How Do We Live With Ourselves?

 

In Lak'ech Ala K'in. "I am you and you are me. What I do to you, I do to myself." —Mayan Saying

How Do We Live With Ourselves?

by C.A. Matthews

In this season of supposed “Peace on Earth! Goodwill to All Humankind!” one would hope to see—and experience—some of this peace and goodwill for oneself.

But, of course, that’s not possible in December 2023 because there’s a genocide going on in Palestine, both in Gaza and the West Bank. There are also other genocides occurring elsewhere on the planet—such as in the Congo—but they’re not making the news cycle much, like the one in Rwanda a few years back didn’t. Africans are invisible to Western media outlets. The stacks of dead bodies of black people don’t register on their cameras or consciousnesses.

Criminal, isn’t it?

The fact that Netanyahu and Biden have teamed up to slaughter tens of thousands of Palestinians, including little children, babies in incubators, and the elderly, has caused many Americans to simply shut down emotionally and intellectually. That’s the only explanation I can give to explain the lack of responses I’ve received whenever I post an article, a video, or photo detailing what’s happening in Gaza on my Facebook page. I’m lucky to get one or two likes or comments from the same one or two persons, but mostly I receive zero responses. Crickets.

Even to a video that shows the destruction of Gaza that US tax dollars have paid for (Don't you feel proud?): https://youtu.be/k0pOaRsfxYc?si=CaOByrRvvMFpsJrR

I know it’s foolish of me to even think it’s worth my time posting anything on Facebook, but I feel that the public has the right to hear the whole story and not only the sanitized and twisted narrative the status quo puts out in the mainstream media. I keep hoping some of these posts will get through the blocks and shadowbans. I know a lot of what I’ve posted on X/Twitter has been censored as well, but enough of my X posts must get through because I do receive plentiful responses from online friends and strangers alike.

Of course, the strangers are often accusing me of being “antisemitic” because I voice that I am strongly anti-Zionist/anti-genocide. Somehow people are confusing these two radically different concepts, Semitism and Zionism. Semitic peoples are simply people originally from the part of the world that makes up Gaza/Palestine and the modern state of Israel and speak similar languages. That’s all it really means.

And I’ll admit that I’m very much for Semitic people living and thriving and not being crushed to death in the rubble of their homes while being bombed by the Israeli air force, bombs courtesy of the US military-industrial complex. I’m very much for tiny babies in incubators in hospitals in the Gaza strip to have access to electricity and clean water and to not be left to die alone in the cold and dark because Israeli soldiers forced their doctors and nurses out of the hospitals. I’m very much for Israeli civilians not being burned to death in their cars by missiles shot from Apache helicopters piloted by Israeli Air Force pilots who believe in the “Hannibal Directive”.

I simply want all signatories to the United Nations Convention on Human Rights to follow the rules. I don’t want them to commit war crimes. That’s not too much to ask now, is it?

So, obviously I’m far from being “antisemitic” by the textbook definition. As far as the political ideology of Zionism goes? Nah, I can’t get behind it since it has led to the creation of a horrible ethnostate that has slaughtered the indigenous peoples for decades now without mercy because the Zionists want to steal the natives’ land and natural resources. Any political ideology that supports anything like the 1948 Nakba, apartheid, second class citizenship for native peoples, carpet bombing, and outright genocide isn’t an ideology I can support in good conscience.

And that’s where the problem lies for me. My conscience tells me that genocide is wrong, and that I, as a professing Christian, must do all that I can to “Love my neighbor as myself.” I cannot simply turn a blind eye to the horrors happening to Palestinians since they are my “neighbor.” I  must “Do for others as I would like them to do for me.” I must walk a mile in their moccasins and learn what it’s like to be oppressed, to feel the pain of what is happening to them, and then do something about it. I don’t have a choice. It’s what I as a Christian must do.

My conscience says that if I simply ignore others being killed and injured with US provided military armaments then I, as an American citizen/taxpayer, am every bit as culpable as the party to whom we provided the weapons to that is actively doing the killing.

We Americans don’t get a free pass on this. We don’t get to deny that we’re causing untold suffering and agony to our fellow human beings just because we made a private deal with another country that wants to use our military aid to commit a genocide. We must accept the blame and take action to rectify the nightmarish situation before it gets even worse—although it’s already gotten worse, hasn’t it?

I can’t imagine a worse scenario than 1.8 million displaced, 7,000 dead children, 20,000 civilians dead or crushed under the rubble of Gaza, murdered simply for the crime of being born Palestinian.  Once the "temporary pause" was lifted, over 700 Palestinians were killed within the first 24 hour period by IDF bombing. It bothers my conscience. It hurts my heart greatly. I can’t sleep sometimes. I remember my youngest daughter spending her first week of life in an incubator. How would I feel if she had been left to die alone or buried under a ton of rubble because Zionists wanted her dead?

But nobody wants to hear about my PTSD triggers. This strange concept of having a conscience isn’t going over very well with some Americans I’ve encountered, unfortunately. Here is my recent tale that illustrates this problem:

I was sharing information from one group to another group online, because I thought maybe a few people (not all, just a few) in the second group might be interested in using their musical skills to help out the folks in the first group. So I copied and pasted a request from the first group and sent it along in a group email to the second group. Honestly, I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. I was in a hurry, and I didn’t edit the paragraph I’d received from the first group because I didn’t want to add words or take away anything from what they were trying to ask help for.

