The Chris Hedges Report with human rights attorney and author Professor Noura Erakat on Israel's manipulation of legal systems to perpetuate its campaign of erasure of the Palestinians.
The Chris Hedges Report with human rights attorney and author Professor Noura Erakat on Israel's manipulation of legal systems to perpetuate its campaign of erasure of the Palestinians.
Time and time again, the human rights attorney Noura Erakat writes, we see evidence of the law’s assumed insignificance in the dispossession of Palestinians. Great Britain remained committed to establishing a Jewish national homeland in Palestine despite its legal duties as the Mandatory Power to shepherd local Arab peoples to independence. The Permanent Mandates Commission remained committed to the incorporation of the Balfour Declaration into the Mandate for Palestine, in contravention of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which, in discussing the disposition of the “communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire” stated that “the wishes of these communities must be a primary consideration.” The United Nations proposed partition of Palestine without legal consultation and in disregard of the existing population’s “well-being and development,” which the same Covenant had declared to be a “sacred trust of civilization.” Zionist militias established Israel by force, without regard to the Partition Plan’s stipulated borders. The United Nations accepted Israel as a member despite the state’s violation of the nondiscrimination clauses of the Partition Plan and of the UN’s own condition that Israel permit the return of forcibly displaced Palestinian refugees.
The sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
They usually are. Cleverness doesn't help, an old owl told me, an academic, very well regarded physicist. Throw the word Ethics at them in substitution for morality, and that might catch them off their guard. Throw Spinoza at them! They would not be able to respond. You can make morality into opacity: the evening star is not the morning star. But of course they are, in fact. But Ethics? That word will unsettle these people. They simply will not be able to respond. With morality, they'll always be able to respond with the Bureaucracy of terms that reflect or mirror the phrase "moral ambiguity" There rarely is such a thing, it's limited, and it's a sleek weapon that your run-of-the-mill politician knows that the public eats up like candy, whether we like it or not.
Another wise old owl who threw out words altogether, went into Action, broke out of prison (with help), prefers rats to cats (most do), opened hearts and found FREEDOM! Don't know if this will open:
Not everyone likes Dostoevsky. But let me present a man who did: Saul Bellow adored him. Why am I bringing Dostoevsky up in relation to Saul Bellow? It's because Dostoevsky said this, and I have him nearly verbatim from memory: "The tyrant and citizen cannot coexist in the same person." "The citizen dies in the tyrant." One or the other. But that's what he said. It's another point to throw at Biden. Tell him that! Quote Dostoevsky to him, and make sure Biden knows that Saul Bellow just loved Dostoevsky to death (not literally).
American (small ‘d’) democracy prevailed in the Civil War — however this fast coming war will be a Wealth/Inequality War — which effectively will recognize America, as it exists now having turned its power into the first Global Empire on this basis of this recognition:
The Zionist lobby has made it their life mission to strangle Human Rights Legislation (across the globe) in its crib, opting instead to push the 'Rules Based International System,' which is shorthand for 'the US & friends are exempt; everyone else follows the Law'
This can only end with violent confrontations, as people denied basic rights (security, self-determination, safety, etc.) will turn more to weapons & munitions, rather than corrupted courts.
I have read Noura's book I highly recommend it! Thank you Noura you and the many other educated spokesman are the future leaders of a Palestinian State. Well spoken Palestinian's like Noura are rarely shown on CNN. MNSBC, Morning Joe or any of the big three ABC, CBS, ABC Lets hope Israel doesn't finish off the 2nd Nakba before these voices are heard and believed by the American public!
On Thursday, the court in the Northern District of California ruled that there was no civil action that could be brought under the genocide convention due to the "political question" doctrine. The State Department told the judge that the US had brought the Genocide convention into US law through the criminal statutes. The relevant statute is 18 U.S. Code § 1091. Unless we want to believe that Congress passed a law that could not be enforced, which is not an interpretation normally favored, then there must be a way to enforce it. Let's find that way. Is it your local community? Could your city, county or state's law enforcement take steps to enforce this statute? Could they arrest Blinken, Biden, Kirby, et al, should the step foot in that jurisdiciton? Could Chicago? Could the people make citizens arrests? Could that be encorporated into actions going forward? I don't know, but I really want to find out.
