The Beatitudes of Despair
I know what's missing from my life. I glimpsed it last night on the repeat of "Desperate Housewives," where most of the main characters were trapped in a hostage situatiion inside a supermarket. What's missing is the unifying compassion born of helplessly shared suffering. What's missing are the beatitudes of despair--no matter how temporary--that lift all who feel it into a circle of embrace where each person's love forms the perimeter of interaction.
Moon over mayhem
"There's a bad moon rising tonight," sang John Fogarty. I always heard it as, "There's a bad moon rising on the right." Of course, it was usually a bad moon for just one night, or just one song.
Over in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, however, it hangs every night and its grim light suffuses every song. Our American moon has phases where there's alternating honey and frost and blood on its face. Our American moon turns from harvest orange to Freddy Krueger red and back because it's more scenic than symbolic.
The Palestinian moon, on the other hand, is always red, even when no larger than a cuticle and a simple reminder of Islam's crescent. The Palestinians live in a 24/7 365-days-a-year hostage situation. Only the poor of America know something comparable. And except for one jetliner crash at the Pentagon in 2001, our leaders live with no such palpable fear, just the luxury of galloping empire paranoia.
The new anti-semitism
If I had my way, I'd order every Israeli and every American Jew to read Jean-Paul Sartre's "Anti-Semite and Jew" and think how it applies to the new wave of anti-Semitism practised daily on Arabs by Jews. As long as just one Palestinian fears gratuitous slaughter, no Jew is safe. Nor is any American. Safe from themselves, that is. Morally speaking, which is hardly speaking at all nowadays.
Plebiscite on dying--not killing
On Tuesday, we held a plebiscite on dying (in Iraq but not Palestine or Lebanon)--and dying lost. But we need a plebiscite on killing because there's far more blood on our hands than in the streets. We need a plebiscite on war because the two most active military mights in the world--America and its black sheep younger brother Israel--are on the loose. My ceaseless prayer of the moment is that America, Israel's big sister and older brother, will sicken of war as it did in 1919 and that we will have a generation of pacificists. And it will impose a peace--no matter how fractious--on the Israelis.
America may have sickened of the situation in Iraq and said so resoundingly on Tuesday. But it must sicken of the killing it has caused and commits in the name of an illusory threat to its status quo. The real threat is the status quo itself. I note Israelis interviewed after Tuesday's elections expressed fear of weakened solidarity with their country. Will the Democrats go to greater lengths to prove their loyality and play the role of an even greater enabler. I fear American co-dependency with Israel may grow worse.
Photographs of the hanging
As a gesture of solidarity with all the supermarket nations of the world currently under siege with the occupiers roaming the aisles and shooting at will, I bring you daily eyewitness news of the carnage in Palestine which only America now has the power to stop. Younger bad sheep brother Israel needs intervention. I urge all of you to empathize with the hostages and feel what it is like to be victims of entrapment that is physical and unrelenting.
I know some of you will say I'm being one-sided and do not have as much compassion for the Israeli victims of random rockets and suicide bombings. But I'll take my chances on the streets of Tel Aviv rather than Beit Hanoun. The Democrat's victory Tuesday is still too limited. Only when Palestinians and Lebanese can rejoice in the triumph of sanity here will I be willing to say, 'Mission accomplished.'
Tuesday was a local anesthetic applied to our battered body politic. Unlike Gaza, where nearly all medical and economic relief is stopped, the ambulances must be allowed to get through and take our wounded citizenry to care and comfort.
Some eye-witness reporting from Electronic Intifada:
Beit Hanoun death toll reaches 12 in second day of offensiveReport, PCHR, 2 November 2006
IOF Continue their Offensive on Beit Hanoun for the Second Consecutive Day: 12 Palestinians Killed, at Least 50 Others Wounded and Civilian Facilities DestroyedIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued killings and destruction in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
IOF moved into the town on Wednesday morning, 1 November 2006, and completely seized control over it. They sealed off the town from the rest of the Gaza Strip. IOF have so far killed 12 Palestinians, including four civilians, and have wounded at least 50 others, mostly civilians, including 15 children and three women. Investi gations conducted by PCHR indicate that IOF have used excessive force against Palestinian civilians, and have not respected the principles of proportionality and discrimination in pursuing members of the Palestinian resistance. IOF have also obstructed the work of medical crews, and have prevented ambulances from attending to the wounded.
As a consequence, a number of the wounded have died and the health conditions of others have deteriorated. This latest offensive has come as an implementation of Israeli threats to launch wide scale operations inside the Gaza Strip. PCHR warns that the continuous presence of IOF in Beit Hanoun may cause more casualties among Palestinian civilians and incur destruction to their property.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, in the early morning of Wednesday, 1 November 2006, at least 70 IOF military vehicles, covered by warplanes, moved into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. They raided a number of houses and tran sformed them into military sites. IOF military vehicles and warplanes opened fire at the streets. IOF started to raid houses one by one, moving from one house to another one by destroying walls separating between them. On the first day of this offensive, IOF killed eight Palestinians, including two civilians. One of these civilians was killed by IOF when he was inside his house, whereas the other one died from a heart attack when IOF soldiers raided his house.
