Regarding the Massacres at the Gaza Fence

I can't say it any better than Andre Damon at WSWS:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/16/pers-m16.html

The money quote:

After all, if Israel’s actions are justified, would not US forces deployed on the Mexican border be justified in opening fire on refugees walking toward US territory? Would the European border police not be justified in sinking boats of migrants fleeing to Europe?

The answer to both of these questions would obviously be yes. The universal defense of Israel’s actions makes clear that the imperialist powers have adopted the mass murder of unarmed civilians as a legitimate policy tool.

 No doubt about it...

Random Notes

A lot of the commentary over the remarkable statements by Israeli PM Netanyahu that suggested that Hitler got the idea for the Final Solution from "a Palestinian" -- ie: the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem -- focused on the idea that "he's delusional," and/or "he's insane."

To the contrary, I think he knows exactly what he is doing, and it's not delusional or insane at all. He's making a spectacle of himself in order to draw attention away from the disaster of his rule on the one hand -- the rash of stabbings by Palestinians in Israel has apparently deeply unnerved the population, and the response by Israeli civilians and security forces is way over the to as demonstrated by numerous viral videos of Israelis committing acts of summary execution in the streets, sometimes of "their own people."

It's yet another domestic catastrophe  brought on by a man who apparently lacks any conscience whatever. This is not insanity. This is not delusion. It is pathological in my view, but it isn't an "illness." It is character. Or lack thereof.

It's pathological because a lack of conscience is destructive in the character of anyone who is in a position to wield power over others or to utilize the power of a nation state to accomplish political objectives.

We see this in the political class all the time, this utter lack of conscience, empathy, or even interest in the well-being of anyone outside their own circle, or even beyond themselves. It's not limited to politics, either. We see it in business and finance (especially finance), in the administrative realm generally, in policing theory and practice, and on and on, and I wonder...

Do people in these and so many other fields learn these traits or are they born that way? Is there some kind of eugenic experiment under way that is breeding out the genes for compassion, conscience, and empathy? Truly, I wouldn't be surprised.

In Netanyahu's case, it's been clear for decades that the man sees himself as a Warrior-King on a mission. That mission will not be thwarted by lowly Palestinians (I doubt he considers them to be human) or by anyone else -- who he also seems to doubt are truly human. His mission appears to be the reconstitution of Eretz Israel or its modern equivalent for his own Power and Glory.

If anyone gets crushed in his pursuit of this project, it's their own fault.

And Israelis love him for it.

It's not insanity or delusion. It's purpose and will -- ultimately antithetical to humanity.

It is commonplace in the his realm. While it seems to make no sense to those on the outside,  most of those on the inside share his perspective more or less fully. It's dangerous and destructive and deeply immoral,

One of the aspects of its immorality in the Israeli case is that their argument regarding the Nazis seems to accept everything they did -- up to the Final Solution itself. Israelis can therefore justify what they have long been doing to the Palestinians -- which is very closely patterned on Nazi practice toward Jews and other minorities in Germany. That means that the camps were OK, the roundups, deportations, the ghettoization, the prohibitions on actions, employment, travel, etc., the restrictions and/or elimination of civil rights, the confiscations and demolitions, the summary executions, the lynchings, the lootings, the general destruction levied against Jews and other minorities were all perhaps unpleasant, but they were not the Final Solution and therefore were "OK."

Well, no. They weren't "OK." Or justified. Nor has Israel any right to impose similar conditions on Palestinians. But they do it just the same.

They criticize the Nazis for the mass executions, the gas chambers, and the ovens. Not really for anything else. All the rest of it up to that point was... OK.

Jeeze.

Netanyahu is flailing for attention, and he's getting it.

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The Clinton Drama continues, and if Hillary is elected, we'll have no end of drama in the nation's capital. What did I see the other day? The radicals will be offering articles of impeachment the day she's sworn in to the presidency? Well, yes. Of course they will. It's what they do. And she'll happily do battle against them. And the attempts to impeach her will be a spectacle to feed the ravenous maw of the media -- which will love it -- for (probably) her entire term in office.

Meanwhile, of course, the nefarious and conscience-free policies of Our Betters will have free rein.

Isn't that the point, after all? Positioning Paul Ryan in the #3 slot -- ie: Speaker of the House -- is a kind of preparatory master-stroke, on the thought that however the drama plays out (she could be assassinated, after all...) there will be a dynamic conscience-free back up at the ready.

