“You know, the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria had no trouble acknowledging that there was too much tyranny in their society. Perhaps you can explain where they went wrong.”
Your orientalist distortion above notwithstanding, I will not that tyranny is not idiosyncratic to that part of the world and living under tyrannical regimes is not unique to the Mideast region. To suggest otherwise is down right racist in my view. Further, decent people worldwide – not just the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria – also recognize the tyranny and inherent racism of the Zionist settler-colonialist enterprise that you are so enamored with and which is still on the march in Palestine, not just the occupied West Bank.
"Let me get this straight: your argument is that the statements “There is tyranny in the Muslim world” and “Jews are evil” are equivalent? Uh…ok."
No; you do not have that "straight". Majid exact phrase is that "Islam fosters tyranny", which -- unless you have a reading disability -- is a far cry from saying that "There is tyranny in the Muslim world”. The later is equivalent to saying that Jews/Judiasm is evil.
"No matter how much it harms your own people, just keep up the crusade against the existence of Israel, regardless of how many generations pass?"
Let's try this for size: No matter how much it harms black South Africans, just keep up the crusade against the existence of Apartheid South Africa, regardless of how many generations pass?
According to you and Majid, humanity should accommodate settler-colonialism and Apartheid -- decency, morality and international law be damned.
As "alfa" on Modoweiss has pointed out, Gingrich is breaking US law by promising to appoint Bolton:
"Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
Title 18, Part I, Chapter 29, Section 599 of the U.S. Code
You wrote: "The Obama administration, for which Panetta is speaking, is deeply frustrated with blustery Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his far right cabinet, including thuggish foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman (a former Moldovian club bouncer)."
Yeah, that "frustration" was in full glorious display by Obama himself at the UN when he spoke like a Likudnik. Even the Moldovian bouncer gave his stamp of approval of Obama's speech. This "frustration" is not reflected in this administration's own shameless rhetoric, let alone actions.
Telling zio-supremacist that they should moderate their crimes is a sick joke, when the US fully backs and rewards (militarily, financially, and diplomatically) ongoing zionist criminality. Nothing will change until the US puts its own interests, credibility and ideals, not to mention international law, ahead of zionist supremacist ethos, thievery and greed.
It seems that many can't see the forest for the trees. It is not like those letters are an aberration. Far from it: These racist expressions are but the latest manifestation of the racist ethos inherent in Israel/Zionist, as a settler-colonialist state/ideology. Any state (whether it calls itself Jewish, zionist, Islamic, or whatever) which specifies its citizens on the basis of ethnicity/race and codifies the differences in law, so that advantages accrue to one segment of the population and not the other can be judged racist. Israel is such a state. It declared itself the "state of the Jewish people," not the state of its citizens, 20% of whom are not Jews. The US scrapping its constitution and declaring itself a White state, or the state of the Christian people everywhere and treating non-whites/non-Christians as second class citizens or subhumans, would be an appropriate analogy. The assertions in Israeli law -- Israel has no constitution and no Bill of Rights -- that "Israel is the state of the Jewish people" can mean only one thing: that non-Jews (Palestinians) are by definition foreigners in their own homeland; that non-Jews really have no place in the “state of the Jewish”.
Zionism is not merely a "belief," it is a political movement with a history combined with an ideology, and today the Zionist state, Israel, defines Zionism in practice, which is the most important way to experience Zionism and understand its colonial and racist nature.
"Given the initial aims of the movement, it could not have been otherwise. Once the premise was laid down, the inexorable logic of history determined the consequences. Wanting to create a purely Jewish, or predominantly Jewish, state in Arab Palestine in the twentieth century could not but lead to a colonial type situation and to the development (completely normal, sociologically speaking) of a racist state of mind, and in the final analysis to a military confrontation between the two ethnic groups."
Maxime Rodinson, _Israel: a colonial-settler state?_ Monad Press, 1973.
If you believe that it is justified to create and to continue to maintain a Jewish exclusivist state in Palestine--which is common to virtually all known strains of Zionism--then your views are inherently colonial even if you don't acknowledge it. Such views can also be judged racist since those goals could not be achieved without dispossessing the native population of Palestine (the Palestinian people) and denying them their inalienable rights in their homeland.
