Smile Don't Frown

So Richard Goldstone has retracted some of the central conclusions of his 2009 report on the Gaza conflict, such as that the Israeli military did not deliberately kill civilians. Or has he?

Jonathan Freedland said the latest ‘evidence’ “indicate[s] that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy”.[1]

What ‘evidence’ are Goldstone and Freedland referring to? Israel has done an ‘internal investigation’ about some incidents in the Gaza war – and Goldstone, being a judge, must know that internal investigations are quite likely to be whitewashes. A friend of mine has said that it seems that Goldstone is trying desperately to win kudos from Israel and its supporters, without actually changing the substances of his findings very much at all. Who could disagree with that?

People like Carlo Strenger, that’s who. He says that “Goldstone had not given an accurate picture of what it is like to face an enemy devoid of any humanitarian considerations” without apparently wincing at the hypocrisy.[2]

In 2009 Dr Hussein Nagi, based in Worcestershire, presented a slide show of photos he had taken in Gaza while he was there treating casualties of ‘Operation Cast Lead’. Schools and livestock had been hit. He said that new weapons had been tested out.

Strenger says that “no one can help but be horrified by the pictures of killed, maimed and terrified Palestinian children”, but in the same sentence he appears to justify this horror by adding that “we despise an enemy that is not bound by any rules of recognisable civilisation”.[3]

How is it civilized to bomb innocent people? Strenger makes his condemnation of Hamas very clear, but what about Israeli violence? Noam Chomsky wrote that the attack on Gaza “had been meticulously planned, for over 6 months according to the Israeli press…We may, therefore, be fairly confident that most of what has been done and said was pre-planned and intended. That surely includes the timing of the assault: shortly before noon, when children were returning from school and crowds were milling in the streets of densely populated Gaza City. It took only a few minutes to kill over 225 people and wound 700, an auspicious opening to the mass slaughter of defenceless civilians trapped in a tiny cage with nowhere to flee”.[4]

How is it civilized to maintain a siege that “is savage and cruel, designed to keep the caged animals barely alive”.[5]

Strenger says he has”no sympathy for the critics of Israel who refuse to see that there are ideologies who put destruction above human life and wellbeing”. I have no sympathy for Strenger and other apologists who refuse to see that the occupiers’ mindset enables them to cause destruction that blinds them to the value of Palestinian lives and wellbeing. I have only contempt for people who utter such blatant lies as “Israel tries to defend itself within the framework of international law”.

Strenger says that “Hamas cynically exploits suffering for its own purposes”. Gerald Kaufman MP said a couple of  years ago, “The current Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploits the continuing guilt among gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians…My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.” [6]

But of course, by saying such things, Kaufman is a ‘self-hating Jew’ – except that he isn’t. By agreeing with the evidence that Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians I am anti-Semitic– except that I’m not.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/06/goldstone-report-israel-palestine?INTCMP=SRCH

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/04/richard-goldstone-israel-report

 [3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/united-israel-comment-carlo-strenger

[4] http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21788.htm

[5] http://chomsky.info/articles/20100602.htm

[6] http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/16/1002308/mp-kaufman-likens-israelis-to-nazis

Compare and contrast:

‘Gaza: Children die in Israeli attack, say doctors’  [1]

 ‘Four Killed, 31 Injured by Israeli Attacks Targeting Gaza’ [2]

According to the BBC, ‘Israel apologised for the civilian casualties’ – so that’s OK then! – ‘but said it would defend itself against rocket fire from Gaza, which has increased in recent days’ – the BBC, as ever, keen to stress that Israel was merely retaliating.

‘More than 1,000 Gazans lost their lives during the 22-day offensive (Operation Cast Lead). Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.’

Again, a glaring juxtaposition: ‘lost their lives’ and ‘killed’. Is this a not-very-subtle attempt to portray Palestinians as inherently more aggressive than Israelis, whose ‘legitimate’ actions lead to ‘mistakes’?

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12822493

[2] http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9753

Polite or cutting question? As it’s from Matt Baker, I’m inclined to think it was merely bland small-talk, but I love the ambiguity and Cameron’s initial shock.

Matt Baker: How on earth do you sleep at night?

David Cameron: Horlicks mixed with the tears of disabled children. That usually does the trick.*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbcACpriZ9s

* Thank you to the person whose comment on Youtube I have paraphrased/nicked.

