The arrest of the reporter Richard Medhurst, who has been one of the most ardent critics of the genocide in Gaza and Israeli apartheid state, at Heathrow airport is part of the steady march towards the criminalization of journalism, something all of us, including Medhurst, understood lay at the heart of the long persecution of Julian Assange.
The question is how to fight this pernicious stride towards the evisceration of our freedom of speech.
The question is how to fight the singular hold the Zionist lobby has over successive governments in the Western world.
Yes we will be out on the streets for Medhurst, if need be, like we were for Assange, but we cannot rely on individual case victories alone. The system has to be destroyed if we are to reclaim our rights.
I have written suggestions before BUT nobody does them. We are dealing with people who are uneducated and DIM.
Now is the time to start demonstrating outside Mainstream Media offices. The so-called Journalist s going to work there. Make them feel bad. We can do this.
Until the press starts talking sense we are dead people walking.
Editing to add this quote from your comment: "We are dealing with people who are uneducated and DIM."
Insulting anyone who doesn't support the prevailing progressive groupthink as stupid is disrespectful, divisive, and self-defeating. The person who needs to be putting your thoughts into action is you, JennyStokes!
I don't believe that public demonstrations are insults. Of course, they have to be made in a civil manner. I like the idea of making it clear to the pseudo journalists and their employers our disgust for them.
The elections are coming, and this is our chance to begin the destruction of the system.
I will not vote for any politician that keeps saying "Israel has the right to defend itself" and never says "Palestine has the right to defend itself against the invasion of its land" That's why will not vote for the duopoly.
Following I am transcribing the final part of MR. CHRIS HEDGES' lecture "What the Genocide Says About Us." Newark, CA 6 April 2024. Downloaded from Alternativeradio.org:
"I do not know if we can build a better society. I do not know if we can halt this genocide. I do not even know if we will survive as a species. But I know the forces of death have us by the throat. And they have my children by the throat. I do not fight fascists because I will win. I fight fascists because they are fascists."
I'm voting for Jill Stein & Butch Ware of the Green Party because I'm tired of the duopoly. Although I find Kamala Harris and Tim Walz very likable, I can't get past the terrible truth that the USA is supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people when the vast majority of US citizens want it to stop! We're supposed to have government by, for, and of the people. We want health care, a decent standard of living, security in our old age, and we don't want endless wars and endless destruction all over the globe so that the elite can grab all the strategic metals, power, land and water for themselves.
You find those two "very likeable?" Why? How? Outside of their support for Israel and the US' genocide? They're both servants of the Empire, and they aint in any way shape or form "likeable."
Servants of the empire perhaps but not bribed yet. Stein is a Jew but, in her webpage, she decries the Palestinian holocaust. I'm voting for the Green party for their concern about the ecology but mainly because this vote is my way to protest the duopoly. This is my striking.
So, the default position for a Jew is the backing of the Genocide and the Israeli State? You seem surprised that Stein, who is Jewish, is actually a person, a Jewish person, who doesn't support mass murder and extermination. Dr. Stein actually is a true peace candidate, and she is very knowledgeable about foreign affairs, including that other war the US started in Ukraine.
Not surprises at all. You misunderstood my comment I'm happy and not surprised by the many demonstrations from Jewish groups against genocide. It has been clear for a long time that the Zionists are losing their appeal to the majority of the Jews and the rest of America except for the Christian evangelicals.
I agree BUT WHO WILL start General Strikes (as Mr Hedges said, they are the only way to get THEIR attention) - how to motivate the population? (they are too lethargic still, I would think we need a huge financial crash first ...)
"A huge financial crash first" yes, but I'm optimistic because the labor movement is gaining strength, and it seems the desperation of the lower classes are ripe for general strikes and the best off them all is to strike our main political parties by not voting for them.
Agreed, but the mainstream will be subdued when the politicians don't have the money obtained by bribes to pay for advertisements. But still the well-funded think tanks which are perverting democracy will continue making lies at the mainstream press. The solution then is to strike the mainstream media by no subscribing nor listening to them but rather to the increasing venues of true news.
I heard Mr. Medhurst in an interview recently. His case is shocking. I just have one suggestion, and I want to be certain that it’s not misinterpreted. I was a young activist in Berkeley in the 60’s where many people advised Huey Newton and the Black Panthers to avoid dressing as guerrilla warriors. I hated that picture of him with guns and a beret on that wicker chair because it confirmed a certain stereotype among middle class white Americans.
We’re dealing with primitive, not too bright people, and any unconventional attire frightens them. It serves no purpose. Mr. Medhurst needs to present as unthreatening as possible in order to get maximum support from ordinary citizens.
Now, on to the challenge of keeping him free, so that we can be free. Thanks for this article Mr. H.
No, it is a pointed comment. It's like, "If women weren't so damned attractive, we wouldn't be forced to rape them," as in, it was her fault because of what she was wearing.
Not that it isn't a good point, not to wear clothing that provokes suspicion in the minds of law enforcement. But if you're living the world as you want it to be, then, wear the clothes of the warrior.
You’re absolutely right. And Joan of Arc wore a suit of iron, but that didn’t make her fireproof. Appearance is superficial. Unfortunately, so is public perception. Mr. Medhurst was arrested for his courage and his thoughts, but he will be judged, as Assange was, by public perception.
"Mr. Medhurst was arrested for his courage and his thoughts, but he will be judged, as Assange was, by public perception." The maiden was also arrested for the same reasons but her public perception in France was favorable and for them she was a saint and a heroine, but her iron suit didn't help her from the British and the Church leaders. Religion then and religion now. We don't change.
Joan was arrested because she was leading an army against the English occupiers. Successfully. She was a heroine, but didn't become a saint until 1920. She was burned alive, not for her visions of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine, but for wearing men's clothes.
Yes, but she was considered a saint among her people at the time although she was canonized until 1920. The church couldn't accept that it had burned a saint and not the witch they claimed to be, besides, it would have been not politically wise, and politics are always considered by the leaders of the church like in the denial of Henry the VIII divorce petition not to antagonize Charles V of Spain, the relative of Henry's wife.
I agree with you Sera. Of course it's complicated..isn't everything?! Perception, as well as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. If dress weren't provocative would we have burlesque? People are judgemental. We never know just exactly what triggers a reaction. We all know people react to appearance. Sadly in this affluent community of Sarasota, FL we have many homeless people. Observe which ones people give to; ones wearing uniforms, ones who attempt to appear clean, ones who seem to have mental issues. Look how he/she who gets the job dresses for the interview. You get the point.
I don't quite see the connection between Huey Newton with gun poster and Medhurst's appearance. All I have ever seen RM in is a Palestinian keffiyehh. Are you saying that is a threat to the "not too bright people"? If so, I say, so be it. Enough of retreating! No pasaran on this. We keep retreating, we will be pushed off the edge of the cliff they have already pushed us to.
If this were a fight for freedom of dress, I would agree with you. But it’s a fight for freedom of speech, so the first thing you need is to for people to listen. Don’t feed their prejudice. Gandhi left South Africa with a law degree and a suit and tie. Back in India years later he led The Salt Satyagraha in a dhoti. His dress signaled solidarity and defiance. It lent meaning to his act.
One of the initial goals of the Black Panther Party was to feed school children in Oakland. But more people remember that poster with the Berets and rifles. Instead of feeding children, they fed hatred and racism. That was unfair. But if the world were fair, we wouldn’t be having this discussion to begin with, would we?
The logic in the argument fails me - "Gandhi left South Africa with a law degree and a suit and tie. Back in India years later he led The Salt Satyagraha in a dhoti.". Considering his freedom campaign was aimed at convincing the British, your logic dictates that he should have stayed with the suit and tie, so that the likes of Winston Churchill would not have referred to him contemptuously as that "naked fakir"?
