I blogged some time ago about the idea of people being armed with cameras to film Israeli aggression. I didn’t think it was a good idea, or rather that it wouldn’t stop state sponsored terrorism against Palestinians. The following video makes that point, in my opinion.
For as long as many reading this blog have been alive, blood has been shed on the sacred ground of the three major religions of the world. We all know that; it’s not a pretty sight, and not something we need to see in order to convince the Israelis to stop their indiscriminate killing of Palestinians who’ve said time and time again they recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli state and seek the same in return. It won’t be long before they turn their weapons on the film makers, or declare cameras illegal, weapons of mass destruction. Once again, the Israelis have shown they are impervious to the world’s eye.
comes ‘Here we go again!’ Political Zionism is a real and dangerous ideology unlike Islamofascism which is contrived and made up to mask the sins of neocons who want to take over the American government.
In the 2 1/2 weeks since its cease-fire with Hamas broke down, Israel has all but sealed crossings along its border with the Gaza Strip and rejected U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s appeal to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclosed territory that houses more than 1.5 million Palestinians. This response to violence directed against it amounts to collective punishment of civilians, which is illegal under international law, unfair and counterproductive.
In a pogrom reminiscent of the pre-WWII massacres of Jews in Europe but with a twist, the Israelis have one upped their Nazi predecessors by imposing a black out of their atrocities.
Israel has imposed a virtual news blackout on the Gaza Strip. For the last ten days no foreign journalists have been able to enter the besieged territory to report on the escalating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s complete closure of Gaza’s borders for the last two weeks.
*snip*
A delegation of European Union parliamentarians was also prevented from entering Gaza to assess the situation on the ground and to hold talks with Hamas leaders. They subsequently broke the naval siege of Gaza by entering the coast’s territorial waters from Cyprus by boat, defying the Israeli navy.
During talks held with Hamas, the EU parliamentarians were able to get a historic commitment from the Islamic organisation to recognise Israel’s right to exist within the internationally recognised 1967 borders. Hamas further offered a long-term ceasefire in return for Israel legitimizing Palestinian rights.
Israel also prevented 20 European Union consul-generals from entering Gaza on Thursday. On Sunday Israeli border police prevented 15 trucks loaded with medication from entering the Gaza Strip.
It is clear to many observers security is not the reason for Israel’s inhumane blockade of essentials to the citizens of Gaza, nor is there any issue of recognition of Israel’s right to exist on the part of the Palestinians a legitimate excuse for this barbarity. Israel at this point in its history is not interested in peace with its neighbors, it only wants their land and the natural resources on or in it.
I really like the line of reasonsing of a fellow blogger, Xymphora when he/she says the old Washington guard wanted to take back power from the neocons, or the crazies as Ray McGovern calls them, and the only one giving them this chance was Barack Obama, so they backed him and he won. The reasons why the old Washington establishment preferred Obama to a McCain ticket that would probably pack more certified neoconservatives is because the neocons have an in your face foreign policy attitude which is reckless and not in the best interest of the US, but rather of Israel. Old Washington wants US and Israeli interests to coincide, converge and move forward whereas neocons toss all caution to the wind and conclude what’s in Israel’s interests automatically is in the US’ interests.
Obama sent a sign to both old Washington, the people to whom he is indebted and the neocons, those folks who are always lurking on the periphery of government that he is a faithful soldier of both camps, by picking Rahm Emanuel, and many have seen the sign and understand it’s ramifications. A Saudi Arabia newspaper, The Arab News noted, ‘Far from challenging Israel, the new team may turn out to be as pro-Israel as the one it is replacing.’
I’ve already mentioned how I don’t think his choice signifies much of a change in foreign policy. Emanuel is certifiably insane, a true sociopath, with all the stories of him sending dead fish to people he doesn’t like or stabbing a table while shouting out the names of political opponents/enemies, who could conceivably be called terrorists. Emanuel’s personal history is steeped in Zionism which means there is no way an Obama administration will realize Condolezza Rice’s claim that ‘a Palestinian state will be realized soon’. Moreover, Obama asserts economical issues will take priority, as they should right now, in his Administration so there’s plenty of time for the territorial borders to be further clouded and more blood to be shed in Gaza and the West Bank.
As if to further solidify this notion comes word that an Obama Administration might include the likes of Dennis Ross, returning in his role as the Middle East’s peace envoy. He is the nail in the Emanuel coffin for the notion of Palestinian statehood and the cessation of bloodshed . As well as being a supporter of the Iraqi war, Ross is chairman of think tanks with a decidedly pro-Israel, pro Likud slant. You can read all about him here. I’m still not seeing much change in an Obamanation’s policies?!! Suffice it to say if picked, Ross would compliment Emanuel very well.
So why are we happy that Obama is the new president instead of McCain? Image. Obama is an example of what can happen in this great Nation of ours. He is an affirmation for us that America is the land of opportunity and that we as a people believe in the precepts on which the country was founded that ‘all men are created equal.’ He inspires us and makes us feel better about ourselves, that despite our flaws, which there are many, we can rise above them and be a better nation. That’s why Obama is president, but none of that means anything to a people dispossessed and terrorized by an ally of the United States. Old Washington’s claim to Obama is based on the former notion, without giving a damn about the latter.
