When Frank first wrote that the US does Israel's bidding, I thought he was
crazy. I thought that Israel was the little brother, doing what the US wanted.
Now, I'm not so sure. I'm beginning to see the US and Israel as equal partners
in sin in the Middle East and, in other places as well. It is Israel that is
teaching our police forces how to function in low income areas here in the US.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 3:55 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Killing of Gaza protesters provokes debate in
Israel
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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