Jeebus, no matter how cynical you become, it's really impossible to keep up these days.

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Sanders has yet to impress me. He seems to be a sacrificial shepherd leading his devoted flock into a cul-de-sac. No, he will not be allowed to become the president, not on a bet, and if somehow he manages to become the Democratic Party nominee (he won't) he will be left to flounder and fade away. With him go the remnants of a "progressive" Democratic Party. That seems to be the point in any case.

The Democratic Party isn't the same as the Tories of Anglo politics, but it is in many respects the rightful conservative party of the United States. It has always been conservative whereas the Republicans are rightist radicals.

There is no political left in this country with any pretense to power -- perhaps there never has been one.  (FDR was not an exception). Without a functioning "left" in this country, it's impossible to move the governing apparatus away from or beyond its nearly exclusive devotion to the interests and demands of the Oligarchy.

The answer is withdrawal of presence and attention and consent. It happens organically, but it takes a long-long time to come to fruition. It doesn't happen in the political realm, it happens in the social realm, and eventually, the established political elements become irrelevant. "All of that" happens almost in another universe, affecting "real life" less and less, until nobody cares.

It's been happening in this country, this withdrawal, for several decades, but it's been fairly marginal in most respects. "Hippies" and such have been doing it since the 1960s, but there are many-many more elements than merely the unreconstructed hippies in the current withdrawals. "Alternatives" are everywhere, and those who pursue them find it's quite possible -- and sometimes a great deal more rewarding -- to simply let go of the necessity to serve the system as it is.

Thus I can't get too excited about the current political hoo-hah.

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Police whining has reached a crescendo. The recent incident of road rage in Albuquerque leading to the death of a 4 year old girl seems to have triggered a reaction in the media. That reaction is apparently focused on a restoration of the status quo ante -- prior to the consent decree and all the police reforms that went with it, including a steep reduction in police killings of civilians. The local media seems to want to restore previous police practices -- and the death rates that went with them -- as a means of curbing the "current crime wave."

Well, I call bullshit. There is no "current crime wave." Crime in general, and violent crime in particular, is at or below previous levels, prior to the consent decree and police "reforms." Restoration merely means adding more violence to the mix, not curbing it at all. But Warrior Cops can't help themselves, can they? They want to mix it up, they have to, it's an identity thing. If they aren't out there killing and brutalizing with impunity, what it the point of having police, right?

So they whine and whine and whine, like dogs chained up in the back yard, wanting to kill, kill, and kill some more, to be who they are.

And the media in Albuquerque is clamoring to unchain them. To root out all those criminals running wild.

Bleah.

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Enough.

300

When the death toll from the current Israeli killing spree reaches around 300, the operation should start to ratchet back. A 100 to one killing ratio seems to satisfy the Israeli bloodlust temporarily. 3 Israeli teens killed vs 300 Palestinians should just about do the trick.

For the time being.

Until the next round.

Crazy the fruits of imperialism. No?

The Israel - Iran - PalestineThing

Israel's government is apparently having a nervous breakdown -- one of many it's had over the years -- due to the US government's insistence on negotiating some sort of rapprochement with Iran's government over the Iranian nuclear energy program.

This has led to a deep division between Washington and Jerusalem, one that observers say is unprecedented.

And then come chastisements of Jerusalem from DC over the continuing provocations from the Israelis over settlements in the Occupied Territories of Palestine.

Harrumph says Jerusalem, harrumph on the lot of you.

Yes, well.

We'll see if there is a sustained breach between the capitals; I for one don't think there will be one, but you never know. Things one thought impossible are routine in Washington - Jerusalem relations (or should we say Washington - Tel Aviv relations, since Washington, like every other nation on the face of the earth, refuses to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish State's capital, regardless of the will of the Israeli government.)

Israel's government wants war with Iran and no peace with the Palestinians, and it appears they won't rest until they achieve their objectives. The problem seems to be that the Israelis are afraid the Iranians already have nuclear weapons (could be), and the Palestinian Question keeps getting them into more and more trouble with their American partners.

What, one may ask, are they to do?

They're having a nervous breakdown, and that seems to be their preferred resolution to this and so many other self-created problems . Meanwhile Washington has its own problems to deal with.

