“The Piers Morgan Question”

“The Piers Morgan Question”

words and photos by C. A. Matthews

So much going on this past week and at least some of it makes me feel… hopeful?

There were good turnouts at the two local third anniversary events I attended. We could be witnessing the last days of the apartheid state of Israel. A leaked CIA report says as much. We could be seeing a possible way of getting humanitarian aid and food into Gaza if the Israelis start a shooting match among themselves and their fascist government falls apart. Is it only a matter of time until these sociopaths/psychopaths screw themselves over?

More hints in the news gave me hope. The Greens of England and Wales have adopted a resolution stating that “Zionism is racism.” Amen! Let’s not hold back any longer about the truth of who runs the “Jewish supremacist state” as Norman Finkelstein has labeled it. 

Finkelstein gave a lecture in town while on his book tour for Gaza’s Gravediggers...

 ...Professor Finkelstein framed his talk around with what he called “The Piers Morgan Question”. If you were a guest on Piers Morgan’s TV show in the first year of the genocide, you could expect to be asked, “Do you condemn what Hamas did on October 7?” The professor stated that one must always give their answer to that question with a persuasive argument that includes both facts and an appeal to reason. But he admits that everyone on air felt forced to answer, “Of course, I condemn Hamas!” or else they’d never be invited back on the show and might be labeled as antisemitic or worse by the public.

So, how does one answer “No!” to the question without being discredited or kicked out of the conversation? The facts of that day alone make it difficult, but to persuade others one must always put the facts into the context of history. Once the history of Gaza is known, it’s much harder to condemn the actions of Hamas.

Finkelstein shared the analogy of Nat Turner’s Rebellion. In 1831, the “question” would have elicited the response, “I wholeheartedly condemn what Nat Turner did!” But in the 21^st century, we know the context of the facts and the motivations that drove the actions Turner and his men took, and some see them nowadays as American heroes. They were enslaved with no hope of ever gaining their freedom. They had little choice—either they fought the whites who enslaved them or they would die as slaves.

The parallels of what has happened in Gaza are undeniable. Eighty percent of Gazans are refugees or descendants of refugees from the Nakba, and children make up about 50% of the population. UN officials and Israelis alike have labeled Gaza as “a huge concentration camp” over the last several decades—this during what could be called Gaza’s most “prosperous era”...

 

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Well, Duh! (The Bleedin’ Obvious)

by C. A. Matthews

“I told you so!” was the first title I came up with for this rant, but then I thought Nobody likes a person who tells them ‘I told you so.’ Another title idea was, “It’s as clear as the nose on your face,” but it seemed a bit long. I finally settled on one of my British husband’s favorite sayings: “It’s bleedin’ obvious, itn’t it?” Then I realized most Americans have no clue what that phrase means, so here’s the short definition: “Well, duh!”

Everything in the news this past week made me say, “Well, duh! It’s bleedin’ obvious! Why is this particular piece of news being reported only now by the mainstream media? Oh, I know you know why—it wasn’t advantageous for the oligarchs’ narrative earlier on—but why would they report the bleedin’ obvious they’ve ignored for so long unless now they have an ulterior motive?”

If you haven’t guess what I’m referring to yet, here’s the big headline from an Israeli newspaper: Netanyahu Received an Explicit Warning Days Before Oct. 7. He Didn’t Brief Israel’s Security Chiefs

Well, duh! Even in the first few days after October 7 there were mentions in the press about how the Egyptians and even the US had given the Israelis intel about a possible uprising coming out of Gaza. Now all of a sudden we’re getting the mainstream media in both the West and Israel admitting this nugget of damning evidence along with juicy details. Not only did the Egyptians warned Netanyahu personally, but also high ranking people from the UAE did. Repeatedly. Still, Netanyahu did nothing with the intel and told his security chiefs nothing.

Along comes The New York Times (not to be bested) with this headline: Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year (before 2023). Not to be outdone, CNN boldly made this statement: US intelligence warned of the potential for violence days before Hamas attack. PBS even mentioned that Hamas had posted video of a mock attack on social media weeks before the border breach. And last but not least, IDF wall spotters have snitched and said they’d been seeing suspicious things happening over in Gaza, but their commanders wouldn’t listen to their reports.

