Israel / Palestine

Putin must be seething with envy.

A report published in 2019:

Since 2014, the clearing and bulldozing of agricultural and residential lands by the Israel military close to the eastern border of Gaza has been complemented by the unannounced aerial spraying of crop-killing herbicides.

This ongoing practice has not only destroyed entire swaths of formerly arable land along the border fence, but also crops and farmlands hundreds of metres deep into Palestinian territory, resulting in the loss of livelihoods for Gazan farmers.

https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/herbicidal-warfare-in-gaza

My kids decided to cycle the circumference of Gaza to fundraise for Palestinian kids - via the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. It naturally falls to me to organise the fundraiser and plan and chaperone the rides, etc.

Is it appropriate to share the JustGiving link here?

Go nuts!

Already happening in our house, but took it up a level last week by having a 6.3kg tank of CO2 delivered from London Gases to replace individual gas cylinders from Sodastream (an Israeli company with a problematic history in the occupied territories).

the piece from biden (more likely his aids) has only really inspired deja vu, not that anything different should be expected. he's essentially offering the same thing he offers any middleastern country the US wants dealt with, be it directly or by proxy.

talk of the two state solution in particular is like reading a piece from the 2000's, prior to the siege of 2006, here's very loose overview on the history of tunnels under palestine, and how sieges and aparthied practices of gaza contribute to their development in this thread:

https://twitter.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1726517641479893070

(this is a journalist for forward, and other western outlets)

(note, tunnel employment is analagous to poppy farming in afghanistan, a lot of it is funded/ran by groups such as al queda and hamas (and the americans when they're in control), but its also employment for locals, often the only choice of employment, which western sanctions on a country, or direct invasions disrupt. it also highlights how the general populations of these western targets are mainly interested in survival rather than ideologically attached or aligned with these groups, that western agression pushes them not only to develop infastrcuture for these groups, but to be relient on them.)

(secondary note, tunnels exist in gaza, they're used by hamas, developed by hamas, no-one rejects this premise, what's rejected is often how they're ineffectively targeted by bombing civilian infrastructure on top which causes untold civilian casualties; that the tunnels exist as a reaction to israeli and western influenced policies that we could reverse)

impossible to talk of a "2 state solution" without addressing that it requires the construction of a second state, it needs to allow the autonomy of a second state without threat of sanction or collective punishment. such moves require the dismantlement of remote israeli occupation tactics and the domestic and international policing of gazas borders. this is without even looking at the west bank, the borders of the west bank and the constant infringement and policing of those borders of the westbank by the IDF and IDF backed settler groups within peace or ceasefire times prior to the 7th of october and after it which are generally supported or ignored by western states/ supporters.

the "2 state solution" is a tool to placate international pressure at the times of extreme violence in the region, wheeled out when the realities of aparthied practices become too much for western governments to hide. gaza and the west bank exist as enclaves, townships almost, within israel and are treated as such, policed as such, they do not have the autonomy of stateship, even if gaza shares a border of egypt. serious, long standing moves to reduce violence, and remove the conditions for violence, will not come until the palestinian citizens are seen as equal to israeli citizens, untill they are free to live, work and travel between gaza, the west bank and their neighbours.

to be clear this is not to say "israel cannot/ should not exist", it's to say "gaza and the westbank exists alongside israel" and not seperate from them in a meaningful or manageable way. much in the same way any occupying force or aparthied government can reduce insurgency by simply stopping their occupation or aparthied of a collective people, holding an amnesty for all sides; ensuring legislititve and legal protections of equal oppertunity for all citizens.

the insistance on "2 states" is important to western leaders and israel as it makes punishing palestinian areas easier and at times legally protected, but also obscures the responsibility western and israeli governments have in creating conditions for palestinian people. it reduces the responsiblity for destruction and violence caused, be it to palestinains or israeli's. it also draws attention away from the reality of palestinian life, the geography of the state, and how much control israel exerts over these things on both a macro and micro level.

(note 3 - i write this from the perspective of influence, we, in a a western state who sponsers and shapes israels actions regularly (so far as supplying them with the international protection and arms to do it), and has had a similar role in preserving and deconstructing numerous aparthied and colonialist government projects of their own and internationally through the same means, my writing is shaped by this. i note purely to remind others and myself when we analyse these situations we can have an impact positively and negatively, we can expect stuff of our leadership/ government even if we are not looped into the on the ground minutiae of local palestinian and israeli news)

even writing all this, it's all a moot point really, this op-ed is not to convince those who are appalled at the horror of what's being presented to us on the news or those serious about ending conflict, but to reassure those who believe the goals of the actions we see, that they still have integrity and purpose; not to doubt that. even when presented with the human feeling of horror.

the fact his tone has shifted, as subtle as it is, however, shows that he is concerned about the impact this could have to his electoral ambitions next year. a reminder that a great tool of the humble voter in this situation is the threat of withholding their vote and linking that action to a particular policy decision. that we should not stop calling for the end of aprthied practices when they try the same placation methods they have for decades.