Born and bred in India, I can assure you that the masses would have followed Gandhi irrespective of his dress just as they revered Nehru and the great Ambedkar, leader of the "untouchables" lowest cast , who was always dressed impecably in a three piece suit.
My question still stands, what do you feel is "threatening" about Richard Medhurst's appearance? I simply don't know and you haven't told us.
Sera can't tell you because at the heart of her comment is deep seated racism and the false notion that oppressors can be appeased only if those they oppress appear in a manner that is acceptable to them. People like that will never be reliable accomplices, they sell the movement out the moment their discomfort becomes an inconvenience.
There have been some podcasts by RM at the outset of the current war recommended that Iran, Hezbollah, HAMAS, Palestinian Jihad and other "member of the resistance" go all in and attack Israel.
A very immature and silly suggestion when one considers said resisters would be attacking a state armed with thermonuclear weapons.
Well, almost, Roshan…but not quite ‘appearance’. I was making a comment on his selection of garments as an expression of group identity. I will support Richard Medhurst to the last mile, regardless of these choices. I do have opinions though, and I hope my comments weren’t seen as pejorative; they were meant to be constructive.
No, Sere, I did not see your comment as pejorative, but did find it confusing. You still haven't spelt out quite what you thought was his "unconventional attire" that could do with a change. I suggested in my initial response that you were hinting that it was the keffiyeh that he always wears. If I am correct, I revert to my original response - NO -that is a retreat too far to placate/convince those who in your words are "primitive, not too bright people". If they are unable to see or understand the Israeli genocide being inflicted on Gaza through the pronouncements of the highest court in the world; if they cannot see the merit of calling out Israeli apartheid as has the ICC and every major human rights body in the world, all because of a chequered scarf over RM's shoulders, I think we need to leave them to wallow in their closed and ignorant ways.
A short aside - my profile picture on other sites is of the great Nelson Mandela proudly wearing a keffiyeh. And I don my own every day, even in the Tory voting town in the UK where I live.
(I have to admit, this has gotten a bit out of hand, I didn’t expect to hit so many nerves).
I had a close friend once whose first language was Arabic. She had studied in France and spoke perfect French. But she always retained her Lebanese accent as an expression of pride in her heritage and her culture. Also a reminder that she had not forgotten that her country had lived under colonial dominance. I completely understood her intent. That’s exactly what it means to wear a scarf, or a Turban, or a Dohti. It means that you’re preserving a line between one culture and another. That assertion of your own sovereignty is your right. But if you wish to remove any friction between people who are perhaps more narrow minded, then make the proper adjustment. It has nothing to do with “placating” anyone. It’s a way to make the cultural shift less evident so that you may achieve your intentions, to control the narrative in your favor and not let the prejudice if others dominate. It’s an expression of a more subtle understanding.
Rick, it sounds like you're suggesting that it's the expression of these sentiments rather than Medhurst's manner of dress that is behind his detainment. That would seem more likely than being detained for some fashion crime. I'm not familiar, but if Medhurst's words could be construed as advocating violence, Sera is perhaps suggesting that the wolf don the sheep's apparel.
Your first sentence isn’t completely clear…were these opinions of Medhurst himself, or were they subjects discussed with others on his podcast? I’m asking because I’ve thought of him as being against all violence.
Your comment on appearances reminds me of women who dress provocatively (whatever that is) and are accused of being somehow guilty of their own oppression and even rape - no thanks.
If middle-class white Americans want to resort to stereotypes and ignorance (then as now), let them. That's going to happen no matter what. Why should Medhurst change his look to placate a few ignorant people? It's the message itself--that everything you think you know to be true is false--that is most upsetting, first and foremost. They then say, "look, he's a terrorist too!"
a) Huey Newton wasn't a journalist, and the Black Panthers weren't nonviolent civil rights activitists, but militant activists. The Black Panthers felt that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Christian ministers leading the largest civil rights groups would never see the results they were seeking without a show of force, which they were determined to provide. The Black Panthers deliberately dressed in a martial manner, let it be known that they were armed, and conducted themselves with military discipline.
b) If you believe in democracy, then you should examine your mental image of your fellow "ordinary citizens" of the US as "primitive, not too bright people."
c) You claim to have been a young activist in the '60's in Berkeley, but clearly understand almost nothing of the history of the civil rights movement. Rather you come across as a college-educated elitist who went along for the ride because it was the thing to do back in the day. What makes you think its okay for a sheltered elitist like you to try to advise Huey Newton and The Black Panthers on anything?
d) The way that Richard Medhurst dresses is extremely practical, as journalism doesn't pay very well these days. Are you offering to purchase a court-appropriate outfit for him? Perhaps better to just donate that $500 to his legal defense fund?
The establishment doesn't respect those who point at their hypocrisy no matter what they wear. We got far past the point of respectability politics when they decided it was ok to support genocide. The ones who are afraid of people simply because of what they wear aren't the ones we need as allies; the superficial lack the type of substance that is needed for long term resistance. I strongly disagree with the entire premise of this comment.
Thanks to globalization our primitiveness of the 60's is disappearing (hopefully) and I don't believe the attire is so important these days. Perhaps to appear as a guerilla warrior for the ordinary citizens would attract attention and would be welcomed as long as it is backed by good ideas to change the status quo for the better. Of course, we can be sure that our society always will have dinosaurs that oppose any positive change.
I've seen Richard making the rounds for a while now. He airs a lot of dirty laundry belonging to the elites. Obviously they don't like it, but I can't understand how media in general is allowing this. Even 20 years ago this would be cause for massive public outcry. Are we that numb to the images coming in from these wars? Are Americans actually wanting to be lied to, resigning to this notion that this is the way it's always been and always will be? I get the feeling more and more that Americans are clinging to the ostrich theory. Sticking their heads in a hole so they don't have to know what's really out there.
"In nearly four hours of grueling congressional testimony before the Republican-led Committee on Education and the Workforce, the president of Columbia University, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, said she had taken serious action against accusations of antisemitism on campus in recent months amid Israel’s assault on Gaza, including dismissing or removing five faculty members from the classroom, suspending 15 students and suspending two student groups — Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace." This is a part of it:
"NERMEEN SHAIKH: Later in the hearing, Republican Georgia Congressmember Rick Allen brought up the Bible in his questioning of Shafik. He cited the Old and New Testament and asked Shafik if [she] wanted Columbia University to be cursed by God.
REP. RICK ALLEN: Are you familiar with Genesis 12:3?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Probably not as well as you are, Congressman.
REP. RICK ALLEN: Well, it’s pretty clear. It was the covenant that God made with Abraham. And that covenant was real clear: “If you bless Israel, I will bless you. If you curse Israel, I will curse you.” And then, in the New Testament, it was confirmed that all nations would be blessed through you. So, you do not know about that?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: I have heard that, now that you’ve explained it.
REP. RICK ALLEN: OK.
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Yes, I have heard that before.
REP. RICK ALLEN: So, it’s now familiar. Do you consider that a serious issue? I mean, do you want Columbia University to be cursed by God, of the Bible?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Definitely not.
REP. RICK ALLEN: OK. Well, that’s good."
Nex day Shafik returned to the university and called the NYC police to silence the students.
sick. and stupid. I am a Christian and it's an issue issue of morality genocide is an issue of morality the New Testament replaces the old anyway the New Testament is the new covenant The idea of using the holy Bible as an excuse for genocide is this the sickest thing I've ever heard of.
Agreed, sick and stupid and very dangerous but fundamentalist of both religions believe that the bible has to be interpreted literality, and the Christians support the genocide on Palestinians because they believe it is necessary for the second coming of Jesus according with their interpretation of
2 THESSALONIANS 1:5–2-8
"not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is acting as a restraint, so that he will be revealed in his own due time. True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is right now acting as a restraint is out of the way. Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence."
