Mondoweiss
- Movements take years to build… to Freedom Summer
- Friedman: Middle Easterners are scheming, except Israel
- How Israelis rationalize tyranny (ad infinitum)
- Cartoonists get the story, even if MSM is muzzled
- Who does Tony Blair work for?
Movements take years to build… to Freedom Summer
Posted: 20 Jun 2010 10:14 AM PDT
Like everyone else, I've been closely following the events regarding the flotilla massacre; as well as the upcoming boats. It's been a very exciting time to be a Palestine solidarity activist.
I literally got the chills when I read about two boats of German Jews coming to break the siege.
I was also deeply inspired upon reading about the ship full of Lebanese women coming to break the siege. Being that I'm in Beirut, Lebanon right now, it makes me particularly proud.
To boot: the ship is named Mariam, after the Virgin Mary. In a country with a recent history of sometimes tense relations between Christians and Muslims; it touches my heart to see what I presume to be a mixed group of women naming their boat after the Virgin Mary. The predominant Christian sect in Lebanon is of course the Maronite Catholics.
Now with all the news about more flotillas and Israel trying to undermine the efforts with token gestures like soda or cinnamon; I can see the movement is having tangible success. Why?
Because of Viva Palestina, Gaza Freedom March (with which I went to Gaza last December), the Free Gaza Movement, and all the other convoys which came before the IHH Turkish Flotilla.
IHH wouldn't have happened on such a grand scale with the Turkish flag on it, without the precedents set by the previous convoys: both land and sea.
Movements take time and effort, and change happens little by little; not overnight and not in one fell swoop. Anyone who has studied the history of social movements in any way, or who at least has read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States; knows this. Momentum is built with each successful (albeit temporary and incomplete) weakening of the siege of Gaza.
In America, we learn history from the top-down instead of how it really happens, the bottom up. We like to believe that Martin Luther King came along one day, organized a few marches and POOF black people got rights! But that's not the way it went.
Thousands if not millions of today unknown people took part in marches, strikes, civil disobedience, and yes: armed struggle.
This is the reality of the Civil Rights Movement.
Without Stokely Carmichael and SNCC (which coincidentally supported Palestinians unequivocally after the 1967 war and occupation) doing sit ins at Historically Black Colleges and Universities throughout the American South and the rest of the country as well; there would never have been a March on Washington or a Civil Rights Act in 1964.Without W.E.B. DuBois helping to form the Niagara Movement, there would be no NAACP and no de-segregation success in the Brown vs. Board of Education case.
Between slavery and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it took HUNDREDS OF YEARS for success, and we're clearly not all the way there yet. But, there were many small and large victories along the way.I believe in our movement. We must count and appreciate the victories, large and small, and acknowledge that Palestine will not be freed before the next season of Lost starts.
But, think about it…We (the Palestinians in 1948, occupied territories, diaspora, refugees and Israeli & international activists) have achieved so much so quickly.
It took 18 years from the time of the South African BDS call for the first college to successfully divest. In contrast: in the Palestinian case, from the initial Palestinian BDS call until the first successful university divestment, it took only 7 years.What I'm getting at here is that even though huge movements typically take many decades if not centuries (women's right to vote, Civil Rights Movement, Abolitionist movement, anti-Vietnam War movement, Algerian Liberation Movement, etc.) change is happening incredibly rapidly in the Palestinian case.
So, don't be upset when things don't go perfectly and foreign ministers make comments that hurt our feelings. Progress is what matters, if we keep chipping away at Israeli Apartheid, the goal will eventually be achieved (probably sooner rather than later).
This is an inclusive movement, because this is the issue of our time. Palestine is Selma and Soweto. The Palestinians are SNCC, those of us from every Gaza convoy (both those who entered Gaza and those who didn't) are the freedom riders, and 2010 is the Freedom Summer for Palestine.
And yes, the Palestinians will show the internationals and Israelis the way; as countless whites of conscience followed the lead of Malcolm X.
A fellow cabinet member of Students for Justice for Palestine at Cal State Northridge, Alex Shahin, a Palestinian, would often wear a shirt which said "We Are All Palestinians".
Much credit must be given to him, and the countless other Palestinians I've met who were never judgmental or suspicious of an outsider with a Jewish last name joining their movement. To all the popular committees in the West Bank who welcomed in internationals and treated us like family, I thank you.
We are the white and black students who sat together at the Woolworth's lunch counters, demanding to be served, in violation of the Jim Crow laws.
We are the ones who keep knocking on Zionism's door, opening it crack by crack, until the hinges are completely blown off.
