The New Litmus Test

The New Litmus Test

by C.A. Matthews 

As the US November election day rolls around, the question as to whom to vote for haunts me. Often times, I only vote on the issues on the ballot (such as Ohio’s Issue 1 allowing abortion care without government interference) and skip voting for any candidates for office. I just leave those boxes blank. If I don’t agree with a candidate's stances, and if I don’t agree where their particular political party stands on any of the issues, then I’m not wasting my time or vote on them. It’s as simple as that.

It makes for a pretty quick voting process. I used to feel a tinge of guilt at leaving so many races without a check mark, but not so much anymore. If a candidate doesn’t prove to me that they deserve my vote, they don’t get it. If neither one of the usual two candidates running for the same office deserve a vote, neither one gets mine. None of this “lesser evil” voting nonsense for me! 

I’ve always found it odd that some believe politics is some kind of card game that forces you to play a card whether you want to or not. If a person is undeserving of office, then they’re undeserving. They don’t need my vote endorsing their inadequacy.

Five-time socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs said it well:

“It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.”

With next year being another one of those “most important election of our lives” (to paraphrase an overused soundbite), most American voters will feel obligated to tick a box for at least president, senator, and/or governor. My take is that presidential or gubernatorial elections are no different than off-year ones. Candidates I don’t approve of one-hundred percent don’t get my vote.

If a write-in space is provided, I might write in a name of someone I feel who is deserving. If third party candidates make it to the ballot (and in this state, that is extremely difficult), I give them a look-see and check out their party’s stances. I investigate all independents’ stances as well.

But who is deserving? I hear you ask. Good question. In the past I’d go through a long list of issues that were very important to me—such as universal health care, UBI, supporting the switch to clean energy sources, and guaranteed food and housing for all—and find out where a candidate stood on these basic issues. Sometimes this is easy, as candidates often will make stump speeches and give interviews detailing exactly where they stand.

If a candidate belongs to a particular political party, I will study their take on the issues and compare and contrast it to the candidate’s take. Nine times out of ten candidates will repeat exactly what the party bosses tell them to say. That one out of ten time they don’t, further research usually shows that they are acting like a “maverick” and are simply pretending not to go along with the party’s platform on that particular subject in order to get voters’ attention.

If a candidate is running for re-election, their voting record generally gives their worthiness or unworthiness away. It’s more like 9.9 times out of 10 a candidate running in an establishment party will vote the way they’re instructed to by party bosses no matter what the candidate actually verbalizes on the campaign trail. Not many status quo politicians are truly “their own person,” in other words.

Since the beginning of October 2023, however, I’ve come up with a much simpler political litmus test to determine which candidates are worthy of my vote. It boils down to this: Does this candidate condone the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza?

If a candidate says things straightforwardly like, “They're human animals! Death to Palestinians!” then I need not go any further. They’re struck off my list. If they try to soft-sell their stance by saying, “I grieve for the Palestinians killed, but/except I support Israel’s right to self-defense,” then I know they’re definitely off my list. They’re worse than the first guy who is an outright racist-bigot. At least the first candidate isn’t trying to sugarcoat genocide.

For those of you who argue that you can be opposed to the genocide of a people, but want to excuse yourself in order to kill a smaller subset of those same people, I’ll say this: What you're arguing is a logical fallacy along the lines of voting for the “lesser of two evils.”

Evil is evil. Period. Evil cannot be quantified. Some things just can’t be. Can someone be “less dead” or are they just “dead”? Dead is dead. Can you be okay with murdering “less” of a particular group of people and not be okay with murdering the entirety of those same people? Murder is murder. One premeditated killing is all it takes to be convicted of murder. The quality and quantity of evil are the same.

Trying to quantify genocide in any way, shape, or form is a signal that this person is a sociopath. The person who does so is actually equating the slaughter of innocents with “self-defense” in their sociopathic mind. Look at it this way: How many two-year-old Palestinians does a country need to be “defended against” through the use of ethnic cleansing or genocide? How many wheelchair-bound grandmothers does a country need to be “defended against”? If you said “one or two” then, please, find yourself a psychotherapist pronto and don’t run for office. We have more than enough sociopaths in politics already.

If you’re not mentally and/or morally impaired, you’ll intuit just how horrifying equating ethnic cleansing is to the concept of “self-defense.” If a candidate’s party also gives the “except/but” argument to where they stand on the use of genocide, then you’ll know this person isn’t worth voting for. As I stated before, it's more likely than not they’ll give the same answer to the question: “Are you okay with the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza?” Loyal party members stick together.

