"This is not an attempt to absolve Republicans. I take for granted that they will do what they have always done: inflict harm on brown people, wherever they are in the globe. What demands scrutiny are the 'Good Liberals' who launder smears into respectable discourse, cast votes behind closed doors to codify them into law, and then retreat into moral language while the consequences unfold."
This powerful quote sums it up for me and applies equally to fascism rearing it's head in the US and Israel's despicable actions. Israel is so critical for the global hegemonic ambitions of the US oligarchs they will protect the Israeli genocidal colonial project at any cost. The mask is off, at home and abroad. Well, it's been off in Israel and other places for quite some time but the mask has slipped off at home now. I also appreciate the other comment about how Zionist actions parallel US actions against Mexico, as well as the obvious similarity to what US colonists did to Native Americans. The ugliness continues, and the veneer of civilization is coming off as capitalism goes into crisis. We desperately need a global mass movement of the working class to put a stop to this madness, including a new party outside the duopoly here,.
I agree, though I also believe the Power of Money has become so great that it has become difficult to pierce that shield of capitalism. Capitalism has been posing as democracy for the longest time, and the US is probably the most obvious example. It is scary to see how this model of Money = Power, is leading the world back into a decidedly colonialist place. And once again, the US leads the way.
Being a European (Dutchman living in Portugal) the Palestinian situation has made me more than ever, aware of the shameful, disgraceful, violent nature of colonialism. Nothing can be said to justify any and all of it. But if we (humanity) cannot learn from our past and better our ways, what kind of world are we co-creating? What the rich in power seem to have learned is, that with the passage of time, colonies become a status quo that is no longer questioned. Will the lands of the Americas ever be returned to the natives..?
These are the same tactics used during the US-Mexican War and the Battle at the Alamo, a war which ended with the US acquiring 500,000 sq miles of Mexican land. They would establish borders with the Mexican government, then violate those boundaries, pushing troops and settlers and "pioneers" further into Mexican territory, essentially forcing a confrontation between the Texans and the Mexican soldiers. Then, when Mexico used any type of military action to defend its boundaries, it was used as a justification for greater troop presence and the eventual annexation of Mexican land. The men we idolize as martyrs at the Alamo were no different than the Israeli settlers stealing Palestinian land. So when we see the US government's silence and complicity in this and wonder why they don't do a thing to stop this, it's because if they condemn what is happening there, they may have to condemn what happened here, and the legitimacy of settler colonialism world-wide could be called into question. Colonizers use the same tactics everywhere, they learn from one another, and now it's come full-circle, with ICE being trained by, and using the same methods as, IDF soldiers against migrants and US citizens. This story is an old one, and its roots are very deep.
So much to unpack, ponder and discuss. A first read-through impression then.
I was struck at that through-line of destroying aid to the most vulnerable populations globally, Palestinian, African, Asian... and how it is quite literally murder without bombs. Their hands are "clean", there are no cameras, no flashy drops in the news cycle, a mere footnote in some future history book. Over half a million dead in a year (USAID cuts estimate). The method slower, but the end result the same - the degradation and slaughter of non-white people so that white people are, what, 12% of the global pop instead of 10%? Insanity.
The joy of the Zionist at the loss of vital services that Palestinians need to survive is the same joy of the American right-wing upon the loss of vital services that address some of the hardships in the black community, is the same as the joy expressed at the loss of protections for LGBTQIA community members, etc., et al. It is their joy at dehumanization and, ultimately, slow murder, that I cannot get out of my head. My body, mind, heart, soul find these things intolerable. I will never understand those that actively seek them.
I imagine there are more people like me in the world than not, and yet we feel disempowered in this moment when the reality is so much the opposite. I regularly point out that we hold the moral high ground in these arguments when I observe my comrades on a defensive footing, else why does this tiny handful of the "powerful" spend billions on propaganda?
Apologies for ranting. I appreciate your generosity at fostering conversation in a culture that has developed rather an intolerance for it. I may delete this later because I'm blogging on your blog. Bad subscriber.
I actually like Ro Khanna, but I do agree with your questioning him of his past votes. No matter how much we like our politicians, we should always hold them accountable for what they've done. That is the up-side of living in a democracy. Keep on doing what you are doing Jasper.
