183 Comments
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Richard Parker's avatar

I am struggling to with an internal conflict about how I will deal with meeting any Israeli in the future. Often, after they have spent a couple of years in their army, they head off for a long trip often India, Nepal, SE Asia.

In the past I have been intensely irritated by the way they have taken over restaurants by crowding in and singing their songs.

Now all I would have is hatred and detest for these animals. Questions that cannot be asked would run through my head.

"How many children did you kill?"

"How many women did you kill?"

"How many did you torture?"

"How many families have you destroyed?"

"How many homes have you flattened?"

"How many have you watched dying and suffering and done nothing to help?"

These questions cannot be asked, because they are evil, trained child killers, women killers, genocide worshippers and it would potentially provoke a violent response.

All I could do would be to meekly leave because I would feel physically sick to be in the same room.

And that, I suppose, is the way they want it and the world has become. They have silenced the majority.

I will not forget the hideous images, and can only shudder at the horror of actually being there, the ruins, the stench of decomposing corpses, the desperation of an oppressed community.

And in the middle the celebration of Israelis.

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Sam's avatar

It’s Israel’s actions that are driving up anti Semitism. And I bet they know that.

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Lowell Googins's avatar

It is part of the Zionist game plan. It provides sympathy and of course bombs and big bucks.

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Paul's avatar

Not to mention increased antisemitism means more Jews migrating to Israel.

Presently there are more Jews living in the US than in Israel. This is a sore point for Zionists (who it must be said are NOT exclusively Jewish) as it exposes the fallacy of claiming only Israel can be a “safe place for Jews”.

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

I have not seen actual increased antisemitism, though there must be some. I can totally relate to the OP's feelings if Israelis come into a restaurant he or she is sitting in, for example--but it that actually antisemitism? If local Jews came in, would we feel that way? Also, I think what's happening is driving more Jews out of Israel than into it.

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kristofarian's avatar

and they're caught up in it

some torn in two* ~ but

yeah that shit ripples

across Continents

.

*seldom literally

see: Palestine

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

Bet they know that Sam, and they do not care.

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Susan T's avatar

I live on a main road in a neighbourhood with a lot of zionists. Across the street are people who mostly seem just normal. I have an internal conflict every time I have to, for some reason, walk down the zionist populated street. I am not close friends with my neighbours, but I used to talk to them. I can't any more because I am afraid to hear what they think and how I might want to react.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

Me too. There are people I'm avoiding because I know I can't change their minds, and I don't want the stress of conflict. I think this is happening everywhere.

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The Revolution Continues's avatar

Me three. I don't want to talk to them because I just don't want to think even less of former friends and acquaintances who don't care what's happening in Gaza and elsewhere. Zy0nists seem to live in their own little bubble where everything is golden and you're wrong if you support "terrorists". Sigh!

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Eddie's avatar

I don't want to spend any time talking with a Zionist. Screw them.

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JennyStokes's avatar

I don't think there would be any point in conversing.

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gypsy33's avatar

Eddie, my sentiments exactly.

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gypsy33's avatar

Oh gosh, RB, I THRIVE on conflict!

I just wish I could still use my fists without getting arrested, like the good old days when you could kick someone’s ass just because they needed their ass kicked!

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kristofarian's avatar

you may well get another Opportunity

to Shine, gypsy when we're forced to

whip out our pitchforks and torches.

punching Nazis may soon become

a rite of Passage to Humanity.

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gypsy33's avatar

Hi Kris

Luckily I also have firearms with extended clips 😉

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kristofarian's avatar

can you read them

like magazines?

jk!

.

neocons

have no Corner

on the weaponry marketplace

.

but Pitchforks

make ya look

Badass

.

and

slingshots

can come in

pretty Handy

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JennyStokes's avatar

I agree and it's an honest comment Rebel Nun.

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gypsy33's avatar

Hi Susan

No Jews in my neck of the woods but probably a few Zios. At the genocide’s inception, someone around the corner placed an “I Stand With Israel” sign in their front yard.

