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roachboy · 01-26-2009, 05:19 AM

i found myself--as usual against my better judgment--channel surfing last night and was stunned to find 60 minutes airing a most damning report about the israeli settlement programs in the west bank.

i've seen quite a few such reports in the context of shows on pbs like frontline, but here it was on one of the usually sycophantic major networks.

this is one of the massive facts that is wholly absent from the dominant thinking about israeli policies in the united states---this is self-evidently at the heart of the matter: the report talked about west bank apartheid, the special transportation networks for settlers only coupled with an elaborate maze of restrictions on movement of palestinians. the apartheid-like restrictions on palestinian movements into and out of jerusalem. the lunacy of the settlement program itself. the fact that so long as the settlements not only exist but continue to expand there is no hope--at all--for peace in the region.

so one thing that the israeli action in gaza seems to have accomplished is a significant cracking of its own image in the space that has so far been most dominated by marketing--the mainstream american press. and i see no problem with this--unless you support the settlement program, in which case you are also not in any way interested in regional peace.

nothing can happen until those settlements either come down or are forcibly abandoned. nothing can happen that moves the region toward anything but more war until they are taken down or turned over the palestinians.

i think it's time for the united states to begin playing hardball on this question. threaten all military and economic aid unless there is a drastic and immediate change in the west bank. what gaza showed is that it's time to stop denial about the occupation, stop the fantasy narratives about the violence in the region, and parse out responsibility in a rational manner--which so far has not happened.

01-26-2009, 05:19 AM	#30 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	i found myself--as usual against my better judgment--channel surfing last night and was stunned to find 60 minutes airing a most damning report about the israeli settlement programs in the west bank. i've seen quite a few such reports in the context of shows on pbs like frontline, but here it was on one of the usually sycophantic major networks. this is one of the massive facts that is wholly absent from the dominant thinking about israeli policies in the united states---this is self-evidently at the heart of the matter: the report talked about west bank apartheid, the special transportation networks for settlers only coupled with an elaborate maze of restrictions on movement of palestinians. the apartheid-like restrictions on palestinian movements into and out of jerusalem. the lunacy of the settlement program itself. the fact that so long as the settlements not only exist but continue to expand there is no hope--at all--for peace in the region. so one thing that the israeli action in gaza seems to have accomplished is a significant cracking of its own image in the space that has so far been most dominated by marketing--the mainstream american press. and i see no problem with this--unless you support the settlement program, in which case you are also not in any way interested in regional peace. nothing can happen until those settlements either come down or are forcibly abandoned. nothing can happen that moves the region toward anything but more war until they are taken down or turned over the palestinians. i think it's time for the united states to begin playing hardball on this question. threaten all military and economic aid unless there is a drastic and immediate change in the west bank. what gaza showed is that it's time to stop denial about the occupation, stop the fantasy narratives about the violence in the region, and parse out responsibility in a rational manner--which so far has not happened. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite