Changing the dynamics is imperative. This is my attempt to do that. We need new ideas that break the cycle that leads only to ever more violence.
I had this crazy idea a few nights ago that the one thing that could maybe stop the bombing immediately, would be for Pope Francis to go to Gaza, to the Rafah Crossing and enter into Gaza with the Gazans. I believe this would change the dynamics as soon as such a visit was announced. I made a petition on change.org
If you, or anyone, you know, thinks this might work, and would like to support it , please sign and share:
I think it’s necessary to change the current dynamics and narratives that do nothing but further the death and hatred on all sides. This won’t interfere with anything else people are doing. Given the craven behavior of the western governments, it’s imperative to try think outside the box of retribution. It might not work, but maybe it's worth trying. Please sign and share if you can.
Joy, First, thank you for subscribing to Our Journey. Second, and more important: What a great and creative idea! Thinking "outside the box of retribution." WOW! Yes!! This is exactly the kind of thinking needed. I will sign your petition. Thank you!! All that you have to say gives me hope. Your insights and efforts are like a prayer for the world. Keep up the good work!
Top notch as always, Cara. You do a good job of but IMSHO it's not quite balanced enough. So I will stick this in here. It's from Scott Ritter's substack:
“The attackers came at dawn, quickly occupying the town. The men were separated from the women and shot. One of the attackers, opening the door of one of the homes, found an old man standing there. He shot him. ‘He enjoyed shooting him,’ an eyewitness to the attack said afterwards.
Soon the town was empty—the entire population of 5,000 had either been killed or expelled, those who survived put on trucks, and driven to Gaza. The empty homes were looted. ‘We were very happy,’ one of the participants said afterwards. ‘If you don’t take it, someone else will. You don’t feel you have to give it back. They were not coming back.
It sounds like a narrative torn from the front pages of today’s newspapers, one of many such stories—too many to count—describing the atrocities inflicted on the civilian populations of Israeli towns and Kibbutzes adjacent to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But it is not. Instead, it is the recollections of Yaakov Sharett, the son of Moshe Sharett, one of the fathers of Israel, a signatory to Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and Israel’s first Foreign Minister, and second Prime Minister. Yaakov Sharett was recounting the seizure of the Arab town of Bersheeba, in 1948, by Israeli soldiers, during Israel’s War of Independence."
That is how Israel treats non-combatants. If anyone deserves the label sub-human (untermench in german which is what the Nazis called the Jews) it's the Israelis, not the Palestinians. Hamas had over a half a century of provocation, Israel in 1948 had none. Or, at least, none against the Arab population of West Asia. Which puts me in mind of something Hafez al Assad said to Henry Kissinger - Yes, I get the suffering of the Jewish people in the holocaust but why do you take it out on my people? For all you out there who are afraid of being called an anti-semite by supporting Palestinians (Biblical Philistines). Just remind them that while Jews are semites, so are Palestinian Arabs.
The reason my dear Assad is that in the aftermath of WWII Syria was weak and the decisions were made by all the old colonial powers of the Middle East who were also the same powers that were handing their citizens over to Germany for slaughter - Holland, France, Italy, Poland, Austria, but not the country we love to hate, Russia.
If we were trying to be fair and compensate the Jews we'd have taken a chunk out of Germany, given it to the Jews, and guaranteed the borders. If you need help understanding why that wasn't going to happen, re-read the previous paragraph.
The only real solution is the two state solution based on the 1948 borders, Israel (and the US, naturally) will object but somebody needs to tell them - that's too damn bad.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I could not agree more strongly. My essay/contemplation was, in part, a documentation of my struggle to find some empathy and compassion for the Israelis who were killed. Because, as Patrick asserted in his recent column, I do no think they were innocent. Just as I do not think Americans are innocent. No one, except the very young, who lives in and benefits from a violent apartheid state can claim innocence. Which of course is not to argue that they deserved to be killed. Americans need to take heed: Americans, who live in and benefit from a murderous military empire, have no claim to innocence either.
I tend to agree with Craig Murray on the frustration and finally action taken by the heroic Palestinians for going up against the neo-nazi state of Israel.
Zionism is the Jewish form of German Nazism.
