by Brad Stroud
Mondoweiss has provided an excellent forum for an exploration of the questions of the Holocaust, Holocaust denial, Zionism and the denial of Zionist racism. It centers around Ahmadinejad’s speech at the (just completed) UN Racism conference.
Bruce Wolman wrote Who is the bigger obstacle to peace, Netanyahu or Ahmadinejad?. Philip Weiss, however, included a response to this piece: “a vigorous defense of Ahmadinejad by Mohammad of Vancouver, our Iranian-Canadian correspondent.” What I’m increasingly admiring about Philip Weiss is his unrelenting openness. Noting that, “as a Jew” he had taken comfort in Wolman’s piece, he added “but this site is not about comfort. We aim to be a place where dialogue occurs across national, ethnic and religious lines in a new world.”
My view is that the key to understanding what is going on whenever Ahmadinejad speaks and the “west” reports on it is that there are both deliberate and accidental misinterpretations of what he actually states. Aside from the more obvious problems of media distortion of such speeches, there is the problem of meaning and of understanding the objectives that inform the choice of rhetoric. Delving into such matters requires that us “westerners” recognize that we have more than a few shibboleths and that among them are “the Holocaust” and “Zionism”.
What some readers may encounter for the first time in reading these two pieces is the idea that “Holocaust” has been and is put to use to accomplish various objectives and that these uses are, in fact, distinct from the fact of the extermination of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. “Zionism” is also put to use in manners to achieve particular objectives. For example, it is used by some to ward off all criticisms of Israeli territorial occupation and expansion as being antisemitic (that is, racist). This use can be rather effective in obviating the fact that expansionist Zionism is itself a racist program entailing the complete eradication of a Palestinian homeland.
This is clearly illustrated by reading Wolman’s piece, followed by the response of Mohammad of Vancouver.
by Brad Stroud
Israel’s Settlements Entail the Destruction of an Independent Palestinian State Putting aside every other issue, Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank alone is sufficient to destroy the possibility of a viable Palestinian State (i.e, a politically independent entity with autonomous control over its borders, its resources and the movement of its people.). Since 1967 and its victory in the Six Day War, Israel has developed the public policies and policing strategies to ensure a steady and incremental appropriation of Palestinian lands and resources while also severely restricting Palestinian rights and freedoms. These policies and strategies continue more or less unabated even during so-called peace negotiations such as the current talks initiated at Annapolis in November, 2007.
Israel is Demented. Gaza is the Evidence.
January 21, 2008
Part I: Israel is Demented. Part II: Gaza is the Evidence.
Israel is Demented
Yes, atrocities occur elsewhere in the world: the populations of the Sudan, the Congo, Tibet, Iraq and Afghanistan all suffer under the blow of atrocities. And? And atrocities are committed almost daily by the Jewish State – Israel – against the Palestinian population. That is a fact. Don’t be intimidated away from a fact. Misplaced guilt has no place here either. Face it. It’s the truth.
The Jewish State is barbaric. This is not a fact. It is an interpretation or a characterization of Israel’s daily onslaught of killing, land theft and subjugation of the Palestinians. Whether or not you find this characterization apt, however, is likely related to your interest in learning the truth about these daily atrocities. Look into it yourself (e.g., Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; Foundation for Middle East Peace; Public Committee Against Torture in Israel; The Electronic Intifada). Alternatively, look to Part II (to follow).
The State of the Jews ought to protect its citizens, of course, including its Palestinian population (sadly this cannot go without saying). However, Israel might consider other more plausible means to achieving state security than the near daily murdering of Palestinians. It might want to rethink starving people (see also) as a military tactic. Or of imprisoning over one million Palestinians in an area a mere 360 sq. km. It might want to rethink the consequences of flat out stealing Palestinian land, bit by bit through the work of legal sounding policies and criminal-zealot-settlers – a truly disgusting lot these colonizers. Or polluting or stealing their water and other resources. Or bombing the Gazans only electrical power plant. Or withholding medical supplies. Or letting Palestinians die waiting at check points. This is the State of the Jews. These (above) are merely a gloss on the brutal facts. It is not hyperbole, empty rhetoric nor anti-Semitism to state it. It is willful blindness to deny it. It is inhuman to ignore it. It is morally right to actively oppose it.
