Blog For Palestine

So I stumbled on this article in the International Herald Tribune by Tom Segev called “What if Israel had turned back?“  The article itself is uninteresting - the old Israel was forced to occupy Palestinian land story - c’mon give me a break.  I’ve seen opinion pieces written by retarded chihuahuas that are more inspired and possibly more convincing.  What actually caught my attention is the opening line:

Forty years ago, on the morning of June 5, 1967, Jordan launched an artillery attack on the Israeli part of Jerusalem. In reaction, Israel conquered the Arab sections of the city as well as the West Bank.

Hmmm, one would think by reading this deliberately misleading opening paragraph, that the 1967 war was started by Jordan.  Maybe they did, wait let me check my history books…  Nope, history hasn’t changed while I was on vacation, Israel was the one that started the war by attacking Egypt under the pretense that Egypt was a threat.  Oh wait, it says here that Begin later said the even that wasn’t true and that Egypt wasn’t even a threat and the Israelis simply wanted to attack for strategic reasons.

In light of these facts I’d like to suggest a couple of alternative title for this article, I think they might be more accurate?

• What if the media stops spreading lies?
• What if reporters try honesty every once in a while?
• What if we replace all the opinion page writers with retarded chihuahuas?
• What if Tom Segev stops being a total douche bag?

Azmi Bishara speaks, need I say more…

I love the ISM as much as I hate the Arab masses that can do nothing but fail us. The ISM is launching a Lebanon Solidarity Campaign. They are planning to organize a convoy to deliver badly needed supplies to the Lebanese South. Their courage and committment humbles all of us.

Does anybody think that Huwaida Arraf would be willing to marry me. I know she’s already married to a much better man that I can ever dream to be, but maybe she can just take me as part of her Harem. Or maybe I can just make her coffee and bake her cookies. Anything…

-Tineen

So I just came across a post on the angry arab’s site which said the following:

To the Arab masses: are you breathing? Just making sure. I have some Danish cartoons if you want me to wake you up.

I gotta tell you guys, I read that and I just couldn’t help but feel sick to the stomach. It’s not that I didn’t realize that the Arab street was useless but when you contrast what’s happenning now with what happened during the Danish cartoons debacle you realize that they are not only useless but also retarded. I think I had blocked out the whole Danish cartoon thing because I was so disgusted with it. But now I am disgusted and angry.

I’m sick of religion. I’m sick of these assholes caring more about a book or a magical trinket than about other people. I’m sick of people who don’t think for themselves and who are directed like sheep. How could the whole Arab world be moved by a cartoon that most of them didn’t even see and not be moved by the pictures of children being massacred every day. Why don’t you go out and revolt in the street. Smash up a Starbucks or two, how about a McDonald’s, camp outside the Israeli embassy and don’t budge until the fucking embassador is gone. You people are garbage. Every person that found their way to the street to protest the cartoons but is staying home right now is total garbage.

If I burn your Bible or your Quran is that more important than a whole family being burned to death in their car as they flee southern lebanon. Will you hate me more if I eradicate a whole population of if I draw a picture of Muhammad giving Jesus a big kiss on the lips. The fact is I want you to hate me, because the reality is that I hate you more than you can imagine.

You know what’s really sick, Israel knows that you people are without a shred of humanity. Isreal will never touch a single religious symbol and at the same time they will go on massacring Palestinians and Lebanese. They know the slumbering Arab masses will stay asleep through the daily massacres. The only way Israel would risk some Arab response is if an Israeli flushes a Quran down a toilet. What a sad world we live in.
Fucking Losers.

-Tineen

Paul Larudee, in an article on Counterpunch, posits that Israel today is trying to realize the vision of Ben Gurion who believed that Israel’s natural northern border should be the Litani river. He points to attacks against civilian targets and the repeated massacres as a means of causing mass evacuation, the largest in the region since 1948, and thus clearing the way for Israeli settlements. He also points to cutting of roads and bridges to the south as a means of delineating an area of future Israeli control. All of this mirrors the actions taken by the Zionist forces leading up to the creation of Israel, sans the Palestinians.

I’m not sure if this theory provides a complete explanation behind Israel’s motivation for engaging in this barbaric assault, something that the author acknowledges. But I do concede is that there is a very good likelyhood that there are some in Israel who subscribe to this belief whether consciously or unconsciously. Expansionism is woven into the fabric of Israeli society and implanted into their psyches and it’s unlikely that they will divorce themselves from expansionist dreams since their very existance is based on usurping land from others.

I think a more reasonable explanation for Israel’s actions is to understand that their are several competing and intersecting interests, motivations and obsessions. Expansionism is definitely one of them, along with an out of control military-industrial complex both in Israel and the US, an ideology of racial supremacy and untouchability, as well as the Iran-oil theory proposed by Juan Cole and a few others.

Whatever the reality is, let’s just hope that we don’t have to launch a right of return campaign for the south lebanese refugee in the coming years.

-Tineen

I think we should let Hugo Chavez run Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.  He seems to be the only one willing to take a concrete stand on the current Israeli agression.  He’s not ideal by any measure but he would definitely be an improvement over the pieces of garbage currently in power there.  By pulling the ambassador and now threatening to sever relations he is, along with the popular sentiment in Venezuela, saying that what Israel is doing is criminal and therefore cannot be ignored.

-Tineen

So we had an ADC meeting today.  We went through the list of proposed projects that I had previously put together.  We’ve settled on the following:

1. Round of meetings with Representatives and Senators
2. Candidate Questionnaires to be translated into a voter guide
3. A week of Political/Media action to be organized and launched.  This week will be preceded by a large community event to involve and motivate

Things are going to happen quickly over the next couple of weeks, I’ll try to keep you updated.

-Tineen

In this article on Counterpunch Virginia Tilley tells why it’s now time to make the boycott of Israel a reality.  She lays out the primary reasons, the strategies and the real goals.  I cannot agree more with everything that she says.

Until recently I have completely ignored the varying Boycott calls; for example to my own shame and to that of my family, I was seldom seen without a Starbucks cup.  This has ended there is no more Starbucks for me, besides Seattle has much better coffee than Starbucks, Cafe Vita absolutely rocks.  But beyond my relationship with Starbucks, there needs to be a serious effort around mobilizing people to join the Boycott campaign against all Israeli goods, and US companies that support Israel.  There also need to be efforts around Academic and Tourism Boycotts.  Finally Divestment needs to be worked into this whole thing.

Is everyone on board?

-Tineen

So the basic website (www.seattlearabamericans.net) is ready to go.  I have filled out all the sections, the goals and strategies for each group, and created a subscription list for the site.  The next step are to identify a series of short term and long term projects to adopt into this effort.  I’m getting together with a bunch of people today to brainstorm a bunch of ideas.  I already have a few ideas that I’m planning to run by them.

-Tineen

From Beirut… to those who love us