Make people uncomfortable by calling out double standards, that's how you bring change

     The media and the majority of Americans' blatant, disgusting, absolutely ridiculously fucking stupid double standards concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been well documented for decades now. And with the newest story of 3 Israeli teens being kidnapped in the West Bank, the double standard is once glaringly in the open for all the world to see.
      The only way to change someone holding a double standard is to call out quickly and decisively, using logic and reason, not preconceived notions or thinking "that's how I was raised."
      Let's start this post by establishing some truths. One: kidnapping any non-combatants for any advantage in combat or for terrorist purposes, of any race or religion, should be abhorred, not tolerated in our society, punished, and called out for what is truly is: a terrorist activity. This means that:

• Any Palestinian combatant who kidnaps an Israeli non-combatant is a terrorist, as you are using force and the threat of violence against a non-combatant. 
• Any Israeli combatant who kidnaps a Palestinian non-combatant is a terrorist. 

     Simply stating this fair, logical statement will get you branded a Jew-hater, an anti-Semite, a radical Muslim terrorist, and a hater of America. You will get threats of deportation by force, violence, and death simply by stating that it's the action that is wrong; it shouldn't matter the race or religion of the perpetrator or the victim. Don't believe me? Look at my post "Some hate Muslims get on a daily basis," and you'll see what people spew out on the Internet. That shows how fucked up most Americans' views on this issue is. To preach equality and against racism is to be a hating American terrorist. Meanwhile, people who preach inequality and racism are accepted in mainstream American society and politics.
     Now that we've established this truth, let's move onto the double standard. In a nutshell, this story of the 3 kidnapped Israeli teens is gaining a lot of attention in the media and in America. So much significantly more attention than any of the documented thousands of times Israeli soldiers have kidnapped Palestinian children. One must wonder: why? Why are people so much more concerned with Jewish people getting kidnapped, but when Muslim children get kidnapped, significantly less people are concerned about it? The actions are the same; the only thing that has changed are the actors. And this how we can determine that is because of racism that this imbalance has happened. People are judging that, depending on the race of the perpetrator and/or the victims, that determines how they will react to such an action.

     And this is the double standard. It shows that they really aren't against kidnapping children, as long as it's a race and/or religion they don't like, then they're fine with it. They're only pushing this kidnapping of the 3 Israeli teens for political purposes; if they were truly against kidnapping, then they would push Israel every time Israel kidnaps or mistreats a Palestinian child. But they don't.
     But, some might say, Israel doesn't kidnap or mistreat children. What are you talking about, they would ask, you radical anti-Semite? All you have to do is a simple Google search, which takes approximately 0.2 seconds, and you will get literally hundreds and hundreds of reports and cases about Israel kidnapping and mistreating Palestinian children by Israeli, Palestinian, American, European, and international NGOs and organizations. Here are some examples:

• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-government-tortures-children-by-keeping-them-in-cages-human-rights-group-says-9032826.html 
• http://www.redressonline.com/2014/06/remember-israels-abuse-of-palestinian-kids/. "Pointing out that Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children violates international law, the UN report cited terrifying night-time arrests, physical and verbal abuse, painful restraints, denial of access to food, water and toilet facilities, solitary confinement, coerced confessions, lack of access to lawyers and family members, shackling during court appearances and transfer to prisons outside the occupied Palestinian territories." 

     Critics will say that "oh, these Palestinian children were throwing stones at Israelis, so their treatment is justified." I'm sorry, since when that is a rule? Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty? Guess not, its an old American value that most Americans don't believe in anymore. Even if the Israeli military courts convicted these children of throwing stones, as I said above, many confessions were coerced through torture and threats. That means the conviction is no good, because the confession came through a illegitimate way. Give me a hammer and a few nails, and I can coerce anyone in confessing that they hijacked a Martian spaceship and landed in Washington D.C.
      Don't think that these Israeli "arrests" are kidnapping? What else would you call a bunch of masked men breaking down a door to a family's house in the dead of night, grabbing a child from his/her bed, whisking them off away to an undisclosed location, holding them without charges, and not allowing his/her parents, lawyers, etc, from seeing him/her?          

      The media has a blatant double standard about reporting Israeli children deaths and Palestinian children deaths. The evidence is just completely overwhelming: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/net-report.html
     "In the first year of the current uprising, ABC, CBS, and NBC reported Israeli children’s deaths at 13.8, 6.4, and 12.4 times the rate of Palestinian children’s deaths. In 2004 these large differentials were also present, although they decreased in two cases, with deaths of Israeli children covered at rates 9.0, 12.8, and 9.9 times greater than the deaths of Palestinian children by ABC, CBS, and NBC, respectively. Given that in 2004 22 times more Palestinian children were killed than Israeli children, this category holds particular importance. We could find no basis on which to justify this inequality in coverage." 

