The next protest against illegal Israeli occupation sponsor, Max Brenner, is in Newtown on Saturday, September 10 at 1pm, and Australia’s demented version of the white supremacist British EDL, the Australian Defence League and Australian Protectionist Party (APP), will be there to protest alongside Zionist white supremacists against BDS.
The NSW leader of the APP, Darrin Hodges, is an ex-Stormfront forum member who once opined that “[Hitler] laid a foundation that we should build on” but who now identifies The Muslim rather than The Jew as being Public Enemy #1. Martin Brennan, the former leader of the ADL, was last month deported back to England as an illegal immigrant but looks forward to joining the EDL as they attempt to march through Tower Hamlets on September 3 (slight problem being police have banned the march). One of Brennan’s closest supporters was another foreigner named Roberta Moore, former leader of the EDL’s ‘Jewish Division’: on the one hand, Moore was unhappy with the number of ‘Nazis’ belonging to the group; on the other hand, the EDL was unhappy with Moore’s cultivating links with the ‘Jewish Task Force’.
In an Australian JDL Facebook group now secret or defunct and assisted by Meir Weinstein from the Canadian JDL (which collaborates with the Canadian EDL), Ms Moore offers Australian JDLers assistance lining up Australian Defence League honcho Martin Brennan with the Australian Jewish Defence League, which is supporting a demonstration against an Islamic Conference early in July.
Boycott, divestment and sanctions are the principled non-violent method chosen by Palestinian people to oppose the illegal Israel Occupation, to end Israel’s apartheid, for equal rights and the recognition of Palestinian people’s rights to return to their lands. BDS was one of the primary methods used by the anti-apartheid movement to end white South African apartheid.
Recently, Zionists and white supremacists including from the Australian Patriotic Defence Movement (APDM), a fascist organistion here in Australia, joined forces to oppose a BDS protest near Max Brenner in Brisbane. Birds of a feather protest together.
While the Fairfax press is quick to smear BDS falsely as anti-semitic, it neglects to examine the far right white supremacist anti-semites who protest alongside the their zionist counterparts. White supremacists who support Israel’s apartheid regime hate Arabs only slightly less than they hate Jews. The alliance between the odd bedfellows is an opportunistic, twisted marriage of convenience.
“People are angry, but they can’t explain why.” I’d suggest someone made a similar mash up of the Cronulla times 50 loon over at Slack Bastard’s, except his voice sounds more like a jackhammer than anything remotely associate with music. Maybe I need to listen to some TISM for inspiration. And the Brechtian further incarnation – Root!
These two fallacies play directly into the Zionist regimes’ interminable ‘security’ hasbara, which is code for zionist expansionism and disposal of its surplus ‘sub-human’ Palestinians. Zionism treats Palestinians as sub-human, in the same way as white supremacists regard Jews. Zionism resonates well with the sense of entitlement other settler colonial entities have over surplus sub-humans in their colonies, often including the way these other settler colonial entities have treated Jews.
UPDATE 8/8/11
The AJDS releases a despicable document in which the most shameful thing besides trivialising the holocaust, impugning bds activists as antisemites and nazi supporters and slandering Australians for Palestine is it makes no mention of the white supremacist far right nationalists aligning directly with anti-BDS zionists against legitimate protest by Palestinians and supporters for rights. So much for ‘democratic’. Apparently, the Palestinian protest isn’t polite enough for these apologists for apartheid.
‘There were 4.05 million Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) as of
mid-2010—62.1% in the West Bank and 37.9% in Gaza.
An estimated 1.97 million, or 48.6% of the
total population, were under the age of 18 (or an estimated 1.22 million children in the West Bank and
746,630 children in Gaza).
‘The Palestinian economy continued to grow in 2010 (9.3% growth in real GDP up from 6.8% in 2009). Gaza saw significant economic growth (15% up from 1% in 2009) while growth in the West Bank was less dramatic (7.6% down from 8.5% in 2009). The opening of crossings into Gaza allowed
for goods to flow to the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Nevertheless, this economic growth
was primarily driven by donor assistance and not viewed as sustainable under current conditions.