The attack on Syria was the neocon’s way of asserting their position of dominance within the US government. It was a signal to the winner of next week’s election that the winner would have to deal with the neocon’s reality of foreign policy and not with any campaign promises, and that reality is there will be no reconciliation with the Syrian government ever and that US troops will not leave Iraq anytime soon. I disagree with fellow blogger Xymphora who seems to think Obama’s supposed imminent victory means a demise of neocon control over government, but I do agree with Xymp’s statement that ‘peace is the death of zionism’, hence why else would America attack a government that has shown a willingness to be at peace with its neighbors and America’s allies, unless that ally (Israel) doesn’t want peace. The excuse that the attack was against infiltrators into Iraq from Syria has also been thoroughly discounted.
A top US commander Thursday voiced optimism US troop levels could be cut substantially in western Iraq particularly after provincial elections in the former insurgent stronghold.
Marine Corps Major General John Kelly, who commands the 25,000 US troops in the west, said the tally of security incidents had fallen so low as to be “almost meaningless now.”
“So I would say that I’m very optimistic that we could start to reduce numbers,” he said.
In fact, one could view this attack as a shot across the bow of certain elements within even the military that talk of troop reductions and stability are not consistent with the program of instability and perpetual war that has fueled both the Israeli government and now our own.
There is the possibility that whoever was killed was an enemy to both Syria and the US and as such was a targeted assassination agreed upon by both parties. As with so much about Mid East occurrences that will never be known; however the message is that the US is in Iraq to stay, regardless of the Maliki government’s decision on the SOFA agreement that for the moment is dead. That reality has been foisted on the winner of Tuesday’s election whether he likes it or not.
At first glance, the headline ‘When Settlers Strike, Palestinians Point and Shoot back’ had a hopeful ring about it, but this is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict we are talking about here and for the moment there’s nothing hopeful about that.
Video cameras like hers have emerged as a new nonviolent weapon for West Bank Palestinians – who face a rising number of attacks at the hands of settlers anxious over their fate in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But the Palestinian video footage often ends up on Israeli TV, thus becoming a tool for both deterrence and justice.
“We’re trying to use the cameras to reduce the level of violence as a whole. When settlers see the camera, we hope that they will behave less violently,” says Sarit Michaeli, the spokeswoman for Btselem.
“We also want to use the footage to provide to the Israeli media to raise awareness of the problems and to pressure the law enforcement bodies to do their job.”
Btselem has given out 150 cameras as part of its Shooting Back program that started slowly last year and is beginning to show results. Already, footage shot by Palestinians has been used in at least 20 cases involving settler violence.
In any other society I would think that non-violent resistance could make a dent in the morality of the greater society, but that doesn’t seem to work in this conflagration, because all too often camera men and women are shot and their images so clouded in claim and counter claim minutae the impact of the captured images is lost. Fadel Shana’s death was caught by his own camera and there was no mistaking who murdered him, but of course Shana’s offense was he was carrying a “camera” the IDF confused for some sort of weapon that he should not have been pointing at a tank that could more clearly see him through its “camera” than he it through his, and so deserved to die. Of course the people responsible for his murder were let off without even a reprimand because his execution was “sound“.
Amnesty remains extremely concerned that Israeli military personnel continue to operate unaccountably in Gaza. In April this year, for example, a Reuters cameraman – Fadel Shana – was killed by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza despite clearly displaying ‘TV-Press’ on his flak jacket and nearby vehicle.
Two Palestinian children – Ahmad Farajallah and Ghassan Khaled Abu ‘Ataiwi – were also killed in the attack that killed Shana and several other people were also injured. Shana and the two children were killed by a ‘flechette’ shell containing up to 5,000 5cm-long steel darts (or flechettes) that spread over an area as big as a football pitch when fired. These munitions are notoriously imprecise and should never be used in areas populated with civilians. In this case the Israeli army later wrote to Reuters saying it had investigated the incident saying the decision to attack the journalist was ‘sound’.
So far this year more than 420 Palestinians (including some 80 children) have been killed by Israeli forces, and 30 Israelis killed by Palestinian groups. Most of these deaths (some 385) occurred in Gaza. Amnesty International remains concerned at a widespread failure to bring people to justice for unlawful killings.
So, with this as background, the introduction of more video “vigilantes” as they most probably will be called, or worse, “video terrorists” is being heralded as a non-violent response to settler aggression?
“We’re trying to use the cameras to reduce the level of violence as a whole. When settlers see the camera, we hope that they will behave less violently,” says Sarit Michaeli, the spokeswoman for Btselem.
When has that happened in the history of this conflict?? Is that a duh moment or what? For perspective one only need to ask Salam Amira whose story we highlighted earlier this year.
“Since my video was shown, the soldiers shoot at our house all the time,” she said. The shattered and cracked windows at the front of the building confirm her story. “When we leave the windows open, they fire tear gas inside too.”
Doesn’t seem like her possessing a camera and filming the shooting of a neighbor’s ‘big toe’ did either the neighbor or her any good. You can see what she filmed here.
I’m sure the folks passing out the cameras are aware of all this, so why do they insist on this form of protest? I can only think they might be saying to themselves if enough images of Israeli oppression are shown to enough people it will have a positive influence on the “peace process”, but in fact, Israelis are not like Americans of the 50s and sixties. They are much more steeped in the dehumanization of their opponent, the Palestinian, and far more willing to accept the inhumane treatment he receives at their hand wihtout any conscious about it more so than his American counterpart. It’s that difference which makes both countries so special; no doubt the organizers of this “event” want to influence Israeli as well as American public opinion, but American opinion is controlled by a corporate media which is beholden to American politicians heavily lobbied by special interests which have reduced the atrocities of the aggressor and turned them into the aggression of the victim. It’s gonna’ take more than cameras to change that.
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