https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992845677666471936
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992781752295882753
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992733285271957505
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992718463004233728
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992416880731217920
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992413997227003906
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992180865655558144
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/992139445129408513
https://twitter.com/PalObserver/status/991972129427132417
OTOH, from a different perch:
what’s Israel afraid of?
And the ‘inauthentic opposition’ Bernie Sanders called the deaths and injuries ‘tragic’ and said that the IDF had ‘over-reacted’, although he seems to have deleted the Tweet and seemingly replaced it with this one.
Margaret Kimberly referenced the quote at Black Agenda Report. (The site was down for over 24 hours, but it’s up again.) But then…
“WASHINGTON – Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who enjoys widespread support among liberal Democrats, told a gathering on Monday that progressives should embrace both the founding principles of Zionism as well as the inherent justice of the Palestinian cause.
Speaking before a conference held by J Street, a liberal Jewish American organization that primarily lobbies for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, Sanders said that “those of us who support Israel have got to tell the truth about policies that hurt the chances of a peaceful resolution.”
“There is no question that we should be and will be Israel’s very strong friend and partner in years to come,” he said. “But we also need to recognize that the Israeli occupation runs contrary to American values and I believe, Israeli values as well.”
“We need to end this 50 year occupation,” he said.
But Sanders said it was “particularly important” for progressives in the Democratic Party to acknowledge the moral foundation of the Jewish state of Israel – a state that began as a progressive enterprise, he argued. Such an acknowledgment does not contradict the need for an independent and “dignified” Palestinian state.”, jerusalem post
Way to thread the needle, Bernie.
‘Beyond Livability’
life beyond livability is inevitable
like the rainfall
and the winter storms
life inside the walls
is ferocious…stubborn
unstoppable
It grows like dandelions through parched rocks
inevitable
it transcends obstacles
and powers through
like inexorable love
like an irresistible kiss
like the birthing of new life
beyond the statistics
and the rhetoric of hate
inevitable
like the darkness that drapes the homes in the besieged city
listen carefully
two million hearts are beating off rhythm
there is no harmony beyond livability
only the inevitable
beware the inevitable.
~ Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian writer and poet. She contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle.com.
For further background reading:
Jonathan Cook’s ‘Balfour Declaration: How Britain broke its feeble promise to the Palestinians’, 30 October 2017 (Cook writes from Nazareth; his website) He opens with:
“There is more than a little irony in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to attend a “celebration” dinner this week in London with his British counterpart, Theresa May, marking the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
Palestinian objections to the 1917 document are well-known. Britain’s Lord Balfour had no right to promise a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, on the land of another people.
But Israelis have been taught a different history in which they, not the Palestinians, were betrayed.
In 1939, Britain appeared to revoke its pledge, stating “unequivocally” that it would not establish a Jewish state in Palestine. Limits on Jewish immigration were imposed, at a time when Europe’s Jews were fleeing the Nazi Holocaust.
It was for this reason that nearly a quarter of a century ago, in his book A Place Among the Nations, Mr Netanyahu accused Britain of perfidy.
One can understand the reluctance of Israelis today to concede the pivotal role provided by Britain. The Balfour Declaration is an embarrassing reminder that a Jewish state was the fruit of a transparently colonial project.
In fact, Britain assisted the Zionists as best it could, given the need to weigh its imperial interests. Restrictions on immigration were introduced under the severe strain of a three-year armed uprising by Palestinians, determined to prevent their country being given away.”
‘In the Occupied Territory, Two Kinds of Justice’, Stanley L. Cohen, December 25, 2017, counterpunch, including:
“Israel has long preached justice and equality to the world. How often have we heard its mantra about democratic ideals and traditions as so much a unique historical tenet of its travel… a journey for the chosen that get to choose who the beneficiaries are… and are not.
For those of us in the US, either schooled in the classic process of the law or victimized by its aim, we’ve grown spoiled by its safeguards even though they remain but abstract and elusive for those many in the prisoner dock of “wrong” color, with but coins in their pocket or militant politics in their gait.
