There is a word used by Israel called "Hispara" which actually means pro Israel
propaganda. It is used shamelessly by Israeli's proponents to muddy the waters
in all sorts of ways. As I sat passively in a dental chair having 2 cavities
filled today, my young dentist and her assistant were having a discussion. One
of them mentioned that she'd just read an article stating that a study of
Americans has just been done which shows that a very large percentage of young
people don't know what the Holocaust is. These women, one young, one older,
both wondered in amazement how that could be, how could people not know. And I
thought how timely the report of this study was. Just at the moment when the
Palestinians are peacefully protesting the theft of their land and their homes
and proclaiming their right to return, and the Israelis are killing them and
injuring them indiscriminately, a study comes out reminding everyone that the
Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis during WW2. What a coincidence. So, when my
young dentist took the instruments out of my mouth for a moment and then asked
me, because she and her assistant had forgotten, really honestly forgotten,
"What was the name of the leader of the Nazis?", and I told them that it was
Hitler, I also added the information about why the report of that study has
been released at the present time. Interestingly, they did know that Israelis
had been killing Palestinians. But ththey had been brainwashed to the extent
that they thought the Jews and Palestinians had shared the land for all these
many years, back from biblical times. I had to then give a little history
lesson. No, the Jews came from Europe. Hardly any had been living in Palestine
and no, they weren't fighting each other. The Jews threw them off their land
and have been killing them whenever they rebel. I wander through life, doing my
one woman revolution, one person at a time.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2018 1:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Killing of Gaza protesters provokes debate in
Israel
Some days I listen and laugh. Some days I listen and curse. Everyone is
pointing the finger at everyone else, while sounding just like all of them.
With my ears, I listen and watch, knowing that even though I am no longer a
religious man, the Bible said it all when it proclaimed, "By their deeds ye
shall know them".
And by the way, we'd better quit listening to the babble of Donald Trump and
begin paying close attention to his actions. Unstopped, Donald Trump will
start us on a long road, not back to the days when America was Great, but down
an even more frightening road that leads to the New Dark Ages.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/12/18, Bob Hachey <bhachey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Roger and all,
Yes, this article was a definite disappointment to read. While it
tried to present both sides, it clearly favored the Israel side. Heck,
if I were stuck living behind that fence, I'd perhaps be inclined to
act in a hostile manner. Once again, Israel uses the relatively tame
actions of a few to terrorize Palestinians. Funny how Israel who often cries
"terrorism"
continues to terrorize peoples within its border. That's what I call
high hypocrisy.
Reading this article leads me to the conclusion that the leaders of
the SWP are lackeys of Israel's Likud party, just like the Democrats
in Congress who claim to be progressive, but gladly support Israeli
policies while they bow to the Israel lobby.
Bob Hachey
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto: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
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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