Yes, the problem is that the system is so corrupted and everyone, in order to
survive, has to cooperate with the system in one way or another. So eventually,
everyone becomes tarnished. The mayor of New York City, who started out as a
left wing reformer, has been, more and more, giving into pressure from the
NYPD. So you heard on Democracy Now today, how he agreed with the Police
Benevolent Association that a man who was imprisoned at age 25, has been in
jail for 40 years, has become a model citizen, and has finally been recommended
for parole, should not be paroled. De Blazio tangled with the Police once when
he was first elected, and then lost his nerve. Like every other politician,
he's worried about his career, his donors, the powerful elites, and not the
people.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2018 11:15 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: In Gaza, Israel Aims To Massacre Hope
Miriam,
Between our cold shoulder to Palestine, and to Yemen, and to our sucking up to
the Prince and Saudi Arabia, I can find no compassion in my heart for those so
called Leaders in our government, who continue to advocate the funding of the
violence in the middle east. And that goes for All past administrations that
bloodied their hands. I'm going to be hard pressed to find names to vote for
in future national elections.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/5/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I listened to an interview with Miko Peled on Clearing The Fog. He is,
if you remember his appearance on Democracy Now, the son of an Israeli
general who eventually became an advocate for Palestinian rights and
who emigrated to the US. He wrote The General's Son, which is on
Bookshare, and recently, another book about how the US unjustly
prosecuted and imprisoned the American Muslims who ran The Holy Land
Foundation. What is most interesting to me is that he now is saying
something that few Jewish people will say and that is, "There is no
justification for Israel". To almost everyone, that is a blasphemy
because no matter what sins Israel commits, in most people's minds,
its justification is The Holocaust. Of course, Israel was envision by
Zionists before the Nazis existed. A phrase in Jewish prayer is, "Next
year in Israel". I don't know what that signifies because I don't know
much about the Jewish religion. But aside from that, in the 19th
century, some European Jews were emigrating to Israel to avoid
anti-semitism in Europe. Miko Peled pointed out that however much
one's ancestors have suffered, their suffering doesn't give one the
right to engage in ethnic cleansing. But what percentage of American
Jews would agree with his statement? One of the most obnoxious
speeches I've recently heard was in a video of Senator Schumer talking to a
Jewish audience in Brooklyn. Talk about treason! One wonders of which country
he is a citizen, the US or Israel.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2018 1:24 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: In Gaza, Israel Aims To Massacre Hope
I've always been of the opinion that Israel never planned to live in
peace with Palestine. Just as the Europeans who fled poverty and
religious persecution never wanted to live with the Indigenous People
on this continent and took freely the land that spread to the West, so
Israel will continue to take land as if it is their God given right.
But I do not believe that religion has any major part to play here.
Israel is simply following the age old pattern of taking that which
they are able to take. It's called Conquest.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/4/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In Gaza, Israel Aims To Massacre Hope
As the notion of a two-state agreement fades firmly into history, the
apartheid reality becomes impossible to ignore.
by
Yousef Munayyer
"Israel is well equipped to deal with violence but it fumbles every
interaction with non-violent dissent because these interactions
thrust Israel's policies ― policies that deny basic rights ― onto center
stage."
(Photo: Ma'an News Agency)
In late May of 2010, Israeli naval commandos descended onto a
flotilla of six small civilian boats that aim to break the blockade
of the Gaza Strip and bring humanitarian supplies to the besieged
enclave. Nine civilians, eight Turks and one American citizen, were
massacred. It sparked a diplomatic crisis as well as a public
relations disaster for Israel. One of the key lessons Israel took
from the event, and indeed a focus of its government's investigative
report, was not that Israel should not have massacred the civilians,
but rather that it should have done a better job of explaining why it did so.
So early last week, well before demonstrators began to amass in Gaza
for a planned protest, I could see how Israel was laying the
foundation for the massacre to come, describing the march as a
Hamas-organized event aimed at violent provocation. In the days
before, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulated talking
points preemptively framing the event as violent, dangerous, a cover
for terror activity and an exploitation of civilians.
The
Israeli military sent 100 snipers down to the fence between Gaza and
Israel.
