There is so much of our, "Real News" that is unreal, and now we are
being overloaded by "Real Fake News". Long ago I stopped believing
the Establishment's Press. If I wanted Fairy Tales, I'd read Old
Mother Hubbard. Anymore I just trust my gut. Governments tend to
follow the same patterns in both what they do, and how they present
what they do, to the world.
Being an avowed Agnostic, I don't have to get all involved with which
side God is on, so I can just sort out who is bullying whom, and why.
I have not seen anything to alter my long standing belief that Israel
is being used by the USA as a launching point. And Israel is treating
the Palestinians in similar manner as the USA treated the Indigenous
people living on the "newly discovered Promised Land" we called North
America.
And every time a Palestinian is gunned down,, with the flurry of BS
that is passed off as reasonable behavior for murdering him, I see a
like article in the local news about another Black American behaving
in a threatening manner toward an armed officer who, fearing for his
life, guns him down.
I guess the only place I'm going with this is to vent. I just get so
damned mad at people who think that I and my fellow Working Class
brothers and sisters are so stupid that we'll buy whatever "official
story" is dropped on us by our trusty newscasters.
By the way, have I missed it, or has Donald Trump stopped telling us
he's going to make America "Great again".
Carl Jarvis
On 4/10/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This march was not organized by Hamas, nor did it involve attacks on
Israelis. This was a peaceful march which included Palestinians of all
persuasions and the peaceful protestors were shot by snipers. Some responded
by rolling tires set on fire toward the border and throwing stones. There is
a huge buffer zone protecting the border where no one get go and the border
is completely militarized. This Militant article includes information
lifted from mainstream media which is completely dominated by Israeli
propaganda. The big lie, repeated over and over again, is that Palestinians
act in ways that are meant to cause Israeli military response. This time,
tweets from the Israeli military that were written before the demonstrations
began, dhowed that Israel had planned exactly what it would do in response
to peaceful protest. When Palestinians are peaceful, they are said to be
fomenting violence. The fact is that Palestinians are not permitted to
respond at all to what has been done to them over the past 70 years.
Whatever they do, is considered to be a provocation. It's obvious that the
SWP, prepresented by The Militant, is no different from the Democratic and
Republican Parties when it comes to Israel.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 11:36 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Killing of Gaza protesters provokes debate in
Israel
http://themilitant.com/2018/8215/821554.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 82/No. 15 April 16, 2018
Killing of Gaza protesters provokes debate in Israel
BY SETH GALINSKY
Protest actions were held in Israel March 31 and April 1 against Israeli
army attacks that killed at least 15 Palestinian demonstrators and wounded
hundreds of Gaza Strip residents. They were marching on the border to
challenge the Israeli blockade there March 30. Some 300 people protested in
Tel Aviv. There were smaller actions in Yad Mordechai near Gaza and one in
Jaffa led by Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Forces from Hamas, the Islamist ruling party in Gaza, set up five camps with
tents, portable washrooms, offering free food and Wi-Fi, near the border
with Israel as part of what they call the “March of Return.” The series of
actions will last six weeks and culminate May 15, the 70th anniversary of
Israel’s declaration of independence. Many Palestinians call it the Nakba,
or catastrophe, the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from
their land.
The Israeli government pulled out from Gaza in 2005, turning it over to
Palestinian control. In June 2007 Hamas, which is backed by Tehran, wrested
control of Gaza from Fatah in bloody street fighting.
Because of restrictions on imports of basic necessities imposed by the
Israeli government — exacerbated by infighting between the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank and Hamas — Gaza residents are dependent on
United Nations aid and at least 60 percent of its youth are unemployed.
Hamas deliberately organized the action to provoke Israeli authorities.
Despite publicly claiming it would be a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration,
members of Hamas’ military wing, the Izzadin Kassam Brigade, organized to
attack the border fence. Israeli officials repeatedly warned demonstrators
to not approach the fence, through social media, leaflets dropped from
airplanes and statements to news media.
Haaretz reported the protest was three actions in one. “The large majority
of the nearly 30,000 Palestinian protesters was groups of families” who
stayed well away from the border, despite attempts by Hamas to get them to
join their provocations; smaller groups that threw stones and rolled burning
tires toward the fence; and individuals who physically tried to wreck, burn
or blow up the fence, knowing full well that the Israeli government had
warned that anyone who did so would be met by force.
Like during three previous wars in Gaza over the past decade, Hamas’
goal was to trigger Israeli military retaliation against Palestinians who
were drawn to the protest so the reactionary group can use the deaths and
injuries to gain a hearing from the imperialist powers. Their aim is to
generate pressure on the rulers in Tel Aviv to make concessions.
Hamas admits that at least five of those killed — overwhelmingly while
trying to breach the fence — were members of its armed brigade. Israeli
authorities say 10 were, and that some shot at Israeli soldiers.
The Israel Defense Forces’ use of firepower and the resulting deaths and
injuries have sparked a debate in Israel.
Well-known radio host Kobi Meidan posted on his Facebook page that he is
“ashamed to be Israeli” because of the killings, and then was suspended by
Army Radio April 2. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for his
firing.
“I am firmly opposed to firings based on freedom of speech,” said Avi
Gabbay, leader of the Zionist Union, the main capitalist opposition party,
even though he said he disagrees with Meidan’s viewpoint.
Rachel Azaria, a Member of Parliament from the Kulanu Party, was one of the
few members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition who
defended the radio host. “It is important that the media, like anywhere
else, have a range of opinions,” she said. “Stop censoring. You never know
when it’ll reach you.”
Pointing to Hamas’ provocations, former Israeli soldier Lior Tal Sadeh wrote
to the online Times of Israel to criticize those who suggest the Israeli
soldiers “fired live bullets at Gazans who were simply protesting.”
“You acted in an incredibly irresponsible manner,” he said.
But he also criticized those who insisted “everything was Hamas’s fault and
that there is nothing to investigate and this would teach them not to
approach the fence.”
“You too acted irresponsibly,” he said.
Michael Sfard, an Israeli lawyer well-known for his defense of Palestinian
rights, is one of those who joined the protest in Tel Aviv.
The action was organized under the slogan, “Create hope, stop the next
war.”
“Those approaching the border did not present any serious danger to life or
limb. Damage to the fence would be the lesser evil,” Sfard told the Militant
in a phone interview April 4. “Maybe Hamas should be held accountable for
exploiting people. But that doesn’t diminish the responsibility of Israelis
to speak out against the killings.”
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