Yet, despite the betrayal of equal hope for all, the march from investigation to arrest to trial and result knows no formal de jure distinction along the way. Of course, one would be so much a fool to argue that justice is blind, or little more than a commodity for purchase, or the skill of one’s advocate, or the luck of one’s judicial draw. Yet these damning imperfections leave hope along the way that justice may, on occasion, just slip and fall into ones lap despite a long and tarred drop.
That is not the case in Israel. Israel has two systems of justice… one for Jews and the other for Palestinians be they Muslim, Christian or atheist. Nowhere is that more apparent or destructive than it is in the Occupied Territory.”
A two-man blank check AUMF:
(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
I finished reading Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”, which he concludes with numerous examples from psychiatric practice of patients from all sides & levels of involvement in the war in Algeria in the 50’s & 60’s. The chapter is called “Mental Illness & Colonialism,” I think. just harrowing, unbelievable stories. and as part of my “recovery” (from being a US citizen, I guess) I’m sitting in on a class reading a book called “Boundaries” (there are so many books by that name and I can’t remember the author). Now when this book sticks to family & personal relationships, it’s ok as far as it goes. But re work, the author swallows every amount of capitalist bullshit imaginable. The guidance re boundaries with one’s boss can only have been written by someone who never had a job. Not to mention that the ideal emotional state of a human is something at this level:
you know, passions so acceptable that one has every reason to doubt they exist, the kind of date where what’s for dinner is you sticking your head in the oven. what a soul-crushing hell this country is. they were advertising it all along in adverts like this one.
anyway, (focus, Jason!) spending an evening at one of the street feed troughs (if Jesus ever comes back & sees what they are serving in his name, he’ll never stop throwing up.) and chatting with some of the congenitally or otherwise disabled wheelchair bound, I realized that this guy w/pins in his hips from his car accident (can’t say it loud & proud enough, fuck cars) sets off alarms at grocery stores & libraries & gets searched & hassled accordingly b/c he is the enemy, part of the occupied.
Welcome to the occupation. I know I’ve said this before, but Palestine is a test case, perhaps the test case, for dealing with restive populations whose existence is unnecessary. And all the world is watching. All these boundaries…the Target stockboy is not to fall in love with his super, b/c that affects productivity. nor are personal relations to infect the work space, beyond a squirt of the WD40 of civility. You can talk about your co-worker’s puppies all dying at the proper break time. Don’t give some water to a border jumper or handout food to the homeless in the park; it only encourages them and they breed prodigiously. decide for yourself who merits SSDI in your social security rejection, I mean screening, job and lose your job the same day. the rivers, the birds, the air, the bees, the flowers, the stars, etc., recognize none of these boundaries. why, it’s as if this capitalist project is inimical to any wellbeing at all! go figger. we’ve got to stop that Jordan water from recognizing the Palestinians, stop the flow of electricity & medicine too. surely if we build the wall high enough, the butterflies will be discouraged and the stars blocked out. i mean, hath a Gazan eyes? hands, organs, affections, etc.? nope. to quote the director of the World “health” org in 1954 (as found in Fanon): the African does not have a fully-developed frontal cortex. Palestinians ain’t human either.
anyway…
even w/ the hilarious dinner date w/ the family parody (where on earth do you find these things?), your comment’s reduced me to tears, j, even though i admit i’m pretty submerged in grief by fambly troubles. are you the best commenter online? perhaps, but i’m so glad you come here to share and vent.
and yes, i’d had to look up fannon again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanon
more tomorrow when i hope to be more sorted out. i did see a gorgeous red fox trot by last evening; that kinda helped.
love, peace and solidarity forever to you.