The stage was set for a massacre and this time, the Israelis may have
thought they sufficiently prepared an international audience to
justify it ahead of time.
By the time the sun had set on Friday in Gaza, 17 Palestinians were
killed and hundreds of others were wounded by live ammunition. Videos
emerged of unarmed protesters dodging bullets before ultimately being
gunned down.
International condemnations would follow, as would an emergency
session of the United Nations Security Council to address the issue.
Once again, Israel had used lethal force against unarmed protesters,
even as Israeli soldiers faced no imminent threat. Indeed, no Israeli
soldiers were injured during the events. And it is hard to imagine
how they could be.
These are soldiers armed to the hilt and positioned atop dunes or in
armored vehicles, behind a fence as well, firing at Palestinians from
a great distance. Even if a Palestinian was throwing a stone, the
chances that under these conditions such an act could cause an
imminent threat to life ― the only situation that would justify the
use of lethal force under international law ― are infinitesimal.
Indeed, even if Palestinians were trying to climb the fence, that
would not give Israel the right to use lethal force.
Why does Israel keep finding itself in these situations with the
Palestinians? Some will argue that the Jewish state is in the
impossible position of constantly balancing efforts to maintain its
security without creating another public relations disaster. The
truth is, Israel keeps finding itself in these situations because of
the ongoing denial of basic rights to millions of Palestinians. This
march in Gaza was a demonstration against Israel's policy of encagement.
Pluralistic democracies that respect human rights do not find
themselves resorting to using lethal force against demonstrators.
That's what apartheid states do. But Israel has sold itself to the
world as something else, a beacon of liberalism and democracy. Few
things expose this image as a sham as well as massive non-violent
mobilizations or civil disobedience.
More than the atrocities committed or the condemnations that
followed, perhaps the most important and also inspirational element
of the events of last Friday was the demonstrations themselves. Tens
of thousands of Palestinians congregated in disciplined, organized
demonstrations at various points along the fence of the besieged Gaza
Strip. People of all ages joined, songs were sung, meals were cooked,
pick-up volleyball games were played. All of this, importantly, was
done as a unified Palestinian front.
Despite Israel's efforts to slap a Hamas label on it, the only
visible flags were Palestinian, not factional. For Palestinians, this
was a vision that brought us together with great hope.
These types of events are Israel's nightmare, not because they are
violent, but precisely because they are not. Israel is well equipped
to deal with violence but it fumbles every interaction with
non-violent dissent because these interactions thrust Israel's
policies ― policies that deny basic rights ― onto center stage. That
is why the Israeli government tried to frame the event as violent
before it took place, so it could brutally crack down and dissuade
Palestinians from organizing such events again.
Happening on Land Day, which commemorates the massacre of Palestinian
citizens of Israel by Israeli forces during a protest against land
confiscation in the Galilee in 1976, the march was an effort to
assert the rights of Palestinians in Gaza in a way that tied all
Palestinians together.
Israel, since it's inception, has relied on external support,
particularly from the Western world, for justification of its
policies in Gaza and the West Bank. These relationships are
contingent on many things, including values the West claims to hold
dear like freedom, democracy, civil rights and equality. The prospect
of a negotiated agreement based on two-states has allowed Israel to
stave off the confrontation between the myth of these values and the
reality on the ground.
But as the notion of a two-state agreement fades firmly into history,
the apartheid reality becomes impossible to ignore, and further
episodes where Israel will confront masses of mobilized Palestinians
demanding their rights will continue to highlight this contradiction.
It is now incumbent on the international community to encourage
Palestinian non-violent dissent and civil disobedience, to condemn
Israel's violent repression and then hold it accountable for such
violations of law. The massacre of protesters in Gaza this past week
was Palestine's version of the Sharpeville Massacre that happened
almost exactly 58 years ago in South Africa.
The international community responded then with condemnation,
beginning a process that included an arms embargo and ultimately led
to the end of the apartheid system. How the international community
responds to this event in Gaza and ones surely to come will determine
how much longer Israel will be able to get away with its separate and
unequal rule over Palestinians.
© 2018 Huffington Post