Hi Jasper, thanks so much for your work. Reading this from Colombia, (grew up in nyc) it’s really painful to see how these global systems of militarization and displacement reach far , literally everywhere . Here, the groups terrorizing rural and Indigenous communities have long ties—both direct and indirect—to the idf.
Back in the 1980s, ex‑Israeli military personnel like Yair Klein trained Colombian paramilitaries, including early groups that would become the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia )…its known by Colombian police intelligence thatIsraeli trainers were in the country as early as 1983 and some of the top trainees were even sent to Israel for more training . Klein was convicted in Colombia for training paramilitaries and death squads in terror tactics.
the effects are still very real. And layered .Paramilitaries today operate with basicslly total impunity, displacing communities, seizing land, and carrying out violence to serve illegal extractive operations, or clear the way for transnational contracts especially in rural and Indigenous territories. It’s insane how these same tentacles of militarized power pop up in so many places,
Sometimes it feels almost too overwhelming to see how these systems connect globally, and how deeply they impact people just trying to survive, resist, or imagine another way forward. But even just acknowledging the history and the ways these tactics move across borders feels like an important step in understanding the bigger picture. Anyway thanks 🙏🏽
I wish I could say that the crimes committed by Israel will come to an end, but I don't see it. Too many Israeli leaders are benefiting from the present situation and I can't see anyone in politics who has any kind of vision for the future. There is no Nelson Mandela on the horizon. It doesn't make any difference who is talking to whom because, in the field, the army and the settlers are removing Palestinians. Wake up to the truth.
The problem with Liberal Zionism and Liberalism in general is that there has always been the, "progressive except for Palestine" phenomenon. That has been around fo a good 70 years,so nothing new.
The bottom line is that a liberal Zionist is still a Zionist,and all that entails, a racially superior, colonizer of Palestine for the purpose of Western Imperialism and maybe glorification of a Jewish myth. It just has to be done with the right optics, no messy violence, and gentle racism. The difference between a liberal Zionist and someone who is pro Palestine is as big and deep as the largest ocean. I know because I used to be one.
How can you vote on a bill and not know what it entails? Even if he is too busy to read it, or even if the republicans snuck this in at the last minute doesn’t he have aides who can summarize its contents before a vote?
Mind that you liberals think Democrats are or once were righteous and uplifting for the downtrodden. And now you're surprised when decline of the empire scrapes the bark off the rotten tree to reveal - Democrats!
Where the heck have you been? BTW that Ro Khana guy has the crazy eyes just like Patel. Never a good sign, regardless of how his party platform reads.
Indeed, the bipartisan reasoning in the US is baffling. There is only one power in the US: Money! Observing the US political theater from Europe, I can only come to one conclusion, both sides are not very different, except in a very superficial way. Just taking a closer look at the Clintons, or the disappointment that was the Obama administration, is enough to see that neither side ever will bypass that Power of Money. Except for occasionally a few individual politicians who thus help to keep the myth alive that there is a difference. It is no coincidence, that the 2!n!st entity and the US are the closest of allies, 2 peas in a pod.
I read another commenter who likes Ro Khanna. Ro Khanna and 90% of the Democratic Party are bribed by Israel Lobby Groups & PACS, or AIPAC. There are two wonderful investigative journalist sites that follow the money in our Congress. Both Party's. Candidates and Incumbents. They do remarkable work and its time consuming, work hard in keeping it up to date. You will be shocked. These sites also tell you the amount of money and just as important tell you who DOES NOT take any Lobby or PAC money for Israel ,nor AIPAC or Corporate Lobby & PACS too. AIPAC is not registered as a Lobby or PAC, and is illegal. It is supposed to be registered as a foreign agent and is the richest PAC in America. Larry Ellison and Miriam Adelson contribute heavily but not the only Zionist Jewish American Oligarchs to do so.
I like to think the real pejorative context of 'twat' usage is completely separate from anatomy, mostly because I really don't want to stop using it, same with 'cunt'
"This is not an attempt to absolve Republicans. I take for granted that they will do what they have always done: inflict harm on brown people, wherever they are in the globe. What demands scrutiny are the 'Good Liberals' who launder smears into respectable discourse, cast votes behind closed doors to codify them into law, and then retreat into moral language while the consequences unfold."
