We have no vested interest in securing Clinton’s “classified” information from exposure. Every last piece of it should be exposed–especially her role in turning Haiti into a sweatshop haven & using the suffering of Haitians for the personal enrichment of her family.
Who invented algebra?
The things you learn from snooping around Zionist Facebook sites. I thought it was historically undisputed that Arabs invented algebra–especially since the word is from the Arabic “al-jabr” meaning “reunion of broken parts.” But when I read a snide refutal on a Zionist Facebook wall, I went to Wikipedia which is owned by a committed Zionist feted in Israel.
Wikipedia’s posts having anything to do with Palestine or Israel are notoriously dishonest but I figured on the question of algebra they’d play straight. Wikipedia claims algebra is from Babylonian not Egyptian mathematics–& anyway the Egyptian guy who made mathematical history was Greek.
A little more googling around & I found this gem: according to the book Mathematics Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Mathematics, “Throughout these 3000 years, the Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Muslims, Hebrews & Christians seem to have done no more than present their own versions of solutions to linear & quadratic equations, which were well known to the Babylonians.”
I’m perfectly willing to grant Greeks, Indians, & Chinese played roles in the development of algebra invented by the Babylonians. But if Arabs played no role, why did they get to name it? Was it like a booby prize? And how does religion enter into all this? “Muslims, Hebrews & Christians” had their own versions? Not in the Bible. Does algebra show up in the Quran?
Mariah Carey cashing in on the Holy Land
Mariah Carey performed in Tel Aviv yesterday. When asked about it at a press conference, she admitted no one from BDS had appealed to her not to perform. That might not be oversight on the part of BDS supporters so much as recognition of a hopeless cause–another case of knowing when to save your breath.
Carey is romantically involved with Australian billionaire, James Packer, a media & gambling mogul associated in business & politics with Arnon Milchan, the Israeli movie producer who worked secretly for Israeli intelligence on arms deals, including for Israel’s nuclear arms program. Through Milchan, Packer became personally associated with Netanyahu & actually bought a villa next to the Netanyahu’s mansion in Caesarea, halfway between Haifa & Tel Aviv. Carey & Packer dine at the Netanyahu residence when visiting Israel.
Both Milchan & Packer attended Netanyahu’s controversial speech to the US Congress last March. It’s not known whether Packer’s Zionism is a personal commitment or a business decision. The distinction is really irrelevant.
After Sinead O’Connor honored BDS & canceled her performance in Tel Aviv, she claimed her normal performance fee is 10 grand but that she was offered 100 grand to perform in Israel. Carey, who admittedly is more the superstar, earned $500,000 for her single concert yesterday. Her average fee is not known but the entertainment magazines considered the amount exorbitant. TMZ website used the headline “Cashing in on the Holy Land.” Happy singer Pharrell, scheduled to perform for apartheid in Israel & South Africa next month, normally earns between $125,000 & $175,000. It’ll be interesting to see what he gets next month croaking for apartheid.
You don’t have to pawn your soul to support Palestinian justice. Build the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel.
(Photo a Getty/TMZ composite from TMZ website)
Unraveling the Matisyahu fiasco
The controversy over Matisyahu performing at Rototom Sunsplash would be the very definition of fiasco. It also makes quite clear that Israel is going to make things ugly for BDS. To unravel the fiasco we have to know who Matisyahu is, what Rototom Sunsplash is, why the big guns of world Zionism got involved in a reggae concert, & why headlines claim “Canceling Matisyahu performance ‘clear case of anti-Semitic discrimination’” & “Jewish musician banned from Spanish music festival because he’s Jewish.”
Matisyahu is the stage name of 36-year-old Matthew Paul Miller, an American reggae/pop singer who has a certain obsession with being Jewish, who became Hasidic in his twenties, & the lyrics of his music reflect that. For many years he performed in a yarmulke & prayer shawl although he no longer is religious. He is however an ardent Zionist. His lyrics are all about love & peace but he publicly supported the Israeli commando assault on the Mavi Marmara humanitarian flotilla to Gaza in 2010 where nine activists were killed. As far as we know he’s remained silent on carpet bombing in Gaza. He tries to finesse Israeli crimes by playing stupid, by pretending he’s just a troubadour for world peace.