Needless to say, I made short work of that sign, and it ain’t been back. Does this make me a vandal? Tough titties, don’t give a fuck 😁

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JennyStokes's avatar

How do you know they are Zionists?

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Susan T's avatar

One person's son is a high profile person who promotes Zionism. Some have signs in their window to bring the hostages home. Once I was in the produce store across the street and was accused of "loving Hamas" because I didn't buy a grapefruit from Israel. I hope there are some who are not Zionists, so I don't know for sure who is and who is not. That is part of my problem.

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JennyStokes's avatar

I understand Susan. Thanks for the explanation. Very difficult.

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Susan T's avatar

I think it is good that you asked though. There seems to be a lot of times that people make assumptions about the ideas of others and don't think to ask why.

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JennyStokes's avatar

I spend my life asking 'why?' It's quite a good way to get people to talk to you without being aggressive. Philosophy.

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Abbas Abdulmalik's avatar

Israel is ruining the reputation and status of all Jews around the world, regardless of faith or point of view. Israel, and the very idea of a supremacist state of migrants ruling over, removing, or killing the indigenous subhuman (shall I say untermenschen) Palestinians is rapidly becoming anathema to the rest of the world.

Most of the world is not going to bother making a distinction, like I do, between a Jew and a Zionist. I think the future of Jews depends crucially on their moving away from apartheid Zionism. I believe this should be their greatest goal and aspiration.

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Susan T's avatar

I am constantly correcting people who use the term "Jew" when they mean Zionist. Mostly people get it and try not to say Jewish in place of Zionist.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

No. It’s Jew. Israel is made up of Jews, majority wise. The laws are made for Jews. Well over 90% of Jews worldwide support the Jewish state of Israel and the Jewish Israeli defense force. There is no significant protest by the so-called good Jews anywhere. Not even one percent of the 17.5 million Jews worldwide have stood up and said not in my name. Do you know what 1% of 17.5 million people is? I’m sure you do. So you listing off four or five good Jews is just not enough.

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Susan T's avatar

you are sounding really antisemitic in this comment. Not the usual stuff lately that people get for critcizing the State of Israel.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

What did I say that was inaccurate?

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Susan T's avatar

when you talk about the problems in the US, do you refer to them as Christians? People in the US are mostly Christian, no? So if someone lists off four or five good Christians, I guess that is not enough. Clearly Christians are a bad bad lot. Right? In my opinion (for what that is worth to you), condemning people because of their religion is wrong. Anti Jewishness is, also in my opinion, anti semitism. Anti Zionism is another thing altogether. To be anti Zionist is to be anti fascist, anti colonialist and these days, anti genocide.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

I have stopped making a distinction between Jews and Zionists. If there’s a distinction then how come we aren’t shown it? How come the supposed good Jews don’t do something about their depraved brethren?

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Abbas Abdulmalik's avatar

Sadly, it’s mostly up to other Jews to oppose the Zionist state. Without substantial dissent from within the Jewish community which opposes Israel, there’s little hope of turning this thing around.

The fear of being labeled antisemitic, and the financial vice-grip of the Jewish supremacist oligarch class (as Norman Finkelstein accurately calls them), makes it all but impossible for non-Jews to succeed in voicing any criticism against Israel, unless a substantial number of Jews demonstrate that it’s okay to do so.

Organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, and If Not Now have to grow significantly to make a difference. Otherwise “gird thy loins” when you step into the breach. The Zionist horde is vicious.

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gypsy33's avatar

Heather, some are. Please give a listen to Medea Benjamin, Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate and my favorite, Norman Finkelstein.

Others as well.

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Susan T's avatar

And there are many regular Jewish people who are not Zionists. Independent Jewish Voices, Jews for Peace and probably many more.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

And what are their words doing to stop the genocide? Are they hanging Palestinian flags on their houses? Are they sending money to Gazans?