Unemployment rates went down marginally (23.4% at end 2010, down from 24.8% at end
2009). Unemployment remained higher in Gaza at 37.4% (39.3% in 2009) compared with 16.9% in the
West Bank (18.1% in 2009).
In 2010, 31.9% of households in Gaza suffered from poverty compared with 16% of households
in the West Bank. Nearly 27 percent (26.9%) of children in the OPT were poor (living in households
with income below the national poverty line)—38.4% in Gaza and 19% in the West Bank.
In Gaza,
households that remain above the poverty line are highly vulnerable to becoming poor.
52% of households in Gaza faced food insecurity and an additional 13% were vulnerable to
food insecurity during the first half of 2010 (compared with 61% in 2009). In rural areas of Gaza, 69%
of households faced food insecurity.
This translates to more than 90,000 children at risk of food insecurity in Gaza.
Similar to 2009, 71% of families in Gaza received at least one form of social assistance, mostly
in the form of food assistance, which plays a crucial role in alleviating poverty.
Still, almost one-third
of households did not maintain a diet with varied and nutritious foods.’
‘Nearly 95% of primary school students
and 95.8% of preparatory school students in
Gaza had insufficient electricity at home to
complete their homework either some or
most of the time.’
In 2010, 3 cases of Palestinian children used by Israeli security forces as human shields in the West Bank
In 2010, 320 Palestinians died & were injured in settler-related incidents
In Area C of the West Bank, Israeli authorities destroyed in 2010 at least 40 water cisterns affecting 7500 children
Up to 48% of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem are at risk of displacement by Israel
13 Palestinian children in detention were threatened with sexual assault by Israel military in 2010
In 2010, 70% of detained Palestinian children were beaten or kicked by the Israeli military
30,000 Gazan Palestinians & thousands of children remain displaced 2 years after Cast Lead
10,000 Palestinian children are unregistered in East Jerusalem with no access to education or health care
70 Palestinians, half children, were forced from their East Jerusalem homes by Israeli settlers in 2010
In 2010, Israel forcibly displaced 299 Palestinian children due to its demolition of their homes
Israel shot 23 Gazan children collecting building material or grazing livestock in 2010
Not mentioned by Palmer report – 85% of maritime areas for fishing are blocked to Palestinians
At the end of 2010, less than 1% of the homes destroyed by Israel in Cast Lead had been rebuilt
Thanks to Israel’s illegal Gaza blockade, by early 2011, asthma medication for children was completely out of stock
In 2010, there were 24 documented cases of attacks by Israel on schools in the OPT including demolition orders
~ 95% of children in Gaza had insufficient electricity to complete their homework some or most of the time.
Over 44 percent (44.4%) of children were refugees.
In the West Bank, 29% of
children were refugees; in Gaza, the percentage was much higher at 67%.
‘the people in the Government-created towns reportedly rank at the bottom of all the indicators used by the State to measure social and economic wellbeing. Furthermore, the Bedouin have complained that they cannot continue to live in their traditional manner in these urban areas, given that raising crops or animals in the towns is not allowed.’
…
?’Reportedly, out of approximately 155,000 Bedouin living in the Negev today, around half live in the recognized towns created by the Government and half live in 47 so-called “unrecognized villages”. According to the information received, although officially unrecognized, the majority of these villages were established prior to the creation of the
State of Israel, and virtually all were established prior to the creation of the Government-created towns. The unrecognized villages are denied all forms of basic infrastructure and are not allowed to build or develop in any way. Building permits may not be issued in unrecognized villages, resulting in Bedouin individuals being indicted continually for “illegal” construction and in countless Bedouin homes being subject ot demolition orders.
It is further alleged that, since the early 1990s, Bedouin people living in unrecognized villages throughout the Negev desert have experienced ongoing demolitions of their homes and
villages by Israeli authorities.”
The Special Rapporteur gives the racist Israeli government a hard smack.