Imagine my surprise (shock, really) the next day when I’m totally blindsided by a heated response posted in the second group that I emailed. Only two persons emailed back on the loop, but their accusations of my “antisemitism” and the “legal ramifications” of assisting the first group this holiday season pretty much told me that they weren’t the decent human beings I’d thought they were. (And the rest of those on the email loop? They’ve remained silent—in agreement? In fear they could be attacked next? Who knows?)

Now here's the real kicker: the second group is a church group, and I’d assumed they were professing Christians as well as musicians. Wouldn’t they as Christians want to stop a genocide being committed with the help of our tax dollars? Don’t their consciences bother them about the genocide going on against the relatives of the first group? Are my friends in the first group seen as being less than somehow because not all of them are the same kind of Christians or aren’t seen as American as the persons in the second group?

I’ll never know the answer to these questions. My emails asking for clarification (and maybe some words of comfort?) from the church's pastor were never answered. And I was apparently dropped from the church music group’s email loop as well.

Being ghosted by your pastor and others who you thought were your friends really sucks—especially during the Christmas season. I’ve always sung in church praise bands, choirs, and chorales. My favorite activity in December is going Christmas caroling. It’s the highlight of the year for me. It makes the cold and damp and the darkness of early winter bearable. Now it's ruined for me because I’m not welcome to sing with this second group because… Because I have a conscience? Because I don't support genocide?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to put my conscience to sleep—ever—even if I end up friendless. How could I live with myself knowing that I didn’t at least try to help others who are hurting? Why should I become a soulless sociopath just to fit in with present-day, bloodthirsty mainstream American society or a mainline American church denomination that backs those immoral values?

Since I've always followed the teachings of a radical Palestinian of the first century A.D. who preaches the Golden Rule, I think I’ll just walk on water and get the hell away from these hypocrites ASAP.  

I doubt I’ll ever be able to forget this upsetting experience or the unkind things my former church associates implied about the Palestinian Americans with whom I associate with through the local activism scene. I enjoy my current work with immigrants as a paralegal and have enjoyed my work as an ESL tutor and citizenship teacher for many years. I don’t see immigrants and newcomers as second class citizens or less than the people who have lived in the US all their lives. When a person or group has a reasonable request and asks for help, why can’t I share this ask with others without the risk of being attacked and accused of made-up charges of antisemitism?

Why are the people who actually support genocide by their actions and non-actions alike getting to call all the shots? I know—it’s because they’re capitalists, right? Money talks, especially in cash-strapped American churches. We can’t be upsetting the folks who write the big checks for the offering plate, can we?

It’s going to be a blue Christmas for yours truly. I get to suffer for putting my neck out there because I care about others. But a big thanks goes out to all those online who have supported me in the past and who will continue to support me in the future. You get me. You have a conscience. Bless you for being you.

Hey—maybe we can get together online and throw a Zoom Christmas carol party? I’ll bring the electronic cookies. (Ha-ha!)

How do we live with ourselves if we can’t even be open to showing love to our neighbor whose relatives are being wiped out in a genocide? We can’t. We die. Inside. Our consciences will be lost. Forever. And the warmongers and genocide supporters will win.

And we can’t let them win. Ever.

 

Liberationist theologian Herb Montgomery puts the whole Christmas story into a sharper perspective in A Christmas Story for the Marginalized

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/socialjesus/2019/12/a-christmas-story-for-the-marginalized

Reclaimed interpretations of the Christmas story emphasize details that we can’t afford to miss. Jesus being born into immense poverty, being announced to the socially outcast, bypassing the politically, economically, socially and religiously of the day, and his parents becoming violence-fleeing refugees for the well-being of their child—there is an entire foundation here on which to build a framework for Christians who are working toward social justice today.

 

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Your Congressmember At Work--For Israel

 

Your Congressmember At Work—For Israel

 edited by C.A. Matthews

It took over a month and a multitude of repeated attempts to contact Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. Local activists phoned, emailed, and even held several very loud protests in front of the building where her district office in Toledo is located before they garnered her attention. The Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition formulated and submitted a letter signed by many activist groups and others asking for Rep. Kaptur to co-sponsor a ceasefire in Gaza bill in the US House of Representatives. Within a week after sending the letter, a Zoom call was set up between Kaptur and constituents to discuss the reasons behind why she isn’t open to supporting a Gaza ceasefire bill in the House. The following excerpts from the Zoom transcript reveal her attitudes toward her constituents, especially Palestinian and Arab Americans who comprise a sizable minority in the Toledo area where Kaptur was born, grew up in, and currently serves as a representative in Congress.

First, a little background information about her: Marcy Kaptur (D) is 77 years old. She serves as the US representative from Ohio's 9th congressional district, a strangely shaped, gerrymandered district which includes the western suburbs of Cleveland as well as most of the city of Toledo. Now in her 21st term, Kaptur has been a Congresswoman since 1983. She is the longest serving woman in Congress in history and presently sits on the appropriations committee.  

According to Open Secrets, the current total Political Action Committee (PAC) money accepted by Kaptur for the 2023-2024 season is $370,550 and comes primarily from business (46.21%) and ideological (39.49%) PACs. The pro-Israel “JStreetPAC” has given her $1,000 so far this year. JStreetPAC has a strong link to *AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to the Jewish independent publication Forward. AIPAC has been a contributor to her earlier campaigns. Kaptur has also been endorsed by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

The following are some of the questions and answers discussed in the Zoom call with Rep. Kaptur. They have been edited slightly for punctuation and grammar, as the transcript was in a rough draft form.

