Medea Benjamin

In this time of economic austerity, when jobs are being slashed and Americans are fearful about their future, the Congressional recess is the time for our elected representatives to be home in their districts, reaching out to their constituents and servicing the people they are paid to represent. Instead, this August one out of every five representatives will be taking a junket to Israel, compliments of an affiliate of the Israel lobby AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) but still clocked in on the taxpayer’s dime.

Americans who have lost their jobs and seen their life savings evaporate because Congress can’t seem to get it together deserve an explanation of how this crisis will be solved. Following the recent debt debacle, the public is hungry for information about the mysterious 12-person “super committee” that will slash over one trillion dollars from the federal budget. But instead of opening their doors to their constituents, 81 members of Congress will be getting briefings from Israeli government officials, touring historic religious sites, and perhaps “seeking a salty dip in the Dead Sea.” Representative Steny Hoyer, who is leading the Democratic delegation, said he is pleased members of Congress have this opportunity “to gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved in increasing stability in the region.” One has to wonder whether our elected officials are more concerned about the stability of Israel or the well-being of American families.

Not surprisingly, trip expenses are being paid by an affiliate of the all-powerful AIPAC lobby, the American Israel Educational Foundation. AIPAC lobbies hard to ensure that Israel is kept on the U.S. dole, with $3 billion of US taxpayers’ dollars a year going to the Israeli military. Without AIPAC and the financial contributions to Congressional campaigns made by its affiliate organizations, our representatives would be freer to speak out against funneling precious taxdollars to this already wealthy nation. This junket goes to show that those who claim AIPAC has a stranglehold over our Congress are not far off the mark.

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David Michael Green

What is most disheartening is that Americans don’t even understand the experiment they’ve been subjected to these last thirty years. They seem to get the fact that it has failed, but they don’t know what “it” is.

Nobility is a bitch, and a real seductive one at that.

I’m capable of some serious cynicism, but these days I kinda wish I had a lot more of it. I kinda wish I had born and raised in a more cynical time. Then maybe I wouldn’t get my heart broken so often.

That’s a funny thing to say about the time I grew up in, in a way. It was the era of Vietnam and Watergate, the era of police attack dogs and burning cities. My Lai, Kent State, Nixon, Watts. What’s uglier than that? And can’t one make a very compelling case that these are significantly better times today? I mean, after all, the government isn’t beating and murdering our kids on America’s streets. And while we’re still fighting wars (of course), there are a lot less casualties on either side these days. Aren’t things better?

No. They’re worse. What’s absent today from the America of my younger days is hope and understanding. Back then, everyone understood there was a struggle going on, and lots of people did just that. And they generated enormous successes, ranging from changing both racial civil rights laws and norms, to doing the same for gender equality, to demanding cleaner government, to improving the New Deal social safety net, to ending the Vietnam war, to distributing the national wealth more fairly, to changing environmental consciousness and law, and more.

It was a painful process, but one that came with an outstanding record of achievement, a record which therefore justified the sense of hope. There was solid and robust empirical evidence to prove that having high expectations for the country was not some pollyannaish exercise in naïveté.

That’s all gone. It’s been replaced by something far worse than a tired stasis. And, really, when you consider the present picture in its full glory, you’re left with something beyond despair. For this is not only a story of deceit and hypocrisy, of rampant greed, of sociopathic disdain for the lives of others, but, finally, also a story of complete betrayal and the predatory exploitation of innocent people.

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Defence for Children International - Palestine Section (DCIP)

Name: Sameer S.
Date of arrest: 29 June 2011
Date of affidavit: 6 July 2011
Age: 12
Location: Azzun, occupied West Bank
Accusation: Throwing stones

On 29 June 2011, a 12-year-old boy from Azzun, in the occupied West Bank, is arrested by Israeli soldiers from the family home at 2:00 am.

‘At around 2:00 am I was sleeping when I woke up to banging on the outside door,’ says Sameer. ‘Someone was banging hard on the door and I didn’t know why. I got up and went to the living room and saw my parents and siblings. We were very scared.’ Sameer’s father went and opened the door. ‘About five minutes later I heard my father saying: “Bring the boys downstairs and keep the girls upstairs.” I felt so scared I started shivering. Me and my brother went downstairs with my mother and saw around six soldiers with my father. I was very scared of the soldiers whose faces were covered in black showing only their eyes. One of them did not cover his face and he was holding a digital camera.’ The soldiers spoke to Sameer’s father in Hebrew and he translated. The boys were ordered to raise their hands and the soldier with the camera took their photo.