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Rebel Nun's avatar

What are OUR words doing to stop it? Or our flags, or our donations? It is not helpful to discredit people who are trying to do the same thing “we” are (you don’t know which of us are Jewish), with similar results. You should also check out refuser.org. These young Jews are braver than most of us.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

And don’t forget Bernie Sanders! And Noam Chomsky! And so many more. They’re trying, and they’re being ignored and/or demonized.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

17.5 million Jews worldwide and you list names that can number in the dozens, maybe hundreds. Meaning nothing.

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

I'd list the names of the millions of Jews who oppose genocide except, gee, I don't happen to KNOW them. There have been explicitly Jewish student groups protesting on US campuses, and hey are met with the same violent, ruthless response as non-Jewish ones (although special vitriol seems reserved for Arabs).

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Eddie's avatar

Most Zionists I know about are fundamentalist extreme right-wing Christians, some cosplaying as Jews.

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gypsy33's avatar

Right Eddie, those morons who believe they’ll be “swept up to heaven” during the “rapture”! 😂

The only things gonna sweep them up are large carnivorous birds 😁

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Lowell Googins's avatar

My thoughts exactly. But not only the actual perps but their supporters. They have assisted in the crimes.

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Joseph Ryan's avatar

Ask the questions.

How many children did you Slaughter?

Did you cheer your fellow Israelis as they Slaughtered children?

Did you supply the bombs to help Slaughter tens of thousands of children?

Those are the questions that need to be put to every Israeli, and to every American; every time you meet them.

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Enrique Baigorri's avatar

And I also feel the same "impulse" (or rather, helplessness). Perhaps they have found a way to weaken us by separating us, no longer between factions but as isolated individuals. When you say that they travel to India, I have been there a couple of times, I understand that they like it because starting with the caste culture, perhaps they feel very identified with it and gloat in that environment.

In any case, I don't know, possibly a psychoanalyst would give an explanation based on the same mechanics that occurs with the story of a rapist, who was raped many times in his childhood. Even if it was his parents or grandparents, the transmission of hatred through generations has a strong smell of "madness" that seeks to justify itself "rationally."

Although I am rather agnostic, somehow I feel that in the face of so much evil we can only hope that finally Someone punishes them or stops them, either with a blinding ray, executioner or directly fucking karma. It seems to me that even atheists are waiting for something of this kind. Meanwhile we remain standing still, regrettably.

It is true that this is not the first genocide and that our very civilized societies (USA - EU) have known and carried out genocides very recently. What is different now is that we are granting them the right to apply and enjoy it, as you say.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

Avigail Abravanel is a brilliant psychologist who has an impassioned Substack that is worth subscribing to. She grew up in Israel and renounced it, and analyzes them quite well.

I have lived in India and have many connections there. Israelis are terrorizing the country with zero respect for the locals. They would love to keep them out. Modi is a monster who is in bed with Satanyahoo so that won’t happen.

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Enrique Baigorri's avatar

Thanks @Revelnun. I just subscribed and read one of Avigail Abarbanel's articles about Trump and his NPD, narcissistic personality disorder. I think it's scary, not only because of him but because of how common and widespread it is. It's very obvious that human beings are not perfect, but we must be aware that complex human societies are run by disturbed individuals, not only at the top but also at the bottom and below. That should force us to be very attentive and critical, not docile, if we don't want to fall into the trap again and again.

India, although it is a "democracy", maintains the caste system. It has been doing so for thousands of years, of course. Culture, Tradition, Religion are imposed. And each class "accepts it." And there is the other division between Hindus and Muslims that explodes from time to time. I was referring then to the fact that Jewish Zionism and Indian ultra-nationalism may see themselves somewhat reflected in each other in this game of superiority and contempt. Or at least they seem to sympathise.

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Enrique Baigorri's avatar

Thanks @Revelnun. I just subscribed and read one of Avigail Abarbanel's articles about Trump and his NPD, narcissistic personality disorder. I think it's scary, not only because of him but because of how common and widespread it is. It's very obvious that human beings are not perfect, but we must be aware that complex human societies are run by disturbed individuals, not only at the top but also at the bottom and below. That should force us to be very attentive and critical, not docile, if we don't want to fall into the trap again and again.