No it's not too late. It's never too late. I'm so impressed by this body of work Noura Erakat has brought out. It is not just the "facts" in his-story books, but connecting the dots, bringing meaning and life to those assembled facts with fresh eyes and passionate caring and honesty in the face of the genocide we witness daily. I do not think legally, but I understand a little better now the mechanisms/machinations through which this brutal colonial agenda moves forward, legitimizing itself. Which means many others who read her book, at varying levels of power and influence, will be touched and motivated as well. There is strength in numbers, and one by one, ten by ten, a hundred by a hundred and on and on is how knowledge, the potential evolution of beneficial laws and true justice and solidarity grow that has the power to overcome and stop this beast.
It has happened before and can happen again and the number of people bearing witness, even to these "legal" obscenities, while staying firmly rooted in the heart with what is ethically and morally right in solidarity with those being harmed - the Palestinians, Gazans, Yeminis - are far more powerful than we can imagine. And not to forget the Greater Laws - of the natural world, our Earth and the morning and evening star, the rivers, plants, polar bears, glaciers, wolves and sheep and owls and pussycats and olive trees are always completely aligned with all who faithfully serve life on Earth, in small or large ways. Why else are we here?
To counteract the malicious acts of our governments, we the people must step up into the breech they have caused by stopping funding for UNRWA, by going to https://www.unrwausa.org/donate and giving as generously as you can. Please also make a strong statement that if our government won't act on behalf of humanity, we well.
Many thanks to Chris Hedges and Professor Erakat for this illuminating discussion.
As Professor Erakat said we must end the bloodshed. There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
I just read that 500,000 Israelis moved permanently to the US in the past three months. So white settler colonization continues in the US at a higher rate. One aspect of this type of colonization is that the settlers plan to stay permanently. Americans who are white settler colonizers also invite more people to settle to ensure they have control over the area on which they settle. Native Americans are susceptible to this type of exploitation and invasion! I’m sorry that people do not realize how destructive this continuous abuse towards Indigenous communities and peoples.
Look it up! It was a legitimate news source, and there were many. I am stating that this is true, and my friend who is a PhD and an expert on white settler colonialism states the first thing is that white settlers believe they can invite other settlers in the area they are illegally settling on, including the lands still claimed by the 1868 Treaties with the Oceti Sakowin Bands —Teton Tribes. So basically, it’s encouraging other settlers. But then everyone is freaking out about the borders. These settlers are worse because they have been perpetrating violence in Israel against Palestinians, but Americans are tremendously worried about Mexicans at the borders, but no one stops the Israelis from coming in. To the tune of a half a million.
The only similar articles I found were a couple of months old and stated 470,000 Israelis total had left for ALL other countries total. I found a few other mentions of US/Israeli dual citizens returning to USA, but nobody claimed such a large number.
So, if you please? Do share whatever your source was. I HAVE tried looking.
I just watched you tube with John Berger's reading of Ghassan Kanafani's "Letter from Gaza". About his niece Nadia and leaving Gaza or staying. Watching the Genocide and Maiming of children before us today it is guaranteed to bring a tear and the true meaning of Samud!
I am doing the silly "like" mimetic dance on this comment only because the poem was read. And that John Berger invented the weblog with Robot Wisdom. I was there when it happened. But he is a racist freak. But the credit here is the weblog, that complemented Listserves taken out of operation as University Budgets could not compete with the onslaught of Social Media: where nothing, even on this great Substack platform, is peer-to-peer Listerserve functionality. But it still is perhaps even better. It's backend is, and that's why we can talk. And reading of the poem. So it is really not that I"like" this comment by jim harper, but I am glad he posted it and credit is due for that. It is more an acknowledgement of the past and its continuity, rather than a disruption, into the present.
Caveat: I have not read the poem. But as many poems are coming out of Palestine by great brave poets, I'm assuming the poem is a damn good one. The American poets put up a mask at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan; but they caved in and they haven't looked back. You are so unlikely to get a poem, a great poem, a true poem, coming out of the mainstream Pulitzer-line and with that line, today. Where is Peter Dale Scott?
