PATRICE GREANVILLE
with
Leon Friedman
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Amazing as it sounds, Israel—a violent and criminal entity since its inception as a Zionist project—has lived almost its entire life inside a huge propaganda bubble that has fooled even people who thought themselves extremely well informed. In that category I count millions of American Jews, many of whom, regrettably, remain stubbornly deaf and blind to the biggest (still unfolding) crime of the 21st century, the Palestinian genocide. The events of October 7th—amply provoked by 75 years of despicable Israeli treatment of Palestinians—and its aftermath, of course, will continue to shake their faith. The same holds for many people living inside the "First World", "The Collective West", the womb of modern imperialism and colonialism, and therefore the matrix of Palestinian victimhood. The relative complacency we have seen in this segment of humanity toward the Palestinian people for almost an entire century is not accidental. This is an information space ferociously hostile to the historical and social truth of the Middle East, Israel in particular, and the world in general. Indeed, "the West" is arguably the area most heavily brainwashed in all of recorded history, indoctrinated 24/7 by the most cynical and efficient opinion manufacturing machine ever developed, far more efficient and totalitarian than what Herr Goebbels could possibly dream.
Yet, even in this part of the world, an enormous shift has taken place. Not among the terminally sociopathic and degenerate ruling cliques, the so-called “1 %” (actually closer to 0.001%, the global super billionaires) of course, who are by definition beyond redemption; nor among the contemptible flunkies who serve them in the comfortable 10% right underneath them—the military, media, professional, and corporate strata—but among many in the ordinary 90%. Among these masses, who day after day see their own living standards eroding if not cratering while the ghosts of war loom ever larger, who have managed to keep their sense of decency unhampered, many have finally seen what Israel and the US empire are all about, and they are shocked and revolted. The proof is in the huge pro-Palestine protests—in the millions—we have seen in London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Istanbul, Berlin and other major capitals of the empire. Remains to be seen if these people will ever be brought back to
For many in the Global South, the 7 billion living in the previously (or still) colonised areas of the world, the ghastly images coming out of Gaza may have been just a bit less of a shock (after all, they have seen institutionalised, depraved brutality in their midst for centuries), but even among those populations, Gaza opened many eyes to the ugly fascist reality of Zionism. Because Western imperialism’s strength has long been much more than superiority in killing power (now rapidly coming to its end, or simply finished, thanks to our Russian brothers); it has also been able to colonise their minds, their cultures. American pop culture with its insidious DNA—music, movies, television, youth styles—has proved irresistible around the globe. The seduction has been fatal for the prospects of genuine freedom and egalitarian governance. US culture not only poisons and enslaves the minds of Americans, it poisons the mind of anyone who touches it. As a huge distorter of reality, it has acted as a powerful brake on what otherwise would ave been swifter processes of cultural and political liberation.
Granted, the tools were and remain diabolically effective. Hollywood has long wrapped blatant disinformation in the guise of harmless entertainment. The art of the Big Lie is a Western specialty. The Western powers—Britain, France and the US—were the first to develop mass deception tools, including the bastard child of diplomacy—spying. All forms of conceivable social and political marketing were perfected in America. Public relations? Check. Mass advertising—intrusive, nonstop, ubiquitous? Check. False flags? Check. Demonisation propaganda? Check. Mainstream media posing as news sources instead of self-serving status quo propaganda? Check. Dishonest Manichean historical revisions? Check. Check. We could go on.