India, although it is a "democracy", maintains the caste system. It has been doing so for thousands of years, of course. Culture, Tradition, Religion are imposed. And each class "accepts it." And there is the other division between Hindus and Muslims that explodes from time to time. I was referring then to the fact that Jewish Zionism and Indian ultra-nationalism may see themselves somewhat reflected in each other in this game of superiority and contempt. Or at least they seem to sympathise.

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Raveen's avatar

I'm sure most of us can understand that inner turmoil. I've never considered that cause I don't even want to entertain the idea of meeting an Israeli citizen.

But the very least we all can do is as you mentioned, never forget the heinous crimes committed by the Zionists and their downright evil behaviour.

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Rosie’s Online Dating's avatar

We must not forget. We cannot forget what has happened as it will be repeated again and again.

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Enrique Baigorri's avatar

Yes. And the media is not cooperating, of course. While the 7/10 narrative worked, so good. Now the lights have gone out. Also for the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon until they receive a legitimate response or find a false flag along the way that justifies the headlines and the "crying."

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JennyStokes's avatar

Yeah. Rude/loud and nasty. Have had similar experiences.

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David Baird's avatar

King Donny, Mr Metamucil.

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Sam Waks's avatar

I have a bunch of israeli cousins, many ex army and all fervent zionists. I was asking myself similar questions in the lead up to a recent dinner with several of them. Of course it's probably easier when there's family ties, but I honestly think that turning your back, giving into hatred or running away are not smart ways to deal with it. Very few israeli soldiers are 'actual psycopaths' they've just been so heavily brainwashed that their actions feel totally reasonable and justified. Of course the fact that they are in no way justifiable bubbles under the surface and the only way to get this to actually come to the surface and move past the horror is if they are able to engage with people who hold different viewpoints. Otherwise the echo chamber of the cult just gets stronger and harder to break. Sure the conversation might get a bit heated but handled with love and patience instead of slander and disbelief it is possible to get brainwashed people to at least listen to an opposing opinion and perhaps plant a seed of truth that will blossom the next time they are on the killing fields wondering wtf they are doing.

The other danger of some of the kind of talk I'm seeing in these comments is that it leads to the exact same kind of brainwashing that the Israelis are suffering from. Imagine that all that hatred and anger you feel towards the israeli soldier making tiktok videos in the bombed out houses of slaughtered Palestinians is the exact same anger that the soldier feels towards all Palestinians, they are as certain as we are that these monsters have no humanity and would happily engage in unbeleivable acts of torture, humiliation and murder if given the chance. Dehumanise the israeli soldier and we fall into the exact same trap.

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Heather Connolly's avatar

Give no quarter to these Israeli terrorists. There is no moral equivalency between IDF and Palestinians in a concentration camp. Do not equate apartheid with free society.

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Richard Parker's avatar

I don't have to dehumanize the Israelis. They have already done that themselves. Their behaviour and racism would get anyone else incarcerated.

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

only if we acted on it--including against their children. To observe what IDF is doing in Gaza, what Israeli civilians do to block aid to starving Gazans, and feel compassion--for the Israelis--is inhuman. Yes, the Israelis are heavily propagandized, in exactly the same way as the Nazis who perpetrated similar horrors against their relatives. This is not evidence of something in the blood of either Germans or Jews--it's a matter of conditioning and circumstance, cultural.

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Sam Waks's avatar

Of course no one here is acting on any of this, that's not what I'm suggesting. Dont you see that the conditioning used to brainwash the Israelis is directly tied to the horrors of the holocaust? Keep treating the Israelis as inhuman and it won't take long for another genocide to seem justified.... and so the cycle continues while the dealers of death keep raking in the profits. Read up on IG Farben and its american subsidiaries during WWII, the real inhuman monsters are actually not human ie corporations and economic patterns that profit from human misery....

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gypsy33's avatar

You’ve lost your mind, Sam.

What the REST of us are feeling is called RIGHTEOUS ANGER.