But in April of this year, he was the headline act at Declare Your Freedom, a concert at Tulane University in New Orleans, organized by Allies of Israel & Tulane United For Israel & run by Chloé Valdary, a well-known Zionist activist, & Maor Shapira, a veteran of the Israeli military. The concert promoted Israel saying: ” the only Jewish state is the realization of the Dream of Redemption for the Jewish people & the fulfillment of the Emancipation embedded within the Zionist Dream.”
Rototom Sunsplash is an annual reggae festival in a town north of Valencia in Spain which promotes itself with the hashtag #peacerevolution but apparently isn’t very selective about what that means. Not only did they invite Matisyahu but they included Capleton, a singer whose lyrics call for the murder of gays & lesbians.
BDS Pais Valencia, the local BDS group, appealed to Rototom Sunsplash organizers to cancel the performance of Matisyahu because of his public role in support of Israeli apartheid. There is no reason in the world why they should not have at a concert promoting itself as a #peacerevolution event. It’s only regrettable the local LGBT group didn’t know Capleton would be performing so they could boot his ass too.
This is where the fiasco begins. Rototom organizers–intentionally or not–escalated a simple disinvite into an international incident by demanding Matisyahu sign a statement supporting Palestinian statehood. Of course he wouldn’t sign the damn thing. There’s no indication this requirement was initiated by BDS Valencia. Their public statement calls for ‘ending the occupation & colonization of Palestinian lands, dismantling the apartheid wall, recognizing democratic rights of Israeli Palestinians, & the right of return for Palestinian refugees. No mention of a Palestinian state. No mention of Matisyahu being Jewish.
This is when Ronald Lauder got involved–as president of the World Jewish Congress (the leading international Zionist group deeply involved in establishing Israeli settlements in the West Bank & in promoting Israel as a Jewish-only state) & also as the owner of several cosmetic companies being boycotted under BDS.
This is when Zionist media & organizations went ballistic, accusing Rototom of anti-Semitism. This is when the Spanish government took time out from arresting protesters, evicting retirees from housing, beating back all African immigrants from their territories in Morocco, to denounce BDS for putting “into question the principle of non-discrimination on which all plural & diverse societies are based.” The line between fiasco & farce is often a thin one.
Today Rototom Sunsplash reversed its decision, apologized to Matisyahu, & invited him back to perform on August 22nd. You don’t get more cowardly than that. They can take that #peacerevolution hashtag & put it where the sun don’t shine. There is no word yet on BDS Pais Valencia’s response. But you can show your support for them at: s://www.facebook.com/pages/BDS-País-Valencià/117324538427908?fref=ts
As a postscript, many of the articles berating BDS for anti-Semitism showed six-year-old photos of Matisyahu in yarmulke & prayer shawl–so as to emphasize their accusation. This photo is how Matisyahu appears today.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Michael Jordan’s shabby million-dollar image
Super-athlete Michael Jordan testified in court today that he filed the lawsuit against a supermarket chain that used his image without permission (in a 2009 ad) to protect his image which is “precious” to him.
Jordan’s attorney told jurors Jordan’s name was worth at least $480 million to Nike & that each commercial use of Jordan’s name is worth over $10 million. Last year alone Jordan made $100 million from his image even though he hasn’t played basketball since 2003.
Actually his image has been shot to hell since the 1980s when he began shilling for Nike despite their use of sweatshop & child labor. He chose to become filthy rich rather than do the right thing. A man can’t live down the stench of that no matter how great an athlete or how much money they pile on. Precious to him is putrid in fact.