In just posting this, and asking this, and saying: "Where is Peter Dale Scott?", I am putting myself on the line here. And I don't enjoy that. Done.
Thanks Chris for, a few days after Aaron Maté going back the origin: the various Balfours, the official unofficial notes from Egypt, and so forth at the time: all the way to the League of Nations in your case. Excellent!
It might be helpful when you speak about Primo Levi to remind readers that he condemned, at real risk to himself and what must have been even more painful to his person as his reputation was already so strained with the "State of Israel", when he denouced Menachem Begin in no uncertain terms: he used the word f***ist to apply to Mr. Begin. You carry so much weight and the bear of witness graciously that it doesn't beggar belief or honesty or the need for responsibility and witness or any of those terms denoting justice, complicity, culpability. There are also many writers of note, most of whom are dead but not long dead, to bear down on this as well, as "writers," whom you've spoken of, who carried the burden of witness. There are many.
You may want to move from the Balfours to the two Yaltas at some point. But you probably have, and you can't do it all: that's understood.
America should not be conned by the likes of Victoria “ef the EU”, PNAC, Kagan Nuland — as she did in 2014 in ‘ginning-up’ the Ukrainian war — and may well have been ‘ginning up’ the Hamas Israeli, ‘ginned-up’ con artist war, which ‘we the American people’ are being drawn into by Israel.
Those 85 bombing attacks in the Middle East had better not have been against ‘civilian targets’, rather than clearly limited to only purely “military targets”, if “we the American people” don’t want to be drawn or dragged into the ICJ on the charge of Genocide.
This sneaky crap of “the deceit of War” against any ‘civilian targets’ will be a real killer if America is prosecuting Israel’s war more than our own!
Bad enough for America having been blemished by Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. etc. et. al. — as Joe should say “We’re the United States of America” and we’re not only the Greatest, Richest, and Powerful country in the World — but we won’t do Genocide at others request!
I now count no less than 61 pieces posted here on Substack since OCT 7 and only 3 articles that address issues other than the ISR-Palestinian conflict ... wouldn't it make more sense to alternate his writings between Gaza and those issues which are now crushing us here in America?
Hedges now desperately clings to the Gaza and Assange stories to divert attention away from the battle here in the U.S. between the working class - his working class and the DS ...
An unemployed, divorced mother of 4 never gives a thought to Gaza, Assange or CIA corruption, and Hedges knows it! ... but these are his "bread and butter" issues that protect his place in the independent media food chain ... he has chosen to double down on the ISR-PAL conflict instead ... he has now devoted more words to the plight of the Palestinians than he ever has about those of us who are being crushed by COVID tyranny here in America ... ya see, it's just too risky to stand with us ...
And after urging us to confront tyranny for the past two decades, Hedges deserted us by throwing the working class under the bus with COVID ... he refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports, and just 30 days after the explosive DEC 2, 2021 FDA FOIA release, he also told his avid followers that the pandemic and mutations cannot be stopped until "everyone gets vaccinated" ... and then in the same breath, openly admitted that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ...
These are not the lessons one learns at Harvard Divinity School ...
You should read Peter Hitchens and Lord Sumption in Covid. Umm, I don't like the direction Hitchens has taken by going to the politically funded and motivated motley crew, at Unherd, including Douglas Murray. I asked Aaron Mate to bring Peter instead of letting Piers Morgan do the one on one debate with Norm Finkelstein. I urged before it was made public. In the Notes of Mr. Mate. Well, instead they got the freak, the maniacal genocider: Douglas Murray to have the last word. That was a critical moment. It could have made the difference. But I'm not complaining, it is what it is now.
You see, Hitchens criticized Murray by saying, "It would have been nice if Douglas Murray had been around during Covid." So there you go.
Then the Link to Aaaron Mate on his work on the OPCW, which was cross-over work with Hitchens. Either in parallel, or in cooperation. But Mr. Mate at the very least knew: he cited Hitchens as not having to worry so much the UK due to its different standards for Tort Law, as compared to Mr. Mate in the US. This was in a direct commentary to the hellish cruel responses Mr. Mate's great work on the OPCW: that he was not subject to the Tort law of a journalist from the mainstream (the Daily Mail) in the UK. It could only have been Hitchens. There was no one else doing it there. Not an iota.