Imam Farooq Aboelzahab of the Islamic Society of Toledo made these comments:

“Why has the US slept on this issue for 75 years? Kids have right to go to school, have fun, learn, live honorable lives. What do you expect after many generations of tragedy? Expect them to be tolerant and kind to the occupier? If we aren’t doing our job we cannot blame others for what they’re doing. Lack of justice anywhere is lack of justice everywhere. Badly failing for years... president after president, no one showed interest in solving it. Billions of dollars in war machines to kill more innocent people—those dollars could build a future instead. Ceasefire is needed, but not the answer—otherwise after two months or years, the bloodshed will start again.”

Kaptur’s response: “After 9/11 I came and circled around your mosque to protect it, and I sent that photo around the world.”

(Editor’s note: Apparently Marcy Kaptur is thinking more about a photo opportunity she took advantage of from more than two decades ago than the fact there is currently a genocide going on in Gaza. This was her only reply given to the Imam. Its brevity and self-centeredness are telling.)

Jasmin Abu-Hummos representing American Muslims for Palestine, Toledo chapter, provided a slideshow and made these remarks as she shared her photos and graphics with Rep. Kaptur:

“[I] met with folks last night. Here are points they want me to cover. CEASEFIRE NOW is our main plea right now. My father was expelled from Rafah in 1948... My uncle was shot and killed at age of 15 in 1989, and I never got to meet him.

Kaptur: “Where was he shot?”

Jasmin: “He was shot in Ramallah by Israeli forces for attending a funeral. That’s what brings us here today. We have similar stories and struggles. It appears that you don't have time for us, don’t care for our suffering pain. We watched you attend and mourn [at] Israeli vigils, posted in their favor, in your stories on Instagram, etc. You’ve sent statements for their events. We also mourn these lives, but we can’t help but notice your lack of regard in standing by [your] Palestinian constituents. I’m the only Palestinian on this panel today—that shows something.”

“It’s insulting, how you refuse to vote for a ceasefire. You’re enabling collective punishment and genocide. What does it take for you to call for a ceasefire? What are your criteria?”

“During the ‘ceasefire’ that (ended) in 2014, Israel was sending in Apaches, killing 3 year-olds, during your so-called ‘ceasefire.’ When it’s broken from one side, you say it’s ‘gruesome, tragic, violates all rules of modern warfare.’ You fail to call it gruesome when it’s the attacks on October 8th… These are the bombs you’re paying for, your bombs, dropped by Israel funded by US. Those bombs don’t fall on combat people, but on children. Here are their faces—here are the kids in Al-Shifa hospital.” (The slide show displays photos of dead babies lying on a stretcher and sickly premature babies in incubators. Jasmin continues.)

“How do you want these kids to evacuate the hospital? Here are gruesome images that you don't want to call ‘gruesome’. Maggots coming out of wounds.”

“These (photos) are the Israeli leaders you are so happy to back and support, saying ‘We will turn Gaza into ruins.’ (Photos of Netanyahu and others Israeli government officials with quotes that said:) ‘Focus on destruction not accuracy.’ ‘Burn Gaza now.’ This is the government you’re backing and giving the green light to. How can you be anti-genocide while backing this government?”

“Co-sponsor Cori Bush’s resolution, or write another resolution for a ceasefire, whatever you need to do. I see my family dying every day on the screen. When I was little I looked up to you… blindly voted for you. Now a disgrace to be represented by you. I remember my brother giving you a rose and a hug, and I said, ‘Marcy’s for us, she’s with us,’ but now those thoughts aren’t clear anymore. That’s what the majority of your people are also thinking.”

Kaptur’s response: 

Thank you, that took a lot of courage and depth to say that publicly. I don’t agree with some of what you said regarding my own efforts, but I respect your delivering them in such a respectful manner, and this is how you make progress. And I especially liked how you said I could make my own resolution because Cori Bush’s resolution would not pass, and we want to be much more thorough in what we’re proposing."

(Editor’s note: Marcy Kaptur seems to want to do things her own way and not work in a cooperative manner with a fellow Democrat like Cori Bush. Her response doesn’t provide any comfort to Jasmin, her constituent, or the others in the call. She doesn’t even provide a deadline as to when we could expect to see her proposed resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. Also notice how Kaptur doesn’t deny that she is biased by her sympathetic actions toward Israelis and by her ignoring the pain of Palestinians in the past. She didn't even make a remark about the very powerful imagery of dead and dying babies from Gaza that Jasmin displayed in her slide show.

You’ll notice that Rep. Kaptur also didn’t make any comments about the lack of clean water causing death and disease in Gaza since the Israelis cut off water to Gaza. She doesn’t seem to see or acknowledge the suffering of Palestinians at all. Perhaps they are invisible to her, but she’s clearly supportive of Israel as indicated by her recent endorsement. She praises Jasmin for acting in a “respectful manner,” as if this isn't the usual way a Palestinian acts. It’s almost as if Kaptur agrees with the Israeli Defense Minister who labeled Palestinians “human animals.” Animals don't have “manners,” now do they?

