Strangely, even the sight on television of the body of a small boy, the same age as Cameron, being dug by hand from the bomb rubble, is not what has stayed with me strongest from the latest attack on the Palestinians. Instead, I recall most vividly a radio broadcast on the BBC World Service two days before the attack on Gaza began.
It was a banal, everyday story of Palestinian villagers being evicted from their land in the occupied West Bank, to make way for an Israeli “military zone”. These pastoralists had lost a thousand hectares to the Israelis in the last few years, and now these ancient villages were being finally, forcibly, evacuated in a vicious act of ethnic cleansing. The shepherds claimed that what this was really about, was the precious springs that watered their livestock. Work was already starting to divert their water to nearby, and illegal, burgeoning Israeli settlements.
The BBC World Service TV has this minute, at 9.00am GMT, started its news broadcast as usual from Ashkelon in Israel, highlighting rocket attacks on Israel. There is no mention on the BBC – there has never been any mention on the BBC, or anywhere in the Western mainstream media – that for at least 4,000 years Ashkelon was an Arab town, until in 1948 the entire, Arab population of 12,000 was driven out by armed force, many being massacred. Doubtless some older inhabitants of Gaza are refugees whose home is Ashkelon.
Israel is exercising its right of self-defence in precisely the same sense that Hitler was exercising the right of self-defence in Normandy in 1944 – ie not at all. Why the world puts up with this blatant ethnic cleansing and prolonged, agonizing genocide of the Palestinain people, I have no idea. It is not just about bombs and rockets and deaths now. It is about the shepherds being pushed out of their village in 2012 as part of the same process of the massacre of Ashkelon in 1948, all a process of genocide of the Palestinians in which Obama, Clinton, Cameron and Hague, as two wholw generations of western politicians before them, are actively complicit.
Ditch your satellite subscriptions, take down your aerials and dishes. Centralised media attracts propagandists like dead meat attracts flies. Every reduction in audience numbers hits them where it hurts; advertising and PR.
If you are technical enough to change a fuse, learn about how to keep the Internet working and unfiltered. Learn why the DNS system is the weak point (it’s centrally administered), and that we can overcome this by sharing information. Learn why the Internet Service Providers now supply all wireless routers with wireless encryption pre-enabled (it keeps us isolated, vulnerable and make it easier to identify our traffic). Get a secure operating system that respects your freedom, and then switch off the “security” on your wireless connection and set it free!
If you want a thing done properly, do it yourself!
Too right!
@ Tom
True enough, but I can’t see what relevance any of that has to the passage I quoted.
All becomes clear if you read to the end, as you then do, with annotations.
That may well be true, but it doesn’t necessarily imply anything at all about either Higgs or his ideas. Aren’t you sidling up to an indirect kind of ‘ad hominem’?
No. I’m pointing out as a matter of background that Higgs is in favour of an unrestrained market, and that he’s maybe not being sarcastic – as some might read him, and I did at first glance – but sincere. That IS his view of the proles.
I didn’t see any message of hope at all, and having carefully reread that paragraph I still don’t.
Sorry, I phrased that badly, in haste. I should have said ” the message of hope an optimist might take from a member of the Austrian School apparently being facetious about the activities of the market..”
I trust that helps.
“I think that if you start speculating that “Inglourious Bastards” or “Schindler’s List” or “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” are released to an IDF timetable, you are losing grip on reality.”
But what about “Iron Sky”… that one looks a bit suspect to me – who with a sound grip on reality would fund such a film… there has to be a hollywood conspiracy!?
😉
Seriously though – it was just an observation, I’ve no idea how the BBC works with regards to their programming schedule and/or how flexible it is with how it relates to current events.
They are not organised enough to have an ‘agenda’ but I’m not ruling out editorial or political bias among their members.
I have, after all, watched what passes for their flagship ‘news’ program and drawn my own conclusions from that i.e. a licence fee funded balanced and critical documentary of the history of Israel and Palestine will never happen.