For 75 years, the Jewish state of Israel has brutalized the Palestinian people who have lived in Palestine - now Israel for centuries and have gotten away with it as they have mastered the art of "Propaganda" (Edward Bernays) and have "milked" "The Final Solution To the Jewish Question" which was the official nomenclature at the Wansee Conference in early 1942, in lamenting over and over again for Gentile sympathy and to condone what Israel does. and highlighting of those detainees allowed to live at the infamous "austerity camps" and "enhanced labor facilities" by the "moderate" soldiers of the Waffen SS which Himmler deployed to serve as security guards. Was A. Hitler ahead of his time, and did "God" protect him from approximately 15 assassination attempts by the German people?
Now, see how easy it is to sugarcoat a thing and make light of any kind of atrocity?
In 2014, my wife and I watched, on RTAmerica, the bombing of Gaza, including schools, hospitals as well as apartment buildings, killing about 20,000 Palestinian men, women, children and babies, and the UN did nothing about it. No sanctions against the Nazi state of Israel, no humanitarian bombing of Tel Aviv to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. Especially not a peep from the Jewish controlled Congress of the U.S.
I'm glad Cara mentioned Phyllis Bennis, an astute scholar whom I've heard on various kpfa.org programs over many years, and who I saw in person at a lecture quite a few years ago.
It sickens me watching the Zionists being interviewed and justifying every atrocity that Israel carries out, without being questioned by the big corporate media outlets who like their bread buttered, so to speak.
I wish I saved the New Yorker magazine article from about 15 or more years ago, which focused on an Israel spy in the Pentagon. I think his surname was Franklin. In the article, the author stated that all new members of the House and Senate are told, to vote Yes on any bill for Israel which goes before Congress, otherwise they don't stand a chance for re-election as their name will be blackened by the big corporate media outlets. Very true!
My comment on a Consortiumnews.com article two days ago must have been censored before I even hit the "Send" button, as I couldn't get the "Hand" icon. ???
So far in the 21st century, it's been one war after another, with tens of trillions of dollars wasted around the world on the MIC (military industrial complex), rather than spent for the betterment of humanity, the animal kingdom and Mother Nature. Very sad!
Hello, Frank. Thank you for your comment. Question, for you: what is the context of this sentence you wrote? "Was A. Hitler ahead of his time, and did "God" protect him from approximately 15 assassination attempts by the German people?"
Reading the NYT's this morning was nauseating, nothing but justification for Israel's war crimes. The editorial board engaged in outright lies asserting that Israel "is a society that values human life and the rule of law," when it so clearly values neither. Israel has been violating international law for a very long time. The Times's assertion is also implicitly racist. What is left unsaid is that by contrast Palestinians don't value human life or the rule of law, sentiments which boarder very close to the statement made by Israel's Defense Minister who referred to the people of Gaza as "human animals."
Hello Cara. I was angrily caustic and facetious when writing about the misanthropic lunatic of a Chancellor being ahead of his time, as he did evade numerous assassination attempts by the German people. The famous one was with the briefcase, left under the table by Col. Klaus Von Stauffenburg. In the God reference, I play devil's advocate for the sake of argument when folks with little or no knowledge of history, back up the Israel regimes 75 year old treatment of Palestinians. When people accuse me of being a Nazi sympathizer, I have to laugh. Then I'm called all sorts of names when I say, the biggest winners of WW2 were the Jewish people, and explain why I believe it. Overall, nobody has a right to kill anybody, and I've become more anti-military the older I get, in spite of honorably serving in the armed forces for 8 years.
Regarding the NYT, I mentioned in different comments on The Scrum, Scheerpost, Consortium News and a few others that I quit reading that paper many years ago, as they seem to support all US wars of aggression, including the new "holocaust" against the Palestinians.. I'm waiting, but not holding my breath, for journalists and our two-bit politicians say that Netanyahu is the "new Hitler," and has to be stopped.
I actually met Palestinian refugees in Oakland, Ca. some years ago, and I was in tears after listening to their stories on how they are treated by the wanna be Nazis. Very sad.
Changing the dynamics is imperative. This is my attempt to do that. We need new ideas that break the cycle that leads only to ever more violence.