The takeaway from this exchange is that Palestinians are simply not worthy of Kaptur's tears or efforts to establish a temporary ceasefire or a permanent peace. One wonders if she could even be diagnosed as a sociopath since she demonstrates a total lack of empathy toward the suffering of Palestinians and the fears and concerns of her constituents such as Jasmin.)

Adam Smidi gives his comments:

“Any taking of life is sickening. The narrative right now is that there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian life. … One doctor, from Doctors Without Borders, said this is the ‘worst humanitarian crisis she’s ever experienced.’ These are the people we should be listening to, humanitarian people, people on the ground. An acronym was invented, ‘WCNSF,’ unique to Gaza. It stands for ‘wounded child no surviving family.’ This acronym shouldn’t exist.”

“There is a natural human impulse to protect children. Right now, that impulse is broken, and disincentivized by our representatives. Muslims in Ohio are diverse and civically engaged. We will elect those that hear us. Your legacy in the local Muslim community has been so positive, all we ask is to be brave enough to stand with us and be on the right side of history on this thing. Stop the bombing, ceasefire, ending of innocent lives lost. Two thirds of Americans agree. (…) A local family near to us, the (Abu Shaban?) family, lost 35 members, age 2 weeks to 85 years, all in one sitting.”

Kaptur’s response:

“In [the] Middle East, this war could expand. The US cannot operate alone, must have allies in region that help all of us. Keep that wider scope in mind as we look towards a solution. (...) This will take a united front, global. We need many nations on board, first to help us keep honest as a country, and second to help us heal that wounded region.”

(Editor’s note: Once again, Rep. Kaptur seems not to have heard or understood the concerns Adam voiced about the deaths of innocents and entire families and how a ceasefire could prevent further suffering. She’s focused on the US fighting in other parts of the region and making “allies” in a global conflict that would only continue the senseless and immoral killing of children and innocents. It’s like she needs a “moral hearing aid” to hear and understand that her constituents’ concern is not about war strategies and politics—it’s about saving endangered human beings and ensuring their health and safety.)

Protest outside Kaptur's district office.

A brief excerpt from the Q & A section that ended the Zoom call:

Jasmin: “As our representative, a lot of people here today understand that all that work needs to be done, to figure out a two-state or one-state or five-state solution. We don’t care about that right now. We want you as our representative to back a ceasefire immediately.”

Kaptur: “Who’s going to stop the shooting?”

Jasmin: “What do you mean?”

Kaptur: “If we pass a nonbinding resolution—and, I’ll tell you, this resolution isn’t going to pass.”

Jasmin: “We’re asking you to take that stance, and go on the record. We want to know that we feel supported by our representatives.”

Kaptur: “I can’t make it happen. I’m just a representative.”

(Editor’s note: It seems odd that Rep. Kaptur feels she is powerless. Here she has been elected to Congress over twenty times and has sat on many committees and has many connections in Washington, DC, but she has no political pull at all according to her. She says, “I can’t make it happen” when it comes to addressing a life and death issue such as genocide. “I’m just a representative,” she whines. She can’t even speak out against ethnic cleansing on the floor of Congress?

Why would any voter support a candidate with so little belief in their own agency? Is Kaptur just a puppet—not her own person—going whichever way the wind blows? Possibly it explains her long tenure in office. She’s the perfect party hack with no original thoughts or sense of morality of her own. She does as she's told by whoever pays her the most money.)

Jasmin: “You’re our representative, and we’re asking you to do this.”

Kaptur: “I’ll do what I can. And what I can do is what I am doing. And that’s strengthening our allies’ voices who are negotiating, our top advisors working with Hamas and our allies. I don’t have a voice in that, I can just encourage them. Right now, we could try to pass this resolution in Congress, but it’s not related to the future or any kind of truce to stop the killing.”

Jasmin: “What’s the harm in supporting the resolution?”

(Editor’s note: A good question. If there’s no harm in it, why not? Even a symbolic gesture to say you’re standing with the Palestinian people would be of great comfort to Jasmin and other Palestinian American voters, wouldn’t it?)

Terry Lodge, Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition: “Vote against the appropriations, cut off the weapons now. This has to stop. It’s madness and will get worse.”

Kaptur: “That bill did not move.”

Terry : “It’s only temporarily on hold, will be up again quickly.”

Kaptur: “It could be.”

Terry: “This is an emergency. I agree this will take a community to stop this, but it begins by advocating, using your voice to put on the brakes. Please put on the brakes. Please tell the rest of Congress that YOU want this to stop, take immediate steps. I remember in 2003 when you were one of the brave voices who voted against the invasion of Iraq! You’ve demonstrated courage in the past.”

(Editor’s note: Alas, Marcy Kaptur hasn’t demonstrated much courage this time around—except for courageously representing the pro-Zionist lobby. She sits on the appropriations committee, but she can’t even promise that she’ll attempt to stop the spending on the weapons of genocide. There’s so much Kaptur could do and say, but, in the end, she says and does little to nothing.)

These excerpts from the Zoom call with Rep. Kaptur aren’t meant to dissuade you from ever contacting your representatives in Congress, but they are to give you an idea of the resistance you’ll be up against. The pro-Israel, AIPAC lobbyists are very rich and very powerful. Be ready to counter each and every excuse they’ve given to your representative whenever you communicate with them. Bought-off politicians are always looking for an excuse to ignore you and, when they can’t hold you off any longer, a way to gaslight you.