Very rarely will a candidate speak out against their own political party and remain within that party for long if they truly believe in what they’re saying. Leaving a political party is like experiencing a divorce, only worse. They instantly lose all their “friends” and supporters in that party. They instantly lose access to PACs/Super PACs and other funding sources to fund their campaign. Nobody will return their calls.

You might get an occasional, “I disagree with the party platform on this particular point,” comment, but if the candidate sticks with the party, then they’re pretty much saying they’re a loyal spouse. The only ones they’re “cheating on” are the voters, in a weak attempt to fool voters into thinking the candidate is something he/she is not.

If a candidate does speak out strongly against genocide and finds themselves kicked out of their party, then it could be worthwhile to check them out further. This person could be that very deserving and rare candidate who isn’t afraid to speak out on all the issues that you find important. If they’re able to speak up to support the voiceless innocents being bombed to pieces by racist war hawks, then perhaps they’ll have the guts to speak up for the rights of Americans to have access to health care and free education as well.

Another area that will reveal a candidate’s stance on this question is where and from whom do they receive their campaign funds. If a candidate receives any money from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), then they’ve automatically disqualified themselves. Can you imagine a candidate taking millions of dollars from AIPAC not saying, “The children of Gaza brought it upon themselves!” over and over again—even when confronted with shocking photos and videos of dead Palestinian children? Taking AIPAC and related monies to run for office is a very strong indicator they’re a sociopath who will do as they’re told by their genocide-enabling masters.

If a candidate and their political party are known for taking money from Big Oil and/or the Military Industrial Complex or its supporters, then they’ve pretty much given themselves away as sociopaths, haven’t they? Big Oil is killing our planet with excessive carbon pollution while fueling the engines of the War Machine that is currently genociding the Palestinians and other peoples throughout the world. Any candidate who is okay with their potential constituents dying of polluted air, water and food sources probably isn't going to lose any sleep over the genocide of millions in order for their corporate masters to get a chance to drill and make big profits from the oil reserves said to be located off the coast of Gaza.

I believe this litmus test will serve us all well this election and in elections to come. Feel free to use it and let me know how it worked for you. If anyone asks you about the litmus test you used to determine whom to vote for, tell them you found it at The Revolution Continues and share the link. Thanks. 

With this new litmus test, we’ll be able to discern the sociopaths from the morally decent human beings running for office, candidates who can proudly say, “I don’t support genocide.” I hope in time, with less sociopaths in positions of power, our world will become a safer, healthier, and happier place for all. It's worth a try, isn't it?

I'm not the only one who thinks exposing the sociopaths could bring about an end to endless ethnic cleansing. Here's what Caitlin Johnstone says in her piece There's Only So Much Propaganda Spin You Can Put on the Murder of Thousands of Children:

The Gaza massacre throws a big fat monkey wrench in all that, because the raw data coming out of it is so transparently horrifying that no amount of narrative spin can make it look acceptable. The fact that the US and its allies are helping Israel murder children by the thousands is a giant glitch in the narrative matrix.

The longer this continues, the more people are going to wake up out of the propaganda-induced coma the empire has had them in all their lives. The more people are going to realize that their government is not what it has been pretending to be and the media have not been telling them the truth about the world. As the western empire backs the slaughter of thousands of children, the discrepancies between what the propaganda tells us about our society and what our society actually is are being brightly illuminated.

By murdering thousands of children in Gaza, the empire has exposed its true face in front of everyone. And the people aren’t liking what they see.

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

How Much Killing Is Enough Killing?
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/how-much-killing-is-enough-killing

Exterminate All the Brutes  https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/29/chris-hedges-exterminate-all-the-brutes/

"A people, imprisoned in the world’s largest concentration camp for sixteen years, denied food, water, fuel and medicine, lacking an army, air force, navy, mechanized units, artillery, command and control and missile batteries, is being butchered and starved by one of the most advanced militaries on the planet, and they [the Palestinians] are the Nazis?" --Chris Hedges

The Miracle of Kindness: What Chris Hedges learned from the Palestinians (video)  https://youtu.be/gpU-Sbxg01A?si=VsepH6uXXomNCW0n

Israel Has Permanently Lost The Argument https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-has-permanently-lost-the-argument/

There's Only So Much Propaganda Spin You Can Put On The Murder Of Thousands Of Children  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/theres-only-so-much-propaganda-spin

Over 30,000 Babies in Gaza Are Drinking Contaminated Water, US State Dept Says https://truthout.org/articles/over-30000-babies-in-gaza-are-drinking-contaminated-water-us-state-dept-says/

US Media Is Still Avoiding the Word Genocide — It’s Past Time to Start Using It  https://truthout.org/articles/us-media-is-still-avoiding-the-word-genocide-its-past-time-to-start-using-it/

