In an apparent attempt to display how much they care about children, US officials have urged Israel to use "smaller bombs" to kill the Palestinians trapped in Gaza Hamas bad guys. Why use 1,000 and 2,000-lb bombs on one Hamas leader when so many of the thousands of human bodies being destroyed are so little, so innocent and so defenseless?
The use of tot-sized bombs is among the "concrete suggestions" in Secretary of State Antony Blinken's bag of "humanitarian" tricks. Itsy- bitsy bombs will, they seem to think, put a kinder, gentler face on the genocide that has so far killed an estimated 10,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The use of two 2,000-lb bombs on a refugee camp near Gaza City was such a waste of weaponry, the usual anonymous US officials dished to the New York Times:
"American military officials say that the smaller bombs are much better suited to the dense urban environments of Gaza. But Israel has over the years built up stocks of larger bombs, intended mostly to target hardened Hezbollah military positions in Lebanon.
The United States is now trying to send more of the smaller bombs to Israel, said the senior military official. If the United States can get those smaller munitions to Israel, American officials hope Israel will use them to mitigate the risk to civilians."
"Trying to send" is an implicit warning to the small but increasing number of congress-critters who are demanding a ceasefire, while the more pro-Israel bipartisan majority are wasting time by bickering over whether to bundle military aid for Israel and Ukraine in one mega-war package. Unless these politicians can all come together, Israel will be forced to use its larger bombs. And then they won't be able to hide all those unsightly craters from the prying eyes of that pesky antiwar crowd.
Meanwhile, the State Department, as required by law, notified Congress that Israel had purchased a huge arsenal of assault rifles directly from the US manufacturers of the weapons. The US is now pretending to demand that these assault weapons be reserved for the Israeli military and police, and that they not get into the hands of settlers to drive Palestinians away from their West Bank homes.
Given that Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvyr had already ordered 10,000 rifles to be distributed to Israeli civilians to aid in the government's genocide, the concern-trolling by the White House and State Department is a pathetic joke, given that the malign purpose of the Weapons sale was publicly broadcast a full month ago by Ben-Gvyr:
"We will turn the world upside down so that towns are protected. I have given instructions for massively arming the civilian security teams to provide solutions for towns and cities, and so as not to leave towns unprotected,”
Back on the home front, Joe Biden finally traveled to Maine to concern-troll the latest mass shooting by an assault rifle-armed and mentally disturbed member of the United States military. Biden's repeated pleas for domestic gun control legislation are falling exceedingly flat, given that the US is by far the biggest arms dealer the world has ever known. And that Biden had bragged in his Oval Office speech about the boon to Wall Street and the weapons industry that his two wars provide.
As far as official concern for the children goes, let's just say it's as fake over here as it is over there. Here, we should consider ourselves lucky that for now anyway, most of us live under a de facto policy of eugenics, or Social Darwinism.
Since Biden officially declared the Covid public health emergency to be over last spring, more than two million American children have been kicked off their Medicaid health care coverage. That's on top of the millions of American families with children getting their emergency SNAP (food aid) benefits slashed while grocery prices keep surging higher every week.
In a few weeks, officials said, a minimum of three million American children will be uninsured. It's the highest rate of uninsured children in this country in many decades, and it's only expected to get worse.
It's one more reason for us to keep filling our streets with protest and outrage. All of us, all over this world, are in this together. Cruelty is only a matter of degree. There is so much suffering, and so little time
15 comments:
Yup, any bomb bigger than a baby is a waste of explosives. Besides, smaller bombs can be dropped by cheap drones.
Bibi the Baby Killer is now ordering daily 4 hr coffee breaks/nap time for his baby-killing troops, giving them needed respite from defending themselves from all the dangerous starving babies who make them feel so unsafe. Holocausts are so exhausting.
Unbelievable that the U.S. and Israel think they can soften what they are doing to the Palestinians by slowing down the ferocity of the slaughter. It is hard for me to believe that people in the U.S. and Europe are blind to what is going on - Social Media is awash with the truth and the protests seem large and strong.
I have read that Biden is getting nervous as his approval ratings are going down. Maybe even the party faithful, like Jews for Peace, will make it known that their loyalty has limits. Let's hope that we still have enough of a democracy left that we, the little people, have some small sway with our political overlords. And let us hope that all those evil followers of Netanyahu in the U.S. Congress are purged come election time.
