Jumblerant: Palestine

Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts

Monday, June 21, 2021

In Honor of Pride Month Here is a List

I love Facebook. 

Simple really. it connects me with friends and family around the world and I get to judge people from the safety of not being anywhere near them.

I recently put up a post stating that Israel recognizes same-sex marriage

It got 55 reactions - nice.

But it also got, for the first time, a 'missing context' addition. 

Let me just clarify, I see (and actively seek out) much more controversial stuff on Facebook. There are friends of mine who are so Facebook naughty that they are banned more often than they're allowed on the platform - I'm looking at you, Ken and Larry. 

The truth is very simple. I did not want to be a naysayer and post something like 'Israel recognizes and respects same-sex marriage, as opposed to the Palestinians who recognize and then kill the happy couple'

I didn't want to say that Hamas or the PA throw gay men off rooves, or that they drag their bodies through the streets behind motorbikes, or that officially there is a 10-year penalty for being gay (not sure how that works).

There was no mention of the fact that in the Palestinian National Authority, selling land to Jews is a crime punishable by death. That has nothing to do with LGBTQ rights, it's more about how the death penalty is still used there. 

So Facebook used independent fact-checkers, which on the surface is awesome. And then I saw that it was USA Today. The last time I read that paper it was literally 8 pages. Not 8 pages on sport or on politics, just a total of 8 pages.

So Mr. Facebook, below is what I originally wanted to say. But now I'm going to state, categorically: 

Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza routinely used torture and other ill-treatment with impunity - source Amnesty

Consensual same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Gaza and the West Bank and is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment  - source Amnesty

Well done Facebook, by criticizing my innocuous, flippant image, you made me more aware of just how horrific the LGBTQ community life is in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Now go do something about it.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Will The Media Show You This Photo?

Having worked alongside some fine men in the military and police in Israel, and other countries. I can assure you that this border policeman is using the utmost control that you can imagine.

But I guess this photo isn't worth publishing:

Let's break it down a bit further;

The policeman is armed, probably with a standard M16A2, also, almost definitely with a magazine in already, although as he is not wearing a helmet, I assume that he does not have a round up the chamber. He is not even touching his weapon.

Now let's see how many members of the 'International Press' are in this image, discounting the one who took the photo;

At least five that I can see.

So this policeman is having the following done to him that any law enforcement agent I know would arrest someone for:

1. Someone in his face, not keeping a respectful distance
2. Touching him, whilst not illegal, is exceptionally close to 'assaulting an officer'
3. Initiating a fight with a law enforcement agent. This man holding the flag doesn't look to me, that his purpose is to give the nice officer a hug. 'Incitement'

With at least 6 members of the international press present, the photo and video footage of this policeman showing exceptional restraint doesn't get any air time. I guess he just needs to follow the stereotypical image of an Israeli thug and needs to bash this man around the head to get his 15 minutes of fame.

I can promise you that if the man holding the flag were to do what he is doing to an American or British policeman he would already have been laid out flat on the floor with the 'bracelets' being put on his wrists.

I guess the truth just hurts too much...

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pretty Simple Really - Israel vs. Palestine

Sometimes it really isn't that complicated.

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Friday, April 23, 2010

Fed Up With Being Bashed About

I don't like bullies. I don't like liars. I really don't like being on the receiving end from either. Shocking really.
Someone who also doesn't like being rallied against is Amy. She received abuse from a friend of a friend on Facebook and decided to fight back on her husband's blog 'Fighting for Liberty'.

Some quotes from her essay:

In the late 1800s, some Jews began looking for a solution to the violent Judeophobia (I prefer this term to “anti-Semitism”) in Europe that they had been enduring for centuries. (Concise timelines of Judeophobia are here and here.) It was obvious to people like Theodor Herzl that the Jews needed their own land where they would no longer be persecuted. (Examples of brutal, racist treatment can be seen here and here.) Jews bought more land in Palestine (whenever possible – many Palestinians refused to sell land to Jews), and Russian Jews immigrated there to flee the waves of pogroms, increasing the Jewish presence in Palestine, even before the British issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917. However, the British also promised the land to the Arabs, and had separately made a deal with France to make Palestine internationally controlled. The Arabs revolted against the British (killing Jews as well, just for good measure) in 1936. Although the Arabs weren’t successful in kicking out non-Arabs, this revolt started some cultural shifts – namely, increased hostilities between Arabs and Jews (two groups whose ancient histories had been intertwined in this area for thousands of years), and Britain revoked their promise to give land in Palestine to the Jews.

You say the Israelis are brutal and racist. However, I think you are seeing only the ugliness of war on one side. It is ugly on both sides. The Israelis did not start the war. On May 15, 1948, just one day after the independent state of Israel was created, six Arab nations declared war on Israel. The war could have been avoided if the Palestinians had agreed to the U.N.-proposed two-state proposal. And still, the war could end at any time if they would agree to a two-state proposal.

Well done Amy! For the rest of the essay click here

kthanxbai!