The barbarism of European Union immigration policy
It looks like this refugee trying to travel under the train from Macedonia to Serbia is signaling the photojournalist not to give his position away to authorities. But ratting the guy out might be doing him a favor since riding the truss rods under a train moving at high speed, rocking & swaying on rough track, & throwing up rock ballast from the tracks is extremely dangerous. As desperate as he is, he may not reach his destination–either alive or in one piece.
Central American immigrants travel a thousand miles through Mexico to the US border on trains they call “la bestia” (the beast) or the “el tren de la muerte” (the death train). The freight trains don’t stop for immigrants who are forced to hop on & off moving trains. Hundreds have sustained permanent injuries, including amputation of limbs, & must return to countries without social security nets. If they weren’t desperately poor, they wouldn’t have risked the trains in the first place. Their recklessness is borne of absolute necessity. Thousands of immigrants also face paramilitary & gang violence, including robbery, assault, rape, torture, kidnapping, extortion, disappearance, murder. Many end up in mass graves.
Reportedly over 1,000 refugees–mainly from Syria but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, & some African countries–enter Macedonia daily from Greece heading north to European countries not yet completely under Troika austerity policies. Many refugees are rushing to pass through the Serbian-Hungarian border before Hungary has finished building the razor-wire barrier fence.
According to UNHCR (the UN refugee agency), over 124,000 refugees arrived in Greece via the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Kos, Samos, & Leros–just till the end of July. There are an estimated seven to eight thousand still on Kos waiting for Greek authorities to process transit papers so they can move on to northern Europe with less hassle. That would suggest that thousands of refugees have moved on without waiting for papers to be processed & are going to face the immense difficulties undocumented workers face all over the world.
This barbarism faces refugees & immigrants everywhere, on every route that millions are traveling. Immigration is a human right. Open the damn borders.
(Photo by Boris Grdanoski/AP)
Zionist attempts to romanticize the barbarities of Israeli settlements
What a charming & bucolic scene in the occupied West Bank. The Yahoo caption reads: “Israelis cool themselves in a water spring located near the Jewish settlement of Givat Ze’ev in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem….Temperatures in parts of Israel & Palestine rose to 50 degrees Celsius as a heat wave visits the region.”
We’re going to be seeing a lot of this romantic rubbish as Israel’s settlement projects expand & Zionist settlers become more belligerent against Palestinians–like torching mosques, tearing up olive trees & poisoning water wells on Palestinian lands–like torching homes where Palestinians sleep & killing baby Ali & his father Saad Dawabsheh. So we better get a grasp of what’s going on.
Givat Ze’ev, founded in 1982, is one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank with a population of around 15,000 & development plans to expand to 25,000 in the next five years. It’s built on 2,000 acres of confiscated Palestinian land with maps for further expansion. Palestinian analysis of the expropriation plans determined that expansion of settlements & the road being built to facilitate travel between Jerusalem & Tel Aviv would confiscate prime agricultural land, including 30,000 olive trees, which 24,000 Palestinian villagers depend on for livelihood. The plans also include annexing several Palestinian villages & displacing residents into refugee camps.
Since it’s only a 15 minute drive to Jerusalem, Givat Ze’ev is a desirable location. Housing plans & sales are being marketed especially to English-speaking orthodox Jews making aliyah to Israel. Aliyah is the fundamental tenet of Zionism, sanctified in Israel’s Law of Return, that claims all Jews–who’ve been living all over Kingdom Come for 3,000 years–have a legal right to immigrate, settle, & become citizens of Israel–forcibly expropriating & displacing Palestinians. It’s kind of like Irish-Americans laying claim to the Rhineland from whence their Celtic ancestors came 3,000 years ago.
For Israel, the settlements serve two purposes: the expansion of a Jewish-only state (necessarily entailing the displacement of Palestinians) & secondly, it solves the housing problem within the confines of Israel. Not just that rents are too high in Israel for residents but affordable housing cannot be built, including for those doing aliyah, in a society that prioritizes military expenditures.
