Today, Israel’s parliament passed a law that increases the power of the country’s right wing, headed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel does not have a written constitution, and the prime minister’s ruling coalition is in control of both the executive and the legislative branches of government. The only check on them was the courts, which could overturn extreme laws that did not pass a “reasonableness standard,” which means they were not made according to a basic standard of fair and just policymaking.
Just so people "get it" - Nitwityahoo's far right fundamentalist fascist coalition is the equivalent of having Trump back in office. Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Fundamentalists, whether masquerading as "christian," "jewish," "muslim," or "hindu" are all fascist scumbags who are about as "religious" as a rock.
Aggressive "fundamentalists" worship their own egos, positing that God rubber stamps whatever aggressive thing they have the urge to do; from attempting to control what couples do in bed (or what women do just about any time) to "holy" crusades against other peoples and nations.
Discussing it among ourselves is well and good, but we all need to write to President Biden, our senators and our representatives recommending that the US “back away from support of Israel as our values are no longer shared.” Then we need to get out the vote for the 2024 presidential election to defeat the right wing at home.
Ruth, it looks like more likely you should be armed and be prepared to fight on the street or the other side will maintain their power. Sad to say that is where we are today. Good luck to you and God help us.
The problem is that America is sliding perilously close to becoming an authoritarian, christofascist country unless we get out the blue vote in November 2024.
Actually, aren't the values of the Donny from Queens and MAGA-wingers of the GNoP, of Benny from Philly and his 'We are Right No Matter What You Say' group, and of Putin and his backers quite shared.?
However, in the US, approximately 65% do share the most of the same values.
Israel is not just Netanyahu and his coalition. We can easily see that by the protests. We must find a way to bathe the baby and only throw away the bathwater. We must find a way to help Israel accept the ideas of Palestinians and Palestinians accept the ideas of Israel. Both exhibit the fears of cornered animals. We should encourage a Constitutional Convention. I believe that the people of this region new and ancient must participate but I also believe that this is their future to choose. Perhaps we could offer a safe venue. A moderator who's only role is to strip the hurt and see the kernel of thought and echo it back.
Virginia Witmer, calling all fundamentalists "fascist scumbags" isn't standing up for anyone. If you can't see that as hateful, then perhaps you are so consumed by hate that you are blind to it in others.
Ok, but in all seriousness, maybe the US should offer some of those secular and center-left Jewish Israelis a home here, while reducing or withdrawing financial and other support from this rapidly-becoming-fascist state.
And HOW can Israel have NO CONSTITUTION? What have I missed?
The Declaration of State includes an entire paragraph about creating a constitution. Because six countries declared war on Israel immediately after the State was announced, there was no time to create, debate, and adopt a constitution. In the intervening 75 years, the Supreme Court has established “Basic Laws” which codify some of what we would consider part of a constituent, guaranteeing basic rights and expectations. This is part of why the judicial “reforms” are so concerning .There is currently a conversation happening in Israel academic and public policy circles to call for a constitutional convention. It may be one way out of the current situation, although I don’t see the current ruling coalition being swift to adopt any recommendations.
Thanks for the explanation. And just to point out that Netanyahu's or his minions' use of the word "reforms" to describe what Netanyahu is trying to do is to debase the word entirely.
David, I thought that the thousands of Israeli protesters had Netanyahu's attention and he might back off, but obviously that was not the case. He has never acted as though he appreciated our financial and moral support for Israel, and has always been sorely lacking morally, so we should cease rewarding him for his bad behavior. We could use the billions to right our own ship.
Being under indictment for fraud and corruption, Netanyahu can't back down. He needs to change the court so that the charges against him will disappear. Weakening the judicial system is frequently one of the first steps in the march to fascism.
Betsy, I totally understand why Netanyahu wants to weaken the courts, and it echoes TFG's motivation. Besides both of them aspiring to be fascists and drive our countries rightward, to authoritarianism, they want to be certain that they have a buffer for their criminal behavior - birds of a feather, so to speak. It's no wonder that the two of them were so cozy, despite TFG's antisemitism. He got a pass on that, as long as he was more disdainful of the Palestinians. All of this makes a future second term for the Orange Menace more frightening, with the possibility of our government mimicking Russia, China, much of South America, and Hungary and many others in Europe.
We must figure out a way to give leaders a timeout until their crimes are adjudicated. It is possible that the charges are not true, the presumption of innocence is critical to a democracy. But allowing someone accused to exert power to protect themselves is a fatal wound. If a leader is accused, can we focus judicial review to be started pending investigation. Then support the investigation with profound civil cooperation. I'm babbling now. You guys know what I'm trying to say. Help me flesh it out. How do we prevent the investigation from going off track from facts to fiction? How do we prevent judicial review from becoming a kangaroo court? How do we prevent the law from becoming unjust?
Absolutely, Burton. That's what TFG is hoping for. Certainly, his cohorts in the legislature can mostly be counted on, and if he appeals a conviction, he's hoping for a similar reaction from SCOTUS. Depending on the Democrats' results in the '24 election, SCOTUS might be wary of angering the Democrats, since it's possible that their joyride could hit some bumps.
The late lesbian/feminist theologian Mary Daly wrote that patriarchy was the world's religion and the various religions its denominations. That made sense to me when I first read it, and it makes sense to me now, noting the similarity of the "religious" fundamentalists despite their supposedly glaring doctrinal differences.
I do wonder about Netanyahu et al.'s risking the support of the Israeli military. Yes, Syria has imploded, and (thanks to Bush et al.) Iraq is not the external threat it once was, but the Israeli military has always been about more than national security: in important ways it also holds the nation together because nearly everybody has served in it.
Have you read historian Lynn White Jr.'s 1967 prescient "Science" piece "The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis"? In it, he links the two-headed monster of monotheism with men's 2000 year-old commodification of once abundant natural resources. While he only implies that both patriarchy and what we now call the Climate Crisis needed monotheism to flourish, it seems obvious that worshiping a single sky daddy, and rallying around our all-powerful earth daddies go hand in hand.
From White's 1967 piece:
"In Antiquity every tree, every spring, every stream, every hill had its own genius loci, its guardian spirit. These spirits were accessible to men, but were very unlike men; centaurs, fauns, and mermaids show their ambivalence. Before one cut a tree, mined a mountain, or dammed a brook, it was important to placate the spirit in charge of that particular situation, and to keep it placated. By destroying pagan animism,
Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects."
No -- will check it out -- but in my 20s and 30s I was reading (in addition to Mary Daly) stuff like Susan Griffin's WOMAN AND NATURE, Merlin Stone's WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN, Andrée Collard's THE RAPE OF THE WILD, etc., etc., so the connection between patriarchal religion and violence against women and the natural world has been embedded in my psyche for a long time.
The fundiescum get exemptions for being in "rabbi school" - if they serve, they serve in an all-fundie unit where they can practice all their bigotry and ignorance.
Which goes long with the "paganism." We need to find another word to describe the old religions - "pagan" was just Latin for "peasant." Which gives you an idea of the overweening sense of entitlement the Xtians hd.
Well, "pagan" also meant, more or less, country person, which might suggest that city people were awfully full of themselves -- but it might also suggest that pagan traditions were generally linked to the natural world. The Christians had to co-opt those traditions to gain serious traction with the common folk.
The word "cretin," btw, derives from "Christian," so don't tell me etymology doesn't have a sense of humor.
You can see all kinds of pagan traditions Christianity appropriated. Most prominently Christmas. I mean, come on - the story is the Romans took a census and everyone had to return to their hometown, and they did it in the dead of winter? Ha! Christmas is the Roman mid-winter holiday Saturnalia, stolen. I doubt there is anything original in the religion.
Also, the mythological tale of the creation of Israel boggles the mind - modern archeology has found lots and lots of records from the rein of Ramses III, likely the Pharoah at the time of the Exodus. There is no mention in there of the plagues, which would be amazing enough to at least get a sentence or two - at least the one about the eldest male child of every family dying in one night. Also nothing in the historical record anywhere of an entire ethnic group being held as a slave class. And yet the modern history of the Middle East is the product of that myth that never happened.
It's not just Christmas (which is still referred to as Yule, one of its old names). The major Christian holidays map very closely to the solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days (which fall midway between the solstices and equinoxes).
The modern history of the Middle East does owe a fair amount to that myth, but don't discount good ol' European imperialism, especially the British but also the French. Also the growing awareness in the early 20th century that there was a helluva lot of oil in the Persian Gulf region. The rise of Hitler and the Holocaust pretty much made it a done deal, but the foundation had been laid before then. (In 1969, I was a finalist in a high school speaking competition. My topic? The Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916. The lesson? If you want to get to the finals, pick a topic that no one else knows anything about. ;-) )
Agree totally, TC. I have no use for religious fundamentalists no matter what religion they follow. They are responsible for the bad rep that all religions have.
The problem is that the three "great religions" in the world are steeped in patriarchy and tragically, in misogyny. It is only partially a fundamentalist issue. Religions deserve a bad rep - they deny science, and let's face it, believing in an invisible being who, like Santa Claus, punishes you for being bad and rewards you with heaven after you die if you behave yourself, is pretty damn ridiculous.
I would say it is more than three. Most societies are patriarchal. It would save us a lot of problems if they were matriarchal. After all, everyone knows who mom is and we wouldn't have to keep women under lock and key to make sure that so that we know who the father is. I would say that fundamentalism makes the problems much worse.
Last year I spent my summer reading about misogyny, and its roots go back to before the time of Herodotus. One theory says it's because of the fear of women's ability to have babies, but men's sexual desire seems to have played a greater role. From fear comes hatred, and from fear and hatred comes the need to control. Women's sexuality also plays a part, and the double standard that makes men "studs" and women "whores," "sluts," etc. All 3 Abrahamic faiths teach that women must be controlled lest they corrupt the virtues of men. This is why calling a woman a whore is to insult all women.
I would say men's sexual desire is what it is all about....blame women for male lust. That's why in some cultures they have to cover up completely. In so-called democratic Athens, women were never considered adults and had to be under the control of some man. That's why men did the shopping and women were kept mostly confined to the house unseen. In autocratic Sparta, women actually had more freedom because they had to run the estates because males were in the barracks from seven on. Frankly, the people who ran the religious places knew that women would keep men from thinking about God. So, go to the desert and sit on the pillar and what do you think those guys were actually thinking about. Btw, have you read God, An Anatomy and if so, how did you find it.
I think men have always been allowed to express their sexuality and take pride in it, unlike women. Women, from the time of the Bible, were made responsible for men's sexual behavior, which includes rape and incest. And the wealthier the man, the less they were held responsible. Look at Trump; Lucian Truscott IV recently wrote a great piece about Trump as Rapist. You can find it here on substack. It was also published 2 days ago in Salon.com.
Read, actually I listened to it, twice, Graeber and Wengrow's "The Dawn of Everything." It successfully vexes the notion that widespread patriarchy is any older than 3,000-ish years old, in the context of a 190,000 year-long human history.
I cannot recommend the audio version enough. Your library almost certainly has it via the CloudLibrary.
I have it in my library and I have read it. What we have now falls within the 3 to 5 thousand range or so. I haven't decided what I think of the book yet. We are talking in this thread about the three monotheistic religions and I would include India and China among others civilizations as patriarchal. Most societies in the historical era are patriarchal. Some African societies are matriarchal and I think if I am remembering the book you mention correctly that some Native American societies are as well. It makes sense because you always know who the mother is. As soon as societies are patriarchal, then control of women is necessary if land and estate passes through males. You don't want you patrimony going to someone else's blood.
I read somewhere not long ago that evangelicals, or some of them at least, actually believe that there is a battle, invisible and (I suppose) otherwise undetectable by us mortals (but then, how do THEY know?) literally being raged right now, on some other plane of existence, between God and its angels and Satan and its demons. How can one have an intelligent conversation with someone with such a diseased imagining? I can't remember where I read it, so can't provide a citation, and I really don't want to get into the weeds of evangelicism to search it out, because EW. I suppose I have to acknowledge that in an infinite Universe there COULD be a god, there COULD be a satan, there COULD be angels, demons, and other dimensions on which battles could be fought (I love science fiction and fantasy), but REALLY. And if I've misunderstood their belief and have misstated it, I apologize to the evangelical community.
I think I need to amend this to read that I'd heard this on a podcast, not read it somewhere. If I can find a citatation, I'll post it.
"Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security."
That's EXACTLY what was done in Ukraine, with the Neo-Nazi political kingpin Arsen Avakov elevated to Interior Minister (in charge of the police) after his right-wing fascist thugs put the Maiden Revolution over the top, overthrowing Ukraine's Russia-friendly government.
Think it through... I'll give another example of transparent spin. Think of an evangelical true-believer, who doesn't know how to rebut your argument, so he goes to his minister, who has just the prepackaged double-speak that the True Believer needs to reaffirm his commitment without thinking for himself.
On another note, regarding how the situation in Ukraine evolved, you could check my reply to Paula Dufour:
Perhaps the question of whether it matters is worth careful thought.
I will share my point of view, which I suspect might be in need of refining, and you and others can share your thoughts.
Avakov's rise to power facilitated the emergence in Ukraine of a culture of open bigotry, much more extreme that than associated with Trump here in the USA. As "The Nation" reported in 2019:
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity.
"Five years after Maidan, the beacon of democracy is looking more like a torchlight march."
I will suggest that this horror could only have happened if outside forces were manipulating Ukraine in ways that were not supported by the majority of the Ukrainian people. I will further suggest that Zelensky is part of the problem and that Avakov is no longer necessary. See, for example:
"How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
My assessment is that the neo-Nazis have been tolerated by the NATO powers, led by the United States, because they provide internal support for the external imperative to transmogrify Ukraine into a zombie soldier bleeding itself to death to weaken Russia. The genocidal International Monetary Fund, back in 2014, made the new Ukrainian regime promise, as part of a loan agreement, to re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics, because their heavy industry was an important source of revenue to service the debt. Zelensky, before Avakov resigned, publicly pledged to honor all of Ukraine's commitments to the International Monetary Fund: Ukraine was already on the march toward re-igniting the civil war in the Donbass, which meant tearing to shreds the battered Minsk Agreements, which is exactly what Zelensky did in February 2022, precipitating the Russian invasion.
Once again, that is my assessment. I am willing to talk it through and explain how I come to the conclusions that I present above.
I know it is difficult to side with people who may not be truly aligned with one's values, but in war, if you're not trying to kill me you are my ally. Zelensky's communications skills are serving the greater good for Ukraine. When the war is over judgments can be made about who was truly working for the Ukrainian people. During World War II many who were less desirable for their behavior prior to the war and even during the war helped to create the outcome America fought for. Whores, criminals, dilettantes, dabblers, and political opponents who were previously repugnant became allies in the face of an all-consuming war. When the dust has settled, Nuremberg will rise again to arrive at justice and the Marshal Plan will come back to rebuild what was destroyed. Now is not the time to fight about Ukrainian politics. Let's discuss the Ukrainian government once Russia withdraws. This conflict is about sovereignty and territorial integrity for the rest of the world, not the politics of Ukraine. We failed Ukraine in 2014. We stand with Ukraine now so that we don't have to fight for our sovereignty and territorial integrity against another sovereign who has an eye on our land and resources tomorrow. I'll be ready to listen when Russia withdraws.
In 2005 my daughter went to Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. Dark-skinned volunteers were not sent there, for their safety, after a volunteer of Indian heritage was attacked. A dark-skinned street vendor was set on fire, making news in the US, but not an isolated incident then. Nothing to do with Zelenskyy.
We visited Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv in 2005. Little old ladies were sweeping the streets with twig brooms, because their pensions were crap. Teachers took turns getting paid.
Since then the standard of living vastly improved, judging by the refugees who escaped in their own cars. Putin is threatened, not by NATO, but by a prosperous neighbor whose citizens enjoy freedom of speech.
You are right, but some of them you just want to grab 'em by the shorthairs and introduce their face to the nearest brick wall. Repatedly. Mendacious little shitheads like this one most particularly. Over at TAFM, I zap them into their component electrons the first time they raise their head over the ridge line.
Thanks, TC. I myself have been so harshly ganged up on by fellow commenters in this blog for less than what you just said. As a result, I canceled my subscription. I was rebuked for criticizing a commenter for posting a misogynist quote that I found inappropriate. I'm a feminist, I find calling women whores is ugly and sexist, but I was shut down. You're a man, you're free to say anything you like, but elderly feminists must keep their mouths shut. Good luck.
I'm sorry you ran afoul of the tone police. Interestingly, I have (on other Substack pages) gotten drilled for being both a male chauvinist and a radical feminist. The beauty of gender ambiguity.
Thank you. But I need a break. It also feels like people's minds can be closed regardless of their politics. And I hate that comment threads can easily become closed circles where you get your ass kicked if you disagree with the club.
Here's an old Vietnam GI saying that you can use for yourself when the Morality Police drive up in their Volvos and put down their cucumber sandwiches to berate you:
I was one of those on this post that disagreed with you about Dorothy Parker's "horticulture" quote. I wasn't "shutting you down" in any way, nor do I think others were either, although I did not read every single comment. Let's not equate disagreement with censorship. You're perfectly free to say whatever you like here, so please do not self-shut your mouth.
I don't know how many times I've reported him, and he just keeps coming back, like one of those clown punching bags with the weighted bottoms. So now I just try to ignore him - particularly when he re-posts the same comment in a thread, and whenever his comment contains links to his comments to past Letters. And I'd never click on any link he includes in any of his screeds.
Your comment presupposes that Jon Margolis's continuing baseless effort to brand me as a Putin supporter (and therefore unworthy of respect) is not, in your opinion, an example of McCarthyism. Perhaps I should have said neo-McCarthyism? And who, in your mind, is "they"?
Putting the shoe on the other foot, how much were you paid to post what you did? Can you see that others might think that it is actually YOU who have debased yourself?
Only female commenters get slapped here. That's unfortunate. TC is right, you tedious, annoying troll. Go find a new hobby and stop trying to provoke people with your asinine commentary.
I tried to find all of the ones doing it. If I missed it, I apologize. Pointing out the concepts, ideas, and preconceived notions of a post with which one disagrees is communication . Devolving posts into personal attacks doesn't improve communications or relations between people, this is also known as "when push comes to shove". A personal attack only increases the problems between people. Diplomacy 101 and De-escalation 101. I've been guilty of personal attacks. We all are, but someone who's not so frustrated needs to point it out and hopefully get the conversation back to an exchange of positions.
I like your spelling”Nitwityahoo”! Thanks for letting me pronounce his name for the first time!! TCinLA I take all of this deeply seriously. We are watching “Trump-the dump”all around the world. Why? Why are we so passive about abusive behavior? Would we accept this from you or from me? Would we accept it from our children? The right answer is ?
Two excellent books by a Jewish historian who fought in the Six-Day War, Shlomo Sand, are "The Invention of the Land of Israel" and "The Invention of the Jewish People." Very interesting and insightful accounts into today's Israel and how it got here.
Don't forget "buddhists" - I was shocked when I learned about the persecution of the Karen in Myanmar. And don't forget "atheist" China and their current concentration camps of Uyghurs and the Russians invading Ukraine. Fascists use the machinery of hierarchy, and a shit-ton of humanity likes their daddy to be on top.
Buddhism is a philosophy and it changes in each Country.
I was born and grew up in Sri Lanka a predominently Theravada Buddhist country. The evil that some of these Buddhist priests espouse is mind blowing. They are 'kept' by the poor people bringing food and money they can ill-afford.
The biggest threat to Sri Lanka is Buddhist Nationalism which caused the Civil war.
Get rid of those 'rose tinted spectacles' and do some research?
I spent a month, solo/budget in Sri Lanka in 1992. From Colombo and Kandy, I traveled north and south...the people were so sweet...rode the crowded railway, sitting on the outside steps (the train was So slow) I talked my way into the switching room at one stop. People said, "you are Austrian?, British?, Canadian?...US travelers were rare sight in their country.
Sri Lanka has a place in my heart; I hate to hear all the bad things that happen...like "my" train getting blown up.......
Absolutely. Netanyahu has a good point in that the Israeli Supreme Court has too much veto power over legislative acts and the system needs reform. But his "cure" is far worse than the disease, it is not remotely what the people of Israel want, and an honest prime minister could have made this change in a way that satisfied everybody's interests. Netanyahu's interest is solely Me Me Me, which made this change illegitimate.
For context: After Britain had previously separated some two-thirds of the area it controlled to create the kingdom of Jordan, in 1948 the UN resolved to split the remainder in half for a two-state solution, one Arab, one Jewish. Israel declared its existence in accord with the UN declaration. Five Arab countries immediately declared war on Israel and sent in their armies to destroy it. Surprising everyone, the Israelis won that war and all the subsequent invasions. For twenty years, Arab countries controlled the West Bank, keeping residents in miserable conditions and refusing to setup an independent state there. In 1967, when Arab countries attacked Israel again, the West Bank fell to Israeli control, which has worked out badly for both the residents and Israel’s democracy.