‘Human Animals’: The Sordid Language Behind Israel’s Genocide in Gaza https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/language-of-genocide-in-gaza

It's Okay To Admit You Were Wrong About Gaza
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/its-okay-to-admit-you-were-wrong

Genocide Is Underway in Gaza. US Leaders Can No Longer Say “We Didn’t Know.”  https://truthout.org/articles/genocide-is-underway-in-gaza-us-leaders-can-no-longer-say-we-didnt-know/

How can anyone deny the Gaza death toll is intentional?
https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/how-can-anyone-deny-the-gaza-death

Israel Kills Over 400 Palestinians in a Single Day of Airstrikes
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/24/israel-kills-over-400-palestinians-in-a-single-day-of-airstrikes/

Report: Blinken Urged Qatar to Censor Al Jazeera Coverage of Gaza Genocide https://truthout.org/articles/report-blinken-urged-qatar-to-censor-al-jazeera-coverage-of-gaza-genocide/

Propaganda War: Pro-Israel Trolls are Mobbing Twitter’s Community Notes  https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/25/propaganda-war-pro-israel-trolls-are-mobbing-twitters-community-notes/

Media Manufactures Consent for Gaza Genocide https://kitklarenberg.substack.com/p/media-manufactures-consent-for-gaza

Rights Lawyers Release Legal Analysis Of US Complicity In Israel’s Genocide https://popularresistance.org/rights-lawyers-release-legal-analysis-of-us-complicity-in-israels-genocide/

Biden and Starmer face mutinies over genocide support
https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/biden-and-starmer-face-mutinies-over/

Joe Biden’s Armageddon, from Gaza to Ukraine
https://www.aaronmate.net/p/joe-bidens-armageddon-from-gaza-to

Protests Intensify Across US as Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 5,000
https://truthout.org/articles/protests-intensify-across-us-as-gaza-death-toll-surpasses-5000

Palestinian American hospitalized following suspected hate-crime vehicle assault in Cleveland, Ohio https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/24/uvdu-o24.html

US blocks peace in Gaza, supporting Israel's genocidal war on civilians https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/us-peace-gaza-genocide

As Gaza War Enters 'Second Stage,' Hundreds of Thousands March for Cease-Fire https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-war-next-stage-cease-fire

October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/27/israels-military-shelled-burning-tanks-helicopters/

 

Something Is Not Right About The Israel/Hamas War — Could It Lead To Genocide, World War Three? https://www.activistpost.com/2023/10/something-is-not-right-about-the-israel-hamas-war-could-it-lead-to-genocide-world-war-three.html

Hamas is an Israeli/Mossad creation: https://swprs.org/why-israel-created-hamas/

History: Was Hamas A Creation of Mossad? https://www.globalresearch.ca/hamas-is-a-creation-of-mossad/1818

 Jeffrey St. Clair, Counterpunch, captures the essence of genocide:

"When you declare total war against Gaza, which has been under perpetual siege since 1967 after being seized by Israel during the Six Day War, what is it you’re going to war against? There are no airbases, no army bases, no tank battalions, no air defense systems, no naval ports, no oil refineries, no rail system, no troop barracks, no armored personnel carriers, no howitzers, no satellite systems, no attack helicopters, no fighter jets, no anti-tank batteries, no submarines, no command-and-control centers. Just people, most of them women and kids."

A Poultry Plant in Ohio Is Under Federal Investigation for Hiring 24 Children https://truthout.org/articles/a-poultry-plant-in-ohio-is-under-federal-investigation-for-hiring-24-children/

Activists Say Biden Betrayed Promises with Continuation of Border Wall Construction https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/24/activists-say-biden-betrayed-promises-with-continuation-of-border-wall-construction/

Australians Call to End Long Persecution of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/26/australians-call-to-end-long-persecution-of-wikileaks-julian-assange/

How To Succeed At War Crimes (Without Really Trying)

 

It’s a little bit bomby in Gaza today,
at least that’s what the news men say.

Israeli victims were “murdered” and “killed”
and all mourn the innocent blood that was spilled,

but in Gaza explosives just fall from the air
and nobody mentions who launched them, from where.

They talk about “blasts” and how buildings were “hit”.
Who blasted and hit them? Eh, who gives a shit.

It’s a little bit bomby outside, that’s the weather.
Put up your umbrellas, dudes. Get it together.

--It's a Little Bit Bomby In Gaza Today by Caitlin Johnstone

 

Name a war crime Israel isn't committing... They're running out of war crimes to try out. --Lee Camp

 

How To Succeed At War Crimes 

(Without Really Trying)

by C.A. Matthews

WARNING: The following is satire and is not to be taken seriously or followed in order to commit genocide UNLESS you’re already a war criminal like Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, or one of their sycophants. Then there’s no need for you to read any further really, is there? You’ve already written the war crimes playbook, haven’t  you?