from the wiki’s ‘violence’ section of ‘wretched of the earth’, same thing:
“Fanon characterizes the assessment of the native population by the settler class as dehumanizing. The settlers literally do not see the natives as members of the same species. The natives are incapable of ethics and thereby are the embodiment of absolute evil (p. 32) as opposed to the Christian settlers who are forces of good. This is a crucial point for Fanon because it explains two phenomena that occur in the colonial world. The first is the idea that decolonization is the replacement of one population by another, and the second is that since the native knows that they are not animals, they immediately develop a feeling of rebellion against the settler.”
we’d briefly discussed marxist militias in amerika on the paul haeder thread:
“The colonialist bourgeoisie offers non-violence and then compromise as further ways out of the violence of decolonization; these too are mechanisms to blunt and degrade the movement.” (which ballasts his belief that it’s the lumpenproletariat (what a hideous term) that will be the actual revolutionaries.
but in any settler colonization and neo-colonization, war, it’s crucial to paint ‘the enemy’ as subhuman. you may be interested in this essay by diana johnstone; it’s created a bit of a kerfuffle in the 198 comments section. (i’d considered creating a discussion diary out of it.) but the ever odious louis proyect comes into it, and now he’s calling out daniel ortega for his neo-liberalism w/ some of the same odd logic at CP.
and i dug out the tony mckenna piece (very long).
one of the more recent commenters gave this wsws link, and said ‘ah, i get it’ ‘The historical roots of neoconservatism: a reply to a slanderous attack on Trotskyism’ By Bill Vann, 23 May 2003
a commenter at c99% had said of my references to wsws close to: ‘don’t they know the early neo-cons were trotskyites?’ on her own diary that referenced one of mine.
they got these things just laying around the internet. for now anyway. I’ve been watching some mst3k at night as I drift off to la la land of late.
…and Stalin was an oil man who had trained for the priesthood. oh wait. what was my point again? the neocons were Troskyites. lol. until they started getting a paycheck. anyway, adios iran deal. when will Europe say “screw you Uncle Sam”? even just for base monetary interests?
well, good on mst3k to entertain us. the one you’d embedded: i expect they can’t dub commentary over say..father knows best?
ah well, the list wsws provided for the first neo-con trotskyites was great, wasn’t it? but stalin the oilman who’d rained as a priest was..pure art. wish you weren’t being fed what if jesus knew…would gag him half of forever. worse than c rations? of course it must be, as you’d said some of the stuffings and whatnot…weren’t all that bad, considering their age.
stay safe out there, bro, and thanks for popping in as you’re able.
as expected, and breaking: ‘Trump withdraws U.S. from Iran nuclear deal: ‘It didn’t bring peace, and it never will‘, chicago tribune
or: bibi was right! we knew iran lied’
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/05/trump-ends-the-nuclear-deal-with-iran-whats-next.html
Seems to be some activity between Israel and Iranian communications bases in Syria: Israel Launches Air Strike On Syrian Army Position Near Damascus (Zero Hedge).
Just minutes after Israel instructed local authorities in the occupied Golan Heights to “unlock and ready bomb shelters”, after identifying apparent “irregular activity of Iranian forces in #Syria”, and putting Israeli troops on high alert, an Israeli air strike on Syrian army positions was reported after missiles were reportedly fired from Israel above Qunaitra province in Syria, and striking Syrian army positions in the Al-Kissweh region south of Damascus, an industrial with many factories and a suspected Iranian presence.
====
Haaretz: Israel Struck Iranian Missiles Near Damascus to Thwart Imminent Attack From Syria, Reports Say
thanks, greyson; well done. while i was over yonder at c99, i posted a couple similar tweets from raf sanchez above, noting reuters breaking news. god’s blood, bibi just couldn’t wait, could he? no iranian toeholds in syria! he and drumpf and bin salman are gunnin’ for wahabbi supremacy over shiites, eh? same for those subhuman palestinians…
‘thwart imminent attack from syria’: how orwellian, where down is up, pot is kettle, and tra la la. i don’t get the link to twitter platform widget, just a lotta html code, yes?
Yeah, it was added by the machine, apparently doesn’t play well with WordPress.