This powerful quote sums it up for me and applies equally to fascism rearing it's head in the US and Israel's despicable actions. Israel is so critical for the global hegemonic ambitions of the US oligarchs they will protect the Israeli genocidal colonial project at any cost. The mask is off, at home and abroad. Well, it's been off in Israel and other places for quite some time but the mask has slipped off at home now. I also appreciate the other comment about how Zionist actions parallel US actions against Mexico, as well as the obvious similarity to what US colonists did to Native Americans. The ugliness continues, and the veneer of civilization is coming off as capitalism goes into crisis. We desperately need a global mass movement of the working class to put a stop to this madness, including a new party outside the duopoly here,.
I agree, though I also believe the Power of Money has become so great that it has become difficult to pierce that shield of capitalism. Capitalism has been posing as democracy for the longest time, and the US is probably the most obvious example. It is scary to see how this model of Money = Power, is leading the world back into a decidedly colonialist place. And once again, the US leads the way.
Being a European (Dutchman living in Portugal) the Palestinian situation has made me more than ever, aware of the shameful, disgraceful, violent nature of colonialism. Nothing can be said to justify any and all of it. But if we (humanity) cannot learn from our past and better our ways, what kind of world are we co-creating? What the rich in power seem to have learned is, that with the passage of time, colonies become a status quo that is no longer questioned. Will the lands of the Americas ever be returned to the natives..?
These are the same tactics used during the US-Mexican War and the Battle at the Alamo, a war which ended with the US acquiring 500,000 sq miles of Mexican land. They would establish borders with the Mexican government, then violate those boundaries, pushing troops and settlers and "pioneers" further into Mexican territory, essentially forcing a confrontation between the Texans and the Mexican soldiers. Then, when Mexico used any type of military action to defend its boundaries, it was used as a justification for greater troop presence and the eventual annexation of Mexican land. The men we idolize as martyrs at the Alamo were no different than the Israeli settlers stealing Palestinian land. So when we see the US government's silence and complicity in this and wonder why they don't do a thing to stop this, it's because if they condemn what is happening there, they may have to condemn what happened here, and the legitimacy of settler colonialism world-wide could be called into question. Colonizers use the same tactics everywhere, they learn from one another, and now it's come full-circle, with ICE being trained by, and using the same methods as, IDF soldiers against migrants and US citizens. This story is an old one, and its roots are very deep.
So much to unpack, ponder and discuss. A first read-through impression then.
I was struck at that through-line of destroying aid to the most vulnerable populations globally, Palestinian, African, Asian... and how it is quite literally murder without bombs. Their hands are "clean", there are no cameras, no flashy drops in the news cycle, a mere footnote in some future history book. Over half a million dead in a year (USAID cuts estimate). The method slower, but the end result the same - the degradation and slaughter of non-white people so that white people are, what, 12% of the global pop instead of 10%? Insanity.
The joy of the Zionist at the loss of vital services that Palestinians need to survive is the same joy of the American right-wing upon the loss of vital services that address some of the hardships in the black community, is the same as the joy expressed at the loss of protections for LGBTQIA community members, etc., et al. It is their joy at dehumanization and, ultimately, slow murder, that I cannot get out of my head. My body, mind, heart, soul find these things intolerable. I will never understand those that actively seek them.
I imagine there are more people like me in the world than not, and yet we feel disempowered in this moment when the reality is so much the opposite. I regularly point out that we hold the moral high ground in these arguments when I observe my comrades on a defensive footing, else why does this tiny handful of the "powerful" spend billions on propaganda?
Apologies for ranting. I appreciate your generosity at fostering conversation in a culture that has developed rather an intolerance for it. I may delete this later because I'm blogging on your blog. Bad subscriber.
I actually like Ro Khanna, but I do agree with your questioning him of his past votes. No matter how much we like our politicians, we should always hold them accountable for what they've done. That is the up-side of living in a democracy. Keep on doing what you are doing Jasper.
Hi Jasper, thanks so much for your work. Reading this from Colombia, (grew up in nyc) it’s really painful to see how these global systems of militarization and displacement reach far , literally everywhere . Here, the groups terrorizing rural and Indigenous communities have long ties—both direct and indirect—to the idf.