    Not only that, but the major media outlets repeated coverage of the same Israeli children deaths, to make it look like there were more causalities than were actually were, while, at the same time, omitted reports on Palestinian children's deaths, to make it look like there were less casualties than were actually were. How fucking fucked up is this?! People are using children's deaths for political purposes. Fucking sick!!

    The same thing is happening in the media right now concerning the three kidnapped Israeli teens. All major news outlets have multiple articles about this one kidnapping incident, it's all over the Internet, pundits can't stop talking about it, how it shows that all Palestinians are terrorists and that Israel is the victim, etc, etc. Yet when hundreds of Palestinian children get kidnapped by Israeli terrorists every year? Nothing, maybe a short little blurb here and there, but basically nothing. Not a word of speaking out. Which means they're perfectly fine with it. As long as it's Arab children getting kidnapped, the sick disgusting media outlets are fine with it. 

     One vital piece of information that the media outlets conveniently leaves out when talking about the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the Palestinian government responsible for the kidnapping: the kidnapping took place in a section of the West Bank that Israeli forces have complete control over and Palestinian forces cannot govern at all. It occurred in Area C of the West Bank, in which Israeli law clearly states that Israeli forces are the security forces of this area, and Palestinian forces, under no circumstances, are allowed to do anything in Area C. How fucked up is that? Stealing someone's territory, and then blaming them for not preventing a kidnapping on that stolen territory that you won't allow their policemen to go onto?  

     In conclusion, this double standard will continue to happen until people like you and me counter it. If you see it in the newspaper, write a letter to the editor calling out this disgusting double standard. If you see it on an online article, write a comment, (if it has a forum), calling it out. If your stupid greedy rich fuck of a senator says something about it in Congress, write a letter to them. If one of your so called friends, (wait, you have friends that support double standards based on religion and race?!), writes about it on any social media forum, counter it, call it out. That is the only way we can bring around change, by showing people, through logic and reason, that they are fundamentally wrong. If you're against kidnapping, then you're against kidnapping no matter the race or religion of the victim and perpetrator. If you make exceptions to your so called morale, then its not a real morale. You can't be against rape, but then think rape is okay against a certain race because you hate them.    

      

  

 

Israeli-Palestinian Talks Have Started, But I'm Not Holding My Breath

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have started on Monday, July 29th, in Washington D.C. Government officials have expressed cautious optimism at this, but even that is folly. There is no evidence that anything will go right in these talks, and much evidence that shows that these talks will go nowhere and will be a waste of time. Here's a short list why:

1. Israel has already said in the past that they refuse to negotiate about the most important issues of the conflict.
They're not even pretending to care anymore. How are you supposed to reach a solution in the conflict if you can't talk about the most important issues? That's like having a parent-teacher conference about a child's bad grades, but they're not allowed to talk about how the teacher teaches, the kid's study habits, or how the parents can help. You absolutely cannot talk about those concepts at all. It just leaves me with my hands in the air, with a WTF look on my face, thinking "It's all bullshit. It's all complete fucking bullshit, and anyone who buys into it needs to be tested for drugs."

Israel has previously said that the issues of Jewish only settlements, Palestinian refugees, and the 1967 border are not up for discussion, (http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/4739/World/Region/Olmert-adviser-says-AlJazeera-leaks--correct.aspx,) (http://www.aljazeera.com/palestinepapers/2011/01/2011122112512844113.html), (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43106082/ns/politics-white_house/t/we-cant-go-back-israeli-pm-rejects-border-proposal/).

So how is anyone going to get anything done?

2. Neither side has renounced terrorism.
I haven't heard Hamas say they're going to stop attacking Israeli civilians. I haven't heard Israel say they're going to stop attacking Palestinian civilians, or kidnapping and abusing Palestinian children, (http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54616). Renouncing terrorism is a key first step in peace talks, because if your side is still a terrorist organization, then there's no incentive for the other side to negotiate with you. I'm sure you've heard America's position a million times before "We do not negotiate with terrorists." With both Israel and Hamas still terrorist organizations, how is anything going to get done?

