Friday, January 13, 2006

Picking American Pockets For Israel

Recruiting American Jews for Israel
by Karin Friedemann and Joachim Martillo
2005-10-15
http://bridgenews.org/news/americanjews

The U.S. government funds Israel's ongoing program to remove the native population of Palestine, primarily Muslims and Christians, and supplant them with European-American Jewish colonists. Our tax dollars facilitate this ethnic cleansing and colonization of Occupied Palestine.

Why do seemingly normal, middle class Jewish American families take part in genocidal ethnic cleansing? While some sick individuals might get a "thrill" from moving into property stolen from a family expelled from their home at gunpoint by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), our observations indicate that funand profit serve as the primary motivation for relocating to Occupied Palestine.

The Israeli government offers American Jews subsidized mortgages at interest rates far lower than anything available to non-Jews. The subsidies are funded by Israeli bonds and underwritten by U.S. loan guarantees. The new mortgage holders are allowed to sink their credit card debts into Israeli mortgages valued in shekels, which are practically guaranteed to depreciate relative to the dollar. (See http://www.tehilla.com/homes). While these "ethically challenged" American Jews stay in Israel, they are offered free Hebrew classes and living expenses for up to oneyear, paid by the Israeli government.

The cost of "doing business" with Israel is not only financial but moral. The system creates suburban sprawl in the Holy Land, environmental devastation and mass homelessness of the original, rightful non-Jewish property owners. Most Palestinians under Israeli government control are not citizens and have no rights under Israeli law. Lands to which the Jewish Agency holds title are only leased or deeded under conditions that prevent transfer or use by non-Jews. Such discrimination would be illegal in the USA.

The Israeli government organizes the eviction (nishul) of Palestinians (usually uncompensated) through transfers of the land to specialized organizations like the Jewish Agency or the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), or Israel discovers military or security requirements that "necessitate" the transfer of property from Palestinians to the Army. Eventually, the ILA develops the stolen land to create or expand Jews-Only settlements. The contractors employed by the ILA and its helper organizations build the homes and necessary infrastructure. They are typically connected to government and military officials and all profit tremendously from the US-financed plunder and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population.

Local travel agents often double as recruiters and real estate brokers for Israel. American Jews willing to relocate to stolen properties arenot usually subject to credit checks when they seek an Israeli mortgage because the Israeli government subordinates its fiscal responsibility to the goal of overwhelming the Palestinians demographically. Most American olim (immigrants) do not settle permanently in OccupiedPalestine. They live there for a couple of years and then sell theirhouse when the value goes up and come back debt free. They enjoy a nice vacation and make a profit as well.

Here's how it works: Jewish aliyah (immigration to Israel) organizations engage in ongoing campaigns to recruit American Jews. They advertise in the Jewish media, through Jewish run travel agencies, and on college campuses. Suppose you are an American Jew with $60,000 in educational or credit card debt. You might attend a class at the local Jewish Community Center or take part in some organized pro-Israel activity. At some point you will meet an official or semi-official shaliah (recruiter/emissary) who will explain the deal to you.

1. You can purchase a home, with no down payment, in a new settlement with a subsidized mortgage of up to $300,000. You will only pay interest (usually 3% or less) on half the mortgage. The other half is interest-free. You can buy a new house for $100,000 - comparable toa $750,000 house in Brookline, MA.

2. Say you have a $60,000 debt, are paying $2,000 a month rent and you owe another $1000 in various loan payments and other expenses. You can get a $160,000 mortgage in Israel for less than $400/month. Try getting that from Fannie Mae!

3. You and your family get free health insurance. Can't get that in America!

4. The Israeli government will pay your living expenses for at least 6 months. What a deal!

5. You get Israeli citizenship and all the rights the nativepopulation does not have.

6. Settlers in the more recently ethnically cleansed Occupied Territories get lower tax rates and other special benefits than those settling in "Israel Proper."