‘First, the Special Rapportuer acknowledges the position of the State of Israel that it does not accept the classification of its Bedouin citizens as an indigenous people given that
Bedouin tribes arrived to the Negev area late in the Ottoman era, mainly from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to an already existing legal regime. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, the
longstanding presence of Bedouin people throughout a geographic region that includes Israel, and observes that in many respects, the Bedouin people share in the characteristics of indigenous peoples worldwide, including a connection to lands and the maintenance of cultural traditions that are distinct from those of majority populations. Further, the
grievances of the Bedouin, stemming from their distinct cultural identities and their connection to their traditional lands, can be identified as representing the types of problems
to which the international human rights regime related to indigenous peoples has been designed to respond. Thus, the Special Rapporteur considers that the concerns expressed by
members of the Bedouin people are of relevance to his mandate and fall within the ambit of concern of the principles contained in international instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ‘
NOTE: I and others emailed Kiowa of Tuba Skinny to ask for a clear statement about the reasons for their Eilat gig cancellation. He has kindly provided one below.
The viewpoints of Tuba Skinny in regard to our recent cancellation at the Red Sea Jazz Festival have recently become a popular topic of debate among numerous websites and news forums. We did not want to comment on a situation that we as foreigners know so little about, but it seems that we now have no choice but to comment.
The reasons for our cancellation are numerous. First, when we agreed to play the festival we were not aware that it was largely state sponsored, or that people on the other side of the wall would be denied entry. This should suffice to demonstrate my meaning when I say that we do not have the comprehensive viewpoint necessary to make political commentary on such a serious matter. It is a fact that prior to our show, two days before we were scheduled to fly to Israel from Rome, we were approached by various people via E-mail who are affiliated with the BDS and AAA movements. After thoroughly researching what they told us in numerous emails, we were more enlightened on the current situation of the Wall, in addition to the extreme actions taken by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. This was a shaking realization, especially because as a street band from New Orleans, we had not even heard the call to boycott, and never so much as considered the idea that playing music for people could be seen as a statement aligning us with any extremist group. Our intentions were to play on the street in Israel and the surrounding areas for the people, not for any government. It is a real regret to not play for Palestinian and Israeli people alike, especially because many of these people have expressed openly that they do not support the Wall, or the killing of innocent people carried out by either side. Our intentions at no time included playing in support of government sponsored atrocities or independent ones. The day before our flight, after hours of stressful deliberation, we decided that we should not back out of our slated appearance for these reasons: Many people who live in Israel and wish for equal rights and peace had bought tickets to see us, and it was mere days before the show; the organizers, whose political stance has never been known to us, had worked very hard on our behalf; We were in Italy with no way home; and we viewed it as an opportunity to speak out against segregation and senseless killing. We thought to donate the proceeds from the festival to relief and human rights organizations involved in this crisis. After reaching this painful decision, we immediately learned of the killings outside of Eilat and the subsequent bombings in Gaza, both with the loss of innocent lives. This was the icing on the cake. We could not support any of these actions, let alone risk the obvious personal danger that was implied. It was for a mixture of these reasons that we decided to back out. Not only the Apartheid Wall, not only the attacks at Gaza, not only the attacks outside of Eilat, not only the endless violence for centuries, but all of it combined. Of course we do not support the merciless bulldozing of homes or the indiscriminate murder of Israeli and Palestinian people from both sides! With this in mind, I in my ignorance would never be so presumptuous as to approach an Israeli or Palestinian individual and start spouting off about my political opinion. To a mother who has lost her child. An Israeli mother, a Palestinian mother, it makes no difference. I cannot imagine what that would be like, though there are many alive today who can. We live in a country whose government is involved directly in this crisis, and many of the citizens here avoid talking about it because even here it often ends in heated debate or violence. Many of the citizens in the USA have never supported the government in this.
We have received pressure from many directions to make a statement. Here it is.