Under such cover, the US empire and its accomplices have conducted horrid genocides and massive assasinations before. Literally murdering or pulverising tens of millions of people. Just think of Korea—“the forgotten war”, where between 2.5 and 4 million were killed just in North Korea—that is, 20% of the population. While some bloodthirsty US generals clamored for the green light to nuke China. Not content with that, the Big Bully—with a huge garrison in the South and in official control of Seoul’s armed forces—has kept North Korea largely isolated, often on the brink of famine, and constantly threatened by a new all-out attack. It is a tribute to the much-maligned communist system that rules the DPRK, that the nation has managed against such odds to build a credible deterrent military boasting even nuclear weapons, and an egalitarian economy in which no citizen lacks all essentials (they are guaranteed by the Constitution), from food and housing to full education and healthcare, plus safe and well-compensated employment. Just look at North Korea with impartial eyes, if you can, and see for yourselves. The clean, orderly streets. The Metro system that shames New York City’s. The hospital networks. The North Korean cars (I guess you didn't know the DPRK also produces cars, trucks and what not). The impeccable schools, sports arenas accessible to all free, of course, and so on. (Unfortunately, for most Americans, as well as people using Western media, seeing any country in the non-capitalist world, especially one that continues to defy the West, like the DPRK, with comprehending eyes, let alone sympathetic eyes, is impossible. For that to happen the big curtain of lies has to be utterly destroyed. If you do a YouTube search for "North Korea" anything—documentaries, society, politics, history, whatever— I guarantee ALL you'll get is a ton of filthy, malicious propaganda. There have been a handful of exceptions here and there but over time they have mysteriously vanished).
The Korean case is an immense tragedy, but Vietnam, Indonesia, the Middle East, many parts of Latin America and Africa, were also slaughterhouses. We are talking here mostly indiscriminate mass murder. Just like we see in Gaza, today, except that now, thanks to advances in digital media, and the fact the West, despite its cynical censorship regime can't yet silence all voices, the world can finally see what is really going on, literally in realtime, and two factors make the learning experience all the more irrefutable.
First, besides the now massive and still growing amount of visual, textual, digital, and material evidence to Israeli criminality, there are brave and highly cogent witnesses to this genocide, and they are finding ever larger audiences. I'm speaking here of people like the formidable Norman Finkelstein, whose primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Dr Finkelstein has tried to explain the ugly racism of Zionism for generations, written several books on the subject, attended (and won) innumerable debates, but attained only middling success. It took the Gazan catastrophe to finally catapult his voice to more significant platforms, in this case social media, even though, as we could expect, he remains invisible to mainstream publics. The same is true for other invaluable voices: Max Blumenthal, Aaron Maté, Daniel Cohen (whose documentary Killing Gaza, made with Max Blumenthal is a must-see), Abby Martin, another fierce truth-teller about the Middle East, Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett, and others of similar merit. And there are also, naturally, the scores of Palestinian and even Jewish journalists who have documented the depraved actions of the Zionist state, and in far too many cases, to the revolting silence of the cowardly and disgustingly careerist corporate media, been murdered by the IDF, the Israeli Death Forces, with complete impunity. And then there is of course unique figures like Miko Peled, former Israeli special forces, son of a prominent Israeli general—one of the "founders" of Israel—now turned 100% anti-Zionist and human rights advocate for the Palestinians. In this regard I doubt there is a more compelling, comprehensive and didactic video about Zionism than Peled's interview with Chris Hedges:
How Israel indoctrinates its people w/Miko Peled
or, Peled's presentation with Max Blumenthal, editor in chief of The Grayzone:
Max Blumenthal & Miko Peled : Where is the War in Gaza Going?
(Both of these videos are in this edition of the Bulletin, so I urge you to look for them and spend a few hours absorbing their eye-opening information.)
