Documentation of Israeli war crimes in handling of injured Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Injured Pal & IDF (AP Photo:Nasser Shiyoukhi) Oct 27 2015

What we have here is documentation of Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This photo should be submitted to an international tribunal holding Israel to account for its monstrous crimes against unarmed & injured Palestinians.

Let the caption testify to the crime: “Israeli soldiers lift a wounded Palestinian man in Hebron, Monday, Oct. 26, 2015.”

The Palestinian man who appears to weigh at least 170 lbs/77kgs & is bleeding & unconscious, is lifted by his limbs with no stretcher in sight. Are they trying to tear him limb from limb? What will they do when his body is lifted off the pavement? Throw him in an armored vehicle for arrest? Dump him somewhere? Drop him?

It is observable that while this injured & unconscious unarmed man is being manhandled, an Israeli soldier (standing over him on the left) is pointing a loaded assault rifle at him? We have a right to ask if they shot him & executed him in cold blood? Israel has some questions to answer. And an accounting to make to justice.

Is Israel unaware of the body of international law dealing with humane treatment of the injured? Do they think they’re exempt from its mandates? Picking up an injured man by his limbs isn’t just an outrage to his personal dignity & humiliating & degrading treatment as outlawed in international agreements; it endangers his life. Roughing up a seriously injured man could kill him. We could cite chapter & verse of international law but Israel would continue to flout it & the UN continue to play stupid in the face of evidence like this photo.

Defend Palestinians against the pogrom of apartheid Israel. Build BDS, the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel (barcode beginning 729) & demand no aid of any kind to Israel. Stop the violence! End the occupation!

(Photo by Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP)

Israel going after social media to silence voices of Palestinian resistance

Israeli sniper (Mohamad Torokman) Oct 26 2015

Media support for the Israeli pogrom against Palestinians is erupting in a white heat. The Daily Mail (UK) gossip tabloid published “The mothers fighting back against Jihadi knife maniacs… with guns, frying pans & rolling pins” complete with an album of Palestinians brandishing knives. The Algemeiner journal published an article by Bernard-Henri Lévy titled “Things We Need to Stop Hearing About the ‘Stabbing Intifada’.”

In the interests of full disclosure, Algemeiner is a rabidly Zionist tabloid with Elie Wiesel on its editorial board & which honors some of the biggest names in Zionism like William Kristol, Alan Dershowitz, Ronald Lauder, & Dr. Ruth Westheimer (once a sniper for a Zionist terrorist organization that drove Palestinians off their lands in 1948). Wiesel is the guy who published full page ads during Israel’s carpet bombing siege of Gaza claiming Palestinians used their children as human shields. BH Lévy is the deranged French guy who writes right-wing screeds on many questions, but most often justifying Islamophobia.

Lévy & Algemeiner are concerned about the growth of BDS & Palestinian solidarity & his article is an attempt to portray Palestinians as knife-wielding jihadists or kamikazes. It’s canned & rabid stuff & not of much interest since Lévy is a blowhard of little intellectual substance–& could be knocked over by a feather in a debate with a Palestinian. Algemeiner’s claim that the article was removed from several Zionist walls by FB should be an embarrassment since it’s readily available on several. But the tabloid just makes up stuff. It’s far less journalism than stinky manure compost.

What is of interest in the Algemeiner article is the report that Israeli law firm Shurat HaDin, associated with Mossad & founded by Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (who was personally trained by the Southern Poverty Law Center) is launching a class action lawsuit against FB for “the proliferation of pages in Arabic that call for the killing of Jews.” The intent of course is to silence the voices of Palestinian Intifada & solidarity.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official told Algemeiner that his office was attempting to get FB & Google (which owns YouTube) to “remove incendiary material & prevent similar content from appearing in the future.” Darshan-Leitner insists FB should monitor its posts about Israel: “If it’s got algorithms for consumer purposes, it can have algorithms for other purposes, as well.” Other purposes of course being to serve Israeli propaganda & prevent Palestinians from being heard.

Attempts by Israel not just to abridge but to destroy free speech on social media are dangerous & a dead giveaway. Deeply irrational & undemocratic impulses are the hallmark of fascism, not free societies that have nothing to fear from the truth. It isn’t threats or vituperative language Israel wants removed but every Palestinian voice & every trace of BDS & international solidarity.

The Daily Mail article about Israeli mothers arming against Palestinian jihadists showed several photos of Palestinian activists holding up knives at protests–images that are supposed to scare the bejeezus out of us. They were likely Palestinians sarcastically flouting Israeli & media lies since even if they had knives, they would not serve them well against tanks, bulldozers, grenades, & live ammunition. Knives to be effective require up close & personal contact. Israel’s arsenal can be used long-distance.

In the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” film series by Zionist Steven Spielberg, the portrayal of Arabs is massively racist. In one scene, an Arab is standing off in a duel with a long dagger against Indiana Jones. It’s supposed to be a moment of hilarity when Jones pulls out a pistol & shoots him. That’s how ridiculous the media narrative is.

But there’s one more thing. According to the media narrative, Palestinians are going wild with knives in Jerusalem. How the hell are they entering the city when it’s on lockdown?

Not to be daunted, we keep our eyes on the prize & build the hell out of the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel & continue protests demanding no aid of any kind to apartheid Israel. Stop the violence; end the occupation.

Photo shows the real relationship of forces. It’s an Israeli soldier firing live ammo at Palestinians in the occupied West Bank town of Al-Ram.

(Photo by Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)

Natural catastrophes affecting millions around the world

Mexico hurricane (Rebecca Blackwell:AP) Oct 26 2015

There are several natural catastrophes in the world right now affecting millions of people; some of them include hurricane Patricia in Mexico; the earthquake in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jammu, & Kashmir; flooding in the Philippines; mudslides in California.

Our deepest condolences for loss of life & property.

This is 86-year-old Maria del Refugio Ruiz Bravo in La Fortuna, Mexico drying personal belongings soaked by hurricane Patricia.

(Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

Noam Chomsky fumbles lesser-evil politics–again!

Noam Chomsky’s analyses have been invaluable for decades in educating about the political character of Israel & about other political questions. It is deeply regrettable that he believes in the necessity of a Jewish-only state, supports a bantustate solution, & opposes BDS. Chomsky has always been honest in admitting that when it comes to proposing “what to do” in politics, he is at a loss. We only wish that explained his opposition to BDS.

Now he has come out promoting the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. This isn’t the first election Chomsky has fumbled with lesser-evil politics. In 2012 he gave a half-assed endorsement of Obama. Politically he calls himself an anarchist but when push comes to shove, he has a hell of a time disassociating himself from the status quo of state power.

That isn’t just because he doesn’t know “what to do” but because he doesn’t understand the character of the Democratic Party or of capitalist rule. Or is it because like with apartheid Israel, he can live with the monstrous crimes as long as he is allowed to be a loyal critic?