Following are some statistics from the PEW Research on the religious landscape study finished in 2014:
To the question how to interpret scriptures:
Total religions US population
Word of God S/B taken literarily 31%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literarity 27%
Not the word of God 33%
Evangelical Protestants
Word of God S/B taken literarily 55%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literality 29%
Not the word of God 8%
Jewish
Word of God S/B taken literarily 11%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literality 24%
Certainly "Jews" (whoever they are) have financial and cultural influence.
Certainly some "Jews" in the West Bank are violating international law.
It is unfortunate, that a solution to the refugee problem in Europe and the murder of 60% of European Jewry was to create the state of Israel. It happened and given the Holocaust, wish as you might, the Jews are not leaving Israel.
People on these threads need to understand that their concept of justice may be shared but is also unique to themselves. Seek peace over justice for you will never have both.
Hmm. I agree with most of what you said, Rick, until the last sentence. If you've ever attended a political rally, you might have heard the chant: "No justice, no peace!" Many people believe that justice and peace can and should go together. One of the questions that I have about the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians revolves around the Judaic tradition of atonement. I'm not Jewish nor a scholar, so might be out of my depth here, but I've always admired this tradition. The way that I understand it, forgiveness is not necessarily given nor expected without an act of atonement and then a request for forgiveness. If Israel were to take this approach with Palestine, perhaps the two nations might coexist in peace?
Yes, it was a tragedy that the Jews had to leave their native and beloved countries in Europe to save their lives from the Christian religious fanatism but most of them didn't want to go to Palestine but to other more advanced countries. What I get from reading Professors Pappe and Sand, both Israeli revered historians who have access to their country's archives, is that the real conspiracy theory is the one created by the Zionists to sell the Jewish religion as an ethnic entity tied to Palestine to be able to legitimize the invasion, when the reality is that most of European Jews as well as North Africans are descendants of converts to Judaism and not from the seed of Abraham. Judaism is a beautiful religion and not an ethnic group.
They all mixed with other races while a diaspora, so this convert theory is absurd. Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi are the markers, original Jewish DNA markers do not exist. You'll have to dig up Abraham or one of his sons, grandsons, etc., and hope there's some DNA that can be sequenced before you even know if any of that bloodline still exists in any way shape or form. Israel was actively working on this with their archeology before the war broke out.
Nicholas, the story of Abraham as well as other biblical legends like the scape from Egypt, Joshuas's conquest of Palestine etc. have by now been completely disproved by archeology. The Talmudic religion started much later during the Babylonian exile and the great prophets. all these is very well documented in Ilan Pappe's book "Ten myths about Israel" You can also watch the actual sites and interviews with the scholars and archeologists in the NOVA documentary "The Bible's Buried Secrets beyond fact of fiction"
Another myth is the diaspora of the Jews after the destruction of the second temple. Professor Shlomo Sands book "The Invention of the Jewish People" documents how this was not true. He writes: ""The great mass proselytizing campaign that began in the second century BCE, with the rise of the Hasmonean kingdom, reached its climax in Khazaria in the eighth century CE. The Khazar-Hebrew testimony about Jewish immigration finds support in Arabic literature. The Arab chronicler al-Mas’udi wrote: As for the Jews, they are the king and his court and the Khazars his people. The Judaization of the king of the Khazars took place in the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid." ... Why did Khazaria opt for Judaism rather than the other monotheistic religions: with their less onerous requirements? If we set aside the magical sermon included in King Joseph’s letter, the Cambridge Document, and Yehudah Halevi’s book, we are left with the same explanation that accounted for Himyar’s conversion. The desire to remain independent in the face of mighty, grasping empires—in this case, the Orthodox Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Muslim Caliphate—impelled the rulers of Khazaria to adopt Judaism as a defensive ideological weapon. Had the Khazars adopted Islam, for example, they would have become the subjects of the caliph. Had they remained pagan, they would have been marked for annihilation by the Muslims, who did not tolerate idolatry. Christianity, of course, would have subordinated them to the Eastern Empire for a long time. The slow and gradual transition from the ancient shamanism of the region to Jewish monotheism probably also contributed to the consolidation and centralization of the Khazar realm."
There are also many documents proving that the Berbers of North Africa converted to Judaism in mass. So, you are right by stating that "Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi" are the markers of Jewish DNA. But of course, they are the markers of indigenous converted populations of not semitic origin. To affirm that an Ashkenazi invader is the descendent of biblical Judeans is about the same that to assert that a Chinese Christian is a Judean because Jesus was from Galilee. One thing is the religion of a person and a quite different one is his ethnicity.
Let's replace the word Jews with the term Sephardic Israelis and they are absolutely the driving force here. The Christians are either being paid off by AIPAC, or they believe the second coming of Christ will happen once all Jews are back in Palestine. Speaker Mike Johnson believes this since it comes straight from his state. American Jews are divided, and we have more people of Jewish heritage than Israel. They count one grandparent, and with that criteria we have over 15 million. But Israeli Jews, all 6 million of them, fully and whole heartedly support this genocide. They just don't like the way Bibi is running things. Israel is a terrorist state whose citizens are all terrorists. Either directly by committing acts of terror themselves, or they are supporting the terrorism of their neighbors against the Palestinians. Israel is committing suicide as we speak. The world will not abide by Israelis after this is over. They will not be welcomed around the world, and people will refuse to do business with them. Jews will be fine, as long as they are not Israelis.
Chris - what's your take on the FBI raid on Scott Ritter? It appears that part of the case they are trying to build against him includes reporting for RT, which is something you are similarly vulnerable to and are familiar with under FARA. Didn't they pull similar BS on you?
Ritter has been highly critical of Israel's genocide as well as US/NATO instigation of Ukraine proxy war and US stance in Middle East and Iran and even China. So, he's stomped on a lot of national security state toes.
Attacking journalists is not just about shutting them up. They are more visible so they are the natural people to use as a warning to everyone else. They want to shut ALL of us up. Assange was about nefarious behavior on the part or the Hillary Clinton campaign which they didn't want getting out and needed a scapegoat to control the narrative. Scott Ritter is reporting about the Russian state being in better shape than ours and the Western governments do not want their population knowing what he says. I follow Richard Medhurst not because he teaches me something new--sorry, Richard--although he often does, but because he states things I already know from personal experience and think, honestly. And I feel less alone when he publishes another blog. I need Richard out there telling the truth for my mental health. The powers that be know this. They aren't just attacking Palestinians. They are attacking all of us.
I learn some new things from Vanessa Beeley but in terms of understanding the big picture, not really. But I need to know there are informed real people out there who see the world I see. SOME of these people are following the money. That's what is really helpful. Alternative media is a way to push back against the godawful gaslighting the mainstream is pushing on us all. People who are more visible to many are chosen to act as an example of what could happen to less visible people. It's a warning. Watch your behavior or this could happen to you. If you don't listen, you may be arrested, too. But they cannot possible house as many dissenters and truth-tellers as there are. Even if they turn off your car, you can always jump on a bike or walk. They cannot control what all of us think. So keep speaking out and eventually Medhurst and Ritter will be free. And, may I point out, arresting Medhurst has only resulted in a lot of free advertising for his journalism. The FBI did the same thing to Ritter, in effect, as without a passport he cannot travel. This is rather juvenile. Neither of them is a foreign actors and these government know that full well. They just make them individually more important and effective voices. The only way to silence them is by ignoring them. Well, there's another way but I don't think we're there yet, though we may be. Preventing travel is not an effective way to stop people from thinking and speaking out. Not with telecommunications in the state it is today. You notice how they attack dissenters who come from backgrounds that are unusually conventional, in the sense of supporting institutions like the British police, UN peacekeepers, US marines. Poor Britain. It's facing really hard times. Much worse than WWII for your average Brit. This winter is going to be hard on a lot of levels. Their economy is ahead of us in its collapse. So watch Britain if you want to understand what's coming our way.
