The Ask Project: What Do Israelis and Palestinians Really Think?

by Nomad

Canadian-born Corey Gil-Shuster isn't what most people would consider an activist. He is just very curious.

With his YouTube channel, The Ask Project, he conducts one-to-one interviews with Jewish, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinian peoples to find out what they think on a particular subject. 

The responses are always interesting and sometimes counter-intuitive.

As Gil-Shuster explained to The Jerusalem Post:

“I don’t really care about leaders...  I want the guy selling bread, I want the regular guy who sells oranges... they are part of society, too.” 

Too often, says Gil-Shuster, those opinions and beliefs are ignored "unless they can serve a specific purpose or agenda." His quest to understand people takes him into the streets, the markets, the cafes, the offices, the malls, the tiny shops, and even into people's homes.

Surveillance, Suppression and Intimidation: Tools for the Super-Rich?

by Nomad

If you haven't found time to read Ronan Farrow's latest book, Catch and Kill, it is certainly worth your time. In fact, it reads more like a John LeCarre spy thriller than a journalist's investigation.
Farrow's book actually deals with the story behind his expose of the allegations against media mogul and accused sexual predator, Harvey Weinstein. He reveals each painful step- from unsubstantiated rumors to firm allegation. To his credit, Mr. Farrow was relentless in seeking out women who privately claimed to have been sexually assaulted.

Yet, Weinstein had powerful friends who were willing to shelter him. And he also lots of tools at his disposal to block journalists and silence accusers. After all, sordid things that Weinstein did was pretty much of an inside secret in Hollywood. According to reports, wealthy Weinstein could afford to pay off his alleged victims (with non-disclosure agreements attached). If that didn't work, there was always the power of threats. According to his alleged victims, he could and would apply tremendous amounts of pressure on uncooperative individuals.
And he did just that... over decades. 

Is Netanyahu's Refusal to Step Down to Face Charges a Foreshadowing for the US?

by Nomad

What with the impeachment hearings and the non-stop insanity emanating out of Washington, you will be forgiven if you haven't been keeping up with the constitutional crisis unfolding in Israel.  Most of us would agree that we have enough on our plates, especially during Thanksgiving. 

The events in Israel might seem far away and trivial. However, they could well be a portent of what's to come in the US if Trump loses the 2020 election.  

Journalist Chemi Shalev, writing for Haaretz, observes that Israel is currently in a state of chaos with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding his own country hostage in his " unrelenting effort to avoid criminal prosecution"  after being charged with fraud and breach of trust. 

The Coming Schism between Israel and the American Jewish Community

by Dov Waxman, Northeastern University

A protest by ‘If Not Now’ outside the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., March 2017. Gili Getz

Messy Breakup

This week, The New York Times, ran an op-ed piece entitled "American Jews and Israeli Jews Are Headed for a Messy Breakup." The article highlighted the widening schism between American Jews and their counterparts in Israel. Much of that dissension has to do with the right-wing views and authoritarian tactics of the leaders of their respective countries.

Jared Kushner, Son-in-Law and Trump's Hidden Genius

by Nomad

Nikki's Non-Sarcastic Remark

A most extraordinary thing happened this week. Oh, I know. You are saying, "But Nomad, you say that every week." Every week I mean it, too. It is usually something extraordinary mixed with a dollop of ridiculousness combined with a whole septic tank of nastiness.  

When U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced her resignation, she lavished praise on the president's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. But that wasn't the extraordinary thing.

After all, sucking up to this president is a full-time job. That and swiping documents off his desk, coming up with the appropriate lies to explain the inexplicable, and finding a way to tell the man there is a tiny bit of you-know-what stuck to his heel.

Halley said

"I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka [Trump]."

That pithy remark has remarkable pivoting power if you cared to analyze it. Enough good things? Claiming Jared and Ivanka are well-washed and smell nice is probably sufficient for any half-way honest person.
Ambassadors, as we all know, are trained to say the most absurd things without blinking and Nikki, as incompetent as she is, has picked up that talent along the way. She added:

"Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands."

Putin and Trump's Sippenhaft Solution: Terrorizing the Innocent in the Name of Defeating Terrorism

by Nomad

Trump's solution for defeating terrorism may sound like a "get-tough" policy. In fact, it's merely a war crime regularly used by fascists. Still worse, it plays into the hands of our enemies.

Mainly as a result of his entertainment value, candidate Donald Trump was able to say a lot of unpresidential things during the primaries. And this went largely unchallenged by the bewildered and negligent news media.

A lot of things Trump bellowed flew under the radar. The nuttiness was coming at us fast and furious. There were quite a few things that Trump said that should have made intelligent people shudder. We can dismiss the majority of these things as Trump's usual morass and an attempt to satisfy his seemingly-insatiable need for attention. 

However, a few of his remarks demand a closer inspection because they are were used to underpin some of his "solutions" to American's challenges. 

How Trump would Deal with Terrorism

One of Trump's remarks made during the interview at Fox News t had to do with how he (personally) would defeat terrorism. 

The problem with America's war on terrorism, according to Donald, was that we were attempting to wage a "politically correct war." What was needed was a more robust approach.  Namely, when it came to dealing with terrorists, "you have to take out their families. "

Presumably, he wasn't referring to taking out the relatives to dinner in lower Manhattan followed a Broadway show. The term, "take out," generally, means in military parlance "to kill."

The reaction to this remarks by the top brass in the US military was immediate and categorical. General Michael Hayden, a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the National Security Agency, stated 

"Trump’s pledge to kill family members as being among his most troubling campaign statements.