We all have much to answer for and it begins with supporting both sides to resolve their differences with the "nothing without Ukraine/without Ukraine" doctrine. The original Jewish diaspora to Palestine came and purchased land. They couldn't have done that without agreement with the previous owners. It was when people of bad faith and outsiders saw a threat to the Jewish diaspora that everything went wrong. The Jews originated in this area and were driven out by political forces. They have returned to their homeland and should be given some consideration. But the heavy-handed political efforts of the Israeli government are wrong and unconscionable. The external threats are wrong and unconscionable as well. The violence on both sides should end. It has been demonstrated that it only causes heartache and solves nothing. The Jews are not leaving and neither are the Palestinians. Only by accepting in good faith the rights of both to be there will any progress be made. The Jewish population must accept the Palestinian population without prejudice. The Palestinian population must accept the Jewish population without prejudice. The Christians should stop stirring the pot. This region is the birthplace of the three largest religions of the world. They must stop trying to destroy each other and live together. The first step of the Israeli government should be to recognize that it is a diverse nation that must support all of its people if it hasn't done so already. The next step is to protect all religions without "fear or favor". And we should do the same because although we aren't the birthplace, we are the sanctuary of all religions. People move around the world and they bring their culture, their religion, and their prejudices. It is up to us all to educate ourselves to reduce those prejudices.
"The original Jewish diaspora to Palestine came and purchased land. They couldn't have done that without agreement with the previous owners."
I agree, but think about it. The "owners" were somebody the British identified and gave power to. The Jews needed land to settle and got to purchase the less desirable locations. They took whatever legal route they could find. The sparse residents already there has no say. Thousands of Jewish European settlers died of diseases like malaria. The local Arab chieftains got richer and didn't care about what happened to the little people.
The alienation between Arab and Jewish Settler got worse when the new Israel was attacked in 1948. At that point, Israel expanded from a wasp-shaped country to fill what's known as the "pre-1967 borders". Arabs (really, also recent settlers) were encouraged by their leaders to leave before the 1948 war, and unfortunately, Israeli leadership didn't do enough to allay their fears, and simply kept the land they won in that defensive war. Regardless of whatever legal claims Israel could make, the Palestinians got pushed around and down.
That the Palestinians' are re-victimized by their own leaders AND by the Netanyahu' government is an injustice, and a poison that will harm Israel. Until Netanyahu's government is defeated, I see more violence coming.
I agree. I don't know if you agree, but I see the initial resettlement of Jews as positive. I believe their successes on that poor land were viewed as deceit. The locals easily convinced the newcomers had paid too little for the land and the newcomers had cheated the locals. The early history had some evidence of cooperation and acceptance. Success became a divider and rather than accept the new techniques of the new settlers, in that kernel of a lie, they decided to react in anger. Anger begat anger. Death begat death. And here we still are.
In this one aspect, you are correct John. The US Army also participated.
1948, When Israel was formed by forcibly removing (and killing many of) the existing (Palestinian/Muslim) residents from various towns and occupied by Israeli Jewish folks. One of America's many bad post WW II decisions around use of the US Army.
Israel was formed by a vote of the United Nations in November 1947, which partitioned the territory called Palestine into two, one for a Jewish state to be called Israel, and one for the Arab people, to be called Palestine. The leaders of the Arab peoples refused to accept the partition. After months of violent fighting, the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of “a Jewish state, to be called Israel” on May 14, 1948. Did terrible atrocities take place? Yes. Was the State of Israel legitimately formed? Yes. Is Israel’s current occupation of the West Bank a drain on Israel’s moral authority? Yes. Nevertheless, Israel was formed with the consent of the nations of the world. What is happening there now breaks my heart, and causes me to fear for the future of the State of Israel, but let’s start from the premise of a legitimate nation.
The UN vote in 1947 perhaps expressed a hope for a state of Israel, but failed to establish one because the UN had no power to enforce the establishment of the state of Israel. The United States, on the other hand, did have the power and brought it to bear in its recognition of Israel in 1948 at the direction of Truman, acting to bolster his chances in the presidential election and against the advice of the best foreign policy thinker of the time, George Marshall, who accurately predicted its long-term effects on US relations with Middle Eastern nations. Jews surely deserved reparations for the horrific atrocities committed against them by the Nazi government, but it was unfair to place the burden of reparations on anyone other than the perpetrators of the atrocity. It might have been just to establish a Jewish state on land previously governed by Nazis. Berlin and the surrounding territory, perhaps, or Vienna, or all of Austria. But it was certainly unjust to inflict the burden of reparations on the people living in Palestine, who bore no responsibility, whatever, for the holocaust.
Jews have claimed and lived in the ancient land even after the Roman conquest in 70 A.D. Israel wasn’t created as reparations for the Holocaust; Theodore Herzl posited the cause of Zionism after watching Dreyfus trial and understood that Jews would not be safe until they had a State of their own, able to determine their own fate, in the land of their (and my) forefathers and foremothers. The tragedy of the Holocaust is that had the State of Israel already existed, millions of Jews would have had a safe place to go. Israel was not created for reparations.
Yes, Jews have lived there since antiquity but not in sufficient numbers to establish a government. The only option for those who wanted to establish a Jewish government in the region was to do so by force. They tried to muster that force for a great many years but did not succeed in doing so until Truman brought to bear the power of the US after WWII, at which point the government they sought was established. By force. Various arguments have been mounted to justify the establishment of a Jewish government. You mentioned a couple of them. I mentioned a third. No matter. The required element was then, and still is now, force.
Don't forget the Balfour Declaration in 1917. I agree with your concern for both the Jewish and Palestinian populations. Do you support the "two state solution"?
It did not. The"Nakhba" was a disaster created by the arrogance and incompetence of the surrounding nations. They just couldn't believe that Israelis won without direct military support by the US. The American security agreements with Israel didn't start until after the 1967 war, the 3rd time the surrounding nations tried to destroy Israel.
Mike S's source is Al Jazeera, headquartered in Doha Qatar, which hates Israel, but which also provides a different and apparently valid take on other global news. It's a classic example of slipping in b.s. with normal news as part of a disinformation campaign.
Governor Abbot’s submerged concertina razor wire in the Rio Grande is a new low in sadistic cruelty. It demonstrates a sociopathic indifference to human suffering that previously was associated with Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet gulags, and Pol Pot’s killing fields.
The image of Texas law enforcement agents pushing children back into the river to get lacerated by such a cruel arrangement makes one’s blood boil.
Would a proper version of Abbott's trip to Hell be to set him down at the beginning of the Darien Gap with his Texas Nazis and explain that there will be food and water when he gets to the end of the trail? I am not proud of wishing pain on anyone. But this cruelty is beyond comprehension.
What kind of human initiates the torturing of desperate families? How can he sleep at night? Does he have no family that would shame him? Does he consider himself a "Christian"?
Bill, I sometimes think that people don’t “get it” until they have a personal experience with it, particularly something impactful (fill in whatever subject/situation it might be as there are many). Some have to feel the pain themselves to have any empathy for others’ pain.
He is getting away with it because we the people are sitting on our hands and bemoaning all this . Instead we should be out in the streets with huge signs making this very very public! Demand more America! Demand Better America! Are we truly leaving behaviorally stunted midgets in charge? Midgets who are evil?
No offense to actual midgets please. We are talking about stunted brain function... but who’s standing up for character and the LAW?
Abbott is bitter about being confined to a wheelchair and, if he had any humanity before the tree fell on him, has lost it. Think of FDR’s response to polio as a contrast. The one is cruel, the other knew his duty.
I am not proud of wishing pain on these people either, but I DO wish it. You would think that Abbot, being in a wheelchair, would have learned some compassion, but these folks seem to be impervious to compassion, shame, self-reflection, etc.
And I'm sick of the humane feelings of the rest of us saving these human cancer cells from being stopped.
Bill, I’m sure he considers himself a devout Christian. It’s just that he appears to have forgotten that pesky bit about “whatsoever you do to the least of these, my brethren.”
Did you see Rachel Maddow's report on the Till marker having to be replaced 5 times because the locals shot it to pieces and defaced it? Biden is making that marker part of a Till federal monument, so it will interesting to see who returns to shoot holes in it now that the feds can arrest them for it.
Yes, the report mentioned that surveillance cameras will be part of the monument. Rachel is one of my favorite journalists... always thorough, finding stories that the MSM doesn't seem to deem worthy.
"The image of Texas law enforcement agents..." I would delete the word law...What law supersedes the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness of those fleeing physical, political and economic oppression?
What country did those who push children into rivers with concertina wire float barrier come from? Are we not all descendants from immigrants, or even immigrants ourselves? Who is responsible for the frigid calculus of the governing party in Texas?
I think I'm understanding more and more how that group of Germans felt in the 1930s as they watched their country descend into a nightmare. Today the list of countries just keeps growing where authoritarians are trying or succeeding in taking over.
You've expressed my unease perfectly, Stephen. At least there's slightly better news in Spain, not out of the woods, but a welcome surprise!
"If election night here proved anything, it’s that Spain — a nation with some of the most recent memories in Europe of extreme-right repression, from the Francisco Franco era that ended in 1975 — still has little interest in reembracing the radical right.
Vox only marginally underperformed expectations in Sunday’s race, winning a handful fewer seats than some analysts predicted. But when compared with its last national showing in November of 2019, the result stood as a stark defeat. The party slipped from 15 percent to 12 percent of the vote and lost 19 of its 52 preliminary seats. In one region where Vox is already co-ruling in local government — Castilla y León — it lost five of its six seats."
Yes, but, the challenge with "that group of Germans" who were uncomfortable is, they were the MINORITY of German voters.
The MAJORITY of Germans liked what they saw in Hitler and the Nazi's. The Nazi party was POPULAR and supported by the majority of Germans.
Netflix has a (very tragic) documentary on right now called "The Last Days". Everyone should watch it to see what human beings are willing to do, enthusiastically, to other human beings.
Just like Trump and Netanyahoo are supported by a huge number of Americans and Israelis.
As I have said before, therein lies the real problem. Trump and Netanyahoo do not exist in a system of reasonable, well educated, thoughtful population of voters.
Which, apparently, neither Israel nor the USA have enough of (reasonable people).
There are plenty of well educated Trumpers. But (U.S.) education has never included any significant psychology education- how we attach our egos to our thoughts, how our emotions fuel our beliefs, the impact groups, etc. etc.
I also would like to recommend “Circle of Evil” a series about Hitler’s life and rise to power. It’s on Netflix and other streaming services. What it really brings out is that he was engaged in Germany’s politics from the late Nineteen Twenties on. It took him ten years or more to rise to the power he eventually had. Very scary when compared to what’s going on today in the US We can’t just chalk it up to “just the same old politics” anymore. The protesters in Israel have the right idea.
Mike...Because of your recommendation I watched it tonight. I think that was the most emotional and intense documentary I have seen on the Nazis. There are so many takeaways for us living today. I wanted to hug each one of those survivors.
The NAZI takeover of Germany began with Hitler promising full employment, a restoration of respect for Germany and establishing , once again the greatness of the nation. He would make Germany great again. Sounds familiar. Hitler did all those things, by building a mighty war machine. This was followed by treaties that were only to be broken and then followed the war, the death camps and all the rest that the fascist regime brought. It was a pleasant ride at first, but that all changed once he grabbed all the power. I believe it could happen here if we don’t stop them now.
And Modern Germany is now reformed. Like all of us, they must be on guard for the rise of these bad behaviors. Everyone wants full employment and a full belly. Deny those and the troubles start. Every people's revolution begins this way. The choice of leadership depends on the education previously provided. If you know how your government works and how to influence it to change, the people can choose full employment and a full belly without violence. Without that understanding and education, people are victims of any sweet-talking individual who wants power. An educated electorate is the foundation of all democratic governments, even democratic republics. The expansion of the electorate to all people is also fundamental to their understanding of their own power to affect their own future.
Agree and I just don’t know how about 30 to 40% of the electorate manages to spend 12 years in school and emerge as ignorant as they do. Maybe it is pass the test and then erase. I just don’t know.
or promote without performance...and the abandonment of teaching phonics had a terrible impact on reading comprehension for a lot of children. There is also the problem of so many who leave school without completing it. There are lots of reasons. My own child quit school at 16. They went on to complete a GED in the same time frame that they would have completed High School but have suffered from the employment stigma of their decision.
Promote without performance is a problem. Teachers are under pressures to pass everyone or suffer retribution from school administrators. I saw this repeatedly during my years in teaching. It is a system that nourishes mediocrity for students and faculty. The system keeps school budgets and taxes under control. Many enthusiastic graduates try the teaching profession, then quit in disgust. Right now an added problem is that the salary and benefits are not what they once were. It is a shame, but teacher quality has gone down at the same time when many districts find it more difficult now to get enough teachers. Our government is in crisis and so are the schools.
I had my daughter in school in the US (after coming from England) she was BORED to death learning about Washington and Lincoln over and over again. As for Book reviews. She quickly learned to review the back and add some remarks.........this is called education?
Geography...duh. I guess all Americans now know where Ukraine is?
The Nazi rise had as backdrop exceptional (large, talented) marching bands (complete wit tubas and bugles) and Wagnarian Operas to bind its greatness together. For MAGA, what music and cultural symbols are chosen to give it like grandure of Hitler's rise? Choirs of guitars? Wave of singers let loose from America's Got Talent? The thundering drumbeat from a cauchopony of reality TV shows? Off-key evangelical singers?
The music and toot of Fox Fantasy New, the Sturm und Drang of conspiracy spinners everywhere. The heralding of arch angels echoing the righteous cause. Perhaps Al is all that is needed to whip up modern day tsunamis.
Ok, so, the fascists in Germany had better music than the fascists in America (MAGAs and others) , but American fascists like their music. I was amused by your post, Fred, but missed the socio-political point you were making one, so do tell.
Oblique that I am. There was something grand and uplifting for Germans. Our MAGAs offer no great and uplifting theater to bring us all together. As least, let there be Springtime for Hitler, a truly rousing ditty for us cynics. I just can't imagine the MAGAs as enough theater to last past the first review in Das Hunderspiel.
I think we have to laugh them off the planet because I don’t think they have a sense of humor. They certainly show no signs of being able to laugh at themselves.
Thanks, Fred, for "Springtime for Hitler" - I'd forgotten, and laughed for the first time since beginning to read today's Letter and its comments. Thanks.
Country-western crap, that's what. Jason Aldean and the foul crew who put together that carefully-crafted "music video", and their ilk. I will neither cite nor quote either the lyrics or the video.
True, Mike. My just posted comment about Israel may actually entertain him. It will certainly piss off anyone with anti-Muslim sentiments. I wish John would back off on the repetitive posts - it only harms his credibility. There should be room for alternate views here. But he doesn't seem to care that his stuff feels like harassment.
Mike, a Troll's needless & constant repetition is part & parcel of targeted Platform disuption. Good news ... 2 liabilty against META hav9e been filed this week. More coming. Zuckerberg started out trolling his ex-girlfriend as an undegrad at Harvard. Still ... Mark has never grown up.
One of the main reasons I never obtained Facebook, from the beginning, was because Zuckerberg stole the idea AND the code from the two originators of that idea and code AND GOT AWAY WITH IT.
While a literal repetition can look odd, even more odd is the pretense of "democracy" among countries Washington has propped up for its own purposes. Those of us who appreciate historical context and not only in selective terms, would remember as I do that human rights affirming volunteers from our ranks who have gone to Israel/Palestine can be crushed to death by a bulldozer while defending the home of a family whose child they were tutoring - as in the case of Rachel Corrie. A US citizen who was a respected and popular journalist on the international scene, Shireen abu Akleh, can be shot and killed by a skilled marksman far from any "crossfire" and Washington takes no action. If farms and neighborhoods in our country were seized without compensation and homes destroyed while conveniently declaring the land and homes a "closed military zone" that would hardly be treated as a mark of democracy. Whatever the term for such atrocities, complaining about the use of the term would play no role in their correction.
It is unfortunate to see subscribers feeding a poster that mostly derails the themes of the Letter, posts identical scripts, takes up a lot of space and with whom there appears to be no give and take.
Submitted this morning to my Senator (& posted in comments of today’s edition of Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse)
Subject line: Texas style atrocities at the border
Dear Senator Whitehouse,
I was just made aware, by Joyce Vance in today’s (July 24) edition of Civil Discourse, that “…the state of Texas is lining the banks of the Rio Grande river with razor wire to trap migrants, injuring some, including young children.”
I urge you to read just some of these inhumane atrocities being inflicted under the ruse that this is authorized by the United States of America’s government!
One Substack subscriber suggests, “President Biden should start by nationalizing the Texas National Guard placing them under federal jurisdiction to make clear whose orders they will be required to follow, and then send the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the barriers and razor wire, deducting from any federal funds due Texas the entire cost of compliance.”
While waiting for the justice system to intervene, which as we all know is like watching paint dry, can President Biden enact this immediate, life saving humane, solution?
The important thing is what are the Texans doing? Is this their policy or are they the victims of a governor gone rogue? Texans believe they have governmental powers not available to all states because they were a sovereign nation before they joined the United States and had a treaty between the Texas government and the United States government for admission. There are still people who think Texas is a sovereign nation and that the treaty was null and void after the secession during the Civil War and that the Texas re-entry after the Civil War was illegal. Does someone out there have a handle on this history? Is there some legal gotcha between Texas and the federal government?
I never know fully, which way to go with Israel. Netanyahu definitely isn't the way to go. But like Trump, he is a symptom of a greater problem.
I'm so glad that the DOJ will make the Weiss hearings available to the public instead of a closed session where the far right can spin it into a downward spiral. I understand that The House is gearing up for Impeachment hearings all the way up to Biden. Thank you for this information Professor Richardson.
I would like President Biden to mash Governor Abbott's potatoes by ordering the Navy or the Coast Guard to remove the garbage he put in the river, then send the cleanup bill to Texas taxpayers. Don't wait for the courts, call his bluff now: the river and immigration policy are federal jurisdiction, and that's what our military is for. Let Abbott sputter.
If it’s anything like the Tennessee River, Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction streamside and USCG (Reserve component) maintains aids to navigation.
Israel is a wonderful country: if I had visited there when I was in my 20s, I probably would have stayed and become a citizen. In 2010, when I spent a few weeks working in Tel Aviv, there was an ever-present undercurrent of fear of the next attack; the result of the tension between Palestinians and Israelis. Netenyahu wasn't the threat he has become. I worry for the fate of Israel: the US can continue to support a democracy, but what will we do if it becomes a dictatorship.
To say that Israel is a democracy, belies the fact that the majority of people under its control have no rights, and suffer land confiscations and harassment on a daily basis. Israel cannot be a democracy and at the same time a "Jewish state", when the majority of those under its control are non-Jews. About 20% of Israeli citizens are non-Jews, with limited rights, let alone those in the occupied territories who are not Israeli citizens. Israel was created and continues to have unconditional US support based on "alternative facts" that never aligned with actual facts on the ground.
Patricia, Your reply caught my attention because you wrote '...that the majority of the people under its (Israel's) control have no rights, ….' It prompted me to do a little research.
At the end of 2022, the CBS (Census Bureau of Statistics) calculated that of the 9,656,000 people who live in the country, 7,106,000 (73.6 percent) are Jewish, 2,037,000 (21.1%) are Arab, and 513,000 (5.3%) are defined as “others,” including non-Arab Christians, members of other faiths and those listed as not belonging to any religion. (The Times of Israel)
The population of Gaza (a territory occupied by Israel) is estimated by The World Factbook at 2,037,744 (2023 est.) Even if the population of Gaza was added to the Arab population in Israel the total number of non-Jews, still does not reach a majority in Israel. My response to your reply is just one of arithmetic. I do not question anything else you wrote.
Thank you, Fern, for looking carefully at the populations. But you missed the West Bank 3,000,021 (West Bank – 2022 est.), the Golan Heights (@25,000) and East Jerusalem, which has about 580.000 inhabitants of which 61% of the population is Arab/Palestinian and 39% is Jewish. So, if you add the Arab citizens of Israel, 2,037,000 + Gaza, 2,037,744, + the West Bank 3,000,021, + East Jerusalem Arab population 353,800 + Golan Arab population @ 25,000 - It all adds up to approximately 7,453,537 non-Jews under Israeli control, as compared with 7,106,000 Jews. I cannot be sure of the statistics here, but that is a rough estimate. It is true that Arab citizens of Israel have more rights than those in the occupied territories, but if you look at Israeli discriminatory laws against non-Jews, their rights are pretty limited (https://www.adalah.org/en).
And that doesn't count the many millions of Palestinians who don't live under Israeli control, but are prevented from returning, and in many cases, even visiting their ancestral homes and villages, many of which were erased from existence.
The history of Israel is complicated. The history of Palestine is complicated. The Jewish history is complicated. The Muslim history is complicated. The fact that these two great religions have an intersection with the individual of the Bible known as Abraham or Ebrahim or however he is referenced in your foundational language is perhaps the root of this terrible problem. I don't have sufficient education to know. I do know that some Jews have never left Palestine, but a very large number of Jews were forced to leave by political influences at the very earliest histories of this region of the earth. The fact that Jews originally began returning to this region of their individual will and their efforts at integrating themselves back into Palestine has been forgotten by the people because of the horrible actions of almost every group including the Jews and Muslim religious leaders as well as outside players. This is a feud between peoples perpetuated by each generation and it must stop. Neither side is without blame and continuing from this point in the same manner as each generation has done will not lead to resolution and democracy for all peoples of this region. Let us all step back. Let the decisions be made by the people of the region by democratic vote. Nothing about the Palestinian Region without the Peoples of the Palestinian Region. Both sides must agree to accept the fundamental existence of all the religions in the region. Both sides must agree to accept the fundamental rights of all the cultures of the region to exist. Both sides must agree that all the people of the region have the fundamental right to the protection of the rule of law for both opportunity and the protection of property. Lands taken by governments without due process and without compensation to the owner must be returned. Nothing can be done to change the harm to families and their lineage, but recognition of the harm must be done by both sides. Death knows no reasonable compensation, the harm is permanent and there is no repair. Justice however is something else altogether. Stop the fighting. Stop the hate. You have been fighting for more than 75 years and there is no sign of resolution. Nothing about the Palestinian Region without the People of the Palestinian Region. Muslims, Jews, and Christians(who evolved from the Jews) who live in this region are a large portion of the people of this region. Stop working against each other. It serves no one except the powerful. Let's go back to 1947 and make it right for all the people who currently live in the Palestinian Region.