Proof of the Zionist Takeover of Britain as well as most Western nations! When it comes to Israel. Churchill's quote on truth is Zionist fascism in a nut shell "the truth is so precocious, it must be locked tightly away and surrounded by Lies"! Scott Ritter and Medved's arrests are what Orwell warned of in his dystopian 1984! Scratch the surface Police worldwide are Fascists! Secret Police the most Sadistic Fascists of All! Orwell's warning of "A boot on a human face forever" foresaw the future, I don't think he ever imagined it would be a Zionist fascist foot in the boot. But its Ironic 1984 was finished when Israel became a fascist State in 1948 that Orwell reversed as the symbol used for the future!
Yes can you "feel" the hot breath of the caged rat ready to pounce? Zionist O'Brien's would click the cage door open without hesitation. Ben Gvir's Sadistic personality would order it live streamed to his living room, kitchen and bedroom!
The difference between the torturer described in 1984 and the Israelis is that in the room 101, INGSOC was trying to force a change of mind in the suspects while in Israel they are trying to kill all the Palestinians.
Yes when 2 + 2=5 and you believe it, you are a graduate of Room 101. Then in a time of Big Brothers choosing they are labeled unpeople who can be liquidated without it being a murder. As they didn't exist in the first place!
I immediately think of blowback. Back in the Middle Ages, when Jews were the only ones allowed to loan money to adventurers seeking fortune around the world, some Jews became very wealthy. Presently, some Jews, like Paul Elliott Singer, who loan money to countries in distress, and then take over when they can't pay them back, become extremely wealthy.
Blowback from the Holocaust, when it became clear that nobody would help us, and that we needed to wield as much power as possible for our survival's sake. Since it couldn't be directly through political power, then it needed to be done indirectly, through our wealth.
And I think of Ilhan Omar and "It's all about the Benjamins".
I cannot think of another reason why pro-Israel journalists aren't being arrested. Can you?
I feel like I can be viewed as an anti-Semite, thinking this way. But I am 99.9% Ashkenazi Jewish, and worked in Israel in the mid-70s, and have myriad distant relatives who live there starting in the late 1700s. But there will be blowback for what Israel is doing. I'm very worried about this. There is beginnging a huge rise in anti-Semitism now, but I'm afraid it's justified! Horrible.
I'm also worried about the loss of any moral high ground granted to Israelis as survivors of the holocaust, though apparently my conflating this with Zionism is at least partly the result of a cynical propaganda campaign. It's also now clear to me why so many people think Israel or AIPAC is to blame for the suppression of our rights in the USA, UK, and elsewhere, but I do not blame Jews or Judaism in general, perhaps because members of the Christian right have told me multiple times that they don't consider me an actual Christian, as I belong to a liberal Christian denomination. But I still believe that the real enemy is an anti-democratic white technosupremacist faction that believes the best defense is a good offense, and they do what they want under the cover of pretending that they're doing it all for their "friend" Israel. Please do not think that anti-Semitism is justified! Hundreds of thousands of moral and courageous Jewish activists are standing up for human rights and against genocide. In my mind, they are playing one of the most important roles in pushing back against this these totalitarian creeps and their creeping totalitarianism! Shalom, peace, pax.
The US and UK governments apparently have been taken by Jewish billionair supremacists and become tyrannical and out of control. Yes a feeding frenzy of sharks in the bloody waters of Gaza.
It is claimed that a danger of Trump administration and a reason to vote for Democrats is that it will persecute journalists. The Starmer government in Great Britain are already doing it with Richard Medhurst and the Biden Administration with Julian Assange and Scott Ritter. Both major US political parties are bad. Right now I am planning to vote for Green Party candidate for President, Jill Stein!
Let me get this straight. The Democrats want our votes so we can save democracy?? When will we get this democracy? For years journalists and activists and now college students have been shadowed, harassed and investigated by government agencies if they don't agree with the status quo. Years ago, Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party was investigated for 3 years, over attending a peace conference in Russia. Don't be fooled by the duopoly. Neither party cares about ordinary Americans. Their priorities prove this every day. YOU do not OWE THEM YOUR VOTE.
Grew up in a police state. Hope you didn't. There was a law that three or more people could not congregate at one time so that they could imprison POETS! That's probably the worst low of all. When a gathering of unpublished poets is threatening to you, you have serious emotional problems. The only way to ensure freedom of speech is to use it.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the greatest danger to peace in our entire; fragile, little, and only planet in our solar system is the damned Israeli global Zionist Lobby.
Chuck Scammer and the minuscule 3% of American Jews have very seeming taken over control of America through deceit, propaganda, lies, and massive bribes of the top 20 U.S. Jewish BILLIONAIRE BASTARDS, and concentrated dirty and illegally scammed MONEY POWER in the final battle to use GENOCIDE and disabuse Compassionate Brilliant Good Jews like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Nobert Wiener's "GOD & GOLEM, Inc."
America may well have been out-scammed by the bad Jews, but aided by America's intent and hope of the valiant efforts of all our assassinated American Presidents & other 'would have been' silently coup d'etated Presidents in America.
The BILLIONAIRE BASTARDS seem to always FUCK, 'We the American people' , and our fellow good citizens of the world to DEATH.
Don't 'Remember the Maine' in 1898, but please DO 'Remember the LIBERTY' [the USN Ship which in 1967 was attacked by IDF Jet Fighters, machine guns, rockets, and Israeli Torpedo Boat mercilessly for hours and multiple times, despite the 'LIBERTY' proudly flying our AMERICAN FLAG.
Israel under GENOCIDAL MEGALOWMANIAC NUTANYAHU looks to me like the death of AMERICA and all other truly DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST countries of passing world --- as the Victoria "FUCK the EU", PNAC, KAGAN" Nuland hs caused through multiple arts of cowardice 'War Ginning' and Slaughter of the Innocence
"The damned Israeli global Zionist Lobby." and the damned military industrial complex and the damned.... well, our damned political system and electorate that has legalized the bribing of our leaders.
The question is how to fight this pernicious stride towards the evisceration of our freedom of speech.
The question is how to fight the singular hold the Zionist lobby has over successive governments in the Western world.
Yes we will be out on the streets for Medhurst, if need be, like we were for Assange, but we cannot rely on individual case victories alone. The system has to be destroyed if we are to reclaim our rights.
Any suggestions Chris?
As always, thanks for everything you do.
I have written suggestions before BUT nobody does them. We are dealing with people who are uneducated and DIM.
Now is the time to start demonstrating outside Mainstream Media offices. The so-called Journalist s going to work there. Make them feel bad. We can do this.
Until the press starts talking sense we are dead people walking.
Editing to add this quote from your comment: "We are dealing with people who are uneducated and DIM."
Insulting anyone who doesn't support the prevailing progressive groupthink as stupid is disrespectful, divisive, and self-defeating. The person who needs to be putting your thoughts into action is you, JennyStokes!
I don't believe that public demonstrations are insults. Of course, they have to be made in a civil manner. I like the idea of making it clear to the pseudo journalists and their employers our disgust for them.
My objection is the first comment: We are dealing with people who are uneducated and DIM.
DISRESPECTFUL.........I read the comments on here and I am the least disrespectful person. Just DO something USA
The elections are coming, and this is our chance to begin the destruction of the system.
I will not vote for any politician that keeps saying "Israel has the right to defend itself" and never says "Palestine has the right to defend itself against the invasion of its land" That's why will not vote for the duopoly.
Following I am transcribing the final part of MR. CHRIS HEDGES' lecture "What the Genocide Says About Us." Newark, CA 6 April 2024. Downloaded from Alternativeradio.org:
"I do not know if we can build a better society. I do not know if we can halt this genocide. I do not even know if we will survive as a species. But I know the forces of death have us by the throat. And they have my children by the throat. I do not fight fascists because I will win. I fight fascists because they are fascists."