Don’t let your Congressmember get away with it. There’s a genocide going on in Gaza. It’s not a picnic or a football game. There’s no time for sweet talk and niceties. Show your representative the horrific photos of dead children. Give them the numbers of deaths and wounded. Don’t let them tell you they’re powerless to affect real change. 

Anyone who can spend that much time and energy on gaslighting their constituents has enough time and power to spend on doing good things for them instead. Let your representative know you will no longer support them in their re-election bid if they won't represent you. Let them know that you know which lobbyists (PACs) are paying them off to act against their constituents' best interests. And let them know that you're not afraid to take stronger measures to re-establish democracy in the future.

*More on AIPAC from Hamas: Winning by Not Losing

AIPAC was founded in 1953 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs–the lobbying division of the American Zionist Council in an effort to whitewash reports of Israeli atrocities—specifically the Qibya massacre.

In 1963, it was reconstituted as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – AIPAC—which has had immense influence in Congress—despite being out of step with mainstream Jewish opinion. Zionism also made inroads in the media and entertainment industries. Not to mention academia.

Related Articles and Interesting Links

I've Had Enough https://richardmedhurst.substack.com/p/ive-had-enough

Israel, America and the “Unbreakable Bond” that Threatens the World https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/israel-america-and-the-unbreakable

New Mood In The World Will Put An End To The Global Monroe Doctrine
https://popularresistance.org/new-mood-in-the-world-will-put-an-end-to-the-global-monroe-doctrine/

Israeli Deceit & the Ongoing Battle of Shifa Hospital https://consortiumnews.com/2023/11/15/israeli-deceit-the-battle-of-shifa-hospital/

Israel’s War on Hospitals https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-war-on-hospitals

"From The River To The Sea" Is Genocide, But Actual Genocide Is Not Genocide  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/from-the-river-to-the-sea-is-genocide

This Is The Real Face Of The US Empire https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/this-is-the-real-face-of-the-us-empire/comments

White House Fears Pause In Fighting Will Let Journalists See What's Been Happening In Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/white-house-fears-pause-in-fighting

Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza conflict
https://cpj.org/2023/11/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

Israel Has Damaged Israel's Reputation Far Worse Than Its Enemies Ever Have https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-has-damaged-israels-reputation

The Old and New Nakba: Forced Expulsion of Palestinians Must Be Rejected https://countercurrents.org/2023/11/the-old-and-new-nakba-forced-expulsion-of-palestinians-must-be-rejected/

‘Morally bankrupt’: outrage after pro-Israel group backs insurrectionist Republicans (March 2022) https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/23/aipac-pro-israel-group-backs-insurrectionist-republicans

Israel and the Kennedy Assassinations https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/22/israel-and-the-kennedy-assassinations/

Never Stop Being Shocked By The Depravity Of The Empire https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/never-stop-being-shocked-by-the-depravity

Gaza Newborns Are Dying From Preventable Causes Due to Israeli Siege, Oxfam Says https://truthout.org/articles/gaza-newborns-are-dying-from-preventable-causes-due-to-israeli-siege-oxfam-says/

Biden endorses Israel’s war to ‘eliminate’ Gaza  https://www.aaronmate.net/p/biden-endorses-israels-war-to-eliminate

Before Viral Islamophobic Rant, Ex-Obama Official Harassed Women, Russian Diplomat’s Dog https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/23/before-viral-islamophobic-rant-ex-obama-official-harassed-women-russian-diplomats-dog/

Israel’s Genocidal Antisemitism Against the Arab Civilians of Gaza
https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/23/israels-genocidal-antisemitism-against-the-arab-civilians-of-gaza/

If Netanyahu believes dropping over 20,000 bombs and missiles on the civilian infrastructure of this tiny crowded enclave and its people, nearly half of whom are children, is so restrained, why has he kept Western and Israeli journalists out of Gaza, other than a few recently embedded reporters restricted to their seats in Israeli armored vehicles? Why has he ordered four nightmarish total telecommunications and electricity blackouts, with excruciating consequences, over the whole Gaza Strip for as long as 30 hours at a time?

50 Israeli Hostages To Be Exchanged for 150 Palestinian ‘Prisoners’ — Why the Prisoners Are Also Hostages https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/23/50-israeli-hostages-to-be-exchanged-for-150-palestinian-prisoners-why-the-prisoners-are-also-hostages/

The Special Rapporteur for the UN on Palestine wrote in a recent report that “since 1967, over 800,000 Palestinians, including children as young as 12, have been arrested and detained under authoritarian rules enacted, enforced and adjudicated by the Israeli military. Palestinians are subject to long detention for expressing opinions, gathering, pronouncing unauthorised political speeches, or even merely attempting to do so, and ultimately deprived of their status of protected civilians. They are often presumed guilty without evidence, arrested without warrants, detained without charge or trial and brutalised in Israeli custody.”

Israel is holding 6,704 Palestinians, many of them arrested on the flimsiest of pretexts. The number of detainees includes over 2,000 in what it is pleased to call “administrative detention.” That is where someone is arrested and imprisoned without charges, a trial, or sentencing. Administrative detention orders have a term of one to six months, but they can be indefinitely renewed.