But by far the biggest factor is the large population of Jewish people in the US, which is almost as big as the population of Israel.

But it’s still only ~ 7 million.

The US is home to 140 million Protestant Christians. Evangelical support for Zionism is really strong, even direct funding of illegal West Bank settlements. It’s mad.

Correct.
But there is also a substantial movement- Christian Zionism- as mentioned upthread as well.
It is a well-documented belief of some of these groups that the state of Israel will bring the mass conversion of Jews to Christianity and/ or is a prerequisite for the second coming.

I found this article from nearly a decade ago quite interesting on the power of the Israeli lobby in US politics - I remember there being a bit of backlash so not necessarily gospel

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel

Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias have been hitting US forces in Syria and Iraq since Israel started firing on Hamas in Gaza. Seems most of the ‘fighting’ has been firing rockets and missiles at fortified locations, and some analysts think it’s because no one really wants the conflict to spiral into a regional war.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-forces-attacked-iraq-airbase-respond-self-defence-us-officials-2023-11-21/

An AC-130 gunship engaged a truckload of militiamen… Talk about overwhelming force.

So here's the link to my kids' fundraiser...They were (particularly my younger son) quite moved by the struggles of kids in Gaza, often similar ages to themselves - so raising some money to help kids in Palestine is a good way for them to feel that they're contributing.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/emil-karl-furze-1699800482706?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Femil-karl-furze-1699800482706&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

Regarding boycotts/divestment …

There’s a long list of ethical and environmental reasons to not bank with Barclays PLC. The PSC have now marked them for boycott due to arms investment.

Yeah, one to add to the list of reasons I should get shot of Barclays, for sure.

Is that a good idea in a domestic setting? Potentially quite a lot of asphyxiating gas in a (relatively) small space…

Sodastream, do they still have the "Jews and Arabs work together in harmony" on the box?

Avoiding Sabra hummus has been a long running thing in my house for years now. It was my light hearted way of saying fuck you to Isreal, not so light hearted anymore.

Well worth a listen

Tony Klug: Could the Israel-Hamas conflict restart the peace process? https://castbox.fm/vb/651253800

the trend of western media using the term "women and teenage boys" to describe children. women and girls and boys being released, by israel, many of whom were themselves taken hostages by the idf post oct 7th, for unknown, undisclosed reasons or little to no reason. is appaling. especially when in the same breath they find themselves, rightfully, using children for israeli hostages.

one might think, what if they're 19, maybe this is the classic overly punctual tone of legacy media

Most of the Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/middleeast/palestinian-prisoners-potential-release-intl-cmd/index.html#:~:text=Most%20of%20the%20Palestinian%20prisoners,according%20to%20a%20CNN%20count.

it's such, blatent racism and islampahobia in the crudest sense. during a conflict rife with dehuminisation and racial stereotyping the fact, legacy media including the bbc are so freely using this editorial line is - quite frankly damning. not only does this reflect on their reporting of the current situation, but also previous handling and analysis of incidents involving black and brown people, over policing domestically, and previous conflicts internationally.

the expectency that every male in a conflict zone, regardless of age, is to be assumed "a man of fighting age" and thus disposable is so deeply racist to a point it's comical. when we combine this with what we know of black and brown children being viewed as far older than what they are by racial profiling, thus being percieved as a danger because of this, to justify the over policing domestically and abroard? it's comical. these men are husbands, fathers, educators, medics, sportsman, entertainers, lovers, they're not disposable and to be assigned to extrajudicial killing by fact of being a man in a warzone.

while this is to be expected by many who are attuned to this liberal racism, who expect it. i find it hard to believe even the most good faith listener who's skeptical to assume malice when it can be caution or idiocy can turn away from this concious editorial line.

personally fills me with such dread and despair, the only thing one can do is add it to the pile of notes they leave on a bike forum to reflect on in the future. to be even more unshaken the next time some jumped up little cunt tries to tell me it's complicated or not concious, even worse, justified and explainable.

On this topic, Al Jazeera say they were sent a letter by a group of BBC journalists complaining about this imbalance in BBC coverage.

Al Jazeera may have several agendas here.

They can’t stop saying the quiet part loud: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231122-ayelet-shaked-makes-provocative-statements-on-relocating-population-in-gaza/amp/

It may but it's clearly true so...

..it's another layer of comment on what may or may not be actually happening.

Front page of BBC News, 3 kids that were held hostage doing well, reuinited with their dog
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-middle-east-67552413

Meanwhile what's not on the UK news is Israel torturing their prisoners including children especially just before releasing them
https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1729455054199890011
https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1728898915746160843

Also raping / threatening to rape female prisoners and members of their families.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-palestinian-writer-threatened-rape-prison In this case note why she was arrested.
But has gone on for a long time https://www.cair.com/cair_in_the_news/israeli-guards-rape-palestinian-women/ also claims made from 1969.

There are more claims from 1948 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safsaf_massacre who are the terrorists here?

Tired of seeing social media posts equating criticism of Israel with hatred of Jewish people. It’s offensive and disingenuous.