Yes, Carrie (and bodymind), my sister also had first-hand experience of how the Palestinians live and was absolutely horrified at what she saw. And yes, pressure needs to be applied, at a global level, to stop this terrible state of affairs.
bodymind,
I agree. I lived in Palestine back in 1979 and was appalled at the way my then husband’s family was treated. I was also treated so badly after marrying him; as an American tourist things were much better. Once married to him, I was degraded and demoralized and I realized then that he and the other Palestinians live that EVERY DAY. Things are even worse today; his extended family tell me of the wall, of family not being able to go to work or get health care. It is terrible. I am no longer married to that Palestinian but his family still keep in touch with me and my heart hurts at what they endure.
It is time to say the truth and stop treating Israel as the sacred cow; they are doing human rights violations and apartheid. BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) is working to stop it.
Forgive the numerous posts. However, most Americans, particularly Jewish Americans, are unaware of the harsh reality of apartheid in Israel. I pray you will find the heart to listen to the inconvenient truth.
Journalist Max Blumenthal, author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel (2013), spoke at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle (April 8, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-CQ1_cI7sc
Max Blumenthal, bestselling author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel (2013), discusses Israeli apartheid, whether some criticism of Israel is racist, and the recent peace talks to nowhere:
Blumenthal’s 2009 video documentary, “Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem on Eve of Obama’s Cairo Address” was banned by YouTube, Vimeo and the Huffington Post.
The video depicted the moral free-fall of young people consumed with entitlement, exclusivism and racist pathology. Blumenthal said,
“On the eve of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt, I stepped out onto the streets of Jerusalem with my friend Joseph Dana to interview young Israelis and American Jews about their reaction to the speech. We encountered rowdy groups of beer sodden twenty-somethings, many from the United States, and all eager to vent their visceral, even violent hatred of Barack Obama and his policies towards Israel. Usually I offer a brief commentary on my video reports, but this one requires no comment at all. Quite simply, it contains some of the most shocking footage I have ever filmed.”
Blumenthal’s articles and video documentaries have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Guardian, The Independent Film Channel, The Huffington Post, Salon.com, Al Jazeera English and many other publications. His other book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party (2009), is a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller.
Discussing the YouTube banning of the “Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem” video, Blumenthal said,
“They have offered me no further explanation and have stonewalled my inquiries and attempts to rectify the situation. Thus they have censored a video that contains far less inflammatory content than thousands of video they are already hosting. Why? I won’t ascribe motives to Youtube I am unable to confirm, but it is clear there is an active campaign by right-wing Jewish elements to suppress the video by filing a flood of complaints with Youtube. At the same time these elements have attempted to paint me as a self-hating Jew determined to foment anti-Semitism.”
Watch the four-part interview with Blumenthal on The Real News Network and decide for yourself.
Dani Dayan is the Chairman of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank (and formerly in the Gaza Strip).
Mehdi Hasan is a British political journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the presenter of
“Head to Head” on Al Jazeera.
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories (commonly referred to as simply Israeli settlements) are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The United Nations has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel’s construction of settlements constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Israel disputes the position of the international community and the legal arguments that were used to declare the settlements illegal.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and communities in the Golan Heights, areas which have been annexed by Israel, are also considered settlements by the international community, which does not recognize Israel’s annexations of these territories. The International Court of Justice also says these settlements are illegal in a 2004 advisory opinion.
In April 2012, UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, in response to moves by Israel to legalize Israeli outposts, reiterated that all settlement activity is illegal. The presence and ongoing expansion of existing settlements by Israel and the construction of settlement outposts is frequently criticized as an obstacle to the peace process by the Palestinians and third parties, including the United Nations, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the European Union, and the United States.
As of July 2012, according to the Israeli interior ministry, 350,150 Jewish settlers live in the 121 officially-recognized settlements in the West Bank, 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in East Jerusalem and over 20,000 live in settlements in the Golan Heights.
Secretary of State Kerry gets to say whatever half-truth or fiction comes into his head about Syria, Russia or other “designated villains,” but when he cites the inconvenient truth of Israeli “apartheid,” he must scramble as fast as he can to retract and apologize. http://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/29/kerry-grovels-over-israeli-apartheid/
Yes, Carrie (and bodymind), my sister also had first-hand experience of how the Palestinians live and was absolutely horrified at what she saw. And yes, pressure needs to be applied, at a global level, to stop this terrible state of affairs.
bodymind,
I agree. I lived in Palestine back in 1979 and was appalled at the way my then husband’s family was treated. I was also treated so badly after marrying him; as an American tourist things were much better. Once married to him, I was degraded and demoralized and I realized then that he and the other Palestinians live that EVERY DAY. Things are even worse today; his extended family tell me of the wall, of family not being able to go to work or get health care. It is terrible. I am no longer married to that Palestinian but his family still keep in touch with me and my heart hurts at what they endure.
