Fantagraphics has released a series of graphic commentaries and reflections by Joe Sacco, author of "Palestine" and "Footnotes in Gaza," called "The War on Gaza." With the permission of Fantagrapahics and Joe Sacco, we are reprinting them on my Substack.
On Friday, September 27 at 10:00 AM Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to come to New York City and speak to the United Nations. People of New York! Don't let this war criminal, carrying out a genocide against the Palestinian people, walk the streets of New York City without facing massive protests. Arrest Netanyahu for genocide and crimes against humanity!
FF, True, but the fact that the US was supposed to be a democracy, and had language in the Bill of Rights and the Preamble to the US Constitution about the rights of all men is part of what civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. leveraged to advance the cause of Black equality in the US, don't you think? And South Africa is no longer apartheid. Seems to me that holding on to democratic ideals, and striving to see them implemented ever more perfectly, is the best hope for humanity, although it saddens me that some US citizens place capitalism above democracy.
If there is any purpose to religion, it should be to help make life better for all of us. The best thing Pope Francis could ever do is to go to Gaza, or now, to the West Bank. Make his stand in Bethlehem. He has an opportunity that is unequalled, to say "no" to genocide. Not in our name, not on our watch.
Let us make our donations to honor Aaron Bushnell, in memory of Hind Rajab, or Dr Jumann Afra, the mother of newborn twins killed by Israel using US bombs.
October will mark one year since Israel began its genocide in Gaza, yet the U.S. government continues to be a collaborator in Israel’s crimes against humanity. Just recently, Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear that she would not support an arms embargo on Israel – at the same time the State Department notified Congress of a new $20 billion weapons sale to Israel. We anticipate a joint resolution of disapproval (JRD) will soon be introduced in the Senate. This is the only way to block this sale — and we need to act fast!
These are only some of the courageous groups working for justice in Palestine. They all need y/our support now, perhaps more than ever. How can we allow this to happen?
Thank you for this history. I didn't know about Melos. The concept of democracy, rule of the people, is beautiful, but it's never been implemented, except perhaps in societies that anthropologists deemed "primitive." The so-called democracies are in name only.
Lois, I don't think of myself as an idealist, especially when it comes to politics. Seems to me that the world is too big and complex for any conceptual or theoretical framework to be implemented in a pure form. It's true that its easier to implement democracy in relatively small-scale socially cohesive units like the Iroquois Confederacy, but the democratic experiment in the USA and most of the globe is only a couple of hundred years old. As its early advocates advised us, including theorists of the French Revolution like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the "founding fathers" in the USA, the citizens should expect to have to continue to contribute and work for democracy. It's part of the essence of democracy, and those of us who live in supposedly democratic countries need to get off the couch and start participating more actively as the rise of huge concentrations of capital has thrown the political balance out of whack.
Welll said, Tech-la. Note that I did write "perhaps in societies..." I don't really know for sure, but as an ethnographer of music—Afro-Haitian music, which tells us a lot—I don't write them off. I believe it would be wrong to think of the "democratic experiment" as exclusive to the United States and those who have adopted that particular model of the republic in the last two or three centuries. We should be open to the idea that anti-democratic ideas might be embedded in the model itself.
Lois, interesting comment and perspective. I stopped myself from mentioning the evolution of democracies elsewhere, especially in the global south, as I've only just begun to study the implementation of democracy in a small number of these countries. I have virtually no frame of reference on democracy in the Caribbean and hope that you'll share more of your thoughts on this over time. If there is a happy alternative to democracy, I don't know what it is, but would like to broaden the conversation to promote a richer understanding.
I'm all for sharing over time. Even with my Haiti experience, I, too, have to study more. I just want to point out now that the phrase "alternatives to democracy" sits on an assumption that democracies exist. Has any state really qualified as a democracy? The US was established as a republic that disenfranchised half of its population (women), a large segment of its workers (captives from Africa and white men without property), and the first people of the land. It was the rule of a privileged minority from the start. These groups got the vote over time (and much struggle), but today we see how frail that is. Are we looking for alternatives to democracy, or just democracy?
I see. In my opinion a pure version of anything exists in theory only. In the real world there are always some elements that can be questioned, and there's probably the potential for endless discussion on where to draw the line to determine whether some nation should be or should not be considered a functioning democracy. But really, what would be the real world value of so much theorizing?
Right. But we can certainly envision a more ethical world and strive toward it, knowing that it will never be perfect. Just better than what most have.
