Fmr IDF Soldier to US - Stand Up to #Israel War Crimes [RT crosspost - YouTube 12mins]

Fmr. IDF Soldier Calls on Americans to Stand Up to Israel War Crimes - Interview with Eran Efrati

 

breakingtheset  YouTube Channel

Published September 15, 2014

Abby Martin speaks with Eran Efrati, a former IDF soldier who 

recounts his experience being ostracized for attempting to 

expose crimes he witnessed as a soldier.


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  The McLoughlin Post

Pro-Israel Group Think

by Diane V. McLoughlin, September 11th, 2014

The highest ideal espoused in Rabbi Shmuel Bloch's argument, 'Unity - It's surreal and frightening'; [South African Jewish Report, Sept 10, 2014], is cohesiveness of group politics rather than questioning the direction, politics and morality of the group in a personal quest for truth. Can good be expected to follow from this premise or is such a stance fraught with risk?

The rabbi reports that 'unity became even stronger and tighter' once Israelis learned the tragic fate of the three Jewish youths who were kidnapped in the occupied West Bank when hitchhiking, presumably back to their respective homes, from a settlement religious school. 

There is an enormous gap the rabbi leaves unexplained regarding how the country went from the crime of the former, to an entire country choosing to wage war: 

 'Then the rockets started falling and Operation “Protective Edge” began...The entire country supported the government and the army with almost universal approval.'

Without questioning, we would not know that tensions began to rise not with the abduction and murders of the three Jewish teens in June, but three weeks before, on Nakba Day, May 15th. The IDF shot and killed two Palestinian teens in cold blood at a demonstration outside of Ofer Prison.  One of the youths was shot in the back.  Both were unarmed, it was in broad daylight and there were many witnesses to these events.

After the three Jewish teens went missing, this gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the excuse he needed to ramp up tensions further by instituting what was the equivalent of a Palestinian Kristalnacht in the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for the teens. There was a clear purpose in instigating such provocations. In recent days, Palestinian political leadership of rival political parties Hamas and Fatah signaled their intention to reconcile. Unified, Natenyahu et al could no longer claim that they had no 'partner for peace'.  Peace means the cessation of further ethnic cleansing and colonization of Palestinian land. 

Hundreds of West Bank homes were violently broken into in the middle of the night. IDF soldiers caused gratuitous wanton damage to households; stole money and other valuables; viciously beat people; and arrested hundreds without charge - including many in the Hamas party leadership.  And with this for background, how things devolved becomes far more clear. Rabbi Bloch's timeline of events makes absolutely no sense otherwise.  

Logic

No logical person would ever accept the premise that oppressing the Other could foster greater prospects for peaceful security for oneself.  

There is no logical correllary between a criminal investigation into the kidnappings and murders of three teenagers versus the ultimate crime of aggressive war on a captive civilian population. 

The 1.8 million people of The Gaza Strip have been suffering under an illegal Israeli military occupation for years.  This latest military slaughter caused the deaths of over 500 children alone.  Israel's 'Operation Protective Edge' was instigated by Israel, the violence was wanton, the IDF committed many war crimes, Israeli political leaders openly call for genocide [or the practical equivalent, as seen in Deputy Minister of Defense, Dany Alon's recent inane, amoral tweet:  

The highest ideal is not group cohesiveness.  Cohesiveness is for cowards.  The highest ideal is risking rejection by the group by pointing out the errors of the group's leadership.  

Some of the best blogs [of which there are many]: Mondoweiss; Richard Silverstein.

Organizations: Independent Jewish Voices; Jewish Voices for Peace

Caller - does #Israel not have right to defend itself - Mike Malloy explodes [6mins]

The Mike Malloy Show - YouTube
August 12, 2014

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The latest book by Owen Jones:
'The Establishment: And how they get away with it'; [2014]

Child deaths - #Gaza 577 - #Israel 1 - and yet -- August 26 2014

by Diane V. McLoughlin

Gaza has suffered massive loss, particularly in the catastrophic numbers of children killed during Operation Protective Edge, Israel's latest and most brutal assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. 577 children in Gaza are now deceased, versus Israel's loss of one child.

And yet a columnist with Haaretz, one Amir Oren (any relation to Michael Oren of the exploding toasters claim?) can still write this:

'...for Israel the experience has been more stomach-turning.'

Israel is the one with the greater indigestion?!

In fact, there is not a straight line of clear analysis in the piece.  Logic and ethics seem to bounce around all over the place with no discernable personal conviction apparent, but perhaps this provides a fair representation of attitudes and opinions of the country as a whole.

There is no 'next time' if Israel does what it should:  Lift the siege of Gaza, end the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and permit the right of return to Palestinians forced to flee their homes in 1948.

Ironically, on the same page as Oren's commentary, an organization advertises that it assists with Holocaust second-generation reparations claims (centerforreparations.org) - dispensing with any notions that too much time has passed for Israel to be obligated by international law to give back anything of what belongs to the Palestinian people.

Food in #Gaza - The reality of slow starvation - August 26 2014

August 26, 2014 - by Diane V. McLoughlin

Mainstream media outlets are reporting that all parties to the current assault on Gaza have agreed today to ceasefire proposals brought forward by Egypt.  The blockade will be eased at the crossings controlled by Egypt and Israel to allow humanitarian goods in to Gaza.

All issues are to be put off for one month at which time negotiations on peace proposals are to begin.

I will tell you that I had difficulty locating on the internet the actual terms and proposals from Egypt.  At time of writing I have been unsuccessful in locating any copies of the text of the ceasefire agreement.*

*Update: Here is a summary of the proposals: 'What's in the Gaza peace deal?'; Al Quds English; August 27, 2014. 

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is on record stating that Israel will not participate in these planned negotiations unless there is a "total end to terror attacks".  As Israel is notorious for provoking a response and then blaming the other side, anything can happen between now and then.

On August 24 2014, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs boasted that they permitted 118 truckloads of humanitarian goods into Gaza that day.

Minimum daily truck traffic of food and other necessities was pegged at 500 back in 2009.  Obviously this number would have increased during the intervening years leading up to 2014's so-called Operation Protective Edge [some idea of potential logistical issues, here, although the statistics at link are outdated.]

Estimates are that it might take as long as 20 years for Gaza to rebuild what Israel destroyed.

East Al Shaaf, Gaza - Operation Protective Edge - via Palestinianism

           

Israel and Egypt better calculate into their truce negotiations a month hence that they may need to multiply by a factor of 20 that 118 figure so helpfully supplied - 2,000 or more trucks per day. But who knows? Maybe it's 4,000 trucks per day. The numbers of trucks that will need to pass through the eyes of needles they control into Gaza, while some in Israel will no doubt continue to attempt fomenting discord means the situation will continue to be frought with issues.

Israeli Deputy Minister of Defense, Danny Alon's suggestion on maintaining 'quiet' in Gaza  - prevent transfer of food and water; August 20, 2014 - Twitter

Who will personally take ownership of the task of seeing to it that the people of Gaza will have food to eat, safe water to drink, medicine and medical supplies for the sick and injured along with vital building supplies to repair hospitals, roads, schools and homes?

Israel and Egypt have caused, through their seven year long siege, followed by so-called 'Operation 'Protective Edge', conditions in which the people of Gaza have no reserves left with which to survive.

This August 26, 2014, Facebook post, a picture of Gaza resident Mohammed Baroud's empty fridge, illustates the point, well enough:

Food in Gaza - the reality of slow starvation - by Mohammed Baroud; August 26, 2014

I #BOYCOTT #ISRAEL [August 12 2014 - 2mins]

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