Testimonies of Mavi Marmara Passengers

From Counterfire.org YouTube channel:

Start with Jamal Elshayyal of AlJazeera, but there are many more.



See them all:

http://www.youtube.com/user/adycousins

And visit Counterfire for news of ongoing struggles around the world.

Don't put up with the shit that's going on.

How the testifiers stay so calm I'll never know. And of course Washington and Tel Aviv are collaborating to "investigate" the Peace Terrorist Flotilla and justify the murder, wounding, kidnapping, brutalization, and theft from its passengers. The results of this so-called "investigation" are foregone.

Israel is blameless, Peace Terrorists are guilty, all actions by Israel justified.

Oh, and by the way, Israel will now let corriander and toys into the Gaza. So there is that. Have a nice day.

Mavi Marmara Assault -- Full Video From Cultures of Resistance

YouTube Link

I watched this last night and found it to be a very powerful documentary in this extremely raw state. I posted some comments at Glenn's Place in response to ondelette's request for peoples' impressions of what they saw.

This is a transcript of my two posts last night:

Saturday, June 12, 2010 10:33 PM ET

ondelette: On the Full video released at UN

Been watching it off and on for a while now. In some ways so sad. I know, but I don't know, that some of the men, maybe many of them, in the video are either wounded or dead now.

They are so hopeful, so frightened, so determined.

There is an early sense of calm, deliberate intensity. Many conflicting emotions simultaneously.

I paused just past the point where the Israelis are pulling alongside the Mavi Marmara. The Israelis are firing at the ship; it sounds like bullets and grenades (flash/bang?), possibly tear gas as well; they are firing constantly.

The passengers are shouting, watching over the rail, moving fast from place to place. The Israelis keep up constant fire at the ship. Their fast boat is right up against the starboard side.

—Ché Pasa
Read Ché Pasa's other letters

ondelette: On the Full video released at UN (cont'd)

Blood on the stairwell, people don't know how it got there, a passenger wounded?

Firing. One shot. One shot. One shot. Burst of shots. One shot. Helicopter overhead, passengers warding it off with sling shots, ineffective. Shots are heard. Are they firing from the helicopter?

Commandos fast roping down, not much sound, view is from the deck below. No sign of what's going on up there. Helicopter choppers away. Men with slingshots continue to aim at it.

Shots heard on the upper deck, bursts of three, four. Wounded passengers carried down, and two Israeli soldiers.

Many wounded now, some dead, shot in the head; firing continues in bursts.

Men in the stairwell armed with sticks, the famous "iron bars," one tries to open a package of pepper spray with his knife. Unsuccessful. Waiting, waiting. Firing continues outside, now a shot, now another, now three, now four. Are they firing into the stairwell? Man goes down, but there is no effort to rescue him. Firing, firing.

Blood. Blood on the walls, blood on the floor, blood on the wounded, blood on the dead, blood on the men trying to be medics. Chest compressions on a badly wounded man, compressions badly done. They're trying the best they can. Is he dead?

Many wounded, some dead.

It looks like no one is afraid anymore. Firing, firing, one shot, one shot, two shots, one shot, three shots. Firing.

Dawn. The ship is traveling away from the dawn, moving westward, away from Gaza, west. Firing, firing. Shooting continues as alarm sounds on ship. Loudspeakers in other languages, then English. "Please go to your cabins. Go to your seats. The Israelis are using live ammunition. Please go to your seats."

Men mill around holding sticks, "iron bars." They pray. Smoke. So many smokers. Dawn.

Hearts are racing. What now?

—Ché Pasa
Read Ché Pasa's other letters

Permalink

The only thing I would add at this point is that what is shown in the raw footage is how a resistance struggle actually looks from the inside as an action is taking place. Superficially, it's not very dramatic most of the time; a lot of standing and milling around, nervous waiting. Flashes of bravery. Carrying and caring for the wounded and the dead. Mostly though, it's a situation of growing tension and not knowing what will happen next, nor necessarily when your own turn will come -- for whatever Fate has in store.

The dramatic action that you see on the teevee is the exception, not the rule.

I was struck, too, by all the people sitting around smoking and nervously laughing toward the end of footage. That's part of the truth of these things that people almost never see. But it is very real.

Rude

Speaks for itself

To Expand A Bit on The Helen Thomas Thing (Now With Update!)