I had this crazy idea a few nights ago that the one thing that could maybe stop the bombing immediately, would be for Pope Francis to go to Gaza, to the Rafah Crossing and enter into Gaza with the Gazans. I believe this would change the dynamics as soon as such a visit was announced. I made a petition on change.org
If you, or anyone, you know, thinks this might work, and would like to support it , please sign and share:
https://chng.it/tfYb2DjFDy
I think it’s necessary to change the current dynamics and narratives that do nothing but further the death and hatred on all sides. This won’t interfere with anything else people are doing. Given the craven behavior of the western governments, it’s imperative to try think outside the box of retribution. It might not work, but maybe it's worth trying. Please sign and share if you can.
Joy, First, thank you for subscribing to Our Journey. Second, and more important: What a great and creative idea! Thinking "outside the box of retribution." WOW! Yes!! This is exactly the kind of thinking needed. I will sign your petition. Thank you!! All that you have to say gives me hope. Your insights and efforts are like a prayer for the world. Keep up the good work!
Top notch as always, Cara. You do a good job of but IMSHO it's not quite balanced enough. So I will stick this in here. It's from Scott Ritter's substack:
“The attackers came at dawn, quickly occupying the town. The men were separated from the women and shot. One of the attackers, opening the door of one of the homes, found an old man standing there. He shot him. ‘He enjoyed shooting him,’ an eyewitness to the attack said afterwards.
Soon the town was empty—the entire population of 5,000 had either been killed or expelled, those who survived put on trucks, and driven to Gaza. The empty homes were looted. ‘We were very happy,’ one of the participants said afterwards. ‘If you don’t take it, someone else will. You don’t feel you have to give it back. They were not coming back.
It sounds like a narrative torn from the front pages of today’s newspapers, one of many such stories—too many to count—describing the atrocities inflicted on the civilian populations of Israeli towns and Kibbutzes adjacent to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But it is not. Instead, it is the recollections of Yaakov Sharett, the son of Moshe Sharett, one of the fathers of Israel, a signatory to Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and Israel’s first Foreign Minister, and second Prime Minister. Yaakov Sharett was recounting the seizure of the Arab town of Bersheeba, in 1948, by Israeli soldiers, during Israel’s War of Independence."
That is how Israel treats non-combatants. If anyone deserves the label sub-human (untermench in german which is what the Nazis called the Jews) it's the Israelis, not the Palestinians. Hamas had over a half a century of provocation, Israel in 1948 had none. Or, at least, none against the Arab population of West Asia. Which puts me in mind of something Hafez al Assad said to Henry Kissinger - Yes, I get the suffering of the Jewish people in the holocaust but why do you take it out on my people? For all you out there who are afraid of being called an anti-semite by supporting Palestinians (Biblical Philistines). Just remind them that while Jews are semites, so are Palestinian Arabs.
The reason my dear Assad is that in the aftermath of WWII Syria was weak and the decisions were made by all the old colonial powers of the Middle East who were also the same powers that were handing their citizens over to Germany for slaughter - Holland, France, Italy, Poland, Austria, but not the country we love to hate, Russia.
If we were trying to be fair and compensate the Jews we'd have taken a chunk out of Germany, given it to the Jews, and guaranteed the borders. If you need help understanding why that wasn't going to happen, re-read the previous paragraph.
The only real solution is the two state solution based on the 1948 borders, Israel (and the US, naturally) will object but somebody needs to tell them - that's too damn bad.
Make it happen.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I could not agree more strongly. My essay/contemplation was, in part, a documentation of my struggle to find some empathy and compassion for the Israelis who were killed. Because, as Patrick asserted in his recent column, I do no think they were innocent. Just as I do not think Americans are innocent. No one, except the very young, who lives in and benefits from a violent apartheid state can claim innocence. Which of course is not to argue that they deserved to be killed. Americans need to take heed: Americans, who live in and benefit from a murderous military empire, have no claim to innocence either.
What a horrible situation. May we all get our humanity back…someday.
Keep doing your beautiful paintings. They are a gift to the world. Creativity is the most profound expression of our humanity. Love you!
Thanks, Cara. Great point. Love you too.
I tend to agree with Craig Murray on the frustration and finally action taken by the heroic Palestinians for going up against the neo-nazi state of Israel.