7. Qualified individuals may receive free plane tickets to Israel from organizations like Birthright Israel.

8. You can apply for an additional $5,000 - $25,000 stipend from organizations like Nefesh b'Nefesh (Soul to Soul - i.e. Jewish souls)

You should be able to live for one year without working, at which point your home has accrued in value as the settlement has expanded and amenities have improved. You should be able to sell your home at a profit, pay off your debt and return to the USA debt free. Once back home you will be strongly encouraged to contribute generously to your local Congressmen. Doesn't it sound like payback for the pleasant vacation and good fortune made possible by the U.S. government simplybecause you are Jewish?

ADL's "Interfaith" Enmeshment

Christians being fed self-hatred by the ADL

ADL's "Interfaith" Enmeshment
by Karin Friedemann with Joachim Martillo
12/12/05
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/47184/index.php

===
Report on: "New Direction" Sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League --Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in Lower Level McKim A. In keeping with the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II documentof 1965 that set Catholic-Jewish relations in a new direction, this interfaith, interactive workshop will focus on helping Christian religious educators to prevent the "fires of hate" both inside and outside the classroom. This workshop will be presented by the NewDirections project, a Catholic-Jewish educational initiative co-sponsored by the New England Region of the Anti-Defamation League and the Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of Boston.
===

My husband and I took part in the above Catholic Jewish discussionat the Boston Public Library of Nostra Aetate and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Exhibition "Fighting the Fires ofHate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings" that was hosted at theCopley Square Public Library in Boston. Nostra Aetate is Pope Paul VI's major declaration that summarizes the relationship of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions. He issued it Oct. 28, 1965. (*) This document refers to the Jewish people. The term Jewish people comes from Zionist ideology and is unknown in Catholic theology. In the past, Catholic documents employed terms like communitas iudaica (Jewish community) or occasionally natio judaica (Jewish brotherhood -- I know it looks like Jewish nation, but the Latin texts refer to shoemakers as anatio, and I consider the closest modern English usage to be phrases like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). The use of Zionist terminology in the Nostra Aetate leads one to suspect that key parts of the proclamation itself were written bythe ADL or other American Zionists and simply translated into Latin.

By employing such terminology, the Catholic Church accepts the Zionist conceptualization of an unchanging Jewish ethno-nationalgroup (Volk) that has existed from time immemorial and that maintains blood-and-soil historic rights to Palestine. This primordialist essentialism is the exact Zionist counterpart of theGerman Nazi idea of an unchanging German people that has existed from time immemorial and that maintains blood-and-soil historic rights to places where German peoples (including ancient Teutonicand Germanic tribes) live or have lived in the past even if no or very few modern Germans have lived there in recent times.

Jewish groups tend to construe Pope John Paul II's 1998 affirmation of "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah" as an apology for inadequacies of Catholic response to the Holocaust. In reality thedocument is ambiguous on the issue of the Church's responsibility.(**) One really must ask for what should the Church be expressing contritition. At the time when German Catholics were resisting Hitler, the Zionists entered into an extensive collaboration with the German Nazis. While leading Polish Catholics politicians were considering a preemptive strike against Germany after Hindenberg appointed Hitler Chancellor, Zionist ethnic Ashkenazim worked toundermine the worldwide boycott of Germany under the Haaverah Agreement, which supplied the Zionists with necessary capital in their program to murder Arab Palestine. Hitler facilitated the Zionist acquisition of the necessary capital to expand racist Zionist settlements in Palestine, then ruled by the British. The Haaverah Agreement also transfered the extensive property holdings of the German Colony in Palestine to the Zionist Jewish NationalFund. Until 1938 the German Nazi party maintained Jewish adjunct organizations in which German Jews were active.

American Jews generally skip over such shameful elements of the history of the1930s. Zionists want the rest of the world to treat the mass murder of Jews during WW2 as a unique unspeakable event in order to drownout the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians against them. Now that Soviet archives have become available, we now can state withstrong grounds that 1920s and 1930s Soviet crimes, in which Soviet ethnic Ashkenazim played a leading role, were far worse than the crimes of Nazi Germany.