Helen did not use the word, "Jews." The Rabbi interviewing her did. And when she heard that, it seemed to dawn on her what was up; she cut her eyes at the person she was talking to and expanded her wish that Israelis would "go home" to "America and everywhere else."

She has long stated her guiding principle in the Middle East: innocent people should not be forced to pay for or die for the crimes of others.

It's the essence of her view of decency and justice. It's not a hard concept to understand, it's just rarely observed by the contending forces in the Middle East or anywhere else.

In fact, the universal policy in the Middle East and elsewhere seems to be that innocent people will always be made to pay or die for the crimes of others, at a ratio of hundreds to one.

If Helen's principle were observed in Europe during that Unfortunate Period of the 20th Century, there wouldn't have been a Holocaust, and if there wasn't a Holocaust, there probably wouldn't have been an Israel, either. The Palestinians might be living in peace and happiness, who knows.

Wouldn't want that.

In trying to seek some understanding of Israel's victim mentality -- and the violence that is Israelis' constant way with regard to their subjugated minorities and neighbors -- I came across a link to a brilliant documentary by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir called "Defamation". In it, the filmmaker tries to make sense of a term he has heard all his life in Israel but has never experienced: "Antisemitism." He goes on a long journey and learns many things. One of them being that Israel lives on the corpses of the Holocaust, something that happened long ago and far away, and which is now used as an excuse to deflect any criticism of Israel or Israeli military/political action and declare it "Antisemitism." The picture is remarkable for what it bravely shows of human nature, and for the hope it gives that a less froughtful future is possible. Not easy. Possible. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Part I (of 9) embedded below:



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UPDATE The Rabbi has posted the entire interview with Helen Thomas. Watch it, and then tell the world what a hideous antisemitic old hag Helen is. Just tell the whole wide world. The Rabbi should be ashamed.

Sometimes I just want to scream.

"What Should The Israelis Have Done?"

The hasbaraniks continue to infest the Interwebs like locusts, presenting the IDF Spokesman's Line on the Mavi Marmara Affair, rigidly adhering to the talking points that they repeat by rote over and over and over again, about how surroundsed, beset and victimised poor little friendless Israel is in the midst of a ravening horde of Arabs and how necessary it is to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza, and how Hamas is a Terrorist Organization that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map, and how many times the convoy was offered safe passage to Ashdod and how cruel and vicious the passengers were to the kindly IDF Commandos who carefully rappelled down to the decks so as not to disturb the passengers' slumbers, only to be met with a ravening horde of Peace Terrorists who pummeled them with Terror Sticks and stabbed them with Terror Knives and threw them over the Terror Rails of the Terror Ship until the patience of the Gentle Commandos who were only enforcing the necessary blockade was exhausted and with Immense Sorrow in Their Hearts for what the Peace Terrorists were forcing them to do, they fired into the ravening hordes of Peace Terrorists on that one ship, just the one remember, and finally, with great difficulty, brought the unfortunate situation under control. Heroically.



That's the Line from hasbara HQ. Now some of the hasbaraniks will embroider this basic story with tales of the Holocaust and all the Little Hitlers that have popped up in our midst, or they will go on about how the many outspoken Jewish critics of Israel's behavior are objectively Pro-Terrorist and clearly self-hating Jews, etc. etc. Each hasbaranik has their own little quirk. But the core story is repeated over and over and over again, in an almost trance-like state. A wonder to behold.

Every now and again, a hasbaranik will ask, "Well, what should Israel have done, Mister Smartypants?"

My answer? Simple:

Welcome the humanitarian aid ships, issue no threats or orders, offer to escort them to the Port of Gaza, and assist in the unloading and distribution of supplies by paying for personnel and transport. Then thank the Peace Terrorists and peacefully escort them back to international waters.

Couldn't be simpler.

No deaths, no violence, and... Israel breaks its own blockade.

What a concept.

So far nearly everyone is thinking about this incident and the situation that led to it tactically. "What would you have done to preserve the blockade?" when the simple and I believe correct answer is strategic: Israel breaks its own blockade and assists the humanitarian convoy in achieving its humanitarian objectives.

If the Israelis had done that, the picture today would be very different, many people would still be alive and healthy, the situation in Gaza would start to measurably improve, and Israel's image would undergo a transformation.

Israel has the power to make this kind of strategic move, power that Hamas doesn't have. Israel has the ability to move forward.

Why doesn't it do so?