I’ve seen the glee on those IOF faces parading around in Palestinian women’s lingerie, and dancing atop the mass graves of Palestinian men women and children.

Fuck you and your “trap”.

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Sam Waks's avatar

All I'm trying to point out is that the israeli soldiers also percieve their anger to be righteous having probably been exposed to videos of Palestinians mocking them with righteous glee. At the end of the day most of us are making judgements about what is righteous or true based on what our little black mirrors show us. This isn't to say that I don't wholeheartedly believe in the inherent imbalance of this conflict. I have trouble seeing this as anything other than outright genocide, but also remember that the justification for this genocide is the memory of another one. If we are ever going to break the cycle of inhumane violence I believe it is with righteous love and not with righteous anger.

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Baz's avatar

What is needed in Palestine is justice.

With a whole army murdering at this industrial level, and a leadership not even trying to hide their genocidal intent, trails like Nuremberg in 1945 will be required but on an even bigger scale.

Never going to happen in our broken world.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

Hang in there, Sam. What you’re doing is right and brave, and what you’re saying is hard to hear for people whose caring has turned to anger. This is how the War Machine controls us and gets us to support endless wars. We have to rise above it. Compassion needs to win the battle in our minds.

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gypsy33's avatar

Oh, bullshit, Sam.

Give a listen to Norman Finkelstein. He is so fervently against Zionazism BECAUSE both of his parents were interred in concentration camps!

“Justification for genocide”??? Have you lost your fucking mind, or was it absent altogether?

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Sam Waks's avatar

Of course the people committing genocide need a justification for it, to suggest otherwise is exactly the kind of dehumanisation I'm talking about, only a monster who should be wiped from the face of the earth could commit such atrocious acts without somekind of moral or religious justification. Great episode of Black Mirror that illustrated this beautifullly if you're interested in actually trying to understand whats going rather than yelling angrily into the void.

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gypsy33's avatar

There. Is. NO “justification “ for genocide, for religious, “moral” (😂) or any other goddamn reason.

PERIOD.

What don’t you fucking GET? IsraHell wants the Palestinian people gone so they can steal more of historic Palestine!

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

"I believe it is with righteous love and not with righteous anger." It's the only way our species has a chance of surviving. The old way of thinking and reacting run deep. That means we have to work harder to overcome them.

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gypsy33's avatar

Sorry, Joy, but our species HAS no chance of survival.

And good riddance to us. We’ve taken a breathtakingly beautiful planet and destroyed it.

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kristofarian's avatar

giving in to

the reptilican

brainstem doomed

'humanity' since day one

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Abbas Abdulmalik's avatar

Finkelstein’s righteous anger is under control here in this video (over one year ago):

https://youtu.be/C1UKqVYqh_M

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

To hell with Trump and his bovine-faced SuperZionist autocrat, Elon. If I was horrified by the uselessness of the Dems, at least I didn't also have to tolerate the freaking god complex with which these two want to pollute both our discourse and our foreign and domestic policy. They're actually a perfect complement to Israel's chosen godliness. Birds of a feather. VULTURES.

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Raveen's avatar

I know....they're just so brazen in their sense of superiority and not having to be subjected to any sort of accountability in the way they talk about their agendas and other nations.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Indeed. While I expect someone as wealthy as Musk to act from a place of entitlement, his entitlement is projected as deriving from some brilliance denied to us proles that Master Trump and his acolyte Elon inherently possess. Were this Neils Bohr or Albert Einstein expressing such entitlement-of-brilliant-mind, I could easily overlook it. But as it turns out, the truly brilliant like those men tend to be more humble.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

Vultures do an amazing job, and are very important for the environment in the places where they still exist. Nothing about these people you reference have ever done anything to benefit the environment. I understand that our species really wants to pretend that anything bad it does must be coming from some other animal's tendencies, and not from us, but we have to own it, in order to figure out how to dispose of it.