I'm voting for Jill Stein & Butch Ware of the Green Party because I'm tired of the duopoly. Although I find Kamala Harris and Tim Walz very likable, I can't get past the terrible truth that the USA is supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people when the vast majority of US citizens want it to stop! We're supposed to have government by, for, and of the people. We want health care, a decent standard of living, security in our old age, and we don't want endless wars and endless destruction all over the globe so that the elite can grab all the strategic metals, power, land and water for themselves.
You find those two "very likeable?" Why? How? Outside of their support for Israel and the US' genocide? They're both servants of the Empire, and they aint in any way shape or form "likeable."
Servants of the empire perhaps but not bribed yet. Stein is a Jew but, in her webpage, she decries the Palestinian holocaust. I'm voting for the Green party for their concern about the ecology but mainly because this vote is my way to protest the duopoly. This is my striking.
So, the default position for a Jew is the backing of the Genocide and the Israeli State? You seem surprised that Stein, who is Jewish, is actually a person, a Jewish person, who doesn't support mass murder and extermination. Dr. Stein actually is a true peace candidate, and she is very knowledgeable about foreign affairs, including that other war the US started in Ukraine.
Not surprises at all. You misunderstood my comment I'm happy and not surprised by the many demonstrations from Jewish groups against genocide. It has been clear for a long time that the Zionists are losing their appeal to the majority of the Jews and the rest of America except for the Christian evangelicals.
I agree BUT WHO WILL start General Strikes (as Mr Hedges said, they are the only way to get THEIR attention) - how to motivate the population? (they are too lethargic still, I would think we need a huge financial crash first ...)
"A huge financial crash first" yes, but I'm optimistic because the labor movement is gaining strength, and it seems the desperation of the lower classes are ripe for general strikes and the best off them all is to strike our main political parties by not voting for them.
NO.......this won't work.
Deal with the Mainstream Press first.
True!
YOU will never stop the 'system' until you make the mainstream press STOP telling lies!
Agreed, but the mainstream will be subdued when the politicians don't have the money obtained by bribes to pay for advertisements. But still the well-funded think tanks which are perverting democracy will continue making lies at the mainstream press. The solution then is to strike the mainstream media by no subscribing nor listening to them but rather to the increasing venues of true news.
Not going to work until you have 'suffocated' Mainstream Media.
Read my comment above.
I heard Mr. Medhurst in an interview recently. His case is shocking. I just have one suggestion, and I want to be certain that it’s not misinterpreted. I was a young activist in Berkeley in the 60’s where many people advised Huey Newton and the Black Panthers to avoid dressing as guerrilla warriors. I hated that picture of him with guns and a beret on that wicker chair because it confirmed a certain stereotype among middle class white Americans.
We’re dealing with primitive, not too bright people, and any unconventional attire frightens them. It serves no purpose. Mr. Medhurst needs to present as unthreatening as possible in order to get maximum support from ordinary citizens.
Now, on to the challenge of keeping him free, so that we can be free. Thanks for this article Mr. H.
puppies.
.
perhaps if he were
to surround himself with puppies
the weak-minded wouldn't Mind him quite so much
.
at least he's still Alive
which's is vastly More than one
can say about the 150+ journalists Israel's murdered
in their little genocidal War on a captive Palestinian people
.
so Far.
No, it is a pointed comment. It's like, "If women weren't so damned attractive, we wouldn't be forced to rape them," as in, it was her fault because of what she was wearing.
Not that it isn't a good point, not to wear clothing that provokes suspicion in the minds of law enforcement. But if you're living the world as you want it to be, then, wear the clothes of the warrior.
This is a snarky and silly comment.
Not sure which comment you found most snarky and silly, but kristofarian's puppies poem made me laugh (before it made me cry).
thank
you!
I get 'optics,' but Malcolm X always wore a suit and tie. That didn't stop the police from murdering him.
You’re absolutely right. And Joan of Arc wore a suit of iron, but that didn’t make her fireproof. Appearance is superficial. Unfortunately, so is public perception. Mr. Medhurst was arrested for his courage and his thoughts, but he will be judged, as Assange was, by public perception.
"Mr. Medhurst was arrested for his courage and his thoughts, but he will be judged, as Assange was, by public perception." The maiden was also arrested for the same reasons but her public perception in France was favorable and for them she was a saint and a heroine, but her iron suit didn't help her from the British and the Church leaders. Religion then and religion now. We don't change.
Joan was arrested because she was leading an army against the English occupiers. Successfully. She was a heroine, but didn't become a saint until 1920. She was burned alive, not for her visions of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine, but for wearing men's clothes.
Joan was Demonized because
she showed the Church they
weren't the sole body with
Access to God. had they
their way, France'd
still be Occupied
by the English.
.
and Mark Twain's
Favorite of all his books
was 'Personal Recollections
of Joan of Arc' and Mine too.
.
I don't know if Chris is
familiar with this incredible
little tome, but I believe it Needs
mass recognition for its exposure of
Religion & Sycophancy as the Destructive
Forces waylaying Humanity in its path Forward.
.
it's
light
it's Entertaining
and left me Changed.
.
It Needs to be
made into a Movie with
Twain's little book the Screeenplay.
.
here's a reading of it:
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_o6ih3ur0s
Yes, but she was considered a saint among her people at the time although she was canonized until 1920. The church couldn't accept that it had burned a saint and not the witch they claimed to be, besides, it would have been not politically wise, and politics are always considered by the leaders of the church like in the denial of Henry the VIII divorce petition not to antagonize Charles V of Spain, the relative of Henry's wife.
Sera, most people agree that the reason Julian Assange is now free is _because_ of public pressure.
I agree with you Sera. Of course it's complicated..isn't everything?! Perception, as well as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. If dress weren't provocative would we have burlesque? People are judgemental. We never know just exactly what triggers a reaction. We all know people react to appearance. Sadly in this affluent community of Sarasota, FL we have many homeless people. Observe which ones people give to; ones wearing uniforms, ones who attempt to appear clean, ones who seem to have mental issues. Look how he/she who gets the job dresses for the interview. You get the point.
Exactly so. So did King.
Good point
I don't quite see the connection between Huey Newton with gun poster and Medhurst's appearance. All I have ever seen RM in is a Palestinian keffiyehh. Are you saying that is a threat to the "not too bright people"? If so, I say, so be it. Enough of retreating! No pasaran on this. We keep retreating, we will be pushed off the edge of the cliff they have already pushed us to.
If this were a fight for freedom of dress, I would agree with you. But it’s a fight for freedom of speech, so the first thing you need is to for people to listen. Don’t feed their prejudice. Gandhi left South Africa with a law degree and a suit and tie. Back in India years later he led The Salt Satyagraha in a dhoti. His dress signaled solidarity and defiance. It lent meaning to his act.
One of the initial goals of the Black Panther Party was to feed school children in Oakland. But more people remember that poster with the Berets and rifles. Instead of feeding children, they fed hatred and racism. That was unfair. But if the world were fair, we wouldn’t be having this discussion to begin with, would we?
The logic in the argument fails me - "Gandhi left South Africa with a law degree and a suit and tie. Back in India years later he led The Salt Satyagraha in a dhoti.". Considering his freedom campaign was aimed at convincing the British, your logic dictates that he should have stayed with the suit and tie, so that the likes of Winston Churchill would not have referred to him contemptuously as that "naked fakir"?
Born and bred in India, I can assure you that the masses would have followed Gandhi irrespective of his dress just as they revered Nehru and the great Ambedkar, leader of the "untouchables" lowest cast , who was always dressed impecably in a three piece suit.
My question still stands, what do you feel is "threatening" about Richard Medhurst's appearance? I simply don't know and you haven't told us.
Sera can't tell you because at the heart of her comment is deep seated racism and the false notion that oppressors can be appeased only if those they oppress appear in a manner that is acceptable to them. People like that will never be reliable accomplices, they sell the movement out the moment their discomfort becomes an inconvenience.
