two guys are preparing for genocide by taking a selfie & flashing a peace sign for ethnic cleansing. Of course, what he’s really doing is flipping the bird to the humanity of Palestinians.

Someone recently pointed out that genocide is happening in several countries including Sri Lanka, Burma, Kashmir, & elsewhere, & objected to Palestinians receiving more political attention & solidarity than other peoples. It’s a peculiar complaint because clearly, with Israel embarking on a major escalation of ethnic cleansing, Palestinians are not receiving enough solidarity to restrain genocide. For decades, Palestinian intifada stood alone against Israeli apartheid & they did not retreat against the insuperable odds of US & Israeli military might. Now the boycott movement (BDS) has changed all that & they have allies across the globe willing to stand with them–but still insufficient to restrain genocide.

What makes the Palestinian struggle evoke such widespread support is the pivotal role their struggle plays in world politics, especially in the Middle East. The US bankrolls Israeli apartheid with billions of dollars a year. They don’t do that to protect democracy in the Middle East but to maintain tyranny & the Arab uprisings made that absolutely clear. Palestinian courage & intransigence challenge the colonial schemes.

Israel, with US & European backing, is preparing to do in Gaza what was & is being done to suppress the Arab uprisings. We need only look at Egypt to see what they have planned for Gaza & the West Bank.

There can never be too much solidarity until justice is achieved. It’s time to mobilize; time to hold forums, speak-outs, rallies defending Palestinian justice & opposing genocide.

Support Palestinian justice by boycotting all Israeli products (barcode beginning 729); supporting the cultural boycott of Israel; & demanding “No military aid to Israel!”

(Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP)

News

Ethnic cleansing as spectator sport in Israel

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Ethnic cleansing as a spectator sport July 10 2014

You can talk till you’re blue in the face but it’s not that easy to convince people a lot of what we see in the news is just baloney. That’s what makes photojournalists so invaluable. They don’t just humanize the news but often show the truth so easily camouflaged in the fluster of language–especially if the writer has been schooled in the French philosophical method of writing, or the Washington Post method of journalism (more akin to fiction when it comes to Israel), or if they regularly read the Jerusalem Post (best used for wrapping garbage).

Take this photograph for instance. In one fell swoop, it exposes at least a dozen Zionist justifications for ethnic cleansing in Gaza. It’s a photo worth a thousand lies. The caption identifies these as Israeli men from Sderot, Israel, a town one mile from the Gaza border. We’re told they’re settling down on a hill overlooking Gaza to watch the Israeli military bombard Gaza with bombs & observe “rockets fired by Palestinian militants from inside Gaza towards Israel.” Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive & there’s somebody with a camera nearby.

Today a photo circulated on Facebook titled “Sderot cinema” which showed another group of Israelis in Sderot sitting in lawn chairs watching bombs fall on Gaza & said they were clapping & celebrating every time they heard a blast go off. One hoped the photo had been misidentified but it claimed to be confirmed by Al Jazeera. It was hard to see young Israelis so jaded, racist, & sociopathic from Zionism that they could view ethnic cleansing as a spectator sport.

In nearly every account after one of Israel’s murderous sieges against Gaza, media reports on the damage done by Hamas rockets in Sderot. It’s like the model city for indicting Hamas rockets. Without actually photographically documenting much damage, we’re told the town has been a continuous target of rockets from Gaza: residents have been killed & wounded; there’s been millions of dollars in property damage; daily life has been disrupted; thousands of residents sustain severe psychological trauma.

So take a look at these Sderot guys in lawn chairs with their chips & candy & soda laughing it up watching ethnic cleansing like they were watching a soccer game. If they’re so damn traumatized by rockets why aren’t they in a bomb shelter?

Zionism isn’t just an affront to journalistic integrity. It’s a malignant ideology that corrupts everything it touches, especially those who adhere to it. When under the drunken influence of Zionist racism, ethnic cleansing becomes a spectator sport there is no possible reformation or redemption for the ideology. It must be defeated & replaced with human solidarity. That is one of the great historic missions of our era.

(Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

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Israeli opposition to Zionist ethnic cleansing in Gaza

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Israeli protester July 10 2014

It is overwhelming to view images of the ethnic cleansing assault Palestinians are enduring in Gaza. The trauma of seeing ones homes, schools, clinics bombed into smithereens, of running with your children from air strikes, of seeing your neighbors die, of burying your dead amidst all this is a measure of human suffering we rarely witness.

The ubiquity of cell phones & cameras combined with social media have forever ended the days of innocence when we got our news only from cinema newsreels & network news. No one today can claim ignorance, even if some still cling to indifference.

It’s a terrifying moment of escalated ethnic cleansing for Palestinians & it’s unbearable to witness. But cameras are also capturing resistance which we would likely not have known about. This woman is an Israeli activist in Tel Aviv protesting the war on Gaza. Tel Aviv is not very far from the border of Gaza & when Israel conducts its murderous sieges in Gaza, it sets off sirens & red alerts in the city to scare the hell out of residents. In the current political climate where Israeli politicians are calling for Palestinian blood & inciting violence against Palestinians, this woman & other Israelis took to the streets to protest the bombing in Gaza.

The antiwar movement is small & weak in Israel & like US media & the antiwar movement here, their activities don’t get much coverage. So we should take a moment to honor these activists for standing against slaughter in a political climate where there are consequences to pay for resistance. The truth is, such Israelis in alliance with Palestinian intifada & African refugees are the force that will bring Zionism down & help establish a democratic secular state rid of racism & suitable for human beings to live & love in.

(Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)

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Media lies to cover Israeli ethnic cleansing in Gaza

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Gaza bombing (2) July 10 2014

Photojournalists are documenting Israeli human rights & war crimes in Gaza, including hundreds of tons of explosives raining down on cities. While the photographic testimony is massive & irrefutable, world media tries to turn the story on its head with headlines like “Israel under renewed Hamas attack” (BBC, July 8th); “Israel Continues Offensive in Gaza: Gaza Raids a Response to Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israeli Towns” (Wall Street Journal, July 9th); “Israel and Hamas trade attacks” (NY Times, July 9th).

Shame-faced lying is the nature of media reporting on Israel & the Palestinians. If they could put a soundtrack to their pile of lies, it would be Andy Williams singing “The Exodus Song (This Land is Mine)” from the film justifying the expropriation of Palestine with paramilitary death squads & colonial hatred. The ABC news reader Diane Sawyer, who has made a career for herself croaking lies for the Pentagon, actually borrowed film footage of bombing carnage in Gaza & described it as Israel. There is no actual footage because there is no carnage in Israel comparable to the ethnic cleansing siege of Gaza. They’ve only been able to produce a few photos of Israelis cowering from sirens & a couple photos of property damage in Israel, allegedly from Hamas rockets.

Media publish the photos & try to counter their impact with captions. The Wall Street Journal album of carnage in Gaza used captions like: “At least 66 Palestinians have been killed so far, more than 50 of them civilians.” Since Gaza does not have any form of military they are all unarmed civilians–but the caption suggests Hamas militarism. Photo after photo of rubble in Gaza, of people running from air strikes in residential areas, of Israeli aircraft bombing cities are described in captions as “what police claimed was from Israeli bombing”–like it was just allegations from Palestinian authorities. What about what the Israeli military brazenly calls Operation Protective Edge? They bomb the hell out of Gaza & leave it to world media to cover for them.

The caption to this photo read: “A Palestinian woman runs carrying a girl following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City.” You can stick any caption of lies on this photo & dramatize it with Andy Williams singing, but the overwhelming weight of evidence is that Operation Protective Edge is a massive Operation Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians by Israel. Those who want to stand on the side of ethnic cleansing using cynicism & mysticism, claiming the disputes are ancient or even genetic to semites, shaking their naughty fingers at both sides, ought to hang their heads in shame.

Stand against ethnic cleansing by supporting the economic boycott of Israel (barcode beginning 729); supporting the cultural boycott of Israel; & demanding “No military aid to Israel.”

(Photo by Majdi Fathi/Reuters)