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Vin LoPresti's avatar

Surely you must realize you'd never get any argument from me regarding the essential ecological niche of every organism on the planet, including for example the zombie fungi that parasitize fly brains. But I needed a bird for "birds of a feather". You're astute and also surely recognize that the vulture simile was what both Trump the shyster property developer and Musk the shyster corporate/ financial manipulator do that vultures also do, which is to locate devitalized aspects of the society and cannabalize them, absorbing their financial "nutrients".

You point out that my metaphor/simile is imperfect. Yes! agreed! Vulture action in the biosphere has benefits while financial vultures largely have detriments -- but apparently only in our humble opinions, not in the opinions of a great bulk of American idiots, who I am told really liked Trump's speech and what he and Musk are perpetrating upon us.

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David Avenell's avatar

"We’re talking while China is doing." Indeed Caitlin, although I usually say that as 'Amerika bombs while China builds'.

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kristofarian's avatar

the

Cruelty's

the bloody point.

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David Avenell's avatar

I more inclined to think that the billions of dollars going into the pockets of Amerikan military contractors and arms manufacturers, plus whatever is looted from vassal states is the point.

And yes, that in itself is cruelty on a grand scale.

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

No reason there need be only one point, or one cause of anything.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

Power, Profits, and Prophets. That's what we're facing. Overlooking any one of them is not likely to lead to a solution.

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cal lash's avatar

Hegemony: The Hundered Year Marathon by Michael Pillsbury.

AND

"The Psychopath Test:

Trump IS the 30 items of definition of psychopaths.

AND

now in addition to being Commander and Chief he has a private army of insane foot soldiers.

It's going be ugly long after I'm dead. Good luck kids.

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

A quibble, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Trump fits the definition of Narcissistic personality Disorder so perfectly it should be named after him, Elon is clearly a narcissist too. But this doesn't mean they are NOT psychopaths--NPD is right next to Antisocial Personality Disorder in the DSM, their term for psychopaths. Lately I've come across the term Dark Triad, which means traits of sociopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

Has the DSM-V yet come up with a diagnosis for Trump Is Terrorizing Syndrome (TITS)? Is Pfizer working on a drug for it?

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

David Avenell, You have added a nice, wise one to Caitlin's quotable quote.

"We are talking while China is doing". " America bombs while China builds".

😇😁

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Raveen's avatar

The difference between the 2 is so stark in terms of foreign policy and planning. US's is incredibly short-sighted and driven by evil, greedy agendas....while China's is very much long-term and driven by mutually-benefitting actions.

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kristofarian's avatar

omg,

Caitlin

that Visage

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Caitlin Johnstone's avatar

What's funny is he tweeted it himself; that's the image he used to accompany his Gaza threat on Twitter.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

That's actually his official Presidential photo! He is truly sick. He is doing everything he's doing to scare us, to scare the whole world into worshiping him and doing his will, a classic narcissistic bully. The last person on earth who should be POTUS.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Well it's not working on me!

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

Rebel Nun, I would have thought he is well suited to be POTUS of the American empire!

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Mary Wildfire's avatar

Actually he is, because he's too stupid and self-obsessed to actually manage wars and domination schemes--so he leaves that to others while he basks in a babyish glow of adulation from his cult while Musk and others carry out the agenda. Musk is also so drug-addled and warped he may not last--and each of the cabinet appointees is the worst person for their job, which is why they were picked--and all have been confirmed by a terrorized Republican Congress. I cling to the belief that Trump does not actually have access to the nuclear codes--some grownup at the Pentagon has made sure what he carries are fakes.

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Rebel Nun's avatar

Yes, that’s what we all hoped and kind of assumed throughout his first term, but some of the first and scariest things he did this time was to fire some top people in the Pentagon and replace them with idiots. I’ve got Country Joe and the Fish going through my head (if you’re old enough to remember them) - “Whoopie! We’re all going to die!” Gimme an F!