3. Israel has demanded that a future "state" of Palestine be demilitarized.
http://www.jcpa.org/text/demilitarization.pdf
This is a fucking joke. You know as well as I do that any country that isn't allowed to have a military is not a country in any sense of the word. People keep talking about "Israel's security needs" over and over again, like it is the only country in the Middle East that deserves the right to security. What about Palestine's security needs? Why does no one in the Western media or government say that one particular phrase? Do they not deserve security from their neighbors because they're all just Muslim terrorists? If any, it's Palestine that needs more security than Israel. Israel is 100 times stronger than it, and has the capability to launch raids, both by land and air, on a moment's notice and cause massive damage. Palestine does not have that capability. Just look at the stats from the latest flare-up in violence that happened in November 2012.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9052:1&catid=145:in-focus
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/terrorism/pages/israel_under_fire-november_2012.aspx
In a week's time, Palestine lost 105 civilians, and 55 combatants.
Israel lost 2 soldiers, 1 defense contractor, and 3 civilians.
The numbers speak for themselves. So no, any country that can't have a military is not a country. So Israel flat out does not want a true Palestinian state.

4. Palestine has no legitimate government, that is representative of the Palestinian people, to negotiate with.
Israel is negotiating the Palestinian Authority, and that's it. Well, they only govern the West Bank. But the PA is an illegitimate government. Mahmoud Abbas's term expired January 2009, but 4 years later he's still in power. Are you fucking kidding me? Why does no one in the Western media or government say this one simple sentence? Oh, because they don't want to bring up the fact that they are propping up an illegitimate despot who doesn't give a flaming fuck about his people. They are deliberately stifling Palestinian democracy because they want to deal with only Abbas, who they can control, because they are the majority of his financial support. If the Palestinians were allowed to vote, they would bring into power someone who truly cared about the Palestinian people, and who stand up for their rights. Well, the U.S. and Israel can't allow that to happen, how dare the Palestinian people stand up for their human rights?!?!
Then on the other side we have Hamas, (fascist jackasses), who came to power via elections but haven't held elections since 2007. So that makes them illegitimate as fuck as well. How are you supposed to make a lasting peace agreement if one side doesn't have a legitimate institution to voice for them?!

5. Israel won't stop committing acts of war against the PA.
The PA, who has renounced violence for several years now like the cowards they are, is under constant attack by Israel. How can you reach a lasting peace agreement if one side has completely renounced violence but the other side is still constantly attacking it? There's no justice in that. Israel constantly raids West Bank towns, kidnapping adults as well as children, holding them in undisclosed locations for hours or even days, they shoot unarmed civilians, they steal water and resources from Palestinian land, and above all, they constantly expand Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land, which is stealing territory, which is an act of war. 
One of the first things you learn about in negotiations is that, in order for them to happen, the two sides have to stop fighting first. A cease-fire must be in place, and it must be honored by both sides. Well, Israel refuses to stop committing acts of war against the PA. Abbas has asked them repeatedly to stop, but every time they say no.

This, in essence, is why I believe this latest round of peace talks will not result in anything. But, I can't just criticize something and not offer what I think should be done, right? That's not helping anyone. Here's what I think the Palestinian people should do if they truly want freedom and independence, instead of wasting their time doing these "peace talks."

1. Overthrow their current governments.
Now there are many sub-steps involved in doing just this one step, because it is a monumental task. The current governments has repeatedly refused to have open and free elections, so that means the only way to get them out of power is through armed struggle. Peaceful protests have only been met with violent repression. Am I advocating for violence? Yep, but sometimes, violence is necessary because it is the only thing that will work. It should only be used as a last resort. In order to do this step, the Palestinian people must:

• Establish a process to get guns and ammo, everything from light arms to anti-vehicle weapons. This means going through black markets, raiding military warehouses or other installations for guns and ammo, and buying from groups/organizations from neighboring countries. One would have to establish smuggling routes, make contact with these other groups, etc, etc. Make it reliable as possible so that when the SHTF, you can have a dependable way of getting what you need in a tough situation.   
• Organize into brigades, establish routes for patrolling for defending neighborhoods, coordinate with community leaders, have a system in place for a counterattack when the inevitable government crackdown launches raids into villages and towns. Have safe houses where militia can hide and take shelter.
• Fight by attacking police, military, and government installations. Do not, under any circumstances, attack unarmed civilians. The enemy is the oppressive corrupt Palestinian governments, not the Palestinian people. Do a variety of attacks to make it hard for the government to defend and counter-attack. If you do the same thing over and over again, the government will know what you're gonna do, and be able to defend from it better. Some types of attacks may include ambushing convoys of soldiers, attacking police stations, car bombs at government centers or installations, mortar attacks, sniping, IEDs, sabotage equipment, poison food supply, etc, etc.  
• Let the world know why you're doing what you're doing. Talk to the media, explain why you are fighting, your principles, morals, values, the crimes that the governments are doing, have data, charts to back up your argument, explain the historical development of why fighting against a government that does these things is rational and logical. Use social media as well. Have people go in for talks on news stations. Secure support from sympathetic organizations and foreign governments. 