By the way. If anybody plans on quoting our statement, it would be appreciated if nobody takes excerpts here and there to prove a point we are not making. I do not expect that anyone I sent this to would do that, but just wanted to put it out there anyway, because so often people will extract some part of a sentence and add it to their own very different statement. Thanks- kio
We write you this letter in the hope that you will carefully consider cancelling your 18 October concert in Israel. Your wise decision not to play in apartheid South Africa shows that you are well aware of the power of a cultural boycott in support of human rights. Now, about 30 years later, you are being asked not to play in apartheid Israel [1] (Israel practices the three pillars of apartheid). Fighting apartheid in South Africa was right, and fighting apartheid wherever it raises its ugly face is still right.
We would be happy to send you information about the plight of the Palestinian refugees, pictures of the illegal apartheid wall, beautiful quotes by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu in support of the Palestinian people and horrendous testimonies of Israeli interrogation.
The recent International Red Cross report on the siege of Gaza demonstrates how terribly damaging it is to Palestinians. [2] The siege most definitely constitutes human rights abuse. Also, the UN Report of 2009 finds Israel guilty of committing war crimes in its assault on Gaza in 2008/2009, including using white phosphorous on civilians and using human shields. [3]
In 1990 you worked with Roger Waters on the rock opera The Wall live in Berlin, you also collaborated with him in your Vagabond Ways album in 1999. You may not be aware that Roger Waters has asked his colleagues in the music industry, to boycott Israel. He says:
“In my view, the abhorrent and draconian control that Israel wields over the besieged Palestinians in Gaza and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem), coupled with its denial of the rights of refugees to return to their homes in Israel, demands that fair-minded people around the world support the Palestinians in their civil, nonviolent resistance.
Where governments refuse to act people must, with whatever peaceful means are at their disposal. For me this means declaring an intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their government’s policies, by joining the campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel.
My conviction is born in the idea that all people deserve basic human rights. This is not an attack on the people of Israel. This is, however, a plea to my colleagues in the music industry, and also to artists in other disciplines, to join this cultural boycott.
Artists were right to refuse to play in South Africa’s Sun City resort until apartheid fell and white people and black people enjoyed equal rights. And we are right to refuse to play in Israel until the day comes – and it surely will come – when the wall of occupation falls and Palestinians live alongside Israelis in the peace, freedom, justice and dignity that they all deserve.”
The BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions) movement has reached global proportions and people around the world are joining in solidarity with the oppressed people who live under Israel’s harsh, oppressive, racist apartheid system. Solidarity is alive and well in Australia, Ireland, the USA, South America, Europe, Japan, Korea, and many other places such as Fiji.
We are not asking you to join or be a spokesperson (though we would be thrilled if you chose to) of this dynamic movement. It’s not complicated, you are merely being asked to refrain from playing in Israel and endorsing apartheid.
Over 200 artists in Ireland, where you live, have signed a pledge to boycott Israel. [4] These artists refuse to allow their music to be exploited by an apartheid state that disregards international law and universal principles of human rights, but look forward to the day when normal cultural relations can be re-established with an Israel that fully complies with such laws and principles. Playing in Israel truly is a political statement in support of apartheid, and against human rights. Please be aware of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s statement in 2005 that “We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and…do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.”
In the light of last year’s murder of humanitarian activists by the Israeli military and the ongoing illegal and immoral siege of Gaza, as well as the occupation of Palestine, it is profoundly important that Israel not be allowed to profit from artists visiting the state until it upholds international law.
Our sincere hope is that you will refuse to cross the picket line drawn by the Palestinian call for cultural boycott and cancel your concert plans in Israel.
We are a group, of over 745 members, representing many nations around the globe, who believe that it is essential for musicians & other artists to heed the call of the PACBI, and join in the boycott of Israel. This is essential in order to work towards justice for the Palestinian people under occupation, and also in refugee camps and in the diaspora throughout the world.
[1] See references below for documentation on apartheid in Israel:
Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) study : Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Do Israel’s practices in occupied Palestinian territory, namely the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, amount to the crimes of colonialism and apartheid under international law?