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kristofarian's avatar

he has no

Off switch

what've we

got months?

tom tomorrow's

got a Dynamite

toon with djt's

brain in a jar

and Still in

Charge

.

something

to ponder

at 4am

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Susan T's avatar

I had the same reaction as you, kristofarian, when I saw that ugly mug of his

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kristofarian's avatar

visceral it was

shivered my

timbres

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kristofarian's avatar

and Then there was

a Bonus monster

lurking under

the 1st one

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jill chambers's avatar

it's strange, when i become aware of a picture of him coming into view as i'm reading, my eyes try really hard not to look at the picture.

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kristofarian's avatar

no not strange

your mind trying

to protect itself from

.

horror

.

and so Hard

to unsee

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Interesting comparison between China and the west about talking and doing.

Lying is one of my pet peeves. I'd rather not even listen to someone if they lie. Which, I guess, is why I don't listen to Trump.

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Susan T's avatar

Fortunately, most people who lie do not have the same kind of power as Trump has. People who lie to us personally are irritating and annoying and sometimes they cause some harm, but nothing like Trump or other people with power. Myself, I try to forgive people who lie to me and understand why. Mostly it is because people are afraid you will disapprove if they say what is true. Trump lies so he can get money and power.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Me too. Lying never works.

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gypsy33's avatar

Jenny

Oh what a tangled web we weave

When first we practice to deceive.

Applies to both Trump and Satanyahoo.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Yes.

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kristofarian's avatar

I like that even

Better than

nutnyahoo

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Robert H Stiver's avatar

Excellence in perspective and overall commentary, Caitlin! Thank you for today's stimulation...too many takeaways to itemize.....

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Garrett Smith's avatar

I've spent the last week expressing this exact sentiment. Mark Twain defined patriotism as supporting your country all the time, but your government only when they deserve support. As was frequently the case with Twain, he was spot on.

The blind tribalism I so frequently experience frustrates me to no end. I don't disagree with everything president Trump has done but it's incumbent on all of us to assess each action and not simply paint everything with the same broad brush.

As always, Caitlin, very well said.

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Raveen's avatar

A great definition of patriotism...that's exactly how it should be. Blind support and loyalty to the government, even though it may feel good and uplifting, is quite dangerous.

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Patrick Enright's avatar

Trump is reading a script. He is not writing it. Trump is the NWO back door Trojan horse. The genocide won’t stop. IMO there are no hostages. There is plenty of evidence showing the connection between USA and Israel to Hamas in both the inception of Hamas and in funding throughout the years. Didn’t we just see money from USAID going to Hamas. There are no shortage of Israeli whistleblowers stating Oct 7 was a psyop. The goal is the Greater Israel project and Oct 7 was created to facilitate it. Part of Trumps clown act is to turn the world against the USA and to push the USA to civil war. That way the UN blue hats (CCP Army) can move in and join the tens of thousands sleeper agents already in the USA to take down the largest most armed civilian army on the planet.

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JohnF's avatar

Oct 7 Was a PSYOP.

Hamas was Created by Israeli and US Intelligence Services to Counteract

Yasser Arafat - Ron Paul

Israel Is An Aircraft Carrier/Beach Head in the Middle East

For NATO - Robert F. Kennedy Jr

By Way of Deception - Thou Shalt Do War" - Victor Ostrovsky,

Ex-Mossad Agent, Translated the Motto

In 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu wrote a book called 'Fighting Terrorism' where he listed

7 countries that needed regime change to 'Secure Israel'. Those countries were Iraq,

Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.

In 2001, This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in

five years, starting with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and - Finishing

off, Iran.” Gen W. Clark

Iran Only Country Left = Make Israel Great Again (Greater Israel)

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Patrick Enright's avatar

Spot on.

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Chang Chokaski's avatar

There are institutions (aka medical facilities) you can go to to get the help you need. Enough said.

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Patrick Enright's avatar

I would imagine you would know that Chankaski . I’m guessing you’ve been to plenty of them.

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murraytai@gmail.com's avatar

Am I completely brainwashed through listening to your post each day, or are you so psychic that you express the very same thoughts that are bouncing around in my head? (Asking for a friend!)

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

I feel the same way murraytai, when reading Caitlin. That is because she has the " right View" which is far superior than critical thinking - the heart and the mind are in step with each other creating wisdom.

