Thursday, July 27, 2006
Pacifica Commentary For July 19, 2006
Our Newspaper
Here begins the lead editorial in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, July 17, 2006:
(Quote) "Make no mistake about it: Responsibility for the escalating carnage in Lebanon and northern Israel lies with one side and one side only. And that is Hezbollah..."
(Unquote).
Substantial numbers of Israelis disagree with the Los Angeles Times. They are demonstrating in Central Tel Aviv to protest Israel's attacks on Lebanon and the continued offensive of the Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. The protesters called the Israeli Defense Force operations an unnecessary war and demanded that the Israeli government hold negotiations on an exchange of prisoners.
Contrary to the L.A. Times editorial many Israelis understand that the escalating carnage is also related to the oppression of Palestinians. For example:
There are some 9000 routinely tortured Palestinian prisoners held in Israel without trial.
There are some 400 routinely tortured Palestinian children held in Israel without trial.
Hundreds of Palestinians have had their homes destroyed without a charge or a hearing.
Targeted assassinations of Palestinians are also routine. These are cold blooded murders of suspects without evidence or trial.
Significant numbers of the elected Palestinian government have been captured and are now being held without trial. Collective punishment has been the rule. Food, medicine and funds have been withheld from Palestine.
History makes it clear that resistance can be expected from any occupied country. This is why Israeli citizens are demonstrating in Tel Aviv for peace and and this is why hundreds of Israeli Officers have refused to serve in occupied Palestine. They seem to know that the ancient and vengeful and useless axiom of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth has been replaced by, "Two thousand eyes for an eye and one thousand jaws for a tooth."
Sadly, many people select denial as a way of mindless life. So we must praise Israelis who at this moment of crisis know from long experience that war itself is the evil, war is the problem, war is the mistake and war is the enemy.
Instead of the absolutist statement about, "one side, and one side only." It would have been far better for the L.A. Times to acknowledge that the obstructionist policy of our nation has blocked literally scores of United Nations resolutions which could have brought peace to Israel and its neighbors.
Here begins the lead editorial in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, July 17, 2006:
(Quote) "Make no mistake about it: Responsibility for the escalating carnage in Lebanon and northern Israel lies with one side and one side only. And that is Hezbollah..."
(Unquote).
Substantial numbers of Israelis disagree with the Los Angeles Times. They are demonstrating in Central Tel Aviv to protest Israel's attacks on Lebanon and the continued offensive of the Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. The protesters called the Israeli Defense Force operations an unnecessary war and demanded that the Israeli government hold negotiations on an exchange of prisoners.
Contrary to the L.A. Times editorial many Israelis understand that the escalating carnage is also related to the oppression of Palestinians. For example:
There are some 9000 routinely tortured Palestinian prisoners held in Israel without trial.
There are some 400 routinely tortured Palestinian children held in Israel without trial.
Hundreds of Palestinians have had their homes destroyed without a charge or a hearing.
Targeted assassinations of Palestinians are also routine. These are cold blooded murders of suspects without evidence or trial.
Significant numbers of the elected Palestinian government have been captured and are now being held without trial. Collective punishment has been the rule. Food, medicine and funds have been withheld from Palestine.
History makes it clear that resistance can be expected from any occupied country. This is why Israeli citizens are demonstrating in Tel Aviv for peace and and this is why hundreds of Israeli Officers have refused to serve in occupied Palestine. They seem to know that the ancient and vengeful and useless axiom of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth has been replaced by, "Two thousand eyes for an eye and one thousand jaws for a tooth."
Sadly, many people select denial as a way of mindless life. So we must praise Israelis who at this moment of crisis know from long experience that war itself is the evil, war is the problem, war is the mistake and war is the enemy.
Instead of the absolutist statement about, "one side, and one side only." It would have been far better for the L.A. Times to acknowledge that the obstructionist policy of our nation has blocked literally scores of United Nations resolutions which could have brought peace to Israel and its neighbors.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Pacifica Commentary For July 12, 2006
A Declaration Of Peace
Yes, it is true. Hundreds of organizations and many thousands of people have declared peace and have signed a declaration of peace.