‘The soldier talking to my father took a piece of paper out of his pocket and started checking it and my father’s ID. “Where’s Sameer?” he asked. I became terrified but I didn’t think they would take me. He talked to my father in Hebrew and then pointed at me and said: “Bau, bau,” which I think means come here in Hebrew. At that moment I realized they wanted me. I was so shocked and horrified I couldn’t breathe a single word. My father comforted me and asked me not to be scared. Meanwhile, two soldiers grabbed me by the arms and took me out of the house. They all left the house and closed the door behind. I saw more than 15 soldiers around the house in the yard and near the front door. Two soldiers blindfolded me and they also tied my hands behind my back with one set of plastic cords. The soldiers were talking to each other in Hebrew.’

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Stephen Lendman

America's "newspaper of record" makes painful reading for alternative media consumers, knowledgeable about what Times correspondents, opinion contributors and editorial writers misreport, conceal, or lie outrageously about.

For example, writer CJ Chivers' August 12 "Notes From the Front Lines" piece practically lionized cutthroat rebels, embedded with them to present their point of view only, saying:

"Just who are the rebels who have taken up arms against (Gaddafi), and how do they fight?" Instead of explaining accurately, Chivers discusses a battle, reading more like bad fiction than reality, pitting recruited NATO killers against a sitting government most Libyans support and will fight to save it.

But don't expect Chivers to explain. Instead, he enlists reader sympathy for a wounded insurgent, saying:

"Rebels fire rifles to suppress (Gaddafi's) soldiers...One of the rebels - his name is Hamid Shwaili - falls. He calls for help. Other rebels at a nearby building fire machine guns....as the wounded man's friends drag him back up (an) alley, to what appears to have been a small garage, where doctors try to administer immediate aid."

"Near death, Mr. Shwaili is soon rushed to an ambulance, bound for a hospital, no doubt."

Wringing maximum emotion from his readers, he highlighted his bloodstained clothing and "dark puddle" near where he fell, saying "you will see his blood loss has been extreme."

But there's more, saying Shwaili "was an unemployed mechanic caught up in the turmoil for Libya's future, and met his end holding a rifle in a battle for Misurata's once quiet streets."

It's to arouse maximum support for a lawless insurgency to provide Washington with another imperial trophy, at the expense of all Libyans, including most damn fool paramilitaries fighting for the wrong side. But don't expect Chivers to explain, reporting like others "in bed with" NATO for their livelihoods, instead of telling the truth. Their job description prohibits it.

In his very lengthy piece, Chivers presents a scenario right out of a Pentagon-funded Hollywood sound stage, complete with photos from the firefight video, including Shwaili (or a convenient stand-in) calling for help on the ground.

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Stephen Lendman

The cumulative effect of abusive practices, especially against young children, constitutes torture under international law. Whether mild or extreme, it's absolutely prohibited criminal behavior.

Repeatedly in many ways, the real Israel belies the myth of a free, open, democratic state. In fact, the very notion is ludicrous even to growing numbers of fed up Israelis, voting with their feet and leaving.

As a result, it's no exaggeration calling Israel a failed state, a topic Noam Chomsky addressed in one of his many books.

Titled "Failed States," he listed characteristics they all share, including:

● their inability or unwillingness to protect their citizens from violence and other forms of harm;
● their abrogation of rule of law standards;
● their lawless belligerent pursuits; and
● if democracies, their policy deficiencies, exposing a serious "democratic deficit."

Evaluating America honestly, he said "we should have little difficulty in finding the characteristics of 'failed states' right at home." It's as true for Israel, a democracy in name only.

Its treatment of Muslims is especially appalling, notably children, the topic of this article, based on a July 19 Defence for Children International Palestine Section (DCIP) report.

Covering the period January 1 through June 30, 2011, it's titled, "In their own words: A report on the situation facing Palestinian children detained in the Israeli military court system." It follows previous reports on how Israel abuses young children as lawlessly as adults, violating international law in multiple ways.

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