Good point. You CAN'T win anybody over, or change their minds, through constant capitulation.
There have been some podcasts by RM at the outset of the current war recommended that Iran, Hezbollah, HAMAS, Palestinian Jihad and other "member of the resistance" go all in and attack Israel.
A very immature and silly suggestion when one considers said resisters would be attacking a state armed with thermonuclear weapons.
Possibly, but the current debate with Sera is not about his narrative, but about his appearance.
Well, almost, Roshan…but not quite ‘appearance’. I was making a comment on his selection of garments as an expression of group identity. I will support Richard Medhurst to the last mile, regardless of these choices. I do have opinions though, and I hope my comments weren’t seen as pejorative; they were meant to be constructive.
No, Sere, I did not see your comment as pejorative, but did find it confusing. You still haven't spelt out quite what you thought was his "unconventional attire" that could do with a change. I suggested in my initial response that you were hinting that it was the keffiyeh that he always wears. If I am correct, I revert to my original response - NO -that is a retreat too far to placate/convince those who in your words are "primitive, not too bright people". If they are unable to see or understand the Israeli genocide being inflicted on Gaza through the pronouncements of the highest court in the world; if they cannot see the merit of calling out Israeli apartheid as has the ICC and every major human rights body in the world, all because of a chequered scarf over RM's shoulders, I think we need to leave them to wallow in their closed and ignorant ways.
A short aside - my profile picture on other sites is of the great Nelson Mandela proudly wearing a keffiyeh. And I don my own every day, even in the Tory voting town in the UK where I live.
(I have to admit, this has gotten a bit out of hand, I didn’t expect to hit so many nerves).
I had a close friend once whose first language was Arabic. She had studied in France and spoke perfect French. But she always retained her Lebanese accent as an expression of pride in her heritage and her culture. Also a reminder that she had not forgotten that her country had lived under colonial dominance. I completely understood her intent. That’s exactly what it means to wear a scarf, or a Turban, or a Dohti. It means that you’re preserving a line between one culture and another. That assertion of your own sovereignty is your right. But if you wish to remove any friction between people who are perhaps more narrow minded, then make the proper adjustment. It has nothing to do with “placating” anyone. It’s a way to make the cultural shift less evident so that you may achieve your intentions, to control the narrative in your favor and not let the prejudice if others dominate. It’s an expression of a more subtle understanding.
Thank you for your thoughts, and good night.
Rick, it sounds like you're suggesting that it's the expression of these sentiments rather than Medhurst's manner of dress that is behind his detainment. That would seem more likely than being detained for some fashion crime. I'm not familiar, but if Medhurst's words could be construed as advocating violence, Sera is perhaps suggesting that the wolf don the sheep's apparel.
Your first sentence isn’t completely clear…were these opinions of Medhurst himself, or were they subjects discussed with others on his podcast? I’m asking because I’ve thought of him as being against all violence.
Your comment on appearances reminds me of women who dress provocatively (whatever that is) and are accused of being somehow guilty of their own oppression and even rape - no thanks.
If middle-class white Americans want to resort to stereotypes and ignorance (then as now), let them. That's going to happen no matter what. Why should Medhurst change his look to placate a few ignorant people? It's the message itself--that everything you think you know to be true is false--that is most upsetting, first and foremost. They then say, "look, he's a terrorist too!"
Sera, where to begin?
a) Huey Newton wasn't a journalist, and the Black Panthers weren't nonviolent civil rights activitists, but militant activists. The Black Panthers felt that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Christian ministers leading the largest civil rights groups would never see the results they were seeking without a show of force, which they were determined to provide. The Black Panthers deliberately dressed in a martial manner, let it be known that they were armed, and conducted themselves with military discipline.
b) If you believe in democracy, then you should examine your mental image of your fellow "ordinary citizens" of the US as "primitive, not too bright people."
c) You claim to have been a young activist in the '60's in Berkeley, but clearly understand almost nothing of the history of the civil rights movement. Rather you come across as a college-educated elitist who went along for the ride because it was the thing to do back in the day. What makes you think its okay for a sheltered elitist like you to try to advise Huey Newton and The Black Panthers on anything?
d) The way that Richard Medhurst dresses is extremely practical, as journalism doesn't pay very well these days. Are you offering to purchase a court-appropriate outfit for him? Perhaps better to just donate that $500 to his legal defense fund?
“The best argument against
democracy is a
five-minute conversation with the
average voter.”—Winston Churchill
Things were slower in Churchill’s day. As a college educated elitist I got through your comment in a minute and a half.
Despicable quote. Thanks for outing yourself.
The establishment doesn't respect those who point at their hypocrisy no matter what they wear. We got far past the point of respectability politics when they decided it was ok to support genocide. The ones who are afraid of people simply because of what they wear aren't the ones we need as allies; the superficial lack the type of substance that is needed for long term resistance. I strongly disagree with the entire premise of this comment.
Thanks to globalization our primitiveness of the 60's is disappearing (hopefully) and I don't believe the attire is so important these days. Perhaps to appear as a guerilla warrior for the ordinary citizens would attract attention and would be welcomed as long as it is backed by good ideas to change the status quo for the better. Of course, we can be sure that our society always will have dinosaurs that oppose any positive change.
'Of course,
we can be sure
that our society always will
have dinosaurs that oppose any positive change."
.
our reptilican
brainstem is Humanity's
biggest Albatross likely to Doom us to
either our Annihilation or this Planet's biosphere's
.
where We shall
join said Dinosaurs
in the ash heap or tar pits
I've seen Richard making the rounds for a while now. He airs a lot of dirty laundry belonging to the elites. Obviously they don't like it, but I can't understand how media in general is allowing this. Even 20 years ago this would be cause for massive public outcry. Are we that numb to the images coming in from these wars? Are Americans actually wanting to be lied to, resigning to this notion that this is the way it's always been and always will be? I get the feeling more and more that Americans are clinging to the ostrich theory. Sticking their heads in a hole so they don't have to know what's really out there.
I can explain it . Yes people are scared of the intimidation and viciousness of supremacist billionaire Jews
their intentionally videoing and publishing a genocide what could be more scary and intimidating
I saw it coming no one will talk about it or listen. Out of fear flat out fear.
Intimidation by billionaire Jews and non-Jews but mostly from the Christian Wrong. The following is a recent example:
Democracynow.org 04/18/24
"In nearly four hours of grueling congressional testimony before the Republican-led Committee on Education and the Workforce, the president of Columbia University, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, said she had taken serious action against accusations of antisemitism on campus in recent months amid Israel’s assault on Gaza, including dismissing or removing five faculty members from the classroom, suspending 15 students and suspending two student groups — Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace." This is a part of it:
"NERMEEN SHAIKH: Later in the hearing, Republican Georgia Congressmember Rick Allen brought up the Bible in his questioning of Shafik. He cited the Old and New Testament and asked Shafik if [she] wanted Columbia University to be cursed by God.
REP. RICK ALLEN: Are you familiar with Genesis 12:3?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Probably not as well as you are, Congressman.
REP. RICK ALLEN: Well, it’s pretty clear. It was the covenant that God made with Abraham. And that covenant was real clear: “If you bless Israel, I will bless you. If you curse Israel, I will curse you.” And then, in the New Testament, it was confirmed that all nations would be blessed through you. So, you do not know about that?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: I have heard that, now that you’ve explained it.
REP. RICK ALLEN: OK.
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Yes, I have heard that before.
REP. RICK ALLEN: So, it’s now familiar. Do you consider that a serious issue? I mean, do you want Columbia University to be cursed by God, of the Bible?
MINOUCHE SHAFIK: Definitely not.
REP. RICK ALLEN: OK. Well, that’s good."