The refugees will return. My friend Wasim Zahir from the Gaza Strip will be able to return to Ashkelon. Ali Abunimah's mother and Mustafa Barghouti will be able to return to Al Quds.
Palestine will be desegregated and decolonized; and it will be a multi ethnic multi religious democracy with one person one vote, and I will live to see that first free election.
I will live to see the end of Zionism and the rebirth of a place which we can currently only hold sacred as a state of mind in our hearts: Palestine.Indeed, we are all Palestinians. I won't be able to truly breathe a free breath until Palestinians are completely free. And the day is quickly approaching when we will all truly be free.
Friedman: Middle Easterners are scheming, except Israel
Posted: 20 Jun 2010 07:21 AM PDT
Orientalism, the globalist variety: Notice how Tom Friedman, now in Istanbul, goes from describing as insane a conspiracy theory that on its face is plausible-- the shocking possibility that the enemy of Israel's new enemy is Israel's friend-- to mounting his own (mildly interesting) theory of why Erdogan used the flotilla as a radical raid on Israel.
Moreover, Erdogan has evolved from just railing against Israel's attacks on Hamas in Gaza to spouting conspiracy theories — like the insane notion that Israel is backing the P.K.K. terrorists — as a way of consolidating his political base among conservative Muslims in Turkey and abroad...
Only two weeks before the Gaza flotilla incident, a leading poll showed Mr. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, known as the A.K.P., trailing his main opposition — the secularist Republican People's Party — for the first time since the A.K.P. came to office in 2002. That is surely one reason Erdogan openly took sides with one of the most radical forces in the region, Hamas — to re-energize his political base. But did he overplay his hand?
I never forget that Friedman also dismissed as insane and conspiratorial the theory that American Zionists had anything to do with the decision to invade Iraq. Then a year or two later he essentially conceded the point to Haaretz (not his large American audience).
How Israelis rationalize tyranny (ad infinitum)
Posted: 20 Jun 2010 07:13 AM PDT
This bears reading because it is how Israelis think. A lot of us know it, but it bears repeating. Because it never ends, and it is enabled by the U.S. Leah Green:1990 and 1991 were defining years for me. I had the opportunity to stay with Palestinian families, sometimes under Israeli curfew - which would trap me in a West Bank or Gaza home for hours or days. There was nothing to do but visit and listen to all of the people in the immediate vicinity. And I was shocked with what I heard and saw. Every single Palestinian family had many horror stories concerning life under occupation. There was simply no way to rationalize it. My Israeli friends had told me that if a Palestinian family was hurt, there had to be a reason for that. But I spoke with many mothers and elderly people during those years, since the husbands and older sons were often in prison, and I was left with no doubt that the violence was systemic.
To this day, almost 20 years later, I see that it's very difficult for Israeli Jews to believe how harsh the occupation is. People that I speak with want to believe that if a Palestinian home is destroyed, or a family is beaten, or a child arrested, that they did something to deserve that treatment. Israelis predominantly see themselves as the victims in relation to Palestinians, and it's difficult for anyone who defines oneself as a victim to simultaneously see himself as an aggressor. Israeli leaders assure their citizens over and over that if an innocent Palestinian is hurt, it falls under the unfortunately broad banner of "collateral damage" in the line of self-defense.
Cartoonists get the story, even if MSM is muzzled
Posted: 20 Jun 2010 07:06 AM PDT
Here's Jeff Darcy at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, great. Hispaper promptly retrenched from his view of Gaza. And here's Matt Bors, more Gaza inhumanity. Thanks to Idrees Ahmad.
Oh and here's Emily Henochowicz again. Her paintings for the "apartheid wall."
Posted: 19 Jun 2010 09:17 PM PDT
"In the conversations I've had with the Israeli Prime Minister there is now, in principle, agreement for Israel to allow goods in" Tony Blair told reporters on Monday. And like magic, an official Israeli statement today announced the 'easing' of the Gaza blockade. After three years of lucrative ambassadorial work, the man best known for invading Iraq on doctored evidence is back in the big time. As pressure mounts on Netanyahu's government to end the illegal blockade on Gaza following the flotilla massacre, the former PM has been asked to step up his Hasbara duties.
Today's announcement confirmed that Israel will "liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza and expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision"
. Specific goods were not specified, but it is believed a severely limited quantity of foodstuffs and education materials will be taken off the banned list. The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign derided the "so called easing of the blockade as a sham designed to divert the world's attention from the inhumane blockade". Francis Beckett, author of the biography "The Survivor: Tony Blair in Peace and War" sees Blair's role as "translator for the Israeli government, serving for Israel's benefit. Netanyahu is in a hole. Politically he cant afford to give in to foreign pressure, but he has to take some action. Blair is his escape route."