The Palestinians descend from the Idumeans (King Herod, builder of the Second Temple, was an Idumean), who were the same as the Edomites, descended from Esau, elder brother of Jacob, sons of Isaac, son of Abraham, whose son Ishmael was ancestor of the Arabs.
'Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. For over 55 years, Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, relying routinely on forcible displacement and excessive force. In the West Bank, authorities have facilitated the transfer of over 700,000 Israeli settlers, a war crime, confiscated vast swaths of Palestinian land, and made it nearly impossible for Palestinians to build in much of the territory without risking demolition. Israel severely restricts the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, with devastating humanitarian impact. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza arbitrarily arrest dissidents and torture Palestinians in their custody.' (HumanRightsWatch) See link below.
'Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in New York City that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.[2] The group pressures governments, policymakers, companies, and individual human rights abusers to denounce abuse and respect human rights, and often works on behalf of refugees, children, migrants, and political prisoners.' (Wiki) See link below.
"Americans should avoid assuming that their closest ally in the Middle East is experiencing the same social breakdown and mistrust fueling America’s partisan polarization. And U.S. leaders might want to be a little less sanctimonious when lecturing Israelis about “democracy,” given the fissures now appearing in the United States."
~~ Gil Troy, Tablet Magazine, 7.24.23
Professor Richardson, might you consider news and commentary sources that are much more intrinsically Jewish-
oriented as discussion forums? Haaretz is decidedly left wing. There is Times Of Israel as well as Tablet, The Scroll and others. Most Americans are out of their depth on the very intricate and complex situation of diaspora Jews but mostly of Israeli politics, tending to impose our own experiences as we live them onto a rather different template. Thank you. And as always many ongoing thanks for helping us to make sense of whatever is out there.
Don't consider this in an "American Criticism" context. Consider it as a commentary from the fundamental foundation of what a democracy or a democratic republic is. Since we are standing as a country with Israel, we have a right to discuss and criticize Israel among ourselves. The support for Israel arises from the atrocities of World War II. If Israel becomes what it arose from, is it America's responsibility to stand back and not speak out? Is it America's responsibility to continue to provide protection for a State that does not protect all the people living in its territorial boundaries? We have a lot on our plate with our own political woes and yet we support Ukraine, we support Europe, and we support many areas of the world and we don't always do the best job. But I really like this new doctrine "Nothing about the people of a region without the people of the region". The power of democracy arises from all the people of its responsibility. To pick and choose who receives the protection of the rule of law is not democracy or even a democratic republic. Because we are not perfect does not mean we shouldn't try to improve ourselves and our world.
There's absolutely no question that we have opinions and voice them. That is not as far as it goes with the US and Israel, much much more complex and layered. It's hard to have a discussion if people are not more deeply involved in the learning involved. Our support for the Jewish state goes much further back because of Jewish ideas from a long long history are also involved in its construction of our own country and our Constitution. If folks are further interested there are many sources I could suggest, and you gotta do the homework. We probably should not be giving Israel money because it doesn't actually need it. We do give Palestinians money for years and it gets blown on their leaders. Something not known usually known. There's a strong tendency here to simplify what is not at all possible to do that to.
Please point out the Jewish ideas you believe contributed to our constitution. Our constitution is a very good constitution and anyone contributing to it at the time of writing should be given recognition.
There is a ton of writing on this subject so I looked for probably the most concise. (?) Basically the Jewish values in action that influence law in general in the Western World anyway are: the value and worth of humans, freedom of religion, respect as an active community standard, dialog, a oneness of divine purpose, learning, no 'divine right of kings'- (very ancient), the general idea of ten commandments, etc. The founding fathers were particularly conversant with all of this and with rabbis of the time in America. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
is particularly helpful on this subject, among many others.
Googling 'Jewish thought, Constitution' or similar, brings up a lot. Also Wiki.
Robin, your Tablet quote says that because Netanyahu is like ТЯцм₽, Biden should not be critical of his fascist decisions. Do you believe America should follow that line of thought?
You're not quoting what was posted-extracting your interpretation to restate it your way leaves standing the words I wrote below it. There is a very deep learning curve involved in this most complex of subjects, takes years and tears, lots of concentration, does not at all easily yield answers if there are any. The attitude taken by our State Dept. shows basically that we impose our American interests in running another country's business through the use of might and money, and appear to believe our own stated principles to be as real coin within our own political sphere at home. Not. Different cultures, different understandings. When in Rome.
I lived there for 19 years, and what reaches the press here is not the whole story. As much as I am pretty much left wing here in the USA, I’m pretty much right wing in Israel. The right wing there is not like the right wing here. Israel is unique in that it is the only nation that is Jewish, the only place that we can run away to when antisemitism rears its ugly head.
So you are saying that Israel doesn’t have a right to make its own laws? By the way, nobody is forcing anyone to live as an observant Jew. There are however neighborhoods that are closed off to vehicles on Shabat and holidays, just like there are places and times that roads may be closed off in the USA. There are some rules about food, just like there are rules about food in the USA.
Do you protect all people not just citizens without fear or favor by the rule of law? Do you accept that the nations of the world carved out a place for Israel? Do you accept that action deserves some consideration for the people of the region who were not allowed to have an opinion? Do you accept that those people deserve equal protection under the law to opportunity and protection of property?
With all due respect to you, Palestinians who feel oppressed have many options. Have you looked at a map of the Middle East? Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries where they would undoubtedly find superior to Israel. Actually, there is a minority of Muslims who are making a lot of noise.
With all due respect to you, your comment is not serious. It's outrageous. On what basis should Palestinians be forced from THEIR homeland? One can read the history of the region and come up with whatever conclusions you want about who should "own" Israel. Pick a time and find whatever your point of view is.
Does America belong to the "indigenous tribes" that came here from somewhere else? To the Irish or Italians? To the Africans who were stolen and transplanted here? Yes, it belongs to all of us. ALL of us. Israel is no different. Just a chunk of land. With a variety of people who call it "home". The land is not Jewish or Muslim.
The truth is that Jewish Israel is powerful and rich. A remarkable success story of desperate people finding a home - fleeing from oppression and likely death. Building a marvelous democracy that is now being dismantled by a crooked extremist and his uber religious allies - all so he can avoid jail. This man emulates the dictators his people ran from.
There have been many opportunities for Israel to incorporate a true democracy for the occupied lands. Palestinians deserve one of two things. Full Israeli citizenship and equal treatment under the law - or a state of their own. A refusal to provide one or the other will be seen in the rear view mirror of history as oppression, persecution and probably much worse.
None of the above is to excuse rocket attacks by Palestinians. But if I was locked up and deprived of a normal life - the ability to travel and make a decent living for my family. If my neighbor's homes were being bulldozed and religious extremists were building towns on the land my grandparents farmed...I am not sure how my peaceful nature would be retained.
It was the right thing to do. Find a home where Jews and Jewish culture could thrive and feel safe. It is not the right thing to do for any nation to be based on any religion exclusively. The soil is not religious. It should be available to all who want to live in a peaceful democracy.
When religion dominates a society, human rights are lost. Just ask the folks in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or in Alabama.
As a Jewish person I thank you for your sensible reply. I have been sick about this craziness for years. Killing in the name of religion is completely insane and the antithesis of g-d like.
'About 6.8 million Jewish Israelis and 6.8 million Palestinians live today between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River, an area encompassing Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the latter made up of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Throughout most of this area, Israel is the sole governing power; in the remainder, it exercises primary authority alongside limited Palestinian self-rule. Across these areas and in most aspects of life, Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians. Laws, policies, and statements by leading Israeli officials make plain that the objective of maintaining Jewish Israeli control over demographics, political power, and land has long guided government policy. In pursuit of this goal, authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, as described in this report, these deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.' (Human Right Watch) See link below.
Thanks Fern. This is a super sensitive subject. But facts matter. In every conflict, the strongest, richest side with the most weapons and money has the obligation and opportunity to make peace and provide justice.
I have mentioned in the past that we (me by marriage) have a dear cousin in Israel who teaches kids about commonality - how much as humans they have in common. She has received awards for her commitment to bridging the divide. She has five kids and sometimes they must all shelter in a "safe room" as the rockets land around them.
The rockets are the voice of desperation. It's complicated. Sooo complicated.
Bill, thanks for your thoughts. I have long wondered why many (not all) seemed to be constructing a homeland that increasingly mirrored the one many escaped from (thinking Nazi Germany/German occupied European countries in WWII). Then I thought of that saying “hurt people hurt people” and wondered if it were that. I have no answers, only heartache for all involved.
To clarify my comment: I am NOT equating Israel w/ Nazi Germany. At. All. What I was attempting to say is that some of the authoritarian/despotic/apartheid-like elements during that horrific time seem to be rearing up (and in other places around the world as well) & it is hard to wrap my head around. I realize I do not have a deep and nuanced understanding of the issue, but am reacting to what I see/hear in the news/publications/etc.
Excuse me for one not so slight correction. The UN Partition vote did just that: divided that small strip of land into two countries, one for Israel & one for Palestine. The Arabs refused to accept that, and were joined by the surrounding countries in a war to eliminate the Jewish State. They failed. And instead of offering shelter to those Arabs who fled, they set up camps for them on the boarder. Those camps still exist, now badly overpopulated and the population still receiving financial from the UN.
Where exactly are you suggesting that Jews should go? Antarctica perhaps? I think there are already people in Madagascar, which was one of the options considered during WW2. Oh the possibilities!
Bizarre response. Read my comment again. Israel is a marvelous democracy (under threat). It is wonderful that there is an Israel that Jews can feel safe in. We have family there. They have worked hard in education and bridging the gap between Arabs and Jews.
I am not suggesting anything other than this. Palestinians have the same human rights as all of us. And governments that are religiously based are dictatorships. Muslim, Jewish, Christian...whatever. Believe whatever you want. Just don't make laws with it.
They should stay where they wish to stay. But they shouldn't feel that they should be the only ones who receive consideration under the law. I feel Jews in America are important to the future of America. We need their talents, their ideas, and their point of view. Have we eradicated anti-Semitism? NO. Should we? YES. Are we working towards that goal? Some of us are. A person's religion is no reason to discriminate against them or to allow the law to reduce their freedoms or their right to protection under the law. We cannot have a just world until we accept that equal protection of the law is a fundamental human right and cannot be abrogated by cultural or religious differences.
Palestinians are not a Muslim group. We are a multifaith community and always have been. You always try and portray us as monocultural Muslims to pretend this is a ‘religious conflict’. What Israel is doing in the WB is illegal land theft and military occupation. It’s Palestinian land, why should they have to be refugees in neighbouring countries????
Would you make to same suggestion do any person living in any country who is not represented by the government in power? Does Israel have a liberal immigration policy accepting all people fleeing countries that do not protect them equally under the law?
Israel is a pluralistic society that was mostly, in 1947, populated by Arabs who were Muslim.
With the help of the US Army, in 1948, Israel evicted many of those residents forcibly including instances of bulldozing houses with people STILL IN THEM.
Actually there were also Jews living there as well. They were older than me, and told about life back when, before’47, ‘48. And back then, when Arabs were ruling… oh, the British actually…….
Can you really protect yourself by denying that protection to the people around you? The citizens of Israel must stop, review the whole history of the region from both perspectives without looking beyond the local region, and make a decision about whether what Israel is doing will actually stop Jews from dying and protect them throughout the world. What are you trying to prove by the policies of your government since your founding? What is your government trying to prove by changing its court system? Israelis must decide if what they are supporting is morally correct and if it will sustain their freedoms. If actions of the Israeli government will protect Jews regardless of where they live. Don't do a whataboutism. Israel is not America and cannot excuse the Israeli government's failures based on ours. Lead, don't follow.
Regardless it will continue to exist because it currently exists. We cannot continue to violently oppose governments because they do not behave properly. History has taught, in my opinion, governments that protect all their people retain their power and continue to govern. When all the people work to change their governments they succeed. When the people work against each other they fail.
I sent this to our Republican Senator Susan Collins after reading about Israel’s vote for authoritarianism.
“Washington Post reported today “ The Israeli parliament approved the first part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sweeping proposal to overhaul the judiciary on Monday, establishing a limit on the Supreme Court’s power to strike down government action and delivering far-right lawmakers a key victory in their bid to remold the country. The proposal passed despite hundreds of thousands of protesters turning out to oppose the measure”.
Netanyahu is Israel’s Donald Trump. The right wing extremists running the Knesset are matches for the Republican extremists in the US House, some in the US Senate, some justices in our courts, and in a number of our states like Texas and Florida who think they can contradict and ignore any law or US Constitutional protections for all Americans.
Of course we know Netanyahu, like Trump, has been facing and delaying judgement on indictments for his self serving violations of laws.
Netanyahu and the extremists are like too many Republicans who have bent traditional processes to pack the US Supreme Court, lower and state courts with judges who have and will support their political party ideologues.
Israeli extremists are ruthless with Palestinians just like Republicans are ruthless with immigrants in many states. Razor wire in the Rio Grande River? Texas Republicans have no respect for Mexico who shares this international border. No respect and a willingness to do violence against anyone who doesn’t join their posse. They are all criminals like the Israeli extremists with no accountability.
Our Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, reported that “No Labels”, a supposedly moderate political party that opposes Donald Trump and Joe Biden (two very different types of leaders), has been going around Maine and other states having registered voters sign petitions to support a third party. The petition signers are not told that they are being asked to sign to change their party affiliations to “No Labels”, losing their affiliation with their current party. Bellows’s office is getting complaints from both Republicans and Democrats who have been swindled. Bellows reports that “No Labels” is not following various rules for political party activity. This may involve lawsuits and legal action that Maine taxpayers will be forced to cover. In addition, Bellows office, town clerks and poll workers are finding it difficult to find sufficient poll workers from each party. Particularly for Republicans. In an occasional case, Republican poll workers intimidate voters. In other cases, Republicans feel voting is “rigged” (encouraged by their media and party extremists) so why help elections to occur. Democrats, town clerks and poll workers are sent threats and intimidated into quitting their offices or positions or from taking part in either.
In one rural town, Bellows reported that she attended a selectman’s meeting this spring where a few citizens were asking the town to vote in favor of doing away with voting machines. They had attended a “My Pillows” meeting advocating doing away with voting machines, claiming they were being tampered with by a list of “enemies”. Bellows explained the voting machines in Maine, how they are safe from the concerns being raised, why they are more reliable than hand counting paper ballots. The vote decided to keep voting machines. This is an example of how problematic misinformation and propaganda are. And how important it is for our federal, state and local officers to step up, speak out and explain how our democratic system works and why it’s better and very safe compared to the options promoted by current extremists who try to undermine our democracy.
When Russia, Hungary, Israel, other nations or our own politicians try to undermine, eliminate or mislead Americans into turning against those like the courts, secretaries of state and the poll workers, etc, all of those examples move us toward dystopian authoritarianism.
Finally, we need immigration because we need workers in so many places that are losing their labor supply. I don’t buy what I hear from local Friendship Republicans that Maine has an abundance of people who simply don’t want to work. I don’t see anyone sitting around in Friendship doing nothing or just hanging out. Everyone including many retired people are working. This idea is a trope that Republican leaders and businesses should be addressing, so we can update our immigration policies to support our human rights and economy.”
According to an article I read earlier this summer, the USA has a worker shortage of around 10 million, yet only 5 million seeking work. So, doing the math, whether the shortage is in Maine, or elsewhere, we need immigrants. We also have an aging population and need younger people to replace workers who retire and to support the retirement system. I recommend reading Prof. Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, where she explains that being anti-immigrant is toned down code for racism. Being anti-people of color. It is a White Supremacist platform, not a jobs or patriotic one.
You cannot be a Patriot and not care about your nation's people. What is a nation, after all? Liberty and Justice become meaningless to the degree they are withheld from any. A nation that offers robust options for one group and withholds them from others is simply not a free society. Tyranny is more like it.
We have a worker shortage because low-skilled workers are unwilling to do scut work for starvation wages. So you say "we need immigrants" to be exploited by their employers so comfortable liberals can continue to enjoy the standard of living to which you are accustomed.
I don't say immigrants need to be exploited, although they often are. Remember some of those immigrants are highly skilled workers. In fact, I live in a university community and a good portion of my friends and family are the immigrants that you refer to, including my husband, my mother and her sister. I would not say that they are being exploited. In fact, some of my friends get paid sabbatical every 4 years, and they travel abroad 2-3 times a year with their families when they have vacation. Their children have gone to school in more than one country. Then, there are the children working in meat and other factories doing dangerous work and not getting an education.
Many of the doctors, and other professionals whose services I use are immigrants to the USA. So, while they may be making my life comfortable, it is not because I am exploiting them. My daughter had several German sitters when she was younger. Her last one was a young man working on his PhD in economics, and we paid him well for his time, because he was doing work that is important to us. We also allowed him to work on his dissertation when he had time. He also made money tutoring my nephew in math. My nephew is now working on a PhD in engineering. So, even if we are comfortable we do not support exploiting immigrants.
I have no problem with what you have shared, as far as it goes.
However, my post used the phrase "low-skilled workers," and this has nothing to do with what you're saying. Once upon a time, in southern California, I lived and worked and socialized surrounded almost entirely by immigrants from Mexico and Central America, many of whom were illegal aliens. I remember once, as I was renting a room in an apartment of a family of "illegal" immigrants, the mother made a bitter comment about going to work the whole day for "mis cuarenta dolares." You can do the math: 40 dollars divided by 8 or 10 equals... less than the minimum wage, with no benefits.
Out on the East End of New York, they’re working for the elite Conservatives! The Liberals are the ones helping them find jobs & places to live. They’re providing good & clothing. Even healthcare. While the Conservatives pay them peanuts. I’m curious why you come on Dr. Richardson’s Substack to attack Liberals.
I don't think you're curious to find out why I point out liberal hypocrisy when I think it's warranted. You have repeatedly made insulting posts, even stooping to mock my name in your effort to create a hostile environment.
I think it's fair to say that you (and a few other habitual abusers) are out of step with the majority around here.
Unfortunately, a dedicated clique of thought-control thugs can intimidate others and give the false sense of a consensus against me.
As always, my core issue is to expose U.S. complicity in the most far-reaching genocide in history, as I explained in this Januaryresponse to HCR:
You’re right. I sincerely apologize for my inappropriate comments regarding your name. I don’t know what got into me other than utter annoyance. I am a lover and believer in American & World Politics & History. I am thrilled by the Truth we receive on a regular basis from Professor Richardson. Because of this, I have been rather defensive when I feel that her writing and character is being attacked. I am not an intellectual nor even a college graduate. What I am is a truth seeker. I tried to read the resignation letter from the man who found himself responsible for a FUND that has been the source of long time abuse to poor Southern men. I can’t say I understand it completely other than it’s dreadfully harsh and causes unnecessary pain, anguish and a miserable death to people who don’t deserve it, laid out by arrogant power hungry perps. Its no wonder he resigned! What gets me is, why do you attack Dr Richardson? She isn’t writing about that unfortunate issue… unless you’re trying to get her to! I confess that I couldn’t really get through the entire letter and it’s parts, but what does any of it have to do with American History & the current political climate in our country?
If you want to educate the public, why don’t you write your own substack and quit attacking Dr Richardson?
I feel for the people’s plight, however, it just rude to try to make “A Letter From An American” something it’s not.
I don't think that our current categories of work cover all the work that is being done. What about the young people who a choosing to do work that is more similar to the cottage industries of the past? Young people, who are choosing to do work that is not compensated in hopes that it will begin to provide income?
Sure. For example I know a lot of children who are in internships that are unpaid, as well as poorly paid. Of course it costs a lot to train people so they are getting that. Whatever the work, we still have a shortage of workers, just like most EU countries and that means that we need people from beyond our borders to help fill those jobs whatever kind of work they are.
I agree. We do need immigrants. Have always benefited from the labor, ideas, and children of immigrants. Unfortunately, our collective history towards immigrants has always been problematic and protective rather than truly welcoming. Perhaps if Congress would actually take up debate and create new legislation, we could arrive at an immigrant policy that reflects their true worth to our country.
From my historical knowledge we welcomed many groups of immigrants to this country. Other groups were given a harder time and shunned. Racism plays a role in this, or perceptions of racial differences. Part of the White Supremacist playbook in the USA and globally has been to be less overt in displaying their racism, and instead of direct racist rhetoric they now use the code of complaining about immigration to express that, even though this is not directed to the Ukrainian or even Russians coming in now, or European groups, but to Black and Brown skinned people. This has historically been directed against Asians, Africans, and Caribbean would be immigrants. Even Puerto Ricans are told, "go back to where you came from." In her book Bring the War Home: White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, Prof. Kathleen Belew tells us how this was the response of the White Supremacist movement globally after the Oklahoma City bombing. In a gathering of White Supremacists from around the world the goals decided on where to enter mainstream politics and look more like the Evangelical Christian White Nationalists, who were not promoting violence, and only after taking over governments would there be a race war. So, there is no resolution that the Republicans in Congress, who have fully embraced this White Nationalist agenda will be satisfied with. Look at what they are proposing compared to Biden. Also, look at how their appointed judges do not let Biden use his lawful right to set administrative goals, and enact them by preventing him from carrying out his plans. There is no legal reason for them to stop him, so they are behaving illegally. We are no longer a country characterized by law and order, and this is the goal of White Nationalists. They want to destroy our country, and the state, and the constitution, It is not their constitution. They are revisiting their goals in the Civil War and are trying to use the courts and intimidation to bring it about. Once accomplished they will develop their own Dixiecrat state here, the Confederate States, not the USA. We are in a civil war, which is quite uncivil. Innocent people including pregnant women, nursing mothers and babies are caught up in the cruelty of the Republican governors trying to get rid of them. They are caught up as symbols of a race war! There is no getting around this without naming it and taking it on.
