Israel

Israel's military has in recent days attacked the Gaza strip with drones and F-16s, and has apparently been preparing for a possible ground war. Israel is using weaponry provided by the United States at the expense to U.S. taxpayers of $3 billion per year. Veterans For Peace member Doug Rawlings addresses the following statement to members of the Israeli military:

"I have been to where you are going. From my heart, I beseech you not to join me. In 1969, I was sent to Vietnam as a reluctant soldier, a draftee, who did not have the courage of my convictions. I chose to follow the orders of my government rather than to follow the dictates of my conscience. It’s been over forty years now, and I still remember the faces of the Vietnamese people who were victimized by my lack of moral autonomy. I became one of Pharaoh’s army, and, to this day, I have been wading through the miasma of that murderous indecisiveness. Had I heeded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. instead of General William Westmoreland, I would have refused to serve as a pawn in my government’s immoral invasion and occupation of Vietnam.

"Westmoreland was one of many who appealed to some kind of base sense of national self-righteousness that relegated a whole people – the “enemy”-- to a form of sub-human existence. He, too, heard from chauvinist generals like yours who demanded that we '…bomb the Vietnamese people back to the Stone Age.' Dr. King, on the other hand, was imploring us to not exploit others, to recognize the sacredness of all people, and to not 'trample over others with the iron feet of oppression.' He recognized that '…peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.'

"You, my friends, have become the means of your government, and it is up to you to say that you would rather be warriors for peace than serve in Pharaoh’s legions. Follow the lead of the Dr. Kings of the world, not the generals who are willing to use the blood of others to seek some kind of political goals. Rejoin the 'beloved community' of world citizens who recognize the sanctity of all human life. Reject the immoral orders of those who would send you to do their bloody bidding. Refuse orders to attack Gaza. The world is waiting for the first army of peace-makers to turn back the tide of war. Why not start with you?"

Veterans For Peace is a national organization, founded in 1985 with approximately 5,000 members in 150 chapters located in every U.S. state and several countries. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations, and is the only national veterans' organization calling for the abolishment of war.

Israeli Aggression: Dress Rehearsal for Iran?

by Stephen Lendman

Longstanding US and Israeli policies call for regime change in Iran. Replacing its independent government with a pro-Western puppet one is planned.

cross posted from AcronymTV.com

Setting aside the statistically significant portion of those who would defend Israel’s Rumsfeldian named “Pillar of Defense” who think that the Old Testament is a real estate deed, those attempting to answer the question of whether Israel should be considered a terrorist state fall into roughly 3 categories:

Did Israel Overstep This Time?

by Stephen Lendman

Rogue states get away with murder only so long. Eventually their crimes catch up with them. Israeli policies are self-defeating. How long can killing civilian men, women, children, infants, and the elderly be called self-defense?

By MAIREAD MAGUIRE, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE, www.peacepeople.com

It is with the greatest sadness, mixed with frustration, and a sense of helplessness, that many people around the world, myself included, watched on television the horrific scenes of death and destruction perpetrated, yet again, by the latest Israeli military assault on Gaza and its besieged, mostly young population.

The question on many people lips is; ‘When is the Israel government going to stop
this bombing and continual wars and threat of war, against the Palestinians, and its neighbours, admit that there will be no military solution to the Palestinian Occupation, and begin to talk seriously with their enemies, in order to solve the problems for the sake of the Palestinians, Israelis, and indeed the whole of the middle east and world!’?

Watching Israeli bombs landing on Gaza and hearing the death toll rise to fifteen

Targeting Civilians: Israel's Specialty

Bullies choose easy adversaries to pummel. Equal fights are shunned. It's the same in schoolyards or battlefields. 

America and Israel operate this way. They avoid foes able to give as much as they take. Rogue governments never say they're sorry.

Media Cover for Israeli Crimes

by Stephen Lendman

The pattern playing out in Gaza is one Israel followed many times before. Provocations target adversaries. Multiple ones usually occur before targets respond.

Blame the victim follows. Israeli aggression is called self-defense. Legitimate defense is called terrorism. Media scoundrels support Israel in lockstep. It plays out the same way every time.

By Elizabeth Murray, Consortium News

In early 2010, one of Washington DC’s most prestigious think tanks was holding a seminar on the Middle East which included a discussion of Israel’s December 2008-January 2009 assault on Gaza which killed about 1,300 Palestinians. When the death toll was mentioned, one expert on the panel smiled enigmatically and intoned: “It’s unfortunate, but every once in a while you have to mow the lawn.”

The remark, which likened killing hundreds of men, women and children – many of them noncombatants – with trimming the grass, was greeted with a light tittering around the room, which was filled with some of Washington’s most elite, highly educated and well-paid Middle East experts. Not a single one objected to the panelist’s black humor.

By John Grant

Using one of those overarching dramatic titles we have come to expect in mainstream media news coverage, John Stewart summed up the Petraeus story as “Band of Boners.” It's the sort of thing that may be inevitable when so much power is given so much free reign by so much secrecy.

Naked Israeli Aggression

by Stephen Lendman

Since 1948, Israel waged varying intensity war on Palestine. Crimes of war, against humanity, and genocide are committed regularly. World community inaction lets Israel get away with murder.

Operation Pillar of Cloud (aka Cloud Column/Pillar of Defense) is Israel's latest naked aggression. 

Israel's Operation Pillar of Cloud

by Stephen Lendman

On November 14, Israel murdered Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari in cold blood. A missile struck his car. Another passenger was killed. Unconfirmed reports said it was his son.