The ADL loves the Nostra Aetate because it deplores hatred of Jewswithout qualification. Of course, ethnic Ashkenazim have been widely hated throughout the century and will become even more hated in the21st century, but they reap what they have sown. From a Christian standpoint one could argue that hatred against anyone is wrong anytime, but the papal declaration effectively gives Jews a license to commit any atrocity because the Church would according to the plain meaning of the text condemn any animosity toward Jews as amanifestation of unforgivable "anti-Semitism" even if widespread Jewish or ethnic Ashkenazi misdeeds were provoking the reactions of hate and anger. It is a mistakefor the Catholic Church to pander them in documents like Nostra Aetate. The past few years, the Zionist lobby groups have been pouring huge amounts of money into cash-poor Christian organizations in order toenmesh them as accomplices to the genocide of Palestinians. Many if not most of the Catholics attending this discussion had been flown in from other cities for a nice tourist vacation in Boston.

TheADL's general purpose for inviting Christians to participate inthese interfaith discussions is to promote Zionism among Christians and to make Christians hesitant about divesting from Israel for fear of offending "Jewish sensitivities." This was evident as I spoke to the woman who represented the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. While she was willing to blame the Germans as a whole for the Holocaust, she was unwilling to blame the ADL as an organization for its workto ban books and undermine the Constitution in America, for fear of "stereotyping Jews," even though the ADL was instrumental in lobbying for the Patriot Act.

While Pope John Paul publicly apologized for historical Catholic anti-Jewish sentiment, no Jewish leader has ever expressed regret for the slander of the Virgin Mary that exists in the Talmud. It is actually very confusing to try to understand the Jewish outrage atbeing blamed for killing Christ because the Talmud takes theposition that the Sanhedrin was right to kill him. Jews react in the same way to open discussions of such scriptural polemic as they do to any debate of the Zionist theft of Palestine. They become offended and fling accusations of "hate speech" when anyone tries to refer to the meticulous Zionist planning of the genocide of the native Palestinian population as is documented even in Zionist archives, by Zionist writers and in Zionist newspapers.

There is no evidence that the Catholic Church's new friendship with the Zionists is sincerely returned. Ethnic Ashkenazim have generally treated Nostra Aetate with contempt, and Goldhagen, a prominent racist ethnic Ashkenazi pseudo-scholar, effectively stated in AMoral Reckoning : The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair that the Catholic Church couldonly show true contrition by completely subordinating itself toZionism.

It was painful to watch sincere Christians being humiliated for their beliefs by Ashkenazi Americans, who are using the Catholic tendency towards repentance even for things they had nothing to do with, to promote their own opportunistic political agenda which includes wiping out the oldest Christian community in the world in Palestine. While Catholic teachings encourage penitence and sensitivity to the feelings of others, ethnic Ashkenazim never apologize for anything, but feign moral superiority while talking down to the Catholics.

INTERFAITH DISCUSSION OR ZIONIST INDOCTRINATION?

The discussion program was carefully crafted and aimed at encouraging the Catholic school system to incorporate the ADL's fictional Holocaust propaganda in their curriculum. The program began as the ADL discussion leader, Naomi Tovim, introduced theTalmud as the book of Jewish law and mentioned that Catholics had ahistory of burning this book. She of course did not mention what was in that book that may have offended Catholics, nor did she mention that Catholics at various points of history burned a lot of books, not limiting themselves to the Talmud. Bringing up the Catholic Church's alleged "anti-Semitism" as an introduction to the historically unrelated Nazi book burnings was in accord with the traditional ethnic Ashkenazi anti-Catholic polemic, which assigns collective guilt to all Christians for letting the Holocaust happen. This anti-Christian bigotry is sometimes given a scholarly veneer inthe works of racist ethnic Ashkenazi pseudo-scholars like Hyam Maccoby. In this polemic, Auschwitz is inherent in Christianity from the first composition of the Gospels. As a result of indoctrinationwith such nonsense American Jews reacted with outrage to MelGibson's film "The Passion."