The puppet government created by the United States in Iraq is a total loss. The Iraqi security forces are in complete disarray. Some are working for the other side, some are involved in organized crime, and according to the Los Angeles Times, the new 268,610 member Iraqi Interior Ministry has a far larger security force than all of the troops from the United States which are currently in Iraq. These Iraqi forces are clearly marked by brutality, bribery, summary execution, and rape.
There are kidnapping rings in this new Iraqi ministry. Iraqis do not trust them. Payroll fraud is rampant. Large amounts of communications equipment are missing. Female detainees are sexually assaulted.
The Ministry of the Interior is a counterproductive and broken department of the new Iraqi government imposed by our administration. Actually the Iraqi security forces in Iraq have all the characteristics of the forces that the United States paid for during the Somoza Dynasty in Nicaragua, during the Duvalier rule in Haiti, or the forces of South Vietnam during that endless war.
Respect from the rest of the world has been lost. Dedicated young service people from the United States are becoming conscious of how they have been lied to, used and discarded together with endless numbers of innocent Iraqis.
Services justly due to our citizens have been denied while billions of our hard earned taxes have been tossed helter skelter to war profiteers with zero accountability.
These are some of the reasons that the peace movement has produced The Declaration of Peace. We have signed that declaration together with hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals. We call on the Congress and the Administration to end the war.
The ancient and powerful spiritual weapon of fasting is now deployed. This is called the Troops Home Fast which thousands have already begun. Some will fast on liquids only, some will fast completely for a day, a week or as long as their conscience dictates.
Up to a September 21st deadline, we will participate in marches, vigils and lobbying for immediate withdrawal of our troops. From September 21-28 there will be direct actions in Washington, D.C. and throughout the nation. In the spirit of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King some signers will be led by conscience to engage in non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest to express their principled opposition to the U.S. War in Iraq. These nonviolent activities will continue until the United States withdraws from Iraq. You can sign on to this pledge by going to: www.declarationofpeace.org
Yes, it is true. Hundreds of organizations and many thousands of people have declared peace and have signed a declaration of peace.
The puppet government created by the United States in Iraq is a total loss. The Iraqi security forces are in complete disarray. Some are working for the other side, some are involved in organized crime, and according to the Los Angeles Times, the new 268,610 member Iraqi Interior Ministry has a far larger security force than all of the troops from the United States which are currently in Iraq. These Iraqi forces are clearly marked by brutality, bribery, summary execution, and rape.
There are kidnapping rings in this new Iraqi ministry. Iraqis do not trust them. Payroll fraud is rampant. Large amounts of communications equipment are missing. Female detainees are sexually assaulted.
The Ministry of the Interior is a counterproductive and broken department of the new Iraqi government imposed by our administration. Actually the Iraqi security forces in Iraq have all the characteristics of the forces that the United States paid for during the Somoza Dynasty in Nicaragua, during the Duvalier rule in Haiti, or the forces of South Vietnam during that endless war.
Respect from the rest of the world has been lost. Dedicated young service people from the United States are becoming conscious of how they have been lied to, used and discarded together with endless numbers of innocent Iraqis.
Services justly due to our citizens have been denied while billions of our hard earned taxes have been tossed helter skelter to war profiteers with zero accountability.
These are some of the reasons that the peace movement has produced The Declaration of Peace. We have signed that declaration together with hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals. We call on the Congress and the Administration to end the war.
The ancient and powerful spiritual weapon of fasting is now deployed. This is called the Troops Home Fast which thousands have already begun. Some will fast on liquids only, some will fast completely for a day, a week or as long as their conscience dictates.