Moreover, Israel arrests as many as 500 minors each year, including children as young as nine and ten, keeping the bulk of them in military brigs, and about 150 in civilian prisons. They stand accused of mistreating these children while they are in custody. Most are guilty of sassing Israeli soldiers or police, though some are stone-throwers.

These people have been effectively kidnapped by the Israeli state and are hostages, not prisoners.

McCarthyite witch-hunt against actresses Melissa Barrera and Susan Sarandon for opposing Israeli genocide in Gaza https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/11/23/ptwk-n23.html

ICC’s Putin arrest warrant based on State Dept-funded report that debunked itself https://thegrayzone.com/2023/03/31/iccs-putin-arrest-state-dept-report/

Netanyahu Says UN Isn’t Doing Enough for Palestinians in Gaza https://news.antiwar.com/2023/11/23/netanyahu-says-un-isnt-doing-enough-for-palestinians-in-gaza/

Brics Leaders Condemn Israeli War Crimes in Gaza, Call For End of Hostilities https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/24/brics-leaders-condemn-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza-call-for-end-of-hostilities/

Doctors Gabor Maté and Tarek Loubani Discuss Israel’s Medical Siege of Gaza https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/24/doctors-gabor-mate-and-tarek-loubani-discuss-israels-medical-siege-of-gaza/

Protesters Arrested Disrupting Macy's Parade Over Genocide in Gaza
https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-protest-macy-s-thanksgiving-parade

Baltimore Joins Over 100 US Cities In Endorsement Of Medicare For All https://popularresistance.org/baltimore-joins-over-100-us-cities-in-endorsement-of-medicare-for-all/

'Jarring Wake-Up Call': Hunger Surges in US After Food Aid Cuts https://www.commondreams.org/news/jarring-wake-up-call-hunger-surges-in-us-after-food-aid-cuts

Hunger Free America's (HFA) 2023 National Hunger Survey Report found that "the number of Americans without enough food over a seven-day period was an average of 40% higher in September and October of 2023 than in September and October of 2021."

"Over that time period, the number of people without enough food increased from 19.7 million to 27.8 million nationwide," HFA noted, attributing the rise in hunger to the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit and universal school meals.

Super-Rich 1% Match Carbon Emissions of the Poorest 5 Billion People, Oxfam Report Reveals https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/20/super-rich-1-match-carbon-emissions-of-the-poorest-5-billion-people-oxfam-report-reveals/

Keeping Up With The Jen O'Syders

Keeping Up With The Jen O’Syders

by C.A. Matthews

From time to time, we at The Revolution Continues blog like to get out in the community and see how people are coping and dealing with life in this challenging century. This week we stopped by a local park, and I had a chat on a park bench with a mother of two school-aged sons while her kids played on the playground. Our guest calls herself “an All-American Soccer Mom.” Meet Jennifer O’Syder or “Jen” for short.

TRC: Thanks for chatting with us today, Jen.

Jen: You’re welcome. I must admit when you walked over to me that I was intrigued by your t-shirt’s slogan. What does “Not in our name” mean?

TRC: This shirt was given to me at a peace demonstration held by JVP*. It means we don’t want Israel to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their land. We are against the genocide in Gaza and the attacks against Palestinians and others living in the West Bank. We demand that the bombing stop, especially the bombing of hospitals, places of worship, refugee camps, and schools.

Jen: (Wrinkling her nose up and looking rather perplexed.) But...um… I thought those Ay-rabs Philistines were the “bad guys”.

TRC: Do you mean the Palestinians? The are a Semitic people native to the region that is now called Israel. They were forced out of their homes and off their land by Zionist terrorists such as the Stern Gang in 1948.

Jen: Terrorists? The Palestinians have been terrorists for that long?

TRC: No, they have been victimized by Zionist terrorists for more than 80 years now. Some of Zionist terrorist actions against the natives of Palestine started during the time of the Ottoman Empire occupation before World War I. But in 1948 it got much worse. Zionists, mostly from Europe, forced over 700,000 Palestinians off their farms and olive groves and out of their homes and villages. These Israeli terrorists literally stole the natives’ houses and marched the Palestinians, the old and the young, men, women and children, into the desert at gun point.

Jen: But I thought the Israelites have always lived in Israel. Our Bible study teacher told us so.

TRC: The “Israelites” were an ancient Middle Eastern people who claimed that their patriarch Abraham migrated from the east, from the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley region or from what we would call modern-day Iraq. Abraham settled his family in the ancient land of Canaan, and it wasn’t exactly empty—it was full of many native peoples living there. There seems to have been a lot warring with the Israelites claiming God had given them Canaan, and that they had the right to slaughter all its original inhabitants.

Jen: The Israelites were Iraqis? Like that Saddam Hussein guy? (She sticks out her tongue.) Ugh.

TRC: Not quite, but yes, the Israelites were related to the Iraquis and the peoples they intermarried with in what would later become known as Palestine during the Roman Empire times. The Israelites as a group fought and lost a war against their Roman occupiers in the year 70 A.D. and were dispersed. Most migrated to others places within the Roman world and began to intermarry with the people in those lands.

Jen: But if they’re not living in Israel today, then why do we still have Israelites?

TRC: Technically we don’t. The “Israelis” of today are basically Caucasian European peoples who practice the religion of Judaism or those whose family members did, as many younger Israelis claim to be atheists. They started to migrate in numbers to what became the British Mandate of Palestine starting in the 1920s under the banner of Zionism, or the political viewpoint that persons of Jewish ancestry had the right to take back the land of their distant ancestors. 

