That so many around the world do not understand the Palestinian struggle is not a mystery. The miracle is that so many do despite 70 years of systematic propagation of the Exodus myth & the portrayal of Palestinians as terrorists.

Social media has played no small part in exposing the realities of Israeli colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing. It’s too late in the game for media to keep peddling sentimental Exodus rubbish after the carpet bombing offensives over Gaza & after we’ve seen years of photos & videos of Israeli occupying soldiers manhandling, assaulting, & arresting unarmed protesters & especially so many little kids. So committed are governments to the Exodus narrative & not to be daunted by looking like jackasses, Reuters (whose reporting on the Rohingya genocide has also been absolutely foul) captioned this photo: “Israeli border policemen stand away after shooting a Palestinian man with a knife & what looks like an explosive belt near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.” The Palestinian shot here is a young man, possibly a teenager. Since when is carrying a knife–if in fact he has one–a cause for summary execution? Is carrying a knife a capital offense? Could that thing that “looks like an explosive belt” possibly be a fanny pack? Or is he holding his bullet wound so he doesn’t bleed to death? Under international law, those soldiers should be rushing to get medical care for the young man, not standing there gloating over his body. How shameful of Reuters. How criminally vile.

Stand with Palestinians by honoring the boycott of Israel. Check the label on every product you buy to make sure the country of origin is not Israel.

(Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

There’s been so much adrenalin spent over the Honduran ambassador to the UN voting with Trump to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Not only is the US military vital to Honduran drug trafficking, but the vote was a quid pro quo thing in exchange for the US supporting the illegal presidential election of incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández, a corrupt politician accused of stealing public funds & now the election. Of course the Honduran representative voted with the US so as not to bite the hand that feeds corruption.

This protester in Tegucipalpa, Honduras speaks for the Honduran people who in their majority would stand with the Palestinian people if they were allowed to vote.

(Photo by Jorge Cabrera/Reuters)

Since peace & good will to all humanity is the heart of the Christmas spirit, we should keep in mind that in Kashmir the Indian occupying army didn’t miss a beat in its repression of Muslim religious traditions & here is attacking Friday prayers with tear gas.

The Burmese fascist regime & the Bangladeshi government are discussing how to forcibly relocate our Rohingya brothers & sisters back to the killing fields of Arakan state & the Israeli occupying army is brutalizing little kids, arresting freedom fighters, & even attacking Palestinians dressed as Santa Claus with no respect for Christian or Muslim traditions.

Christmas isn’t a time to forget the politics of oppression but a time to recommit to our common humanity in the struggle against war, occupation, genocide. No human being, whatever their religion, is alien to us.

We stand with Kashmiris, Rohingya, Palestinians, Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis, Somalis, Afghans, Libyans, refugees from wherever they are.

Today Palestinian Christians & Muslims prayed as one in Jerusalem, a city whose religious traditions are Christian, Muslim, Jewish. In a democratic, secular state, religious differences will not be a problem & they may often pray together.

Let’s be frank: the Russiagate investigations are a bore. Of course Putin intervened into US elections–just as the US does in other countries all over the world. So now we know the corrupt role both major parties played in that fiasco. This has given political writers like Glenn Greenwald & political currents like fascism & libertarianism the occasion to blither nonsense about a new Cold War & the new McCarthyism. Well let’s talk about the Putin regime outside the US elections–about its repressive rule in Russia & its continuation of the Stalinist gulag, about its carpet bombing of civilians in Syria, its repression in Chechnya, it arms deals with the Burmese fascist junta.

The real questions that need to be asked about Russia & Putin have nothing to do with the US elections but with its thuggish military role in international politics. What concerns the US government is not Russia messing with US elections but the competition Russian & Chinese capitalism represent on the world stage, economically & politically. You don’t address that by making Putin a champion of the people when he is responsible for carpet bombing in Syria & arming genocide in Burma. You don’t have to be a socialist to recognize those basic realities of international realpolitik.

Why are so many getting bent out of shape about the UN vote nullifying Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? The seven countries that voted with the US & the 35 that abstained (including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines) are all very corrupt or double-dealing regimes–several are under the thumb of US rule, beholden to US aid, or doing a thriving business with Israel. It was a given that they would buckle to Trump’s threats & bullying because they have the same interests.

Now take a look at the 128 countries that nullified Trump’s move & ask yourself which of them has proven a steadfast ally of the Palestinian people in the past 70 years of colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing? Does anyone actually think Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, the UK have the backs of the Palestinian freedom struggle? Most of them openly collaborate with Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. It also says something that they all do business with the Burmese fascist regime, including some who sell arms for the Rohingya genocide.

The UN vote can be used to build Palestinian solidarity but no one should put high hopes on it. Intifada will be won through massive, consistent, public support from working people around the world & not by corrupt regimes.

A Mongolian Jingle Bells.

https://www.facebook.com/mongolialive.org/videos/13264099407

Spiritually, Christmas is a time for celebrating peace on earth, goodwill to all humanity by singing our hearts out, Christmas tree lights, exchanging gifts, & watching oh such maudlin movies. Hard to do that when 2017 has been such a hell for millions of people. But we do celebrate because human beings cannot live without hopes & dreams to energize & inspire us to fight to make this world suitable for children to come of age in & for all human beings to live & love in. Whatever our religious beliefs, we can all celebrate hope for peace on earth & the end of war, occupation, genocide.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

Maybe to some it seems intolerant but if you are all over FB liking up & sharing Islamophobic & pro-Assad postings, we cannot be friends. It puts me within one degree of separation from fascists. When the history of the Syrian revolution & counter-revolution is written, it won’t distinguish those who supported fascism & the bombing of civilians because they’re fascists from those who just can’t help their attraction to hating on Islam. Maybe to their minds the Assads are just too pretty & western to be violent dictators. But those should stick to fashion magazines & leave politics to those with some critical sense.

It doesn’t bother everyone to associate with Assad supporters & Islamophobes. But it sure as hell does me.

It isn’t just Jill Stein’s views about Russia that should concern us. She’s hardly alone in not understanding the ruthless character of Russian capitalism. It’s her support for the Assad dictatorship & Russian bombing of Syrian civilians, her Zionism & support for Israel, & her compromised views about the US military budget. Claiming she’s just a girl who doesn’t really understand all these geopolitical matters is contemptible misogyny. If she doesn’t understand them, she shouldn’t take a position.