The US occasionally plays lip-service to international law by objecting to the illegal settlements but it consistently flouts it by vetoing resolutions in the UN Security Council condemning the settlements. The US government also provides relocation money & language courses to learn Hebrew to Zionist settlers from the US. If Obama is judged by deeds & not words, his regime is up to its eyeballs in the expropriation of Palestinians.
The only effective response to Israeli settlements is to build the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel (BDS).
(Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA)
Chemtrails & cognition problems
A Facebook friend sent me a message chastising me for not writing about Palestine & Israeli atrocities. I wasn’t sure what planet he was flying in from so I checked his wall & it’s full of chemtrail stuff. He must be getting a snoot full of the stuff before he lands.
DNA can now tell what country you’re from? Yeah sure!
Ancestry.com, the site where you trace your family lineage, advertises with a guy who thought he was German but did a DNA test & found out he was Irish & Scottish. Color me skeptical that a DNA test can tell a German from a Celt–especially since the Celts derive from somewhere in the Rhineland. What would the DNA show in someone like me who is both Irish & German?
The same thing is true all over the planet. How do you tell an Indian from a Pakistani? Or a Mexican from a Guatemalan? Or a Palestinian from a Jordanian? Or a Ugandan from a Nigerian?
UN refugee agency for Palestinians closes down 703 schools in 5 countries
The UN Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was founded in 1949 to address the crises of refugees created when Zionist paramilitary terrorist groups in league with the US & UK stole most of Palestine & called it Israel. The UNRWA deals only with Palestinian refugees in 58 registered camps in five countries & is distinct from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which deals with all other refugees.
UNRWA is funded by voluntary contributions from the UN Secretariat, several governments, & some NGOs. The largest single donors are the US & European Union whose contributions make up nearly 50 percent of the total income. The money is not used to run the refugee camps but to provide health & education services to now 5.5 million refugees unable to return to their homeland whilst Israel recruits Zionist settlers to take their lands. There is increasing political pressure from Zionists & right-wing groups to eliminate UNRWA–which means eliminating health care & education for the refugees.
In a statement issued on July 25th–just one month before school opens–UNRWA announced it was financially strapped to the tune of $101 million “due to lack of funding by international donors” & might have to delay the start of school in 703 overcrowded schools in Palestinian refugee camps across the Middle East, affecting 500,000 students: 50,000 students in the West Bank, nearly 32,000 in Lebanon, 115,000 in Jordan, over 67,000 in Syria, & 225,000 in Gaza. That would also lay off 22,000 teachers.
Since the announcement, parents, teachers, & students in Gaza & in Jordan refugee camps have held rallies at UNRWA headquarters protesting the education cutbacks. One teacher in Gaza told an Al Jazeera reporter it wasn’t possible a big operation like UNRWA would discover the financial crisis just weeks before school opening. Protesters demanded the “international community” immediately come up with the dough because Palestinians should not be forced to give up their right to an education along with their right to return to their homeland.
When we consider the crisis of Palestinian refugees, particularly in Gaza under the Israeli embargo & in Syria under war; when we consider the housing & humanitarian crises in Gaza as a result of Israeli carpet bombing, including the bombing of schools used as UNRWA refugee centers; when we look at the recent UNRWA study showing the infant mortality rate in Gaza has risen for the first time in five decades, then, like the protesters in Gaza, we begin to smell a rat about the cutbacks in UNRWA funding that would force 500,000 children out of school.
Several human rights groups acknowledge that Israel directly targeted children in its murderous bombing siege last summer. Those who are pulling back their funding of UNRWA are proving complicit in that criminality. UNRWA publicly posted the names & amounts of 2014 contributions & we think it politically essential that they publicly identify those contributors who are withholding funds & willfully denying education to 500,000 Palestinian children in refugee camps.
The photo is Palestinian school children in Gaza City protesting outside UNRWA headquarters. Our fullest solidarity with their protests.
Defend Palestinian children & their right to education by building the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel. Demand no military aid to Israel but money for education, health care, & housing.
(Photo by Khalil Hamra/AP)