Nex day Shafik returned to the university and called the NYC police to silence the students.
sick. and stupid. I am a Christian and it's an issue issue of morality genocide is an issue of morality the New Testament replaces the old anyway the New Testament is the new covenant The idea of using the holy Bible as an excuse for genocide is this the sickest thing I've ever heard of.
Agreed, sick and stupid and very dangerous but fundamentalist of both religions believe that the bible has to be interpreted literality, and the Christians support the genocide on Palestinians because they believe it is necessary for the second coming of Jesus according with their interpretation of
2 THESSALONIANS 1:5–2-8
"not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is acting as a restraint, so that he will be revealed in his own due time. True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is right now acting as a restraint is out of the way. Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence."
Following are some statistics from the PEW Research on the religious landscape study finished in 2014:
To the question how to interpret scriptures:
Total religions US population
Word of God S/B taken literarily 31%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literarity 27%
Not the word of God 33%
Evangelical Protestants
Word of God S/B taken literarily 55%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literality 29%
Not the word of God 8%
Jewish
Word of God S/B taken literarily 11%
Word of God not everything S/B taken literality 24%
Not the word of God 55%
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/
More Jewish conspiracy theories.
Certainly "Jews" (whoever they are) have financial and cultural influence.
Certainly some "Jews" in the West Bank are violating international law.
It is unfortunate, that a solution to the refugee problem in Europe and the murder of 60% of European Jewry was to create the state of Israel. It happened and given the Holocaust, wish as you might, the Jews are not leaving Israel.
People on these threads need to understand that their concept of justice may be shared but is also unique to themselves. Seek peace over justice for you will never have both.
Hmm. I agree with most of what you said, Rick, until the last sentence. If you've ever attended a political rally, you might have heard the chant: "No justice, no peace!" Many people believe that justice and peace can and should go together. One of the questions that I have about the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians revolves around the Judaic tradition of atonement. I'm not Jewish nor a scholar, so might be out of my depth here, but I've always admired this tradition. The way that I understand it, forgiveness is not necessarily given nor expected without an act of atonement and then a request for forgiveness. If Israel were to take this approach with Palestine, perhaps the two nations might coexist in peace?
I this case they never will go together.
Yes, it was a tragedy that the Jews had to leave their native and beloved countries in Europe to save their lives from the Christian religious fanatism but most of them didn't want to go to Palestine but to other more advanced countries. What I get from reading Professors Pappe and Sand, both Israeli revered historians who have access to their country's archives, is that the real conspiracy theory is the one created by the Zionists to sell the Jewish religion as an ethnic entity tied to Palestine to be able to legitimize the invasion, when the reality is that most of European Jews as well as North Africans are descendants of converts to Judaism and not from the seed of Abraham. Judaism is a beautiful religion and not an ethnic group.
They all mixed with other races while a diaspora, so this convert theory is absurd. Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi are the markers, original Jewish DNA markers do not exist. You'll have to dig up Abraham or one of his sons, grandsons, etc., and hope there's some DNA that can be sequenced before you even know if any of that bloodline still exists in any way shape or form. Israel was actively working on this with their archeology before the war broke out.
Nicholas, the story of Abraham as well as other biblical legends like the scape from Egypt, Joshuas's conquest of Palestine etc. have by now been completely disproved by archeology. The Talmudic religion started much later during the Babylonian exile and the great prophets. all these is very well documented in Ilan Pappe's book "Ten myths about Israel" You can also watch the actual sites and interviews with the scholars and archeologists in the NOVA documentary "The Bible's Buried Secrets beyond fact of fiction"
Another myth is the diaspora of the Jews after the destruction of the second temple. Professor Shlomo Sands book "The Invention of the Jewish People" documents how this was not true. He writes: ""The great mass proselytizing campaign that began in the second century BCE, with the rise of the Hasmonean kingdom, reached its climax in Khazaria in the eighth century CE. The Khazar-Hebrew testimony about Jewish immigration finds support in Arabic literature. The Arab chronicler al-Mas’udi wrote: As for the Jews, they are the king and his court and the Khazars his people. The Judaization of the king of the Khazars took place in the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid." ... Why did Khazaria opt for Judaism rather than the other monotheistic religions: with their less onerous requirements? If we set aside the magical sermon included in King Joseph’s letter, the Cambridge Document, and Yehudah Halevi’s book, we are left with the same explanation that accounted for Himyar’s conversion. The desire to remain independent in the face of mighty, grasping empires—in this case, the Orthodox Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Muslim Caliphate—impelled the rulers of Khazaria to adopt Judaism as a defensive ideological weapon. Had the Khazars adopted Islam, for example, they would have become the subjects of the caliph. Had they remained pagan, they would have been marked for annihilation by the Muslims, who did not tolerate idolatry. Christianity, of course, would have subordinated them to the Eastern Empire for a long time. The slow and gradual transition from the ancient shamanism of the region to Jewish monotheism probably also contributed to the consolidation and centralization of the Khazar realm."
There are also many documents proving that the Berbers of North Africa converted to Judaism in mass. So, you are right by stating that "Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi" are the markers of Jewish DNA. But of course, they are the markers of indigenous converted populations of not semitic origin. To affirm that an Ashkenazi invader is the descendent of biblical Judeans is about the same that to assert that a Chinese Christian is a Judean because Jesus was from Galilee. One thing is the religion of a person and a quite different one is his ethnicity.
Let's replace the word Jews with the term Sephardic Israelis and they are absolutely the driving force here. The Christians are either being paid off by AIPAC, or they believe the second coming of Christ will happen once all Jews are back in Palestine. Speaker Mike Johnson believes this since it comes straight from his state. American Jews are divided, and we have more people of Jewish heritage than Israel. They count one grandparent, and with that criteria we have over 15 million. But Israeli Jews, all 6 million of them, fully and whole heartedly support this genocide. They just don't like the way Bibi is running things. Israel is a terrorist state whose citizens are all terrorists. Either directly by committing acts of terror themselves, or they are supporting the terrorism of their neighbors against the Palestinians. Israel is committing suicide as we speak. The world will not abide by Israelis after this is over. They will not be welcomed around the world, and people will refuse to do business with them. Jews will be fine, as long as they are not Israelis.
Yes. My take on sticking heads in holes: You can stick your head in a hole, but then your ass becomes a giant target.
Misunderstood religion is the hole, and in America it's a huge hole.
One could argue we are being keistered right now...
This is yet another outrage. Pro-Israel support is increasingly allied with Zionist fascism.
as is anti-genocidal
support equated with
terrorism against Zionism*
.
Orwell
weeps.
.
*aka Israel
Chris - what's your take on the FBI raid on Scott Ritter? It appears that part of the case they are trying to build against him includes reporting for RT, which is something you are similarly vulnerable to and are familiar with under FARA. Didn't they pull similar BS on you?
Ritter has been highly critical of Israel's genocide as well as US/NATO instigation of Ukraine proxy war and US stance in Middle East and Iran and even China. So, he's stomped on a lot of national security state toes.
Attacking journalists is not just about shutting them up. They are more visible so they are the natural people to use as a warning to everyone else. They want to shut ALL of us up. Assange was about nefarious behavior on the part or the Hillary Clinton campaign which they didn't want getting out and needed a scapegoat to control the narrative. Scott Ritter is reporting about the Russian state being in better shape than ours and the Western governments do not want their population knowing what he says. I follow Richard Medhurst not because he teaches me something new--sorry, Richard--although he often does, but because he states things I already know from personal experience and think, honestly. And I feel less alone when he publishes another blog. I need Richard out there telling the truth for my mental health. The powers that be know this. They aren't just attacking Palestinians. They are attacking all of us.
