Last night I went with my fam to this rally outside the Israeli embassy on 42nd and 2nd, almost ironically labelled Yithzak Rabin Way by the city. It was a quiet and mellow protest, filled with old radical heads (I overheard one old head tell his wife that he had met the man they were talking to at on a picket line in 1962) and their children and grandchildren. My lil 3 year old nephew was there, on my shoulders, holding a sign he made that said, "Use! Your! Words! Be! Nice!"
Other than some guerrilla media outlets, there was little press coverage to speak of. Given, there was a 10 block long rally in Times Square Sunday afternoon, but even that received little media coverage from the largely Israel friendly American news mainstream media.
The evening was not without incident though. An older woman was handing out Pro-Palestinian leaflets on the corner, when a blue collar looking dude, probably in his 40's walks by, takes one, looks at it, and shoves it back at her, exclaiming in his unmistakeable New Yorkese, "What are you fuckin kiddin me?! Are you fuckin kiddin me!" He screamed at her, asking if she remembered 9-11, and, as he turned to walk away from the crowd, asked the world before him "Am I in the middle of fuckin Arab land?" Arab land. Yes sir. That's where you are. 42nd and 2nd, Arab Land, New York. Accessible by the 4,5,6, and Shuttle at Grand Central, and the M42 Crosstown. Please watch your step as you get off and hopefully go play in traffic and get into a losing fight with a Yellow Cab driven by...
Gotta love this City.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Protest Strats: Use! Your! Words! Be! Nice!
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8 comments:
Obviously TD does not read The Economist.
Don't get bodied, with your German sounding last name.
What was in the economist?
YW got me all twisted with the jewish rapper interview and TDs commie posts. i don't know who i am on the blog anymore
Meanwhile, several blocks away and several hours before this protest of Jews who believe in human rights above politics....
... on Sunday, Governor David Patterson and Senator Chuck Schumer stood with thousands of Jews who believe Israel's attacks on Gaza, killing over 100o people in 20 days - %30 children - in an unescapable cage the size of Detroit, are all completely justified.
Both men said that that Israel was defending itself in the most humane way possible in light of the rocket attacks. “WE say to the Palestinian people in Gaza, ‘Israel is not your enemy, Hamas is,’” Schumer stated.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/159098
WOW, Chuck. If that ain't some wild shit, I don't know what is.
Chuck Schumer is a cockbag... I could destroy him in a second, literally. I used to blaze with his daughter and I'm sure the NY Post would be dying for an exclusive story about that shit. For good measure, I could also say that Chuck touched me inappropriately at a school outing. Patterson is just pandering to his constituency. You forget, like Jesse Jackson once said, "New York is hymee town."
Hymee town comment was uncalled for brotha...
I feel like I need to respond.
First off, while the Israeli response to the rockets being sent over the border from Gaza (a territory Israel took over after the 1967 war) is not at all appropriate, we must remember a few things about the relationship between the two groups in question:
1. Israel just recently (2005) gave back the Gaza territory in an attempt to offer an olive branch to Palestine in this age-old conflict. Many hardliners were afraid that in doing so, Gaza would be used as a base to launch these types of attacks from. That fear seems quite prescient ever since Hamas defeated Fatah back in 2006 to become the majority government.
2.If someone was launching rockets into your neighborhood, no matter how sparsely populated or how unsuccessful, how would you want to respond? In addition, how would you respond knowing that the people sponsoring those who fire the rockets DO NOT RECOGNIZE your right to exist. Wow. So, while killing hundreds of Palestinians is probably the worst possible response, how would want to deal with people who shoot as many as 300 rockets into your neighborhood in a span of one-week?
Ok, now while you think that this is mostly the doing of bigoted Israeli Jews, you might want to do some reading on Israel and find out that a good part of it is secular. Please note that the tri-state area has the largest concentration of Jews in the world, even more than Israel. The only reason why Israel is able to survive as a country is due to US support. Is it because of the hymee-town Jews? No. It's because conservative christians, namely evangelicals, support the state of Israel fervently. Why? Because in order for the messiah to come and do whatever he is supposed to do, ALL of the Jews need to be in Israel so that they may perish. True story. So holler at the red states if you don't like the policy. The bible-belt, not the Jews have the real influence on American Foreign Policy. If the United States were not behind Israel so hardbody, maybe things like this would not happen. And trust me, America would not have such close relations with Israel if it were ONLY the Jews making a stink about the treatment they receive from their neighbors, so let Schumer have his parade.
In closing, I do understand both sides. The Israeli response is not equitable, but if the other side enters a negotiation without acknowledging your right to exist, how are you supposed to make any sort of progress (especially when the HUGE concession you made has blown-up in your face)? Both sides are wrong, word to the rocket shrapnel in the wall.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! First off, "hymee town" was meant to be a joke poking fun at Jesse Jackson and the silly comment that cost him a run at the presidency in 1984, not a hate-filled commentary. I was drawing parallels between two black men -- Jackson and Patterson -- who've treated the Jewish population in wholly different manners.
Second, while you may be right about the crazy ass evangelicals who are staunch supporters of Israel, you forget that that the Israel Lobby is the second biggest lobby in all of Washington (only behind the AARP). Evangelicals are not the only reason Israel gets more money than anyone else the US gives aid to. Perhaps while Bush was in office the Evangelical vote caused him to pander to Israel, but it wasn't the only reason. And Clinton, who also gave mad money to Israel, certainly wasn't doing it for the Evangelicals. Israel is the US' only ally in an oil-rich province that hates Americans, so that's one reason. Another reason for this constant flow of aid, whether people like to admit it or not, is that there are mad Jewish people living in America (and they don't live in the Bible Belt, as you aptly pointed out). In addition to that, there are some very powerful Jewish people (and deservedly so) who do a lot of donating to political campaigns -- David Geffen, Steven Speilberg -- and they are staunch supporters of Israel. As such, it's in the interest of politicians to support the state of Israel.
In closing, to say that the reason Israel gets so much money is because of Evangelicals is a radically inaccurate generalization. There are 3 million Evangelicals voters, and while that's a large number, it doesn't compare to the number of Jewish voters in the US, nor the amount of money that they donate to campaigns.
Lastly, I find it a bit rude that you tell me I should do some reading. We are all educated folks, and I, for one, read a shitload. Perhaps you should read a book titled "The Israel Lobby" to get a more even keeled look at why Israel gets the aid they do.
What is happening in Gaza is an abomination on both sides, and Hamas is just as responsible as Israel, the only difference is Israel can kill thousands of people and Hamas can fire rockets that, while they damage property, rarely kill someone. It's like a midget fighting Mike Tyson. And I understand wanting to fight back, but maybe Israel shoul've stopped after the first 3 days of bombing and 300 dead. Don't believe the bullshit on US TV and in papers, most of the Palestinians being killed are not part of Hamas. In fact, last week on BBC, a Norwegian doctor who came to treat people in Gaza said that of the 100 or so people he's treated, one has been from Hamas, while most were children. All Israel is doing is inciting people to hate them and prolonging Hamas' reign in Gaza.
Trust me, I know my shit, and I'd love to sit down and debate with you sometime, since clearly you know a lot of shit too. Holler at me...
nah mean?
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