No Kings was wasted. Very likey, it was wasted intentional. If they had formulated and circulated Constitutional Amendments to be presented and signed, I would have attended. Millions would have. But it was all for show - not for actual change.
What amendments?
No pedophiles in government service
Return to Congressional war powers
No military connections to public service
No deep-state policy making
No Insider trading
Permanent bans for illegal acts
I'm certain there are many amendments that would return power back to citizens. What would you do?
Regime change seems to be the MIC violence of our lifetime. How about we mandate the State Department (rather than the military) manage ALL international relations? War and regime change should be the last resort, not the everyday and universal first step.
YES TO THIS - but but but - it is going to take International Solidarity and pressure beyond the Fteedom Flotillas- mass Marches at the same time perhaps - Mass halting of buying goods from Israel. MASS International Port Labor Strikes - imagine our soldiers refusing to participate en masses ' well that might be too much to hope for, given the repercussions for them. I would like to see an enormous Baloon drop pictures of the Palestinian children killed and injured, all over the White House "lawn" ' but that definitely is not going to happen. Keep up your persistent truth telling. Thank you.
And I want an online, 24/7, virtual vigil for Gaza, non-stop, that people all over the world can participate in. So far, I haven't found a way to do that.
Look what's happening in the UK over the police banning of Israeli soccer hooligans. Starmer and his minions are frothing over the ban and promising the Israeli thugs they'll find a way to get them in. Presumably, now the Midlands Police are now antisemitic. Can the empire get any more out of touch with those who hold the pitchforks?
If we ever needed more proof that Starmer, who famously was photographed in front of a "Kick Israeli Racism out of FIFA" poster back in 2015 (https://x.com/presstvsports/status/1979930833797456165) is bought and paid for by the Zionist lobby, this is it.
He's aligning himself once again with far-right leader Nigel Farage, who used the term "Jewish football supporters" to describe the banned hooligans, who have wreacked nothing but havoc everywhere they go.
Exactly, 'they' are deliberately pitting those with pitchforks against Israeli thugs and puppet politicians doing deliberately unpopular things, deflecting from themselves. The empire is not out of touch at all.
"No amount of propaganda is going to cause people to unsee two years of live-streamed genocide. Propaganda is a powerful tool, but it isn’t magic."
Perfectly stated. The zionists aren't magicians. They can't make people forget what they've seen and read about for the past two years. We know what they've done and are still doing. And now we've become immune to their manipulations. That is something to celebrate--and to share with others who are still under their spell. Once a large number of us are no longer bewitched, then we should rise up and take action such as a general strike. Shut it all down!
Exactly. I know people who were so pro-israel they were unreasonable if you said a wrong word, in near opinion about Israel. Now they are awake, some wide awake, because you cannot unsee the truth of what Israelis are doing to innocent civilians.
Hoping that with the obvious lies the MSM has attempted to perpetrate during this Palestinian genocide that many more of us will begin to question: what else have they been lying to us about?
I consider this half the battle won; now, if we could get more normies to wake up and connect the dots, I say we have a decent chance at winning this thing :)
I REFUSE to interpret my understanding of reality within the strictures dictated by the unhinged and tyrannically malevolent ruling classes of the world’s nations.
Nor do I consent to be retained as a political hostage to said illicit entities.
not necessarily. Could just be a gambit, a stopping of the ratchet before they resume a genocide Trump will support. After all it's likely that those terroristic Palestinians will refuse to self-deport or kill themselves so Trump, Nutty and their real estate rings can create Rivera Gaza.
While I agree with the overall thesis of this essay, I’m not sure that your closing assertion is quite correct:
“This has never happened before.”