And as I'm sure you know, the YouTube algo provides a strong incentive to meticulously build silos and that tend compel indy media types to "stay in their lane" ... I too have noticed a number of head-scratching statements that Max and Aaron have made ... 99.9% don't notice such things, but you and I do ... Max and Aaron have recently paid the price by being demonetized for sticking to their principles ... in the "post truth age" it's a real badge of honor.
Yes. It's a heroic badge of honour. It's very sad. The rest of it is sad. They'll prevail, somehow, that's certain. Time does the work. Shouldn't have to. But repeatedly does.
No, quite frankly, they're not. It would be lamentable but for the option of self-examination instead. We can only hope. It's a very important point and consistent.
I used to love the guy, followed him as closely as anybody this past decade, but ...
There ARE things going on in the U.S. that may not be as urgent, but in a big picture sense, are much more important to our survival than Gaza ... there are people out there like Hedges' friend Naomi Wolf and Karen Kingston who are literally risking their lives to expose the truth ... for the past two decades, Hedges gave us every indication that he'd be leading our fight against tyranny when the time came, but exactly the opposite has occurred ... he's deftly sided with the globalists on the issues of climate change and vax-related bodily autonomy ... he has also called those of us who question the official story of 9/11 and the motives of our elected officials "members of the lunatic fringe" and "conspiracy theorists" ...
And here's a link that proves what I believe is THE best example of his betrayal of our trust:
On DEC 2, 2021 ...
The FDA was compelled by a court ruling to release Phizer's vax trial data that revealed 1,223 post-jab deaths and 34,762 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of its trial ... The FDA attempted to delay the full release of this data for 75 years! ... the release of this data absolutely proved that the COVID VAX WAS NOT "safe & effective" ...
And then, just 30 days later ...
On JAN 1, 2022 ...
Chris Hedges made this comment on the Krystal Kyle & Friends Podcast (Episode #54):
"I don't think we're going to stop the pandemic and mutations until everybody gets vaccinated" ... Chris Hedges DID NOT have to take sides on this issue ... He could have said it's a personal decision, but no ...
Most people would never tell another person to "walk the plank" if they knew better, but that's exactly what Hedges did here ... he knew the VAX was rushed to market after only one year (the average is 10 years), he knew about the explosive FDA FOIA release and he had to have seen the many videos of vax-injured people ... but he chose to push the "safe & effective" narrative anyway! ... and then about 2m after making that same comment during the interview above, Hedges openly admitted that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... clearly, this man did not give a hoot about the consequences ...
I know. Let's do it another time. When the labour gets sucked out of labor, there's no real turning back until another cultural turn, but the right one: the Better Left. Finkelstein. Even Peter has potential. He is after a social democrat with his union license. He just went that bit too far with moving over to unherd. He deserved the Orwell Award to the fullest extent. I can't figure it. But, it's odd: Finkelstein, Hitchens. Still some monetized on the Stack doing the footwork journalism. Sy Hersh. Cockburn. Differently: they're patient and make it stick when they publish. Always right on target. Never seen one from either of them that misses a beat.
Recently in a meeting I had an argument with some of your Ex-supporters who claimed that you are helping to perpetrate the genocide of the Palestinians because you have received $4,346,264 in donations from the Israeli lobby during your political life.
Money doesn't mean anything to me, but I beg you please to stop the genocide. It would require just one call from you the leader of the world."
I wish everybody will continue to protest genocidal Biden.
The sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
They usually are. Cleverness doesn't help, an old owl told me, an academic, very well regarded physicist. Throw the word Ethics at them in substitution for morality, and that might catch them off their guard. Throw Spinoza at them! They would not be able to respond. You can make morality into opacity: the evening star is not the morning star. But of course they are, in fact. But Ethics? That word will unsettle these people. They simply will not be able to respond. With morality, they'll always be able to respond with the Bureaucracy of terms that reflect or mirror the phrase "moral ambiguity" There rarely is such a thing, it's limited, and it's a sleek weapon that your run-of-the-mill politician knows that the public eats up like candy, whether we like it or not.