 

 

An excerpt from the chapter How to Succeed at Genocide...

 

 

Step 0: First take a bunch of post-WWII European exiles and give them access to the British Mandate of Palestine. Let them call themselves “Israel” after an ancient kingdom mentioned in the Judeo-Christian Bible and pretend they have always lived in Palestine rather than someplace like Germany, France, or Poland. Once this lie is established as “fact” through various means of propaganda (See Step 6), you can then proceed with the following steps.

 

Step 1: If anyone accuses you of being bloodthirsty, racist, and/or a fascist, accuse them of “antisemitism” even if they are of Semitic origins, i.e. most Middle Easterners. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary to shut down all dialogue and to defame as many persons’ characters as necessary for your cause.

Step 2: Make friends with a big warmonger, one with a really big war machine that is hungry for profits for their military-industrial complex. Ask and receive military and financial aid from Big Warmonger consistently. If said Big Warmonger doesn’t put out the goods, lay on the guilt and accuse them of antisemitism (See Step 1) and tell their paid-off politicians they'll be no more briefcases full of cash until they do as they're told.

Step 3: Build your own nuclear bomb, or at least start rumors that you have built one while simultaneously denying the rumors. Make your neighbors in the region worry you might use the bomb on them or have your friend Big Warmonger (See Step 2) threaten to use their nukes on your behalf or invade said neighbor, taking their oil, pipelines, and whatever other desirable resources they might have.

Step 4: Label as “enemies” any persons who own any land and/or resources you desire. Do not let others tell you that these persons who have been living on the land you desire are, in fact, the actual owners of this land and its resources. If these “enemies” do not willingly give up the land and resources you desire, then force them into refugee camps and walled reservations with very limited means of getting in or out. Turn off their electricity and water at will to further emphasize your point that you now own all their land and resources.

Step 5: Denigrate and refuse to recognize your “enemies” as human beings. Call them names such as “human animals” or “terrorists” to dehumanize them as much as possible in the eyes of the world at large. Create propaganda scenarios where your “enemies” are seen as being only worthy of extermination. Even their children and elderly are to be painted as “vermin” that must be wiped off the face of the earth. If anyone argues that you are acting like a Nazi from the Third Reich, accuse them of antisemitism (See Step 1).

The Israeli army mobilized Ezra Yachin, a 95-year-old army veteran, to “motivate” the troops. Yachin was a member of the Lehi Zionist militia that carried out numerous massacres of Palestinian civilians, including the Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948, where over 100 Palestinian civilians, many women and children, were slaughtered. 

“Be triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them,” Yachin said addressing Israeli troops.

“Erase them, their families, mothers and children,” he went on. “These animals can no longer live.” 

“Every Jew with a weapon should go out and kill them,” he said. “If you have an Arab neighbor, don’t wait, go to his home and shoot him.”--Chris Hedges: Let Them Eat Cement

Step 6: Plant a “false flag” to come up with a real good excuse to start the extermination of your “enemies.” You’ll know when the time has come, since you will have been keeping them under close surveillance for years. Manufacture circumstances that will produce the most outrage in your supporters. Milk it for all it’s worth in the mainstream media,that is with your top propagandists. Follow the following tenets of propaganda use for maximum effect:

Lord Posonby's Ten Commandments of War Propaganda

1. We don't want war, we are only defending ourselves!

2. Our adversary is solely responsible for this war!

3. Our adversary's leader is inherently evil and resembles the devil.

4. We are defending a noble cause, not our particular interests!

5. The enemy is purposefully committing atrocities; if we are making mistakes this happens without intention.

6. The enemy makes use of illegal weapons.

7. We suffer few losses, the enemy's losses are considerable.

8. Recognized intellectuals and artists support our cause.

9. Our cause is sacred.

10. Whoever casts doubt on our propaganda helps the enemy and is a traitor.

Step 7: Repeat the above steps as needed to maintain the moral outrage and to cover your tracks whenever you slip up and get caught making false phone conversations, etc., to excuse bombing civilian targets such as churches and hospitals.

Step 8: Above all else, do not (repeat: do NOT) allow the rest of the world to see your "enemies" as human beings. This step cannot be emphasized enough. Once your supporters start seeing your "enemies" as actual human beings who have children and grandparents and homes and hospitals and schools and other relatable things, then you'll have lost the propaganda war. Sure, you might still do some massive extermination and raze a lot of useless buildings in order to build seaside condos, but you will never be able to rebuild the respect you once possessed in the western world. 

