Rabid Islamophobia & anti-Semitism are the bedrock of Assadism

Pal protester returning tear gas by rocket near Khan Younis (Great Return March) May 5 2018
Rabid Islamophobia combined with anti-Semitism should stick out like a sore thumb to those who actually wade through the rubbish posted by Assad propagandists & their guppy squad. The Islamophobia is arrant in their portrayals of armed militias using the inflammatory rhetoric of the war on terror: the head-chopping jihadi, Wahhabi/Salafi stuff. The propagandists themselves are, for the most part, too slick to openly, or at least often, express their hostility to Muslims & Jews–although Bartlett & Beeley both publicly associate with David Icke (Bartlett even edited for him) who believes extraterrestrial reptilian Jewish bankers called the Illuminati rule the world. Icke’s ideology is nuts but it’s also dangerous politically & has thousands of disturbed adherents–many of whom are Assad supporters via Global Research & other libertarian journals. The attraction of so many anti-Semites (& fascists) to Assad is most likely based on the historic persecution of Jews under the Assad dynasty & the eventual flight of all of them. The last Jews in Syria left Aleppo during the 2016 bombing siege by Syria & Russia.

That’s why the photos of an Israeli man humiliating an African refugee were posted by several Assad supporters with coy or snide suggestions about the Israeli guy’s religion rather than his political philosophy of Zionism. That’s not a minor confusion. It’s the bedrock of anti-Semitism. If you don’t hate on Jews, it would be unthinkable to make that kind of imputation against Judaism. It was a horrific incident; as horrific as seeing Israelis perched in easy chairs, sucking down beers, & watching the 2014 bombing siege of Gaza. Despite living through all that, Palestinians do not condemn Judaism but are merciless in their condemnations of Zionism. Palestinians long ago proposed a democratic, secular state where Palestinians & Jews will live as brothers & sisters. They saw it as the only workable solution to the mess Zionism, in league with the US & UK, have made. Those who undermine that proposal by associating Palestinian solidarity with anti-Semitism are political dry rot & of no value except to the fascist cause.

Photo is Palestinian returning tear gas canister dropped by drone at Great Return March. If Palestinians can be put through this hell & still call for a united state with Jews, anti-Semites have no right to sabotage that.

(Photo from Great Return March on Twitter)

{PS: I’ve chosen not to post the photo of the Israeli man & African refugee. It’s pornographic in its own way & inflammatory.)

Anybody ever win an argument with a rightwing bozo on Facebook? Me neither. That’s why I bounce them. So don’t call me intolerant & censorious. I’m just protecting our adrenalin for when it’s really needed.

Ro Nay San Lwin & Shafiur Rahman May 5 2018
Ro Nay San Lwin & Shafiur Rahman leaving Johannesburg for Durban & then on to Cape Town in their South African tour to build active solidarity with the Rohingya people. A big fat salute to South African activists for organizing this impressive speaking tour & inspiring the rest of us to organize one in our own countries.

Indian army arresting the dead in Kashmir

Arresting body of Adil Ahmed May 6 2018
Is it conceivable that Indian occupation forces in Kashmir are arresting the dead now? Is it possible that after running down & killing Adil Ahmed with an armored vehicle, they entered the hospital, assaulted his family & relatives, & took away his body? Is this kind of thuggery imaginable outside a military occupation or a genocide?

In the good old days, most pharmacies in the US were family-owned operations. But in the 1980s, the chain pharmacies began taking over the market in a ruthless competition with one another & most family-owned pharmacies folded. Under the old tenure, pharmacists were professionals & because they’re more schooled in drugs than doctors you could consult with them. If your prescription was giving you problems, you could discuss with the pharmacist & he (in those days, the woman pharmacist was a rarity) might suggest the dosage was too high or question the prescription & suggest you get a second opinion. They conducted themselves as professional pharmacologists. Now, with the chain drugstores, they have been reduced to pill bottlers & retail clerks. Nothing wrong with being a clerk but it’s a waste of resources when you’re trained in pharmacology. Now, if you ask a pharmacist about your prescription or for suggestions, they freeze & suggest you read the insert that comes with the pills.

In an attempt to find a remedy for the allergy I contacted from the mold in my house, I went from one pharmacist to another since the doctor has prescribed three that haven’t worked. They all dummied up. Undaunted, I kept asking & finally found a young guy at a chain store who laid out some options for me. In our discussion, he told me that it isn’t the chains changing & demeaning the pharmacy profession but that state laws are becoming more restrictive & muzzle their professionalism. It appears something similar is going on with doctors in the HMO system where their medical practice is controlled by management & less guided by patient care. What’s going on here? Any insights?

Adil Ahmed, Rest in Peace

Adil Ahmed May 5 2018
This is a photo of Adil Ahmed, the young man run over & killed by an armored vehicle in Srinagar that just kept rolling down the street & never stopped to see if he was alive or to get him to hospital. Such is the criminal callousness of military occupation.

May he Rest In Peace. Our sincere condolences to his family & friends.

There is authentic journalism in the era of post-truth truthiness

Bloody camera (Aasif Shafi) May 5 2018

In an era of fake news alarmism, it’s important to recognize there are authentic journalists on the ground risking their lives to report what is going on. Especially in conflict zones they are under attack by those who want propaganda to serve as news or who do not want political criminality exposed. That’s why three Kashmiri journalists were injured yesterday, why Israeli snipers are shooting down Palestinian journalists at the Great Return March, why the Rohingya citizen journalist network has been disappeared by the Burmese military, why Assad hires propagandists to serve as his voice & bars legitimate journalists, why there is a news blackout on war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia.

Three Kashmiri photojournalists identified as Farooq Javid of EPA, Javad Dar Xinhua News Agency & Umar Asif of Kashmir News Service were injured during clashes between youth & government forces near SMHS hospital.

(Photo by Aasif Shafi)