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

IMHO, when the heart and mind are in step, that is critical thinking at its finest.

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

❤️

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Dorothy's avatar

The people of Gaza deserve every blessing and support. May they be saved from the desperate cruelties of our dying empire.

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SW's avatar

Are the kids holding hostages, Donald? If they don’t hand over the hostages will they be DEAD too? He and Netanyahu will say “that’s up to their parents” to justify their deaths. They take no responsibility for their actions and are masters at making their victims guilty of the crimes they commit. It’s like a bank robber saying “if the teller had just handed over the money like I told her to she’d still be alive.”

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Ray Joseph Cormier's avatar

We have to contrast Trump's claimed motivation of Humanitarian concerns about the hell of the horrors of WAR, the Death and Destruction in Ukraine, a White European Nation.

At the same Time, Trump gives Israel the weapons and the green light to unleash Hell against the innocent women and Children of Gaza.

US MSM has yet to report what is being reported by Israeli MSM. On October 7, Israel authorized the immoral IDF to KILL Israelis with the Hannibal Doctrine blaming those deaths on Hamas.

According to the directive, once it had been declared by a field officer, Israeli forces were to open fire on enemy forces carrying away any Israeli. Vehicles suspected of removing such a prisoner from the battlefield could thus be attacked, even at the risk of harming, or even killing, the abductee himself. WE saw the dozens of completely burned cars returning to Gaza with Israeli hostages.

Hamas did not have the capabilities to do that. Only US Apache Attack helicopters could do that.

https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GI5kEHZXAAA4m_v-copy.jpg

Stop the lies! Stop the Israeli Genocide in Gaza that could not happen without US complicity and facilitation!

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JennyStokes's avatar

Unfortunately for those of us who have been silenced: History will not be kind to us.

A Civilization of Palestinians are going to be 'wiped off the map' because we did not care.

There were people in Nazi Germany who despised what was going on, helped and aided Jews.

The same is happening in Palestine.......we the people have demonstrated/protested against this despicable blood bath. History will not be kind to us.

BIDEN and Trump will be vilified as the whole Western white people will be..............but this is History.

OUR names mean nothing.

YOU people who sit at home and do nothing will go down in History as the enablers.

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Wren's avatar

On the subject of rampant antisemitism in America: this has not been a problem. It has only begun to be perceived as a problem because of vociferous assertions that it IS a problem. In other words, it's manufactured as a warning never to criticize a Jewish person. They are to be regarded as special people with special protections. This special protection will possibly manifest in a freedom of speech carve out. To point out the crimes of Israel is to invite a storm of retaliation by smug, self-satisfied people proclaiming "See?! There it is. We told you. SEE??? Antisemitism."

It's a fire ant mentality: disturb even one and the biting swarm attacks.

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David Hillstrom's avatar

https://x.com/cynicalnews/status/1897429503598846253?s=61&t=lvBv0xey9IBvEhGMoFz0ig

Trump to Hamas, “Release the 59 last hostages or there will be Hell to pay.”

Retort to Trump and Netanyahu, “Release 000s of prisoners held without charge and cease genocide or face prison yourselves.”

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ChinViews's avatar

Different face, same empire…

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John Turcot's avatar

Watching mainstream media since Zelenski was browbeaten by Trump and Vance just about fills every second of the empire's stranglehold on viewers while news on Gaza has gone AWOL. Catlin's narrative brings us back to where the real empire is acting, where the trouble with the world resides. In the meantime, the United States of Israel is planning to deprive the entire lawn from any water, while its troops are busy mowing lawns in the West Bank. In the interim, 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are garnering all the attention, while Gazans will be covertly parched to death and West Bank Palestinians subjected to the same genocidal fate as that of Palestinians in Gaza.

You can deceive the majority, but you can't deceive everybody.

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Indu Abeysekara's avatar

Good on you John Turcot. The media decides what the masses should pay attention to in a given time. Yet you can only deceive some of the people some of the time.

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