While the specific content of the traditionalist beliefs and mores cherry-picked and melded into ‘new’ mythology is of lesser import, that the terrorist Breivik is racist, nationalist and rightwing is significant, orienting the political compass. In common with other proponents of fascism, Breivik syncretises disparate, contradictory elements – of the Crusades and Knights Templar, Freemasonry and modern expositions of conservative and reactionary thought – to mythologise a glorious ‘pure’ past. Fascism is better defined by its rightwing nature, its hatreds, ultraracism and ultranationalism, than the myths it recycles and from which its bankrupt political ‘philosophy’ is derived. The perpetual struggle is against perceived impediments – in Breivik’s pseudo-philosophy these are scapegoated Muslims, communists who tolerate them, feminists and the politically correct – if these results and proponents of multiculturalism can be removed or dealt with, the re-mythologised past can be transmuted into a glorious future. Did Breivik consciously attempt to resolve the contradiction between eternal warfare against the ‘Other’ and the achievement of a golden age described by Eco, by setting out specific tasks to be accomplished by certain times?
Whether harvesting from Christianity or Wobblythumpianism, fascists merge core cultural, political and religious themes into dissonant reactionary mythologies to galvanise an irrational political ideology tailored for the target society, forging Blut und Boden ultranationalism with selective populism in order to promote a militarist drive for power.
Other notable commonalities within existing and historic fascist ideologies and the Breivik dogma include newspeak – the epithet of his movement ‘cultural conservatives’, its ‘cultural marxist‘ enemies and ‘Eurabia’ are striking examples; the ends justifies the means, contempt for the weak, attack of intellectuals, communists and leftists; anti-capitalist and anti-democratic goals; social darwinism, sexual machismo; a cult of heroism, strength, unity and purity; militarism and violence; rejection of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism; xenophobia, ultra-racism, antisemitism, bigotry and prejudice; censorship of opposing ideas, disagreement is treason, strategic victimhood and sense of besiegement.
Although Breivik executed a spectacle which may reduce pressure for a time and is disowned publicly by those who similarly espouse extreme rightwing views (with the exception of the monstrous Glenn Beck, who likened Breivik’s victims to ‘Hitler youth’), Breivik’s essential nationalist, Islamophobic doctrine remains as yet unrepudiated and unexamined critically by these fellow travellers.
One of the features of racism is that its sufferers are oblivious to its symptoms. Yet, racism doesn’t grow in a vacuum. Breivik’s acts and doctrine cannot be separated from the substrate in which it arose in the specific contexts of permissiveness of racism and violence, fuelled by frustration with the hegemony of the ruling class, alienation, and major political events like 9/11 and leaders’ counter-productive, inflammatory reactions to them. While Breivik sees multiculturalism and its leftwing protectors as his primary obstructions, the destructive activities of the transnational ruling class which benefits from and promotes racist, nationalist division is obscured.
There is a larger organism with which Breivik is connected – from neofascist and islamophobic organisations, to fascist Israel, to the white supremacist, uncritical media and people who assumed myopically that the appalling carnage plotted and executed by Breivik couldn’t have been committed by a ‘white’ person, a rightwinger or in a ‘white’ culture. This political terrorist may not be defined as ‘mad’ (to diagnose and disparage is unwise as mentally ill people are no more violent than other community members) or adher to any one isolated belief system than his own concocted dissonance, yet be ‘possessed’ of a dangerous, familiar ideology which has taken root symbiotically in several polities, a toxic phenomenon to be cauterised, else there will be more spectacles, with successive liftings of the bar. The Norwegian Prime Minister has demonstrated deep wisdom in declaring that Norway’s response will be more democracy and respect, not more security and fear.
May kindness, universal human rights, reason and democracy, prevail over brutish dogma.
The killer has evidently absorbed the far right’s shift from the language of race to the language of culture. But what is most striking is how closely he mirrors the ideas and fixations of transatlantic conservatives who for a decade have been the meat and drink of champions of the war on terror and the claim that Islam and Islamism pose a mortal threat to Western civilisation.