An IDF Twitter message said, "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead."

Israeli Threat to Annul Oslo 

by Stephen Lendman

Follow-through won't change facts on the ground. Israel's annulment threat is hollow. 

Oslo reflected unconditional Palestinian surrender. Israel triumphed diplomatically, economically and politically. Palestinians got nothing in return. More on that below.

Pro-Israeli Media Coverage

by Stephen Lendman

Gaza rockets respond defensively to provocative Israeli bombing and shelling. Blame the victim articles and commentaries follow.

It's standard Western media practice. Haaretz knows better. 

More below on woeful coverage.

Israel Shells Syria and Gaza

by Stephen Lendman

A previous article said beware of false flags. For months throughout the Syrian conflict, possible full-scale Western intervention loomed. It still does. Post-US elections, it's more likely, not certain, but reports suggest expect it.

Several stray mortar shells from Syria struck occupied Golan. No injuries were reported. Israel holds Damascus responsible. On November 9, Israel warned Assad.

Waging War Without Declaring It

by Stephen Lendman

America does it in proxy wars and some direct ones. Israel waged war on Palestine since 1948. 

Daily violence against innocent civilians persists largely below the radar. So does occupation harshness. Media scoundrels turn a blind eye.

Obama/Netanyahu Post-Election Reset

By Stephen Lendman

Neither leader says they're sorry. Netanyahu bet on the wrong candidate. Relations with Obama have been strained for months. Both clearly dislike each other and show it.

Political necessity requires getting along. They'll find a way. Israeli elections are in January. Netanyahu's stuck with Obama for four years. His own political prospects are on the line.

By Dave Lindorff

One little-noted but important result of the November election in the US that returned President Barack Obama to the White House for another four years is that the right-wing Israeli government and the Zionist lobbying organization AIPAC (for American Israel Public Affairs Committee) took a surprising drubbing and emerge a much weaker political influence going forward in US politics.

Haaretz on Obama's Reelection

by Stephen Lendman

Haaretz used most of its November 7 issue covering it. Doing so reflects the importance of America to Israeli interests.

Netanyahu Says War is Peace

by Stephen Lendman

He sounds like Obama. He has delusions of Big Brother. He's turning Israel into Oceania. He believes freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. Rogue leaders think and govern that way. 

Netanyahu's one of the worst. Reelect him and he may destroy the Middle East and Israel with it. In January, Israelis have their say. They can banish this menace and be done with him. 

Netanyahu/Lieberman Unite for War

By Stephen Lendman

American crimes of war and against humanity perhaps exceed all other rogue states in history combined.

Pound-for-pound, however, Israeli lawlessness matches the world's worst. Long ago, it graduated from a regional menace to a global one.

Netanyahu Pledges Continued Lawlessness

by Stephen Lendman

What else can be expected from Israel's worst ever leader. He's a serial lawbreaker. He deplores democratic values. His contempt for non-Jews is palpable. He calls Palestinians sub-humans. It shows in how he treats them.

ISRAEL: Conscientious objector Moriel Rothman sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment

Israeli conscientious objector Moriel Rothman, 23 year old, from Jerusalem, arrived in the morning of Wednesday, 24 October 2012, to the Induction Base in Jerusalem, where he declared his refusal to serve in the Israeli Army as it is an occupying force. He was sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment for his refusal.

In his refusal declaration Moriel Rothman wrote:

Activists Challenge Israeli Lawlessness

by Stephen Lendman

For decades, Israel has literally gotten away with murder. Crimes of war and against humanity repeat regularly. Human and civil rights are spurned. 

Anyone not experiencing it firsthand can't imagine the ruthlessness of occupation harshness. Besieged Gazans suffer most. For over five years, they've been lawlessly isolated and suffocated.

Ship to Gaza Activists Brutalized   

by Stephen Lendman

On October 22, GazaArk.org headlined "Release: Estelle crew beaten during (Israel's) attack. (Participants) were beaten during the attack and by interrogators." Former Canadian legislator "Jim Manly still in detention."

Israel Wages War on Human Rights

by Stephen Lendman

Daily incidents reveal Israeli state terrorism writ large. Praying to the wrong God is called terrorism. So is wanting out from under Israel's repressive boot.

Occupation harshness knows no limits. Torture is official policy. So are virtually all other crimes against humanity. Palestinian civilians suffer most. Children are treated like adults. Going to and from school is hazardous. 

Prominent scholars and human rights activists issued an open letter (download PDF) to university presidents who participated in a recent tour (July 1-9, 2012) of Israel designed to bolster cooperation between US and Israeli universities sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, calling upon the university officials to “not…pursue institutional relationships between your universities and Israeli universities, and to discontinue any existing institutional relationships that might already exist.”

Latest Beirut Bombing Incident

by Stephen Lendman

First impressions suggest another "who done it" incident. Similar ones occurred many times before. Guilty parties often get named later. Key always is cui bono?

Media scoundrels never explain what's most important. Instead, headlines like "Blast in Beirut Is Seen as an Extension of Syria's War" circulate.

Israel Again Commits Barbarism and Piracy

by Stephen Lendman

On October 6, the humanitarian Estelle Ship to Gaza departed Naples, Italy for Gaza. It surprised no one that Israel again violated international law.

At 10:15AM CET (Central European Time), Ship to Gaza Sweden said "Estelle is being attacked….Five or six military vessels surrounded Estelle."