I suppose it depends on exactly what “this” is referring to. But I think it’s quite reasonable to argue that in the last 100 years, the oligarchs have seen their vise-like grip on the narrative threatened twice. The 1930-39 period saw the oligarchs forced into major concessions lest they risk ending up with a full-blown revolution. Of course these concessions won during the Great Depression have been continuously watered down for the last 80 years until now where almost nothing remains. The 1967-73 period also saw the narrative take some big hits, but almost every source of resistance and genuine opposition in the empire-controlled countries was rapidly co-opted or turned into controlled opposition, leading to the completely captured electoral politics we see everywhere today. Nothing has even vaguely threatened the prevailing order for 50 years, so we need to figure out a way to convert the current opportunity into momentum for fundamental change. What is different this time is that both materially and morally the system is failing under the weight of its own contradictions, and this is being much more clearly exposed. The stresses in the system are too deep for too many to ignore. When the next systemic crisis hits, will we be prepared for the inevitable standoff against oligarchic power?
Yes. And the key thing is environmental and resource constraints. If you can lift your awareness out of the2020s and look at the rest of this century, human extinction looms on the trajectory we're on--not only climate change, but with insect and animal populations declining by 1 to 2% per year, how long until ecosystems collapse? With sperm counts dropping at a similar rate, how long until the Handmaid's Tale? With the tools of massive surveillance and anonymous assassination by drone in the hands of sociopathic elites, the resistance needs to get serious very soon.
Can't help but think that the "imperial boomerang" has only just begun to return home to the US (it's happening in EU big time). Which may not initially sound directly relevant, but it's a different time when the nobody civilian population in the metropole (aka "us") can witness in real-time the direct and indirect crimes of Empire.
Trump's army of anonymous (DUI contesting) brownshirts, Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel (not to mention the scions of Apple, FaceFuck and Twatter) are ready and willing to contribute the surveillance and databasing component too.
Point being, Caitlin is 1000% right about the need to manage the PR, but the powers that be have other systems at their control which can both directly and indirectly artificially manipulate public opinion - or - that part of public opinion which reaches the masses or our fake democratic leaders of both parties. Israel is expert at this.
I'm posting this on various sites, not to boast, but to get the word out on what I see as a(nother) slick tactic on the part of Israeli apologists to whitewash the black soul of their beloved Israel, if indeed it had one. Thanks in advance for your indulgence.
One of the – among how many? – things that I have been put onto over the past two years, and that I have found pinnaclingly (that a word? I submit as a neologism) revolting about the Israelis/Zionists/their apologists is their glib, facile, pretentious, presumptuous, sleight-of-hand, above-the-fray (can you tell I’m a bit irked?) use, exploitation, appropriation (ha, so typical of them!) of language and sentiment, all in service to their putrid, illegitimate, fictional “homeland.”
Case in point. The modern day Forward, continuing the venerable tradition of its predecessor Jewish Daily Forward, still offers more than respectable, even top-notch reporting and commentary, not only on Jewish life, but on more general social justice issues. It is not immune, however, from running tripe, particularly – or especially? – although well disguised, hence difficult to detect, even for its editors, when it comes to Israel. An example of this is found in an Oct. 19 opinion piece by Dany Bahar https://forward.com/opinion/777040/israel-divestment-gaza-reconstruction/.
One can’t help being impressed, seduced by his argument: “I want to offer a simple, slightly provocative suggestion: “If you care about Palestinian lives, don’t just divest from Israel. Invest in Gaza. And I mean that quite literally.” Take a few minutes to read the entire piece, and note the subtleties as you read along:
“And if Gaza is to be more than a symbol of tragedy — if it is to become a place where young people can live, work, and build a future — it will need productive investment. Physical infrastructure alone won’t deliver prosperity. The creation of markets and sustained economic growth requires investment in businesses, job creation, job training and entrepreneurship. That, too, must be part of the agenda.”
[As if the enormity of the physical, economic, and social destruction of Gaza can ever be undone.]
“Which means it’s time for the pro-Palestinian activists who have protested in cities and on college campuses all over the world since October, 2023, to change their tune.”
“… if you were pushing institutions to divest from Israeli-linked firms; if you’ve held a sign that says “Free Palestine” — it’s time to reconsider your tactics.”
“Imagine if even a fraction of the energy spent on divestment campaigns was channeled into reconstruction and development funds. Universities could create fellowships, specifically for Gaza residents, to give them the training necessary to bring their territory into a better future.”
