April 1 I put up a no snark 'diary' with lame 'Breaking' in the title about the Israeli strike aimed at Hamas in Gaza: Breaking from BBC: Israelis bombing Gaza wUpdate2. The diary still garnered 200 plus comments and 46 tips.
I was distressed and saddened about Hamas and Israeli new violence while SecState HRC was working for change there.
Next day I searched and searched for smack back from the Obama Admin for the air strike at a time when the Obama Admin was struggling to get talks back online, but all I found was crickets.
What should those who wish to see a different type of relationship between the US and Israel, one where the muslim world would not see us a just one big Uncle Sugar for one side and shock and awe for the other?
Friday night we had a very interesting dinner, our first Seder celebration with some of my wife's relatives.
What a long history of conflict in the region.
Huge amounts US tax dollars go to selling weapons to Israel, supporting diplomatic efforts, etc.
While AIPAC lobbies for the status quo, even increased funding, others say its time to change our relationship to the conflict.
Naomi Klein author of
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and a critic of US policy in the region had a post on HuffPo this weekend that calls for action for change:
Open Letter to Berkeley Students on Their Historic Israeli Divestment Bill
On March 18, continuing a long tradition of pioneering human rights campaigns, the Senate of the Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley (ASUC) passed "A Bill In Support of UC Divestment from War Crimes." The historic bill resolves to divest ASUC's assets from two American companies, General Electric and United Technologies, that are "materially and militarily supporting the Israeli government's occupation of the Palestinian territories" -- and to advocate that the UC, with about $135 million invested in companies that profit from Israel's illegal actions in the Occupied Territories, follow suit.
South Africa DivestitureAction in Austin
I recall the same type of action by students during the Republic of South Africa's aparteid era. Some students even went so far as to take over offices and be arrested. One of those eventually went to work at the high school where we taught in Austin and became department chair of the science department. The principal was surprised to see his name on the news one night when some years later his group was finally coming to trial.
Klein's letter to the students is included in her post and supports similar student action as important to progressive change. I encourage you to read it all before commenting here today.
A snippet:
As the world has just witnessed with the Netanyahu government's refusal to stop its illegal settlement expansion, political pressure is simply not enough to wrench Israel off its current disastrous path. And when our governments fail to apply sanctions for defiant illegality, other forms of pressure must come into play, including targeting those corporations that are profiting directly from human rights abuses.
Whenever we take a political action, we open ourselves up to accusations of hypocrisy and double standards, since the truth is that we can never do enough in the face of pervasive global injustice. Yet to argue that taking a clear stand against Israeli war crimes is somehow to "discriminate unfairly" against Israelis and Jews (as the veto seems to claim) is to grossly pervert the language of human rights. Far from "singling out Israel," with Senate Bill 118A, you are acting within Berkeley's commendable and inspiring tradition.
I understand that there is some debate about whether or not your divestment bill was adopted "in haste." Not having been there, I cannot comment on your process, though I am deeply impressed by the careful research that went into the decision. I also know that in 2005 an extraordinarily broad range of Palestinian civil society groups called on activists around the world to adopt precisely these kinds of peaceful pressure tactics. In the years since that call, we have all watched as Israeli abuses have escalated dramatically: the attack on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, a massive expansion of illegal settlements and walls, an ongoing siege on Gaza that violates all prohibitions on collective punishment, and, worst of all, the 2008/9 attack on Gaza that left approximately 1,400 dead.
In my diary last week I linked to article on General Petraeus ' recent speech arguing that US folding to Israeli pressure is causing US soldier deaths. I am no Hamas supporter, however I believe Naomi Klein's call for action to change our approach to the conflicts in the Middle East is timely indeed.