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FIRE SHAPES |
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by Tara Carreon
"Terrorism thus has been known to provide a means of social control ... The logic here is that of the provocation which can be observed along the fringes of any demonstration which the government does not want to take place. The demonstration proceeds peacefully and responsibly, with marchers walking an orderly fashion within the cordons of parade marshals who are there to prevent trouble. Families with children, elderly people, and youth are all petitioning effectively for the redress of their grievances. The political effect is potentially quite positive. All of a sudden, a group of radical demonstrators, calling themselves anarchists but in reality police agent provocateurs, breaks away from the main body of the demonstration and begins smashing the windows of stores along the route. The anarchists have Molotov cocktails in hand, and they hurl them at the first units of riot police who arrive, injuring some of them seriously. The police, by now thoroughly provoked indeed, begin to fire tear gas grenades in all directions, and wade in to the peaceful crowd with their truncheons, mercilessly beating everyone who falls into their hands. Demonstrators are herded into blind allies, beaten, arrested, and carted off. It will be a long time before some of them come to another demonstration. Television coverage focuses on the violent minority, trying to make it look like the anarchist police agents are typical of the demonstration as a whole. Pundits pontificate; George Will is particularly indignant. This is the model for provocations of all types. It represents a spectacle for the gullible, a theatrical if bloody manipulation of staged pseudo-reality, and it points toward the reality of 9/11." -- Webster Griffin Tarpley, "9/11 Synthetic Terrorism Made in USA" _______________ * This piece was inspired by a dialogue with a poster named Scarlett: Scarlett wrote: Israel does NOT speak for all of the Jewish people. Criticism of Israel is NOT hate of the Jewish people.
Jewish protestors burn the flag of Israel AmbuFortunaZapataGaudi wrote: Find me a really good article about the Jewish protesters who burned the Israeli flag, and I'll put those flag-burning pictures there. These couldn't possibly go anywhere else. Scarlett wrote: Jews Against the Occupation FAX MEMORANDUM May 21, 2005
U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Re: AIPAC Annual Meeting, May 22-24, 2005 Dear Senator Clinton: Last summer, some members of our organization, Jews Against the Occupation (JATO), met in Washington, D.C. with your legislative correspondent, Joshua Albert, as representatives of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. We are very glad to have had the opportunity to present our views to Mr. Albert regarding issues pertaining to the Israeli Separation Wall. We are also glad to have had the opportunity to discuss with him the International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2004 (H.R. 3077 RFS), which we are pleased to learn did not finally pass the Senate. We are now writing to share our concerns about a current matter. Members of JATO are disappointed to learn that you have agreed not only to attend but to serve as a featured speaker at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC’s position on the Palestine-Israel conflict is entirely supportive of many disreputable and abusive policies which we cannot believe you and the Democratic Party support in good conscience. AIPAC actively supports Israeli settlement building and expansion, illegal demolition of Palestinian homes and farmland, assassinations, excessive use of force against civilians, and approval of Israeli breaches of international law. Members of AIPAC also favored H.R. 3077, which threatened to undermine U.S. academic freedom. By participating in the AIPAC meeting, you lend support and credence to such policies and thereby call into question the integrity of your office and its platform. As you may recall, JATO is a non-sectarian group of progressive, secular and religious Jews of all ages and backgrounds who live throughout metropolitan New York City and advocate for peace through justice for both Palestinians and Israelis. We continue to contact your offices because we believe you share cherished values with us, such as concern for the basic human rights of all persons regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality. We certainly acknowledge your probable concern that taking a stand against an organization such as AIPAC would mean loss of electoral support, especially amongst Jewish voters. Let us point out, however, that U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York City refused an invitation to make a previously scheduled speaking appearance at the recent Academic Freedom in Middle East Studies Conference at Columbia University concurrent with pressure from his constituency, which as you know comprises a significant Jewish demographic. Indeed growing numbers of New York Jews and Jewish groups are expressing disapproval of Israeli separationist policies, and many of them have contacted your offices about that. By the same token, you yourself know that AIPAC is a lobbying group, the policies of which do not express the popular will but instead result from meetings among individuals not responsive to an electorate. AIPAC propagates myths about Middle East realities and misrepresents as unified U.S. Jewish support for the positions it takes on those realities, regardless of their actual impact on Jews or Palestinians either in the U.S. or abroad. Members of JATO are happy to meet with you to discuss this matter. We would request no more than a short period in which to elaborate our concerns and those of many of your constituents. You may reach our voicemail at (212) 539-6683 or the undersigned at (212) 580-8081. In any event, we urge you to reconsider your participation in the AIPAC annual meeting next week. It is still not too late for you to decline AIPAC’s invitation. By doing so, you would be taking a strong lead in helping end the unconscionable crimes of Israeli occupation in the Palestinian Territories. We look forward to the possibility of speaking with you and thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Jews Against the Occupation