But if respect isn't particularly what you want or need, keep doing what you're doing until you run out of bombs to drop and bullets to shoot. The moment you do stop dropping bombs and shooting children, you're probably history. You've made a helluva lot of people righteously angry, after all. War crimes aren't for sissies.

No no you don’t understand: if Israel stops killing children by the thousands in its relentless bombing campaign, the nation could be taken over by murderous terrorists. --Caitlin Johnstone, If Israel Stops Murdering Thousands Of Children, The Bad Guys Might Win

photo by Amjad Doumani

My Photos from the "Reclaiming Our Humanity" (End the Genocide) March to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur's District Office

Join a protest near you! https://www.answercoalition.org/join_a_protest_near_you_free_palestine

Related Articles and Links

Chris Hedges: Let Them Eat Cement https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/22/chris-hedges-let-them-eat-cement/

Egyptian woman BLASTS CNN reporter over SHAMEFUL coverage of Gaza and for falsifying the truth
https://youtu.be/EJ_Upwnjl9w?si=MNQt8vtOTl1Lv5ru

Dismantle The Censorship-Industrial Complex: The Westminster Declaration https://www.racket.news/p/dismantle-the-censorship-industrial

Navigating Through the Media’s Propaganda Campaign on Palestine (w/ Alan MacLeod) https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/22/navigating-the-medias-propaganda-campaign-on-palestine-w-alan-macleod/

The Israeli government is losing the PR war https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-israeli-government-is-losing

The US Empire's PR Crisis In Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-empires-pr-crisis-in-gaza

United States Vetoes UN Resolution For Ceasefire In Gaza
https://popularresistance.org/united-states-vetoes-un-resolution-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/

Israeli and US Leaders Must Be Held Accountable for the Genocide of Palestinians https://truthout.org/articles/israeli-and-us-leaders-must-be-held-accountable-for-the-genocide-of-palestinians/

More Than 1,000 Gazan Children Are Dead. How Can We Even Begin to Mourn? https://truthout.org/articles/more-than-1000-gazan-children-are-dead-how-can-we-even-begin-to-mourn/

Chris Hedges: Israel’s Culture of Deceit https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/18/chris-hedges-israels-culture-of-deceit/

Patrick Lawrence: Decency Becomes Indecent
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/18/patrick-lawrence-decency-becomes-indecent/

Manufacturing Consent For Genocide https://www.wewillbearwitness.org/p/manufacturing-consent-for-genocide

Jewish Voice for Peace Holds Massive Rally at Capitol for Israel-Gaza Ceasefire https://truthout.org/articles/jewish-voice-for-peace-holds-massive-rally-at-capitol-for-israel-gaza-ceasefire/

‘Not In Our Name!’ Hundreds Arrested at US Capitol as Jewish-Led Protest Demands Gaza Cease-Fire https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/19/not-in-our-name-hundreds-arrested-at-us-capitol-as-jewish-led-protest-demands-gaza-cease-fire/

WHO: A ‘Death Sentence For Sick And Injured’ In Gaza https://popularresistance.org/who-a-death-sentence-for-sick-and-injured-in-gaza/

Israeli Military Has Killed 1 Child in Gaza Every 15 Minutes: Rights Group https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/17/israeli-military-has-killed-1-child-in-gaza-every-15-minutes-rights-group/

The Mainstream Press Keep Slamming Israel's Hospital Bombing Story https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-mainstream-press-keep-slamming

From Applauding Nazis To Backing An Actual Genocide In Under A Month https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/from-applauding-nazis-to-backing

Mass protests erupt in US against Israel war crimes
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/19/vjas-o19.html

Unions and Workers Are Increasingly Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza
https://truthout.org/articles/unions-and-workers-are-increasingly-calling-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/

The ‘Multilateral’ Invasion Of Haiti Is A Smokescreen For US Imperialism https://popularresistance.org/the-multilateral-invasion-of-haiti-is-a-smokescreen-for-us-imperialism/

Appalachians Slap Back: Pipeline Work In National Forest Halted Again https://popularresistance.org/appalachians-slap-back-pipeline-work-in-national-forest-halted-again/

Washington Post - How Israel helped create Hamas https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/30/how-israel-helped-create-hamas/

Telegraph UK - How Benjamin Netanyahu empowered Hamas ... and broke Israel https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/16/how-benjamin-netanyahu-empowered-hamas/ 

Jerusalem Post - Netanyahu: Money to Hamas part of strategy to keep Palestinians divided https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Netanyahu-Money-to-Hamas-part-of-strategy-to-keep-Palestinians-divided-583082

Jerusalem Post - Abbas: Netanyahu gives Hamas money and we pay the price when they attack https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Abbas-Netanyahu-gives-money-to-Hamas-and-we-pay-the-price-575124

Free Free Palestine!