@VLT
As I stated in an earlier post which I will not repeat here, I found the Blumenthal/Mate video to be utterly unconvincing. Some of us can understand the difference between 6,000,000 dead and 10,000, IF the latter number is even truthful.
Following the brutal butchering in a sneak attack of 1,400 of its innocent civilians, Israel entered into a state of WAR with Hamas, based in Gaza, with Hamas given aid and comfort by Gazan citizens. At the very least, Gazans turned a blind eye to Hamas’ activities.
In war, civilians often die; unfortunate but true. Look at Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or the London blitz, for that matter. But the Gazan civilians may be rather less “innocent” than those who died in these WW II bombings.
Still, these do NOT represent “Holocausts,” no matter how often you repeat that it does. They are unfortunate acts of war that are of an entirely different order of magnitude than the “original” Holocaust.
@ Anonymous,
Since you have joined the discussion, I would ask that you adopt a unique handles so as to distinguish yourself from other anonymous posters. I welcome differing viewpoints and will not censor anybody as long as the debate remains respectful.( Thanks!
The only people who are buying into the "Israel is a Victim" rhetoric (and don't criticize Israel.) are the ones espousing it. They are not convincing anyone.
I am very encouraged to see so many Jewish people - highly intelligent, compassionate people - making it clear, Zionism isn't Judaism. It is a sect driven by political and financial ambition. Just ask the Hassidic Jews who are bravely, peacefully protesting the Holocaust on the Palestinians.
Israeli apologists can demand that we use buffered language to hide their perfidy, but the truth is out - the ugliness is out there for all to see and people are repelled.
I think the Israeli apologists who are offended by the use of the term "Holocaust" are just mad that they don't own the word and through Israel's actions, can no longer define themselves as the only victims of terror and thuggery and genocide in the Developed World.
@annenigma & @VLT
First, @annenigma, thank you for the lesson regarding the etymology of the word “holocaust.” When I think of that word, I guess that I automatically capitalize the letter “H” as there really was only one Holocaust (Upper case “H”) . My mistake. However, the word, used with a lower case “h” has general applications. But moving on:
Once one gets past the flowery and repetitive language of Hamas’ charter of 1988, it becomes clear that Hamas has its own little holocaust (lower case “h”) cooked up for Israel and the world’s Jews. A few selected quotes:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it”
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.”
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
Or, “in President Biden’s words, [Hamas seeks] ’the destruction of the State of Israel and the murder of Jewish people.’”
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/hamas-words-and-deeds
If, in fact, Israel is perpetrating a holocaust in Gaza, then it is doing so in self-defense. The Gazans have either actively helped Hamas over the last 30+ years, or at least turned a blind eye to its activities. There are no “innocents” in Gaza, and so the Palestinians get no sympathy from me.
Unless Israel cares to submit to many more 10/7s, what else can it do but totally destroy its enemy of long standing?
I’m open to suggestions, but I doubt that either I or Israel will find them acceptable.
And no, @Valerie, I don’t think the Israelis perceive themselves as “victims.” I think they see themselves as avenging angels. And so do I.
I’ll repeat the quote from Noam Chomsky (The Fateful Triangle, end of Ch. 4) that I used in my earlier post:
“The conflict over Palestine has sometimes been depicted as ‘right against right,’ an arguable—and in [Chomsky’s] view, defensible—proposition, though naturally not one that the Palestinians are likely to accept as morally valid. It is not clear that there is much to be gained by pursuing this question. Israel is a reality, a fact that few now contest despite supporters and apologists. The same obviously cannot be said for the Palestinians, whose right to national self-determination is denied by the leaders of the rejectionist camp, Israel and the Unites States, whose power is dominant in the region.” (My bold emphasis.)
Israel is, indeed, a reality. In fact, it’s a nuclear-armed reality. If you want to see a REAL holocaust, push Israel to the breaking point by seriously threatening its dissolution or destruction.
@Valerie
Agree with everything you've said.
Thank God for social media where we can connect with the Wise Ones around the world. There seems to be dearth in the USA.
Re: Australian Caitlin Johnstone. She's an inspiration. I too am committed to being a witness to this Holocaust no matter how painful. My hair is falling out in droves and I'm having a flare-up of my autoimmune disorder due to the stress of absorbing it all, but I can't turn away. I wish I could do something to stop it and it tears at my heart that I can't.