It cannot be emphasized enough that Israel is a state without a constitution, as you have noted, but it is also a state without declared borders. These make Israel unique among nations and, most disturbingly, they are related.
The Palestinians descend from the Idumeans (King Herod, builder of the Second Temple, was an Idumean), who were the same as the Edomites, descended from Esau, elder brother of Jacob, sons of Isaac, son of Abraham, whose son Ishmael was ancestor of the Arabs.
I appreciate the additional information, but I am not certain if you are saying that Abraham's behavior towards his sons Isaac and Ishmael is not part of the problem. Please help me to understand this better. Ishmael's mother was a daughter of the local people, which one I don't know. Isaac's mother was a first wife. Can you clarify the ancestry of these two women? I am aware that rabbinic tradition favors Isaac as God's choice to inherit Abraham's covenant with God. And though Ishmael was the first son, I believe he was left without inheritance and cast out of his father's house.
Ever hear of the Hatfields and the McCoys. Family feuds are brutal and never-ending. Where did the Arab animosity against the Jews come from? What was the tender used to light the flame of a never-ending war? Anger is handed down from father to son, mother to daughter, and generation upon generation. The animosity is different between the Palestinians and the Jews. It isn't a territorial war even though they are fighting over land. Both are fighting for justice as they see it and neither see it as the same harm. It is "whataboutism" at its finest. You don't see how ancient history can support a war? Putin is calling back to pre-revolutionary Russian Empire history to justify his war in Ukraine. Any harm, justified or unjustified, persists until the individual harmed forgives or forgets or until others break up the fight by delivering some justice that those harmed accept.
Justice Department scores a three-pointer by insisting the hearings be public. Good for Justice, good for citizens, bad only for MAGA, and that's the three-pointer.
While U.S. citizens suffer from the cost of our high priced health care system, Israel citizens enjoy free universal government sponsored health care. Yet we send billions to them every year.
In visiting Israel in April for two weeks, I was struck by the Russian influence on schools there. Netanyahu ‘s further steps toward authoritarianism for personal gain puts Israel right in the pocket of Putin and Orban. Their policy of walling off Palestinian sections of the country like Bethlehem, restricting travel and rights of Palestinians in those places, and treating them as non-citizens and “other” is sadly ironic considering that many Israelis and their ancestors escaped the same treatment in Europe only decades ago. The US must take a stand against this move toward the dictatorship Netanyahu clearly wants. US-Israeli “ironclad“ partnerships cannot hold as Israel devolves into the extremist authoritarianism it is becoming. The plight of the Palestinians must be shared and addressed.
Very sadly, the US originally SPONSORED, with the US Army, the initial purge of Arabs from area called Israel now. And, yes, the US needs to recognize Israel for the terrorist state that it actually is.
Mike S, thanks for that reminder. I’ve long been aware that Palestinians have been mistreated but it was starkly apparent seeing the guarded wall around Bethlehem, only allowing Palestinian Bethlehemites out with a pass according to the capricious will of the guard at the moment. I was transported back to the late 1970’s and early 80’s when I lived in West Berlin while going to school and Uni. Hearing the stories of the Palestinians from during Covid was heartbreaking. In the US, we have been invited to believe that Palestinian = terrorist because of extremists. However, the Israelis under Netanyahu are alarmingly extreme, actually only honoring Jewish Israelis-Palestinians of any religion, Christians of any nationality, and those of any race, culture, religion, or ethnicity who are not Jewish Israelis (or Jewish Americans, I am guessing) are not welcome. Terrorist stare? Absolutely.
Chills. Chills head to toe. An ultra-right minority of Israel’s legislative branch clears the way for handing absolute power to a corrupt chief executive and vows to follow through. Step by step, we, a majority of the U.S. voters, see Donald Trump & Jim Jordan playing in tandem the same insidious game. They pushed voter suppression laws, a puppet U.S. AG, state fake electors, a Capitol insurrection and phony, attention-diverting investigations. They too are now intent on stripping the judicial and executive administrative ranks of any and all who oppose Trump’s destabilizing plans. But calm and resolve should be the order of the day. This shall not stand if we are united, vocally support Trump’s indictment and conviction, and then vote and tenaciously support the right to vote of all. Voting is our bulwark. Daily, journalists and historians like HCR paint a grand portrait, a exhortation to reflect, unite and act nobly as true citizens of this Republic ought. Let’s do this.
The only way to eradicate the fascist beast is to cut off its head: Revoke “Citizens United” and take away the money from neonazi billionaires who fund the RNC. . . The Puppet Masters need to be yanked from monetary influence; they feed the corruption of an amoral kakistocracy.
Paula D: Many of my generation, including myself, refused to go fight in Vietnam. War is NOT inevitable. The old men don't fight wars. Kids fight wars. Kids can say "Hell No! We won't go!"
Timmy Taes, I'm one of you. A child of the sixties who doesn't see the world the same way our fathers did. I have found that Biden's articulated policy towards Ukraine is truly different, "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine". Sometimes, the worst of times, you have to stand and oppose those who would take from you what is yours. Unless that person backs down at your opposition to their transgression, push comes to shove. It is only in this age that the real possibility for lasting peace for all exists. The understanding that current existing sovereignties and territorial integrities must be allowed to continue without violent intervention is the only path forward to lasting peace. Once that truth is accepted, we as world citizens can offer help to those who want it and who are architects of that help to improve the circumstances of the people whose sovereignty we must respect. America has been brutish in its political opinions and has rushed in with force to execute American policy. With respect to that past, we are no different than any other of the great powers whether those of today or of history. But that must change. We should never forget what has been said about Ukraine, "nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine". This should be generalized to all peoples of all regions of the earth, "nothing about the people of the region, without the people of the region's agency and agreement". There should be no outside bullies no matter how well-intentioned. But neither should you stand by and allow a people's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be violated.
Paula D: John Quincy Adams gave a great speech about how America should not go out into the world looking for monsters to destroy. The monsters will always be there.
Self-defense (as in when President Jefferson created the US Navy and Marines and sent them to the Barbary Coast to attack the Barbary Pirates/Slavers who were kidnapping American ships and crews) is all that the American military and government should be doing overseas.
If you want to go fight for Ukraine or send them your money, go for it.
The US. Senate decided by just one or two votes to attack Spain and start an Empire in 1898. I wish the vote had gone the other way.
The war in Ukraine is not even remotely the same as the history you have chosen to highlight. I do support Ukraine and my tax dollars are helping them fight off a Russian invasion. Not everyone can or should engage in the actual battle, but I do find what our government is doing is prudent and correct. The support the U.S. is currently providing or will continue to provide will not be determined by the will of one citizen but by American voters. We didn't go looking for a fight. If we were, we'd have gone in 2014. Russia is allowing their leadership to behave badly. They have no right to do what they have chosen to do. We looked away in 2014, but we recognize the threat to the stability of world order. Putin has once again proven his lack of political prowess by backing out of the UN and Turkey negotiate deal to get grain out of Ukraine to stabilize the commodity market. No one is fooled that the world sanctions are preventing Russia from selling agricultural products. He is making more enemies rather than friends. Putin is on a sure and certain path to his own personal destruction. Food is the wrong thing to deny to hungry people. It is a human imperative to survive. There will be repercussions from Africa.
‘…the streets of Israel’s big cities teemed with anger and defiance over the controversial plans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judicial system. Those protests, which have raged for months, intensified Monday, after Israeli lawmakers in Netanyahu’s coalition used their razor-thin electoral mandate to pass the first plank of their reforms, stripping the Supreme Court of the power to strike down government action it considers “unreasonable.”
‘The move, in the eyes of its supporters, returns greater authority to the country’s elected legislature. But analysts and critics, including the Israeli opposition and various Western governments, see it as a major blow to one of the few real checks that exists in Israeli democracy and a grim step toward a form of majoritarian autocracy. “Israeli voters are certainly entitled to evolutionary change, but current ideas about judicial reform are revolutionary in their implications,” observed Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “An unfettered legislature threatens any democracy as much as an unfettered executive does.”
‘The moment is so profound — and fraught — for the Israeli nation that Alterman cast it as “third juncture” in the country’s history, following the dramatic shift in borders after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the state of Israel’s establishment in 1948. While Netanyahu’s extremist allies eye more radical maneuvers, including the removal of the country’s attorney general, labor unions are mulling launching another nationwide general strike. Thousands of military reservists have vowed not to report for duty with the passage of this legislation, absences which may have grave security implications for Israel’s defense.’
‘Washington, though, has struggled to reckon with what’s in motion. On Monday, a handful of Democratic lawmakers ventured statements of concern. The White House issued a terse release that, without naming Netanyahu, described the vote as “unfortunate” and backed “the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue.”
‘But little meaningful dialogue seems to be happening. Herzog, feted by U.S. lawmakers, seems more a helpless bystander in Israel’s maelstrom. And President Biden’s relatively timid rhetoric has been hammered by Republican opponents, who have yoked themselves to the mast of a far-right Israel government that makes little attempt to hide its aims to carry out de facto — perhaps even de jure — annexation of Palestinian lands. At a Christian Zionist forum outside Washington last week, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley scoffed at Biden’s decision to supposedly interfere in Israel’s “internal debates.”
“We need a leader who not only respects Israel, but also respects her people’s right to govern themselves,” Haley said, making no mention of the critical mass of protesters taking to the streets while going on to complain of the cold shoulder Biden offered Netanyahu by declining to invite the prime minister to the White House over the past seven months.’
‘The Republicans last week focused on censuring pro-Palestinian remarks made by a Democratic congresswoman and forced through a symbolic resolution in the House that affirmed “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state” — the latter term one that leading international human rights organizations, as well as Israel’s own, assess as an accurate description of the reality on the ground. It also linked criticism of the Israeli state to xenophobia and antisemitism.’
‘Washington’s overheated discourse on Israel serves as a major constraint on any administration that may want to speak up for Palestinian human rights or against the Israeli state’s democratic erosion.
“U.S. presidents don’t like to fight with Israeli prime ministers. It’s messy, distracting and potentially politically costly especially when the GOP has emerged as the 'Israel right or wrong’ party,” Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. diplomat and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me in an email. And so Biden, he added, does “a good deal of important virtue signaling” on issues like the judicial overhaul and settlement expansion, but with “no serious costs or consequences imposed.”
‘What the moment exposes is the gulf between the political theater around Israel in Washington and the deepening reality on the ground. While Republicans rail at any suggestion that Israeli state policies can be racist, Netanyahu and his allies often explicitly say that that’s what they are pursuing. Consider how, in May, Justice Minister Yariv Levin argued for the necessity of curtailing the Supreme Court’s powers specifically because controlling the judges would help preserve or further Jewish supremacy in certain contexts.’
“Arabs buy apartments in Jewish communities in the Galilee and this causes Jews to leave these cities, because they are not ready to live with Arabs,” Levin said. “We need to ensure that the Supreme Court has justices who understand this.”
‘And while U.S. lawmakers constantly extol their shared democratic values with Israel, some of their counterparts have a rather specific vision of which values these are. In a radio interview on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, an extremist, was asked whether Israel could benefit from the mechanisms of checks and balances that exist in the U.S. Constitution — Israel, as my colleagues have discussed, does not have a formal constitution.’
“I want to take the good things from the U.S.,” Ben Gvir replied. “I think that the death penalty for terrorists is excellent. I think that distributing guns to people to defend themselves is excellent.”
‘Figures like Ben Gvir and his close ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are in the driver’s seat in Israeli politics, cheered on implicitly by a large segment of the American political establishment. To many Israelis, this is a shame. “We are governed today by a bunch of militants, nationalists, chauvinists, [and] radicals,” former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told Rolling Stone. “Reckless, irresponsible, and totally inexperienced people.”
He added that had U.S. administrations taken far tougher lines against Netanayhu’s policies and agendas — and placed Israel’s special relationship with the United States in the balance — it would have had positive effects. “Had such a thing been spelled out, I guess it may have had an enormous impact,” Olmert said. (Today’sWorldView, By Ishaan Tharoor with Sammy Westfall, WAPO) See link below. Sorry, gifted link is not available, but this post cover the entire piece except for first paragraph.
Our Supreme Court is not behaving as many Americans would hope. We would like to have better democratic control over them. If Biden were to proceed, as some would hope, would we be criticized for our attack on our Supreme Court? I believe in the "separation of powers"; an independent judiciary that ensures the equal and accurate application of the law to all people created through legislation. Is that what the Netanyahu government is trying to do by modifying the Israeli Supreme Court? Why doesn't Israel have a constitution to describe the powers and functions of its governmental entities? Can you truly be a government without a constitution? Without a constitution are they just a government of personality? Without a constitution are they a theocracy? Perhaps this is the real issue with Israel, they are a loosely organized group of people with no true foundation to support the rule of law. Surely it is time for a Constitutional Convention to describe the will of the people?
This litany sounds very much like a gathering storm. Israel is in political and moral decline. The traditional western coalition to which it belonged is fraying. Romania, a part of NATO, is experiencing violent aggression right on its border. Food insecurity is being created in Odessa, which will impact Africa and the world. And American polarization grows day by day. Did I miss anything? How about the most extreme weather in recorded history which is causing death and destruction across the globe. Yes, a grand storm is brewing. Remember Sarajevo and Pearl Harbor? Sparks happen.
Just so people "get it" - Nitwityahoo's far right fundamentalist fascist coalition is the equivalent of having Trump back in office. Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Fundamentalists, whether masquerading as "christian," "jewish," "muslim," or "hindu" are all fascist scumbags who are about as "religious" as a rock.
Aggressive "fundamentalists" worship their own egos, positing that God rubber stamps whatever aggressive thing they have the urge to do; from attempting to control what couples do in bed (or what women do just about any time) to "holy" crusades against other peoples and nations.
💯
Absolutely right! It is time for America to back away from support of Israel as our values are no longer shared.
Discussing it among ourselves is well and good, but we all need to write to President Biden, our senators and our representatives recommending that the US “back away from support of Israel as our values are no longer shared.” Then we need to get out the vote for the 2024 presidential election to defeat the right wing at home.
Ruth, it looks like more likely you should be armed and be prepared to fight on the street or the other side will maintain their power. Sad to say that is where we are today. Good luck to you and God help us.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Burton, thank you but I won't be able to protect you either. Good luck and Peace.
How silly, Protection? What are you talking about? Focus on protecting yourself m.
The problem is that America is sliding perilously close to becoming an authoritarian, christofascist country unless we get out the blue vote in November 2024.
Actually, aren't the values of the Donny from Queens and MAGA-wingers of the GNoP, of Benny from Philly and his 'We are Right No Matter What You Say' group, and of Putin and his backers quite shared.?
However, in the US, approximately 65% do share the most of the same values.
That IS NOT WHAT I SAID, and if you think abandoning allies is the answer to this, you are sorely mistaken.
Israel is not just Netanyahu and his coalition. We can easily see that by the protests. We must find a way to bathe the baby and only throw away the bathwater. We must find a way to help Israel accept the ideas of Palestinians and Palestinians accept the ideas of Israel. Both exhibit the fears of cornered animals. We should encourage a Constitutional Convention. I believe that the people of this region new and ancient must participate but I also believe that this is their future to choose. Perhaps we could offer a safe venue. A moderator who's only role is to strip the hurt and see the kernel of thought and echo it back.
Damn straight, TC!
Say it again! Can we get a witness from the choir?!?
Amen
You buy into TCinLA's trademark vitriolic hate.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
It’s calling out the bad actors who need to be called out. If you object to “scumbags,” do you have a better word?
TCinLA referred to all fundamentalists as "fascist scumbags." Perhaps TCinLA is just as bad an actor as they are.
That's because they are, Putin's cocksucker.
That’s not “vitriolic hate,” it’s standing up for people.
Virginia Witmer, calling all fundamentalists "fascist scumbags" isn't standing up for anyone. If you can't see that as hateful, then perhaps you are so consumed by hate that you are blind to it in others.
You're a persistent moron, aren't you?
Go drop dead you little fuckwit. By the way, Mommie said she wants her computer back, little boy.
Habitual contempt breeds cockroaches in the soul.
Amen! Speak it. speak it LOUD!
Ok, but in all seriousness, maybe the US should offer some of those secular and center-left Jewish Israelis a home here, while reducing or withdrawing financial and other support from this rapidly-becoming-fascist state.
And HOW can Israel have NO CONSTITUTION? What have I missed?
The Declaration of State includes an entire paragraph about creating a constitution. Because six countries declared war on Israel immediately after the State was announced, there was no time to create, debate, and adopt a constitution. In the intervening 75 years, the Supreme Court has established “Basic Laws” which codify some of what we would consider part of a constituent, guaranteeing basic rights and expectations. This is part of why the judicial “reforms” are so concerning .There is currently a conversation happening in Israel academic and public policy circles to call for a constitutional convention. It may be one way out of the current situation, although I don’t see the current ruling coalition being swift to adopt any recommendations.
Thanks for the explanation. And just to point out that Netanyahu's or his minions' use of the word "reforms" to describe what Netanyahu is trying to do is to debase the word entirely.
Thank you for this background.
I think they want their country back.
David, I thought that the thousands of Israeli protesters had Netanyahu's attention and he might back off, but obviously that was not the case. He has never acted as though he appreciated our financial and moral support for Israel, and has always been sorely lacking morally, so we should cease rewarding him for his bad behavior. We could use the billions to right our own ship.
Being under indictment for fraud and corruption, Netanyahu can't back down. He needs to change the court so that the charges against him will disappear. Weakening the judicial system is frequently one of the first steps in the march to fascism.
Betsy, I totally understand why Netanyahu wants to weaken the courts, and it echoes TFG's motivation. Besides both of them aspiring to be fascists and drive our countries rightward, to authoritarianism, they want to be certain that they have a buffer for their criminal behavior - birds of a feather, so to speak. It's no wonder that the two of them were so cozy, despite TFG's antisemitism. He got a pass on that, as long as he was more disdainful of the Palestinians. All of this makes a future second term for the Orange Menace more frightening, with the possibility of our government mimicking Russia, China, much of South America, and Hungary and many others in Europe.
We must figure out a way to give leaders a timeout until their crimes are adjudicated. It is possible that the charges are not true, the presumption of innocence is critical to a democracy. But allowing someone accused to exert power to protect themselves is a fatal wound. If a leader is accused, can we focus judicial review to be started pending investigation. Then support the investigation with profound civil cooperation. I'm babbling now. You guys know what I'm trying to say. Help me flesh it out. How do we prevent the investigation from going off track from facts to fiction? How do we prevent judicial review from becoming a kangaroo court? How do we prevent the law from becoming unjust?
I definitely agree! Thank you for an insightful comment.
Netanyahu isn’t backing off because the Knesset just handed him a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Absolutely, Burton. That's what TFG is hoping for. Certainly, his cohorts in the legislature can mostly be counted on, and if he appeals a conviction, he's hoping for a similar reaction from SCOTUS. Depending on the Democrats' results in the '24 election, SCOTUS might be wary of angering the Democrats, since it's possible that their joyride could hit some bumps.
=========================================================
For whatever reason, this comment showed up in duplicate, and when I removed one, both went away.
How do we let those protesters know we stand with them? They are brave and perhaps support would bring hope.
You buy into TCinLA's trademark vitriolic hate.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
Hallelujah, brother! Yes, indeed!
You buy into TCinLA's trademark vitriolic hate.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
The late lesbian/feminist theologian Mary Daly wrote that patriarchy was the world's religion and the various religions its denominations. That made sense to me when I first read it, and it makes sense to me now, noting the similarity of the "religious" fundamentalists despite their supposedly glaring doctrinal differences.
I do wonder about Netanyahu et al.'s risking the support of the Israeli military. Yes, Syria has imploded, and (thanks to Bush et al.) Iraq is not the external threat it once was, but the Israeli military has always been about more than national security: in important ways it also holds the nation together because nearly everybody has served in it.
Have you read historian Lynn White Jr.'s 1967 prescient "Science" piece "The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis"? In it, he links the two-headed monster of monotheism with men's 2000 year-old commodification of once abundant natural resources. While he only implies that both patriarchy and what we now call the Climate Crisis needed monotheism to flourish, it seems obvious that worshiping a single sky daddy, and rallying around our all-powerful earth daddies go hand in hand.
From White's 1967 piece:
"In Antiquity every tree, every spring, every stream, every hill had its own genius loci, its guardian spirit. These spirits were accessible to men, but were very unlike men; centaurs, fauns, and mermaids show their ambivalence. Before one cut a tree, mined a mountain, or dammed a brook, it was important to placate the spirit in charge of that particular situation, and to keep it placated. By destroying pagan animism,
Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects."
http://www.brontaylor.com/courses/pdf/White--HistoricalRootsEcoCrisis(1967).pdf
No -- will check it out -- but in my 20s and 30s I was reading (in addition to Mary Daly) stuff like Susan Griffin's WOMAN AND NATURE, Merlin Stone's WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN, Andrée Collard's THE RAPE OF THE WILD, etc., etc., so the connection between patriarchal religion and violence against women and the natural world has been embedded in my psyche for a long time.