If anyone has historical records of all BBC program scheduling then point me to it and I’ll run it through the old database to see if any hot-spots crop up – other than that it’s all just speculation.
Regarding the timing of nazi documentaries in British TV and Israel operations, I do not think any conspirational explanation is necessary. There is ALWAYS some documentary of the sort being aired
John Goss, if you inspect that URL, you’ll see that it is a Google address, followed by an address at fr.goldenmap.com. Percent symbols are used to replace special characters, “2F” is a forward slash. The server for fr.goldenmap.com will respond with its home page, but when the rest of the URL is included, the server just leaves you waiting.
I’ll try some other approaches…
@Clark
‘Ditch your TV licenses. The broadcast licenses of the foreign companies that contradict the mainstream corporate agenda are being withdrawn in any case. Use the Internet where you have to choose what you watch, and where you can block the adverts that keep the whole thing going. Why should some big company decide what you should consider important, in any case?’
I’d largely agree with this sentiment, but for different reasons. My major concern is that many modern media outlets are coming down with members of the intelligence establishment, and that such a relationship is specifically designed to distort the public consciousness as a whole. Check out a few examples of intelligence penetration into the media industry:
http://www.discussion-point.com/ArticlePage/article/the-reality-of-big-brother
http://shaphan.typepad.com/blog/2007/07/franks-wild-yea.html
http://rt.com/news/changed-us-stance-aljazeera-077/
Making things rather worse is the reality that our communications systems are becoming more and more centralised, both in the sense of corporate monopoly control and in the sense of possible state surveillance. The below chart clearly reflects the extent to which a once burgeoning media industry has now become a tool of the powerful:
http://owni.eu/2011/11/25/infographic-media-consolidation-the-illusion-of-choice/
And given the recent work of the NSA and GCHQ in screening the communications of ordinary citizens, it is becoming increasingly clear that we must police our own discourse in an altogether more circumspect manner.
http://anniemachon.ch/annie_machon/2008/10/journalist-and-1.html
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/
One of the best sources on all of the above is Richard Keeble – a man who seems to have dedicated a great deal of time and effort in confronting the idea of spooks operating in the media. See the following for more information:
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/06/060303_hacks_and_spooks.php
All of which confirms to my mind that I must treat everything I hear when a certain degree of skepticism. The domain of public reason is most definitely under threat.
MY STORY FOR THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
A SHORT STORY – “THE MAN WHO LOST AND FOUND MEANING IN LIFE”
Once upon a time people lived on a land in pastoral conditions with their brethren and sisters and neighbours. And amongst these people was a man who lived for his family, his wife, his children and loved them first then in his heart he loved next, the land which he farmed.
One wretched day there was an arrival of others who expelled many of the people who had lived in peace, and the man had to leave with his family.
The resentment grew in the hearts of the weak and vulnerable who had been expelled and were without their homes and homeland.
As time went by, the occupiers established themselves and came to be recognised in the world as having a right to live upon the land up to a line in the sand. But the occupiers were not satisfied with that gain and invaded and built beyond that line in the sand.
Alas, with the passage of more time the animosities grew and the weak sought to arm themselves against the strong. The epithet of violence spread became imprinted on the names of many across the land. Conflict and resistance grew, and as a tree grows braches and leave so too did conflict spring resistance.
Some in the world sided with the strong against the weak; while others sided with the weak against the strong.
There was conflict grief and strife all around. So the strong resolved to launch greater wars and show that might could defeat the weak.
And so it came to pass: the belief was that a man could be killed and the weak would be pacified and subdued. At first the man’s brother was killed and more resentment grew in him. Then his wife was killed and the resentment grew all the more. Then one day all his children were killed and he resolved then that he would arm himself and fight. He had lost all that in this world he had desired, and so his death, his life, his aspirations merged as one. There was no longer any difference for the man between the light of day or the darkness of night. His life’s meaning now became a testament that in a noble death there would be greater meaning than in a recreant’s life.
And so, as the days, the weeks, the months passed by, the strong continued to demonstrate their strength and the man lived his life with the only meaning now that he could find to fill his heart.