Back in the 1980s, ex‑Israeli military personnel like Yair Klein trained Colombian paramilitaries, including early groups that would become the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia )…its known by Colombian police intelligence thatIsraeli trainers were in the country as early as 1983 and some of the top trainees were even sent to Israel for more training . Klein was convicted in Colombia for training paramilitaries and death squads in terror tactics.
the effects are still very real. And layered .Paramilitaries today operate with basicslly total impunity, displacing communities, seizing land, and carrying out violence to serve illegal extractive operations, or clear the way for transnational contracts especially in rural and Indigenous territories. It’s insane how these same tentacles of militarized power pop up in so many places,
Sometimes it feels almost too overwhelming to see how these systems connect globally, and how deeply they impact people just trying to survive, resist, or imagine another way forward. But even just acknowledging the history and the ways these tactics move across borders feels like an important step in understanding the bigger picture. Anyway thanks 🙏🏽
Great piece as always.
I wish I could say that the crimes committed by Israel will come to an end, but I don't see it. Too many Israeli leaders are benefiting from the present situation and I can't see anyone in politics who has any kind of vision for the future. There is no Nelson Mandela on the horizon. It doesn't make any difference who is talking to whom because, in the field, the army and the settlers are removing Palestinians. Wake up to the truth.
The problem with Liberal Zionism and Liberalism in general is that there has always been the, "progressive except for Palestine" phenomenon. That has been around fo a good 70 years,so nothing new.
The bottom line is that a liberal Zionist is still a Zionist,and all that entails, a racially superior, colonizer of Palestine for the purpose of Western Imperialism and maybe glorification of a Jewish myth. It just has to be done with the right optics, no messy violence, and gentle racism. The difference between a liberal Zionist and someone who is pro Palestine is as big and deep as the largest ocean. I know because I used to be one.
How can you vote on a bill and not know what it entails? Even if he is too busy to read it, or even if the republicans snuck this in at the last minute doesn’t he have aides who can summarize its contents before a vote?
What do they propose to do with the Christian Radicals ?
It won't be long before some evangelizing Preacher brings their flock
to Israel to await the return of Jesus .
that has already started from what I can tell - I imagine it's closely monitored, once it's problematic the jeebsus cult will get bounced also
What absolutely blows my
Mind that you liberals think Democrats are or once were righteous and uplifting for the downtrodden. And now you're surprised when decline of the empire scrapes the bark off the rotten tree to reveal - Democrats!
Where the heck have you been? BTW that Ro Khana guy has the crazy eyes just like Patel. Never a good sign, regardless of how his party platform reads.
Indeed, the bipartisan reasoning in the US is baffling. There is only one power in the US: Money! Observing the US political theater from Europe, I can only come to one conclusion, both sides are not very different, except in a very superficial way. Just taking a closer look at the Clintons, or the disappointment that was the Obama administration, is enough to see that neither side ever will bypass that Power of Money. Except for occasionally a few individual politicians who thus help to keep the myth alive that there is a difference. It is no coincidence, that the 2!n!st entity and the US are the closest of allies, 2 peas in a pod.
You are a settler and genocide beneficiary
One could almost be forgiven for thinking the USA had it coming.
I read another commenter who likes Ro Khanna. Ro Khanna and 90% of the Democratic Party are bribed by Israel Lobby Groups & PACS, or AIPAC. There are two wonderful investigative journalist sites that follow the money in our Congress. Both Party's. Candidates and Incumbents. They do remarkable work and its time consuming, work hard in keeping it up to date. You will be shocked. These sites also tell you the amount of money and just as important tell you who DOES NOT take any Lobby or PAC money for Israel ,nor AIPAC or Corporate Lobby & PACS too. AIPAC is not registered as a Lobby or PAC, and is illegal. It is supposed to be registered as a foreign agent and is the richest PAC in America. Larry Ellison and Miriam Adelson contribute heavily but not the only Zionist Jewish American Oligarchs to do so.
trackaipac.com and opensecrets.org
No offense to vaginas, but these people are such twats.
I like to think the real pejorative context of 'twat' usage is completely separate from anatomy, mostly because I really don't want to stop using it, same with 'cunt'
Same! 😅
Or maybe they’re a yeast infection in the Jordan vagina? Metaphors, metaphors…