"The principle setting up the Israeli case of settler- colonialism is that in a certain territory (as yet not well-defined, since various Zionist parties claim different borders for the territory) members of the group known in Israel law as the `Jewish people' have superior and exclusive political rights as opposed to all others, including natives of the same territory."
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, _Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel_, Pluto Press, 1992, p. 80.
I do not understand the fuss. Unfortunately, this spectacle is not new, and it will be covered up and forgotten in a couple of weeks. For decades, the USG has been the true enabler (financially, diplomatically, and militarily) behind the Israeli colonial project, and sadly this makes all of us indirectly complicit in continuing such crimes.
Israel: We’re confiscating yet more Palestinian land to build Jews-only settlements. (Jim Crow wasn’t really that bad. Apartheid is fine.)
Obama: That isn’t helpful. (We are seen as your enabler; please keep it down and don’t embarrass us.)
Gen. David Petraeus and VP Biden: Israeli actions are endangering our troops.
Israel: So? What you gonna do about it... ?
Obama: I’ll …um.. beg you to stop. You are the boss. I'll even through in boat loads of money and weapons, and commit to shield your crimes from international censure.
Israel/AIPAC: How dare you even mention it, you anti-Semite! You do not want to declare your loyalty to the colonial enterprise, subordinate US interests to settler thievery and greed, and lick our boots, that’s fine. Our Israel-firsters and bought-and-paid-for Congress always come through; they will keep the money and political support flowing.
Let's just for a moment imagine if Iran did this to a US Citizen after boarding an unarmed ship flying the flag of a NATO member in international waters. What would the MSM media do, what would Obama do, what would Congress do, what would NATO do?
If those darn Turks start hating us, it must be because they too "hate our freedom," not because our government enables and shields the zionist criminal enterprise.
Let's also remember that in 2003 American activist Rachel Corrie was murdered by an Israeli military bulldozer as she tried to stop it from destroying a Palestinian home in Gaza. That too was covered-up and quickly forgotten by the US government and Israel-firsters in Congress and the media.
This farce cuts across both political parties. Mark my word. Just like Obama, in a few days the best Congress money can buy would pass a near-unanimous AIPAC-pushed resolution defending this murder and declaring the United States “unwavering commitment to the welfare of Israel,” as a Jewish (i.e., Apartheid) State. General Petraeus’ warning (speaking for the Pentagon) that Israel’s practices and policies endanger US troops, does not matter. Elections are always around the corner, US interests and American lives be damned.
Don't hold your breath, epppie. This too will soon be covered-up and forgotten. On June 8, 1967, in the middle of the Six-Day War, Israeli planes attacked an American ship, the USS Liberty, that was in international waters off the coast of Egypt. The attack killed 34 Americans and produced very little by way of investigation. The USS Liberty incident and its cover-up demonstrates that average Americans, even military personnel, mean very little in US politics and subsequent policy when it comes to Israel.
Incidentally, Joe Meadors, a survivor of the Israeli attempt to sink the USS Liberty and kill all its crew (witnesses), was aboard the Free Gaza Flotilla.
I gather you are talking about the same spineless Obama would capitulated on the settlement issue when Netanyahoo igonred his call and Israel-firsters called his bluff. Is this the same Obama who thinks it is okay for the CIA to assassinate American-born citizens?
If Israel wasn't so certain that the US would always be there to defend its thuggishness and clean up its messes, maybe it wouldn't continue to act that way. Continued US coddling of the Apartheid state virtually assures its continued criminal behavior.
Count my word. Just like Obama, in a few days the best Congress money can buy would pass a near unanimous AIPAC-pushed resolution declaring the United States "unwavering commitment to the welfare of Israel," as a Jewish (i.e., Apartheid) State, and together with MSM, Congress would be vomiting AIPAC's claptrap that tell us that Apartheid terrorist state of Israel is the victim, and if you don't think so, you are an anti-semite. General Petraeus' warning (speaking for the Pentagon) that Israel's occupation policies endanger US troops, does not matter. Elections are around the corner, US interests and American lives be damned. "They hate us for our freedom," we are told. Oh, Yeah...
“You know, the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria had no trouble acknowledging that there was too much tyranny in their society. Perhaps you can explain where they went wrong.”