Moral of the story: It is better to be a coward for a minute than be dead for the rest of your life; or – to sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men?
CB
John Goss, it was just taking too long to respond. I think I’ve got it, and I’ve placed a copy here, but it looks a bit dodgy (some characters displaying incorrectly):
http://www.killick1.plus.com/timbro/timbro.html
John Hilley spot on here.
http://johnhilley.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/gaza-twisted-language-and-right-to.html
Sky’s Kay Burley to UK Israeli Amb.Taub “Does this mean a ground invasion is more likely?” referring to the bus.
Taub to Burley …”Blah blah, spiel, spiel, …. We may have to consider a military intervention.” !!
The irony was lost in his chutzpah.
A Jewish American teacher writes:
‘It is time to stop being afraid to equate Israel with the Nazis. Are they even Jewish? Nowhere in the Talmud is it taught that when your home is destroyed it is your right to take another’s and put them out. Yet the ethnic cleansing of Palestine from pre-Israeli statehood to the present stands as a stark contrast to what it is to be Jewish. Targeting women and children, families, water towers and other forms of infrastructure, is sheer barbarism. The brute racism by Israel’s leading figures, as supported by opinion polls of its people, can only be compared with Grand Dragons and neo-Nazis.
It is time for all people of conscience, especially Jews, to stand up and put a stop to the practices of such an insane country.’
http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/11/israel-is-not-jewish/
Thanks Clark. I managed to find it by pasting some of the text under the link in a chain. But as it is off topic I’ll paste it on the Anna Ardin liar blog. Thanks again.
Good to hear that you are feeling better Craig.As to Israel’s latest murderous foulness of course the british brainwshers corp: serve it up as all Hamas’s fault,even though savile tainted boaden has been retired the new stooge is under the same dictat.Pilger’s article is as usual spot on but available on counterpunch not in our disgusting “free” press.The irony of Obomber burbling on re: states having the right to defend themselves from rocket strikes while doing just that to Yemen Pakistan Libya is nauseating but irony has never been a word understood in whitehall or washington. yesanyahoo is a sadistic fascist and I hope somehow the Palestinians can survive this genocidal onslaught. As to wee willie he is right down there with the bliar, that torturing genocidal thug,Warsaw yes but never forget Fallujah and check out what was done there.The pattern is clear if it makes money for the “right” people then torture or mass murder indeed any horror is permitted.We live in evil times.
@Craig
I’m glad you are feeling somewhat recovered. Your readers and supporters have missed you greatly.
Gawain.
What struck me was that, watching the mainstream media I would conclude that Israel has every right to take this course of action and that most right-thinking people would support it.
However, a quick search reveals hundreds of pro-Gazan demonstrations taking place around the world, while I could literally turn up nada for people marching to show their support of Israel.
The only explanation I can come up with is, of course, totally unacceptable! That Jews and their associates do indeed control the world’s media, inasmuch as what is being reported appears to bear no relation to popular sentiment outside of a tiny fraction of the world’s population.
Anyway, Jews may not in fact control the mainstream media, but, this week, at least, one would be *forgiven* for thinking so.
In fact, it’s getting a little dangerous, the disconnect is so large that the propaganda may not really do it’s job this time around. The Zionist sledgehammer of needing to show total support for their cause only goes to reveal the puppeteer’s hands.
If my 200+ FB friends are any guide to the popular mood, only 1 has supported Israel, while others are busily sharing around photos and reports from the Gazan point of view. Every time there’s an invasion, given social media’s penetration of the planet, we get more pictures, faster, and the most poignant go viral, undercutting the official narrative more or less instantly.
Anyone flicking between social media and the mainstream media is instantly awoken.
Speaking of poignancy, Craig, I was moved when I heard that Palestinian fisherman had no choice but to fish during this rout. Again, the Warsaw Ghetto with smuggling being the only means to stave off starvation, comes to mind.
The only thing that the facist government of Israelies will understand is a complete boycott of all their export products, so when my wife and I shop anywhere in Europe we look at country of origin – if it’s Isreal then we don’t buy. Could the internet start a world wide boycott?
