Tag: Palestine

Sabra And Shatila–34 Years On

Today’s news is the all important “one eyed snake” test that Trump had or that some late night host messed his hair up….this is what passes for news these days…your Pulitzer awaits!

30 years ago today the IDF allowed Lebanese militias enter a Palestinian refugees camps and allowed a massacre of woman, children and old people…..

Source: BBC News | PANORAMA | Sabra and Shatila: Dealing with facts

An interview with a person that was there that fateful day…….

On Sunday, the 30th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre was commemorated by people of different nationalities around the world. In Lebanon the commemoration was only observed by Palestinians living in refugee camps; Lebanese people were not concerned.

The massacre carried out by the Phalange, a Christian Maronite militia acting in full cooperation with Israel, was among the most atrocious episodes of recent history. But it is still absent from our collective Lebanese memory.

The Sabra and Shatila massacre is another taboo in Lebanon that needs to be addressed publicly and soberly; maybe admitting the wrongdoing could prevent us from further subjugating the Palestinian refugees who are residing here temporarily until they return to their occupied homeland.

Source: “They shot my father in the head”: interview with survivor of Sabra and Shatila massacre | The Electronic Intifada

Sadly this will not be reported….just like the IDF attack on the USS Liberty….this will be swept under the rug like anything negative about Israel.

Parallels Between Israel and 1930s Germany

The situation in Israel and Palestine is one that most of the Western world has no idea about the events…..the MSM goes out of its way to avoid any news that would put Israel in a bad light…..

But if one searches the media they will see that there is so much more going on and the world needs to take a close look at the situation….

All hell broke loose. What!!! Traces of Nazism in Israel? A resemblance between what the Nazis did to us with what we are doing to the Palestinians?

90 years ago was 1926, one of the last years of the German republic. 80 years ago was 1936, three years after the Nazis came to power. 70 years ago was 1946, on the morrow of Hitler’s suicide and the end of the Nazi Reich.

I feel compelled to write about the general’s speech after all, because I was there.

Source: Parallels Between Israel and 1930s Germany – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Remember these are comparisons….and yet I am not alone in my suspicion…

Source: Former Officials See ‘Seeds of Fascism’ in New Israeli Govt — News from Antiwar.com

Fair Reporting Would Make A Difference

This press is of an op-ed that I wrote for my friends at Ace News Room……it is no secret that I am a supporter of the Palestinian people and their desire for their homeland and the right to return…..

Western media seldom reports accurately about the situation and the incidents occurring in the Holy Land……I try to remedy that oversight on their part.

It is no secret that I have zero tolerance for the Western media when it comes to the conflict in and around the Holy Land…..Americans have a blind spot when it comes to Israel…..

Source: Fair Reporting Would Make A Difference

Why Israel needs a two-state solution

I spend a lot of time with my Middle East sources and have seen an up-tick in the news that Israel may be shining up to the idea of a two state solution to the conflict they now find themselves in….

Now there is a need for this solution and here is why…..(it is written by an Israeli)……..

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s view of Islamic State terror as a clash of civilizations paints Israel as the “good guy,” absolving it of resolving the conflict with the Palestinians.

Source: Why Israel needs a two-state solution – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Finally Israel is being called to account for their barbaric actions and it is all thanks to social media that gets the news out as it happens.

I am leery of anything that Israel does or says….they have shined up to this solution many times only to crap on it the first chance they get.  I think that this may well be one of those times…..yet again.

To say that I do not trust anything Israel says or promises is putting it mildly.

But I guess I will have to wait and see if maybe this time Israel may be serious….(not holding my breath)……

Non-Violent BDS Should Be Welcomed, Not Condemned

I have been a supporter of the Palestinian people and their struggle for more than 30 years……I am old and cannot do the same things I did in my youth to protest what I saw as injustice……the only thing I can do these days is join the BDS Movement and boycott all items from Israel.

I realize it is not much but like they say a movement begins when one person stands up to oppression…..many have joined with me in this endeavor (thanx one and all)……

But there are those in the US that are trying to kill this movement….some states are trying to make it illegal to boycott Israel or to do anything to make them act like a responsible player on the world stage.  New York was the first to make it a crime to boycott Israel……even some countries are trying to make it illegal……

Sorry, but I will NOT let someone, even a state, dictate to me what I can do or not do with my time and/or money…..illegal or not…they can kiss my ass!

There are many who are joining together to fight the BDS Movement……

A thousand Israelis and their supporters gathered in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center on March 28 at a conference aimed at combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). The conference was a display of “fear, paranoia, anger and determination,” as described by Antony Loewenstein, and featured top government officials, members of the oppositions and a […]

Source: Non-Violent BDS Should Be Welcomed, Not Condemned – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Finally, this is non-violence at its best……hurt them in their pocket books and not in the head……

What’s Next For Palestine?

I write a lot about the Middle East and the Palestinian situation….my interest comes from a close friend and colleague from my past that was a Palestinian ex-pat……I try to help Americans understand what is happening from a Palestinian perspective….the Israeli perspective is pretty much the western papers are willing to publish….

If anyone would like to know what is being said about the most recent flare-up of hostilities then maybe a little help would be in order (it is from a Palestinian point of view…please keep that in mind before one goes off on some rant)…..

A two-state solution is increasingly becoming a dead issue and the only active one is Israel s work towards a complete Judaisation of historical Palestine

Source: Understanding the Palestinian flare-up | GulfNews.com

With that bit of background out of the way…..June of 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the 6 Day War…..and Palestine may be planning something that, in my opinion, should have happen decades ago…..

