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Showing posts with label pro-Israel bias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pro-Israel bias. Show all posts

Friday, November 23, 2012

What the h*ll is my Israel doing? (video)

E. Landau, A. Dorrian, P. Macpherson, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly


Is compassion for Palestinians in Gaza anti-semitism? Absolutely not. But one would never know that from reading through the mainstream mead's coverage of Israel's war crimes against Palestinians in the name of self-defense. And wherever Israel goes, the US/MIC is not far behind.

Often "we" (as if the average American had much to do with the decision-making motives of corporate war-profiteers and violence-prone generals at the Pentagon) are leading Israel around by the nose to do the bidding most profitable to us in the region. "Israel is worth ten CIAs" a CIA official once famously admitted.

Benjamin Netanyahu, "Bibi," was educated in America. That is why he has barely an accent. Yet no one speaks eloquently for the Palestinians. And it seems no one tells Muslim men and women being bombed to stop shouting and behaving "emotionally" when reporting the facts on the ground. Jewish soldiers are not allowed to brag or are not asked by reporters to explain why they kill and terrorize civilians. Is there an Arab League representative, an unbiased translator, any voice in the wilderness? Palestinians do not have a fraction of the sterling public relations support Israel and the US military take for granted.

Israeli war crimes against Palestine: witnesses see KL War Crimes Commission (sabbah.biz)
 
The coverage, particularly on NPR, is astoundingly pro-Israel even when it seems to be showing the other side of the argument. The obvious slant is in reporting Netanyahu's spin; the subtle bias is far more insidious, leaving one to wonder how they do not lose all credibility news story after news story.

Such is the power of money, intellectual capital, and misguided sympathy for historical wrongs towards Jews and, only more recently "Israelis," if there is such a thing. Zionists? Usurpers? The people of the Bible? Anyone who claims the bloodline and mantle of The Chosen Ones?
 
It takes an Arabic or Palestinian scholar to point out that the people who call themselves and whom we call "Jews" today are hardly as distinct or rooted in and around Jerusalem as we now take for granted. The whole history of the genocidal founding of the modern state of "Israel" and its location in Palestine as their "promised land" is problematic.

However, PR firms pay off Christian scholars and other scientists to jump into the fray in favor of all things Israel. It doesn't even take that; for it is understood in scholarly circles that if one wants to make a name for him or herself and be widely cited and published, one's finding had better be in favor of Israel and its revisionist history. If all these voices silenced themselves, the CIA and its operatives would still rule the discussion. How much nicer that they self-select and use their clout to justify and further war.

This is not a question about Semitic languages, proto-Hebrew (apparently any earlier or current form of Arabic on any shard of pottery), or how far back the Bible can be pushed as unbiased historical document not a story of a people told by those very people to perpetuate themselves at the expense of neighbors or outsiders coming in claiming to be those descendents continuing a long tradition of forced relocation and cultural genocide.

The blame does not fall on individuals like Romney-supporting Netanyahu, his similarly educated brother, or the Kanesset. It is displaced onto other actors, even stone throwers trying to defend themselves against atrocities wrought by the super power on the other side of the wall. Yes, wall, not "fence."

Israeli nationalists are wrong. And their right-wing media machines, owned and operated by billionaires and multi-millionaries rather than the dogged journalists and editors who constantly bear the brunt, are hopelessly biased. Here is one problem. Polls are taken and reported acting as if the vast majority, 80%, of Israelis are for genocide, rubber stamping anything the Israeli Department of War (IDF) wants to do, short of ground invasions unless Netanyahu should deem them "unavoidable."

What are the poll questions being asked? And who is doing the asking and tabulating and spinning the results, an Israeli nationalist paper?
  • "Do you disapprove of a country defending itself from hostile rocket fire?"
  • "Are you for terrorism?"
  • "If a peaceful nation, which only wants peace, is brutally attacked by thugs hiding in slums on the other side of a Security Fence, is it all right for the peaceful nation to defend itself, or should it allow bombs to rain down on its children and elderly?"
Answer honestly and anonymously, and we promise not to twist or construe your answers as being in support of genocide, mutilation, or asymmetrical warfare against those godforsaken "dogs" in Gaza and the West Bank.