“And here’s the uncomfortable truth: While divestment campaigns are great at signaling values, they rarely create concrete results that bring positive change to the lives of everyday Palestinians. They have yet to rebuild a single school. They don’t help provide health care.”
I could go on and on… and on; what this guy is foisting is the typical Israeli/hasbara ploy: blame the victim; absolve Israel; make it all sound in the name of peace [never a serious pursuit by Israel, except on its terms].
So I wrote this back to Forward:
“Dany Bahar's "It's time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change" is a clever ruse at deflecting accountability of Israel for the wanton tens-of-billions of dollars - likely much more - of the physical and economic destruction, to say nothing of the social variety, it has unleashed upon the people of Gaza.
“Surely his position at Brown University's Watson Institute, and affiliations with the likes of The Growth Lab at Harvard Center for International Development, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Global Development would lend insight into conceptual and practical means by which to invest in Gaza. "The Draft Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law” of the ICJ and other human rights groups should be familiar to many of his associates, or at least easily consulted by them.
“Fundamentally, it is a general principle of public international law that any "internationally wrongful act" by a State (i.e. a breach of an international obligation) gives rise to the obligation of that State to make reparations. Therefore, a ready, if not the total, amount of what Mr. Bahar seeks has already been identified.”
Caitlin, I love you to death, but I do not share your glass-half-full point of view.
Yes, people in record numbers are turning away from Israel. That's a welcome change from the way things used to be.
But I think the problem lies in 3 areas:
1) Western governments, with a few notable exceptions, see Israel as a lucrative market in which to sell their arms and their technology. They also don't want to upset the Zionist power structure already in place (See: the UK Labour party). There's also a lot more center-right and far right governments (who are traditionally very pro-Israel) in power today. And most importantly, until more US politicians say no to AIPAC money and stop sending billions to Israel every year, nothing will change.
2) The word "anti-semite" is still a very powerful smear. Used endlessly, recklessly and without any care of consequence, the Zionists mobs know that it is very likely ordinary folk like us would get fired from our jobs if we spoke up too vociferously for Palestinians.
3) Israel stills operates with impunity. There is literally nothing they cannot do to Palestinians or other countries' citizens (see: Greta Thunberg) and there will never be any consequences.
I WANT to be hopeful, but I cannot see these things changing any time soon.
France, Spain, Belgium Germany, the UK, and German have now banned or restrict arms to Israel....Only the US and Germany had a large share, and Germany is stopped any new contracts.
The term anti-semite has lost most of its bite. With people like Chomsky, Sanders, and even Israel intellectual and artists calling out genocide, the fear of being called anti-Semitic or "a self-loathing Jew" has been dwarfed by the dishonor of Israel being recognied as a genocidal nation.
Without US support, Israel cannot act with impunity, and it knows that most Americans now disapprove of Israel's war, and the majority of Democrats view it as genocide, and so that impunity is not constrained...and even Trump called them out for more atrocites claiming Hamas had attacked them by saying he though it was other groups, not Hamas, refusing to buy into their default excuse for murder.
I do not think it is hope, which is passive, that we need but rather courage and a committment to act together, for they have the guns but we have each other and united, they cannot defeat us.
I wouldn't put too much stock in anything the UK government says about Israel. They're still selling F-35 components to Israel and have (and probably still do) flown countless intelligence flights from their base in Malta and have passed on the information to Israel. Starmer entertained President Herzog only last month, for fuck's sake. And his dertermination that Maccabi football ̶h̶o̶o̶l̶i̶g̶a̶n̶s̶ fans be allowed to come to the UK is just sickening.
Trump lies about everything, Dale, so you can be sure him "calling out" Israel publicly has not deterred them one bit, since they know the arms and the political cover will always be there.
I used to be a big Bernie Sanders fan, but his "the problem is just Hamas and Bibi" shtick was very disappointing.
That is why I said banned or RESTRICTED. The Uk does not send F-35 parts to Israel but to thre US, which may then end up going to Israel. To stop that UK would have to ban shipping parts to the US.