Five of the victims were members of the Palestinian resistance who clashed with IOF. The eighth victim was a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces. He was not in a fighting position. On the second day, IOF have killed four Palestinians, including two civilians. One of these civilians is an old man who was killed by an IOF soldier when he was in the balcony of his house. The other civilian was killed when he was near his house.
Ambulances have not been [allowed] to attend him. PCHR's field worker in the northern Gaza S trip reports that ambulances have not been able to attend to the wounded without prior coordination with IOF, which takes more than an hour.
As a result, the health conditions of 12 of the wounded have seriously deteriorated. As a result of the IOF gunfire, 52 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 15 children and three women, have been wounded. Nine of the wounded are from one family, whose house was hit by an air-to-surface missile.
Those who have been killed in Beit Hanoun town are:
1. Ahmed Yousef Sa'adat, 23, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
2. Hussam Mohammed Abu Harbid, 25, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
3. Tariq Mustafa Nasser, 23, hit by shrapnel from a missile throughout the body;
4. Mohammed Saleh al-Masri, 22, hit by a live bullet to the back;
5. Ahmed Zuhair 'Edwan, 20, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
6. Fayez Mohammed Zwaidi, 18, a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces;
7. Khalil Nasser Hamad, 22, hit by a live bullet to the head when he was inside his house;
8. Mohammed Mahmoud Fayadh, 49, died from a heart attack;
9. Diab Ahmed al-Basiouni, 75, hit by a live bullet to the head when he was in the balcony of his house;
10. Yousef Rawhi 'Aqel, 22, hit by a live bullet to the chest;
11. 'Essam Mohammed Abu 'ouda, 29, hit by several live bullets throughout the body; and
12. Bassem Mohammed al-Jammal, 21, hit by a live bullet to the chest.
PCHR strongly condemns military operations conducted by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in the Gaza Strip, whose victims are mainly unarmed civilians. PCHR believes that such operations constitute collective penalties and retaliatory actions in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. PCHR strongly condemns these killings and destruction of civilian property, and:
Expresses utmost concern for the safety of Palestinian civilians in light of the escalation in the use of force by IOF against them.
Reminds of other crimes committed by IOF against Palestinian civilians, and the IOF's failure to distinguish in their attacks between civilians and militants.
Calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to immediately and effectively intervene to provide protection for Palestinian civilians.
Moon over mayhem
"There's a bad moon rising tonight," sang John Fogarty. I always heard it as, "There's a bad moon rising on the right." Of course, it was usually a bad moon for just one night, or just one song.
Over in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, however, it hangs every night and its grim light suffuses every song. Our American moon has phases where there's alternating honey and frost and blood on its face. Our American moon turns from harvest orange to Freddy Krueger red and back because it's more scenic than symbolic.
The Palestinian moon, on the other hand, is always red, even when no larger than a cuticle and a simple reminder of Islam's crescent. The Palestinians live in a 24/7 365-days-a-year hostage situation. Only the poor of America know something comparable. And except for one jetliner crash at the Pentagon in 2001, our leaders live with no such palpable fear, just the luxury of galloping empire paranoia.
The new anti-semitism
If I had my way, I'd order every Israeli and every American Jew to read Jean-Paul Sartre's "Anti-Semite and Jew" and think how it applies to the new wave of anti-Semitism practised daily on Arabs by Jews. As long as just one Palestinian fears gratuitous slaughter, no Jew is safe. Nor is any American. Safe from themselves, that is. Morally speaking, which is hardly speaking at all nowadays.
Plebiscite on dying--not killing
On Tuesday, we held a plebiscite on dying (in Iraq but not Palestine or Lebanon)--and dying lost. But we need a plebiscite on killing because there's far more blood on our hands than in the streets. We need a plebiscite on war because the two most active military mights in the world--America and its black sheep younger brother Israel--are on the loose. My ceaseless prayer of the moment is that America, Israel's big sister and older brother, will sicken of war as it did in 1919 and that we will have a generation of pacificists. And it will impose a peace--no matter how fractious--on the Israelis.
America may have sickened of the situation in Iraq and said so resoundingly on Tuesday. But it must sicken of the killing it has caused and commits in the name of an illusory threat to its status quo. The real threat is the status quo itself. I note Israelis interviewed after Tuesday's elections expressed fear of weakened solidarity with their country. Will the Democrats go to greater lengths to prove their loyality and play the role of an even greater enabler. I fear American co-dependency with Israel may grow worse.