To repeat, as long as governments and people only see what others do to them, but never see what they do to others, we will never have a peaceful world. Israel just murdered another American, Ms. Eygi. Shot in the head in the West Bank. Blinken said ''it was a tragic loss , but the most important thing to do is gather the facts. First things first, let's find out exactly what happened, and we draw the necessary conclusions from that''. Translation: When the Israeli-American hostage was shot in Gaza, all hell broke loose in Wash. D.C. Everybody and his mother from Biden on down called for Hamas' annihilation. Who is responsible for putting these phonies in power? Us, thats who. And we never learn. In two months we are going to vote into 1600 Penn. Ave., Trump or Harris. This why I keep repeating, we have met the enemy, and he is us. Same holds true for who put Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich in power?
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. Gone and never forgotten. Executed by the Zionist occupation force with a sniper rifle. Another dead American.
Among the other victims are Jacob Flickinger, Omar Abdulmajeed Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Rachel Corrie, and Furkan Dogan. Even worse, four of those killed were children: Mohammad Khdour (17), Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar Ajaq (17), Orwa Hammad (14), and Mahmoud Shaalan (16).
I don't get the concept of "giving points for democracy." Can any of you political science or history buffs enlighten me: Is there another political structure that supports the right of a people to self-governance?
I think the point is that claiming that a country is a “democracy” doesn’t mean that that country is morally “virtuous” or that it deserves support. This can be either because the claim itself is false (f ex., the US is not really a “democracy” - it’s a plutocracy, or oligarchy); or because the country, like Israel, is filled with a population of vicious aggressive murderous sadists, so that “rule by the people” turns out to be much worse than rule by a truly benign & enlightened king would be.
This comment is worded so strongly that I can't "like" it, but your general point about a supposed democracy not deserving some kind of automatically ascribed morality waiver makes sense. Also it seems more and more reasonable to question whether the US is really a functioning democracy or has succumbed to a stealth regime change and devolved into an oligarchy.
Thank you. I wondered if this was the point, but found the comic confusing since I believe that the Palestinian people probably want something like democratic self-governance.
Arrest Netanyahu at the United Nations
On Friday, September 27 at 10:00 AM Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to come to New York City and speak to the United Nations. People of New York! Don't let this war criminal, carrying out a genocide against the Palestinian people, walk the streets of New York City without facing massive protests. Arrest Netanyahu for genocide and crimes against humanity!
Hell, apartheid South Africa was a democracy of sorts. Long as you were white. Same could be said for Jim Crow era Mississippi.
FF, True, but the fact that the US was supposed to be a democracy, and had language in the Bill of Rights and the Preamble to the US Constitution about the rights of all men is part of what civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. leveraged to advance the cause of Black equality in the US, don't you think? And South Africa is no longer apartheid. Seems to me that holding on to democratic ideals, and striving to see them implemented ever more perfectly, is the best hope for humanity, although it saddens me that some US citizens place capitalism above democracy.
If there is any purpose to religion, it should be to help make life better for all of us. The best thing Pope Francis could ever do is to go to Gaza, or now, to the West Bank. Make his stand in Bethlehem. He has an opportunity that is unequalled, to say "no" to genocide. Not in our name, not on our watch.
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, the mother of newborn twins killed by Israel using US bombs.
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.
From Code Pink
October will mark one year since Israel began its genocide in Gaza, yet the U.S. government continues to be a collaborator in Israel’s crimes against humanity. Just recently, Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear that she would not support an arms embargo on Israel – at the same time the State Department notified Congress of a new $20 billion weapons sale to Israel. We anticipate a joint resolution of disapproval (JRD) will soon be introduced in the Senate. This is the only way to block this sale — and we need to act fast!
https://www.codepink.org/20billion?utm_campaign=9_6_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace
https://www.afcfp.org
For factual information:
https://www.btselem.org
Gush Shalom has been on the side of peace for many years:
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html
ANERA
https://www.anera.org/
ADALAH
https://www.adalahjusticeproject.org/defend
Christian:
FOSNA
https://www.fosna.org
SABEEL
https://sabeel.org
Jewish:
JVP
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
If now now
https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org
These are only some of the courageous groups working for justice in Palestine. They all need y/our support now, perhaps more than ever. How can we allow this to happen?
Thank you for this history. I didn't know about Melos. The concept of democracy, rule of the people, is beautiful, but it's never been implemented, except perhaps in societies that anthropologists deemed "primitive." The so-called democracies are in name only.