Only months before he went on his murderous killing spree he exchanged several messages with EDL supporters using his internet pseudonym Sigurd Jorsalfare, the name of the 12th century King of Norway who led one of the Crusades.
One staple of post-9/11 discourse has been the consistent demand that all Muslims everywhere not only condemn terrorism — which almost all invariably do, if for no other reason than that they have been its chief victims — but also that Muslims denounce Muslim hate-mongers, the “enablers” of terrorism.
Yet here we are witnessing a furious attempt by Islamophobic politicians and pundits, as well as their apologists, to decouple themselves from Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist.
This despite the fact that Breivik himself repeatedly cites some of the leading European and American anti-Muslim crusaders to rationalize his anti-Muslim jihad. They, of course, do not advocate violence, while he is a mass murderer. The distinction is clear enough. But they influenced him and shaped his world view. His exaggerated sense of the danger posed by Islam, Muslims and multiculturalism is about the same as theirs.
Breivik said in his 1500-page manifesto that he attended the founding meeting of the Knights Templar Europe “military order” in London in 2002 where he met a “mentor” who used the pseudonym Richard – after Richard the Lionheart.
Paul Ray, who writes a blog under the name Lionheart, says he belongs to an anti Muslim group called The Ancient Order of the Templar Knights but denies ever meeting Breivik and says he was horrified by the mass killings in Norway on Friday. In a telephone interview with Associated Press, Ray said he was not at the 2002 London meeting that Breivik described in his manifesto.
“I’d like to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Norway and to the families who have lost children,” Ray said. “It’s a horrendous crime that has been committed by someone what goes beyond the realm of human understanding.”
Ray, who now lives in Malta, refused to say how many members were in his group but said he had had no contact with Breivik and had not heard of him before Friday’s attacks.
“It’s an idea,” he said of The Ancient Order of the Templar Knights. “It’s not like it’s a massive organization. It’s a belief.”
Ray, who was involved with the far right English Defence League before falling out with the leadership, said it appeared Breivik had drawn inspiration from some of his ideas and writings.
“It’s really pointing at us. All these things he’s been talking about are linked to us,” he said. “It’s like he’s created this whole thing around us.”
says the main ideological drivers for lone terrorists are white supremacy, Islamism, nationalism/separatism and anti-abortionism. …
Indeed, right-wing views are increasingly becoming political mainstream in Europe, and even moderate politicians have been moving to the Right and away from multiculturalism.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister David Cameron in Britain have all recently declared an end to multiculturalism.
…
Norway does not exist in a vacuum. Its right-wing scene is connected to the rest of Europe through internet forums, where hate-speech proliferates, and participation in right-wing demonstrations throughout Europe.
…
The Norway attacks are a reminder for Australians of the need to monitor individuals with extreme right-wing views. They should not be allowed to join gun clubs, own guns or be able to buy quantities of explosive precursors.
“I can tell you, at this moment in time, we don’t have evidence or we don’t have indications that he has been part of a broader movement or that he has been in connection with other cells or that there are other cells,” said Ms Kristiansen, who heads the Norwegian Police Security Service.
She said she did not think Mr Breivik was insane, as his lawyer has suggested.
Instead, she described him as calculating and evil, and someone who sought the limelight.
Breivik is no loner. His violence was brewed in a specific European environment that shares characteristics with the specific American environment of Loughner: relative economic decline, a jobless recovery, middle-class anxiety and high levels of immigration serving as the backdrop for racist Islamophobia and use of the spurious specter of a “Muslim takeover” as a wedge political issue to channel frustrations rightward.
“What we’ve seen is an active extremist scene across European countries, including the UK,” Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, told the Guardian. “There are some signs the extreme right have been more active, especially on the Internet. They are more sophisticated and using social media to attract younger people.”
The next protest against illegal Israeli occupation sponsor, Max Brenner, is in Newtown on Saturday, September 10 at 1pm, and Australia’s demented version of the white supremacist British EDL, the Australian Defence League and Australian Protectionist Party (APP), will be there to protest alongside Zionist white supremacists against BDS.