Thanks for the link. I'm printing it out.
Male and female all serve, men at least 32 months, women at least 24.
That's my understanding too, but I don't know what exemptions, if any, exist so I hesitate to use the word "all".
The fundiescum get exemptions for being in "rabbi school" - if they serve, they serve in an all-fundie unit where they can practice all their bigotry and ignorance.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
Agree, should have said almost all.
That really nails it, Susan.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
I will suggest that Turkey wanted both the F-35s and the Russian S-400 system so it could practice shooting down the Israeli air force.
I mostly agree, but then there is witchcraft!
Which goes long with the "paganism." We need to find another word to describe the old religions - "pagan" was just Latin for "peasant." Which gives you an idea of the overweening sense of entitlement the Xtians hd.
Well, "pagan" also meant, more or less, country person, which might suggest that city people were awfully full of themselves -- but it might also suggest that pagan traditions were generally linked to the natural world. The Christians had to co-opt those traditions to gain serious traction with the common folk.
The word "cretin," btw, derives from "Christian," so don't tell me etymology doesn't have a sense of humor.
I laughed out loud at that.
You can see all kinds of pagan traditions Christianity appropriated. Most prominently Christmas. I mean, come on - the story is the Romans took a census and everyone had to return to their hometown, and they did it in the dead of winter? Ha! Christmas is the Roman mid-winter holiday Saturnalia, stolen. I doubt there is anything original in the religion.
Also, the mythological tale of the creation of Israel boggles the mind - modern archeology has found lots and lots of records from the rein of Ramses III, likely the Pharoah at the time of the Exodus. There is no mention in there of the plagues, which would be amazing enough to at least get a sentence or two - at least the one about the eldest male child of every family dying in one night. Also nothing in the historical record anywhere of an entire ethnic group being held as a slave class. And yet the modern history of the Middle East is the product of that myth that never happened.
It's not just Christmas (which is still referred to as Yule, one of its old names). The major Christian holidays map very closely to the solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days (which fall midway between the solstices and equinoxes).
The modern history of the Middle East does owe a fair amount to that myth, but don't discount good ol' European imperialism, especially the British but also the French. Also the growing awareness in the early 20th century that there was a helluva lot of oil in the Persian Gulf region. The rise of Hitler and the Holocaust pretty much made it a done deal, but the foundation had been laid before then. (In 1969, I was a finalist in a high school speaking competition. My topic? The Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916. The lesson? If you want to get to the finals, pick a topic that no one else knows anything about. ;-) )
Damn! I know French but I never knew that! Thanks Susanna!
I've known French since 1966. And I only learned this today, almost 60 years later. That is so wonderful!!!
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
Go0 bend over for Putin you little piece of shit.
So full of anger :-(
If you've read Mary Daly's _Gyn/Ecology_ (1978), you know that the witches, and the persecution of "witches," were very much included in her spinning.
Agreed.
Nitwityahoo fits like a well-worn glove
And, if it fits, you must convict.
Agree totally, TC. I have no use for religious fundamentalists no matter what religion they follow. They are responsible for the bad rep that all religions have.
The problem is that the three "great religions" in the world are steeped in patriarchy and tragically, in misogyny. It is only partially a fundamentalist issue. Religions deserve a bad rep - they deny science, and let's face it, believing in an invisible being who, like Santa Claus, punishes you for being bad and rewards you with heaven after you die if you behave yourself, is pretty damn ridiculous.
I would say it is more than three. Most societies are patriarchal. It would save us a lot of problems if they were matriarchal. After all, everyone knows who mom is and we wouldn't have to keep women under lock and key to make sure that so that we know who the father is. I would say that fundamentalism makes the problems much worse.
Last year I spent my summer reading about misogyny, and its roots go back to before the time of Herodotus. One theory says it's because of the fear of women's ability to have babies, but men's sexual desire seems to have played a greater role. From fear comes hatred, and from fear and hatred comes the need to control. Women's sexuality also plays a part, and the double standard that makes men "studs" and women "whores," "sluts," etc. All 3 Abrahamic faiths teach that women must be controlled lest they corrupt the virtues of men. This is why calling a woman a whore is to insult all women.
I would say men's sexual desire is what it is all about....blame women for male lust. That's why in some cultures they have to cover up completely. In so-called democratic Athens, women were never considered adults and had to be under the control of some man. That's why men did the shopping and women were kept mostly confined to the house unseen. In autocratic Sparta, women actually had more freedom because they had to run the estates because males were in the barracks from seven on. Frankly, the people who ran the religious places knew that women would keep men from thinking about God. So, go to the desert and sit on the pillar and what do you think those guys were actually thinking about. Btw, have you read God, An Anatomy and if so, how did you find it.
If men want truly to be loved by women, they have to give up control. I don't know why so many men through history have not figured that out.
No, I haven't read it, but I certainly will.
I think men have always been allowed to express their sexuality and take pride in it, unlike women. Women, from the time of the Bible, were made responsible for men's sexual behavior, which includes rape and incest. And the wealthier the man, the less they were held responsible. Look at Trump; Lucian Truscott IV recently wrote a great piece about Trump as Rapist. You can find it here on substack. It was also published 2 days ago in Salon.com.
Read, actually I listened to it, twice, Graeber and Wengrow's "The Dawn of Everything." It successfully vexes the notion that widespread patriarchy is any older than 3,000-ish years old, in the context of a 190,000 year-long human history.
I cannot recommend the audio version enough. Your library almost certainly has it via the CloudLibrary.
I have it in my library and I have read it. What we have now falls within the 3 to 5 thousand range or so. I haven't decided what I think of the book yet. We are talking in this thread about the three monotheistic religions and I would include India and China among others civilizations as patriarchal. Most societies in the historical era are patriarchal. Some African societies are matriarchal and I think if I am remembering the book you mention correctly that some Native American societies are as well. It makes sense because you always know who the mother is. As soon as societies are patriarchal, then control of women is necessary if land and estate passes through males. You don't want you patrimony going to someone else's blood.
I read somewhere not long ago that evangelicals, or some of them at least, actually believe that there is a battle, invisible and (I suppose) otherwise undetectable by us mortals (but then, how do THEY know?) literally being raged right now, on some other plane of existence, between God and its angels and Satan and its demons. How can one have an intelligent conversation with someone with such a diseased imagining? I can't remember where I read it, so can't provide a citation, and I really don't want to get into the weeds of evangelicism to search it out, because EW. I suppose I have to acknowledge that in an infinite Universe there COULD be a god, there COULD be a satan, there COULD be angels, demons, and other dimensions on which battles could be fought (I love science fiction and fantasy), but REALLY. And if I've misunderstood their belief and have misstated it, I apologize to the evangelical community.
I think I need to amend this to read that I'd heard this on a podcast, not read it somewhere. If I can find a citatation, I'll post it.
Spot on, Marycat.
Yup.
TCinLA writes:
"Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security."
That's EXACTLY what was done in Ukraine, with the Neo-Nazi political kingpin Arsen Avakov elevated to Interior Minister (in charge of the police) after his right-wing fascist thugs put the Maiden Revolution over the top, overthrowing Ukraine's Russia-friendly government.
Looks like Zelensky fired this fellow Avakov John.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-avakov-resignation-accepted/31359737.html.
He is gone. Looks like the "Russia friendly" group must be gone too, IF it ever existed in the first place.
Now? It looks like Russia cannot even attract the Wagner group and its leader anymore. Can you say "bottom of the barrel"??
His coal-colored glasses sees only Schitt where there is light
A Case, of *UNDER ! ,
the Barrel !*
Or making the barrel three years bigger. Ruzzia is raising the draft age from 27 to 30.
I saw this...weird.
Nice try at transparent spin, which is only effective if your audience WANTS to believe.
Zelensky KEPT AVAKOV as Interior Minister after he became President. Later, after being strongly supported by Zelensky, Avakov resigned
Transparent spin???????????????? Thats a new one.
Think it through... I'll give another example of transparent spin. Think of an evangelical true-believer, who doesn't know how to rebut your argument, so he goes to his minister, who has just the prepackaged double-speak that the True Believer needs to reaffirm his commitment without thinking for himself.
On another note, regarding how the situation in Ukraine evolved, you could check my reply to Paula Dufour:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21294761
Sorry John - "transparency" and "spin" really dont belong together.
Does it matter? Avakov is gone. How he left is not important.
Paula Dufour,
Perhaps the question of whether it matters is worth careful thought.
I will share my point of view, which I suspect might be in need of refining, and you and others can share your thoughts.
Avakov's rise to power facilitated the emergence in Ukraine of a culture of open bigotry, much more extreme that than associated with Trump here in the USA. As "The Nation" reported in 2019:
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity.
"Five years after Maidan, the beacon of democracy is looking more like a torchlight march."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
I will suggest that this horror could only have happened if outside forces were manipulating Ukraine in ways that were not supported by the majority of the Ukrainian people. I will further suggest that Zelensky is part of the problem and that Avakov is no longer necessary. See, for example:
"How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
https://greatgameindia.com/hunter-biden-zelensky-neo-nazi/
See also "How Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazis"
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/04/how-zelensky-made-peace-with-neo-nazis/
My assessment is that the neo-Nazis have been tolerated by the NATO powers, led by the United States, because they provide internal support for the external imperative to transmogrify Ukraine into a zombie soldier bleeding itself to death to weaken Russia. The genocidal International Monetary Fund, back in 2014, made the new Ukrainian regime promise, as part of a loan agreement, to re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics, because their heavy industry was an important source of revenue to service the debt. Zelensky, before Avakov resigned, publicly pledged to honor all of Ukraine's commitments to the International Monetary Fund: Ukraine was already on the march toward re-igniting the civil war in the Donbass, which meant tearing to shreds the battered Minsk Agreements, which is exactly what Zelensky did in February 2022, precipitating the Russian invasion.
Once again, that is my assessment. I am willing to talk it through and explain how I come to the conclusions that I present above.
I know it is difficult to side with people who may not be truly aligned with one's values, but in war, if you're not trying to kill me you are my ally. Zelensky's communications skills are serving the greater good for Ukraine. When the war is over judgments can be made about who was truly working for the Ukrainian people. During World War II many who were less desirable for their behavior prior to the war and even during the war helped to create the outcome America fought for. Whores, criminals, dilettantes, dabblers, and political opponents who were previously repugnant became allies in the face of an all-consuming war. When the dust has settled, Nuremberg will rise again to arrive at justice and the Marshal Plan will come back to rebuild what was destroyed. Now is not the time to fight about Ukrainian politics. Let's discuss the Ukrainian government once Russia withdraws. This conflict is about sovereignty and territorial integrity for the rest of the world, not the politics of Ukraine. We failed Ukraine in 2014. We stand with Ukraine now so that we don't have to fight for our sovereignty and territorial integrity against another sovereign who has an eye on our land and resources tomorrow. I'll be ready to listen when Russia withdraws.
Go fuck yourself with your Putin bullshit, you dumbest motherfucking moron to ever come bothering people here.
In 2005 my daughter went to Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. Dark-skinned volunteers were not sent there, for their safety, after a volunteer of Indian heritage was attacked. A dark-skinned street vendor was set on fire, making news in the US, but not an isolated incident then. Nothing to do with Zelenskyy.
We visited Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv in 2005. Little old ladies were sweeping the streets with twig brooms, because their pensions were crap. Teachers took turns getting paid.
Since then the standard of living vastly improved, judging by the refugees who escaped in their own cars. Putin is threatened, not by NATO, but by a prosperous neighbor whose citizens enjoy freedom of speech.
Well said.
Don’t respond to John S. No likes or replies. He’ll eventually go away.
report him
Now, now TC, just don't give oxygen to the troll, never mind not feeding it. No more oxygen for the troll.
You are right, but some of them you just want to grab 'em by the shorthairs and introduce their face to the nearest brick wall. Repatedly. Mendacious little shitheads like this one most particularly. Over at TAFM, I zap them into their component electrons the first time they raise their head over the ridge line.
Thanks, TC. I myself have been so harshly ganged up on by fellow commenters in this blog for less than what you just said. As a result, I canceled my subscription. I was rebuked for criticizing a commenter for posting a misogynist quote that I found inappropriate. I'm a feminist, I find calling women whores is ugly and sexist, but I was shut down. You're a man, you're free to say anything you like, but elderly feminists must keep their mouths shut. Good luck.
I'm sorry you ran afoul of the tone police. Interestingly, I have (on other Substack pages) gotten drilled for being both a male chauvinist and a radical feminist. The beauty of gender ambiguity.
:-)
too funny.
Marycat,
I hope you reconsider subscribing. We need all voices.
Thank you. But I need a break. It also feels like people's minds can be closed regardless of their politics. And I hate that comment threads can easily become closed circles where you get your ass kicked if you disagree with the club.
Here's an old Vietnam GI saying that you can use for yourself when the Morality Police drive up in their Volvos and put down their cucumber sandwiches to berate you:
"Just say fuck'm, and drive on."
Morning, Marycat--
I was one of those on this post that disagreed with you about Dorothy Parker's "horticulture" quote. I wasn't "shutting you down" in any way, nor do I think others were either, although I did not read every single comment. Let's not equate disagreement with censorship. You're perfectly free to say whatever you like here, so please do not self-shut your mouth.
I wasn't there for this (I don't think), but "rebuked for criticizing"? Was your criticism not a rebuke?
overboard language but correct.
report him
Still pushing scatalogical McCarthyist bigotry :-(
Speaking of the scatological..........
How are things in St. Petersburg these days? I hope you are enjoying the long summer evenings, because winter is soon to come.
Let's stop this personal attack. Let's just argue ideas and policies please.
Jon - No oxygen for the troll. No oxygen. Ignore it and possibly it will go away.
Report him
I don't know how many times I've reported him, and he just keeps coming back, like one of those clown punching bags with the weighted bottoms. So now I just try to ignore him - particularly when he re-posts the same comment in a thread, and whenever his comment contains links to his comments to past Letters. And I'd never click on any link he includes in any of his screeds.
I don't know what the philosophy is to let continue to post his junk: inspiring healthy debate? Hardly.
I see you are trying to apply clever lipstick to your pig of McCarthyist bigotry.
McCarthyism? In this group? How much are they paying you to debase yourself like this?
No oxygen for the troll, Camilla, no oxygen. Ignore it; every response just encourages it. No oxygen.
Camilla B.,
Your comment presupposes that Jon Margolis's continuing baseless effort to brand me as a Putin supporter (and therefore unworthy of respect) is not, in your opinion, an example of McCarthyism. Perhaps I should have said neo-McCarthyism? And who, in your mind, is "they"?
Putting the shoe on the other foot, how much were you paid to post what you did? Can you see that others might think that it is actually YOU who have debased yourself?
Actually, no.
Man,
John, you gotta stop smoking weed while shooting up LSD and THEN posting comments.
It just ain't workin' out.
Let's stop this personal attack. Let's just argue ideas and policies please.
Paula Dufour,
TCinLA wrote, "Go fuck yourself with your Putin bullshit, you dumbest motherfucking moron to ever come bothering people here."
You did not ask him to stop his personal attack. Why not?
Only female commenters get slapped here. That's unfortunate. TC is right, you tedious, annoying troll. Go find a new hobby and stop trying to provoke people with your asinine commentary.
I tried to find all of the ones doing it. If I missed it, I apologize. Pointing out the concepts, ideas, and preconceived notions of a post with which one disagrees is communication . Devolving posts into personal attacks doesn't improve communications or relations between people, this is also known as "when push comes to shove". A personal attack only increases the problems between people. Diplomacy 101 and De-escalation 101. I've been guilty of personal attacks. We all are, but someone who's not so frustrated needs to point it out and hopefully get the conversation back to an exchange of positions.
uh-oh.
I like your spelling”Nitwityahoo”! Thanks for letting me pronounce his name for the first time!! TCinLA I take all of this deeply seriously. We are watching “Trump-the dump”all around the world. Why? Why are we so passive about abusive behavior? Would we accept this from you or from me? Would we accept it from our children? The right answer is ?
Two excellent books by a Jewish historian who fought in the Six-Day War, Shlomo Sand, are "The Invention of the Land of Israel" and "The Invention of the Jewish People." Very interesting and insightful accounts into today's Israel and how it got here.
It could NOT be any clearer thats exactly what it is. I do wonder how long we (US) will continue to subsidize this kind of dictatorship!
Love your response. But please don’t hold back.
El Jefe over at the World's Most Dangerous Beauty Salon is on the same page:
https://juanitajean.com/look-at-israel-today-for-a-glimpse-of-the-us-under-trump-ii/
Juanita Jean is very cool.
Don't forget "buddhists" - I was shocked when I learned about the persecution of the Karen in Myanmar. And don't forget "atheist" China and their current concentration camps of Uyghurs and the Russians invading Ukraine. Fascists use the machinery of hierarchy, and a shit-ton of humanity likes their daddy to be on top.
So totally uninformed America.
Buddhism is a philosophy and it changes in each Country.
I was born and grew up in Sri Lanka a predominently Theravada Buddhist country. The evil that some of these Buddhist priests espouse is mind blowing. They are 'kept' by the poor people bringing food and money they can ill-afford.
The biggest threat to Sri Lanka is Buddhist Nationalism which caused the Civil war.
Get rid of those 'rose tinted spectacles' and do some research?
I spent a month, solo/budget in Sri Lanka in 1992. From Colombo and Kandy, I traveled north and south...the people were so sweet...rode the crowded railway, sitting on the outside steps (the train was So slow) I talked my way into the switching room at one stop. People said, "you are Austrian?, British?, Canadian?...US travelers were rare sight in their country.
Sri Lanka has a place in my heart; I hate to hear all the bad things that happen...like "my" train getting blown up.......
The Russians, being no longer communists, are "devout Christians" with the Russian Orthodox Church supporting the tyrant, as that church always has.
Totally agree! I wish I could put a thousand "likes" on your post!!!
Point by point, this letter makes it crystal clear that tfg and Netanyahu are playing by the same authoritarian playbook. Enlightening and terrifying.
Absolutely. Netanyahu has a good point in that the Israeli Supreme Court has too much veto power over legislative acts and the system needs reform. But his "cure" is far worse than the disease, it is not remotely what the people of Israel want, and an honest prime minister could have made this change in a way that satisfied everybody's interests. Netanyahu's interest is solely Me Me Me, which made this change illegitimate.
Sounds like someone else we know.
Sounds like Trump--all about ME ME ME!
Sure does :-)
Anyone tired of bullies yet?
The authoritarian religion.
"If religion was a thing that money could buy . . .
The rich would live, and the poor would die . . .
All my trials Lord, soon be over . . ."
(An old spiritual - blues - folk song)
I have always thought that the only thing we need is the Golden Rule. All the rest is fundraising.
Absolutely. The best and simplest creed of all creeds! The Golden Rule. The only people it does not work for are those steeped in self-loathing.
That's perfect.
Spot. On.
Modern Israel was founded on an extended terrorist attocity known as the Nakba.
For context: After Britain had previously separated some two-thirds of the area it controlled to create the kingdom of Jordan, in 1948 the UN resolved to split the remainder in half for a two-state solution, one Arab, one Jewish. Israel declared its existence in accord with the UN declaration. Five Arab countries immediately declared war on Israel and sent in their armies to destroy it. Surprising everyone, the Israelis won that war and all the subsequent invasions. For twenty years, Arab countries controlled the West Bank, keeping residents in miserable conditions and refusing to setup an independent state there. In 1967, when Arab countries attacked Israel again, the West Bank fell to Israeli control, which has worked out badly for both the residents and Israel’s democracy.
The British have much to answer for in Israel and other places. Nobody gets a free pass.
We all have much to answer for and it begins with supporting both sides to resolve their differences with the "nothing without Ukraine/without Ukraine" doctrine. The original Jewish diaspora to Palestine came and purchased land. They couldn't have done that without agreement with the previous owners. It was when people of bad faith and outsiders saw a threat to the Jewish diaspora that everything went wrong. The Jews originated in this area and were driven out by political forces. They have returned to their homeland and should be given some consideration. But the heavy-handed political efforts of the Israeli government are wrong and unconscionable. The external threats are wrong and unconscionable as well. The violence on both sides should end. It has been demonstrated that it only causes heartache and solves nothing. The Jews are not leaving and neither are the Palestinians. Only by accepting in good faith the rights of both to be there will any progress be made. The Jewish population must accept the Palestinian population without prejudice. The Palestinian population must accept the Jewish population without prejudice. The Christians should stop stirring the pot. This region is the birthplace of the three largest religions of the world. They must stop trying to destroy each other and live together. The first step of the Israeli government should be to recognize that it is a diverse nation that must support all of its people if it hasn't done so already. The next step is to protect all religions without "fear or favor". And we should do the same because although we aren't the birthplace, we are the sanctuary of all religions. People move around the world and they bring their culture, their religion, and their prejudices. It is up to us all to educate ourselves to reduce those prejudices.
You wrote:
"The original Jewish diaspora to Palestine came and purchased land. They couldn't have done that without agreement with the previous owners."
I agree, but think about it. The "owners" were somebody the British identified and gave power to. The Jews needed land to settle and got to purchase the less desirable locations. They took whatever legal route they could find. The sparse residents already there has no say. Thousands of Jewish European settlers died of diseases like malaria. The local Arab chieftains got richer and didn't care about what happened to the little people.