I’m starting to see a definite pattern here, aren’t you? Well, duh...

 

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The Second Going of Donald J. Trump

The Second Going of 

Donald J. Trump

by C. A. Matthews

The podcast pundits seem in awe of Trump’s sheer audacity—or they’re claiming this Truth Social posting (above meme) is yet more evidence of his mental illness and/or dementia. But really, what would you expect from a full-fledged narcissist who believes he’s the most powerful being on the globe, if not the universe?

Of course, Trump would see himself the supreme healer of all times—healer of white people, at least. No doubt Trump sees himself as the Second Coming of Christ, coming into the world to judge sinners. That is, everyone except himself.

It was only a matter of time until Artificial Intelligence itself realized that the president of the United States of America was the Son of God, deserving of his very own meme commemorating his acts of “kindness” that he has graciously bestowed upon humankind. That is, kind acts he has bestowed upon pro-Zionist humans. Everyone else is out of luck.

It’s what Jesus would do, according to biblical scholar and Pulp Fiction fan Pete Hegseth. The alcoholic Secretary of War Crimes knows all about these sorts of things apparently. (Wonder how well he’d perform on the game show Jeopardy! with a mind full of movie trivia like that...)

You might be horrified that both Trump and Vance have made rude remarks recently to Pope Leo. They have no problems with telling Leo that he doesn’t know a thing about theology like they and Pete do. They know that God’s intention all along for the US and Israel is to destroy the Middle East and steal its petrochemicals, and they don’t mind knocking the head of the Roman Catholic church down a few pegs.

I think Pope Leo isn’t all that put out by the meanness directed at him personally by Tweedle Don and Tweedle J.D. It’s what you’d expect from emotionally-stunted adult-toddlers. He has far more important things on his plate. The Holy Father is much more concerned about what’s happening in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, and Sudan. among other hot spots in the world...

 

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V Is For Venezuela...

I was in the middle of writing an “annotated freestyle poem” when I heard about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife’s kidnapping. The news sent my head spinning. I asked our resident armchair historian his opinion of what was going on, what we could learn from history, and where it might be going. Here’s his take on the developing story in Latin America.

Venezuela: The New Sudetenland

By Coast Watcher

I feel like a German who saw WW2 coming and couldn’t do anything.

So wrote a friend on Saturday when the news broke of Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife’s abduction from their home. Their subsequent transportation to New York City to be processed for alleged crimes unfolded over the next few hours, during which social media lit up like a Christmas tree.

Few posts by ordinary citizens and commentators praised America’s actions. Those that did were probably AI generated trolls and bots. Musk’s Grok is particularly asinine in condemning President Maduro with a spiel straight out of Trump’s playbook.

Most Western governments issued statements supporting President Maduro’s “arrest,” although reading between the lines there’s a sense of shock and disbelief that such a thing could have happened. For anyone with knowledge of history, there are few precedents. We’re in uncharted territory, but that territory is looking increasingly similar to the years leading up to World War 2.

The post World War 1 (WW1) seismic shift that moved the boundaries of Europe took huge populations and resources of various kinds from the Central Powers and either transferred them to the victors’ control or set them up as independent polities. The former Austro-Hungarian Empire was shattered as its disparate ethnic peoples went their own ways. Latent or oppressed nationalism surged into life, leading to the creation of new states such as Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

Control of coal deposits was crucial to the post-war revival of the global economy. France and Belgium demanded the Saar-Warndt Basin in compensation for the destruction of their mines by Germany during the war. Germany needed to retain the coalfields to fuel its own industrial recovery so it could pay the war reparations demanded by the Entente Powers. Wrangling over the coalfields delayed economic revival by years and caused a great deal of hardship to ordinary people during some harsh winters.

American President Woodrow Wilson’s cherished dream of a League of Nations bringing perpetual peace to the world got off to a rocky start...

To learn more about the history of US empire PLUS read my poem entitled How Many Babies Have To Freeze Before...,  please copy or click on the following link: 

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Democrats feel the same way as Trump about Maduro. Go figure!