 UPDATE: Israel bombs Gaza hospital killing 500, ignites protests across Middle East: Israel accused of committing a 'crime of genocide' after hospital massacre

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-gaza-invasion-live

photo by Amjad Doumani

Free Free Palestine!

words and some photos by C.A. Matthews

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! Free, free Palestine!”

I had thought about writing a piece this week about war propaganda after being inundated with the stuff (almost to the point of overdosing on it) via the mainstream media. I would have talked about how I once wrote a paper for a college sociology class on the effects of propaganda during World War I, and how these very same propaganda techniques carry on today with our government’s selling of the Ukraine proxy war and now this current ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Then I attended a local peace demonstration—and then another a day later—to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are being bombed and starved out of existence by the Israeli government, and I changed my mind. The following photos and memes tell their story better than my words could break through the Western pro-war propaganda.

A picture paints a thousands words—and engenders empathetic feelings that only sociopaths can deny. Alas, the United States of America is a country run by sociopaths and their followers.

But propaganda alone cannot wipe away unforgettable images from the human brain. That’s why the mainstream media and many Western governments—France and Germany leading the way—are banning protests and any mentions of sympathy with the Palestinian cause on online platforms to keep the public away from seeing inconvenient photos and videos. Watching the Israeli Defense Force wipe out entire apartment blocks and destroy hospitals and schools doesn’t quite sell the Western viewpoint that Israelis are “innocent” occupiers of the Palestinian homeland.

Those little Palestinian boys and girls lying in morgues in Gaza just “accidentally” ran into an IDF bullet or bomb, right? They deserve what they got coming to them according to the Israeli defense minister with the laughable name of “Gallant.” He ungraciously labeled the Palestinian people “human animals.” Animals that needed to be put down, in his opinion.

The racism doesn't stop there. In the US, MSNBC suspended three Muslim anchors during Israel’s Gaza assault because it didn’t want Muslims reporting on the violence against the Palestinian people. Can you imagine why an American propaganda outlet wouldn’t want a Muslim face talking about how the IDF is committing genocide? Maybe MSNBC thought it would upset their Islamophobic American audience?

Being forced to live in a concentration camp like Gaza should bring back painful memories to Americans. Unfortunately, it doesn’t for the white majority. Unless your immediate relatives or ancestors have been forced to live on a reservation like Native Americans, or been locked up in an internment camp like Japanese-Americans were during the 1940s, or held in the bonds of slavery for over two centuries because you came from Africa, then you’ve probably no real idea what it means to be held prisoner with members of your ethnic group. You lucked out because of your skin color, religion, money, and/or connections with power. You should be eternally grateful that such great fortune has smiled upon you and yours.

I’ve noticed sometimes it’s those who have been blessed with the most “freedoms” who are the stingiest and meanest when it comes with sharing freedom with others. I wonder why is that?

The modern state of Israel isn’t yet one-hundred years old, and already it’s made a mess of the Middle East by attempting to exterminate indigenous peoples. The modern state of Israel was created by those who survived the Holocaust and then discovered that their governments didn’t particularly want them in Europe anymore. These survivors decided to guilt-trip the powers-that-be after the war to allow them to take over the British Mandate of Palestine, and it worked. Europe was free of Jews, and the Palestinians’ worst nightmare had just begun.

Excuse me for thinking this was a terrible idea from the start. The Europeans who harmed their Jewish citizens during WWII should have made reparations to them and given them their original homes, lands, and businesses back in their home countries—not just send them into another people’s country on another continent. The Holocaust survivors were Europeans after all, not Middle Easterners.

White European powers are always looking for some “empty land” (like North America in 1492 or Palestine in 1947) to give out to those they’ve hurt. It helps to kick out people you don't want to see anymore so you don’t have to keep looking directly into their hurt faces and feel guilty for what you did. Sending those you hurt off on a boat to a far distance shore is a convenient way out of dealing with your crimes against your fellow countrymen and women, isn’t it?

It’s not so convenient for the innocent people whose lands and resources are to be taken away by those you hurt though, is it? The survivors, the hurt ones have taken on the role of European colonizers now, and they don’t want to see the faces of the indigenous peoples they’re displacing because it’s only adds to their guilty feelings. It’s best just to wipe the indigenous peoples off the map completely so their faces will be no more. Once the Palestinians are gone, the Israelis can rest easy knowing that they’ll never come back to haunt the land.

