Back in 1993, settlements were, for the most part, confined to hilltops, with Israeli settlers considered to be fringe. Far from being ostracized, today, some Israel’s largest cities are settlements, settlers have taken over homes in the heart of Palestinian towns and settlers command positions on the Israeli cabinet and on the Supreme Court. In short, settlers are the norm, not the exception. Today, Israeli settlers speak openly about annexing the West Bank or expelling Palestinians.
I am often asked why the negotiations process failed. It is easy to point to the rise of right-wing Israeli governments, poor leadership or weak or uninterested U.S. presidents. But the real reason for failure lie beyond these factors.
It is because the parties should not have started negotiating in the first place.
To demand that Palestinians - living under Israeli military rule - negotiate with their occupier and oppressor is akin to demanding that a hostage negotiate with their hostage taker. It is repugnant that the world demands that Palestinians negotiate their freedom, while Israel continues to steal Palestinian land. Instead, Israel should have faced sanctions for continuing to deny Palestinians their freedom while building illegal settlements.
Twenty-five years later, rather than living the joys of freedom, we mark each day, by thinking about how to maneuver the maze of Israel’s more than 500 checkpoints, put in place to accommodate Israeli settlements, just to be able to get to work or to school. A 25 year-old in the West Bank has likely never been able to visit the sea - a few miles away - while a 25 year-old in Gaza has never been able to leave the Gaza Strip, to visit friends and family in the West Bank and Jerusalem or even abroad.
1 day there will be peace but not while we're dishonest and pretend like the palestinians have not been targeted and victimized.
and they continue to be victimized.
U.S. decision to cut UN aid to Palestinians is not a formula for peace http://dlvr.it/Qk4yzt @GlobeDebate
We stand with 22 other organizations that are deeply concerned by the Trump administration’s decision to stop funding programs that meet the basic needs of Palestinians at a time of acute suffering brought on by years of conflict and isolation.
- These olive trees are the primary source of income for Palestinian families. So by burning the trees and increasing the attacks on Palestinians, they are destroying whatever is left of the Palestinian economy #IsraelCrimes Good night #World
- The Oslo Accords were signed 25 years ago today. Even as America's luvvies erupted in self-congratulation, Edward Said said it was a disaster for Palestinians. He was incredibly prescient — it's well worth reading everything he wrote, linked here https://interc.pt/2MsUC4A
let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Iraq is to halve the quantity of crops planted next year due to water shortages, climate change & drought. It’s becoming an environmental disaster zone.
I've cut out the link in Liz Sly's Tweet -- and done so for a reason. The story was broken by REUTERS. Liz isn't linking to REUTERS, she's linking to VOA -- VOICE OF AMERICA. First, it's insulting when one outlet breaks the news for a journalist to not link to them. Second, no one should be linking to VOA.
Until 2013, VOA was forbidden to broadcast over US airwaves in the United States because it is propaganda (from 1948 to 2013). The US Congress made that decision. VOA exists to distort news and spin it in ways to influence a foreign audience. Congress did not want the American people to be misled, victimized, exposed to, etc, fake news.
In this time of concern -- or supposed concern -- over fake news, no journalist for a US publication should be linking to VOA.
If you wanted to hear VOA in the US prior to the internet, you had to listen to a short wave radio because, again, it was forbidden to broadcast in the US -- by US law, VOA was forbidden to broadcast in the US. The controversial and highly emotional US House Rep Adam Smith is among those responsible for allowing VOA to now broadcast in the US. (Yet again, the Adam Smiths gave up American freedom in the name of combating 'terrorism.')
Liz Sly is not an American citizen and may not be well versed on VOA as a result. But she is writing for a US outlet and especially in an age of real or feigned concern over fake news, reporters for US outlets should not be linking to VOA.
Staying with the topic of propaganda, Michael Rubin. The AEI scribbler has a piece at THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER where he pretends to address why Iraqis might not be big voters. It's an ahistorical look at the post-2003 invasion. It leaves out many things but one of the things that soured Iraqis on voting was 2010 and Rubin doesn't mention that. In March 2003, Iraqis turned out to vote and they thought they voted out thug Nouri al-Maliki. His slate came in second to Ayad Alawi's Iraqiya. But Nouri refused to step down. For over eight months, he refused to step down and brought the country to a standstill. Instead of siding with the Iraqi voters, the US government overturned their votes with the US negotiated Erbil Agreement -- a legal contract that gave Nouri a second term. This is not insignificant, it's actually very major.