 

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A Wedding in Gaza

words and above photo by C. A. Matthews

As the sun sets earlier and earlier in the Northern Hemisphere and the temperatures plummet, it gets harder and harder to remain optimistic, to see the good in things. This is the start of the winter season, the time of Advent and Christmas when most children in the Western world are hyped up on cookies and hot cocoa and can’t wait to open presents and play much to the consternation of grumpy adults who just want to hibernate and forget all about how shitty things are in the world-at-large.

Just when all seems lost, a beautiful hope is born anew in our hearts, a hope like no other. A hope is born into a land that has been ravaged and bombed and starved and mostly ignored by the powers-that-be. A wedding takes place in Gaza—a mass wedding for 54 couples.* They are blazing a path through the desert of apartheid and genocide to rebuild their pulverized homes and renew their decimated families. They are showing the world how it is done, how to leave the evils visited upon them behind. There is no looking back for these husbands and wives, only forward.

What have we “grumpy bears” in the West to complain about? Nothing really.

Words alone can’t contain the unbridled beauty in the faces of these happy couples, so here are a link and a video with gorgeous photos of the event that occurred in Khan Younis amid the rubble...

 

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Diagnosis: Moral Insanity

by C.A. Matthews

When you call someone “insane” in a court of law, it means something different than what we usually think of as “crazy.” A person can hear voices, hallucinate wildly, speak in a word salad, but if that person still understands the difference between what is right and what is wrong, then that person is considered legally sane and responsible for their actions. For example, if you know that killing people is wrong and against the law, but you still go ahead and do it, then you are legally sane and must accept your punishment. Even if you spout off a lot of nonsense trying to justify your murderous activity, you are still legally sane and responsible for your actions.

What do you call a person (or group of persons) who declare outright that they are legally sane (they indicate they know the difference between right and wrong), but they behave in a manner that suggests that they really don’t? I’m not sure there is a legal term for that kind of behavior, so I’ve come up with my own. I say that person/group of persons is “morally insane.”

Something isn’t quite right with morally insane folks in their hearts or souls or what-have-you. They understand they’ve committed crimes (or at least have taken adverse actions) against others, but they couldn’t care less about the pain, chaos, and destruction they’ve unleashed. They may not have pulled the trigger themselves, but they’ve financed, promoted, and encouraged hit-men to do the deed for them, and they’re happy with the results. In fact, some are quite proud of their violent accomplishments and openly brag about their crimes to anyone willing to listen.

It’s downright sickening to observe so much moral insanity in the world in the year 2025. One would hope humanity had grown up by now, but it seems not. If you’re still not certain what I mean by moral insanity, here are some recent incidents that sum up the concept...

 

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Remember The National Day of Mourning: https://www.uaine.org/

 

SHUT IT DOWN!

rants and original photos by C. A. Matthews

After several late nights watching the livestreams from the various boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla, cringing as the activists were pummeled with skunk water before being kidnapped by the Israeli Navy and taken to prison to be beaten and called “terrorists,” I’m in the mood for screaming:

SHUT IT DOWN!

The very last of the first flotilla boats was boarded by the Israelis by very early Friday morning Eastern time. But the next wave of boats to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza, a flotilla called “Thousand Madleens to Gaza”, had already launched, and are on their way. (Learn more about them at https://www.thousandmadleens.org/) There’s no stopping a good idea and good people who want to help others live a good life.

And keeping the Israeli Navy busy hunting for the small boats of the flotilla in the Mediterranean has actually helped the starving in a measurable way. Gazan fishermen were able to slip their boats out into the sea and fish without being shot at by the IOF! Even if the Israelis threw the humanitarian aid into the bottom of the sea, the flotilla really did break the blockade after all.

Greta and the others did what they intended to and weren’t persuaded to stay home and sit on their backsides. They worked hard and suffered much to—

SHUT IT DOWN!

Palestinian supporters in Europe have been marching in record numbers protesting their countries’ lack of help for the victims of Israel’s ethnic cleansing. In Amsterdam alone a quarter million were in the streets. In Italy over a million turned out. Workers and students demonstrated after the largest unions called for a one-day general strike. Hundreds of trains were cancelled or delayed, some flights were cancelled, and many schools were closed.

