39 Comments

Nothing would be more welcome to me than the dissolution of the State of Israel. I want to make very clear that I do not mean by violence or force.

This can be accomplished by democratic means, provided that enough of the world outside of this psychotic state contributes to the effort. There are good things about Israel, and obviously many great things about the Jewish people. I don’t know of anything good about Zionism.

Boycott, divestment, sanction. Then heal.

Heal this savage gash across the soul of humanity. It won’t heal itself. The Jews, and all people, deserve better than Zionism.

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I live in the Zion my father believed in and my grandfather and my great father I live in Bernie Country overlooking the Connecticut River Valley to the South and the sewer I call New York City where my father landed in 1926. My father called Vermont; Mississippi North and the lodges and inns said Gentiles Only and we weren't allowed near the stables. Vermont was poor and Hillbillies lived from Manchester to Philipsburg Quebec the Booze Capital during prohibition and Newport to Windsor, Vermont and Portland Maine.

Then along came Ben and Bernie, and Jerry and Paul Newman and Vermont is democratic and Mississippi is still Mississippi and Texas is Mississippi South and Florida is Germany in 1929. It can't happen here , yet Germany is one year older than CANADA and we have a hate monger and divider Pierre the fascist Polievre as a head of our Regressive CONservatives a Redneck like JD VANCE from Alberta's virulent hate ridden Bible Belt.

It is interesting for this Red Sea Pedestrian whose ancestors fled the Basque in 1492 to avoid Rome's Inquisition and whose ancestors built synagogues in Ukraine before the Immaculate Conception to watch the theatre in New Rome and old Russia and Aramean Jerusalem and Gaza. It was just yesterday day that our very flawed Messiah David slew the Palestinian champion Goliath. Leonard Cohen led the country band at Kamala's High School wrote the story of David and called it Hallelujah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5ivYGK_Ig

St Johnsbury reminds me of Mark Twain's War Prayer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Prayer

Funny thing about the Jewish High Holidays in St Johnsbury it looks like my Father's Zion an America where like Westmount High School in Montreal where Kamala graduated from High School.

At Westmount there is only one religion, one gender and one race Homo Sapien and there Ain't No Cure for Love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr8fdHbgAuw

I once loved Chris Hedges but he has not grown in the 30 years since John Ralston Saul a Socratic philosopher and economic historian and former head of PEN International published his Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense.

Page 85 Viking Press 1994

Cynicism: An effective social mechanism for preventing communication.

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I grew up near Shyamala GOPalan's Jewish General Hospital and I lived in Chicago's Woodlawn for over decade. Leonard Cohen led the country band at Westmount High School and in Woodlawn Obama lost an election because everybody knew the dice were loaded and everybody knew the Good Guys Lost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLOt5P6nSk

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It's hard for me to believe that anything less than a crushing defeat of Israel in war, followed by a wholesale de-Zionisation of Israeli society, with war crimes trials of the present genocidal leadership, is what is required for any kind of a real solution for the troubles in that part of the world.

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Although Gaza is the most urgent issue, and we cannot turn our eyes from them, there is increasing settler violence and land confiscation in the West Bank, aka illegally Occupied Territory. Here’s a group we can support, made up of committed Israelis and Palestinians working together to protect the Palestinians there.

Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace

https://www.afcfp.org

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Great report. Thank you both of you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. I hope Professor Pappe's prediction that Israel, as a Jewish state, is approaching its end. will realize very soon before they finish the holocaust of the Palestinians they began in 1948. The Zionist movement with its AIPAC abuses against democracy not only has caused great damage to US and England but specially to the majority of the Jews in the diaspora that now are becoming victims of the antisemites that blame them for the sins of Israel. The early critics of that movement understood its dangers. Following is a fragment of Professor Pappe's book "Ten myths about Israel":

"...the Reform movement in both Germany and the United States had provided a strong and unanimous case against Zionism. In Germany, they publicly rejected the idea of a Jewish nation and proclaimed themselves “Germans of the Mosaic faith" the idea “that Judea is the home of the Jew—an idea which ‘un homes’ [sic] the Jew all over the wide earth.” ... In 1885, another Reformist conference stated: “We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and we therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any laws concerning the Jewish state.”

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Julio, I am sorely disappointed my ancestors have sought Zion since they fled Rome in the Basque in 1492. They founded Costa Rica and modern Lithuania and Vilnius was their Capitol in 1793 when the Russians put an end to the Enlightenment.

That is REAL History not Hedges's Virtual Reality. Voltaire's Bastards is a Western Civilization classic dedicated to Hannah Arendt's Banality of Evil and Chris wrote an Anniversary foreword of a book he never read or at least he never understood.