The anti-Christian polemic never addresses the question why the Catholic Church for 1000 years after Constantine permitted the existence of successful Jewish communitiesin Catholic regions, without forcing them to convert, even thoughthe Catholic Church executed Protestants and other "heretics." Yes, the Catholic church has railed at the Talmud and burned it now and then. Yet the burning of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah by local Rabbis, who considered Maimonides' writings to be heretical, preceded the first Talmud burning by Catholics in Provence. This was followed by occasional burning of the Talmud in Italy for about 100 years because some Catholic scholars claimed that the modern Jewswere not practicing the same form of Judaism practiced by the ancient Judeans (as Jewish Karaite scholars then and now would also claim). The Catholic church at that time period did not have much more tolerance of Jewish heresy than it had of Christian heresy. The last Talmud burning took place in Poland in the context of political clashes between Jewish Frankists and anti-Frankists.

After the shaming of the Catholics for Talmud burning, the Catholic discussion leader, Celena Sirois, sent the group to tour the "Fighting the Fires of Hate" exhibition, which was completely empty of historical content, for in terms of killing authors and banning books by ethnic Ashkenazim in the Soviet Union of the same time period was orders of magnitude worse than Nazi Germany. Obscuring the facts about the Soviet Union serves the purposes of ethnic Ashkenazi Americans, who want to create a collective victim-status stereotype of Jews to cover up the racist criminal behavior of some Jews.

In the Soviet Union during the 20s and 30s ethnic Ashkenazim dominated the policies of book banning, collectivization,and alienization. These policies resulted in massive internal deportations and murders that totaled at least 8 million non-Jews. While ethnic Ashkenazim try to seize a moral high ground by collectively blaming all Germans for the acts of a tiny minority and by accusing all non-Jews of inadequate reactions to German Nazi anti-Semitism, the vast majority of ethnic Ashkenazim do not apply similar standards to themselves. They do not blame themselves collectively for Soviet crimes made possible by their ethnic group. While large numbers of Germans condemned German Nazis for anti-Jewish actions during the 30s, ethnic Ashkenazi Americans identify at 90% levels with Zionist Israel, a modern nation state that commits very similar or worse crimes against the native Palestinian population. It is hard to identify any human population on theplanet more hypocritical or racist than ethnic Ashkenazi Americans.

The traveling US Holocaust Memorial Museum "Fighting the Fires ofHate" Library exhibit was an expensive photo gallery complete with video clips demonizing Germans for their censorship and public burning of literature that Hitler found offensive. No mention was made that Hitler did not burn books written by Jews who promoted theZionist idea of "the Jewish people." There was no mention of the excellent relations between Zionists and German Nazis from 1933-1938, a time period that Hannah Arendt has called the Zionist phase of German Nazism. There was no suggestion that not all Germans were Nazis. In short, the message was simple. "Jews are innocent victims. Germans are evil incarnate. America to the rescue!" A little anti-Islamic bigotry was thrown in for spice with an out-of-contextreference to Salman Rushdie.