Up to a September 21st deadline, we will participate in marches, vigils and lobbying for immediate withdrawal of our troops. From September 21-28 there will be direct actions in Washington, D.C. and throughout the nation. In the spirit of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King some signers will be led by conscience to engage in non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest to express their principled opposition to the U.S. War in Iraq. These nonviolent activities will continue until the United States withdraws from Iraq. You can sign on to this pledge by going to: www.declarationofpeace.org
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Pacifica Commentary For July 5, 2006
The Twins
The most powerful military force in the history of the world continues its fifteen year assault on a weak and devastated nation called Iraq. The methodology includes collective punishment of civilians by indiscriminate bombing, house to house massacres, imprisonment without trial and routine torture. When our forces suffer a defeat such collective punishments have led to increased premeditated killing of countless civilians.
The people of Iraq are fighting to defend themselves and they are also fighting their fellow citizens who have submitted to the rule of a foreign empire. Citizens of Iraq who are doing what our United States citizens would do if we were invaded are called terrorists. Indeed, Iraqis are frequently referred to as members of an outside force known as Al Qaeda.
We are reminded of France when it was occupied by the Third Reich and how the French Resistance fought the French who submitted to the German occupation.
A handful of our troops, generally the lowest level of enlisted personnel, are brought before military justice on charges of torture, murder and rape. Actually the entire fifteen years has been nothing but torture murder and rape.
Not far from Iraq we can observe parallel behavior as the fourth largest military in the world continues its brutal attacks on Palestine. Collective punishment is and has been the rule for decades. One Israeli prisoner leads to the shelling of civilians and the willful destruction of an entire electrical system. Palestinian civilians suffer from direct bombardment, a cut off of food, medical aid and the withholding of economic assistance.
The government elected by the Palestinians is rejected with the same charges that were leveled at previous regimes. Thousands of Palestinians have been held captive, tortured and killed. Their homes have been bulldozed and their country divided into Bantustans of separation. The wall is the message.
For decades now, the long standing exceptionalism practiced by the United States has been granted to Israel. We can have ten thousand nukes but you can't have one. We can attack you but if you resist we will massacre your people.
No one is more aware of this crisis than the Israeli people and the Israeli Press. As one visiting Israeli scholar said, "You Americans are going to fight to the last drop of Israeli blood." Our nation, with Israel in its shadow, seems suicidally determined to create an international tsunami of resistance.
The most powerful military force in the history of the world continues its fifteen year assault on a weak and devastated nation called Iraq. The methodology includes collective punishment of civilians by indiscriminate bombing, house to house massacres, imprisonment without trial and routine torture. When our forces suffer a defeat such collective punishments have led to increased premeditated killing of countless civilians.
The people of Iraq are fighting to defend themselves and they are also fighting their fellow citizens who have submitted to the rule of a foreign empire. Citizens of Iraq who are doing what our United States citizens would do if we were invaded are called terrorists. Indeed, Iraqis are frequently referred to as members of an outside force known as Al Qaeda.
We are reminded of France when it was occupied by the Third Reich and how the French Resistance fought the French who submitted to the German occupation.
A handful of our troops, generally the lowest level of enlisted personnel, are brought before military justice on charges of torture, murder and rape. Actually the entire fifteen years has been nothing but torture murder and rape.
Not far from Iraq we can observe parallel behavior as the fourth largest military in the world continues its brutal attacks on Palestine. Collective punishment is and has been the rule for decades. One Israeli prisoner leads to the shelling of civilians and the willful destruction of an entire electrical system. Palestinian civilians suffer from direct bombardment, a cut off of food, medical aid and the withholding of economic assistance.
The government elected by the Palestinians is rejected with the same charges that were leveled at previous regimes. Thousands of Palestinians have been held captive, tortured and killed. Their homes have been bulldozed and their country divided into Bantustans of separation. The wall is the message.
For decades now, the long standing exceptionalism practiced by the United States has been granted to Israel. We can have ten thousand nukes but you can't have one. We can attack you but if you resist we will massacre your people.
No one is more aware of this crisis than the Israeli people and the Israeli Press. As one visiting Israeli scholar said, "You Americans are going to fight to the last drop of Israeli blood." Our nation, with Israel in its shadow, seems suicidally determined to create an international tsunami of resistance.