Your orientalist distortion above notwithstanding, I will not that tyranny is not idiosyncratic to that part of the world and living under tyrannical regimes is not unique to the Mideast region. To suggest otherwise is down right racist in my view. Further, decent people worldwide – not just the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria – also recognize the tyranny and inherent racism of the Zionist settler-colonialist enterprise that you are so enamored with and which is still on the march in Palestine, not just the occupied West Bank.
"Let me get this straight: your argument is that the statements “There is tyranny in the Muslim world” and “Jews are evil” are equivalent? Uh…ok."
No; you do not have that "straight". Majid exact phrase is that "Islam fosters tyranny", which -- unless you have a reading disability -- is a far cry from saying that "There is tyranny in the Muslim world”. The later is equivalent to saying that Jews/Judiasm is evil.
"No matter how much it harms your own people, just keep up the crusade against the existence of Israel, regardless of how many generations pass?"
Let's try this for size: No matter how much it harms black South Africans, just keep up the crusade against the existence of Apartheid South Africa, regardless of how many generations pass?
According to you and Majid, humanity should accommodate settler-colonialism and Apartheid -- decency, morality and international law be damned.
As "alfa" on Modoweiss has pointed out, Gingrich is breaking US law by promising to appoint Bolton:
"Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
Title 18, Part I, Chapter 29, Section 599 of the U.S. Code
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/gop-presidential-candidates-offer-red-meat-on-israel-at-republican-jewish-coalition-forum.html
You wrote: "The Obama administration, for which Panetta is speaking, is deeply frustrated with blustery Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his far right cabinet, including thuggish foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman (a former Moldovian club bouncer)."
Yeah, that "frustration" was in full glorious display by Obama himself at the UN when he spoke like a Likudnik. Even the Moldovian bouncer gave his stamp of approval of Obama's speech. This "frustration" is not reflected in this administration's own shameless rhetoric, let alone actions.
Telling zio-supremacist that they should moderate their crimes is a sick joke, when the US fully backs and rewards (militarily, financially, and diplomatically) ongoing zionist criminality. Nothing will change until the US puts its own interests, credibility and ideals, not to mention international law, ahead of zionist supremacist ethos, thievery and greed.
It seems that many can't see the forest for the trees. It is not like those letters are an aberration. Far from it: These racist expressions are but the latest manifestation of the racist ethos inherent in Israel/Zionist, as a settler-colonialist state/ideology. Any state (whether it calls itself Jewish, zionist, Islamic, or whatever) which specifies its citizens on the basis of ethnicity/race and codifies the differences in law, so that advantages accrue to one segment of the population and not the other can be judged racist. Israel is such a state. It declared itself the "state of the Jewish people," not the state of its citizens, 20% of whom are not Jews. The US scrapping its constitution and declaring itself a White state, or the state of the Christian people everywhere and treating non-whites/non-Christians as second class citizens or subhumans, would be an appropriate analogy. The assertions in Israeli law -- Israel has no constitution and no Bill of Rights -- that "Israel is the state of the Jewish people" can mean only one thing: that non-Jews (Palestinians) are by definition foreigners in their own homeland; that non-Jews really have no place in the “state of the Jewish”.
Zionism is not merely a "belief," it is a political movement with a history combined with an ideology, and today the Zionist state, Israel, defines Zionism in practice, which is the most important way to experience Zionism and understand its colonial and racist nature.
"Given the initial aims of the movement, it could not have been otherwise. Once the premise was laid down, the inexorable logic of history determined the consequences. Wanting to create a purely Jewish, or predominantly Jewish, state in Arab Palestine in the twentieth century could not but lead to a colonial type situation and to the development (completely normal, sociologically speaking) of a racist state of mind, and in the final analysis to a military confrontation between the two ethnic groups."
Maxime Rodinson, _Israel: a colonial-settler state?_ Monad Press, 1973.
If you believe that it is justified to create and to continue to maintain a Jewish exclusivist state in Palestine--which is common to virtually all known strains of Zionism--then your views are inherently colonial even if you don't acknowledge it. Such views can also be judged racist since those goals could not be achieved without dispossessing the native population of Palestine (the Palestinian people) and denying them their inalienable rights in their homeland.
"The principle setting up the Israeli case of settler- colonialism is that in a certain territory (as yet not well-defined, since various Zionist parties claim different borders for the territory) members of the group known in Israel law as the `Jewish people' have superior and exclusive political rights as opposed to all others, including natives of the same territory."
