Palestine and the California Fires
Oct 29th, 2007 by kawther.salam
In Europe, the news brought terrible scenes from California last week. Whole neighborhoods were seen burning, highways blocked because of the refugees; I saw how TV journalist commented about his own house burning in the background. The news said that (as of October 24), there were about one million refugees from the burns. At the same time, the European media tells us how good the governor of California has managed this catastrophe, the Austrian wife of a US Navy Captain is shown saying how well everything is organized and that nobody is looting. How is everything well managed if there were 1 Million persons reported as displaced as a result of this catastrophe ? I found this contradiction strange because of what I remember my visit to New York in 1998. In fact, American Blogs are saying something very different about this catastrophe and how it is being managed by the American authorities. How can this catastrophe be well managed if many Californians suspect the involvement of their government in the fires.
Back in 1998 I was invited to New York by the UN. I found it strange to see so many homeless, sick people sleeping on the streets. To one of them, an old man who lived near my hotel and who had fought in Vietnam, I brought food every day for the length of my stay in New York. Most of them were veterans of the war in Vietnam. I found it strange that in New York so many people were homeless, because in Palestine we have almost no homeless despite the Israeli occupation. Why should people live on the streets in the most powerful nation of earth ? Why does a country so powerful as the USA fail to build houses which are affordable to the poor ? Why is there no money in the USA for such basic necessities as a home, food, medical attention ? I also found it strange that so many people were offering sex and drugs on the streets of east Manhattan, in the neighborhood of the embassies. Many of the people I saw offering sex and drugs in Manhattan were dressed expensively and driving big black cars. Do they not have decent jobs in the USA so that people are not forced into crime for surviving ? I was not able to hide my criticism and spoke about these issues to different local media, as a result, the colleagues in my group became scared of me, as I had probably offended American authorities with my words.
Should a civilized country not protect its citizens from such things as necessity, natural catastrophes, crime ? Should a civilized country not use the taxes paid by it’s citizens to put in place measures of protections against such catastrophes as these fires, or against hurricane Kathrina two years ago ? Should a country as rich and powerful as the USA not be able to give fast and adequate relief to it’s citizens in situations of need ? Should the government of a country, any country, not protect it’s citizens from natural and man-made terror instead of spreading terror at home and abroad ? Why are so many people in the USA country forced to offer sex and drugs on the street ?
All these and many other things are the duty of a civilized nation, so, why is nothing of this happening in the USA ? With all the power and money of the USA, why was it not possible to prevent or ameliorate a catastrophe which has turned 1 Million people into refugees ? In Palestine even the poorest of the poor, the dispossessed refugees from other parts of Palestine have a place to live, and that after over 60 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing. In the event of fires, we can sometimes even expect some help from the Israeli fire brigades. I did not understand what goes on in the USA, and turned to read what Americans are saying. Perhaps they had at least a part of the explanation for the 1 Million displaced persons of the California fires. Here are two quotes (emphasis mine):
Joseph Cannon writes:
| “We cannot pay for a proper number of firefighters because our taxpayer dollars are going to Iraq. Our homes have been sacrificed and our wallets robbed to pay for a misadventure perpetrated by a president whom most Californians despise.In fact, nearly 38 million people live in California. The butcher’s bill for Iraq comes to $8000 for every man, woman and child in America. (That’s a national average; in real life, Californians pay a far larger amount.) Do the math: If each Californian annually devoted one-tenth of that figure to fighting fires and other natural disasters, we would have $30 billion more to spend on our needs.” |
The Brad Blog writes:
| “… What the Governor failed to mention is that he vetoed four bills that would have increased staffing and fire resources after the Cedar Fire, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. A fifth bill, signed by Schwarzenegger, requires local governments to first submit safety plans to the California Department of Forestry and will not take effect until 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported in a May 20, 2007Other unfulfilled recommendations made to Schwarzenegger by his Blue Ribbon Fire Commission include replacement of aging fire helicopters, increasing staffing to assure four person crews on each state fire engine sent to major wildfires, and nighttime air drops. A national contract fleet of heavy air tankers has fallen from 41 to 16 in the last five years, with aging aircraft deemed unsafe and grounded. The state firefighting fleet has not replaced two air tankers that crashed, the L.A. Times reported.CNN reports that only 1,500 National Guard have been sent to assist Californians during the current wildfire crisis—less than 1/10 of the state’s 20,000 National Guard members. Clearly having the bulk of our National Guards forces deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan have hindered emergency response here at home.” |
What these Americans write is worrying, but so are the questions which the behavior of the American authorities raises:
- Why did the Governor of California veto 4 bills which would have increased staffing and resources to fight such fires at a comparatively small price ?
- Why are fire engines, helicopters, airplanes and other equipment not being replaced when this is what Americans want and need ?