Dear New Statesman

James Purnell commented in the NS (21/2/11) that ‘the worst part of the anti-war argument was saying that we shouldn’t champion democracy’, but I don’t recall anyone involved in the anti-war movement expressing their opposition to the Iraq war because democracy isn’t desirable. I do, however, recall several people expressing their shock and awe of the Blair government’s continuous contempt of democracy, as each Stop the War demo was studiously ignored. The war was based on lies about WMD, and for Purnell to claim that the war was about exporting democracy is absolutely infuriating. Thankfully, in the next edition of the NS John Pilger once again cuts through the self-serving nonsense by speaking of US imperialism – a ‘war on social justice and democracy’ – which has been supported, in the main, by Britain (28/2/11). Or rather, British governments – people like James Purnell don’t speak for me.

Yours Sincerely

Neil Laurenson

Dear Mr Marr

I was genuinely shocked to see Tony Blair on Sunday AM (13/2/11), but then I remembered your famous quote:

 “I don’t think anybody after this is going to be able to say of Tony Blair that he’s somebody who is driven by the drift of public opinion, or focus groups, or opinion polls. He took all of those on. He said that they would be able to take Baghdad without a bloodbath, and that in the end the Iraqis would be celebrating. And on both of those points he has been proved conclusively right. And it would be entirely ungracious, even for his critics, not to acknowledge that tonight he stands as a larger man and a stronger prime minister as a result.” (BBC 1, News At Ten, 9th April, 2003)

Would it be entirely ungracious to say, eight years on and over a million deaths later, that instead of interviewing Tony Blair, you could have performed a citizen’s arrest* on him?

I look forward to your response

Yours Sincerely

Neil Laurenson

* http://www.arrestblair.org/performing-a-citizens-arrest

I wonder whether William Hague knows he’s a blatant, sanctimonious hypocrite. According to the Telegraph:

‘Mr Hague said it was not for other countries to dictate who should be in power, or what their tactics should be, but told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘”Clearly, in so many of these countries people do have legitimate grievances, which are economic and political.”’

Richard Seymour says in response to a Tony Blair comment about the situation in Egypt that ‘Egyptians, long-suffering under a dictator and his torturing, murdering security apparatus, should not have to listen to this contemptible shit’. [2]

 What a great way to respond to Hague, who has nothing critical to say about British interference in Afghanistan or British support for Israeli brutality against Palestinians. Oh, and talking of legitimate grievances, what about the students priced out of further education? And the thousands losing their jobs? Aren’t their grievances legitimate?

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8285460/William-Hague-urges-Egypt-to-respond-to-protesters-grievances.html

[2] http://leninology.blogspot.com/

Long time since I wrote anything here – been preoccupied with anti-cuts efforts mainly, but that reads like a poor excuse. So, what’s going outside this country – this country with its angry, confused, disempowered masses?

Today I received a very useful ‘Middle East Bulletin’ from Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, who visited Gaza last October. Earlier this month I went with others from Worcester Palestine Friendship to Gloucester see him give a slide presentation of his visit, which was also attended by Ebrahim Musaji, who was on the Gaza flotilla that was apparently ‘legally’ attacked by the Israeli military (see last link below). Graham was very hesitant about condemning continuing arms sales by the US/UK to Israel, and rather than condemning the occupation he spoke of Hamas’ ‘failure to recognise Israel’…

Well, here are excerpts from a, to be fair, rather helpful bulletin

Report of Graham’s visit to Gaza (‘The World’s Largest Prison Camp’):

http://www.caabu.org/pdf/worlds-largest-prison-camp.pdf

‘Exports from Gaza have started to increase as two border crossings are partially opened, allowing in humanitarian aid’:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Newsfeed/Article/125173009/201101230714/Israel-partially-opens-two-Gaza-crossings-allows-export-of-peppers.aspx

‘US trying to stop UN resolution against West Bank settlements’:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8264918/US-trying-to-stop-UN-resolution-against-West-Bank-settlements.html

The Palestine Papers

‘The publication of leaked documents from the Middle East peace process has caused shock waves throughout the world and prompted fierce denials from Palestinian leaders’:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/24/palestine-papers-distortion-truth-reaction

UN director in Gaza quits for new post

‘The director of UN relief agency in Gaza, John Ging is to leave his current job and take up a senior UN position in New York. Ging has worked in Gaza since 2006 and has been a well-known advocate of Palestinian rights and a critic of Israel. His departure will be welcomed by Israel who claims that he ‘overstepped the mark’:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/17/un-gaza-john-ging-unrwa

 Gaza children ‘at risk’ near border

‘A new report released by Save the Children has warned that Palestinian children are coming under regular gunfire whilst searching through destroyed buildings for construction materials – forbidden from entering into the impoverished Gaza Strip by Israel’:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/201111804035568365.html

