bustardblog

Murdered Israeli Settlers

There can be no justification for the murder of eight Israeli students, studying in the library of their yeshiva.

But an explanation of why now, and why students at a particular yeshiva were selected as targets, could help us understand the seemingly never ending cycle of death in the Middle East.

Sadly, the American press is far too intimated to give us the full story.

You have to go to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz for the first blunt assessment of the tragedy, which they classified as "revenge."

"The Israel Defense Forces' attacks in Gaza, which caused the death of many civilians, provided the legitimacy for yesterday's brutal attack."

Earlier in the week, the I.D.F. had attacked a number of targets in  Gaza, murdering a minimum of 19  Palestinian civilians (four of whom were children.) in one operation alone.

The Israeli students killed were studying at a particularly militaristic yeshiva - one that sought to provide a religious justification for the illegal occupation of territories in the West Bank. As the N.Y.Times wrote:

The yeshiva is famous, a symbol of the national religious strain of Judaism that provides the backbone of the settler movement.

It is closely linked with both "Religious Zionism" and Gush Emunim.

In fact at least four of the young students killed came from settlements in the West Bank. One was from Shiloh, in the West Bank, while another was from Kochav Hasahar, a settlement even Israel recognizes as illegal.  As the BBC has reported, "the international community regards all settlements in...the West Bank... as illegal under international law." Another of those killed was from Elkana, a town whose enlargement was of concern to the Bush Administration:

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the US "will be seeking clarification from the government of Israel" over the plan for new homes in Elkana.

"Israel should not be expanding settlements," he said.

A fourth was from the illegal town Neveh Daniel, an outpost from which Israeli settlers "severely" beat a 65 year old Palestinian farmer back in 2005.

The implication left by reporting in our press was that a random act of murder occurred in a Jerusalem school last week.  The truth is more complicated.

When people of good faith such as Kofi Annan and Jimmy Carter are mocked by the likes of a Marty Peretz and a Fausta for planning a trip to the region in search for peace, the lives of more Israeli and Palestinian children are endangered.   But then one of the tragedies of the Middle East is how far Israel's "supporters" are willing to go to undermine peace.

(memeorandum)

Losing the Power

Barack Obama is having one lousy week.  It's as if a few good jabs from Hillary showed us a glass jaw and a fast fade onto the canvas. His supporters manage to make him look even more fragile. If he doesn't win now, he'll pack it in.

Meanwhile in the Clinton campaign, it's  Samantha Power Day: Obama's foreign policy coach is the gift that keeps on giving.

Earlier I agreed with David Corn's assessment: Why does Obama get nailed for Power's "monster" comment, while HRC's people are allowed to denounce others as "Ken Starr" - certainly a monster in my book, and not be bloodied? It seems unfair. Then I read Yglesias, and agreed with him, when he wrote of the demand that Power throw in the towel:

but this sort of ritualized calls for resignations is all in the game. Having her resign, by contrast, is just playing the game poorly

That glass jaw again. Obama fighting poorly.

But in fact "monster" probably had nothing to do with Power's resignation. Instead it was  her pathetic performance in an interview on BBC's Hardtalk. (Not in anyway to be compared to Hardball. Their host thinks.) Prof. Power states that one cannot actually expect Obama to keep to his campaign rhetoric on withdrawing from Iraq - it's all subject to review in January.  She then fails to offer a reasonable explanation why Obama would happily talk to Ahmadinejahd, but not to Hamas. Obviously smart and knowledegable, and  completely clueless as to how elections are won.

Guys like Andrew Sullivan and Al Sharpton don't help Obama either - with their childish threats that Obama's supporters will fade away if their man doesn't get the decision.

This week, Obama's corner can only be described as bush league; not ready for the main event.

(memeorandum)

On the Insufferable Supporters of Barack Obama

Obama's supporters are really getting to be insufferable.  They  condemn the superdelegate system as undemocratic, and then applaud the equally undemocratic caucus system of states like Texas.  They are entirely comfortable with the fact that Obama's lead in delegates is not reflective of his lead in popular votes actually cast.  While they scream when Obama is compared to Ken Starr, they have no problem criticizing the administration of her husband for its failure to be sufficiently  progressive, even as they defend Obama's less progressive positions on issues like social security and health care.

I have admired his ability to energize and inspire - but it seems that he's not interested in  building the democratic party, only a personality cult.

(memeorandum)

Contorted Journalists: Israeli Style

Today's N.Y. Times has a letter from Jerry Rapp regarding Gaza. Here's part of it:

"...the bottom line it that a sovereign, democratic nation withdrew from a
disputed territory, handling same to its adversaries without any preconditions.
    The response was an essentially nonstop barrage of thousands of rockets aimed at its civilians who do not reside in disputed territory."

That Gaza is in fact "disputed territory" whereas the land that Israel occupies can not be called disputed would instantly be dismissed as absurd, if such distorted and deceptive misuse of the language were not so commonplace in discussions of Israel.

The London Review of Books has a great piece by Yonatan Mendel on this pattern of pathological linguistic abuse. In his analysis of Israeli journalism, he offers some really disturbing examples:

"The Israeli army never intentionally kills anyone, let alone murders them...Even when a one-ton bomb is dropped onto a dense residential area in Gaza, killing one gunman and 14 innocent civilians, including nine children, it's still not an intentional killing or murder; it is a targeted assassination."

Or, take the use of the word "clearing:"

"During the last intifada"... [a word best translated by "revolt" - a meaning never alluded to in the Israeli-Jewish Press]...Israeli Dg bulldozers destroyed thousands of Palestinian houses, uprooted thousand of trees and left behind thousands of smashed greenhouses. It is better to know that the army cleared the place than to face the reality that the army destroys Palestinians' possessions, pride and hope."

Read the article -the Israeli use of defamatory and slanted language make clear the mockery of a declared desire for peace, just as the same need to twist the truth beyond all recognition informs us of the motivations of our own government.

(memeorandum)

Barack as Bugsy?

Jeff Greenfield's article in Slate today in which he explores the fact that the Bugs Bunny character always seems to beat the Daffy Duck type in our Presidential elections is a typically lazy bit of punditry.

The Bugs he describes is a Cary Grant type; everyman's high school's king of cool. He argues that this explains Kennedy's defeat of Nixon as well as Bush's victory over Gore, and believes that this helps explain why Obama is beating Hillary Clinton. He also uses it as a model for G.H.W. Bush's loss to Bill Clinton.  But Bugs, like, Bill, is also a bit of a trickster. He's not just cool; he also lies. He's fond of tricking his opponent by cross dressing. Diving out of a plane, he offers a "spare parachute" to his fellow diver - knowing full well that it's a tire. After all, his first name "Bugs" drew its inspiration in part from the murderous gangster, Bugsy Siegel.

Greenfield's analogy may be cute, but it is superficial. The American people do admire those who push limits and they are somewhat frightened by the earnestness of a wonk. But Barack is every bit as wonkish as Hillary, yet has even less of that roguish quality we perversely seem to want in a leader. Unfortunately, Greenfield can't be bothered to examine this paradox. Similarly, he finds W's cool quotient much higher than Al Gore's and uses it as another example to buttress his position. In the actual event, of course, Gore won the popular vote.

(Memeorandum)

Da Bustard

Double Clicking will enable you to see Da Bustard (a khouri bustard) puff himself up to look more intimidating to a potential enemy.
(Feb 17, 2008)

Lions in a Fever Tree

Double Click to Enlarge this photo of a lion and one of her cubs rest in a fever tree. (two more of her cubs were also in the tree)