The alienation between Arab and Jewish Settler got worse when the new Israel was attacked in 1948. At that point, Israel expanded from a wasp-shaped country to fill what's known as the "pre-1967 borders". Arabs (really, also recent settlers) were encouraged by their leaders to leave before the 1948 war, and unfortunately, Israeli leadership didn't do enough to allay their fears, and simply kept the land they won in that defensive war. Regardless of whatever legal claims Israel could make, the Palestinians got pushed around and down.
That the Palestinians' are re-victimized by their own leaders AND by the Netanyahu' government is an injustice, and a poison that will harm Israel. Until Netanyahu's government is defeated, I see more violence coming.
I agree. I don't know if you agree, but I see the initial resettlement of Jews as positive. I believe their successes on that poor land were viewed as deceit. The locals easily convinced the newcomers had paid too little for the land and the newcomers had cheated the locals. The early history had some evidence of cooperation and acceptance. Success became a divider and rather than accept the new techniques of the new settlers, in that kernel of a lie, they decided to react in anger. Anger begat anger. Death begat death. And here we still are.
Yes I do too.
Agreed, but difficult to attain.
I’m surprised to learn that Israel has no constitution. Can anyone explain why? Thank you in advance.
https://jewishunpacked.com/why-doesnt-israel-have-a-constitution/
Thank you, Joan! Excellent article.
Hindsight is always 2020.
I didn't know that the UK, Canada and NZ also have no constitution.
In this one aspect, you are correct John. The US Army also participated.
1948, When Israel was formed by forcibly removing (and killing many of) the existing (Palestinian/Muslim) residents from various towns and occupied by Israeli Jewish folks. One of America's many bad post WW II decisions around use of the US Army.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/the-nakba-five-palestinian-towns-massacred-75-years-ago#:~:text=During%20the%20Nakba%2C%20a%20mass,atrocities%2C%20including%20dozens%20of%20massacres.
Israel was formed by a vote of the United Nations in November 1947, which partitioned the territory called Palestine into two, one for a Jewish state to be called Israel, and one for the Arab people, to be called Palestine. The leaders of the Arab peoples refused to accept the partition. After months of violent fighting, the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of “a Jewish state, to be called Israel” on May 14, 1948. Did terrible atrocities take place? Yes. Was the State of Israel legitimately formed? Yes. Is Israel’s current occupation of the West Bank a drain on Israel’s moral authority? Yes. Nevertheless, Israel was formed with the consent of the nations of the world. What is happening there now breaks my heart, and causes me to fear for the future of the State of Israel, but let’s start from the premise of a legitimate nation.
The UN vote in 1947 perhaps expressed a hope for a state of Israel, but failed to establish one because the UN had no power to enforce the establishment of the state of Israel. The United States, on the other hand, did have the power and brought it to bear in its recognition of Israel in 1948 at the direction of Truman, acting to bolster his chances in the presidential election and against the advice of the best foreign policy thinker of the time, George Marshall, who accurately predicted its long-term effects on US relations with Middle Eastern nations. Jews surely deserved reparations for the horrific atrocities committed against them by the Nazi government, but it was unfair to place the burden of reparations on anyone other than the perpetrators of the atrocity. It might have been just to establish a Jewish state on land previously governed by Nazis. Berlin and the surrounding territory, perhaps, or Vienna, or all of Austria. But it was certainly unjust to inflict the burden of reparations on the people living in Palestine, who bore no responsibility, whatever, for the holocaust.
Jews have claimed and lived in the ancient land even after the Roman conquest in 70 A.D. Israel wasn’t created as reparations for the Holocaust; Theodore Herzl posited the cause of Zionism after watching Dreyfus trial and understood that Jews would not be safe until they had a State of their own, able to determine their own fate, in the land of their (and my) forefathers and foremothers. The tragedy of the Holocaust is that had the State of Israel already existed, millions of Jews would have had a safe place to go. Israel was not created for reparations.
Yes, Jews have lived there since antiquity but not in sufficient numbers to establish a government. The only option for those who wanted to establish a Jewish government in the region was to do so by force. They tried to muster that force for a great many years but did not succeed in doing so until Truman brought to bear the power of the US after WWII, at which point the government they sought was established. By force. Various arguments have been mounted to justify the establishment of a Jewish government. You mentioned a couple of them. I mentioned a third. No matter. The required element was then, and still is now, force.
Thank you. It makes clear to me what I have struggled to understand for many years and fits with so many other preposterous decisions made after WWII.
Don't forget the Balfour Declaration in 1917. I agree with your concern for both the Jewish and Palestinian populations. Do you support the "two state solution"?
I do; it will take a whole lot of patience and will on both sides to achieve it.
Mike, I just read the article. How did the US Army participate?
It did not. The"Nakhba" was a disaster created by the arrogance and incompetence of the surrounding nations. They just couldn't believe that Israelis won without direct military support by the US. The American security agreements with Israel didn't start until after the 1967 war, the 3rd time the surrounding nations tried to destroy Israel.
Mike S's source is Al Jazeera, headquartered in Doha Qatar, which hates Israel, but which also provides a different and apparently valid take on other global news. It's a classic example of slipping in b.s. with normal news as part of a disinformation campaign.
Don't forget the bloody British!
Governor Abbot’s submerged concertina razor wire in the Rio Grande is a new low in sadistic cruelty. It demonstrates a sociopathic indifference to human suffering that previously was associated with Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet gulags, and Pol Pot’s killing fields.
The image of Texas law enforcement agents pushing children back into the river to get lacerated by such a cruel arrangement makes one’s blood boil.
“See you in court.” My god!
See you in Hell!
Would a proper version of Abbott's trip to Hell be to set him down at the beginning of the Darien Gap with his Texas Nazis and explain that there will be food and water when he gets to the end of the trail? I am not proud of wishing pain on anyone. But this cruelty is beyond comprehension.
What kind of human initiates the torturing of desperate families? How can he sleep at night? Does he have no family that would shame him? Does he consider himself a "Christian"?
It’s sickening.
Bill, I sometimes think that people don’t “get it” until they have a personal experience with it, particularly something impactful (fill in whatever subject/situation it might be as there are many). Some have to feel the pain themselves to have any empathy for others’ pain.
How do you know my family? 🧐
Abbott does not sleep well too hot 🔥🔥🔥, no & no.
He is getting away with it because we the people are sitting on our hands and bemoaning all this . Instead we should be out in the streets with huge signs making this very very public! Demand more America! Demand Better America! Are we truly leaving behaviorally stunted midgets in charge? Midgets who are evil?
No offense to actual midgets please. We are talking about stunted brain function... but who’s standing up for character and the LAW?
IF Iranian women can go out in the streets so can Americans!
Sheep.
Abbott is bitter about being confined to a wheelchair and, if he had any humanity before the tree fell on him, has lost it. Think of FDR’s response to polio as a contrast. The one is cruel, the other knew his duty.
I am not proud of wishing pain on these people either, but I DO wish it. You would think that Abbot, being in a wheelchair, would have learned some compassion, but these folks seem to be impervious to compassion, shame, self-reflection, etc.
And I'm sick of the humane feelings of the rest of us saving these human cancer cells from being stopped.
Bill, I’m sure he considers himself a devout Christian. It’s just that he appears to have forgotten that pesky bit about “whatsoever you do to the least of these, my brethren.”
Nazis are the kind of humans who commit such atrocious acts on the innocents.
I watched “Till” last night on Amazon. I was struck by how much people have to hate.
Did you see Rachel Maddow's report on the Till marker having to be replaced 5 times because the locals shot it to pieces and defaced it? Biden is making that marker part of a Till federal monument, so it will interesting to see who returns to shoot holes in it now that the feds can arrest them for it.
With perhaps some cameras watching.
Yes, the report mentioned that surveillance cameras will be part of the monument. Rachel is one of my favorite journalists... always thorough, finding stories that the MSM doesn't seem to deem worthy.
Ralph, may I share this with attribution to you (or anonymous if you prefer). It is the best explanation of our worst I have seen.
Of course you can share my comment with anyone you like, with or without attribution.
"The image of Texas law enforcement agents..." I would delete the word law...What law supersedes the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness of those fleeing physical, political and economic oppression?
Agreed. Monstrous. Had that happened? Law enforcement pushing children back into the River? If so, what happens to these precious children?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/19/lawmakers-react-emails-texas-troopers-told-to-push-migrants-rio-grande/70433677007/#:~:text=Texas%20border%20control%20policies%20are,Greg%20Abbott%27s%20border%20security%20initiative.
What country did those who push children into rivers with concertina wire float barrier come from? Are we not all descendants from immigrants, or even immigrants ourselves? Who is responsible for the frigid calculus of the governing party in Texas?
I think I'm understanding more and more how that group of Germans felt in the 1930s as they watched their country descend into a nightmare. Today the list of countries just keeps growing where authoritarians are trying or succeeding in taking over.
You've expressed my unease perfectly, Stephen. At least there's slightly better news in Spain, not out of the woods, but a welcome surprise!
"If election night here proved anything, it’s that Spain — a nation with some of the most recent memories in Europe of extreme-right repression, from the Francisco Franco era that ended in 1975 — still has little interest in reembracing the radical right.
Vox only marginally underperformed expectations in Sunday’s race, winning a handful fewer seats than some analysts predicted. But when compared with its last national showing in November of 2019, the result stood as a stark defeat. The party slipped from 15 percent to 12 percent of the vote and lost 19 of its 52 preliminary seats. In one region where Vox is already co-ruling in local government — Castilla y León — it lost five of its six seats."
From WaPo - full article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/24/vox-far-right-spain-election-results/
Stephen,
Yes, but, the challenge with "that group of Germans" who were uncomfortable is, they were the MINORITY of German voters.
The MAJORITY of Germans liked what they saw in Hitler and the Nazi's. The Nazi party was POPULAR and supported by the majority of Germans.
Netflix has a (very tragic) documentary on right now called "The Last Days". Everyone should watch it to see what human beings are willing to do, enthusiastically, to other human beings.
Just like Trump and Netanyahoo are supported by a huge number of Americans and Israelis.
As I have said before, therein lies the real problem. Trump and Netanyahoo do not exist in a system of reasonable, well educated, thoughtful population of voters.
Which, apparently, neither Israel nor the USA have enough of (reasonable people).
Mike , the dismantling of public education over the last 40 years is not an accident
Agreed. That is the core of their mission statement.
100%
There are plenty of well educated Trumpers. But (U.S.) education has never included any significant psychology education- how we attach our egos to our thoughts, how our emotions fuel our beliefs, the impact groups, etc. etc.
NO idea how to educate in the US
NO geography is the worst!
I also would like to recommend “Circle of Evil” a series about Hitler’s life and rise to power. It’s on Netflix and other streaming services. What it really brings out is that he was engaged in Germany’s politics from the late Nineteen Twenties on. It took him ten years or more to rise to the power he eventually had. Very scary when compared to what’s going on today in the US We can’t just chalk it up to “just the same old politics” anymore. The protesters in Israel have the right idea.
Since about 1980....( faces and names of leaders change but the themes the same)
Thanks for the "Last Days" rec, Mike.
Everyone on earth should watch it. It shows how the process happened through the eyes of the actual folks affected.
Warning: It is not a Walt Disney feel good flick.
Mike...Because of your recommendation I watched it tonight. I think that was the most emotional and intense documentary I have seen on the Nazis. There are so many takeaways for us living today. I wanted to hug each one of those survivors.
Unfortunately, it is behind a pay wall.
The NAZI takeover of Germany began with Hitler promising full employment, a restoration of respect for Germany and establishing , once again the greatness of the nation. He would make Germany great again. Sounds familiar. Hitler did all those things, by building a mighty war machine. This was followed by treaties that were only to be broken and then followed the war, the death camps and all the rest that the fascist regime brought. It was a pleasant ride at first, but that all changed once he grabbed all the power. I believe it could happen here if we don’t stop them now.
And Modern Germany is now reformed. Like all of us, they must be on guard for the rise of these bad behaviors. Everyone wants full employment and a full belly. Deny those and the troubles start. Every people's revolution begins this way. The choice of leadership depends on the education previously provided. If you know how your government works and how to influence it to change, the people can choose full employment and a full belly without violence. Without that understanding and education, people are victims of any sweet-talking individual who wants power. An educated electorate is the foundation of all democratic governments, even democratic republics. The expansion of the electorate to all people is also fundamental to their understanding of their own power to affect their own future.
Agree and I just don’t know how about 30 to 40% of the electorate manages to spend 12 years in school and emerge as ignorant as they do. Maybe it is pass the test and then erase. I just don’t know.
or promote without performance...and the abandonment of teaching phonics had a terrible impact on reading comprehension for a lot of children. There is also the problem of so many who leave school without completing it. There are lots of reasons. My own child quit school at 16. They went on to complete a GED in the same time frame that they would have completed High School but have suffered from the employment stigma of their decision.
True.
And you are right about phonics, it is the best method to teach reading IMHO. Why did school leadership switch to other methods? I wish I knew.
Promote without performance is a problem. Teachers are under pressures to pass everyone or suffer retribution from school administrators. I saw this repeatedly during my years in teaching. It is a system that nourishes mediocrity for students and faculty. The system keeps school budgets and taxes under control. Many enthusiastic graduates try the teaching profession, then quit in disgust. Right now an added problem is that the salary and benefits are not what they once were. It is a shame, but teacher quality has gone down at the same time when many districts find it more difficult now to get enough teachers. Our government is in crisis and so are the schools.
Because the education in the US is shit.
I had my daughter in school in the US (after coming from England) she was BORED to death learning about Washington and Lincoln over and over again. As for Book reviews. She quickly learned to review the back and add some remarks.........this is called education?
Geography...duh. I guess all Americans now know where Ukraine is?
Sad but true our schools are not doing the job, very often.
The Nazi rise had as backdrop exceptional (large, talented) marching bands (complete wit tubas and bugles) and Wagnarian Operas to bind its greatness together. For MAGA, what music and cultural symbols are chosen to give it like grandure of Hitler's rise? Choirs of guitars? Wave of singers let loose from America's Got Talent? The thundering drumbeat from a cauchopony of reality TV shows? Off-key evangelical singers?
The music and toot of Fox Fantasy New, the Sturm und Drang of conspiracy spinners everywhere. The heralding of arch angels echoing the righteous cause. Perhaps Al is all that is needed to whip up modern day tsunamis.
Ok, so, the fascists in Germany had better music than the fascists in America (MAGAs and others) , but American fascists like their music. I was amused by your post, Fred, but missed the socio-political point you were making one, so do tell.
Oblique that I am. There was something grand and uplifting for Germans. Our MAGAs offer no great and uplifting theater to bring us all together. As least, let there be Springtime for Hitler, a truly rousing ditty for us cynics. I just can't imagine the MAGAs as enough theater to last past the first review in Das Hunderspiel.
I think we have to laugh them off the planet because I don’t think they have a sense of humor. They certainly show no signs of being able to laugh at themselves.
If it weren't for you and me, they'd have nary a chuckle in their diet.
Fred, you manage to be witty through this real-life nightmare. That counts, thank you.
Thanks, Fred, for "Springtime for Hitler" - I'd forgotten, and laughed for the first time since beginning to read today's Letter and its comments. Thanks.
Country-western crap, that's what. Jason Aldean and the foul crew who put together that carefully-crafted "music video", and their ilk. I will neither cite nor quote either the lyrics or the video.
https://www.facebook.com/100050202471628/posts/pfbid02s7GcGTqmd3PLXLp3WoTg5jncNWGaJCT3VCrJmsmnZj9BB63kAMDKJgFqwzYoUxx2l/?mibextid=cr9u03. 🤣🤣🤣
That is GREAT! Thanks - I needed it.
Do what I say and heaven awaits....Also familiar.
That’s what I see.
I think of that often as my family was in Germany then. And Jewish.
Modern Israel was founded on an extended terrorist atrocity known as the Nakba.
No need to be repetitive John. It is boorish. See my reply to your other exact same post.
Mike, your responses to John are spot on. But I suggest it just feeds his frenzy.
Correct Bill.
Bill, you are probably right, but, intermittently, the fake name of whoever is Schmeekle, has a valid point.
Not often, since, he must spend most of his day consuming Pravda, Russian TV and Fox News, but, once in a while, he has a valid point.
True, Mike. My just posted comment about Israel may actually entertain him. It will certainly piss off anyone with anti-Muslim sentiments. I wish John would back off on the repetitive posts - it only harms his credibility. There should be room for alternate views here. But he doesn't seem to care that his stuff feels like harassment.
Mike, a Troll's needless & constant repetition is part & parcel of targeted Platform disuption. Good news ... 2 liabilty against META hav9e been filed this week. More coming. Zuckerberg started out trolling his ex-girlfriend as an undegrad at Harvard. Still ... Mark has never grown up.
One of the main reasons I never obtained Facebook, from the beginning, was because Zuckerberg stole the idea AND the code from the two originators of that idea and code AND GOT AWAY WITH IT.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/technology/01facebook.html
As a long time engineer/innovator, the worst crime is theft of ideas but in Zuck's case he also stole the code base itself.
I used to refer to Zuckerberg as Mark Suckerberg because he is a thief, but, my kids dissuaded me from the East Texas-ized use of language.
While a literal repetition can look odd, even more odd is the pretense of "democracy" among countries Washington has propped up for its own purposes. Those of us who appreciate historical context and not only in selective terms, would remember as I do that human rights affirming volunteers from our ranks who have gone to Israel/Palestine can be crushed to death by a bulldozer while defending the home of a family whose child they were tutoring - as in the case of Rachel Corrie. A US citizen who was a respected and popular journalist on the international scene, Shireen abu Akleh, can be shot and killed by a skilled marksman far from any "crossfire" and Washington takes no action. If farms and neighborhoods in our country were seized without compensation and homes destroyed while conveniently declaring the land and homes a "closed military zone" that would hardly be treated as a mark of democracy. Whatever the term for such atrocities, complaining about the use of the term would play no role in their correction.
Mike. Repetition is his tool
It is unfortunate to see subscribers feeding a poster that mostly derails the themes of the Letter, posts identical scripts, takes up a lot of space and with whom there appears to be no give and take.
Mike S, no oxygen for the troll. Ignore it and it will go away, respond and it will be encouraged. No oxygen.
Submitted this morning to my Senator (& posted in comments of today’s edition of Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse)
Subject line: Texas style atrocities at the border
Dear Senator Whitehouse,
I was just made aware, by Joyce Vance in today’s (July 24) edition of Civil Discourse, that “…the state of Texas is lining the banks of the Rio Grande river with razor wire to trap migrants, injuring some, including young children.”
I urge you to read just some of these inhumane atrocities being inflicted under the ruse that this is authorized by the United States of America’s government!
https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/we-will-see-you-in-court-mr-president?r=ergjs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
One Substack subscriber suggests, “President Biden should start by nationalizing the Texas National Guard placing them under federal jurisdiction to make clear whose orders they will be required to follow, and then send the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the barriers and razor wire, deducting from any federal funds due Texas the entire cost of compliance.”
While waiting for the justice system to intervene, which as we all know is like watching paint dry, can President Biden enact this immediate, life saving humane, solution?
Sincerely demanding immediate action, Susan
Did you post the same on Whitehouse.gov as a suggestion to both the Vice President and the President? They deserve to know your point of view.
I sent mine to each member of Maine's congressional delegation as well as to President Biden. The people being pushed back into the water, exhausted and dehydrated and slashed by razor wire, can't wait for the outcome of action on the suit filed today in Austin. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, tweeted: “Glad to see the Department of Justice take legal action to get @GovAbbott's death traps out of the Rio Grande." Today's Texas Tribune, https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/24/texas-border-rio-grande-floating-barrier-greg-abbott-lawsuit/#:~:text=U.S.%20sues%20Texas%20after%20Gov,Rio%20Grande%20near%20Eagle%20Pass.
Death traps is right. Abbott is committing attempted murder at the border.
The important thing is what are the Texans doing? Is this their policy or are they the victims of a governor gone rogue? Texans believe they have governmental powers not available to all states because they were a sovereign nation before they joined the United States and had a treaty between the Texas government and the United States government for admission. There are still people who think Texas is a sovereign nation and that the treaty was null and void after the secession during the Civil War and that the Texas re-entry after the Civil War was illegal. Does someone out there have a handle on this history? Is there some legal gotcha between Texas and the federal government?
OMG! Thank you for you suggestion!
I never know fully, which way to go with Israel. Netanyahu definitely isn't the way to go. But like Trump, he is a symptom of a greater problem.
I'm so glad that the DOJ will make the Weiss hearings available to the public instead of a closed session where the far right can spin it into a downward spiral. I understand that The House is gearing up for Impeachment hearings all the way up to Biden. Thank you for this information Professor Richardson.
Modern Israel was founded on an extended terrorist atrocity known as the Nakba.
I would like President Biden to mash Governor Abbott's potatoes by ordering the Navy or the Coast Guard to remove the garbage he put in the river, then send the cleanup bill to Texas taxpayers. Don't wait for the courts, call his bluff now: the river and immigration policy are federal jurisdiction, and that's what our military is for. Let Abbott sputter.
Here, here from Texas
Thanks, Jeri. Lot of good people in Texas, served badly by their Mad Hare Governor.
More than they like to think...
If it’s anything like the Tennessee River, Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction streamside and USCG (Reserve component) maintains aids to navigation.