I think it is clear that when even Trump, who lies but sometimes tells the truth, when he thinkis it will serve him, called out Israael on resuming the attacks, it had an effect in halting the attacks. He has not stopped the attacks but restrained them.....it appears.
AS for turning against the man leading the charge to block US arms to Israel, which would cripple their ability to commit genocide, I think it fair to say that Hamas is a right wing, fundamentalist, misogynist organization that would, in any other context , be seen in a negative light. You do noit need to defend a righwing fundamentalist organization to stand up for Palestinian rights. Even many Hamas leaders have said had they realized how extreme the retaliation to Oct 7 would be, they would not have supported it. This fight for justice is not about choosing between two reactionary enemies but standing up for Palestinian rights, a right they have not had to choose their leaders since 2006. The crimes of Hamas are dwarfed by the crimes of Israel, but I, as a pro-Palestinian activist, cannot defend the crimes of any faction, large or small.
Very good response,Caitlin.The system is BRITTLE--hard but fragile. Remember that folks. While it is obvious that the Oct events were orchestrated by a faction of the ruling class for its benefit, the fact that so many came out to show disgust at the state of affairs is very positive. We are due for a political earthquake that in Dylan's words in "The Times they are a changin' " "Will soon shake your widows and rattle your walls."
Every word. They will continue to fail and self sabotage until they are completely undone. I can't wait for the day!
I can't wait for that day too ! but meanwhile, we have to keep posting, sharing, commenting, shouting, protesting ...etc
🤞🤞🤞
Luckily, there are many things to do, protests, petitions, letter-writing, emails, independent journalists to support, organizations to join.
No Kings was wasted. Very likey, it was wasted intentional. If they had formulated and circulated Constitutional Amendments to be presented and signed, I would have attended. Millions would have. But it was all for show - not for actual change.
What amendments?
No pedophiles in government service
Return to Congressional war powers
No military connections to public service
No deep-state policy making
No Insider trading
Permanent bans for illegal acts
I'm certain there are many amendments that would return power back to citizens. What would you do?
Regime change seems to be the MIC violence of our lifetime. How about we mandate the State Department (rather than the military) manage ALL international relations? War and regime change should be the last resort, not the everyday and universal first step.
You mean, give it all the Marco Rubio? Not sure I'm liking that.
Interesting point, but I am not sure it matters whether the Ministry of Peace or the Ministry of Truth handles foreign relations.
BAM. You've always got something amazing to say 🎯
YES TO THIS - but but but - it is going to take International Solidarity and pressure beyond the Fteedom Flotillas- mass Marches at the same time perhaps - Mass halting of buying goods from Israel. MASS International Port Labor Strikes - imagine our soldiers refusing to participate en masses ' well that might be too much to hope for, given the repercussions for them. I would like to see an enormous Baloon drop pictures of the Palestinian children killed and injured, all over the White House "lawn" ' but that definitely is not going to happen. Keep up your persistent truth telling. Thank you.
And I want an online, 24/7, virtual vigil for Gaza, non-stop, that people all over the world can participate in. So far, I haven't found a way to do that.
Look what's happening in the UK over the police banning of Israeli soccer hooligans. Starmer and his minions are frothing over the ban and promising the Israeli thugs they'll find a way to get them in. Presumably, now the Midlands Police are now antisemitic. Can the empire get any more out of touch with those who hold the pitchforks?
Exactly.
If we ever needed more proof that Starmer, who famously was photographed in front of a "Kick Israeli Racism out of FIFA" poster back in 2015 (https://x.com/presstvsports/status/1979930833797456165) is bought and paid for by the Zionist lobby, this is it.
He's aligning himself once again with far-right leader Nigel Farage, who used the term "Jewish football supporters" to describe the banned hooligans, who have wreacked nothing but havoc everywhere they go.
Exactly, 'they' are deliberately pitting those with pitchforks against Israeli thugs and puppet politicians doing deliberately unpopular things, deflecting from themselves. The empire is not out of touch at all.