2. Once the government is overthrown, establish a temporary transition government that will hold power only until you can have free and fair elections, which on average can take from 9-12 months from the date of victory. This temporary government must uphold all Palestinians' human rights, regardless of religion or political ideology. It must not be corrupt, it must be efficient, and it must be serious about Palestinian independence.

3. Have a nation wide vote to see what type of government the Palestinian people want. Do they want a parliamentary system like Britain's or a religious orientated government like the Muslim Brotherhood or a presidential system like ours? Whatever they want, that's what they should get.   

4. Have free and fair elections to elect the type of government chosen in the step above.

5. Now that the Palestinian people have a legitimate government that truly represents them, they can take the fight to Israel. History has proven that peaceful negotiations with Israel have not worked, because Israel either still attacks them when they're negotiating, won't compromise on anything, or agree on an accord that only benefits them but hurts the Palestinians, (http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-oslo-illusion-the-historical-accords-between-palestine-and-israel/5337332). So, logic would tell us that armed struggle is the only option left. That, unless they want the current situation to keep going on forever.
The Palestinian people would need to fight in a way similar to the way I described in #1. It has to be of the utmost importance that the uprising target Israeli military, government, and police targets only. Under no circumstances should Israeli civilians be targeted. Any person found guilty of a terrorist attack on civilians should be given the sentence prescribed by Islam: death. Terrorist attacks only hurt the operations of the ones that do it, it never, ever helps them.  

Some people will criticize this approach, saying that "Of there's no way Palestine could beat Israel militarily. Israel is 100 times stronger than it." Obviously these people know nothing about the military, because there's two facts that would put that argument to rest:
1. Palestine doesn't have to beat Israel, they only have to hurt them enough that Israel will see they have no choice but to enter negotiations with good faith i.e. actually try to achieve peace, not put on this charade that they're currently going through. Palestine could still militarily lose the war but politically win in the end.
2. A guerrilla force can beat a conventional military that is much stronger than it, through effective use of guerrilla warfare. Numerous cases throughout history show this to be true: American Revolutionary War, Vietnamese-French War, Vietnam War, Afghan-Soviet Union War, etc. In the Vietnam War, the Viet-Cong lost considerably more soldiers than the U.S., but in the end, the Viet-Cong won the war.    

Lastly, some people would dismiss this argument, saying "Oh, you're a violent terrorist extremist for advocating war against Israel." Yet, if you look at cases of occupation throughout history, historical documents, political philosophies and ideologies, including the U.S.'s, you will see that is not extreme at all to advocate for self-defense. That's all I'm advocating for. The Palestinian people, just like any other people in the world, deserve the right to defend themselves against injury and death. It actually the accusers who are extreme. They are saying for the Palestinians to just sit there and get killed. They are saying the Palestinians are sub-human, and therefore, do not get to enjoy basic human rights like every human being should be able to enjoy. They are going against the human instinct to defend oneself and his/her family. Those are the true violent extremists, not me.              

 

 

Israel's Repulsive Charade of Justice and Accountability

         Today I came across a sentencing in Israel. An IDF, (Israeli Defense Forces, even though their actions constitute nothing about “defense” at all), soldier was sentenced to 45 days in prison for the killing of two unarmed Palestinian women in 2009, during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead.” 

          http://www.rt.com/news/israel-soldier-45-days-525/

 

          This is a sickening mockery of justice, and only shows that the Israelis view Palestinians as sub-human; that their deaths aren’t really that tragic at all, and that their deaths aren't really human deaths. He got 45 days in prison for deliberately killing two unarmed civilians!!! Imagine if it was the other way around. Imagine if a Palestinian resistance fighter killed two unarmed Israeli women. The whole world would be in an uproar about the “poor little Israelis, always being bullied by their hateful and terrorist neighbors!” The Israelis would undoubtedly try and kill that resistance fighter. But in this case, since the perpetrator was Israeli, and the victims were Palestinian, he gets a measly 45 days in prison.