These same sorts of actions should be happening everywhere. In North America, we’re slow on the uptake. No major shut downs yet. No general strike. A meme says, “The problem with American protests is that we schedule protests one by one instead of showing up every night until the change happens.”

Word! We should show up every night until we—

SHUT IT DOWN!

 

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Would you risk arrest to SHUT IT DOWN?

We’ve Got The Power!

by C. A. Matthews

Oftentimes, we don’t realize that all is not lost. We haven’t hit a roadblock like we thought. There is a path forward.

This is one of those times.

The Uniting for Peace resolution was made at the United Nations General Assembly this past week by Colombian President Gustavo Petro. He is now talking with other countries, such as the ones that comprise the Hague Group, to build a protective force for Gaza. (The US has since revoked Petro’s visa for his courage to speak so boldly at the UN. An illegal move, but what would you expect of Trump?)

More nations have recognized Palestine as a state than ever before. Spain, Italy, and recently Turkiye have sent naval escorts to protect the Global Sumud Flotilla. Every large city in Italy has held massive pro-Palestine protests and the longshoreman have vowed to go on strike to prevent the transport of military supplies to Israel.

So, even if the Western governments look like they’re not doing anything much to end the genocide in Gaza, there are some tiny, incremental changes happening for the better that will lead to a positive outcome. Yeah, I know—what’s happening seems very little and very late in the game, but it’s what we got.

Now is the time to play our cards well and pull out all the stops...

 

To find out how we can use our power for the good of all and end the genocide in Gaza, please copy or click on the following link: 

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The Stain Remains

by C. A. Matthews

The graffiti artist Banksy honored the Royal Courts of Justice in London recently with a great original artwork. Its subject caught the public’s eye immediately. The spray-painted scene showed a judge, complete in black gown and white wig, using his gavel to pummel a protester to the ground. The protester is attempting to hold up a protest sign splattered in his own blood. After the recent “I support Palestine Action” protests and massive arrests of people of all ages and conditions, what image of violent censorship by the state could be more appropriate?

According to Novara Media:

The arrests included Steve, a disabled RAF veteran using a walker, Mike Higgins, a 62-year-old blind and disabled man who was previously arrested on 9 August, an NHS midwife, a retired doctor in her 80s, two mental health nurses and 83-year-old Anglican priest Reverend Sue Parfitt.

Of course, this was to be the only Banksy artwork that couldn’t remain so the British people could enjoy its message for years to come. (There’s actually an earlier Banksy decorating a London police box, so his paintings are usually left alone.) The court had the image of the abusive judge and the downtrodden protester scrubbed from the wall outside the courthouse’s entrance within days. Only an ominous dark shadow of the aggressive judge and the beaten protester remains.

If this dark shadow doesn’t tell the story of our times, I don’t know what does. As someone said after the artwork was washed off the courts’ wall: The stain remains.

The powers-that-be can scrub away a Banksy image, censor and arrest us all they like for protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people, but the stain of the colonizers’ actions toward the ordinary people will never fade away. As the Irish-speaking group Kneecap said in an X post: “You can’t wash away genocide… Your complicity will always remain.”

There is bright red blood splatter on the protester’s placard in the original image, the protester’s own blood shed because of the judge’s evil actions. In the same manner, no matter how hard the Royal Courts of Justice (Ha!) tries to cover for the UK’s support of genocide, blood stains from the ethnically cleansed victims of Gaza will remain on their hands. No amount of “scrubbing” (censoring) or “whitewashing” (using propaganda/hasbara to cover up lies) will ever wipe away the people’s memory of how red those blood stains were.

It’s time for us all in the West to give up trying to lie our way out of our war crimes. The stain remains no matter how violently a country acts toward their own people who courageously keep pointing out the stain of genocide. Trying to shut down mass protests by censoring an organization such as Palestine Action and proscribing it as a “terrorist group” does nothing to hide the UK government’s past or present war crimes. In fact, it only adds to the government’s growing list of crimes against humanity...

 

To read more about how we as activists can help remove the stain of genocide from our world, please copy or click on this link: 

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