With no proof and driven by their own delusional fantasies, some Hillary Clinton supporters continue to scream the Russia impacted the 2016 election in some manner. Then-US President Barack Obama overturned the votes of the Iraqi people in 2010.
When not distorting history, Rubin grabs the pom-poms for Hayder al-Abadi. It may be a futile effort.
The end is near for Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's U.S.-friendly leader
TIME notes:
The Dawa party, which Abadi
belongs to, has led Iraq since the first post-U.S. invasion government
in 200. Many Iraqis, even in Dawa’s Shi’ite support base, are frustrated
with the government’s inability to provide basic services under the
party. Some local media and activists likened Dawa’s long, dominant rule
to that of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party.
Frustration was already evident
in May’s parliamentary elections. Voter turnout was at the lowest it’s
been since the toppling of Saddam and Mansour says many Iraqis felt
their votes were worth little in the country’s current political
environment. Despite dropping in popularity, it seemed Abadi would get
another term as prime minister—thanks to Iraq’s fractured, top-heavy
political system.
Both the bloc headed by militia
leader Hadi al-Amari, who is close with Iran, and the bloc of Shi’ite
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has preached against both U.S. and Iranian
influence, won more seats than Abadi.
Also weighing in are Ahmed Rasheed and Rava Jalabi (REUTERS):
The United States backed Abadi because it saw him as a moderate who could stabilize a country beset by sectarian, turbulent politics. But Washington may have miscalculated, cultivating no alternatives.
The collapse of Abadi’s candidacy would reduce the U.S. sway over politics in Iraq, where it competes with Iran. Tehran has steadily increased its influence in the country since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Hayder's had four years (after being installed by Barack Obama) and he's accomplished nothing.
In a desperate bid to be seen as doing something, his office Tweeted the following this morning:
The @IraqiGovt is implementing wide-ranging reforms to Iraq’s electricity sector to end outages and provide reliable and efficient power to homes businesses across the country
The protests kicked off in Basra in July. For some reason, the western press is unable to document killings and keep hitting the snooze button. There are over 70 protesters who have been killed since July. The efforts to keep this information from news consumers is shameful. The protests did not start days ago or just two weeks ago. The count starts with the first one killed. Shame on the western press.
Fortunately, there are other options to the corporate controlled media.
Had the chance to meet and discuss #Basrah issues with the first female joining the protestors in Basrah... great work to be done together soon #Basraprotests #iraqprotests #Twitterkurds
A hopeless arrest campaign began in #Basra with the arrival of security reinforcement. Protests will continue everyday, launching from Al-Arosah Roundabout at 4:30PM. After Monday, September 24, 2018, civil disobedience will begin in #Basrah Province. #BasraProtests #البصرة_تنتفض
Civil Disobedience: After Monday September 24, 2018:
1) Protesters will close roads & entrances leading to #Basra oil fields.
2) Protesters will close #Basrah ports & strategic highways.
3) Protesters will kick out foreign workers from the province.
#BasraProtests #البصرة_تنتفض
Warnings: Protesters...
1) Warned against vandalism & promised to hand culprits to the authorities.
2) Instructed the protection of private & public property with the exception of political party offices.
3) Warned against insulting security forces.
#BasraProtests #البصرة_تنتفض
Lastly: Protesters warned #Basra Provincial Government from using the new Ports Building as its headquarters of operation, considering the amount of public funds robbed would be enough to finance a new building far away from the sight of protesters.
#BasraProtests #البصرة_تنتفض
So much of the story is not being told by the western press.
The following community sites -- plus NPR MUSIC and Cindy Sheehan -- updated:
I like Norm McDonald
6 hours ago
Diabetes and censorship
6 hours ago
Look who's Tweeting
6 hours ago
Rescuing history
6 hours ago
Flushing the John (McCain)
6 hours ago
The media was in on it
7 hours ago
We need a Department of Peace
7 hours ago