The exhibit glorified American Jewish protests against the German Nazis even as it neglected the extensive principled calls by German Americans like Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for American opposition to Nazi Germany. The exhibit was not a statement against book burning in general, or they could have given examples of literature which had been banned or burned in America, and how aboutthe recent US bombing of the oldest library of the world in Baghdad?Since most people have little historical knowledge, this exhibit serves to create the idea that the Jews are the defenders of American free speech. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Holocaust propaganda serves to shield the most privileged group inAmerica from just criticism of many of its members and of itscollective conduct, especially as relates to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the destruction of America's Constitutional liberties. The "Fighting the Fires of Hate" exhibit was a very stylish finger-pointing exercise to distract public attention from the fact that in our times, the ADL was one of the biggest lobbies pushing for the Patriot Act, which monitors the reading history of library patrons. Zionist organizations are heavily involved with Homeland Security and the State of Israel. They use book banning and far worse methods to squelch criticism of Israel. While there is no limit to the amount of hate speech against Muslims or Christians that is tolerated now in the western world, the mere suggestion that Muslims and Christians should have equal rights with Jews in the Holy Land, or that the Hollywood version of the Holocaust is not entirely accurate, have in recent times resulted in the deportation, imprisonment, and even assassination of the speakers, writers, or publishers, and in the banning of their books or films because ofZionist pressure on western governments to abandon the principle of freedom of expression. Therefore it was extremely ironic that theADL was using this library exhibit to present itself as America'sally in the fight against intellectual censorship.

After viewing the "Fighting the Fires of Hate" exhibit we returnedto the Conference room but we were not given a chance to brainstorm as a group about our personal impressions. We did not get a chance to reflect how the issue of book burnings might apply to our times. I found it very interesting the subtle way the Catholic schoolteachers were encouraged to absorb the historical propaganda and then guided away from rational thought on the matter. Without any logical transition, the topic shifted to the concept of faith education. The ADL leader read a portion of the Jewish Sabbath Amidah prayer that refers to "our God and the God of our fathers."Then we read a commentary by the Baal Shem Tov (the Besht), the founder of Hassidism that explains the phrase as classifying two separate approaches to religion. The "our God" approach requires searching analysis while "the God of our fathers" is based intradition and in following the practices and beliefs of our parentsand grandparents. The Besht argues that neither approach is sufficient for strong faith and that the two beliefs must be combined.

The ADL's pre-approved discussion question was, "How doesthe Ba'al Shem Tov's observation about faith formation apply to religious education?" However, they lost control of the discussion after my husband mentioned that the Besht was addressing the basic question of knowledge and faith and they had left out of his discussion two of the tools identified by medieval Jewish scholars to determine truth. Saadya Gaon lists four basis tools: the senses, logical reasoning, reliable tradition and "intrinsic insight or empathy." Saadyah Gaon considers that knowledge that it is better to do good than to do ill as an example of intrinsic insight. My husband suggested that the group consider the question, "How would you feel if you were a Palestinian and someone stole your country, murdered your family and bulldozed your home?" The ADL leader then became flustered and told us that we were not to discuss that topic.

The ADL and Zionists in general want Christians to accept thetraditional but incorrect belief that modern Eastern European Ashkenazim are physical descendants of ancient Judeans and Galileans of Palestine. Christians who believe such primordialist nonsense often consider the theft of Palestine from the native population by racist ethnic Ashkenazim to have been a legitimate action even though it contradicts Christian ethics and international law. Yet, the ADL and Zionists in general worry that connecting modernRabbinical Jews with ancient Galileans and Judeans is lnked with the traditional conceptualization of Jews as Christ-killers. Because of fear of this linkage the ADL tried to ban screen representations ofthe suffering and crucifixion of Christ even though they form the core of Christian theology. Thus, Zionists want Catholics to maintain flawed primordialist beliefs about modern ethnic Ashkenazimbut only if such traditional beliefs ("the God of our fathers"approach) are combined with the dispensation that Nostra Aetate (supposed to be a result of searching analysis by Catholic theologians) gives to modern ethnic Ashkenazim to commit atrocitieswith impunity. Zionists want Christians to accept essentialist primordialist Zionist ideology as long as Christianity drops all doctrine that assigns permanent pariah status for Jews.

After synthesizing Christian Zionism from Nostra Aetate with traditional Catholic beliefs, the program then focused on the presentation of modern Jews as marginal people in the "Fires ofHate" exhibition. We read the parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke10:25-37), which had no clear connection to the exhibition topic. A man is mugged by robbers and brigands, but the Priest and the Levitedo not help him. Yet the Samaritan, who comes from a marginal despised group, helps the victim without a second thought. The intended result was a zero-intellectual content lesson thatconnected Catholics and Jews in a bond of mutual agreement not to discuss the elephant in the room.