          Imagine if this happened to our nation. Imagine if some Taliban terrorist made it to the U.S., and killed two unarmed American women. The whole nation would be in an uproar about how “all Muslims are terrorists, Islam supports this kind of heinous act,” or my personal favorite that I've read many times from extremist web posters: "WE SHOULD JUST NUKE AFGHANISTAN!!!!" etc etc, the usual xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted BS.

          This sentencing is against all religious decrees, and against the majority of the Western countries’ laws. Even in places like Great Britain and France, who do not have the death penalty, they would still sentence this man to decades in prison, perhaps even life.

          You all already know my opinion on what his sentence should be. He is a terrorist; he killed unarmed civilians on purpose. Therefore, in accordance to U.S. and Islamic law, he should be put to death.

         

          The article furthers explains how disgusting the actual trial went. He was originally charged with manslaughter, and then got downgraded to illegal use of weapon. Then, the Israeli military tried to cover up the murders, saying that they shot at one man, not two women. But the evidence collected from Palestinian human rights groups and other eyewitnesses overwhelmingly rejected that pathetic lie. The soldier said that he shot at the women because he “felt threatened.” What a load of bullshit. An IDF soldier, with an automatic rifle, and backed by tanks and helicopters, is “threatened” by two women waving a white flag as they flee for their lives? Give me a fucking break.  

          On top of all this, this Israeli soldier is the only Israeli soldier to face “prosecution” for their terrorist acts during Operation Cast Lead. There are still hundreds, perhaps thousands of Israeli soldiers, commanders, and politicians that have gotten away with terrorist acts and murder. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Operation Cast Lead killed:

          1417 Palestinians total, of which:

          926 civilians, which includes 429 women and children,

          255 police officers,

          236 fighters.

          http://web.archive.org/web/20090612193512/http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/36-2009.html

          Meanwhile, during the same time frame, the Israelis suffered 13 causalities, of which 3 were civilians and 10 were soldiers. 

          Just from the numbers you can tell that Israel completely disregarded the safety of civilians. Their radical, racist views that the Palestinians are sub-human convinced them that they don’t deserve to enjoy the same basic human rights that Israelis have. The article goes on to explain “Anonymous Israeli Accounts of Deliberate Civilian Murder”, admitting that they carried out terrorist attacks against civilians. Sometimes the soldiers just felt like doing it, other times their commanders and superior officers ordered that they do it.

          On the other hand, the majority of the Israelis killed by Palestinian resistance fighters were soldiers. The numbers show that even though the Palestinians had less sophisticated weaponry, they still primarily aimed at Israeli soldiers. This completely refutes the standard narrative of the U.S. mainstream media that the Israelis are the “good guys” and that the Palestinians are “terrorists.”     

         

          In conclusion, this only further adds to the extremely long list of reasons of why Israel is an illegitimate state, and that the Palestinians have every right, under international, philosophical, and religious law, to engage in armed resistance to protect themselves and liberate their land from foreign occupation. They have every right to defend themselves from terrorist attacks. All people, regardless of religion or race, have the right to defend themselves from terrorist attacks. This perversion of justice also adds to the extremely long list of reasons why the U.S. should immediately drop all foreign aid to Israel, as well as cut off all economic ties with the illegal, racist, apartheid state. As principled Americans we should not stand for our tax dollars being funneled to support terrorist attacks on unarmed civilians. That is against our American values, and we should condemn it, no matter who is the perpetrator and no matter who the victim is.

          Furthermore, the U.N. should arrest all Israeli commanders and politicians whose actions caused Palestinian civilian deaths, and put them on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. I know they will never do that, because the Zionists are too powerful, but in an ideal world, where people acted on principle, and did not make exceptions to those principles based on religion or race, that’s what the U.N. would do.

          Lastly, I’ve noticed that NONE of the big American news outlets have reported on this sentencing. I’m sure they’ve received orders straight from their Zionist masters and financiers not to publish anything that would make Israel look bad. I checked MSN, CNN, FOX, CBS, and ABC, and none of them had any articles about this story at all.

          Useful links:

         

          Washington D.C. based NGO that works to end the Israeli occupation: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/  and their other site: http://endaidtoisrael.org/section.php?id=379

          International Solidarity movement, (ISM): http://palsolidarity.org/

         

          If Americans Knew:  http://ifamericansknew.org/

          Donate to help Palestinians in need:  http://www.irusa.org/countries/palestine/ and http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=86