Well said!! Henry Kissinger is reported to have said “Being America’s enemy is dangerous but being America’s friend is fatal.” Keep up the pressure.
"No amount of propaganda is going to cause people to unsee two years of live-streamed genocide. Propaganda is a powerful tool, but it isn’t magic."
Perfectly stated. The zionists aren't magicians. They can't make people forget what they've seen and read about for the past two years. We know what they've done and are still doing. And now we've become immune to their manipulations. That is something to celebrate--and to share with others who are still under their spell. Once a large number of us are no longer bewitched, then we should rise up and take action such as a general strike. Shut it all down!
That’s what the mayor of Chicago just called for.
Exactly. I know people who were so pro-israel they were unreasonable if you said a wrong word, in near opinion about Israel. Now they are awake, some wide awake, because you cannot unsee the truth of what Israelis are doing to innocent civilians.
Hoping that with the obvious lies the MSM has attempted to perpetrate during this Palestinian genocide that many more of us will begin to question: what else have they been lying to us about?
I consider this half the battle won; now, if we could get more normies to wake up and connect the dots, I say we have a decent chance at winning this thing :)
I think everyday is a new awakening for thousands.
Trump, and his coterie’s use of baby language, to attempt to minimise, the horror, that is Israel, is nauseating🤮
I REFUSE to interpret my understanding of reality within the strictures dictated by the unhinged and tyrannically malevolent ruling classes of the world’s nations.
Nor do I consent to be retained as a political hostage to said illicit entities.
When even Trump thinks someone is doing things that are not in their own long-term interests, that's when you know they have really, really fucked up.
not necessarily. Could just be a gambit, a stopping of the ratchet before they resume a genocide Trump will support. After all it's likely that those terroristic Palestinians will refuse to self-deport or kill themselves so Trump, Nutty and their real estate rings can create Rivera Gaza.
While I agree with the overall thesis of this essay, I’m not sure that your closing assertion is quite correct:
“This has never happened before.”
I suppose it depends on exactly what “this” is referring to. But I think it’s quite reasonable to argue that in the last 100 years, the oligarchs have seen their vise-like grip on the narrative threatened twice. The 1930-39 period saw the oligarchs forced into major concessions lest they risk ending up with a full-blown revolution. Of course these concessions won during the Great Depression have been continuously watered down for the last 80 years until now where almost nothing remains. The 1967-73 period also saw the narrative take some big hits, but almost every source of resistance and genuine opposition in the empire-controlled countries was rapidly co-opted or turned into controlled opposition, leading to the completely captured electoral politics we see everywhere today. Nothing has even vaguely threatened the prevailing order for 50 years, so we need to figure out a way to convert the current opportunity into momentum for fundamental change. What is different this time is that both materially and morally the system is failing under the weight of its own contradictions, and this is being much more clearly exposed. The stresses in the system are too deep for too many to ignore. When the next systemic crisis hits, will we be prepared for the inevitable standoff against oligarchic power?
Yes. And the key thing is environmental and resource constraints. If you can lift your awareness out of the2020s and look at the rest of this century, human extinction looms on the trajectory we're on--not only climate change, but with insect and animal populations declining by 1 to 2% per year, how long until ecosystems collapse? With sperm counts dropping at a similar rate, how long until the Handmaid's Tale? With the tools of massive surveillance and anonymous assassination by drone in the hands of sociopathic elites, the resistance needs to get serious very soon.
Can't help but think that the "imperial boomerang" has only just begun to return home to the US (it's happening in EU big time). Which may not initially sound directly relevant, but it's a different time when the nobody civilian population in the metropole (aka "us") can witness in real-time the direct and indirect crimes of Empire.
Trump's army of anonymous (DUI contesting) brownshirts, Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel (not to mention the scions of Apple, FaceFuck and Twatter) are ready and willing to contribute the surveillance and databasing component too.
Point being, Caitlin is 1000% right about the need to manage the PR, but the powers that be have other systems at their control which can both directly and indirectly artificially manipulate public opinion - or - that part of public opinion which reaches the masses or our fake democratic leaders of both parties. Israel is expert at this.