Jews Against the Occupation Our Mission Jews Against the Occupation is an organization of progressive, secular and religious Jews of all ages throughout the New York City area advocating peace through justice for Palestine and Israel. Our points of unity are as follows: NO OCCUPATION IN OUR NAME We as American Jews reject the Israeli government assertion that it is "necessary" to subjugate Palestinians for the sake of keeping Jews safe. We assert that security can only come from mutual respect, and that the occupation of Palestine is only worsening the position of Jews in the Middle East and around the world. RESTORE HUMAN & CIVIL RIGHTS The Israeli military fires bone-crushing rubber bullets and live ammunition at unarmed Palestinian civilians engaged in peaceful protest, failing to distinguish between peaceful and violent resistance. The Israeli government has been demolishing Palestinian houses and crops in the Occupied Territories, while allowing Jewish settlers -- many of them American -- to illegally occupy the same land. END U.S. AID TO ISRAEL The U.S. government provides more aid to Israel than to any other country—the vast majority of this is for military purposes. Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have propped up the occupation and fueled the Israeli government’s war machine (as well as disguising the occupation’s true cost). This aid must end. STOP ECONOMIC ATTACKS ON PALESTINE The Israeli government has attacked the Palestinian economy by: closing Palestinian banks; imposing extreme taxes on business; withdrawing operating licenses; destroying industrial equipment; bulldozing farmland and banning fishing; restricting workers' movement; controlling the export of Palestinian goods; closing the borders of the Occupied Territories; and refusing to fund infrastructure like water and electricity -- even in Arab villages within Israel. LET PALESTINIANS RETURN HOME Thousands of Palestinians were driven out of their houses and off of their farms during and after the creation of Israel. They must be allowed to return to their homeland. ANTI-SEMITISM VS. CRITIQUES OF ISRAEL Jews Against the Occupation stands firmly against anti-Semitism and racism in all its forms. We see our historical struggle against anti- Semitism--a cornerstone of European white supremacist ideology--as inherently linked to all struggles against oppression. We therefore stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom. Judaism is a cultural and religious identity, which must not be equated with Zionism, a political movement. Criticism of the state of Israel, its policies, or the idea of a Jewish state does not by itself constitute anti-Semitism. Dismissing critics of Israel or of Zionism as "anti-Semitic" is a means of stifling debate and masking the impact of the occupation.
AmbuFortunaZapataGaudi wrote: Just what you'd expect good people to say.
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the Occupation: AmbuFortunaZapataGaudi wrote: Scarlett: did the Jews for Peace do those flag burnings? That's hard to imagine. Doesn't seem very peaceful or skillful to burn flags, since the people they're criticizing don't understand the message, and hate them for it. It's very confrontational and doesn't get them anywhere. I mean, if hate's their goal, it's a good strategy. I don't believe in flag burning. I never want to see our American flag burned for any reason at all. How would I know it wasn't our enemies burning it, rather than our friends? The message is very unclear, and I like clear messages. I imagine most Israelis feel the same. We can criticize our governments without burning the symbols of our nation. It's very anarchic. But I am going to put up a link called Jews for Peace on the Site Map. I think that's a great idea. I love to read about Jews defending Arabs in Israel. I think that's beautiful. Thanks for the idea. Scarlett wrote:
Ambu wrote: Me, too. I think its own page is a great idea. And yes, the flag burning pics (notice the guys with forelocks) are Jewish citizens in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere, protesting the policies of Israel and expressing righteous indignation. (They have compared Sharon to Hitler.) It probably was very cathartic for them to be able to do that. Maybe they were taking their religious symbol back. Sometimes an enemy is an enemy because of their treachery, and sometimes a friend is a friend because they give money and hate the same people. When a powerful enemy grows fat, unaccountable, and smug, people get angry, frustrated. Especially if they feel they themselves could be implicated! They want to extricate themselves from something -- as completely as they can! What can they do? How can they send a message? I know what you mean about the violence of it, but I think of fire as a purification rite, in this instance. |