I learn some new things from Vanessa Beeley but in terms of understanding the big picture, not really. But I need to know there are informed real people out there who see the world I see. SOME of these people are following the money. That's what is really helpful. Alternative media is a way to push back against the godawful gaslighting the mainstream is pushing on us all. People who are more visible to many are chosen to act as an example of what could happen to less visible people. It's a warning. Watch your behavior or this could happen to you. If you don't listen, you may be arrested, too. But they cannot possible house as many dissenters and truth-tellers as there are. Even if they turn off your car, you can always jump on a bike or walk. They cannot control what all of us think. So keep speaking out and eventually Medhurst and Ritter will be free. And, may I point out, arresting Medhurst has only resulted in a lot of free advertising for his journalism. The FBI did the same thing to Ritter, in effect, as without a passport he cannot travel. This is rather juvenile. Neither of them is a foreign actors and these government know that full well. They just make them individually more important and effective voices. The only way to silence them is by ignoring them. Well, there's another way but I don't think we're there yet, though we may be. Preventing travel is not an effective way to stop people from thinking and speaking out. Not with telecommunications in the state it is today. You notice how they attack dissenters who come from backgrounds that are unusually conventional, in the sense of supporting institutions like the British police, UN peacekeepers, US marines. Poor Britain. It's facing really hard times. Much worse than WWII for your average Brit. This winter is going to be hard on a lot of levels. Their economy is ahead of us in its collapse. So watch Britain if you want to understand what's coming our way.
Great moniker, Nosy Parker, and your comment verbalizes a lot of my thoughts and feelings.
Proof of the Zionist Takeover of Britain as well as most Western nations! When it comes to Israel. Churchill's quote on truth is Zionist fascism in a nut shell "the truth is so precocious, it must be locked tightly away and surrounded by Lies"! Scott Ritter and Medved's arrests are what Orwell warned of in his dystopian 1984! Scratch the surface Police worldwide are Fascists! Secret Police the most Sadistic Fascists of All! Orwell's warning of "A boot on a human face forever" foresaw the future, I don't think he ever imagined it would be a Zionist fascist foot in the boot. But its Ironic 1984 was finished when Israel became a fascist State in 1948 that Orwell reversed as the symbol used for the future!
wow. yeah. ! there's a version of 1984 horror narrator reads it.
Actually seductively calmly horrifying
Yes can you "feel" the hot breath of the caged rat ready to pounce? Zionist O'Brien's would click the cage door open without hesitation. Ben Gvir's Sadistic personality would order it live streamed to his living room, kitchen and bedroom!
The difference between the torturer described in 1984 and the Israelis is that in the room 101, INGSOC was trying to force a change of mind in the suspects while in Israel they are trying to kill all the Palestinians.
Yes when 2 + 2=5 and you believe it, you are a graduate of Room 101. Then in a time of Big Brothers choosing they are labeled unpeople who can be liquidated without it being a murder. As they didn't exist in the first place!
I just subscribed to Richard's substack.
How can we help journalist Medhurst? I'm sharing this with everyone I know.
I immediately think of blowback. Back in the Middle Ages, when Jews were the only ones allowed to loan money to adventurers seeking fortune around the world, some Jews became very wealthy. Presently, some Jews, like Paul Elliott Singer, who loan money to countries in distress, and then take over when they can't pay them back, become extremely wealthy.
Blowback from the Holocaust, when it became clear that nobody would help us, and that we needed to wield as much power as possible for our survival's sake. Since it couldn't be directly through political power, then it needed to be done indirectly, through our wealth.
And I think of Ilhan Omar and "It's all about the Benjamins".
I cannot think of another reason why pro-Israel journalists aren't being arrested. Can you?
I feel like I can be viewed as an anti-Semite, thinking this way. But I am 99.9% Ashkenazi Jewish, and worked in Israel in the mid-70s, and have myriad distant relatives who live there starting in the late 1700s. But there will be blowback for what Israel is doing. I'm very worried about this. There is beginnging a huge rise in anti-Semitism now, but I'm afraid it's justified! Horrible.
And now this arrest.
I'm also worried about the loss of any moral high ground granted to Israelis as survivors of the holocaust, though apparently my conflating this with Zionism is at least partly the result of a cynical propaganda campaign. It's also now clear to me why so many people think Israel or AIPAC is to blame for the suppression of our rights in the USA, UK, and elsewhere, but I do not blame Jews or Judaism in general, perhaps because members of the Christian right have told me multiple times that they don't consider me an actual Christian, as I belong to a liberal Christian denomination. But I still believe that the real enemy is an anti-democratic white technosupremacist faction that believes the best defense is a good offense, and they do what they want under the cover of pretending that they're doing it all for their "friend" Israel. Please do not think that anti-Semitism is justified! Hundreds of thousands of moral and courageous Jewish activists are standing up for human rights and against genocide. In my mind, they are playing one of the most important roles in pushing back against this these totalitarian creeps and their creeping totalitarianism! Shalom, peace, pax.
Good, clear thinking on your part. Thank you for this!
No "people" is monolithic. Even one person can have many different sides, and voices, living within their mind.
The US and UK governments apparently have been taken by Jewish billionair supremacists and become tyrannical and out of control. Yes a feeding frenzy of sharks in the bloody waters of Gaza.
It is claimed that a danger of Trump administration and a reason to vote for Democrats is that it will persecute journalists. The Starmer government in Great Britain are already doing it with Richard Medhurst and the Biden Administration with Julian Assange and Scott Ritter. Both major US political parties are bad. Right now I am planning to vote for Green Party candidate for President, Jill Stein!
Let me get this straight. The Democrats want our votes so we can save democracy?? When will we get this democracy? For years journalists and activists and now college students have been shadowed, harassed and investigated by government agencies if they don't agree with the status quo. Years ago, Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party was investigated for 3 years, over attending a peace conference in Russia. Don't be fooled by the duopoly. Neither party cares about ordinary Americans. Their priorities prove this every day. YOU do not OWE THEM YOUR VOTE.
Grew up in a police state. Hope you didn't. There was a law that three or more people could not congregate at one time so that they could imprison POETS! That's probably the worst low of all. When a gathering of unpublished poets is threatening to you, you have serious emotional problems. The only way to ensure freedom of speech is to use it.
Dear Chris,
It is becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the greatest danger to peace in our entire; fragile, little, and only planet in our solar system is the damned Israeli global Zionist Lobby.
Chuck Scammer and the minuscule 3% of American Jews have very seeming taken over control of America through deceit, propaganda, lies, and massive bribes of the top 20 U.S. Jewish BILLIONAIRE BASTARDS, and concentrated dirty and illegally scammed MONEY POWER in the final battle to use GENOCIDE and disabuse Compassionate Brilliant Good Jews like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Nobert Wiener's "GOD & GOLEM, Inc."
America may well have been out-scammed by the bad Jews, but aided by America's intent and hope of the valiant efforts of all our assassinated American Presidents & other 'would have been' silently coup d'etated Presidents in America.
The BILLIONAIRE BASTARDS seem to always FUCK, 'We the American people' , and our fellow good citizens of the world to DEATH.
Don't 'Remember the Maine' in 1898, but please DO 'Remember the LIBERTY' [the USN Ship which in 1967 was attacked by IDF Jet Fighters, machine guns, rockets, and Israeli Torpedo Boat mercilessly for hours and multiple times, despite the 'LIBERTY' proudly flying our AMERICAN FLAG.
Israel under GENOCIDAL MEGALOWMANIAC NUTANYAHU looks to me like the death of AMERICA and all other truly DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST countries of passing world --- as the Victoria "FUCK the EU", PNAC, KAGAN" Nuland hs caused through multiple arts of cowardice 'War Ginning' and Slaughter of the Innocence
"The damned Israeli global Zionist Lobby." and the damned military industrial complex and the damned.... well, our damned political system and electorate that has legalized the bribing of our leaders.
USA:
a country
so Corrupt
we Legalized it.
Thank you Julio Stantos!
How do we fight this? What should we do? Please give us concrete steps we should take to help Richard. He is a gem.