Photographs of the hanging
As a gesture of solidarity with all the supermarket nations of the world currently under siege with the occupiers roaming the aisles and shooting at will, I bring you daily eyewitness news of the carnage in Palestine which only America now has the power to stop. Younger bad sheep brother Israel needs intervention. I urge all of you to empathize with the hostages and feel what it is like to be victims of entrapment that is physical and unrelenting.
I know some of you will say I'm being one-sided and do not have as much compassion for the Israeli victims of random rockets and suicide bombings. But I'll take my chances on the streets of Tel Aviv rather than Beit Hanoun. The Democrat's victory Tuesday is still too limited. Only when Palestinians and Lebanese can rejoice in the triumph of sanity here will I be willing to say, 'Mission accomplished.'
Tuesday was a local anesthetic applied to our battered body politic. Unlike Gaza, where nearly all medical and economic relief is stopped, the ambulances must be allowed to get through and take our wounded citizenry to care and comfort.
Some eye-witness reporting from Electronic Intifada:
Beit Hanoun death toll reaches 12 in second day of offensiveReport, PCHR, 2 November 2006
IOF Continue their Offensive on Beit Hanoun for the Second Consecutive Day: 12 Palestinians Killed, at Least 50 Others Wounded and Civilian Facilities DestroyedIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued killings and destruction in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
IOF moved into the town on Wednesday morning, 1 November 2006, and completely seized control over it. They sealed off the town from the rest of the Gaza Strip. IOF have so far killed 12 Palestinians, including four civilians, and have wounded at least 50 others, mostly civilians, including 15 children and three women. Investi gations conducted by PCHR indicate that IOF have used excessive force against Palestinian civilians, and have not respected the principles of proportionality and discrimination in pursuing members of the Palestinian resistance. IOF have also obstructed the work of medical crews, and have prevented ambulances from attending to the wounded.
As a consequence, a number of the wounded have died and the health conditions of others have deteriorated. This latest offensive has come as an implementation of Israeli threats to launch wide scale operations inside the Gaza Strip. PCHR warns that the continuous presence of IOF in Beit Hanoun may cause more casualties among Palestinian civilians and incur destruction to their property.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, in the early morning of Wednesday, 1 November 2006, at least 70 IOF military vehicles, covered by warplanes, moved into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. They raided a number of houses and tran sformed them into military sites. IOF military vehicles and warplanes opened fire at the streets. IOF started to raid houses one by one, moving from one house to another one by destroying walls separating between them. On the first day of this offensive, IOF killed eight Palestinians, including two civilians. One of these civilians was killed by IOF when he was inside his house, whereas the other one died from a heart attack when IOF soldiers raided his house.
Five of the victims were members of the Palestinian resistance who clashed with IOF. The eighth victim was a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces. He was not in a fighting position. On the second day, IOF have killed four Palestinians, including two civilians. One of these civilians is an old man who was killed by an IOF soldier when he was in the balcony of his house. The other civilian was killed when he was near his house.
Ambulances have not been [allowed] to attend him. PCHR's field worker in the northern Gaza S trip reports that ambulances have not been able to attend to the wounded without prior coordination with IOF, which takes more than an hour.
As a result, the health conditions of 12 of the wounded have seriously deteriorated. As a result of the IOF gunfire, 52 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 15 children and three women, have been wounded. Nine of the wounded are from one family, whose house was hit by an air-to-surface missile.
Those who have been killed in Beit Hanoun town are:
1. Ahmed Yousef Sa'adat, 23, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
2. Hussam Mohammed Abu Harbid, 25, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
3. Tariq Mustafa Nasser, 23, hit by shrapnel from a missile throughout the body;
4. Mohammed Saleh al-Masri, 22, hit by a live bullet to the back;
5. Ahmed Zuhair 'Edwan, 20, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
6. Fayez Mohammed Zwaidi, 18, a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces;
7. Khalil Nasser Hamad, 22, hit by a live bullet to the head when he was inside his house;
8. Mohammed Mahmoud Fayadh, 49, died from a heart attack;
9. Diab Ahmed al-Basiouni, 75, hit by a live bullet to the head when he was in the balcony of his house;
10. Yousef Rawhi 'Aqel, 22, hit by a live bullet to the chest;
11. 'Essam Mohammed Abu 'ouda, 29, hit by several live bullets throughout the body; and
12. Bassem Mohammed al-Jammal, 21, hit by a live bullet to the chest.
PCHR strongly condemns military operations conducted by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in the Gaza Strip, whose victims are mainly unarmed civilians. PCHR believes that such operations constitute collective penalties and retaliatory actions in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. PCHR strongly condemns these killings and destruction of civilian property, and:
Expresses utmost concern for the safety of Palestinian civilians in light of the escalation in the use of force by IOF against them.
Reminds of other crimes committed by IOF against Palestinian civilians, and the IOF's failure to distinguish in their attacks between civilians and militants.
Calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to immediately and effectively intervene to provide protection for Palestinian civilians.
posted by David Federman @ 6:35 AM
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