While it is normal in Jewish theological tradition to discuss religion in the absence of any ethical considerations, this is not true for Christianity. Usually Christians strive to apply the lessons to themselves and current issues. "What would Jesus do?" So here, not only were the Christians being fed self-hatred by the ADL, and encouraged to do penance and apologize to Jews for something that was not their fault, and made to accept the Jewish lack ofapology for their historical anti-Gentile polemic, and encouraged to remain silent and not come to the defense of Palestinian Christians and Muslims being ethnically cleansed from the Holy Land out of respect for their Jewish friends' feelings, but they were being taught a whole new way of looking at scripture: discussion ofreligious texts in a way that completely avoids the topic. In short, Christians were not only made to feel guilty for believing in their own religion, but encouraged to give up their religion.

The "NewDirection" Catholic Jewish discussion provided yet another example of the pervasiveness and thoroughness of the nation-wide program to indoctrinate Americans with Zionist ideology. The next ADL pre-approved discussion question related to the Good Samaritan was, "What might this text say about what you saw inthe "Fighting the Fires of Hate" exhibit?" However, because of my husband's previous comment about the Palestinians, the ADL leaderwas afraid to go around the room with this question as she had with the first question. So she only allowed one brief comment.

Then it ended with the last discussion question, "What do you imagine the victim will think, say and do when he wakes up and finds out he's been helped by a Samaritan?" In a subtle way, American Catholics were going to be asked to come to the rescue of the Jews by supporting and financing the continued existence of the marginal despised country of Israel. Since the ADL leader had failed to lead the group where she was trying to lead them, because it was obvious that every one of the Catholics sympathized with the plight of thePalestinians, the last question was answered in many different ways, and the group discussion ended without the group having come to any clear conclusions.

Because of the success of a single pro-Palestine comment in undermining an expensive Zionist indoctrination interfaith effort, I strongly encourage all supporters of human rights to attend these interfaith discussions to add their two cents to the discussion.

(*) Zionists tend to focus most on the following two paragraphs (not contiguous in the text) of Nostra Aetate or We Remember. The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen: "theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants andthe law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:4-5), theSon of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.

AUTHORITATIVE LATIN TEXT

Semper quoque prae oculis habet Ecclesia verba Apostoli Pauli decognatis eius, „quorum adoptio est filiorum et gloria et testamentumet legislatio et obsequium et promissa, quorum patres et ex quibusest Christus secundum carnem" (Rom. 9, 4-5), filius Mariae Virginis.Recordatur etiam ex populo iudaico natos esse Apostolos, Ecclesiaefundamenta et columnas, atque plurimos illos discipulos, quiEvangelium Christi mundo annuntiaverunt.Praeterea, Ecclesia, quae omnes persecutiones in quosvis hominesreprobat, memor communis cum Iudaeis patrimonii, nec rationibuspoliticis sed religiosa caritate evangelica impulsa, odia,persecutiones, antisemitismi manifestationes, quovis tempore et aquibusvis in Iudaeos habita, deplorat.

(**) Pope John Paul II stated in March 1998, It is my fervent hope that the document: We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, which the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews has prepared under [Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy's] direction, will indeed help to heal the wounds of past misunderstandings and injustices. May it enable memory to play its necessary part in the process of shaping a future in which the unspeakable iniquity of the Shoah will never again be possible. May the Lord of history guide the efforts of Catholics and Jews and all men and women of good willas they work together for a world of true respect for the life and dignity of every human being, for all have been created in the imageand likeness of God.

