The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5
=> Re: Feeling the ignorance at AIPAC 2011
| Re: Feeling the ignorance at AIPAC 2011 |
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Jeffrey
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- Sunday, May 29 2011, 6:14:13 (UTC) from 173.13.27.45 - 173-13-27-45-Michigan.hfc.comcastbusiness.net  Network -  Windows NT -   MozillaWebsite: Website title: |
Marcello wrote: >Rae Abileah, a young Jewish American activist, got tackled and assaulted when she heckled Netanyahu during his speech in the halls of Congress: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/rae-abileah-takes-on-the-culture-of-silence-in-the-jewish-community.html > >Meanwhile, a couple of days before the Netanyahu speech, at a CODE PINK (Moveover AIPAC) protest camp across the street from the AIPAC conference, Medea Benjamin allowed AIPAC delegates to take the mike on the protest stage and express their views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/feeling-the-ignorance-at-aipac-2011.html Often times what I enjoy the most about the web site are the comments below the story. Some good ones here. Rae Abileah takes on the ‘culture of silence’ in the Jewish community by annie on May 25, 2011 Like 23 Retweet 0 Send to a Friend del.icio.us Digg Furl AMY GOODMAN: What were you just saying? You were tackled by members of AIPAC? RAE ABILEAH: I just wanted to say that the people that were sitting around me in the gallery of Congress yesterday were mostly wearing badges from the AIPAC Israel lobby conference. And I did not expect that people holding such power and representing such a huge lobby group would respond so violently to my peaceful disruption. And after I spoke out, Netanyahu said, you know, "This is what’s possible in a democracy. And you wouldn’t be able to get away with this in other countries like Tunisia." And I think that is ridiculous and absurd. If this is what democracy looks like, that when you speak out for freedom and justice, you get tackled to the ground, you get physically violated and assaulted, and then you get hauled off to jail, that’s not the kind of democracy that I think I want to live in. An awesome interview, read the whole thing. AMY GOODMAN: And what does it mean for you to speak out? Often in this country, the Jewish community is portrayed as monolithic when it comes toward—to dealing with Israel policy and supporting the Israeli government. Your thoughts on that? And what does it mean for you to speak out, with your family from Israel? RAE ABILEAH: I’ve been to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza several times. And after witnessing the destruction, the Jewish-only roads, the wall, the bombing of Gaza and the inequality there, I feel like, when I returned to the U.S., I had no option but to speak out for justice. And I feel this tremendous responsibility as a Jewish American to speak out for justice and against these war crimes that are being committed in my name as a Jew, as a U.S. taxpayer. But it’s not easy, for sure. There’s a culture of silence and fear in the Jewish community around speaking out about this. And it’s certainly—I get some blowback from family and friends. But I think it’s so important to follow my principles, my integrity and my heart. And I urge other especially young Jews to do the same. I think that us, as the next generation, we see things differently than the kind of brainwashing—or, we call it "bluewashing"—that we’ve been fed, sometimes by our congregations or by Israel. We have to see through the veil of religious narrative to see that what Israel is doing is not in the best interest of Judaism either. And you were just asking Mr. Barghouti about the Jewish state. I think that what Israel is doing is completely out of line with Jewish values. The value of tikkun olam, of repairing and healing the world, is totally absent from the Netanyahu administration. So we have to reclaim those values— AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you— RAE ABILEAH:—and say that it’s not in the best interest of any faith to do this. { 34 comments… read them below or add one } annie May 25, 2011 at 3:35 pm GO RAE! Log in to Reply justicewillprevail May 25, 2011 at 4:11 pm Her fingernail is worth more than Netanyahu, Leiberman and the whole sorry gang of fascists who brag and bully their way to dictatorship. Log in to Reply James May 25, 2011 at 4:41 pm sounds like she wanted to say more but amy was working to stop her from continuing… i am happy their is a person like her with such strong convictions and she is able to address all this as she is… Log in to Reply annie May 25, 2011 at 4:52 pm more likely the time had run out on the interview. Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 5:26 pm I admittedly find it amusing when poor Amy Goodman has to speed-read the end credits to fit them in under the wire. Name another daily show that is a nearly a solid hour of journalism with no commercials and they still have to squeeze every second for all its worth to have time for it all! Log in to Reply clenchner May 25, 2011 at 5:09 pm I love Rae. And…. really? You weren’t 100% sure you’d be assaulted by AIPAC folks? Next time, call me and I’ll help you prep: no earrings or necklaces, nothing dangly like a scarf, long sleeves, jeans (not a skirt of dress) etc. and for gods sake have a support person next to you who will pretend to oppose you while suggesting to others that beating you up is counter-productive….. I would do that for you – and in my best Israeli-off-the-boat accent! Log in to Reply annie May 25, 2011 at 5:35 pm You weren’t 100% sure you’d be assaulted by AIPAC folks? you mean she wasn’t 100% sure you’d be assaulted by AIPAC thugs in the halls of congress? gee ya think. lots of people protest congress and don’t expect to get the shit kicked out of them clencher. could you be any more of a tool today? just curious! Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 5:48 pm I have to confess if clencher isn’t doing some sort of passive aggressive running of interference for AIPAC, then his attitude is a bit… nonsensical. Who else here thinks it’s perfectly normal and natural for people to be physically assaulted in the US Capitol Building? How is that even slightly normal? It’s maybe not unprecedented but it sure as hell isn’t typical and it is categorically intolerable. Log in to Reply Avi May 25, 2011 at 7:08 pm Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 5:48 pm Who else here thinks it’s perfectly normal and natural for people to be physically assaulted in the US Capitol Building? How is that even slightly normal? I don’t know. He sounds like a stalker to me. Perhaps he enjoys such physical confrontations. clenchner May 25, 2011 at 5:09 pm I love [Rae. Clarice] And…. really? You weren’t 100% sure you’d be assaulted by AIPAC folks? Next time, call me and I’ll help you prep Fixed it for you. That’s right clenchy, it rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told. Log in to Reply Donald May 25, 2011 at 7:27 pm I think you and annie are misreading clenchner–as I read him, he’s saying that the AIPAC folk can be expected to behave like thugs and he’s giving tongue-in-cheek advice on how to prepare for it. I can’t see how it could be read as a defense of AIPAC. Log in to Reply clenchner May 25, 2011 at 7:42 pm I firmly oppose assaulting people. Not sure how I could be more supportive of Rae – who I know personally. Folks might remember the post of my interview with her after the New Orleans heckling. It’s only that…. if you knew AIPAC crowds you’d know they will act violently under this kind of circumstance. How does knowing that fact implicate me as a supporter of that kind of behavior? I’m speaking from experience with pro-Israel crowds here. Am I the only one who has met the sharp end of a right wing crowd before? Log in to Reply annie May 25, 2011 at 8:37 pm you are so bad avi. ;) Log in to Reply annie May 25, 2011 at 8:42 pm donald, it’s reasonable to expect aipacers to be thugs at their own conference but in the halls of congress? no, i don’t expect people to get beat up there under any circumstances. Log in to Reply clenchner May 25, 2011 at 9:15 pm Of course you are right Donald. But…. the hatred and bile have gone to Avi’s brain. It’s inhibiting his capacity for reading comprehension. Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 11:03 pm Maybe you all missed the part where they behaved like that IN THE CAPITOL BUILDING. And GOT AWAY WITH IT. Does anyone here think that ANYONE ELSE could get away with assault and battery — let me drive this point home here — IN THE US CAPITOL BUILDING?! And on film? I’m pretty sure it’s been mentioned that this was filmed. Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 26, 2011 at 8:49 am It occurs to me that clenchner is pushing another canard too. AIPAC isn’t exclusively right-wing. It’s a thoroughly bipartisan problem. How much do you want to bet there was at least one example of “Progressive except Palestine” among Ms. Abileah’s assailants? Log in to Reply clenchner May 26, 2011 at 12:34 pm Are you pushing the canard that AIPAC staff, donors and trufans aren’t right wing? Have you actually met these people? (Hint: they just beat up Rae.) Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 26, 2011 at 6:33 pm Have you met Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold? Both of Wisconsin’s Senators associated extensively with AIPAC. Were they right wing? Much as I dislike the American right wing, the statement “They beat up Rae so they must be right wing” is fatuous, childish and simplistic. Those twenty-nine Senators that gave Netanyahu a standing ovation were not all Republicans, and of the Democrats, they weren’t all “blue dogs,” were they? Log in to Reply Robert May 25, 2011 at 5:17 pm For what it’s worth, Netanyahu is *exactly wrong* about Tunisia. From Juan Cole: http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/its-official-tunisia-now-freer-than-the-u-s.html “Tunisian Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi announced on Monday the dissolution of the country’s secret police arm. This step toward democracy is the most important taken by any Arab country for decades. Tunisia’s interim government also abolished the ‘Ministry of Information,’ which had been in charge of censorship, allowing a free press to flourish. Of course censorship, especially habits of self–censorship, does not actually disappear with the stroke of a pen. Employees of state t.v. have struck recently to protest what they consider government censorship of their news reports. An Arab country with neither secret police nor censorship is unprecedented in recent decades. Tunisia is inspiring similar demands in Egypt and Jordan. When skeptics wonder if the Revolutions of 2011 would really change anything essential in the region, they would be wise to keep an eye on these two developments in Tunisia, which, if consolidated, would represent an epochal transformation of culture and politics.” Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 5:29 pm Hey Witty! Did you bother to watch the clip in DN!’s headlines where the Israeli head of state openly and flatly rejected the 1967 border? Just wanted to get that in here before you get out your ‘terrorist’ label gun on Ms. Abileah. Log in to Reply Jim Haygood May 25, 2011 at 5:36 pm ‘If this is what democracy looks like, that when you speak out for freedom and justice, you get tackled to the ground, you get physically violated and assaulted, and then you get hauled off to jail, that’s not the kind of democracy that I think I want to live in.’ This is not mere boilerplate. Many of us got the same impression in Feb. 2003, protesting the imminent Iraq invasion in the streets of New York, when Bloomberg’s snarling NYPD hurded us into ‘protest pens’ and his snipers pointed rifles at us from rooftops. In most countries on this earth, however humble in economic circumstances, people own their own culture. But the grotesque spectacle of Congress groveling and ululating for Netanyahu reminds Americans that the commanding heights of their own culture have slipped through their hands … and Potemkin ‘democracy’ in the form of ‘any flavor you want, as long as it’s Democrat or Republican’ can’t bring it back. Watching a hijacked empire decay and curdle is a major drag. One can live better than this, in normal nations that don’t aspire to rule the world. Log in to Reply Richard Witty May 25, 2011 at 7:41 pm Her comments were not terrorist, but self-righteous polemic. Log in to Reply Donald May 25, 2011 at 8:52 pm You’re projecting. Log in to Reply annie May 25, 2011 at 9:00 pm triple yawn Log in to Reply James North May 25, 2011 at 10:49 pm Richard Witty said: ‘I am absolutely terrified by this young woman’s tremendous courage, both moral and physical. Even more frightening to my guilty conscience is that she is proudly Jewish, and correctly indicts Israel for betraying Jewish — and human — values.’ ‘I know I should have started out by at least wishing her a physical recovery, and tossed in a little praise for her passion. But I’m terrified by her moral witness. So that’s why my guilty fingers just had to type out the lame, cold sentence. . . Her comments were not terrorist, but self-righteous polemic. Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 11:04 pm Still having trouble with that pesky Reply button, huh gramps? Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 25, 2011 at 11:10 pm I also presume that you think the assault on her was condoned, since your only commentary was to condemn her, and not her assailants, not Netanyahu for categorically rejecting the 1967 borders and not Congress for showing more respect to a foreign head of state than our own President. Log in to Reply James North May 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm Richard Witty said: ‘Ouch, Chaos. It is true that I had more to say against this brave young woman than I did against the Israeli prime minister who just buried my cherished 2-state solution. I’ll resort to one of my other tactics; I’ll say something mild against Netanyahu on my own tiny blog, and then make everyone here go there if they want to read it. I’ve done nearly 10,000 posts here, but somehow I never get around to criticizing Israel.’ Log in to Reply piotr May 25, 2011 at 9:09 pm Is it normal to be assaulted in the Capitol building? Perhaps yes, because no one was arrested on the spot. Peaceful protests should be treated with a certain uniformity. Gouging eyes and inflicting other injuries with direct shots from tear gas launchers cannot be done indoors, but breaking wrists and throwing on the ground can. If I were an AIPAC volunteers, after watching all the videos with comments that this is how protesters SHOULD BE treated, I would proudly put a face mask on and tackle Ms. Rae myself. Strangely enough, not a single member of Congress heckled, courtesy not extended to an American president… Log in to Reply Kathleen May 25, 2011 at 9:11 pm Go Rae. Hope your neck is ok. You worked so hard on all of the Move over Aipac events. As well as all of your team members. Folks this was an amazing conference and events. Plan to go next year. We need to quadruple the numbers next year (although is was well attended) Send Code Pink money if you can. We need to grow the counter weight to Aipac Log in to Reply petersz May 26, 2011 at 12:26 am Extremist Rabbi Shmuley Boteach who witnessed Rae being beaten up this is his take on his website blog:- “Should I have participated in muting her? I had a split-second to decide. Flashing through my mind as hands grabbed her from all sides were all the protesters against Israel that I had encountered in my eleven years as Rabbi at Oxford University. Twice we hosted Bibi at the University and twice hundreds of Palestinian students had been bused in from all over the UK to disrupt his speech. As I walked the chamber of the Oxford Union with Bibi at my side, hundreds of agitators thundered, “Netanyahu you should know, we support the PLO.” Wow, it even rhymed. Netanyahu left his police cordon and walked over to the protesters and invited them in, promising that they would be called on to ask questions. A significant number joined us and he responded patiently to their pointed barbs”….. “In his brilliant and impassioned AIPAC speech House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Israel’s most able defender and greatest friend in the US government, made the point that it’s not the ’67 borders that separate the Palestinians and Israelis. Rather, the conflict is all about values, specifically the Palestinian’s’ growing culture of death versus the Israeli culture of life. The Palestinians name public squares after terrorists. Mothers ululate when their sons blow themselves up on buses, taking little children with them. They teach their children in kindergarten and schools that Jews are hook-nosed and wicked. But the government of Israel trades hundreds of killer terrorists just to bury their fallen soldiers with dignity, gives every Arab-Israeli citizen complete and full human rights, and has consistently traded massive amounts of land in the slim hope that the Palestinians will sincerely wish to make peace”. Log in to Reply Richard Witty May 26, 2011 at 6:05 am On roughing up dissenters from the conformist stand. Its here daily, and in the streets. Model what you propose. Actually don’t do unto others what you wouldn’t have done to you, and then I’ll be more inclined to believe your assertions of ‘non-violent civil disobedience’. Log in to Reply James North May 26, 2011 at 10:06 am Richard Witty said: ‘Now I’ve really outdone myself. I’ve equated beating up a young woman in the Capitol so she had to go to the hospital with strong words on Mondoweiss. My conscience must really be terrified of Rae Abileah’s brave moral witness.’ Log in to Reply Chaos4700 May 26, 2011 at 6:38 pm So you are accusing Rae Abileah of provoking and thereby earning a beating from people like you. Thanks for clearing that up. You know, Rosa Parks warned us about people like you. --------------------- |
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