Why does the U.S. invest so much in Israel?

Abu Dis WB  (REUTERS:Ammar Awad) Oct 29 2015

Many ask why the US invests so much in Israel; others ask the same about India in Kashmir–as if Palestine & Kashmir were just a piece of real estate. We may live in the postcolonial era but colonialism is by no means decisively defeated. Its legacy remains profound & destructive. The colonial powers made sure of that. Under neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism, attempts are underway to restore outright international relations of dominance & catastrophe where racism is the prevailing ideology.

To maintain economic & political hegemony & prevent democracy in the Middle East, the US & European powers use many strategies: they arm & fortify military juntas, medieval monarchies, autocratic regimes (Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan), create & arm military fortresses like Israel, & bomb to smithereens what they think cannot be controlled (Libya). They even create monstrosities like ISIS to create chaos & justify military intervention. The Middle East is all of a piece in US policy.

At no time has Israel ever been a project for liberating Jews from pogroms & persecution. The US turned away boatloads of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany & there is considerable evidence Zionist organizations collaborated in that. Israel isn’t freedom for Jews nor is it simply real estate. It’s a lynchpin of US policy which is turning the Middle East into a killing field.

These Palestinian protesters at Abu Dis in the West Bank hold up the flag of defiance while one young man tries to hammer a hole in the apartheid wall–with heavily-armed Israeli soldiers all around.

Palestinians cannot be for us merely a symbol of intransigent struggle. They are human beings with just demands, not icons–& they are human beings on the front line of struggle against the monstrous depredations of modern colonialism & military terrorism. We cannot allow them to stand unarmed & alone while Israel–armed by the US, alibied by the UN, & justified by media lies–escalates the pogrom against them. Because in every way they are fighting for all of suffering humanity. We are truly all Palestinians. A victory by Palestinians against Israeli apartheid & US military might would open the floodgates of democracy throughout the Middle East & the entire world.

We must continue public protests in their defense demanding Israel end the pogrom & end the occupation. And we must continue to build the hell out of the BDS, the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel which has been so effective for a decade.

(Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

The original sin: teaching kids to grovel; teaching kids inequality

The original sin is teaching children to be obsequious to some rather than respectful to all because it indoctrinates them to accept inequality in human relations. The battalions of social transformation will be formed of those who refuse to be made small & worthless or let others be treated that way.

There is nothing more powerful to witness (or be part of) than those who have been beaten down or vilified come into their own power–from antiracist & anti-colonial struggles to women’s rights to disability rights.

They who will not cower but stand in their own dignity will forge the political power that will make this world suitable for children to come of age in, for all to live & love in.

Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition bombs Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen

Yemen hospital (Adam Bailes) Oct 28 2015

The Saudi-led, US-backed coalition of military juntas & feudal monarchies bombed a Doctors Without Borders/MSF hospital in Yemen on Tuesday. MSF says the building was clearly marked on the roof & that they provided GPS coordinates to the coalition two weeks ago.

According to MSF, about 200 war-wounded patients were admitted to the emergency room every month. The maternity ward, lab, & emergency room were all destroyed. 25,000 Yemenis have been injured so far in this barbarous war & 5,000 killed. Thousands of buildings, including homes, have been destroyed & 1.5 million people displaced. UNICEF reports this is the 39th health facility bombed in Yemen since March.

This hospital bombing comes only a few weeks after the US bombing of an MSF hospital in Afghanistan & there have likely been many more health facilities bombed there by US-NATO forces in the 14 years of the war. This one made news because it was run by MSF who are screaming bloody murder, as they should. Israel directly targeted hospitals & clinics (not to mention ambulances, homes, schools, refugee centers) in its murderous 2014 carpet bombing siege of Gaza.

It’s very clear that those with the bombers think might makes right & they are exempt from international law. International law is more an ideal anyway than a reality because it is legally acknowledged to be unenforceable–especially when the UN most often brokers for the war-makers. There is no humanitarian way to bomb people, no matter how much establishment human rights groups try to make it so.

The only effective response to all these military assaults making the Middle East a killing field is to rebuild the international antiwar movement demanding an end to the monstrous wars. That is the historic mission of our generations–& one we cannot fail to fulfill.

Photo is young girl with third-degree burns being treated at Al-Jumhori Hospital in Sana’a which has the only burn ward in the country. It’s not certain if the hospital still stands.

Our fullest solidarity with the people of Yemen.

(Photo by Adam Bailes)