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, _Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel_, Pluto Press, 1992, p. 80.
I do not understand the fuss. Unfortunately, this spectacle is not new, and it will be covered up and forgotten in a couple of weeks. For decades, the USG has been the true enabler (financially, diplomatically, and militarily) behind the Israeli colonial project, and sadly this makes all of us indirectly complicit in continuing such crimes.
Israel: We’re confiscating yet more Palestinian land to build Jews-only settlements. (Jim Crow wasn’t really that bad. Apartheid is fine.)
Obama: That isn’t helpful. (We are seen as your enabler; please keep it down and don’t embarrass us.)
Gen. David Petraeus and VP Biden: Israeli actions are endangering our troops.
Israel: So? What you gonna do about it... ?
Obama: I’ll …um.. beg you to stop. You are the boss. I'll even through in boat loads of money and weapons, and commit to shield your crimes from international censure.
Israel/AIPAC: How dare you even mention it, you anti-Semite! You do not want to declare your loyalty to the colonial enterprise, subordinate US interests to settler thievery and greed, and lick our boots, that’s fine. Our Israel-firsters and bought-and-paid-for Congress always come through; they will keep the money and political support flowing.
Considers breaking off Ties;
Israel Lobbies in Congress denounce Ankara
Representative Mike Pence (R-IN), like many in the best Congress money can buy, would sell his own mother if AIPAC tells him to do it.
Let's just for a moment imagine if Iran did this to a US Citizen after boarding an unarmed ship flying the flag of a NATO member in international waters. What would the MSM media do, what would Obama do, what would Congress do, what would NATO do?
If those darn Turks start hating us, it must be because they too "hate our freedom," not because our government enables and shields the zionist criminal enterprise.
Cole at Tomdispatch
Imagine if Iran did this to a US Citizen after boarding an unarmed ship flying the flag of a NATO member in international waters.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/israels-self-defense-narrative-falls-apart.html
Let's also remember that in 2003 American activist Rachel Corrie was murdered by an Israeli military bulldozer as she tried to stop it from destroying a Palestinian home in Gaza. That too was covered-up and quickly forgotten by the US government and Israel-firsters in Congress and the media.
This farce cuts across both political parties. Mark my word. Just like Obama, in a few days the best Congress money can buy would pass a near-unanimous AIPAC-pushed resolution defending this murder and declaring the United States “unwavering commitment to the welfare of Israel,” as a Jewish (i.e., Apartheid) State. General Petraeus’ warning (speaking for the Pentagon) that Israel’s practices and policies endanger US troops, does not matter. Elections are always around the corner, US interests and American lives be damned.
Don't hold your breath, epppie. This too will soon be covered-up and forgotten. On June 8, 1967, in the middle of the Six-Day War, Israeli planes attacked an American ship, the USS Liberty, that was in international waters off the coast of Egypt. The attack killed 34 Americans and produced very little by way of investigation. The USS Liberty incident and its cover-up demonstrates that average Americans, even military personnel, mean very little in US politics and subsequent policy when it comes to Israel.
Incidentally, Joe Meadors, a survivor of the Israeli attempt to sink the USS Liberty and kill all its crew (witnesses), was aboard the Free Gaza Flotilla.
I gather you are talking about the same spineless Obama would capitulated on the settlement issue when Netanyahoo igonred his call and Israel-firsters called his bluff. Is this the same Obama who thinks it is okay for the CIA to assassinate American-born citizens?
If Israel wasn't so certain that the US would always be there to defend its thuggishness and clean up its messes, maybe it wouldn't continue to act that way. Continued US coddling of the Apartheid state virtually assures its continued criminal behavior.
World Body Demands release of Aid Activists, Ships
Count my word. Just like Obama, in a few days the best Congress money can buy would pass a near unanimous AIPAC-pushed resolution declaring the United States "unwavering commitment to the welfare of Israel," as a Jewish (i.e., Apartheid) State, and together with MSM, Congress would be vomiting AIPAC's claptrap that tell us that Apartheid terrorist state of Israel is the victim, and if you don't think so, you are an anti-semite. General Petraeus' warning (speaking for the Pentagon) that Israel's occupation policies endanger US troops, does not matter. Elections are around the corner, US interests and American lives be damned. "They hate us for our freedom," we are told. Oh, Yeah...