I think you're right about who would be tasked to do that work, Brian: Army Corps on riverbanks, Coast Guard in the water. Time to put them to work!
Israel is a wonderful country: if I had visited there when I was in my 20s, I probably would have stayed and become a citizen. In 2010, when I spent a few weeks working in Tel Aviv, there was an ever-present undercurrent of fear of the next attack; the result of the tension between Palestinians and Israelis. Netenyahu wasn't the threat he has become. I worry for the fate of Israel: the US can continue to support a democracy, but what will we do if it becomes a dictatorship.
To say that Israel is a democracy, belies the fact that the majority of people under its control have no rights, and suffer land confiscations and harassment on a daily basis. Israel cannot be a democracy and at the same time a "Jewish state", when the majority of those under its control are non-Jews. About 20% of Israeli citizens are non-Jews, with limited rights, let alone those in the occupied territories who are not Israeli citizens. Israel was created and continues to have unconditional US support based on "alternative facts" that never aligned with actual facts on the ground.
It seems clear that religious states are an anathema to freedom and democracy.
AMEN
Patricia,
Post of the day award!!! Yes, what you have written, very clearly, shortly and truthfully, is BINGO for the day!
Patricia, Your reply caught my attention because you wrote '...that the majority of the people under its (Israel's) control have no rights, ….' It prompted me to do a little research.
At the end of 2022, the CBS (Census Bureau of Statistics) calculated that of the 9,656,000 people who live in the country, 7,106,000 (73.6 percent) are Jewish, 2,037,000 (21.1%) are Arab, and 513,000 (5.3%) are defined as “others,” including non-Arab Christians, members of other faiths and those listed as not belonging to any religion. (The Times of Israel)
The population of Gaza (a territory occupied by Israel) is estimated by The World Factbook at 2,037,744 (2023 est.) Even if the population of Gaza was added to the Arab population in Israel the total number of non-Jews, still does not reach a majority in Israel. My response to your reply is just one of arithmetic. I do not question anything else you wrote.
Thank you, Fern, for looking carefully at the populations. But you missed the West Bank 3,000,021 (West Bank – 2022 est.), the Golan Heights (@25,000) and East Jerusalem, which has about 580.000 inhabitants of which 61% of the population is Arab/Palestinian and 39% is Jewish. So, if you add the Arab citizens of Israel, 2,037,000 + Gaza, 2,037,744, + the West Bank 3,000,021, + East Jerusalem Arab population 353,800 + Golan Arab population @ 25,000 - It all adds up to approximately 7,453,537 non-Jews under Israeli control, as compared with 7,106,000 Jews. I cannot be sure of the statistics here, but that is a rough estimate. It is true that Arab citizens of Israel have more rights than those in the occupied territories, but if you look at Israeli discriminatory laws against non-Jews, their rights are pretty limited (https://www.adalah.org/en).
And that doesn't count the many millions of Palestinians who don't live under Israeli control, but are prevented from returning, and in many cases, even visiting their ancestral homes and villages, many of which were erased from existence.
Thank you, Patricia. I did some more searching and think the numbers are close; they may be as close as close to even.
The history of Israel is complicated. The history of Palestine is complicated. The Jewish history is complicated. The Muslim history is complicated. The fact that these two great religions have an intersection with the individual of the Bible known as Abraham or Ebrahim or however he is referenced in your foundational language is perhaps the root of this terrible problem. I don't have sufficient education to know. I do know that some Jews have never left Palestine, but a very large number of Jews were forced to leave by political influences at the very earliest histories of this region of the earth. The fact that Jews originally began returning to this region of their individual will and their efforts at integrating themselves back into Palestine has been forgotten by the people because of the horrible actions of almost every group including the Jews and Muslim religious leaders as well as outside players. This is a feud between peoples perpetuated by each generation and it must stop. Neither side is without blame and continuing from this point in the same manner as each generation has done will not lead to resolution and democracy for all peoples of this region. Let us all step back. Let the decisions be made by the people of the region by democratic vote. Nothing about the Palestinian Region without the Peoples of the Palestinian Region. Both sides must agree to accept the fundamental existence of all the religions in the region. Both sides must agree to accept the fundamental rights of all the cultures of the region to exist. Both sides must agree that all the people of the region have the fundamental right to the protection of the rule of law for both opportunity and the protection of property. Lands taken by governments without due process and without compensation to the owner must be returned. Nothing can be done to change the harm to families and their lineage, but recognition of the harm must be done by both sides. Death knows no reasonable compensation, the harm is permanent and there is no repair. Justice however is something else altogether. Stop the fighting. Stop the hate. You have been fighting for more than 75 years and there is no sign of resolution. Nothing about the Palestinian Region without the People of the Palestinian Region. Muslims, Jews, and Christians(who evolved from the Jews) who live in this region are a large portion of the people of this region. Stop working against each other. It serves no one except the powerful. Let's go back to 1947 and make it right for all the people who currently live in the Palestinian Region.
The Palestinians descend from the Idumeans (King Herod, builder of the Second Temple, was an Idumean), who were the same as the Edomites, descended from Esau, elder brother of Jacob, sons of Isaac, son of Abraham, whose son Ishmael was ancestor of the Arabs.
'Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. For over 55 years, Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, relying routinely on forcible displacement and excessive force. In the West Bank, authorities have facilitated the transfer of over 700,000 Israeli settlers, a war crime, confiscated vast swaths of Palestinian land, and made it nearly impossible for Palestinians to build in much of the territory without risking demolition. Israel severely restricts the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, with devastating humanitarian impact. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza arbitrarily arrest dissidents and torture Palestinians in their custody.' (HumanRightsWatch) See link below.
https://www.hrw.org/
'Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in New York City that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.[2] The group pressures governments, policymakers, companies, and individual human rights abusers to denounce abuse and respect human rights, and often works on behalf of refugees, children, migrants, and political prisoners.' (Wiki) See link below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch
"Americans should avoid assuming that their closest ally in the Middle East is experiencing the same social breakdown and mistrust fueling America’s partisan polarization. And U.S. leaders might want to be a little less sanctimonious when lecturing Israelis about “democracy,” given the fissures now appearing in the United States."
~~ Gil Troy, Tablet Magazine, 7.24.23
Professor Richardson, might you consider news and commentary sources that are much more intrinsically Jewish-
oriented as discussion forums? Haaretz is decidedly left wing. There is Times Of Israel as well as Tablet, The Scroll and others. Most Americans are out of their depth on the very intricate and complex situation of diaspora Jews but mostly of Israeli politics, tending to impose our own experiences as we live them onto a rather different template. Thank you. And as always many ongoing thanks for helping us to make sense of whatever is out there.
Don't consider this in an "American Criticism" context. Consider it as a commentary from the fundamental foundation of what a democracy or a democratic republic is. Since we are standing as a country with Israel, we have a right to discuss and criticize Israel among ourselves. The support for Israel arises from the atrocities of World War II. If Israel becomes what it arose from, is it America's responsibility to stand back and not speak out? Is it America's responsibility to continue to provide protection for a State that does not protect all the people living in its territorial boundaries? We have a lot on our plate with our own political woes and yet we support Ukraine, we support Europe, and we support many areas of the world and we don't always do the best job. But I really like this new doctrine "Nothing about the people of a region without the people of the region". The power of democracy arises from all the people of its responsibility. To pick and choose who receives the protection of the rule of law is not democracy or even a democratic republic. Because we are not perfect does not mean we shouldn't try to improve ourselves and our world.
There's absolutely no question that we have opinions and voice them. That is not as far as it goes with the US and Israel, much much more complex and layered. It's hard to have a discussion if people are not more deeply involved in the learning involved. Our support for the Jewish state goes much further back because of Jewish ideas from a long long history are also involved in its construction of our own country and our Constitution. If folks are further interested there are many sources I could suggest, and you gotta do the homework. We probably should not be giving Israel money because it doesn't actually need it. We do give Palestinians money for years and it gets blown on their leaders. Something not known usually known. There's a strong tendency here to simplify what is not at all possible to do that to.
Please point out the Jewish ideas you believe contributed to our constitution. Our constitution is a very good constitution and anyone contributing to it at the time of writing should be given recognition.
Please excuse delay-busy day.
There is a ton of writing on this subject so I looked for probably the most concise. (?) Basically the Jewish values in action that influence law in general in the Western World anyway are: the value and worth of humans, freedom of religion, respect as an active community standard, dialog, a oneness of divine purpose, learning, no 'divine right of kings'- (very ancient), the general idea of ten commandments, etc. The founding fathers were particularly conversant with all of this and with rabbis of the time in America. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
is particularly helpful on this subject, among many others.
Googling 'Jewish thought, Constitution' or similar, brings up a lot. Also Wiki.
https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/mislj85&div=21&id=&page=
Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to bring up specific Jewish contributions to enlightened thought.
Robin, your Tablet quote says that because Netanyahu is like ТЯцм₽, Biden should not be critical of his fascist decisions. Do you believe America should follow that line of thought?
You're not quoting what was posted-extracting your interpretation to restate it your way leaves standing the words I wrote below it. There is a very deep learning curve involved in this most complex of subjects, takes years and tears, lots of concentration, does not at all easily yield answers if there are any. The attitude taken by our State Dept. shows basically that we impose our American interests in running another country's business through the use of might and money, and appear to believe our own stated principles to be as real coin within our own political sphere at home. Not. Different cultures, different understandings. When in Rome.
I lived there for 19 years, and what reaches the press here is not the whole story. As much as I am pretty much left wing here in the USA, I’m pretty much right wing in Israel. The right wing there is not like the right wing here. Israel is unique in that it is the only nation that is Jewish, the only place that we can run away to when antisemitism rears its ugly head.
I prefer pluralistic societies.
I also prefer pluralistic societies. I also appreciate being able to live as an observant Jew. Israel has always had Muslims and Christians.
Tell that to Palestinians, whose lands are stolen systematically by armed settlers who terrorize their villages.
You are able to live as an observant Jew in Israel but you should not have the right to force others to follow your rules and laws.
So you are saying that Israel doesn’t have a right to make its own laws? By the way, nobody is forcing anyone to live as an observant Jew. There are however neighborhoods that are closed off to vehicles on Shabat and holidays, just like there are places and times that roads may be closed off in the USA. There are some rules about food, just like there are rules about food in the USA.
Do you protect all people not just citizens without fear or favor by the rule of law? Do you accept that the nations of the world carved out a place for Israel? Do you accept that action deserves some consideration for the people of the region who were not allowed to have an opinion? Do you accept that those people deserve equal protection under the law to opportunity and protection of property?
With all due respect, to where can the Palestinians run?
With all due respect to you, Palestinians who feel oppressed have many options. Have you looked at a map of the Middle East? Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries where they would undoubtedly find superior to Israel. Actually, there is a minority of Muslims who are making a lot of noise.
With all due respect to you, your comment is not serious. It's outrageous. On what basis should Palestinians be forced from THEIR homeland? One can read the history of the region and come up with whatever conclusions you want about who should "own" Israel. Pick a time and find whatever your point of view is.
Does America belong to the "indigenous tribes" that came here from somewhere else? To the Irish or Italians? To the Africans who were stolen and transplanted here? Yes, it belongs to all of us. ALL of us. Israel is no different. Just a chunk of land. With a variety of people who call it "home". The land is not Jewish or Muslim.
The truth is that Jewish Israel is powerful and rich. A remarkable success story of desperate people finding a home - fleeing from oppression and likely death. Building a marvelous democracy that is now being dismantled by a crooked extremist and his uber religious allies - all so he can avoid jail. This man emulates the dictators his people ran from.
There have been many opportunities for Israel to incorporate a true democracy for the occupied lands. Palestinians deserve one of two things. Full Israeli citizenship and equal treatment under the law - or a state of their own. A refusal to provide one or the other will be seen in the rear view mirror of history as oppression, persecution and probably much worse.
None of the above is to excuse rocket attacks by Palestinians. But if I was locked up and deprived of a normal life - the ability to travel and make a decent living for my family. If my neighbor's homes were being bulldozed and religious extremists were building towns on the land my grandparents farmed...I am not sure how my peaceful nature would be retained.
It was the right thing to do. Find a home where Jews and Jewish culture could thrive and feel safe. It is not the right thing to do for any nation to be based on any religion exclusively. The soil is not religious. It should be available to all who want to live in a peaceful democracy.
When religion dominates a society, human rights are lost. Just ask the folks in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or in Alabama.
As a Jewish person I thank you for your sensible reply. I have been sick about this craziness for years. Killing in the name of religion is completely insane and the antithesis of g-d like.
'About 6.8 million Jewish Israelis and 6.8 million Palestinians live today between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River, an area encompassing Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the latter made up of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Throughout most of this area, Israel is the sole governing power; in the remainder, it exercises primary authority alongside limited Palestinian self-rule. Across these areas and in most aspects of life, Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians. Laws, policies, and statements by leading Israeli officials make plain that the objective of maintaining Jewish Israeli control over demographics, political power, and land has long guided government policy. In pursuit of this goal, authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated, and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, as described in this report, these deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.' (Human Right Watch) See link below.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
Thank you, Fern.
Thanks Fern. This is a super sensitive subject. But facts matter. In every conflict, the strongest, richest side with the most weapons and money has the obligation and opportunity to make peace and provide justice.
I have mentioned in the past that we (me by marriage) have a dear cousin in Israel who teaches kids about commonality - how much as humans they have in common. She has received awards for her commitment to bridging the divide. She has five kids and sometimes they must all shelter in a "safe room" as the rockets land around them.
The rockets are the voice of desperation. It's complicated. Sooo complicated.
Bill, thanks for your thoughts. I have long wondered why many (not all) seemed to be constructing a homeland that increasingly mirrored the one many escaped from (thinking Nazi Germany/German occupied European countries in WWII). Then I thought of that saying “hurt people hurt people” and wondered if it were that. I have no answers, only heartache for all involved.
To clarify my comment: I am NOT equating Israel w/ Nazi Germany. At. All. What I was attempting to say is that some of the authoritarian/despotic/apartheid-like elements during that horrific time seem to be rearing up (and in other places around the world as well) & it is hard to wrap my head around. I realize I do not have a deep and nuanced understanding of the issue, but am reacting to what I see/hear in the news/publications/etc.
This is the same idea we accept for violence within families. Having been hurt is not an excuse to cause hurt.
Excuse me for one not so slight correction. The UN Partition vote did just that: divided that small strip of land into two countries, one for Israel & one for Palestine. The Arabs refused to accept that, and were joined by the surrounding countries in a war to eliminate the Jewish State. They failed. And instead of offering shelter to those Arabs who fled, they set up camps for them on the boarder. Those camps still exist, now badly overpopulated and the population still receiving financial from the UN.
Where exactly are you suggesting that Jews should go? Antarctica perhaps? I think there are already people in Madagascar, which was one of the options considered during WW2. Oh the possibilities!
Bizarre response. Read my comment again. Israel is a marvelous democracy (under threat). It is wonderful that there is an Israel that Jews can feel safe in. We have family there. They have worked hard in education and bridging the gap between Arabs and Jews.
I am not suggesting anything other than this. Palestinians have the same human rights as all of us. And governments that are religiously based are dictatorships. Muslim, Jewish, Christian...whatever. Believe whatever you want. Just don't make laws with it.
They should stay where they wish to stay. But they shouldn't feel that they should be the only ones who receive consideration under the law. I feel Jews in America are important to the future of America. We need their talents, their ideas, and their point of view. Have we eradicated anti-Semitism? NO. Should we? YES. Are we working towards that goal? Some of us are. A person's religion is no reason to discriminate against them or to allow the law to reduce their freedoms or their right to protection under the law. We cannot have a just world until we accept that equal protection of the law is a fundamental human right and cannot be abrogated by cultural or religious differences.
Palestinians are not a Muslim group. We are a multifaith community and always have been. You always try and portray us as monocultural Muslims to pretend this is a ‘religious conflict’. What Israel is doing in the WB is illegal land theft and military occupation. It’s Palestinian land, why should they have to be refugees in neighbouring countries????
“There’s plenty of lunch counters around, go find one that will serve you and your kind, just not here”
"Palestinians who feel oppressed.." Do you think Palestinians are an oppressed people?
Would you make to same suggestion do any person living in any country who is not represented by the government in power? Does Israel have a liberal immigration policy accepting all people fleeing countries that do not protect them equally under the law?
Israel is a pluralistic society that was mostly, in 1947, populated by Arabs who were Muslim.
With the help of the US Army, in 1948, Israel evicted many of those residents forcibly including instances of bulldozing houses with people STILL IN THEM.
Actually there were also Jews living there as well. They were older than me, and told about life back when, before’47, ‘48. And back then, when Arabs were ruling… oh, the British actually…….
Can you really protect yourself by denying that protection to the people around you? The citizens of Israel must stop, review the whole history of the region from both perspectives without looking beyond the local region, and make a decision about whether what Israel is doing will actually stop Jews from dying and protect them throughout the world. What are you trying to prove by the policies of your government since your founding? What is your government trying to prove by changing its court system? Israelis must decide if what they are supporting is morally correct and if it will sustain their freedoms. If actions of the Israeli government will protect Jews regardless of where they live. Don't do a whataboutism. Israel is not America and cannot excuse the Israeli government's failures based on ours. Lead, don't follow.
By becoming what you have run away from? Hate?
Same as we do with its neighbor Saudi Arabia! And all other dictatorships!
Modern Israel was founded on an extended terrorist atrocity known as the Nakba.
Regardless it will continue to exist because it currently exists. We cannot continue to violently oppose governments because they do not behave properly. History has taught, in my opinion, governments that protect all their people retain their power and continue to govern. When all the people work to change their governments they succeed. When the people work against each other they fail.
I sent this to our Republican Senator Susan Collins after reading about Israel’s vote for authoritarianism.
“Washington Post reported today “ The Israeli parliament approved the first part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sweeping proposal to overhaul the judiciary on Monday, establishing a limit on the Supreme Court’s power to strike down government action and delivering far-right lawmakers a key victory in their bid to remold the country. The proposal passed despite hundreds of thousands of protesters turning out to oppose the measure”.
Netanyahu is Israel’s Donald Trump. The right wing extremists running the Knesset are matches for the Republican extremists in the US House, some in the US Senate, some justices in our courts, and in a number of our states like Texas and Florida who think they can contradict and ignore any law or US Constitutional protections for all Americans.
Of course we know Netanyahu, like Trump, has been facing and delaying judgement on indictments for his self serving violations of laws.
Netanyahu and the extremists are like too many Republicans who have bent traditional processes to pack the US Supreme Court, lower and state courts with judges who have and will support their political party ideologues.
Israeli extremists are ruthless with Palestinians just like Republicans are ruthless with immigrants in many states. Razor wire in the Rio Grande River? Texas Republicans have no respect for Mexico who shares this international border. No respect and a willingness to do violence against anyone who doesn’t join their posse. They are all criminals like the Israeli extremists with no accountability.
Our Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, reported that “No Labels”, a supposedly moderate political party that opposes Donald Trump and Joe Biden (two very different types of leaders), has been going around Maine and other states having registered voters sign petitions to support a third party. The petition signers are not told that they are being asked to sign to change their party affiliations to “No Labels”, losing their affiliation with their current party. Bellows’s office is getting complaints from both Republicans and Democrats who have been swindled. Bellows reports that “No Labels” is not following various rules for political party activity. This may involve lawsuits and legal action that Maine taxpayers will be forced to cover. In addition, Bellows office, town clerks and poll workers are finding it difficult to find sufficient poll workers from each party. Particularly for Republicans. In an occasional case, Republican poll workers intimidate voters. In other cases, Republicans feel voting is “rigged” (encouraged by their media and party extremists) so why help elections to occur. Democrats, town clerks and poll workers are sent threats and intimidated into quitting their offices or positions or from taking part in either.
In one rural town, Bellows reported that she attended a selectman’s meeting this spring where a few citizens were asking the town to vote in favor of doing away with voting machines. They had attended a “My Pillows” meeting advocating doing away with voting machines, claiming they were being tampered with by a list of “enemies”. Bellows explained the voting machines in Maine, how they are safe from the concerns being raised, why they are more reliable than hand counting paper ballots. The vote decided to keep voting machines. This is an example of how problematic misinformation and propaganda are. And how important it is for our federal, state and local officers to step up, speak out and explain how our democratic system works and why it’s better and very safe compared to the options promoted by current extremists who try to undermine our democracy.
When Russia, Hungary, Israel, other nations or our own politicians try to undermine, eliminate or mislead Americans into turning against those like the courts, secretaries of state and the poll workers, etc, all of those examples move us toward dystopian authoritarianism.
Finally, we need immigration because we need workers in so many places that are losing their labor supply. I don’t buy what I hear from local Friendship Republicans that Maine has an abundance of people who simply don’t want to work. I don’t see anyone sitting around in Friendship doing nothing or just hanging out. Everyone including many retired people are working. This idea is a trope that Republican leaders and businesses should be addressing, so we can update our immigration policies to support our human rights and economy.”
According to an article I read earlier this summer, the USA has a worker shortage of around 10 million, yet only 5 million seeking work. So, doing the math, whether the shortage is in Maine, or elsewhere, we need immigrants. We also have an aging population and need younger people to replace workers who retire and to support the retirement system. I recommend reading Prof. Kathleen Belew's book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, where she explains that being anti-immigrant is toned down code for racism. Being anti-people of color. It is a White Supremacist platform, not a jobs or patriotic one.