Lois, I don't think of myself as an idealist, especially when it comes to politics. Seems to me that the world is too big and complex for any conceptual or theoretical framework to be implemented in a pure form. It's true that its easier to implement democracy in relatively small-scale socially cohesive units like the Iroquois Confederacy, but the democratic experiment in the USA and most of the globe is only a couple of hundred years old. As its early advocates advised us, including theorists of the French Revolution like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the "founding fathers" in the USA, the citizens should expect to have to continue to contribute and work for democracy. It's part of the essence of democracy, and those of us who live in supposedly democratic countries need to get off the couch and start participating more actively as the rise of huge concentrations of capital has thrown the political balance out of whack.
Welll said, Tech-la. Note that I did write "perhaps in societies..." I don't really know for sure, but as an ethnographer of music—Afro-Haitian music, which tells us a lot—I don't write them off. I believe it would be wrong to think of the "democratic experiment" as exclusive to the United States and those who have adopted that particular model of the republic in the last two or three centuries. We should be open to the idea that anti-democratic ideas might be embedded in the model itself.
Lois, interesting comment and perspective. I stopped myself from mentioning the evolution of democracies elsewhere, especially in the global south, as I've only just begun to study the implementation of democracy in a small number of these countries. I have virtually no frame of reference on democracy in the Caribbean and hope that you'll share more of your thoughts on this over time. If there is a happy alternative to democracy, I don't know what it is, but would like to broaden the conversation to promote a richer understanding.
I'm all for sharing over time. Even with my Haiti experience, I, too, have to study more. I just want to point out now that the phrase "alternatives to democracy" sits on an assumption that democracies exist. Has any state really qualified as a democracy? The US was established as a republic that disenfranchised half of its population (women), a large segment of its workers (captives from Africa and white men without property), and the first people of the land. It was the rule of a privileged minority from the start. These groups got the vote over time (and much struggle), but today we see how frail that is. Are we looking for alternatives to democracy, or just democracy?
I see. In my opinion a pure version of anything exists in theory only. In the real world there are always some elements that can be questioned, and there's probably the potential for endless discussion on where to draw the line to determine whether some nation should be or should not be considered a functioning democracy. But really, what would be the real world value of so much theorizing?
Right. But we can certainly envision a more ethical world and strive toward it, knowing that it will never be perfect. Just better than what most have.
To repeat, as long as governments and people only see what others do to them, but never see what they do to others, we will never have a peaceful world. Israel just murdered another American, Ms. Eygi. Shot in the head in the West Bank. Blinken said ''it was a tragic loss , but the most important thing to do is gather the facts. First things first, let's find out exactly what happened, and we draw the necessary conclusions from that''. Translation: When the Israeli-American hostage was shot in Gaza, all hell broke loose in Wash. D.C. Everybody and his mother from Biden on down called for Hamas' annihilation. Who is responsible for putting these phonies in power? Us, thats who. And we never learn. In two months we are going to vote into 1600 Penn. Ave., Trump or Harris. This why I keep repeating, we have met the enemy, and he is us. Same holds true for who put Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich in power?
Carl, Excellent points, and I agree with your conclusion. Citizens in a democracy have a responsibility to stay informed and be actively engaged.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. Gone and never forgotten. Executed by the Zionist occupation force with a sniper rifle. Another dead American.
Among the other victims are Jacob Flickinger, Omar Abdulmajeed Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Rachel Corrie, and Furkan Dogan. Even worse, four of those killed were children: Mohammad Khdour (17), Tawfiq Abdel Jabbar Ajaq (17), Orwa Hammad (14), and Mahmoud Shaalan (16).
Great respect for you
Yet the insanity continues. And so it goes. And goes and goes on and on and on….
I don't get the concept of "giving points for democracy." Can any of you political science or history buffs enlighten me: Is there another political structure that supports the right of a people to self-governance?
I think the point is that claiming that a country is a “democracy” doesn’t mean that that country is morally “virtuous” or that it deserves support. This can be either because the claim itself is false (f ex., the US is not really a “democracy” - it’s a plutocracy, or oligarchy); or because the country, like Israel, is filled with a population of vicious aggressive murderous sadists, so that “rule by the people” turns out to be much worse than rule by a truly benign & enlightened king would be.
This comment is worded so strongly that I can't "like" it, but your general point about a supposed democracy not deserving some kind of automatically ascribed morality waiver makes sense. Also it seems more and more reasonable to question whether the US is really a functioning democracy or has succumbed to a stealth regime change and devolved into an oligarchy.
Ethnic cleansers don't get any extra credit for their democracy, they're still just ethnic cleansers.
Thank you. I wondered if this was the point, but found the comic confusing since I believe that the Palestinian people probably want something like democratic self-governance.