Never talked with an owl. They hunt cats, at least the big ones do.
Another wise old owl who threw out words altogether, went into Action, broke out of prison (with help), prefers rats to cats (most do), opened hearts and found FREEDOM! Don't know if this will open:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/nyregion/flaco-outlaw-kakutani.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
When the lamb sleeps with the lion, what shall the lion eat?
Surely the carrion of sweet surprise.
When the poor visit the manor,
What do the nobles see
Only their victims, expendable lives.
Not everyone likes Dostoevsky. But let me present a man who did: Saul Bellow adored him. Why am I bringing Dostoevsky up in relation to Saul Bellow? It's because Dostoevsky said this, and I have him nearly verbatim from memory: "The tyrant and citizen cannot coexist in the same person." "The citizen dies in the tyrant." One or the other. But that's what he said. It's another point to throw at Biden. Tell him that! Quote Dostoevsky to him, and make sure Biden knows that Saul Bellow just loved Dostoevsky to death (not literally).
American (small ‘d’) democracy prevailed in the Civil War — however this fast coming war will be a Wealth/Inequality War — which effectively will recognize America, as it exists now having turned its power into the first Global Empire on this basis of this recognition:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Thg0Gtt7HsQ/US5J66UwrbI/AAAAAAAAALk/N8a6BsVSIE8/s1600/WealthDistribution.jpg
Sounds to me that Jonathan Mitchell might well have received his legal training at Trump Law School, eh???
The Zionist lobby has made it their life mission to strangle Human Rights Legislation (across the globe) in its crib, opting instead to push the 'Rules Based International System,' which is shorthand for 'the US & friends are exempt; everyone else follows the Law'
This can only end with violent confrontations, as people denied basic rights (security, self-determination, safety, etc.) will turn more to weapons & munitions, rather than corrupted courts.
"Muh Rules Based International Order(R)" is simply a glorified game of Calvinball, overseen by a vengeful thug.
(For those interested)
If you wish to read (& listen!) to more of My commentary, here is my Main Stack:
https://thefallofthewest.substack.com
Thank You Kindly to everyone!
Wow
That's all I can say. Palestine must be freed of Israeli domination/persecution. NOW
I have read Noura's book I highly recommend it! Thank you Noura you and the many other educated spokesman are the future leaders of a Palestinian State. Well spoken Palestinian's like Noura are rarely shown on CNN. MNSBC, Morning Joe or any of the big three ABC, CBS, ABC Lets hope Israel doesn't finish off the 2nd Nakba before these voices are heard and believed by the American public!
On Thursday, the court in the Northern District of California ruled that there was no civil action that could be brought under the genocide convention due to the "political question" doctrine. The State Department told the judge that the US had brought the Genocide convention into US law through the criminal statutes. The relevant statute is 18 U.S. Code § 1091. Unless we want to believe that Congress passed a law that could not be enforced, which is not an interpretation normally favored, then there must be a way to enforce it. Let's find that way. Is it your local community? Could your city, county or state's law enforcement take steps to enforce this statute? Could they arrest Blinken, Biden, Kirby, et al, should the step foot in that jurisdiciton? Could Chicago? Could the people make citizens arrests? Could that be encorporated into actions going forward? I don't know, but I really want to find out.
Please share your thoughts.
No it's not too late. It's never too late. I'm so impressed by this body of work Noura Erakat has brought out. It is not just the "facts" in his-story books, but connecting the dots, bringing meaning and life to those assembled facts with fresh eyes and passionate caring and honesty in the face of the genocide we witness daily. I do not think legally, but I understand a little better now the mechanisms/machinations through which this brutal colonial agenda moves forward, legitimizing itself. Which means many others who read her book, at varying levels of power and influence, will be touched and motivated as well. There is strength in numbers, and one by one, ten by ten, a hundred by a hundred and on and on is how knowledge, the potential evolution of beneficial laws and true justice and solidarity grow that has the power to overcome and stop this beast.