But they will come back to haunt you… Those faces should haunt you if you possess an ounce of humanity. The sociopaths and psychopaths of the modern War Machine aren’t particularly haunted by those they’ve slaughtered unfortunately. There’s simply too much money to be made in armament sales. Once you mix European colonizers’ enthusiasm for stealing land from indigenous people with the psychopathology of the Endless War crowd, then you have the perfect recipe for ethnic cleansing or genocide.

Caitlin Johnstone states it succinctly:

Stop calling it the “Israel-Hamas war”. It’s the Israel-Gaza massacre. Calling it the Israel-Hamas war creates the false impression that this is a war that is directed exclusively at Hamas when it’s really an ethnic purge that’s directed at all Palestinians in Gaza.

The child body count alone makes it clear that this isn’t a war against Hamas; I saw an anonymous account point out on Twitter that the number of children killed in this onslaught after one week already exceeds the total number of children killed after a year and a half of fighting in Ukraine, per the United Nations.

Laying complete siege to a civilian population and bombing anything that stands would be an extraordinary abomination in any war. And this is not a war, it’s an enclosed shooting range with military explosives and human targets. --It’s Not the Israel-Hamas War, It’s the Israel-Gaza Massacre

Guess what’s not happening in the modern state of Israel? They’re not following the human rights laws of the United Nations. Worse yet, they’re not even following the commandment, “Thou shall not kill,” either. No one can convince me the modern state of Israel is based upon religion and morality. Recent surveys show how modern Israelis are extremely prejudiced against Palestinians and wouldn’t dare let their son or daughter date or marry one. Kill a Palestinian to take his homeland, yes, but marry one? No.

So, don’t kid a kidder who was born in the South and has witnessed racism up close. Israel is all about racism and white European settler colonialism, pure and simple. It's not about the Jewish religion. My American Jewish contacts support the Palestinians and their desire to have their homeland back, and they don’t disown their family members who marry outside the faith. That’s not was being an observant Jew is all about, I’m told.

I’m not falling for the cultish propaganda circulating on the internet about how Israel's massacre of the Palestinian people is all about “The End Times” or Armageddon and Jesus returning. As if! The Netanyahu government is taking their cues from the Ku Klux Klan or the Third Reich, not the Bible. After all, the book of Genesis states all human beings were made in God’s image. Why should we destroy God’s own handiwork--our fellow human beings-- if we truly believed in what the Bible says? Wouldn’t that make God sad and angry?

The saddest part of all is the US military helping Israel commit war crimes and not helping save the innocents. Not only are the US “Ministry of Truth” propagandists tasked with convincing the public that “Ukraine is winning the war against Russia,” they’ll have to convince us that simultaneously starting a war with Iran (that says it backs Hamas) is a good idea. Billions of dollars of armaments sent to two hot spots on the globe that is raising the risk of setting off a nuclear world war…

Settler colonialism seems to be at the root of many problems in the world. Diplomacy and peace talks could help solve these problems. Bombing innocent children, starving them, preventing them and their families from getting to safety, and then stealing their homeland won’t solve anyone’s problems.

When has genocide ever solved anyone’s problems?

Chris Hedges says it well:

This is not a war. It is the obliteration of civilians trapped for 16 years in the world’s largest concentration camp. Gaza is being leveled, flattened, destroyed, reduced to rubble. Hundreds of thousands of its impoverished residents will be killed, wounded or left homeless without food, fuel, water and medical help. Nearly 600 children are already dead. (As of today, it’s 1250 Palestinians killed.)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has been forced to close 14 food distribution centers leaving half a million people without food relief. Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel. The United Nations says 12 of its staff have been killed by Israeli air strikes, 21 out of 22 UNRWA health facilities in Gaza have been damaged and hospitals lack basic medicines and supplies.

 Israel, as it has in the past, will block the dissemination of independent reporting and images once some 360,000 soldiers launch a ground assault. It cut internet service in Gaza on Saturday. The brief glimpses of Israeli atrocities that make it out will be dismissed by Israeli leaders as anomalies or blamed on Hamas.

The West refuses to intervene, as 2.3 million people, including 1 million children, are deprived of food, fuel, electricity and water, see their schools and hospitals bombed and are butchered and rendered homeless by one of the most advanced military machines on the planet.  – This Way for the Genocide, Ladies and Gentlemen

 Free, free Palestine! NOW. Tomorrow may be too late.