Has anyone ever heard something more true than that Sarah Silverman joke from her feature-length movie, "J is Magic"? She complains about someone criticizing Jews then, rhetorically, with biting satire, asks: Hey, I thought we owned the media. How are others getting their say?

The gist of it is, of course Israeli nationalists have an inordinate influence on the media around the world, but we aren't ever allowed to point that out. Wink-wink. That would be, pick your offending term, "racist," anti-Semitic, hateful, so unfair, so biased.

Angry Netanyahu, a real CIA asset (Al Jazeera)
God (YHWH) forbid anyone attribute anything negative to any Jewish person (except Bernie Madoff or Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, those pariahs), Israelis in and around Palestine, or any Hebrew-speaking person from here in Hollywood to there in Tel Aviv, that's "anti-Semitism!"
 
If a right-wing leader in Israel acts like that German guy and anyone dares to point out a similarity or two, dares to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, forgetaboutit. The gloves are off. Just last week Southern Californians were sympathizing with the plight of Palestinians in Westwood at the beloved Federal Building, site of all the best protests.
 
Jews, Israeli nationalists, Christian fundamentalists, and/or students feeling guilty about not doing enough to support the Promised Land Project (i.e., the new state of Israel), which gives them dual US-Israeli citizenship while Palestinians have no citizenship anywhere, and free trips to Israel while Palestinians are free to travel to a neighbor's house but no farther, went to confront and provide a counterpoint to those Palestinian sympathizers. Violence erupted on the streets of Los Angeles as a result of their intimidating counter protest. West LA is the heart of the Jewish and pro-Israel presence in LA.

Most Los Angelenos slept in. We can't be bothered. We've got homework, housework, work (business), and lots of other busy-work to see to.

They may say we're "racists," but Wisdom Quarterly has to stand up and call it what it is: Israeli-planned attacks on a nearly defenseless population using Iran-made "missile strikes" as pretext, propaganda, atrocities, the world's biggest prison, ethnic cleansing, and if only there were a word for the attempted systematic elimination of a people...

What's the real motive? Even God (the war-like Jewish tribal one) doesn't know, but the MIC sure does.

Although some one or some "cabal" put him up to it, P.M. Netanyahu has to be called on to answer for it. Sec'y of State Clinton has to be called to answer. (Pres. Obama is smart using Bibi's pro-Romney comments to stay out of the fray, sort of earning his Nobel Peace Prize by sending in Hillary to do the handshaking and historic signing, while he himself enjoys the sights in Buddhist Asia instead).



() Barrister Michael Mansfield speaks out about the new feature documentary "WhereShould the Birds Fly" by filmmaker Fida Qishta at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP).

Mansfield: "I chose to sit in here. Now there was a film showing, 'Where Should Birds Fly.' Now those of you who were in here would have been as shocked -- even though I thought I knew what was going on -- shocked as anybody could be about the appalling situation. We've heard a lot about the appalling situation, but the film says it all. Farmers being shot at as I speak... It's in that context that I have a feeling...that there's a sense of urgency, emergency, and that that has to be communicated into legal redress."

The RToP held its fourth international session in New York City on Oct. 6-7. It took place in the Great Hall at Cooper Union located at 7 East 7th Street, New York, NY.

The RToP is an International People's Tribunal created in response to the international community's inaction regarding Israel's recognized violations of international law.

The Tribunal aims to bring attention to the complicity and responsibility of various national, international, and corporate actors in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the perpetuation of Israel's impunity under international law.

RToP has no legal status, but like other tribunals on Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq, its legitimacy comes from its universality and the strength it draws from the will of citizens and the support of international personalities who advocate for an end to the Israeli occupation and Israel's denial of Palestinian rights.
Some Voices in the Wilderness


Telling the painful truth: Israel's crimes against Palestine, 
which are crimes against humanity, harm us all.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Judaism: Happy New Year!