Jen: So a few Israelites, uh, Israelis, returned home? No problem.

TRC: It became a bigger problem after World War II when ever larger numbers of Jewish persons, who held to the tenets of Zionism, left war-torn Europe and settled in Palestine against the wishes of the British ruling the territory. The British tried their best to keep the peace between these colonizers and the native peoples, but the Zionist newcomers had a lot of weaponry and rich backers overseas. They blew up the King David Hotel in 1946 and killed at least 90 persons, including dozens of British diplomats. Then the Zionists launched a series of terrorist attacks against the Palestinians that built up to the 1948 Nakba, which translates to “catastrophe” or “holocaust,” forcing the Palestinians from their homes at the cost of many lives.

Jen: So, the Jews started their own holocaust against the Ay-rabs? Guess they’d be experts at that sort of thing, huh? (Snorting and chuckling.) But I thought they were all supposed to go and live in Israel anyways.

TRC: Uh, no, people who practice the religion of Judaism can and do live all over the world today. They aren’t confined to one country. Some even live in our town. For example, there’s a synagogue not too far from this park.

Jen: Yeah, I’ve driven past it, but it’s not a proper temple like the real Jews are supposed to worship in. Our preacher told us that the Jews are all supposed to go to Jerusalem to worship at the big temple there. Once they all get there and do that, then the End Times begin, and Jesus will come and take us, his chosen people, to heaven and send the rest of you to hell.

TRC: Okay… So, you’re saying that the fate of the world rests on one religious group moving to a particular city in the Middle East to perform a particular style of worship in order for your religious group to reach the afterlife?

Jen: No, not the afterlife—heaven. It’s really important that all those Jews who rejected Jesus be corralled together in one spot called Israel so he can zap them and send them to hell for having him crucified.

TRC: Hmm...Interesting. It was actually the Romans who had Jesus crucified. Does that mean all the citizens living in modern-day Rome will get “zapped” too?

Jen: (Shrugging.) Well, maybe. I don’t know. If they’re Jewish, they’ll all be in Israel anyway and can get zapped there. But what’s the big deal? We tell all the Jews in the world to go live in Israel. It’ll get them out our cities here where all they do is cheat people at banking and jewelry sales.

TRC: (Sighing) And open up more acting jobs and stand-up comedy gigs for non-Jewish persons?

Jen: Now you’re getting it!

TRC: But the Palestinian people also live in the modern state of Israel and deserve to have homes where their ancestors lived too, right? Some of them are Christian. The Israelis bombed the third oldest church in Christendom, St. Porphyrius, recently and destroyed it, killing and injuring many people. Don’t you as a practicing Christian find that upsetting?

Jen: Maybe if they were “real Christians” that didn’t worship Mary and their graven idols and paintings on the ceilings so much, I’d find it upsetting. But they’re fakes, so if they get bombed, then so be it. The Israelites—I mean Israelis have got to have more room to squish in all the Jews from around the world into one place so Jesus can come again to rule with grace and mercy.

TRC: How “merciful” is it to bomb hospitals, schools, and refugee camps where children and their families are located? Do little children who may or may not be “real Christians” deserve to die such horrible deaths?

Jen: Jesus did say something along the lines of “suffer the little children” so perhaps that’s what he meant. (Shrugging.) I don’t know. They’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time so they get to suffer. Besides, if they’re Ay-rabs they’re not going to amount to much in the long run really, are they? They’re not as smart as white people because they can’t make their letters right. Their writing looks like so many squiggles.

TRC: (Sighing.) Yeah, it’s not like they were smart enough to invent the Arabic numerals that we all use alongside the Roman alphabet, is it?

Jen: Huh? (A commotion draws her attention to the playground.) Hey! Jimmy! Get off that thing right now!

Jimmy: (Shouting back) But we’re swinging together! We can go faster and higher together!

Jen: Not with that wetback, you don’t! Billy—go get your brother off that swing pronto!

Billy: But Mom… They’re having fun. They ain’t doing anything wrong.

Jen: I don’t need to tell you that we don’t mess around with people with skin the color of mud. It might rub off on us. (Curling her hand into a fist.) Get your little brother off that swing right now before I make you regret the day you were born!

TRC: “Suffer the little children,” right Jen?

Jen: Hey, I don't mean to sound crass, but people die all the time. Some just get to die younger than others. If Israelis want to bomb a bunch of Ay-rabs kids into the dust and wipe them off the face of the earth, who am I to tell them they’re wrong? For Jews, they at least got the right idea about not mixing the races. If their ancestors hadn’t slept with all those filthy Canaanites, they probably wouldn’t have killed Jesus. Our preacher says there’s more than a grain of truth in that.

TRC: (Nodding.) I’m sure he or she does.

Jen: He, of course. Women shouldn’t be leading others in worship. They’re not good enough to in God’s eyes. Not smart enough to interpret scripture for themselves.

TRC: (Rising from the park bench.) I sort of figured you’d say that. It’s been interesting talking with you today, Jen O’Syder. Take care.

Jen: You’re welcome. Where you going now?

TRC: I’m going to go over to swing with that little boy who was enjoying his double swing with Jimmy. Maybe we can swing together high enough to reach a low Earth orbit. I feel like leaving the planet about now.