Hayden added that the military would refuse to follow illegal orders such as the intentional killing of terrorists’ families. 

"If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act..You are required not to follow an unlawful order.That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict.”

In response to Hayden, Trump wasn't overly concerned. Au contraire, Trump said, as Commander in Chief he would see to it that his orders were followed.

“They won’t refuse, they’re not going to refuse me — believe me.”

JFK's Reply to Netanyahu: War Need Not Be Inevitable

by Nomad

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will today address the US Congress in an attempt to influence foreign policy with regards to ongoing Iranian nuclear negotiations.

The search for a lasting peace in the Middle East sometimes seems a waste of time. Perhaps, as Kennedy once said, we need to define what we really mean when we think of peace.

In June 1963, President Kennedy gave one of his finest speeches of his presidency. It is known as his American University speech. 

Set against the most dangerous era of the Cold War when the Far Right demanded a tough line against the Communists, Kennedy chose to talk about the path to a lasting peace. At that time, it seemed so far-fetched.

Yet that fact did not stop the president from presenting his thoughts about peace with the Soviet Union: what it entailed, how it could be achieved and why it was a worthy and realistic goal to pursue.

Boehner, Netanyahu and George Washington's Farewell Warning

by Nomad

Without consulting the White House or the State Department, House Speaker Boehner has invited Israeli PM Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress in less than a month.
George Washington in his last official statement had a thing or two to say about allowing our allies from too much interference in US foreign policy.

Time of Challenge

As most of you have heard, House Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress next month. Presumably Netanyahu will attempt to scuttle extremely negotiations with Iran on its nuclear weapons/energy program. In a statement Boehner explained his reasoning.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of his people. In this time of challenge, I am asking the prime minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life.”

The statement should be read very carefully. It seems to be speaking on behalf of the US government. The term "unwavering commitment" might sound great on paper but it can sound very different to the people to whom it applies.

In any case, the White House wasn't impressed. Press Secretary Josh Earnest described it as a breach of typical protocol since the White House wasn't consulted or involved in the decision. Said Earnest, it has been standard procedure for a nation's leader to contact the White House before planning a visit to the United States. 

In this case, however, the White House heard about the invitation  not from the Israelis but from Boehner's office,. Some would call that breach a sign of disrespect for the president and the executive office in general.

Earnest said the White House is reserving judgment about the invite until U.S. officials talk to their Israeli counterparts. Boehner's office confirmed that Netanyahu has accepted, and will give a speech to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11. The date is significant: It's the 36th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.

Boehner said in a statement that he had invited Netanyahu to speak on "the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life." Yet, critics would counter that there were plenty of other experts available, with much more unbiased sources, to speak on such matters.

News from Iran: Suspicious Explosions and Unexplained Plane Crashes

by Nomad

Here are two news stories from inside the Iranian Republic that didn't get much attention in the mainstream press last week.

According to a report from Iran’s state news agency, two workers were killed by an explosion and fire at a top secret Iranian military facility. One of those killed was reportedly an unnamed "nuclear expert."

The semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) also reported that the initial explosive shattered windows 12 kilometers away (about 15 miles) and the glare from the explosion lit up the night sky.

The Parchin site, located east of Tehran, has been off-limits to UN nuclear inspectors since 2005. Countries opposed to Iranian nuclear weapon ambitions have presumed that the site has some special importance to the program.

If the cause of the explosion was sabotage, it would certainly be a matter of grave concern for security. As of this time, it is too early to determine the reasons for the blast and if sabotage were involved, it is unlikely Iranian officials would publicly announce it. There was, not surprisingly, very little coverage inside Iran even though the blast and fireball could be seen by the public.

What the NRA Doesn’t Want You to Know: The Fallacy of Democracy and Gun-Ownership Rights

by Nomad

We have all heard it. The conventional wisdom states- or at least, implies, that private gun ownership is a protection against tyranny. 
It’s an idea that the NRA likes to propagate. People take it for granted that it must be true. 
Apparently, they'll tell you, our founding fathers believed as much. Why else did they include the second amendment if they didn't. It's easy for them to ignore the part that says:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Interestingly, however, despite the mentality that claims that democracy must be protected by citizens bearing automatic weapons, the evidence doesn’t support this link at all. In fact, our own actions in Iraq and in past nation-building, prove that we don’t really believe it ourselves.

On the Environment: Romney and Hannity Share a Dirty Joke 2/2

by Nomad

In Part One, we examined Mitt Romney and Fox News' Sean Hannity sharing a few laughs at President Obama's expense. 

In the friendly chat, they mentioned Obama's remark that he stood for progress while Romney represented only "dirty air and dirty water." 

Hannity snidely asked Romney,"Do you want dirty air, Governor? I didn't hear you in the course of the campaign talk about dirty air and dirty water. Is that your plan?" 

What none of us heard in the campaign was Romney's relatively-recent alliance with the Koch brothers (and all the pollution that they create). That topic was something that Fox News conscientiously avoided. 

Surprisingly, there's still a little more mining to be done on this story. It requires us to shift direction.

Jake and Rupert

The private joke between Hannity and Romney about the environment works both directions. When it comes to the environment, if Mitt Romney's chummy relationship with major polluter (and all around toxic) Koch Brothers brings the candidate a giggle, then the owner of News Corporation must have a few reasons to cackle, chortle and guffaw as well.

As everybody knows, Fox News is a part of that Argus-eyed monster, News Corporation which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Most people mistakenly think of Rupert Murdoch as a media mogul and this is not strictly true. Murdoch is also an oil man.