Honor the cultural boycott of Israel: boycott Wonder Woman movie

There’s something quite unseemly in this debate about Gal Gadot, the Wonder Woman actress who is an Israeli & committed Zionist. Hiding behind feminism but ignoring her accusations that Palestinians use women & children as human shields, there are those who think she should be exempted from the cultural boycott of Israel (BDS).

Zionist feminists who function like a secret cabal are central to legitimizing Islamophobia as a rationale for war & occupation, starting with Afghanistan. They play a profoundly reactionary role in war & feminism. Hillary Clinton is chief among them.

If the cultural boycott means anything, it is that women refuse to be run around the block by those who have another agenda–an agenda that legitimizes apartheid, ethnic cleansing, Islamophobia, war, occupation.

Of course the movie should be boycotted & it should also be picketed by BDS activists around the world. We don’t stand in solidarity with glamorous fictional characters but with living Palestinians who are being bombed by Israel, not used as human shields.

Anybody else think $1 billion of US arms going to ISIS in Iraq (per a US Inspector General report) is more newsworthy than the latest twitter rant from the orange meathead-in-chief? Or is news all just covfefe now?

Those discussions about the relationship of extremist politics to Islam are absolutely fruitless for several reasons:
–Most Muslims have no connection to extremism & have no more insights about what motivates it than protestant Joe Schmo from Kokomo.
–Most non-Muslims don’t know their own catechism, can’t distinguish denominations in their own religions (Christianity has thousands), & don’t know squat about Islam so intelligent insights would not be forthcoming.
–In an era when Islamophobia is the reigning ideology of hate & war, no concessions can be made to it.
–It has more connection to war, occupation, dictatorship than to religion.
–Because honest people not filled with social hatreds can distinguish between flatulence & cogent political analysis.

Mosul Apocalypse: Emancipation US-style

A displaced Iraqi boy carries a clock as he flees from western Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS:Alkis Konstantinidis June 1 2017

Mosul Apocalypse, Emancipation US-style:

An Iraqi boy, his face contorted in misery, is fleeing the Iraqi-US coalition campaign to liberate Mosul by bombing the city & its civilian residents to smithereens.

Those who believe the US Pentagon contains an iota of humanitarian impulses & could possibly play a progressive role in fighting Assad in Syria or fighting ISIS anywhere need to have their heads examined.

No to US wars! Demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all US & foreign military forces from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, & central Africa.

(Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

More coverage of suicide bombing in Kabul than 15 years of US-NATO bombing

A wounded man lies on the ground at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan. REUTERS:Omar Sobhani June 1 2017

There was a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday getting more media coverage than the US war which has flown over 11,000 bombing missions since 2015–just the last 1-1/2 years of an over 15 year war.

Ninety people were killed yesterday; 463 were injured, some maybe permanently incapacitated. This man may be one of those who survived without at least physical injury. That was in the safest & most heavily fortified area of Afghanistan since it’s where foreign diplomats work, dine, socialize, receive graft, arrange drug transport. They don’t bother to count bombing fatalities in the countryside.

Media is reporting it primarily because it will justify the US intention to send more troops back to Afghanistan. There is no war photojournalism in Afghanistan; just pictures of kids selling balloons, doing Parkour, women walking down the street like there was nothing of interest going on in sleepy Afghanistan.

We cannot express strongly enough our horror & grief that the international antiwar movement has been quiescent & has not stood steadfast with the people of Afghanistan.

No to war. US-NATO out of Afghanistan. And drag the bony ass of the UN with you.

Demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan. Out now!

(Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

Cyclone Mora destroys Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees gather to collect relief supplies at the Balukhali Makeshift Refugee Camp. REUTERS:Mohammad Ponir Hossain June 1 2017

Cyclone Mora left Rohingya refugee camps in Cox Bazar, Bangladesh in ruins, with thousands of residents drenched after hours in the rain, destitute, & without food.

Most are not registered with the UN because the Bangladeshi government obstructs registration so they are ineligible for humanitarian aid. There must be some agencies providing help but hardly enough

Perhaps our Rohingya friends can tell us reliable humanitarian agencies where people can send donations?

Our fullest solidarity with our Rohingya brothers & sisters. Here they are waiting in line to receive food supplies.

(Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)