New Jerusalem settlement hits peace process

‘Israel is to push ahead with plans to build 1,400 new homes in what critics have described as a deathly blow to any peace process’:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/new-jerusalem-settlement-hits-peace-process-2186234.html

Turkel Commission Concludes

‘The Israeli Government appointed Turkel Commission has concluded that the raid on the Gaza bound flotilla of aid ships, including lead ship the Mavi Marmara was legal and that Israeli soldiers acted in self defence’:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/israel-gaza-aid-flotilla-inquiry

Hopefully Richard Graham and other MPs will be use this information to put pressure on the British government to ensure that, in the words of PSC, it does not continue to give ‘unconditional support of the state of Israel, paying only lip service to the rights of Palestinians and respect for international law:’

On 11^th January some of us in Worcester will be hosting a film showing of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, which follows the story of three men of three different faiths and their lives in Israel and Palestine. According to the film’s website, it examines ‘the struggle to promote equality through nonviolent engagement in the midst of incredible violence that has dehumanized all sides. Sami’s story begins as a young boy living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; Yonatan’s starts on an Israeli military base; and Ahmad’s begins in a Palestinian refugee camp.’ [1]

The BBC could learn a lot about how to humanize all sides, instead of repeating the word ‘militants’ and ‘Islamists’ whenever Israel has ‘retaliated’ by murdering innocent civilians. Apparently ‘two years ago, a 22-day clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza killed an estimated 1,300 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and 13 Israelis’. [2]

No, it’s a war against PEOPLE not ‘militants’. Oh, and animals – I’ve seen photos taken by someone who went to treat casualties in Gaza. The Israeli military made sure to massacre livestock as well as innocent people. I wouldn’t rule out the BBC parroting Israeli propaganda about terrorist cows…

Happy New Year.

[1] http://littletownofbethlehem.org/

[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12079970

For years, since the Iraq war, I’ve not been fond of Ben Brown – he just comes across as so achingly loyal to his paymasters. Richard Seymour, writing about Brown’s much-panned interview with Jody McIntyre (now destined to be remembered as the guy who was dragged out of his wheelchair by police) gives a great description of Brown:

‘Ben Brown…failed to notice how utterly absurd and obscene it is to imply that a wheelchair bound man with cerebral palsy is any physical threat to armed policemen. Brown regurgitated, without a moment’s reflection as to its credibility, the “suggestion” that Mcintyre was wheeling his wheelchair toward the police, as if that was relevant, as if it would pose a threat that could possibly justify assaulting Mcintyre in his wheelchair, throwing him onto the road and dragging him across its surface. He did this because that’s what people like him always instinctively do, and it simply didn’t occur to him that there was any other way to behave. And that’s the whole problem.’ [1]

At least Jody McIntyre was subsequently given a platform to speak so articulately about ‘the whole problem’:

‘Why do we so heavily criticise state television in other countries and then suggest that our state television would be impartial? I was at a demonstration against the government, and I’m then interviewed on television that works for the government. Why would they question me fairly?…To me, it’s as if people must have been asleep all their lives if they don’t realise this is the police’s role at demonstrations – to protect the interests of the government and the state.’ [2]

And to think that David Cameron told China to respect the rule of law and that a free press represent the best path to stability and prosperity! [3]

The term ‘hypocritical scumbag’ comes to mind, but that would be childish.

Jody McIntyre for Prime Minister!

[1] http://leninology.blogspot.com/# (14/12/10)

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/15/jody-mcintyre-protester-dragged-from-wheelchair

[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11723838

I have finally watched American: The Bill Hicks Story, having purchased my copy on the day of the film’s UK release. Predictably, I was pining for Hicks’ resurrection even more by the end.

 This reminded me of why I bother:

Kevin Booth: ‘…That’s what enraged Bill the most – to be that one guy going, “Hey everybody – did you just see what they did? Seriously, does everyone think that’s OK?”’

Bill Hicks: ‘The message they want to convey to you is: state power will always win. We’ll say any lie we want over our propaganda machine – the mainstream media. So you just be apathetic, stay docile, and don’t you ever forget: you’re free to do what we tell you…’

Kevin Booth: ‘…Bill really was in a state of mind of (1) – I’m not going to take any shit from anybody anymore and (2) – I’m going to tell everybody exactly what it is they need to hear because time is of the essence.’

This also reminds me of Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Assange surely has at least one Bill Hicks DVD in his office. He wants to tell everybody exactly what it is they need to hear. Having said that, I’m not sure we need to hear about what Prince Andrew thinks, but certainly the files on war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan needed to be shared. Of course, state power doesn’t want us to know the truth. Watch out, Julian, that power is after you…