Yes, you’d think someone *wanted* war in the middle east.
how many more wars in the ME is the Q. bolton wants more, pompeo appears to, see ‘salafist principality’ a few days ago here, bibi sure does w’ help, anyhoo. and how many minutes until midnight is the Doomsday Clock now? criminal insanity.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjI68nBl_faAhUX-GMKHYi-CRQQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ynetnews.com%2Farticles%2F0%2C7340%2CL-4913328%2C00.html&psig=AOvVaw1w7O5DWmCQBCdVOzeAKSdX&ust=1525905594915229
this rootie? ‘When the State of Israel asked the people to help purchase weapons’, ynet news
“In 1955, the Israeli leadership launched a fundraising campaign as part of its arms race with its Arab neighbors. The economic situation and austerity period did not stop the public from donating in great numbers in a bid to reach 25 million Israeli pounds. Would a similar campaign work today? ”
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4913328,00.html
it got kinda tangle up in the links…
and shucks, jacob; i’d watched his interview on TRNN:
i feel a bit badly about it, but i’d rather belatedly cross-posted this diary at c99% (well, the site owner had to do it, since his firefox accommodates easy-copying tweets, mine doesn’t), and i haven’t had the wherewithal to bring some of the good comments. you might want to look over yonder to see what popped.
https://caucus99percent.com/content/bibis-hell-gazans-his-strikes-syria-ts-out-iran-nuke-deal-bottom
additions for posterity: big al had brought a different version than this piece by tony cartalucci from the wayback machine )2011); in this one he adds the massive funding sources: ‘Brookings Institution: “Which Path to Persia?” (or why the west will never make or honor a real deal on iranian nukes)
https://www.activistpost.com/2011/02/brookings-institute-which-path-to.html
“Page 23: Persuasion
The first option on the table is a means to coerce the Iranian government, without regime change, through crippling sanctions verses incentives. The incentives, in turn, seem more a relief from American imposed torment than anything of actual substance.
One incentive in particular is very telling. Brookings suggests “security guarantees” from an American invasion to address the very real concerns that would motivate Iran to construct nuclear weapons in the first place. Brookings notes that concrete action would would be needed by the US in order to fulfill this incentive, including drawing down US forces in the Middle East, a concession Brookings itself admits is highly unlikely over the next several decades.
Brookings interjects at this point, a brazen admission that under no circumstance should the US grant Iran a position of dominance nor should there be any ambiguity about what the US sees as Iran’s role in the region. It is most likely postures like this that have driven Iran to such extremes to protect itself, its interests, and its very sovereignty.
This option of “persuasion” appears to have already played out and failed, both in drawing concessions from Iran through meaningless offers and at marshaling the international support needed to make additional sanctions effective.
Page 65: Total War …:, etc.
we were also talking of israel, the west terrified of the idea that the world is becoming multi-polar, and i’d mentioned pepe escobar’s constant reminders of the mcakinder heartland theory, and how crucial iran is to one belt, one road. while reading b’s piece ‘Trump Ends The Nuclear Deal With Iran – What’s Next?’ and the many comments, many brilliant, this:
@123 karlof1
Nicely said on all points.
Your Alastair Crooke article – yes I did see it at the end of the last thread and just read it. By the way, b links to it in his article here, not very explicitly, but he uses it to make the point that China and Russia are making huge deals with Iran and are now effectively its protectors.
I really like the two maps that Crooke uses to show the tremendously important geopolitical position that Iran occupies in the world geographically. These are a map that shows the 6 economic corridors of the Silk Road, and a map that redraws McKinder’s world into 3 vertical areas, with a core of energy resource producers flanked by Europe and Asia to the west and east, respectively, as energy consumers.