It has happened before and can happen again and the number of people bearing witness, even to these "legal" obscenities, while staying firmly rooted in the heart with what is ethically and morally right in solidarity with those being harmed - the Palestinians, Gazans, Yeminis - are far more powerful than we can imagine. And not to forget the Greater Laws - of the natural world, our Earth and the morning and evening star, the rivers, plants, polar bears, glaciers, wolves and sheep and owls and pussycats and olive trees are always completely aligned with all who faithfully serve life on Earth, in small or large ways. Why else are we here?
“Palestine is the conscience of the world”---and is being strangled before our dull eyes 😱
To counteract the malicious acts of our governments, we the people must step up into the breech they have caused by stopping funding for UNRWA, by going to https://www.unrwausa.org/donate and giving as generously as you can. Please also make a strong statement that if our government won't act on behalf of humanity, we well.
Many thanks to Chris Hedges and Professor Erakat for this illuminating discussion.
As Professor Erakat said we must end the bloodshed. There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Codepink:
https://www.codepink.org/cnngaza?utm_campaign=12_15_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Ceasefire Now
https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-cease
firenow-in-gaza-and-israel
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
"It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom." Exactly.
It's time to abandon the Jewish 7-day week. How about 9 or 10-day week?
I just read that 500,000 Israelis moved permanently to the US in the past three months. So white settler colonization continues in the US at a higher rate. One aspect of this type of colonization is that the settlers plan to stay permanently. Americans who are white settler colonizers also invite more people to settle to ensure they have control over the area on which they settle. Native Americans are susceptible to this type of exploitation and invasion! I’m sorry that people do not realize how destructive this continuous abuse towards Indigenous communities and peoples.
@Nikster
Do please share links to your sources re: half a million Israelis emigrating to USA since October 7th?
Look it up! It was a legitimate news source, and there were many. I am stating that this is true, and my friend who is a PhD and an expert on white settler colonialism states the first thing is that white settlers believe they can invite other settlers in the area they are illegally settling on, including the lands still claimed by the 1868 Treaties with the Oceti Sakowin Bands —Teton Tribes. So basically, it’s encouraging other settlers. But then everyone is freaking out about the borders. These settlers are worse because they have been perpetrating violence in Israel against Palestinians, but Americans are tremendously worried about Mexicans at the borders, but no one stops the Israelis from coming in. To the tune of a half a million.
@Nikster
The only similar articles I found were a couple of months old and stated 470,000 Israelis total had left for ALL other countries total. I found a few other mentions of US/Israeli dual citizens returning to USA, but nobody claimed such a large number.
So, if you please? Do share whatever your source was. I HAVE tried looking.
I just watched you tube with John Berger's reading of Ghassan Kanafani's "Letter from Gaza". About his niece Nadia and leaving Gaza or staying. Watching the Genocide and Maiming of children before us today it is guaranteed to bring a tear and the true meaning of Samud!
I am doing the silly "like" mimetic dance on this comment only because the poem was read. And that John Berger invented the weblog with Robot Wisdom. I was there when it happened. But he is a racist freak. But the credit here is the weblog, that complemented Listserves taken out of operation as University Budgets could not compete with the onslaught of Social Media: where nothing, even on this great Substack platform, is peer-to-peer Listerserve functionality. But it still is perhaps even better. It's backend is, and that's why we can talk. And reading of the poem. So it is really not that I"like" this comment by jim harper, but I am glad he posted it and credit is due for that. It is more an acknowledgement of the past and its continuity, rather than a disruption, into the present.
Caveat: I have not read the poem. But as many poems are coming out of Palestine by great brave poets, I'm assuming the poem is a damn good one. The American poets put up a mask at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan; but they caved in and they haven't looked back. You are so unlikely to get a poem, a great poem, a true poem, coming out of the mainstream Pulitzer-line and with that line, today. Where is Peter Dale Scott?
In just posting this, and asking this, and saying: "Where is Peter Dale Scott?", I am putting myself on the line here. And I don't enjoy that. Done.
