The Left Forum board of directors has rejected a panel on Palestine by If Americans Knew. The panel, which was to include a discussion of censorship among its topics, was to consist of a Muslim Palestinian refugee immigrant, two American women, and a Palestinian-Colombian-American man…
Reporters W/o Borders has asked Int’l Criminal Court to investigate Israeli sniper fire on journalists, which it regards as war crimes. 2 journalists killed, at least 90 injured since March 30.
2 press members have been killed and several injured since the start of the Gaza March on 30 March. Now a journalist from MEMOnhas been shot and hospitalized. Protection of the press is part of free speech, and Israel’s snipers are picking them off one by one.
Israel is targeting and killing children in the Gaza March – with vocal support from its leaders. Encourage your legislator to cosponsor Rep. Betty McCollum’s H.R. 4391, the “Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children.”
How can American Jews endorse the strangulation of 2 million human beings in Gaza? Because Jewish leaders, in both Israel and the United States, encase Israel’s actions in a fog of euphemism and lies.The organized American Jewish community doesn’t only conceal the truth about Gaza from itself. It lobbies American politicians to do the same. The three main talking points: that Israel “withdrew” from Gaza, that its actions are decreed by a need for “security,” and that “Hamas” is to blame. Let’s look at the real facts:
Palestinian journalist Yousef Alhelou’s vivid description of the situation at the Gaza-Israel border brings us up close, where we can see the images and understand the motivations on both sides.
Killing of Palestinians is not new. It has been going on for decades, unabated, uncriticized, and bankrolled by the US. The Leahy Laws enable us to withhold aid to countries that commit human such rights abuses, but in spite of overwhelming proof of abuse by Israel, our politicians refuse to cut off military support.
Reuters, the Associated Press, the New York Times can’t seem to say “Palestinians protest nonviolently; Israeli soldiers kill them.” Headlines from the region consistently misrepresent the situation as two equal sides – or worse, as Palestinian aggressors inciting Israel to return fire. Words matter.
JTA reports that a bill about to be introduced in Congress “will fund Holocaust education in schools.” We wonder if this will fund education about all the holocausts, both past and present, that the world has seen… including the current violence against Palestinians in Gaza…. [UPDATE – bill has been introduced]
How western media cover Gaza: Show a close up of Palestinians’ raised fists and open mouths and angry faces and raised flags – they are threatening, aren’t they?: violent, dangerous, and menacing. Make sure the frame of your camera is quite tight. Don’t ever open the frame to show 100 Israeli sharpshooters nearby firing live ammunition at thousands of defenseless and unarmed civilians protesting the systemic theft of their homeland…