The links to the maps, and the meaning of them as they pertain to Iran, are all in this quote:
Whether one looks at the bold, red, East-West swath of China’s massive ‘Road and Corridor’ sprawling across Eurasia (see here); or, look at Russia’s vertical, ‘McKinderesque’, heartland of energy producers (see here), stretching from the Arctic, through Russia to the Middle East, supplying the consumers to the East on one side and to the west, on the other, one thing stands out clearly: Iran, and the northern tier of the Middle East, lie smack in the middle of both maps. But just to be clear: these may be articulated as mainly trade and energy projects – but they are primordially political-cultural projects too.
These two visions – the Chinese map and the Russian – are complementary. One highlights resource influence, and the other, its flows and the concomitant economic fecundity likely to arise from the flow of energy and the ebb of manufactured goods along this corridor. In this northern sphere of the Middle East, it is Russia that has diplomatic and security ‘heft’ – and not America. In this northern tier, it is China that has economic and influence ‘heft’ – and not America.
– Is Israel Readying for War? (alistair crookie monster) with maps.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/05/07/is-israel-readying-for-war.html
It doesn’t matter much if the US leaves the Iran agreement, as others have commented. It is a further isolation of the US and that’s a good thing. I think as Crooke explains, Israel knows it can’t really fight Iran, but would scheme to draw the US into a war. I have serious doubts that the US would enter one, personally. As Crooke points out, Trump needs to win the mid-terms or the Democrats will impeach him – but whether this means staying out or plunging in, I can’t say.
I am continually amazed at the US’s ability to diminish itself, and Trump seems like a god-send for this. But it’s not the US – Israel is similarly shrinking, and Europe. It’s a function of the tides of history and hubris mixing in a King Canute kind of result, but I don’t have the words at the moment to describe it further.
Posted by: Grieved | May 8, 2018 11:23:56 PM
also, breaking news (and the media bringing it are hilariously of different constructions), this is RT: ‘Syrian territory shelled from Israeli-occupied Golan Heights – state media’, 9 May, 2018 21:30
https://www.rt.com/news/426300-israel-syria-golan-shelling/
BREAKING – Syrian forces strike back at Israel in major escalation May 9, Al Sura
Today Israel began a coordinated attack on Al Qunityra which hit Syrian positions. Local Syrian commanders issued order of retaliation and began launching rockets and artillery strikes on Israeli positions in Golan.
Syrian retaliation artillery strikes began via the 137th Regiment of the 7th Mechanized Division first hitting Israeli forward outpost on Al Sheikh Mountain near the Golan Heights which was then responded to by Israel via attack on Khan Arnabeh with artillery as well.
Syrian forces then began using 120mm grad rocket launchers to target several positions across the Golan heights which triggered air-raid sirens in the region and Israeli authorities mobilized locals to bomb-shelters.
Following these strikes Israel launched aircraft over Lebanon and fired cruise missiles towards Damascus. Syrian air defense is currently engaging targets over Damascus, no confirmed hits in the capital have occured.
Continued exchange of fire between the warring factions has followed and Israeli authorities have readied a large attack on Syrian air-defense and communication systems in the South East regions.
===
Al Sura is also reporting as follows, though neither the NYT or WaPo has this at this writing:
===
Al Sura is tweeting the play-by-play.
… Also, Al Arabiya: Jubeir: Saudi Arabia will seek nuclear weapon if Iran does
So it’s an arms race! How exciting!
oh, lordie, greyson smythe. what sort of mojo comes w/ your comments that i get half of them via email, but can’t access even the ones on the comment screen? took me more than half an hour to free them, and i couldn’t in the platform that seemed to work earlier. but: dunno sura; ya figure they’re close to honest brokers of news? i tried to track them down via twitter, and location seemed to be…new york?
as to your next comment, lulz, but my guess is that saudi arabia already has nukes, and is playing tit-for-tat rather coyly. (veterans today posited some theories i’d found: pakistan ready to ship, but aside from that)
but oy, bibi, trump, and the clown prince seem to have fomented what they (kinda sorta) want. god’s blood, i feel so tired of war and no peace. you?