From Twitter/X:

RECAP #Israel #Palestine (as of 21:00 GMT, 15 October) 1. The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 2,450 people with over 60% of the victims being children and women 2. At least 1,000 are still missing under the rubble and over 9,600 have been wounded 3. In Israel, the death toll has reached 1,400 people while 3,400 are wounded, with scores of captives still being held in Gaza 4. At least 12 journalists have been killed since the start of the war, 10 of them Palestinian and one Israeli, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists 5. Israel dropped equivalent to “a quarter of a nuclear bomb” according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor 6. 47 families have been “entirely wiped out from the civil registry” 7. Gaza’s healthcare system is “taking its last breath amid Israeli massacres” 8. Gaza’s hospitals are overwhelmed with wounded patients which they can no longer cater for, and people seek shelter in the hospital corridors. 6 hospitals in Gaza have shut down after being bombed 9. Fire exchanges between Israel and Lebanon have escalated, as Hezbollah vowed to react if Israel’s aggression on Gaza does not end 10. The Palestinian health ministry says one Palestinian is killed every five minutes in Gaza, while an emergency mass grave has been established to cater for the high number of dead 11. Israel is seeking to close down Al Jazeera’s bureau in the country, with their journalists facing harassment 12. Palestinians in Gaza are in danger of mass ethnic cleansing, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, warned

 

Related Articles and Links

MSNBC Suspends Muslim Anchors Amid Israeli War in Gaza https://www.arabnews.com/node/2391271/media

This Way for the Genocide, Ladies and Gentlemen https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/this-way-for-the-genocide-ladies

I Wish Americans Could See the Humanity of Palestinians as They Do With Israelis https://truthout.org/articles/i-wish-americans-could-see-the-humanity-of-palestinians-as-they-do-with-israelis/

Israel’s Colonial Revenge Genocide in Gaza is only the latest in a Long History of such Massacres https://www.juancole.com/2023/10/colonial-genocide-massacres.html

Big Lies and Gaza https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/big-lies-and-gaza

Source of Dubious ‘Beheaded Babies’ Claim is Israeli Settler Leader Who Incited Riots to ‘Wipe Out’ Palestinian Village
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/12/source-of-dubious-beheaded-babies-claim-is-israeli-settler-leader-who-incited-riots-to-wipe-out-palestinian-village/

Palestine Today https://palestinetoday.quora.com/Baby-beheadings-and-Rape-are-All-Israeli-Lies-Repeated-by-West-to-Justify-Genocide-in-Gaza-and-Incite-Rage

 ‘A Massive War Crime’: Israel Begins Total Blockade Of Gaza Strip
https://popularresistance.org/a-massive-war-crime-israel-announces-total-blockade-of-gaza-strip/ 

re Obscuring Settler Colonialism in Their Gaza Coverage https://truthout.org/articles/corporate-media-outlets-are-obscuring-settler-colonialism-in-their-gaza-coverage

Palestinians Speak the Language of Violence Israel Taught Them
https://unac.notowar.net/2023/10/09/palestinians-speak-the-language-of-violence-israel-taught-them/

'Genuinely Shocked They Aired It': CNN Interview Cuts Through Pro-Israel Propaganda on Gaza https://www.commondreams.org/news/cnn-interview-palestinian

Who is responsible for the violence in Israel and Gaza? https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/10/10/ytol-o10.html

What Preceded the Killings in Israel and Gaza Was Not “Peace” — It Was Apartheid https://truthout.org/articles/what-preceded-this- bloodshed-in-gaza-was-not-peace-it-was-apartheid

The US Is Just As Culpable As Israel For The Atrocities Committed In Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-is-just-as-culpable-as-israel

People Have A Serious Case Of 9/11 Brain Right Now, And It's Scary https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/people-have-a-serious-case-of-911

Built on the Bodies of Native Californians https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/10/built-on-the-bodies-of-native-californians/

Boston Demands Indigenous Peoples Day! https://popularresistance.org/boston-demands-indigenous-peoples-day/

John Kiriakou: A Victimizers’ Memorial https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/12/john-kiriakou-a-victimizers-memorial/

“An Irreversible Torture”: The Global Call to End Capital Punishment on 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty
https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/10/an-irreversible-torture-the-global-call-to-end-capital-punishment-on-21st-world-day-against-the-death-penalty/
 

Seen on X/Twitter:

Israel is one of the most racist countries in the world.

While Israel works hard to play the victim, it’s actually a racist, Jewish supremacist state that aims to ethnically cleanse Palestine.

BT’s @KeiPritsker explains how racism is the core of Israel’s national identity pic.twitter.com/71JY6OggEv

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) October 12, 2023

https://twitter.com/BTnewsroom/status/1712606372813066586

Today was one of the worst days in Gaza

So far:

—2,800 Palestinians, incl 800 children and 900 women, killed by Israel. That's double the israeli death toll.

—1,200 Palestinians, incl 500 children are missing, suspected to be under the rubble.

—Over a million Gazans displaced

— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) October 16, 2023

https://twitter.com/richimedhurst/status/1714036369058635897