Zionism is the Jewish form of German Nazism.
For 75 years, the Jewish state of Israel has brutalized the Palestinian people who have lived in Palestine - now Israel for centuries and have gotten away with it as they have mastered the art of "Propaganda" (Edward Bernays) and have "milked" "The Final Solution To the Jewish Question" which was the official nomenclature at the Wansee Conference in early 1942, in lamenting over and over again for Gentile sympathy and to condone what Israel does. and highlighting of those detainees allowed to live at the infamous "austerity camps" and "enhanced labor facilities" by the "moderate" soldiers of the Waffen SS which Himmler deployed to serve as security guards. Was A. Hitler ahead of his time, and did "God" protect him from approximately 15 assassination attempts by the German people?
Now, see how easy it is to sugarcoat a thing and make light of any kind of atrocity?
In 2014, my wife and I watched, on RTAmerica, the bombing of Gaza, including schools, hospitals as well as apartment buildings, killing about 20,000 Palestinian men, women, children and babies, and the UN did nothing about it. No sanctions against the Nazi state of Israel, no humanitarian bombing of Tel Aviv to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. Especially not a peep from the Jewish controlled Congress of the U.S.
I'm glad Cara mentioned Phyllis Bennis, an astute scholar whom I've heard on various kpfa.org programs over many years, and who I saw in person at a lecture quite a few years ago.
It sickens me watching the Zionists being interviewed and justifying every atrocity that Israel carries out, without being questioned by the big corporate media outlets who like their bread buttered, so to speak.
I wish I saved the New Yorker magazine article from about 15 or more years ago, which focused on an Israel spy in the Pentagon. I think his surname was Franklin. In the article, the author stated that all new members of the House and Senate are told, to vote Yes on any bill for Israel which goes before Congress, otherwise they don't stand a chance for re-election as their name will be blackened by the big corporate media outlets. Very true!
My comment on a Consortiumnews.com article two days ago must have been censored before I even hit the "Send" button, as I couldn't get the "Hand" icon. ???
So far in the 21st century, it's been one war after another, with tens of trillions of dollars wasted around the world on the MIC (military industrial complex), rather than spent for the betterment of humanity, the animal kingdom and Mother Nature. Very sad!
Hello, Frank. Thank you for your comment. Question, for you: what is the context of this sentence you wrote? "Was A. Hitler ahead of his time, and did "God" protect him from approximately 15 assassination attempts by the German people?"
Reading the NYT's this morning was nauseating, nothing but justification for Israel's war crimes. The editorial board engaged in outright lies asserting that Israel "is a society that values human life and the rule of law," when it so clearly values neither. Israel has been violating international law for a very long time. The Times's assertion is also implicitly racist. What is left unsaid is that by contrast Palestinians don't value human life or the rule of law, sentiments which boarder very close to the statement made by Israel's Defense Minister who referred to the people of Gaza as "human animals."
Hello Cara. I was angrily caustic and facetious when writing about the misanthropic lunatic of a Chancellor being ahead of his time, as he did evade numerous assassination attempts by the German people. The famous one was with the briefcase, left under the table by Col. Klaus Von Stauffenburg. In the God reference, I play devil's advocate for the sake of argument when folks with little or no knowledge of history, back up the Israel regimes 75 year old treatment of Palestinians. When people accuse me of being a Nazi sympathizer, I have to laugh. Then I'm called all sorts of names when I say, the biggest winners of WW2 were the Jewish people, and explain why I believe it. Overall, nobody has a right to kill anybody, and I've become more anti-military the older I get, in spite of honorably serving in the armed forces for 8 years.
Regarding the NYT, I mentioned in different comments on The Scrum, Scheerpost, Consortium News and a few others that I quit reading that paper many years ago, as they seem to support all US wars of aggression, including the new "holocaust" against the Palestinians.. I'm waiting, but not holding my breath, for journalists and our two-bit politicians say that Netanyahu is the "new Hitler," and has to be stopped.
I actually met Palestinian refugees in Oakland, Ca. some years ago, and I was in tears after listening to their stories on how they are treated by the wanna be Nazis. Very sad.
J.R., We certainly need help. Thanks for reading and thank you for commenting. Blessings on all of us.