Tag: Israel

The Very Definition Of Thinkablewords

Today on Democracy Now’s broadcast, Ali Abuninah, “the co-founder of the Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse,” spoke a bunch of words which, frankly, made me sit back in my chair. Not because of what he said on its own, mind you, but the words he chose to say (below), in conjunction with the remarkable passion and clarity in which he shared them, was extremely powerful and impressive;

“[P]eople have tried to reach Gaza to break the siege by land. They have tried by sea. And they have lost their lives. They have given their lives in the cause of breaking this siege on Gaza. And we have to ask […] for what crime are 1.5 million people in Gaza being held prisoner? [W]hen will the Obama administration stop this outrageous complicity, this enabling, this acting as an accomplice with these crimes against people in Palestine and now against Americans, Turks, Greeks, Jordanians, Palestinians, Lebanese, Swedes, French people, German people, members of Parliament, doctors, retired people, trying to bring medicine to people in Gaza? That our government has not stood up and condemned this in the clearest possible terms is a sign that something is sick in the United States’ system when it comes to speaking about and dealing with Israel. There is a sickness that has to be addressed.”

I couldn’t agree more. You know things are bad when you are confident you can never be shocked by anything you hear on the news, yet one morning, yesterday morning in fact, you turn on the radio and hear something, such as this senseless massacre, and your only reaction is to want to roll over and cry…

Canadian Pride

As “we,” like my being a Canadian citizen has anything to do with the Canadian Olympic Hockey Teams performance, prepare to face the Slovakian squad in a semi-final match for the gold this evening, I’m painfully reminded of everything Canadian Pride involves.

You can’t pick and choose what to be patriotic about. It’s all or nothing. So before celebrating Canada’s potential victory tonight, read Yves Engler’s piece, Canada’s Neoconservative Turn, and actually consider everything being a proud Canadian really entails;

“‘Preemptive action’ is likely a euphemism for a bombing campaign. Canadian naval vessels are already running provocative maneuvers off Iran’s coast and by stating that ‘an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada,’ Kent is trying to create the impression that Iran may attack Israel. But isn’t it Israel that possesses nuclear weapons and threatens to bomb Iran, not the other way around? Of course that would be a reality-based analysis, not something George W. Bush’s Canadian clones favor…”

I guess the two positive’s this article brings up, for me, is, 1) I hadn’t previously known Yves Engler had a new book out, Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid. Great news, that he wrote another book, not that he thought he had to. And 2) Don Cherry has, potentially years of further reason, ahead of him, to praise his main interest. The Canadian Military.

I can’t wait…

What Else Could I Possibly Add?

In this short life, an existence we’ll only ever know, we’re hopelessly stuck in this perpetual downward spiral, rife with fear, paranoia, suspicion, pain, and sadness. But every so often, much less often than is so desperately needed, I’ll stumble upon a story that will, at least for a little while, restore my hope for humanity. First some context;

“Mysterious bomb blasts, assassinations by masked gunmen, detainees denied access to their lawyers, torture and death in detention, the random arrest of critical journalists, and the banning of peaceful demonstrations are but a few of the human rights violations sweeping the Occupied Palestinian Territories…” 1

Yet despite that;

“Thousands of children smash the previous world record [for ‘kite-flying’] at event in Gaza Strip…” 2

What else could I possibly add?

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