Never expect but always hope. On the other hand hope cannot be sustained as long as there is a Zionist entity in existence.
I'm posting this on various sites, not to boast, but to get the word out on what I see as a(nother) slick tactic on the part of Israeli apologists to whitewash the black soul of their beloved Israel, if indeed it had one. Thanks in advance for your indulgence.
One of the – among how many? – things that I have been put onto over the past two years, and that I have found pinnaclingly (that a word? I submit as a neologism) revolting about the Israelis/Zionists/their apologists is their glib, facile, pretentious, presumptuous, sleight-of-hand, above-the-fray (can you tell I’m a bit irked?) use, exploitation, appropriation (ha, so typical of them!) of language and sentiment, all in service to their putrid, illegitimate, fictional “homeland.”
Case in point. The modern day Forward, continuing the venerable tradition of its predecessor Jewish Daily Forward, still offers more than respectable, even top-notch reporting and commentary, not only on Jewish life, but on more general social justice issues. It is not immune, however, from running tripe, particularly – or especially? – although well disguised, hence difficult to detect, even for its editors, when it comes to Israel. An example of this is found in an Oct. 19 opinion piece by Dany Bahar https://forward.com/opinion/777040/israel-divestment-gaza-reconstruction/.
One can’t help being impressed, seduced by his argument: “I want to offer a simple, slightly provocative suggestion: “If you care about Palestinian lives, don’t just divest from Israel. Invest in Gaza. And I mean that quite literally.” Take a few minutes to read the entire piece, and note the subtleties as you read along:
“And if Gaza is to be more than a symbol of tragedy — if it is to become a place where young people can live, work, and build a future — it will need productive investment. Physical infrastructure alone won’t deliver prosperity. The creation of markets and sustained economic growth requires investment in businesses, job creation, job training and entrepreneurship. That, too, must be part of the agenda.”
[As if the enormity of the physical, economic, and social destruction of Gaza can ever be undone.]
“Which means it’s time for the pro-Palestinian activists who have protested in cities and on college campuses all over the world since October, 2023, to change their tune.”
“… if you were pushing institutions to divest from Israeli-linked firms; if you’ve held a sign that says “Free Palestine” — it’s time to reconsider your tactics.”
“Imagine if even a fraction of the energy spent on divestment campaigns was channeled into reconstruction and development funds. Universities could create fellowships, specifically for Gaza residents, to give them the training necessary to bring their territory into a better future.”
“And here’s the uncomfortable truth: While divestment campaigns are great at signaling values, they rarely create concrete results that bring positive change to the lives of everyday Palestinians. They have yet to rebuild a single school. They don’t help provide health care.”
I could go on and on… and on; what this guy is foisting is the typical Israeli/hasbara ploy: blame the victim; absolve Israel; make it all sound in the name of peace [never a serious pursuit by Israel, except on its terms].
So I wrote this back to Forward:
“Dany Bahar's "It's time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change" is a clever ruse at deflecting accountability of Israel for the wanton tens-of-billions of dollars - likely much more - of the physical and economic destruction, to say nothing of the social variety, it has unleashed upon the people of Gaza.
“Surely his position at Brown University's Watson Institute, and affiliations with the likes of The Growth Lab at Harvard Center for International Development, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Global Development would lend insight into conceptual and practical means by which to invest in Gaza. "The Draft Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law” of the ICJ and other human rights groups should be familiar to many of his associates, or at least easily consulted by them.
“Fundamentally, it is a general principle of public international law that any "internationally wrongful act" by a State (i.e. a breach of an international obligation) gives rise to the obligation of that State to make reparations. Therefore, a ready, if not the total, amount of what Mr. Bahar seeks has already been identified.”
Kinda doubt I’ll hear back.
Caitlin, I love you to death, but I do not share your glass-half-full point of view.
Yes, people in record numbers are turning away from Israel. That's a welcome change from the way things used to be.