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Moe is unfortunate that you consider Mr. Hedges's views as virtual reality. This is not what most of us consider them. For me virtual reality is the reports from the corporate networks specially Fox News but is good that you at least continue listening to Mr. Hedges. I have not read Arendt's book, but I did the following letter:

Arendt’s correspondence written from Jerusalem in 1955 to her husband Heinrich Blücher:

“The galut-and-ghetto mentality is in full bloom. And the idiocy is right in front of everyone’s eyes: Here in Jerusalem I can barely go for a walk, because I might turn the wrong corner and find myself ‘abroad’, ie, in Arab territory. Essentially it’s the same everywhere. On top of that, they treat the Arabs, those still here, in a way that in itself would be enough to rally the whole world against Israel.”

Now, this is the virtual reality of a genocidal president:

Democracynow (07/18/24)

"President Biden has been the subject of backlash this week over comments he made in an interview with journalist Speedy Morman on Complex, where Biden claimed he was “very supportive” of Palestinians.

Speedy Morman: “Are you a Zionist?”

President Joe Biden: “Yes. Now, now, you’ll be able to make a lot out of that because people don’t know what a Zionist is. Do you know what a Zionist is?”

Speedy Morman: “I just ask questions. I don’t answer.”

President Joe Biden: “By the way, I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I’m the guy that opened up all the assets. I’m the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border to let goods through, medicine and food.”

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Thank you, I was sure I had given you Orwell's response to a Judaic State based on RELIGIOUS Nationalism. Orwell died in 1950 and told us about a State based on a single religion. He said a religious Israel would be a FASCIST State. Zionism is not homogeneous. Costa Rica is a Zionist State and only Canada and Uruguay join Costa Rica as full democracies in the Americas.

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/notes-on-nationalism/

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I lived in Woodlawn Chicago for over a decade where I felt more at home than in Hyde Park. I felt love and not the constant intellectual competition of useless idiots. I am autistic I failed kindergarten and was granted by the Creator 76 years of intellectual freedom. I read Orwell's essays before his great allegory 1984 in 1964. I was reading Shakespeare and failing Kindergarten. Perception is reality my father and I thought the Rabbi and Gabbai Wisemen of Chelm and they thought I was retarded. My father led services in his late eighties with a High School diploma from Poland and died in Toronto at 93. He was a Labour Zionist not a religious Zionist who believed all land is Holy even blood soaked Gaza and Jerusalem and blood soaked France and England where Christian slaughtered Christian in the name of the Prince of Peace.

There are historians who understand America's Civil War started with the death of the "Virgin" Queen of Virginia is for Lovers.😜

Gaza was Holy English and America was Holy Roman and Monroe's America was off limits to refugees in 1939 and Hitler invoked St Thomas of Post Christian fourth century Rome for his Final Solution.

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What I’ve never understood is where all the money is coming from to “influence” elections and crush critics of Zionism. I didn’t know this went back so many decades and found this interview with Professor Pappe to be quite illuminating.

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THANK YOU, Chris !!!

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I maintain that Americans that once believed in Manifest Destiny, owning Homestead plots and enjoying the riches of the seven generation rule of Native American land management practices are complete Hypocrites to criticize Israel and their grass cutting murders.

Where are our Native Populations and what are they doing today besides meth? Support cleaning of America's land and air before levying criticism of a foreign government against literally all of their neighbors. Israel would simply not exist without US/UK support so do not be surprised if they are hostile to anyone that opposes further support.

103B in imports, 73B in exports. That money's coming from *somewhere*

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Native peoples aren't yours or mine, Kimosbe, and I object to the way that you try to use the defiant survivors of that genocide as a cheap example. What are they doing today? Um, maybe you've heard of Deb Haaland, the US Sec'y of the Interior. In California, Native Americans are partners in major land restoration efforts, and are putting casino revenue to good use.

White people who homesteaded in the 1850s have been dead for 100 years. Their children are just as likely to be using meth as any Native American. This said, I more object to your manner of speech than to your point. To me what is most hypocritical is Americans who criticize Israel from inside the walls of their enclaves and complain that it's difficult to communicate with their hired help because they only speak Mexican.

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I do all my own work and my own government tried to kill me for it.

There are plenty of Natives continuing to be good stewards of the land, but the worst thing they did was turn away their biggest supporters of all those pissed off veterans at Standing Rock.

Americans are fed up with American Government

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There must be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Pope Francis has said what is needed, now he must do what is needed by going to Gaza and standing for peace, justice and freedom.