Other people who I highly recommend are Clare Daly, Irish member of the European Parliament. Her fiery speeches can be found on YouTube and elsewhere. Ditto for Scottsman George Galloway, former British MP who is also eloquent and truly impressive. Both are extremely knowledgeable and stay fully grounded in reality no matter how ugly things get.
@Anonymous Secundus -- The 'Peace & Security' chapter of the 1999 Likud Party Platform rejects a Palestinian state.
"The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river."
So it is not a Charter or Constitution, but it is written and guides Israel.
For example, on 16 March 2015, Netanyahu stated in the affirmative, that if he were elected, a Palestinian state would not be created.
Of course, he has also said the opposite, in English, when dealing with Americans. But those are just lies, something he does constantly.
Whether a "holocaust" or "genocide," it cannot be "justified" by anything. There is no valid argument, just statements urging vast crimes against persons, and so outside the scope of "free speech."
@Annenigma
I love Claire and George! I also like Mick Wallace.
And, yes, thank God for social media and being able to communicate with like-minded strangers - who end up as friends of a sort - and the Internet so that we aren't chained to government propaganda - AKA the Legacy Media / MSM.
@Anonymous Secundus
Point taken - I will now use a lower case h when I call what is going on in Israel as a holocaust and reserve the upper case H for the European Holocaust which was much bigger.
I would like to make one point, the Nazis first just wanted to move the Jews out of Germany. When they had no where to move them, that is when they turned to the Final Solution. Sound familiar? This is exactly what the Zionists are doing. If they can't sweep the Palestinians along to Egypt (which is far too poor and far too small to absorb so many desperate refugees) the Zionists are willing to kill them. So ask, are YOU willing to call this a genocide? Because that is what it is.
And there are two things about this holocaust which disturb me above the others. One, the role of the United States and the eagerness with which our elected representatives are willing to participate in the genocide through financial support and political cover. And Two, Zionist Israel wants the status of being part of the Developed/First World - to be the shining light of Democracy in the Middle East set apart from its Muslim neighbours - yet it acts like Rwanda and then pouts when it is criticised for its ferocious behaviour and attitude.
I agree with Col Lawrence Wilkerson, Zionist Israel won't exist twenty years from now - and it has only itself to blame. I only feel saddened that the peace-loving Israeli's have to pay the price for this vicious regime. They deserve the right to exist and to live in the place of their choosing alongside peace loving Palestinians. Many of these decent and courageous people are like the Whites who stood up for the Blacks in the South. They suffer ridicule and even their lives being in danger. - While Netanyahu hides in a bunker with his family and personal chef.
@Anonymous Secunda
And one more thing, Biden's words come straight from the Zionist Israeli lobby which pays him handsomely for his loyalty. Quote Noam all you like - But Joe?
And no one is saying that Israel doesn't have a right to exist. It just doesn't have the right to be racist and use the same language about the Palestinians that the Nazis used against the Jews. It doesn't have the right to imprison them in what looks pretty much like a Concentration Camp. It doesn't have the right to drop bombs on innocent people in hospitals or on those fleeing for their lives. I remember a scene from Shindler's List where a Nazi guard in a concentration camp was shooting Jews for the fun of it. That is what the Settlers and the ADL are doing.
We all agreed that it was wrong when it was done to the Jews of Europe and we agree now that it is wrong when done by the Zionists to the Palestinian people. Never Again means never again to anyone - not just to Jews.
Holocaust:Aryan:holocaust:Zionist
White Supremacy by any other name still smells the same - like death.
Former British MP George Galloway has come to the conclusion today that what Israel is doing goes way beyond ethnic cleansing and genocide. It's a HOLOCAUST.
You know, the only comfort I take as I witness this genocide is that it has revealed - once and for all - that Zionism should not be confused with Judaism (and therefore, has lost the right to be the victim and to hide behind the Holocaust). That Israel is a disgusting Apartheid regime (as Jimmy Carter claimed - and was excoriated for - all those years ago)- And that this endless battle with the Palestinians isn't about Israel's right to exist and Israelis to be safe, but is instead all about money, land and power.
History will know Israel for the horrible country it is. Col Lawrence Wilkerson, another person I greatly admire for his wisdom, intelligence and integrity, believes that Israel - as it is - won't exist in twenty years.
Let's hope he is right.
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