You cannot be a Patriot and not care about your nation's people. What is a nation, after all? Liberty and Justice become meaningless to the degree they are withheld from any. A nation that offers robust options for one group and withholds them from others is simply not a free society. Tyranny is more like it.
We have a worker shortage because low-skilled workers are unwilling to do scut work for starvation wages. So you say "we need immigrants" to be exploited by their employers so comfortable liberals can continue to enjoy the standard of living to which you are accustomed.
I don't say immigrants need to be exploited, although they often are. Remember some of those immigrants are highly skilled workers. In fact, I live in a university community and a good portion of my friends and family are the immigrants that you refer to, including my husband, my mother and her sister. I would not say that they are being exploited. In fact, some of my friends get paid sabbatical every 4 years, and they travel abroad 2-3 times a year with their families when they have vacation. Their children have gone to school in more than one country. Then, there are the children working in meat and other factories doing dangerous work and not getting an education.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-sends-immigration-bill-to-congress-as-part-of-his-commitment-to-modernize-our-immigration-system/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/11/us-republicans-pass-extreme-immigration-bill-as-title-42-ends
Many of the doctors, and other professionals whose services I use are immigrants to the USA. So, while they may be making my life comfortable, it is not because I am exploiting them. My daughter had several German sitters when she was younger. Her last one was a young man working on his PhD in economics, and we paid him well for his time, because he was doing work that is important to us. We also allowed him to work on his dissertation when he had time. He also made money tutoring my nephew in math. My nephew is now working on a PhD in engineering. So, even if we are comfortable we do not support exploiting immigrants.
Linda Wiede,
I have no problem with what you have shared, as far as it goes.
However, my post used the phrase "low-skilled workers," and this has nothing to do with what you're saying. Once upon a time, in southern California, I lived and worked and socialized surrounded almost entirely by immigrants from Mexico and Central America, many of whom were illegal aliens. I remember once, as I was renting a room in an apartment of a family of "illegal" immigrants, the mother made a bitter comment about going to work the whole day for "mis cuarenta dolares." You can do the math: 40 dollars divided by 8 or 10 equals... less than the minimum wage, with no benefits.
Out on the East End of New York, they’re working for the elite Conservatives! The Liberals are the ones helping them find jobs & places to live. They’re providing good & clothing. Even healthcare. While the Conservatives pay them peanuts. I’m curious why you come on Dr. Richardson’s Substack to attack Liberals.
I don't think you're curious to find out why I point out liberal hypocrisy when I think it's warranted. You have repeatedly made insulting posts, even stooping to mock my name in your effort to create a hostile environment.
I think it's fair to say that you (and a few other habitual abusers) are out of step with the majority around here.
Unfortunately, a dedicated clique of thought-control thugs can intimidate others and give the false sense of a consensus against me.
As always, my core issue is to expose U.S. complicity in the most far-reaching genocide in history, as I explained in this Januaryresponse to HCR:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-15-2023/comment/11967315
Dear John,
You’re right. I sincerely apologize for my inappropriate comments regarding your name. I don’t know what got into me other than utter annoyance. I am a lover and believer in American & World Politics & History. I am thrilled by the Truth we receive on a regular basis from Professor Richardson. Because of this, I have been rather defensive when I feel that her writing and character is being attacked. I am not an intellectual nor even a college graduate. What I am is a truth seeker. I tried to read the resignation letter from the man who found himself responsible for a FUND that has been the source of long time abuse to poor Southern men. I can’t say I understand it completely other than it’s dreadfully harsh and causes unnecessary pain, anguish and a miserable death to people who don’t deserve it, laid out by arrogant power hungry perps. Its no wonder he resigned! What gets me is, why do you attack Dr Richardson? She isn’t writing about that unfortunate issue… unless you’re trying to get her to! I confess that I couldn’t really get through the entire letter and it’s parts, but what does any of it have to do with American History & the current political climate in our country?
If you want to educate the public, why don’t you write your own substack and quit attacking Dr Richardson?
I feel for the people’s plight, however, it just rude to try to make “A Letter From An American” something it’s not.
I don't think that our current categories of work cover all the work that is being done. What about the young people who a choosing to do work that is more similar to the cottage industries of the past? Young people, who are choosing to do work that is not compensated in hopes that it will begin to provide income?
Sure. For example I know a lot of children who are in internships that are unpaid, as well as poorly paid. Of course it costs a lot to train people so they are getting that. Whatever the work, we still have a shortage of workers, just like most EU countries and that means that we need people from beyond our borders to help fill those jobs whatever kind of work they are.
I agree. We do need immigrants. Have always benefited from the labor, ideas, and children of immigrants. Unfortunately, our collective history towards immigrants has always been problematic and protective rather than truly welcoming. Perhaps if Congress would actually take up debate and create new legislation, we could arrive at an immigrant policy that reflects their true worth to our country.
From my historical knowledge we welcomed many groups of immigrants to this country. Other groups were given a harder time and shunned. Racism plays a role in this, or perceptions of racial differences. Part of the White Supremacist playbook in the USA and globally has been to be less overt in displaying their racism, and instead of direct racist rhetoric they now use the code of complaining about immigration to express that, even though this is not directed to the Ukrainian or even Russians coming in now, or European groups, but to Black and Brown skinned people. This has historically been directed against Asians, Africans, and Caribbean would be immigrants. Even Puerto Ricans are told, "go back to where you came from." In her book Bring the War Home: White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, Prof. Kathleen Belew tells us how this was the response of the White Supremacist movement globally after the Oklahoma City bombing. In a gathering of White Supremacists from around the world the goals decided on where to enter mainstream politics and look more like the Evangelical Christian White Nationalists, who were not promoting violence, and only after taking over governments would there be a race war. So, there is no resolution that the Republicans in Congress, who have fully embraced this White Nationalist agenda will be satisfied with. Look at what they are proposing compared to Biden. Also, look at how their appointed judges do not let Biden use his lawful right to set administrative goals, and enact them by preventing him from carrying out his plans. There is no legal reason for them to stop him, so they are behaving illegally. We are no longer a country characterized by law and order, and this is the goal of White Nationalists. They want to destroy our country, and the state, and the constitution, It is not their constitution. They are revisiting their goals in the Civil War and are trying to use the courts and intimidation to bring it about. Once accomplished they will develop their own Dixiecrat state here, the Confederate States, not the USA. We are in a civil war, which is quite uncivil. Innocent people including pregnant women, nursing mothers and babies are caught up in the cruelty of the Republican governors trying to get rid of them. They are caught up as symbols of a race war! There is no getting around this without naming it and taking it on.
It cannot be emphasized enough that Israel is a state without a constitution, as you have noted, but it is also a state without declared borders. These make Israel unique among nations and, most disturbingly, they are related.
Modern Israel was founded on an extended terrorist atrocity known as the Nakba.
Yes, we've read what you said before.
The Palestinians descend from the Idumeans (King Herod, builder of the Second Temple, was an Idumean), who were the same as the Edomites, descended from Esau, elder brother of Jacob, sons of Isaac, son of Abraham, whose son Ishmael was ancestor of the Arabs.
I appreciate the additional information, but I am not certain if you are saying that Abraham's behavior towards his sons Isaac and Ishmael is not part of the problem. Please help me to understand this better. Ishmael's mother was a daughter of the local people, which one I don't know. Isaac's mother was a first wife. Can you clarify the ancestry of these two women? I am aware that rabbinic tradition favors Isaac as God's choice to inherit Abraham's covenant with God. And though Ishmael was the first son, I believe he was left without inheritance and cast out of his father's house.
As the story goes, Abraham's wife, Sarah, was barren, so she sent her maid-servant to receive a child from Abraham, and that was Ishmael.
Later, Isaac was born and inherited.
I don't see this as relevant to modern-day hatred between Jews and Arabs.
Ever hear of the Hatfields and the McCoys. Family feuds are brutal and never-ending. Where did the Arab animosity against the Jews come from? What was the tender used to light the flame of a never-ending war? Anger is handed down from father to son, mother to daughter, and generation upon generation. The animosity is different between the Palestinians and the Jews. It isn't a territorial war even though they are fighting over land. Both are fighting for justice as they see it and neither see it as the same harm. It is "whataboutism" at its finest. You don't see how ancient history can support a war? Putin is calling back to pre-revolutionary Russian Empire history to justify his war in Ukraine. Any harm, justified or unjustified, persists until the individual harmed forgives or forgets or until others break up the fight by delivering some justice that those harmed accept.
Thank you Heather.
Netanyahu, MAGA Republicans, Putin...
Ignorance + arrogance + selfishness + foolishness... What more could go wrong?
Legitimizing aggressive violence.
Justice Department scores a three-pointer by insisting the hearings be public. Good for Justice, good for citizens, bad only for MAGA, and that's the three-pointer.
Perhaps with Rachel Maddie and a crew doing commentary on the game.
While U.S. citizens suffer from the cost of our high priced health care system, Israel citizens enjoy free universal government sponsored health care. Yet we send billions to them every year.
In visiting Israel in April for two weeks, I was struck by the Russian influence on schools there. Netanyahu ‘s further steps toward authoritarianism for personal gain puts Israel right in the pocket of Putin and Orban. Their policy of walling off Palestinian sections of the country like Bethlehem, restricting travel and rights of Palestinians in those places, and treating them as non-citizens and “other” is sadly ironic considering that many Israelis and their ancestors escaped the same treatment in Europe only decades ago. The US must take a stand against this move toward the dictatorship Netanyahu clearly wants. US-Israeli “ironclad“ partnerships cannot hold as Israel devolves into the extremist authoritarianism it is becoming. The plight of the Palestinians must be shared and addressed.
Jen,
Very sadly, the US originally SPONSORED, with the US Army, the initial purge of Arabs from area called Israel now. And, yes, the US needs to recognize Israel for the terrorist state that it actually is.
Mike S, thanks for that reminder. I’ve long been aware that Palestinians have been mistreated but it was starkly apparent seeing the guarded wall around Bethlehem, only allowing Palestinian Bethlehemites out with a pass according to the capricious will of the guard at the moment. I was transported back to the late 1970’s and early 80’s when I lived in West Berlin while going to school and Uni. Hearing the stories of the Palestinians from during Covid was heartbreaking. In the US, we have been invited to believe that Palestinian = terrorist because of extremists. However, the Israelis under Netanyahu are alarmingly extreme, actually only honoring Jewish Israelis-Palestinians of any religion, Christians of any nationality, and those of any race, culture, religion, or ethnicity who are not Jewish Israelis (or Jewish Americans, I am guessing) are not welcome. Terrorist stare? Absolutely.
Our past (policies, compromises, favors done for dubious allies) comes back to show the true cost of choices of expedience.
To protect them from those who will not accept their right to exist. Not to perpetuate violence upon the Palestinians.
JAC: I've read that each Israeli gets about $25K per year from the USA. Is that right?
It would be interesting to do the math on that.
JAC: Divide America's billions of dollars to Israel by the population of Israel.
??? $25,000? See above.
MLMinET: "See above"??? All I see is your comment. Say what you mean in your comment.
Chills. Chills head to toe. An ultra-right minority of Israel’s legislative branch clears the way for handing absolute power to a corrupt chief executive and vows to follow through. Step by step, we, a majority of the U.S. voters, see Donald Trump & Jim Jordan playing in tandem the same insidious game. They pushed voter suppression laws, a puppet U.S. AG, state fake electors, a Capitol insurrection and phony, attention-diverting investigations. They too are now intent on stripping the judicial and executive administrative ranks of any and all who oppose Trump’s destabilizing plans. But calm and resolve should be the order of the day. This shall not stand if we are united, vocally support Trump’s indictment and conviction, and then vote and tenaciously support the right to vote of all. Voting is our bulwark. Daily, journalists and historians like HCR paint a grand portrait, a exhortation to reflect, unite and act nobly as true citizens of this Republic ought. Let’s do this.
Let us do more than dream, let’s convict the traitors and make the cult go the way of cults. Self-implode
The only way to eradicate the fascist beast is to cut off its head: Revoke “Citizens United” and take away the money from neonazi billionaires who fund the RNC. . . The Puppet Masters need to be yanked from monetary influence; they feed the corruption of an amoral kakistocracy.
100%
Tom Dabney: How is "voting our bulwark"? Americans vote for peace and always get war.
WE work for peace, but when push comes to shove, when reason is replaced by intransigence war is inevitable.
Paula D: Many of my generation, including myself, refused to go fight in Vietnam. War is NOT inevitable. The old men don't fight wars. Kids fight wars. Kids can say "Hell No! We won't go!"
Timmy Taes, I'm one of you. A child of the sixties who doesn't see the world the same way our fathers did. I have found that Biden's articulated policy towards Ukraine is truly different, "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine". Sometimes, the worst of times, you have to stand and oppose those who would take from you what is yours. Unless that person backs down at your opposition to their transgression, push comes to shove. It is only in this age that the real possibility for lasting peace for all exists. The understanding that current existing sovereignties and territorial integrities must be allowed to continue without violent intervention is the only path forward to lasting peace. Once that truth is accepted, we as world citizens can offer help to those who want it and who are architects of that help to improve the circumstances of the people whose sovereignty we must respect. America has been brutish in its political opinions and has rushed in with force to execute American policy. With respect to that past, we are no different than any other of the great powers whether those of today or of history. But that must change. We should never forget what has been said about Ukraine, "nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine". This should be generalized to all peoples of all regions of the earth, "nothing about the people of the region, without the people of the region's agency and agreement". There should be no outside bullies no matter how well-intentioned. But neither should you stand by and allow a people's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be violated.
Paula D: John Quincy Adams gave a great speech about how America should not go out into the world looking for monsters to destroy. The monsters will always be there.
Self-defense (as in when President Jefferson created the US Navy and Marines and sent them to the Barbary Coast to attack the Barbary Pirates/Slavers who were kidnapping American ships and crews) is all that the American military and government should be doing overseas.
If you want to go fight for Ukraine or send them your money, go for it.
The US. Senate decided by just one or two votes to attack Spain and start an Empire in 1898. I wish the vote had gone the other way.
The war in Ukraine is not even remotely the same as the history you have chosen to highlight. I do support Ukraine and my tax dollars are helping them fight off a Russian invasion. Not everyone can or should engage in the actual battle, but I do find what our government is doing is prudent and correct. The support the U.S. is currently providing or will continue to provide will not be determined by the will of one citizen but by American voters. We didn't go looking for a fight. If we were, we'd have gone in 2014. Russia is allowing their leadership to behave badly. They have no right to do what they have chosen to do. We looked away in 2014, but we recognize the threat to the stability of world order. Putin has once again proven his lack of political prowess by backing out of the UN and Turkey negotiate deal to get grain out of Ukraine to stabilize the commodity market. No one is fooled that the world sanctions are preventing Russia from selling agricultural products. He is making more enemies rather than friends. Putin is on a sure and certain path to his own personal destruction. Food is the wrong thing to deny to hungry people. It is a human imperative to survive. There will be repercussions from Africa.
Repugs are doing everything they can to restrict the right to vote and they appear to be getting away with it. How can this be stopped?
ALL Americans should be out on the streets?
If Iranian women can do it so can you.
I’m asking what specific policies can be implemented to prevent this from happening or counter it now.
‘…the streets of Israel’s big cities teemed with anger and defiance over the controversial plans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judicial system. Those protests, which have raged for months, intensified Monday, after Israeli lawmakers in Netanyahu’s coalition used their razor-thin electoral mandate to pass the first plank of their reforms, stripping the Supreme Court of the power to strike down government action it considers “unreasonable.”
‘The move, in the eyes of its supporters, returns greater authority to the country’s elected legislature. But analysts and critics, including the Israeli opposition and various Western governments, see it as a major blow to one of the few real checks that exists in Israeli democracy and a grim step toward a form of majoritarian autocracy. “Israeli voters are certainly entitled to evolutionary change, but current ideas about judicial reform are revolutionary in their implications,” observed Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “An unfettered legislature threatens any democracy as much as an unfettered executive does.”
‘The moment is so profound — and fraught — for the Israeli nation that Alterman cast it as “third juncture” in the country’s history, following the dramatic shift in borders after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the state of Israel’s establishment in 1948. While Netanyahu’s extremist allies eye more radical maneuvers, including the removal of the country’s attorney general, labor unions are mulling launching another nationwide general strike. Thousands of military reservists have vowed not to report for duty with the passage of this legislation, absences which may have grave security implications for Israel’s defense.’
‘Washington, though, has struggled to reckon with what’s in motion. On Monday, a handful of Democratic lawmakers ventured statements of concern. The White House issued a terse release that, without naming Netanyahu, described the vote as “unfortunate” and backed “the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue.”
‘But little meaningful dialogue seems to be happening. Herzog, feted by U.S. lawmakers, seems more a helpless bystander in Israel’s maelstrom. And President Biden’s relatively timid rhetoric has been hammered by Republican opponents, who have yoked themselves to the mast of a far-right Israel government that makes little attempt to hide its aims to carry out de facto — perhaps even de jure — annexation of Palestinian lands. At a Christian Zionist forum outside Washington last week, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley scoffed at Biden’s decision to supposedly interfere in Israel’s “internal debates.”
“We need a leader who not only respects Israel, but also respects her people’s right to govern themselves,” Haley said, making no mention of the critical mass of protesters taking to the streets while going on to complain of the cold shoulder Biden offered Netanyahu by declining to invite the prime minister to the White House over the past seven months.’
‘The Republicans last week focused on censuring pro-Palestinian remarks made by a Democratic congresswoman and forced through a symbolic resolution in the House that affirmed “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state” — the latter term one that leading international human rights organizations, as well as Israel’s own, assess as an accurate description of the reality on the ground. It also linked criticism of the Israeli state to xenophobia and antisemitism.’
‘Washington’s overheated discourse on Israel serves as a major constraint on any administration that may want to speak up for Palestinian human rights or against the Israeli state’s democratic erosion.
“U.S. presidents don’t like to fight with Israeli prime ministers. It’s messy, distracting and potentially politically costly especially when the GOP has emerged as the 'Israel right or wrong’ party,” Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. diplomat and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me in an email. And so Biden, he added, does “a good deal of important virtue signaling” on issues like the judicial overhaul and settlement expansion, but with “no serious costs or consequences imposed.”
‘What the moment exposes is the gulf between the political theater around Israel in Washington and the deepening reality on the ground. While Republicans rail at any suggestion that Israeli state policies can be racist, Netanyahu and his allies often explicitly say that that’s what they are pursuing. Consider how, in May, Justice Minister Yariv Levin argued for the necessity of curtailing the Supreme Court’s powers specifically because controlling the judges would help preserve or further Jewish supremacy in certain contexts.’
“Arabs buy apartments in Jewish communities in the Galilee and this causes Jews to leave these cities, because they are not ready to live with Arabs,” Levin said. “We need to ensure that the Supreme Court has justices who understand this.”
‘And while U.S. lawmakers constantly extol their shared democratic values with Israel, some of their counterparts have a rather specific vision of which values these are. In a radio interview on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, an extremist, was asked whether Israel could benefit from the mechanisms of checks and balances that exist in the U.S. Constitution — Israel, as my colleagues have discussed, does not have a formal constitution.’
“I want to take the good things from the U.S.,” Ben Gvir replied. “I think that the death penalty for terrorists is excellent. I think that distributing guns to people to defend themselves is excellent.”
‘Figures like Ben Gvir and his close ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are in the driver’s seat in Israeli politics, cheered on implicitly by a large segment of the American political establishment. To many Israelis, this is a shame. “We are governed today by a bunch of militants, nationalists, chauvinists, [and] radicals,” former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told Rolling Stone. “Reckless, irresponsible, and totally inexperienced people.”
He added that had U.S. administrations taken far tougher lines against Netanayhu’s policies and agendas — and placed Israel’s special relationship with the United States in the balance — it would have had positive effects. “Had such a thing been spelled out, I guess it may have had an enormous impact,” Olmert said. (Today’sWorldView, By Ishaan Tharoor with Sammy Westfall, WAPO) See link below. Sorry, gifted link is not available, but this post cover the entire piece except for first paragraph.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/25/israel-washington-political-delusion-netanyahu-protest/
Gifted. Hope this works. https://wapo.st/44I3Y5y
Yes, that link works to the article, titled, 'Israel’s crisis exposes Washington’s delusion'. Thank you LeslieN
Thank You, Fern.
Thank you Fern
Thank you, Helen, for your attention and concern.
Our Supreme Court is not behaving as many Americans would hope. We would like to have better democratic control over them. If Biden were to proceed, as some would hope, would we be criticized for our attack on our Supreme Court? I believe in the "separation of powers"; an independent judiciary that ensures the equal and accurate application of the law to all people created through legislation. Is that what the Netanyahu government is trying to do by modifying the Israeli Supreme Court? Why doesn't Israel have a constitution to describe the powers and functions of its governmental entities? Can you truly be a government without a constitution? Without a constitution are they just a government of personality? Without a constitution are they a theocracy? Perhaps this is the real issue with Israel, they are a loosely organized group of people with no true foundation to support the rule of law. Surely it is time for a Constitutional Convention to describe the will of the people?
This litany sounds very much like a gathering storm. Israel is in political and moral decline. The traditional western coalition to which it belonged is fraying. Romania, a part of NATO, is experiencing violent aggression right on its border. Food insecurity is being created in Odessa, which will impact Africa and the world. And American polarization grows day by day. Did I miss anything? How about the most extreme weather in recorded history which is causing death and destruction across the globe. Yes, a grand storm is brewing. Remember Sarajevo and Pearl Harbor? Sparks happen.