But first a little more perspective……

Recently I wrote a post for my friends at Legationes about what I though the Palestinians should do……

I had been playing with an idea that could possibly aid the Palestinian people and their search for a state of Palestine: this post is part of those thoughts.

Source: Let the Wall define Palestine – Legationes

Israel usually issues sweeping declarations in the month of November and there is a slight chance that after the US election that BiBi will issue a rsolution calling for a 2 state solution to the conflict…..

Source: Will a two-state solution be announced in November? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

There is also a buzz in the region that there could be a massive declaration coming from the Palestinians in 2017……could BiBi’s announcement in November be a ploy to head off any announcement by the Palestinians?

After 50 years of suffering at the hands of occupiers…..it appears that the Palestinian leadership is preparing to do what I and others have been championing for years…..

June 6, 2017, will mark 50 years since the Six Day War in which Israel conquered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Israel considered it a war of defense, given repeated threats by Egyptian leadership at the time (then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser) to annihilate the country with the support of all Arab states. The Arab armies were defeated in six days. But what started as a rescue war, as a blessing for Israel, turned with time into a burden and a curse of controlling the lives of 2-3 million Palestinians. For the Palestinians, this date marks a second tragedy, after the very establishment of Israel in 1948.

Source: Will Palestinians declare independence in June 2017? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Next year could prove to be an interesting year……but only problem I see from an American point of view is that there will be a new president in the White House and neither has shown any interest or concern for the Palestinian people…..

Is There A Possibility For A Middle East Peace Plan?

This is a little background that I wrote for my friends over at Ace News Room…..

With all the trouble in the “Holy Land” there seems to be a less likely attempt to solve these problems now than in any time in the recent past…..it is a shame…..both parties share a common ancestor and a common love of the land of their ancestors….it would seem that a peaceful settlement of differences would be beneficial to both parties……if so, then why is it so damn hard?

Some questions are more difficult than they appear……

And that my friends is the $64 billion question of the ages….. There has been so many attempts and so many plans in the past…all of which have failed for some reason or another….…

Source: Is There A Possibility For A Middle East Peace Plan?

One would get the idea that NO one involved really wants this situation to end peacefully…..

Israel and American Politics: The Big Breakthrough

In the past couple of debates I have been impressed by the tone of one of the GOP candidates….bet you never thought you would hear me utter such praise…..right?

Normally the candidates are nothing but springboards for war hawk rhetoric…..but I did hear something about the whole debacle around the Israel-Palestine conflict thing that was a bit impressive….

It may all be just political posturing but it was a bit logical and rational thought……

You are just dying to know what the Hell I am talking about…..right?

Let’s do a little experiment. Now I realize that what people most remember about the recent Republican presidential debates is the vulgarity, the inanity, and the name-calling, but there have been a few moments of lucidity when history has been made, precedents have been set, and – yes – even reasons for optimism have been […]

Source: Israel and American Politics: The Big Breakthrough – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Yeah…I know……Trump had something rational and logical to say?  I am as dumb-founded as you…..it is getting scary that I have agreed with him on several levels…..

Maybe a good night’s sleep will help…….

Why so many US presidents have failed to bring Middle East peace

When I was teaching a course on US foreign policy in the Middle East the class discussion inevitably turned to the Arab-Israeli conflict…..and as always the question would be asked….why has all tries at a peace deal failed?

In an introductory class that was a bit of a complex question to try and explain to my students the wrangling that would go on…..and on both sides….

I would explain it as simply as possible and I could see that it left many questions in the minds of the students…..that was encouraging to me because there is NO simple answer and the students would pursue the question and maybe somewhere in there someone may have a brilliant idea that would end the silliness…..

I saw this article recently and would have love to have this for my students to read and we could discuss….check it out and see what you think….

Attempts by a long line of American presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, to broker an accord between Israelis and Palestinians or promote initiatives to end the conflict have hinged more on timing than anything else.

Source: Why so many US presidents have failed to bring Middle East peace – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Blinded By The Light

For decades the population has had a bright cheery view of Israel……thanx mainly to the mainstream media which is in the pocket of the Israeli propaganda machine…..but thanx to the internet and social media the US is getting the “rest of the story”….to quote the late Paul Harvey…..

It has been a long and slow trip from fantasy of the official Israel point of view to the reality of what is happening to the people of Palestine at the hands of the Israeli forces……

The percentage of Americans viewing Israel favorably has fallen to 59 percent. By contrast, nearly a quarter of Americans (24 percent) now view the Palestinian Authority favorably. Americans viewing Iran favorably also surged to a recent high of 16% of the adult population. These are the results of three IRmep polls of the U.S. adult […]

Source: Americans Holding Favorable Views of Israel Decline 16% – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Social media and movements like Electronic Intifada and the BDS movement are bringing a minute by minute account of the “crimes” committed by the IDF and the settlers…..

The only “democracy” in the Middle East is a con job worked up by the MSM and the propagandists of Israel……the truth while slow will be known and the American people will see they have been played for 60+ years…..

A FYI Bonus post……

Every American president has given his approval of the Peace Process….but for most it is lip service…….now ask…is there any possibility of a peace accord between the Palestinians and the Israelis?

An excellent question…..yes there is but the better question is…..do any of the players really want a lasting peace?  If they do….how can it be achieved?

One good article on this subject……

Source: How to reverse engineer Israeli-Palestinian peace – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East