Their own worst enemy
The second factor making the Gaza genocide a major event in the world is that the Zionists themselves have shown their true face by telling bald-faced lies ("24 decapitated babies") or not hiding their deranged extremism but boasting wide and far of their vile intentions. In that, apparently bathed in self-righteous hubris and a sense of invulnerability given their powerful and equally criminal allies, they have committed suicide in the propaganda war, where they long reigned supreme and unassailable. Indeed, Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and currently a geopolitical blogger, wrote a whole piece noting this unforgivable clumsiness: ISRAEL, LIKE THE FISH, DIES BY ITS MOUTH
Larry simply marvels at the sheer chutzpa exhibited by Netanyahu and his cabinet of fellow unrepentant sociopaths. Almost incredulously, he quotes a portion of the South Africa complaint dealing with Israel's "genocidal intent":
Evidence of Israeli State officials’ specific intent (‘dolus specialis’) to commit and persist in committing genocidal acts or to fail to prevent them has been significant and overt since October 2023. Those statements of intent — when combined with the level of killing, maiming, displacement and destruction on the ground, together with the siege — evidence an unfolding and continuing genocide. They include statements by the following individuals in the positions of the highest responsibility: Israeli Minister of Defence: On 9 October 2023, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in an Israeli Army ‘situation update’ advised that Israel was “imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”452 He also informed troops on the Gaza border that he had “released all the restraints”,453 stating in terms that: “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything. If it doesn’t take one day, it will take a week. It will take weeks or even months, we will reach all places.”454 He further announced that Israel was moving to “a full scale response” and that he had “removed every restriction” on Israeli forces.455 Israeli Minister for National Security: On 10 November 2023, Itamar Ben-Gvir clarified the government’s position in a televised address, stating: “[t]o be clear, when we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy — they’re all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.”456 Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure: ‘Tweeting’ on 13 October 2023, Israel Katz stated: “All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.”457 Israeli Minister of Heritage: On 1 November 2023, Amichai Eliyahu posted on Facebook: “The north of the Gaza Strip, more beautiful than ever. Everything is blown up and flattened, simply a pleasure for the eyes … We must talk about the day after. In my mind, we will hand over lots to all those who fought for Gaza over the years and to those evicted from Gush Katif” [a former Israeli settlement].460 He later argued against humanitarian aid as “[w]e wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid”, and “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza”.461 He also posited a nuclear attack on the Gaza Strip.462 Israeli Minister of Agriculture: On 11 November 2023, Avi Dichter in a television interview recalled the Nakba of 1948, in which over 80 percent of the Palestinian population of the new Israeli State was forced from or fled their homes, stating that “[w]e are now actually rolling out the Gaza Nakba”.463 |
Larry adds,
This is only a portion of this section of the complaint. There are five more pages of similar, ghastly quotes. I give Amichai Eliyahu credit for one of the most abjectly stupid comments. He said, “[w]e wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid”. That statement proves genocidal intent. How so? Because the U.S. and the Brits did provide Nazis with humanitarian aid during and after the war. Nazi soldiers captured during the Battle of the Bulge were not lined up and shot. Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinians is shocking most of the world with each passing day.
Johnson concludes his article with this admission:
As someone who once considered himself a supporter of Israel, I am no longer. This is murder on a mass scale and it is indiscriminate and it disgusts me. Israel is not only carelessly killing Palestinian civilians, it is killing itself. I am not the only one sickened and exhausted by the Zionist extremism. And, as I have noted in previous posts, there are Jews who feel the same. I hope the ICJ finds the courage to do what is right.
Let me conclude this intro by strongly recommending two more posts. One with Sabby Sabs, discussing what humanity must do after a Gaza ceasefire. "The ceasefire, notes the Bronx Antiwar Coalition, is but the first step toward a long and inevitably difficult process to bring international peace to multiple countries on the basis of justice, and that begins with the trying and sentencing of highly placed war criminals in Israel and throughout the West."
The second strong recommend concerns Garland Nixon's "trifecta"—
GARLAND NIXON: THE CRUMBLING EMPIRE – WITH DR TONY MONTEIRO
A NEW DAWN WITH A JANUSIAN MASK IS RISING
This is an in-depth dive into the cesspool of degenerate US politics in the age of the unhinged Empire, and what that portends for everyone aboard this planet. Absolutely must-see.
PG / LF
CODA
All image captions, pull quotes, appendices, etc. by the editors not the authors.
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