Yes, peace would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Not sure of the provenance of Al Sura, but they were more reliable than some other places the last time the middle east heated up. At least they aren’t claiming it’s Iran that’s attacking Israel.
However, this is recently posted; maybe it’d be a good proxy for reliability if confirmed.
White House List of Demands: President Donald J. Trump is Ending United States Participation in an Unacceptable Iran Deal
[…]
President Trump is making clear that, in addition to never developing a nuclear weapon, the Iranian regime must:
Never have an ICBM, cease developing any nuclear-capable missiles, and stop proliferating ballistic missiles to others.
Cease its support for terrorists, extremists, and regional proxies, such as Hizballah, Hamas, the Taliban, and al-Qa’ida.
End its publicly declared quest to destroy Israel.
Stop its threats to freedom of navigation, especially in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
Cease escalating the Yemen conflict and destabilizing the region by proliferating weapons to the Houthis.
End its cyber-attacks against the United States and our allies, including Israel.
Stop its grievous human rights abuses, shown most recently in the regime’s crackdown against widespread protests by Iranian citizens.
Stop its unjust detention of foreigners, including United States citizens.
fuck, if it’s not clear that the list was dictated by bibi and avigdor lieberman… the times one, and many others, are claiming that bibi got putin to agree to staying out of it, as it was a fight between iran and israel. now russian jets scrambling? is the truth out there? dunno, never heard of al sura, but i’ll trust you on that. sana eng has next to nothing. but here’s RT, and i tried six ways from sunday to grab a link to the video. awesome deconstruction of the mad war criminal yellow hair’s upside down world.
‘28 Israeli jets fired about 60 rockets in overnight strikes on Syria – Russian MoD’, 10 May, 2018 08:49
https://www.rt.com/news/426328-israel-28-jets-syria/
Times Of Israel: After alleged Iranian barrage, Israel launches massive counterattack in Syria
IDF warns Syrian military not to interfere as it pummels Iranian targets in largest direct exchange between Jerusalem, Tehran
this about sums up western media coverage:
This is getting much worse fast.
https://www.vox.com/2018/5/10/17338966/iran-israel-syria-attack-golan-heights-war-conflict
well it sure is, jacob. but vox seemed to accept all the idf’s take on it, including as fact that ‘iran’ had launched missiles into…x. looks as though they’d had to correct the original story, kinda forgetting that the golan heights is not israel, but israeli occupied as of the 67 war, iirc. the ‘rhouhani says’ link went to afp on twitter, and at least they used ‘alleged’ once. but oy, that subtweets were viciously anti-iranian.
the vox piece mentioned that ‘oddly’ bahrain endorsed bibi’s ‘counter-attacks’, which they of course weren’t. but remember, bahrain is about 25% sunni ruling over 75% shia, AND home to the us fifth fleet, all of their military gear is…Uian. and when there was a kinda sorta arab spring there in 2011, the sauds came to help bahrain crush the shia uprising, although how large it was…i’ve forgotten.
pretty sick shit that bibi says he wants ‘iran gone’ (later to ‘give up its sovereignty’, whatever that means. replaced by a western-ksa-israeli-approved junta or something? but srrsly, tehran would have to be mad to launch missiles at the golan heights, no? esp. now that tehran is looking to find non-amerikan allies to still support the nuclear deal. oh, which reminds me: merkel also approved of the iranian strikes, according t the guardian, iirc.
who knows where putin/russia is on all this, really? most reports clam that bibi’d told putin in moscow on v-day that he’d strike ‘iranian positions’, and half indicated that putin understood. i’d sure like to hear from lavrov soon.
but this rout of iran has been in the cards since PNAC days (the wesley clark story of the memo counting the nations to be destroyed). (well, actually since the overthrow of mossadegh, but more recently). i wish i could remember more of what the good video you’d brought contained, but yep, salafist principalities everywhere! and fuck trump and what he’s wrought. if you have time, do watch the video at RT i linked to above. and was that the link i’d asked up yonder if you’d been trying to bring?
insanity, criminal insanity.