Beckett believes Blair is at heart a pragmatist and his politics have always tracked the changing dynamics of American presidencies. "He always knew to ask 'how high' when the President told him to jump. As a result he became far more right-wing when Bush replaced Clinton, which marked the end of his connection with any old Labour ideals."
Blair was appointed as the Quartet's Envoy to the Middle East on January 27, 2007, the same day he retired as Prime Minster. It came about through the lobbying of former President George W. Bush and Beckett believes at the time it was an "honorific" position, devoid of meaningful responsibility, adding "now that Obama is in charge he is being pressured to be more active".
The appointment, with a brief to build Palestinian institutions, was met with surprise and dismay. "Like most people, I thought it was a very odd appointment.
" says Beckett, "the job requires someone trusted by both sides and while he is certainly trusted by Israelis, he is not by Palestinians. A serious peace envoy would have to be less damaged."
There are obvious reasons for distrust. The war over WMDs in Iraq, supported by Israel but largely opposed by the British public and Labour party, has killed over 100,000 civilians to date. In 2006, Blair refused to support a UN resolution for a ceasefire during Israel's Lebanon offensive, giving them every chance to destroy Hezbollah. In Beckett's words, Blair has "no feeling for Muslims. Aside from shuttle diplomacy before Iraq, persuading Saudi Arabians to co-operate, he has had practically no relations with Arab leaders."While international leaders loudly condemned the bloody assault on the Mavi Marmara, Blair's voice struck a different note: "When it comes to security, I am one hundred percent on Israel's side", he said a few days after the tragedy. He has since gone on record supporting Israel's right to an internal investigation.
During three years as the Quartet's Envoy Blair has been a rare sighting in the occupied territories. He has taken two brief trips to Gaza, the first in March 2009, and visited troubled Hebron just long enough to have "terrorist" chants directed at him.
That Blair has combined his role with so many other positions, including the 'Africa Governance Initiative', multiple directorships and controversially the 'Tony Blair Faith Foundation', has led to criticism that he lacks commitment. Oxford professor Avi Shlaim memorably characterised him as "a man who wears too many hats".
It is believed that Blair has amassed a personal fortune in excess of £20 million since leaving office, mainly through middle east contacts established through his envoy position. In 2009 he made in excess of £5million advising the governments of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and is also an ambassador of investment bank JP Morgan in the Middle East.
Beckett sees this as highly unusual behaviour from a former Prime Minister. "Most (ex-PMs) go into retirement quietly, they receive a pension of over £100,000 and live comfortably on that. But because Blair mixes with the super-rich he feels the need to scrabble for money in a dreadfully undignified way." Beckett goes on to detail Blair's endorsement trips to the USA, during which Americans would line up to shake his hand for a set tariff of over $1000.
Controversy over religion has dogged the former PM since his resignation and prompt conversion to Catholicism. A public admission that he had "talked to God" before invading Iraq plainly illustrates the extent to which faith has informed his politics. Indeed Blair's 'Faith Foundation', a predominantly Christian coalition of religious leaders has attracted severe criticism, with even high profile Catholic leaders called it a "messianic plan for world domination". His active participation in the 'Labour Friends of Israel' society is another clue to his deeply held partisanship in relation to Middle-Eastern politics, which Shlaim commented "was probably considered a qualification" for his position.
But while avarice and pragmatism have superseded any ideals Blair possessed, members of his own family have frequently served to prick his conscience. His cousin Lauren Booth, a left-wing journalist and activist, was a passenger aboard the first flotilla in 2008 and has publicly criticised her brother-in law's policies, saying he should be "ashamed" of the civilian deaths in Iraq and that his plans for Gaza would lead to "a slow, agonising death for Palestinians". Booth is also co-founder of 'Aloha Palestine', along with Ken O' Keefe who was this week declared a terrorist by Israel. Beckett, who commissioned Booth for articles, confirms that "Lauren has been a dreadful embarrassment to the Blairs for years. In the middle of Blair's premiership, a deal was made so that she would stop talking about him." Today he is talk of the town once more, feted as the man who engineered progress on the world's thorniest issue. But for anyone who has followed the series of disappointments that constitute his career, it is classic Blair. Support whoever is winning.
Kieron Monks is editor of the Palestine Monitor news website in Ramallah.
Peace.Michael Santomauro @ 917-974-6367What sort of Truth is it that crushes the freedom to seek the truth?Let's End Thought Crimes in the Twenty-first Century. -- to separate historical fact from propaganda…peace is patriotic!
No comments:
Post a Comment