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What follows is a conversation about the above image, which I’ve been using as my profile picture on Facebook. The other party agreed to have his/her words reproduced here without her/his name attached:
January 30, 2009
January 29, 2009
Links for January 29th
These are my links for January 29th:
- Ezbet Abed Rabbo area: Remnants of houses and soldiers’ presence – There’s no polite way to put it—these people are assholes
- The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: The Obama Era: Arab hopes or Illusions –
- ‘Draculas’ get their teeth back into lucrative Gaza tunnel operation – “It’s the Israelis who made us need the tunnels, and that’s the real tragedy, that they’ve created this situation where people can capitalize on disaster.”
- Daily News Egypt – RAILWAY WORKERS’ STRIKE PARALYSES MAJOR TRANSPORT ARTERY – It’s always good to see people breaking out of their craft-union ghettos to organize on the basis of industry (in this case, railroad switchmen working with train drivers)
- Pew: Almost half of Americans want to live somewhere else – USATODAY.com – I guess this isn’t entirely surprising, but interesting nonetheless. I’d love to see a similar survey around people’s jobs.
- Egyptians travel to US-Mexico border | Middle East | Jerusalem Post – A little something for you border activism folks
Trip to Upper Egypt & Sudan—رحلة إلى الصعيد و السودان
Links for January 28th
These are my links for January 28th:
- 60 Minutes – Is Peace Out Of Reach? – This is amazing. Those responsible for this broadcast had some serious chutzpah, and I mean that in a good way.
- ei: The shortcut to peace – A lesson in the history that has helped determine the form of Palestinian resistance, and a warning against taking any shortcut to peace that doesn’t address the fundamental cause of violence: occupation.
- Jewish Settlements expanded faster in 2008 – A report on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, as if we needed any more evidence that Israel has no interest in peace with Palestine
- U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel –
- US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation – One of the more useful sites for the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions movement
- Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | The horrors of Israel’s peace – An examination of how Israel has inverted the traditional equation: in its case, diplomacy is war by other means.
January 28, 2009
January 26, 2009
Links for January 25th through January 26th
These are my links for January 25th through January 26th:
- ZNet – Gaza Q&A – An exhaustive Q&A on the recent massacre in Gaza, great for those looking for talking points to counter those of Zionists. It is quite long, yet brief, a testament to the shear volume of Zionist blather that must be addressed.
- ZNet – Gaza 2009 – Noam Chomsky – Another excellent survey of the on-going Israeli atrocities. Chomsky, as is his wont, is rather verbose, but who am I to talk.
- Because They are Dirty Arabs… – A biting commentary on the racism of the Israeli regime
- Informed Comment: Gaza 2008: Micro-Wars and Macro-Wars – An excellent summary by Juan Cole of the strategic considerations of the Israeli state and resistance movements to it.
- War Against Palestine Everyday – Jiser on Flickr – Some amazing photography from Gaza.
January 22, 2009
Links for January 21st through January 22nd
These are my links for January 21st through January 22nd:
- Vacation To Israel Canceled Due To History Of Israel | The Onion – May the boycotting begin
- Alternative history – How would the history read if Germany had won WWII
- DutchNews.nl – Wilders should be prosecuted, says court – Ugh! This is ridiculous. I saw "Fitna" and it was a monumental piece of crap that isn't worthy of this amount of attention. And the timing couldn't be worse. Public opinion in Europe, especially in Scandanavia, appears to be shifting ever more toward sympathy with Palestine and Muslim immigrants and this will do nothing but mobilize the right-wing nut-jobs. Legislating against hate is always a bad idea in my opinion. If you're so keen on legislating something, impose sanctions on Israel. That might make a difference.
- Israel’s bigger battle ahead: its national identity | csmonitor.com – Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups are often criticized for not "recognizing" Israel. This article makes it clear why such groups refer to Israel as "the Zionist entity" rather than a state: it refuses to delineate its geographic boundaries (not mentioned here), refuses to accept Arabs as equal citizens and doesn't even have a constitution. I'm no fan of states, but seriously, you can't have your cake and eat it, too.
- ei: Up to 200 still missing under Gaza’s rubble – "I don't have any feelings any more," said Mohamed Hindi. "The Israelis have managed to destroy everything. Even our emotions."
- Bloomberg.com: Gaza Tunnel Owners Renew Smuggling Under Egypt Border – If they were ever closed down in the first place, the smuggling tunnels are up and running again. They are unlikely to have the capacity to feed and fuel the entire 1.4 million-strong population of Gaza, but it puts the lie to Israel's claims to have aimed to shut down the tunnels and stop the rockets, having either failed in their goals or deliberately mislead the public about their true aims.
- Barack Obama’s inauguration speech … crafted by 27-year-old in Starbucks | World news | The Guardian –
- YouTube – Students occupy LSE – speech to 10.000 in Trafalgar square – London School of Economics students have staged an occupation in support of Gaza and in support of the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanction campaign against Israel
- Train drivers demand promised pay raise, threaten to strike – Daily News Egypt – Sarah Carr reports on one of many labor struggles in Egypt right now
- ei: Israel’s "Dahiya Doctrine" comes to Gaza – Jonathan Cook addresses Israel's goal to "turn back the clock 20 years" in Gaza through the leveling of civilian infrastructure. Learning lessons from the 2006 assault on southern Lebanon, they'll also be impeding reconstruction efforts.