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Our Parents Sent Us to War

Our Parents Sent Us to War
by Karin riedemann

This is written in response to Stan Goff's article "The Case of HasanAkbar" [ www.counterpunch.org/goff05022005.html ] in which he repeatedly asserted that he did not condone Hasan Akbar's killing of two US soldiers. I was put off by his obscene moralizing and wrote to him that were I in Akbar's shoes I would have done the same thing, and when I am president I will put Hasan Akbar on a postage stamp. His response was, "My son is in Iraq, and I will not encourage him to draw a death penalty… Mass action will defeat the empire." Look at this. He is moralizing about Hasan Akbar and yet he is unwilling to accept any responsibility for his son's morals. I suggested a mass action againstparents who allow their children to murder Muslims. He responded by calling me stupid and I quote, "Go back to your fucking sandbox."

A lot of aging leftists like to blame the war on George W. Bush and invite us to march in the streets. To quote Stan Goff, "Mass action will defeat the empire." Will protesting stop the war? Everyone with a brain already knows that marching on Washington will not even disturb George W. Bush's breakfast. In fact, by causing havoc on thestreets we actually distract the public's attention from the real crimes taking place. AIPAC lobbying Congress to bomb this or that country. Halliburton stealing our tax money and putting it in their pockets.

The fact is, I can't control George Bush. But I can teach my son the difference between right and wrong. He knows who the bad guys are. He won't volunteer to die for George Bush but I would encourage him to die for freedom. In Stan Goff's case, he is an ex-military man who turned anti-war. How is it that his insights failed to reach his son? I have talked to (and been insulted by) other parents who claimed to be anti-war, anti-Zionist, what have you, and yet allow their children to display flags on their property. How is it that the wisdom of these parents fails to reach their children? Why are they in Iraq?

My grandfather was drafted at gunpoint and sent to Stalingrad byHitler, where he was probably tortured to death in a Soviet concentration camp. In any case no one ever heard from him again. He cannot be blamed since he had no choice. But Americans are not yet forced to join the army. In the case of extreme poverty, one can perhaps understand and forgive. But this kid has a father who cares about him, an anti-war father, no less, and yet he chose to kill Muslims rather than listen to his father. Why did he feel that his financial independence was worth more than his father's opinion?

My mother taught me that it is better to be killed than to kill. My personal philosophy was modified when a bunch of skinheads pounded a hippy friend's head on the sidewalk while his friends stood around chanting "Peace, peace." There is a time to chant "peace" and there isa time to kick someone's ass. Right now the Iraqis have every right to kick American soldiers out of Iraq. I am willing to accept violence within the guidelines outlined in the Quran, where it says you have the right to fight in certain circumstances, for example if your life and property is threatened.

The Prophet Mohammed said that the army of the anti-Christ would becomposed of bastard children led by the Jews. Does this really meanthe servants of Evil have no fathers? Or does it mean that theysomehow got disconnected from their fathers? The sad thing is, most Americans encourage their children to leave the house at age eighteen. I was made to feel very ashamed for sponging off my parents. By contrast, Muslim parents beg their children not to leave them.

Could there be any connection between American kids' willingness to kill for money and the way they were raised? Could there be any connection between Muslim kids' willingness to die for justice and the way they were raised? Could there be any connection between the feeling that kids get that their parents do not want them and the fact that theyare willing to join the military rather than live with their parents?

Mr. Goff dismissed my insights as "simplistic moralizing standards" –and yet the truth is very simple. Folks, stop blaming the war on George the Imbecile. He is just a pawn. We are at war because we allowed our country to be taken over by Zionists and other opportunists. We refused to take responsibility for our country. We refused responsibility for our children's actions. At core, we are at war because we failed our children. Our children with all their faults need us to provide them with a warm family atmosphere or else they will be sucked away from our embrace by military recruiters.

America Died in Somerville

America Died in Somerville
12/9/04

Jewish organizations have actually used their personal leverage to force public funds to be used for irresponsible investments benefitting certain Jewish Americans.