S. Mendelson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
Family Guy's Seth Macfarlane wows national "SNL" audience
It's not easy being Jewish, feeling a lot of animosity because of everything the New Israel does and the residual racism outside of cosmopolitan areas in the country. It's just a cultural identity, not so much a religion for most younger Jews. When we want spirituality, Buddhism looks the most attractive Why would that be?
One supposes that there's something in the genetic memory or implicit cultural awareness of there being Jews in Himalayan India where Jesus and other Jewish travelers went due to there being a large trading settlement there (see Holger Kersten). The similarities between Mahayana Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity are stunning -- a messiah (Maitreya), one GOD (impersonal Brahman) that encompasses all the gods (personal heavenly/space visitors) who get worshipped separately as if they were One but with different names and attributes. 
What is there to say about Rosh Hashanah? Nothing other than to point out how far the Gentiles have taken Jewish lore and practice and made it completely other in the name of one mushroom figure. Happy New Year.


Pro-Israel and pro-peace, is it possible? J Street thinks so.

Friday, September 14, 2012

The trouble in Libya Egypt, Yemen...

Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
A minor pharaoh famed for not having his tomb robbed (ancient-egypt.com)
  
Spring, Egypt's Tahrir Square and the MIC (AFP)
A non-event, some video that had been up on YouTube for months, is suddenly seized on as a cause to protest and riot? Doubtful. 
  
It is difficult to say what is really going on, but this is clearly a pretext fanned by FOX News and presidential candidates in the US.
Should anyone be upset that the Prophet Mohammed is mocked? Yes. Our modernity means we have few if any sacred cows. That's fantastic and liberating for us. And eventually other spiritual people will devolve/evolve to that state. But until then respect is needed all the way around.
  
Buddhism is more peaceful and peace-inspiring than most people imagine. According to the Buddha, if a person hits another person and that hit-person hits back, that second-hitter is worse than the first. Jesus (Issa) would be proud to align himself with a nonviolent tradition like that.

Hi, I'm Republican Jesus
How far from that are our Judeo-European ways. Here we're encouraged to hit first and keep hitting.
  
(Growing up in Boston if I were to come home crying that I had gotten beaten up by someone, my father -- or my older brother in hi place -- would ask me, "Did you hit him first?" If the answer were no, I'd get a second beating. It's the Irish/Italian way. It's the east coast way. It's probably a holdover of surviving in a lower socioeconomic bracket. It's probably what any CHAV would do in Britain or gavone in New York).
  
Jesus is reputed to have said, "Turn the other cheek." If one is backhanded disrespectfully, turn the face to be hit honorably, openhandedly on the opposing cheek. In neither case is one to get mad, but we rarely follow that. At least we espouse it. At least we carried out crusades to spread Jesus's message of love to "barbaric" Muslims. (Did we teach them to cut off the hands of thieves, extract eyes for eyes, and not suffer children disrespecting parents under penalty of death, all things the Bible enjoins us to do?) We are the barbarians, and we can't bear to see ourselves that way.
  
"We aren't; they are!" we say. Or maybe everyone is. It's like Elizabeth Kubler Ross said, "I'm not okay, you're not okay, and that's okay."
  
So, hey Americans, stop insulting Islam! And, hey Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), stop invading, corrupting, installing, and deposing dictators friendly to the West.
  
Why?
Peace in the Middle East? (richardsilverstein.com)
If anyone believes the geopolitical Middle East is setting fire to embassies, schools, and effigy flags because of a YouTube video, they must not have been paying attention to events over the past few decades. It is analogous to the gratuitous Rodney King beating and attempted murder by the LAPD. Los Angeles did not erupt into rioting after criminal police were acquitted because of that acquittal. These are merely excuses, triggers, detonators to a tinder box of long held resentments.
  
It is because these abuses -- in this case abuse by the long arm of the US military under the control of our overt and covert government and the much shorter arm of the MIC's main ally Israel -- have been mounting for decades. They do not stir themselves up but are organized and antagonized by "our" PsyOp forces. So why do we keep falling for our mainstream media's slanted coverage which seems bent on instigating Armageddon scenarios wherever it can.