MY AD-HOC, FOCUS GROUP-TESTED, and MOST FAVORABLE PROTEST/DEMONSTRATION SIGHS SIMPLY SAY:
LOVE
OVER
VIOLENT
EMPIRE
LIVE FREE
FROM
EMPIRE
OR DIE
AMUSING
OURSELVES
TO
DEATH
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
NEGATIVE
EXTERNALITY
COST
LYING & LOOTING
POSITIVE
EXTERNALITY
PROFIT
FOR PEOPLE
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
vs.
CAPITALIST
CANCER
Thanks Chris for, a few days after Aaron Maté going back the origin: the various Balfours, the official unofficial notes from Egypt, and so forth at the time: all the way to the League of Nations in your case. Excellent!
It might be helpful when you speak about Primo Levi to remind readers that he condemned, at real risk to himself and what must have been even more painful to his person as his reputation was already so strained with the "State of Israel", when he denouced Menachem Begin in no uncertain terms: he used the word f***ist to apply to Mr. Begin. You carry so much weight and the bear of witness graciously that it doesn't beggar belief or honesty or the need for responsibility and witness or any of those terms denoting justice, complicity, culpability. There are also many writers of note, most of whom are dead but not long dead, to bear down on this as well, as "writers," whom you've spoken of, who carried the burden of witness. There are many.
You may want to move from the Balfours to the two Yaltas at some point. But you probably have, and you can't do it all: that's understood.
America should not be conned by the likes of Victoria “ef the EU”, PNAC, Kagan Nuland — as she did in 2014 in ‘ginning-up’ the Ukrainian war — and may well have been ‘ginning up’ the Hamas Israeli, ‘ginned-up’ con artist war, which ‘we the American people’ are being drawn into by Israel.
Those 85 bombing attacks in the Middle East had better not have been against ‘civilian targets’, rather than clearly limited to only purely “military targets”, if “we the American people” don’t want to be drawn or dragged into the ICJ on the charge of Genocide.
This sneaky crap of “the deceit of War” against any ‘civilian targets’ will be a real killer if America is prosecuting Israel’s war more than our own!
Bad enough for America having been blemished by Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. etc. et. al. — as Joe should say “We’re the United States of America” and we’re not only the Greatest, Richest, and Powerful country in the World — but we won’t do Genocide at others request!
Chris Hedges deserted the U.S. working class ...
I now count no less than 61 pieces posted here on Substack since OCT 7 and only 3 articles that address issues other than the ISR-Palestinian conflict ... wouldn't it make more sense to alternate his writings between Gaza and those issues which are now crushing us here in America?
Hedges now desperately clings to the Gaza and Assange stories to divert attention away from the battle here in the U.S. between the working class - his working class and the DS ...
An unemployed, divorced mother of 4 never gives a thought to Gaza, Assange or CIA corruption, and Hedges knows it! ... but these are his "bread and butter" issues that protect his place in the independent media food chain ... he has chosen to double down on the ISR-PAL conflict instead ... he has now devoted more words to the plight of the Palestinians than he ever has about those of us who are being crushed by COVID tyranny here in America ... ya see, it's just too risky to stand with us ...
And after urging us to confront tyranny for the past two decades, Hedges deserted us by throwing the working class under the bus with COVID ... he refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports, and just 30 days after the explosive DEC 2, 2021 FDA FOIA release, he also told his avid followers that the pandemic and mutations cannot be stopped until "everyone gets vaccinated" ... and then in the same breath, openly admitted that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ...
These are not the lessons one learns at Harvard Divinity School ...
You should read Peter Hitchens and Lord Sumption in Covid. Umm, I don't like the direction Hitchens has taken by going to the politically funded and motivated motley crew, at Unherd, including Douglas Murray. I asked Aaron Mate to bring Peter instead of letting Piers Morgan do the one on one debate with Norm Finkelstein. I urged before it was made public. In the Notes of Mr. Mate. Well, instead they got the freak, the maniacal genocider: Douglas Murray to have the last word. That was a critical moment. It could have made the difference. But I'm not complaining, it is what it is now.
You see, Hitchens criticized Murray by saying, "It would have been nice if Douglas Murray had been around during Covid." So there you go.