But I think the problem lies in 3 areas:
1) Western governments, with a few notable exceptions, see Israel as a lucrative market in which to sell their arms and their technology. They also don't want to upset the Zionist power structure already in place (See: the UK Labour party). There's also a lot more center-right and far right governments (who are traditionally very pro-Israel) in power today. And most importantly, until more US politicians say no to AIPAC money and stop sending billions to Israel every year, nothing will change.
2) The word "anti-semite" is still a very powerful smear. Used endlessly, recklessly and without any care of consequence, the Zionists mobs know that it is very likely ordinary folk like us would get fired from our jobs if we spoke up too vociferously for Palestinians.
3) Israel stills operates with impunity. There is literally nothing they cannot do to Palestinians or other countries' citizens (see: Greta Thunberg) and there will never be any consequences.
I WANT to be hopeful, but I cannot see these things changing any time soon.
France, Spain, Belgium Germany, the UK, and German have now banned or restrict arms to Israel....Only the US and Germany had a large share, and Germany is stopped any new contracts.
The term anti-semite has lost most of its bite. With people like Chomsky, Sanders, and even Israel intellectual and artists calling out genocide, the fear of being called anti-Semitic or "a self-loathing Jew" has been dwarfed by the dishonor of Israel being recognied as a genocidal nation.
Without US support, Israel cannot act with impunity, and it knows that most Americans now disapprove of Israel's war, and the majority of Democrats view it as genocide, and so that impunity is not constrained...and even Trump called them out for more atrocites claiming Hamas had attacked them by saying he though it was other groups, not Hamas, refusing to buy into their default excuse for murder.
I do not think it is hope, which is passive, that we need but rather courage and a committment to act together, for they have the guns but we have each other and united, they cannot defeat us.
I wouldn't put too much stock in anything the UK government says about Israel. They're still selling F-35 components to Israel and have (and probably still do) flown countless intelligence flights from their base in Malta and have passed on the information to Israel. Starmer entertained President Herzog only last month, for fuck's sake. And his dertermination that Maccabi football ̶h̶o̶o̶l̶i̶g̶a̶n̶s̶ fans be allowed to come to the UK is just sickening.
Trump lies about everything, Dale, so you can be sure him "calling out" Israel publicly has not deterred them one bit, since they know the arms and the political cover will always be there.
I used to be a big Bernie Sanders fan, but his "the problem is just Hamas and Bibi" shtick was very disappointing.
That is why I said banned or RESTRICTED. The Uk does not send F-35 parts to Israel but to thre US, which may then end up going to Israel. To stop that UK would have to ban shipping parts to the US.
I think it is clear that when even Trump, who lies but sometimes tells the truth, when he thinkis it will serve him, called out Israael on resuming the attacks, it had an effect in halting the attacks. He has not stopped the attacks but restrained them.....it appears.
AS for turning against the man leading the charge to block US arms to Israel, which would cripple their ability to commit genocide, I think it fair to say that Hamas is a right wing, fundamentalist, misogynist organization that would, in any other context , be seen in a negative light. You do noit need to defend a righwing fundamentalist organization to stand up for Palestinian rights. Even many Hamas leaders have said had they realized how extreme the retaliation to Oct 7 would be, they would not have supported it. This fight for justice is not about choosing between two reactionary enemies but standing up for Palestinian rights, a right they have not had to choose their leaders since 2006. The crimes of Hamas are dwarfed by the crimes of Israel, but I, as a pro-Palestinian activist, cannot defend the crimes of any faction, large or small.
Black swans are impossible to see until they happen, same thing with success against overwhelming odds. They too do happen.
Very good response,Caitlin.The system is BRITTLE--hard but fragile. Remember that folks. While it is obvious that the Oct events were orchestrated by a faction of the ruling class for its benefit, the fact that so many came out to show disgust at the state of affairs is very positive. We are due for a political earthquake that in Dylan's words in "The Times they are a changin' " "Will soon shake your widows and rattle your walls."
"Ever since I was a baby girl
Wanted one thing most in this world
It was to Keep My Love -
Keep My Love alive"
https://griobhtha1.substack.com/p/x-rubicon-married-life-children-problems