It is time to say the truth and stop treating Israel as the sacred cow; they are doing human rights violations and apartheid. BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) is working to stop it.
Forgive the numerous posts. However, most Americans, particularly Jewish Americans, are unaware of the harsh reality of apartheid in Israel. I pray you will find the heart to listen to the inconvenient truth.
Journalist Max Blumenthal, author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel (2013), spoke at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle (April 8, 2014):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-CQ1_cI7sc
Resources
http://mondoweiss .net/
http://electronicintifada .net/
http://www.bdsmovement .net/
Max Blumenthal, bestselling author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel (2013), discusses Israeli apartheid, whether some criticism of Israel is racist, and the recent peace talks to nowhere:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10604
Blumenthal’s 2009 video documentary, “Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem on Eve of Obama’s Cairo Address” was banned by YouTube, Vimeo and the Huffington Post.
The video depicted the moral free-fall of young people consumed with entitlement, exclusivism and racist pathology. Blumenthal said,
“On the eve of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt, I stepped out onto the streets of Jerusalem with my friend Joseph Dana to interview young Israelis and American Jews about their reaction to the speech. We encountered rowdy groups of beer sodden twenty-somethings, many from the United States, and all eager to vent their visceral, even violent hatred of Barack Obama and his policies towards Israel. Usually I offer a brief commentary on my video reports, but this one requires no comment at all. Quite simply, it contains some of the most shocking footage I have ever filmed.”
Blumenthal’s articles and video documentaries have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Guardian, The Independent Film Channel, The Huffington Post, Salon.com, Al Jazeera English and many other publications. His other book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party (2009), is a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller.
Discussing the YouTube banning of the “Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem” video, Blumenthal said,
“They have offered me no further explanation and have stonewalled my inquiries and attempts to rectify the situation. Thus they have censored a video that contains far less inflammatory content than thousands of video they are already hosting. Why? I won’t ascribe motives to Youtube I am unable to confirm, but it is clear there is an active campaign by right-wing Jewish elements to suppress the video by filing a flood of complaints with Youtube. At the same time these elements have attempted to paint me as a self-hating Jew determined to foment anti-Semitism.”
Watch the four-part interview with Blumenthal on The Real News Network and decide for yourself.
An In-Depth Discussion About Israeli Settlements In Occupied Palestine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9UEFTsqow
Dani Dayan is the Chairman of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank (and formerly in the Gaza Strip).
Mehdi Hasan is a British political journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the presenter of
“Head to Head” on Al Jazeera.
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories (commonly referred to as simply Israeli settlements) are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The United Nations has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel’s construction of settlements constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Israel disputes the position of the international community and the legal arguments that were used to declare the settlements illegal.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and communities in the Golan Heights, areas which have been annexed by Israel, are also considered settlements by the international community, which does not recognize Israel’s annexations of these territories. The International Court of Justice also says these settlements are illegal in a 2004 advisory opinion.
In April 2012, UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, in response to moves by Israel to legalize Israeli outposts, reiterated that all settlement activity is illegal. The presence and ongoing expansion of existing settlements by Israel and the construction of settlement outposts is frequently criticized as an obstacle to the peace process by the Palestinians and third parties, including the United Nations, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the European Union, and the United States.
As of July 2012, according to the Israeli interior ministry, 350,150 Jewish settlers live in the 121 officially-recognized settlements in the West Bank, 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in East Jerusalem and over 20,000 live in settlements in the Golan Heights.
The Reality of Occupied Palestine: Historical Context and Current Environment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvcH8x1H_Ig
Secretary of State Kerry gets to say whatever half-truth or fiction comes into his head about Syria, Russia or other “designated villains,” but when he cites the inconvenient truth of Israeli “apartheid,” he must scramble as fast as he can to retract and apologize.
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/29/kerry-grovels-over-israeli-apartheid/
The first ever Middle East Peace Raps, using rhyme and reason
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3by9FoEFB8