Regards Fred Hodges
@Kingfelix. I don’t use Facebook any more (it is a privacy/surveillance nightmare), but I can well imagine what you describe is going on. It is a useful source of news that you don’t get from the media. The photos of the dead children I discovered via Twitter (another privacy nightmare). I haven’t seen them on the corporate mediate websites.
Paxo was right about one thing: the post-Hutton BBC is run by a shower of “incompetents and cowards”.
PressTV says the bomber has been identified, but apparently, still at large….no details
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=292860
Fred
21 Nov, 2012 – 12:49 pm
“How the hell did a boverboy [William Hague] get to be Foreign Secretary anyway? How did someone who lost an overwhelming vote of no confidence in his ability to run the country from the people of Britain in 2001 get to be deciding foreign policy?”
Blackmail has great leverage on government ministers.
Hague is controlled by the super elites because they have intelligence on him that, if made public, would destroy him. In short, he has something to hide.
Rumours of his bi-sexual/homosexual activities for example have been around since he was at Oxford.
Hague became Foreign Secretary in May 2010. In August 2010 William Hague stated that the UK should have an ethical foreign policy. In September the same year news that he was sharing a hotel room with a 25 year old man was splattered all over the MSM, including the Daily Telegraph, and the rumours of his past sexual liaisons were brought back into focus. From that time on his ethical foreign policy disappeared.
I wonder if he ever met Jimmy Savile.
I was looking to see what Beardie had to say about Israel’s atrocities.
Nothing. Too busy schmoozing with the Chief Rabbit.
Shared experiences….. etc
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/2704/archbishop-and-chief-rabbis-personal-farewell
And as for the CoE wailing, crying, hugging and kissing on their irrelevant Synod outcome, well!
http://consortiumnews.com/2012/11/21/playing-games-with-narratives/
“Now there is the warfare in the Gaza Strip. I recalled the other day the sequence of events at the start of the current upsurge in violence. But the deficiency in temporal understanding is not just a matter of who started the newest round of fighting. Israeli demands that “the rockets must stop” before Israel ceases its lethal operations feed a general impression that the story is one of Hamas rockets first, and Israeli response afterward.”
The beatings will continue, until morale improves. They say truth is the first casualty of war, and I think context is the first pillar of truth to fall.
@Mary. The Pilger interview is must read for everyone. He took the words out of my mouth:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/21/israels-gaza-rampage-its-not-just-war/
Poster boy for Redemptive Self-Awareness: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?ID=292466&R=R1&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
“THE DESIRE to prevent harm to innocent civilians in Gaza will ultimately lead to harming the truly innocent: the residents of southern Israel. The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.”
Yes, the Truly Innocent…..
It reminds me of the early war on the poor by Ronald Reagan, who determined that the lunches of poor children funded by the Feds could include Ketchup, as a vegetable.
He had no problem with the TRULY needy.
Awaiting other media stories on the gas pipeline. Until then, this is it….http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/21/273794/israel-bombs-gas-pipeline-in-rafah/
Death by strangulation. I do believe the Zionists seek to fulfill the Biblical prophecy wrt Tyre and Sidon, with Gaza as a bull-dozed wasteland which only snakes and scorpions inhabit.
Or, they need more beachfront property…
Hamas and Israel agree to cease-fire, according to La Clinton:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-conflict.html?hp
Shouldn’t the following:
‘Israel is exercising its right of self-defence in precisely the same sense that Hitler..’
be more like
‘Zionist Israel is exercising its right of self-defence in precisely the same sense that Hitler..’
Hillary saved Bibi from himself. 84% of Israelis supported the Gaza action, but only 30% supported the ground invasion.
Political expediency is always the watchword.
@ Fred 21 Nov, 2012 – 12:49 pm
Hagues patron throughout the opposition years was the non-domiciled cocaine wholesaler Lord Ashcroft. Now it’s payback time:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/13/lord-ashcroft-william-hague-visits