Then the Link to Aaaron Mate on his work on the OPCW, which was cross-over work with Hitchens. Either in parallel, or in cooperation. But Mr. Mate at the very least knew: he cited Hitchens as not having to worry so much the UK due to its different standards for Tort Law, as compared to Mr. Mate in the US. This was in a direct commentary to the hellish cruel responses Mr. Mate's great work on the OPCW: that he was not subject to the Tort law of a journalist from the mainstream (the Daily Mail) in the UK. It could only have been Hitchens. There was no one else doing it there. Not an iota.
But, it is what what it is. Self-examination.
Yes, some awesome observations ...
And as I'm sure you know, the YouTube algo provides a strong incentive to meticulously build silos and that tend compel indy media types to "stay in their lane" ... I too have noticed a number of head-scratching statements that Max and Aaron have made ... 99.9% don't notice such things, but you and I do ... Max and Aaron have recently paid the price by being demonetized for sticking to their principles ... in the "post truth age" it's a real badge of honor.
Yes. It's a heroic badge of honour. It's very sad. The rest of it is sad. They'll prevail, somehow, that's certain. Time does the work. Shouldn't have to. But repeatedly does.
No, quite frankly, they're not. It would be lamentable but for the option of self-examination instead. We can only hope. It's a very important point and consistent.
I used to love the guy, followed him as closely as anybody this past decade, but ...
There ARE things going on in the U.S. that may not be as urgent, but in a big picture sense, are much more important to our survival than Gaza ... there are people out there like Hedges' friend Naomi Wolf and Karen Kingston who are literally risking their lives to expose the truth ... for the past two decades, Hedges gave us every indication that he'd be leading our fight against tyranny when the time came, but exactly the opposite has occurred ... he's deftly sided with the globalists on the issues of climate change and vax-related bodily autonomy ... he has also called those of us who question the official story of 9/11 and the motives of our elected officials "members of the lunatic fringe" and "conspiracy theorists" ...
And here's a link that proves what I believe is THE best example of his betrayal of our trust:
On DEC 2, 2021 ...
The FDA was compelled by a court ruling to release Phizer's vax trial data that revealed 1,223 post-jab deaths and 34,762 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of its trial ... The FDA attempted to delay the full release of this data for 75 years! ... the release of this data absolutely proved that the COVID VAX WAS NOT "safe & effective" ...
And then, just 30 days later ...
On JAN 1, 2022 ...
Chris Hedges made this comment on the Krystal Kyle & Friends Podcast (Episode #54):
Go to the 1:08:47 mark:
https://krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/p/episode-54-audio-chris-hedges#details
"I don't think we're going to stop the pandemic and mutations until everybody gets vaccinated" ... Chris Hedges DID NOT have to take sides on this issue ... He could have said it's a personal decision, but no ...
Most people would never tell another person to "walk the plank" if they knew better, but that's exactly what Hedges did here ... he knew the VAX was rushed to market after only one year (the average is 10 years), he knew about the explosive FDA FOIA release and he had to have seen the many videos of vax-injured people ... but he chose to push the "safe & effective" narrative anyway! ... and then about 2m after making that same comment during the interview above, Hedges openly admitted that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... clearly, this man did not give a hoot about the consequences ...
I know. Let's do it another time. When the labour gets sucked out of labor, there's no real turning back until another cultural turn, but the right one: the Better Left. Finkelstein. Even Peter has potential. He is after a social democrat with his union license. He just went that bit too far with moving over to unherd. He deserved the Orwell Award to the fullest extent. I can't figure it. But, it's odd: Finkelstein, Hitchens. Still some monetized on the Stack doing the footwork journalism. Sy Hersh. Cockburn. Differently: they're patient and make it stick when they publish. Always right on target. Never seen one from either of them that misses a beat.
I just send this message to the White House:
"Mr. President
Recently in a meeting I had an argument with some of your Ex-supporters who claimed that you are helping to perpetrate the genocide of the Palestinians because you have received $4,346,264 in donations from the Israeli lobby during your political life.
Money doesn't mean anything to me, but I beg you please to stop the genocide. It would require just one call from you the leader of the world."
I wish everybody will continue to protest genocidal Biden.