 

*JVP stands for “Jewish Voice for Peace,” an anti-war, pro-Palestinian group of Jewish persons and their allies. Learn more about them at: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

*  *  *

November 20 was World Children's Day.

World Children’s Day, celebrated annually on November 20, is a global initiative promoting children’s rights, safety, education, health and happiness.

It comes this year amid Israel’s war on Gaza. About half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people are children.

Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed at least 5,500 children, according to Palestinian officials. That is one Palestinian child killed every 10 minutes, or about one out of every 200 children in the Gaza Strip.

An additional 1,800 children are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead. A further 9,000 children have been injured, many with life-changing consequences. Many of these children have lived through the trauma of multiple wars.

This infographic online at Al Jazeera lists the names and ages of less than half of those children killed over the past six weeks.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links 

Fifteen Things You Should Never Have To Say To A Country https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/fifteen-things-you-should-never-have

 

Israel Propaganda Vs Palestine Propaganda https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-propaganda-vs-palestine-propaganda

 

WATCH: Israeli children sing, "We will annihilate everyone" in Gaza, against a background of destruction

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/watch-israeli-children-sing-we-will-annihilate-everyone-gaza

Poll Shows American Support for Israel Is Cratering Amid Its Violent Siege https://truthout.org/articles/poll-shows-american-support-for-israel-is-cratering-amid-its-violent-siege/

Poll: Majority of Americans Support a Ceasefire in Gaza
https://news.antiwar.com/2023/11/15/poll-majority-of-americans-support-a-ceasefire-in-gaza/

***MUST READ: Don’t blame Israel, blame a “weak” Washington https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/dont-blame-israel-blame-a-weak-washington

Panic as Gaza’s al-Shifa evacuates, Israel army denies ordering it to do so https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/18/israel-gives-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-one-hour-to-evacuate

Israel-Hamas war live: ‘At least 50’ dead in Israeli strike on Gaza school https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/18/israel-hamas-war-live-conditions-worsen-as-another-baby-dies-at-al-shifa

Is History Repeating Itself in Israel-Palestine? https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/is-history-repeating-itself-in-israel

Probe Shows 126+ Civilians Killed by Israeli Airstrike Targeting 'Just One Guy' https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-bomb-refugee-camp

The US Has A Standing Policy Of Ignoring The Human Rights Violations Of Its Allies https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-has-a-standing-policy-of-ignoring    

Tone Policing Opposition To Genocide https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/tone-policing-opposition-to-genocide

PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Banality of Propaganda https://consortiumnews.com/2023/11/14/patrick-lawrence-the-banality-of-propaganda/

Israelis Keep Hurting Their Own PR Interests By Talking https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israelis-keep-hurting-their-own-pr

NYT Runs Interference for IDF as It Bombs Jabalia Refugee Camp https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/17/nyt-runs-interference-for-idf-as-it-bombs-jabalia-refugee-camp/ 

They're Just Insulting Our Intelligence At This Point
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/theyre-just-insulting-our-intelligence

My tense exchange on a train with Sen. Chris Coons over Gaza
https://www.aaronmate.net/p/a-tense-exchange-on-a-train-with

Canada/US' quiet motive for backing Israel's genocide
https://truthb.substack.com/p/canadaus-quiet-motive-for-backing

Don’t be fooled. Biden is fully signed up to genocide in Gaza https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/dont-be-fooled-biden-is-fully-signed

Over 1,200 ‘Educators for Palestine’ Sign Open Letter Demanding Ceasefire https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/16/over-1200-educators-for-palestine-sign-open-letter-demanding-ceasefire/

GAZA ON THE BRINK - LIVE WITH LOWKEY AND AARON MATÉ https://chroniclesofhaiphong.substack.com/p/gaza-on-the-brink-live-with-lowkey

Criminalization of First Amendment-Protected Pro-Palestinian Speech Is Spreading https://truthout.org/articles/criminalization-of-first-amendment-protected-pro-palestinian-speech-is-spreading

With more than 10,000 Palestinians killed in the last month, Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of refugee camps, and an ever-widening ground invasion in Gaza, it’s critical that student activists and people at large can gather, protest and exercise their right to speak freely.

When political speech is criminalized, it renders the First Amendment meaningless. Collectively, we must demand that universities and colleges continue to honor student organizations’ right to freedom of expression, and we must demand the same from our elected officials and law enforcement. Now is not the time for silence.  

Official Israeli Investigation Determines IDF Helicopters Killed Civilians on October 7 https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah/status/1725958732113162579

Israel Doesn't Have A Gen-Z Problem, It Has A Morality Problem https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-doesnt-have-a-gen-z-problem

America Inc. with Lee Camp: Top 11 Companies Supporting Israel’s Crimes  https://youtu.be/Jvz5_yvfwLE?si=UR85uo7TtgWK0433

Israel Is Shutting Down Its Human Laboratory In Gaza https://popularresistance.org/israel-is-shutting-down-its-human-laboratory-in-gaza/

Meet The Activists Fighting Zionism With Direct Action

https://popularresistance.org/meet-the-activists-fighting-zionism-with-direct-action/

Palestinians File Emergency Motion to Block US Aid for Israel’s Genocide in Gaza https://truthout.org/articles/palestinians-file-emergency-motion-to-block-us-aid-for-israels-genocide-in-gaza/