Please sign the petition and share widely.

https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn

Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate

Also we can all support the brave doctors who have gone to Gaza: https://palestinian-ama.networkforgood.com/projects/206145-gaza-medical-supplies-oct-2023

Or

Surgeons to Gaza

https://fajr.org/donate/

Let us make our donations to honor Aaron Bushnell, in memory of Hind Rajab, or Dr Jumann Afra.

Here’s a petition to excommunicate Joe Biden: https://www.change.org/p/excommunicate-president-joe-biden-bf979783-ac08-4576-a53f-c786ea23dc9c

These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.

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Kamala Harris attended Westmount High School in Montreal Quebec Canada. In Quebec City Capital City of Quebec our Prime Minister Francois Legault has decreed the Pope persona non grata until he apologizes for 1600 hundred years of tyranny and terror. At Kamala's High school there are only Homo Sapiens. There are no religions, no genders, there are no races. Imagine at Kamala's High School healthcare, education and welfare are human rights and abortion is a human right called healthcare.

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Towards the end there was he worried about nuclear war, without saying the words nuclear war. ... like Samson Option?

sounded to me like it ...

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Nuclear blackmail is probably something we all should be facing up to. And doing something to stop it.

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Thank you once again❣️

I love and admire both your works and I’m so happy you’re still speaking out. And for now, I’m grateful I can still hear it.

I have one quick question that I’m not sure you can answer, Do either of you have thoughts on the 2024 election? I so wish we could vote for the green party instead of not voting or voting for the lesser evil. Any thoughts on this at all?

I’m feeling hopeless and helpless

Maureen

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This was a truly outstanding interview that deepened my understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I agree with the predictions about Israel's future. I think they are digging themselves into a hole so deep they won't be able to climb out of it.

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What about Michael Hudson’s economic analysis of the strategic value of Israel first to Britain in its decline of imperialist global power and control of energy resources then to the US in handover after WW2….little to do with Judaism….?

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So excellent. Zionism is bringing fascism to the US

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Not an easy listen/watch but a rich, granular treatment that shows exactly how long this AIPAC/Power over structure has been influencing America. It is easy to listen to information about this awful system and think, “now I know a little more” and yet to know that we know so little.

I was struck by how America itself, also driven by the intoxicant hegemony, parallels the lobby in perpetrating bad and self destructive policies. See Iraq/Afghanistan/Ukraine.

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It is a great read, long but the truth. It is really upsetting that the Israeli lobby exerts so much control over the U S.

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Agreed!!

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Dear Robert Reich & Christopher Hedges,

I just sent my comment to "these 'TIMES' they are-a changing" in the progressive direction:

TRUMP & NUTANYAHU are the two Ultimate Megalowmaniacs & Genocidal Sociopaths in our entire solar system.

FUCK AIPAC

Sincerely,

Alan MacDonald

28 Alewive Court

Wells Maine 04090

1-207-651-2227 or (2228)

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Of course brilliant and compassionate folks like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, et. al. are of incalculable value to our only small, fragile, peaceful, irreplaceable, and precious Planet Earth.

LOVE

OVER

VIOLENT

EMPIRE

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Thank God for Norbert Wiener's --- GOD & GOLEM, Inc.

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FUCK A.I.'s supposedly Artificial Intelligence!

Welcome E.I.'s real Empathy Intelligence --- and L.I.'s, LOVE INTELLIGENCE.

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My Gaza story begins with the story of David and Goliath the Palestinian. David was our Messiah and another graduate of Westmont High School not called Kamala wrote the story of David and called it Hallelujah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmount_High_School

At Westmount High you can dare imagine the dream of Bob Marley, Mohammed, Jesus, The Buddha, Confucius, Brigham Young, Moses Maimonides, Kinky Friedman, John Lennon, Daniel Dennett, Noam Chomsky, Bernie Sanders, Celine Dion of Montreal Hebrew Smokehouse aka Schwartz's , Yoko and of Leonard the "Hebrew Priest" who lights up Montreal's night sky.

The Unitarian Church is an historical ikon of English Montreal and lists Locke, Milton and Newton as its founders. Thomas Jefferson was an evolutionary botanist and follower of Newton at the College of William and Mary. In 1820 he assembled his Bible for America and called it The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson believed Newton who said: "We are standing on the shoulders of giants." Jefferson didn't believe in demi-gods and wasn't religious and the Federalist John Adams never accepted the legitimacy of Jefferson's Democratic-Republican administration.

It is all there in the Constitution perverted by Anton the Inquisitor Scalia.

https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=religion

At Westmount there is only one religion, one race and one gender and nothing to divide the BROTHERHOOD of MAN. It is the Law in our FULL DEMOCRACY.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

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