Somerville City Council's Treason Against America
Informal report by Karin Friedemann
Boston, MA
12/10/04

Somerville lost the divestment resolution last night. It was a stunning defeat. Somehow the Jewish lobby got a total turnaround from all but one on the City Council in support of divestment to all but one against divestment. The Zionist "baffle them with bullshit" tactic worked. They made the Aldermen feel totally inadequate to separate fact from fiction. They made the City Council feel like it was not their place to protect the Somerville's public funds frombeing embezzled by Israel. Hopefully the moral cowards will be voted out of office. But don't count on it. America died its death this week in Somerville, which was once a freedom stronghold in the United States.

The Zionists put out all their heavy hitmen to defeat Somerville - a small town - so they are more desperate than is obvious. Despitetheir success at intimidating the Aldermen and Alderwomen into submission, it was surprisingly clear that all the arguments the Zionists were using were not only intellectually bankrupt but also absurdly outdated. Despite their victory, the Zionists looked downright uncomfortable with their success, whether they were avoiding eye contact or sneering. Their eyes were empty, their hearts cold as ice. They had died. It's over for them in America. No one can consider any Israel supporteras fellow Americans anymore.

The most obvious thing gleaned from my observation last night was the overwhelming lack of shame with which the Jewish organizations of the Boston area openly used their power to undermine American democracy when the majority of Somerville residents polled supported divestment. Somerville City Council actually acted against Somerville interests. With the knowledge that investing in Israel means investing in ethnic cleansing, the decision to then continue to use public funds for controversial money-making projects - knowing that a rather large percentage of Somerville is deeply opposed to these projects -the responsible thing would be to avoid controversial investments; not to force the public to invest against their will. The public has no obligation to invest in Israel. The public has the right to be informed about Israeli war crimes and to withdraw their funds. Jewish organizations have actually used their personal leverage to force public funds to be used for irresponsible investments benefitting certain Jewish Americans.

Update:

Thu Jan 12, 2006
Somerville: Pro-Israel Candidate Defeated
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/message/5017


Anti-Divestment Candidate Soundly Defeated in Somerville
www.divestmentproject.org

In a stunning defeat for anti-divestment forces in Somerville, the avidly anti-divestment candidate E. Moroney was soundly defeated in the only head-to-head match for elected office that Somerville has seen in two years. SDP (Somervillle Divestment Project) protested publicly Moroney's campaign last December (see photos). Moroney lost 62 % to 38 % to Denise Provost - a candidate whose campaign was suppported by many SDP members. Moroney's Website said that "Elizabeth Moroney strongly opposes attempts to require Somerville or the Commonwealth to divest of Israeli Bonds. (an error - the bonds are called Israel Bonds ). Somerville needs more local aid not a foreign policy".

Apparently Somerville citizens disagree. Moroney's stance on divestment distinguished her from Denise Provost -a well known progressive candidate who supports human rights for all people. In response to Moroney stance on divestment, SDP pointed out in a publicly distributed flyer that Somerville already has a foreign policy by investing in Israel. SDP calls for divestment from Israel bonds and companies that support the human rights violations. Moroney was supported by Steve Grossman a well known zionist who opposes human rights for Palestinians.

Thanks to the work of SDP, divestment became a hot issue in Somerviile over the last two years. Today's result indicates that candidates who do not oppose divestment can win citywide in Somerville. Recently, an entire region of Norway voted to boycott Israel, and a city in the Basque region of Spain, have boosted the international pressure for human rights for Palestinians. The defeat of Moroney echos the support for divestment that exists in Somerville. SDP continues to advocate for divestment in Somerville.

Anti-divestment supporters, such as Steve Grossman, supported Moroney with cash and hoped to defeat Denise Provost. They were not successful. Let's look forward to a year where Israel will be pressured andeventually forced to recognize the human rights of Palestinians. The world community is losing patience with Israel. It is simply not acceptable for Israel to carryout racist policies against and apartheid against Palestinians.

Divest Now !
R. Francis for SDP

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