- Why was a comparatively cheap program engaging prisoners to cut firebreaks into the bush suspended ?
- Why is the money which should be used to fund the prevention and amelioration of natural catastrophes being used to fund several wars which most Americans don’t want ?
- Why is the National Guard, a military formation which is manned by Americans who have volunteered because they want to help in exactly such situations as the current fires in California, fighting unwanted wars elsewhere ?
- If the way how things are being done is against the will of most Americans, why are things being done that way and who causes things to be done in that way ?
- If the catastrophe management was good, why have 1 Million Americans been displaced from their homes according to the American media ?
- Where does all the money go ?
… and for what is it being used instead of putting out fires in California ? Questions and questions and questions . . . but, has anybody looked for answers ?
The fast answer is that “the wars” or the “global war on terror” consume all these resources. But the “global war on terror” has been exposed by many commentators and analysts as a giant scam, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and possibly soon also in Iran, are all strongly against the best interest of most Americans. If this is so, then why are these wars being fought ? Why does the “global war on terror”, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan . . . exist ? Who benefits ? Whose interests are so important that funding the prevention of fires and other natural catastrophes, protecting Americans from need, from terror, natural and man-made disasters etc. becomes secondary and optional ?
Some prominent Americans – and Californians - provide an answer to all these questions, in their own words:
- Condoleezza Rice: “We need to place our Israeli obligations at the top of our national priority list.”
- Hillary Clinton: “There is no question mark next to me. There’s an exclamation point. I am an emphatic, unwavering supporter of Israel’s safety and security.”
- Dianne Feinstein: “I am very proud to be here today to join with you as we stand in support and solidarity with the state of Israel.”
- Nancy Pelosi: “America’s commitment to the safety and security of the state of Israel is unwavering. America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship.”
- Tom Lantos: “… we will not stay in Iraq one day longer than absolutely necessary because we do come as liberators, who would like to see the slow, painful, tedious process of democratization begin among the Arab countries of the Middle East. Without that there will be no peace for Israel or in the region.”
- Henry Waxman: “We must stand in solidarity with the Israeli people and support Israel’s right as a sovereign nation to defend its vital interests.” (Note: Rep. Henry Waxman has a daughter who “made aliya”, the term used by American Jews for making profits from the genocide against Palestinians).
When I read about these attitudes of these and other American politicians, I had to wonder why I had never seen some of them in Hebron vandalizing and stealing property, throwing stones, spitting at people in the streets. Are these truly elected American politicians, or are they some of the illegal Hebron colonists ? How is their mindset different from the mindset of the typical jewish squatter in Hebron ?
So, who REALLY supports Israel, and what do they do ?
When one questions the activities of these American politicians and looks at who in the USA really “supports” Israel and Israeli interests, the group of true supporters of Israel becomes noticeably small - because supporting Israel is in no way an “American” project. And this small group of supporters of Israel and Israeli interests in the USA overlaps noticeably with those who support and promote the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, “against terror” etc. . . . When one further looks at who are the most rabid and murderous rightists in Israel, the so-called “settlers” and the Likud Block, then the conclusion is that at the center of all this activity there is exactly one group of people. In Israel they call themselves “settlers”, Likud, Kahane Chai, Kach, Yesha Council, Committee for the Security of the Roads, Jewish Underground, Shelhevet Brigades, Women in Green, Avigdor Lieberman, Beth Din . . . and in the USA they call themselves by names like Neo-Conservatives, Neo-Liberals, AIPAC, WJC, AJC, ZOA, ADL, AEI, Hudson Institute, MEMRI, SPLC, Joe Lieberman (cousin of his Israeli namesake) . . . according to the reports of Americans who have interested themselves with this phenomenon.
When one looks at the people inside these institutions it is always persons from the same group, alternatively appearing in different places and institutions. In Israel it is the same clique of “former” terrorists and extremists, in the USA it is always people who belong to this extended clique who enter and exit government functions according to convenience. Both the Israeli and USA cliques are united by purpose (“Israel First”) and covered by various ideologies witness to their irresponsibility and ineptitude. Their activities can be described best if ones imagines a giant hose which on the one side sucks in tremendous amounts of (American) resources, and on the other side showers out these resources in form of money, weapons, political support, wars of choice, etc. which can be used at will by Israel and those who support Israel. They have firmly planted the fallacies that “Israel is Americas best friend” and “American and Israeli interests are identical” in the political discourse of the USA.
The results of the activities of the “Israel First” clique are in plain sight on both sides of the suction hose:
In the USA, according to the reports I read, natural and man-made catastrophes turn into disasters for the whole country because prevention and containment measures remain unfunded so that this money can be shoveled into the suction hose; the political discourse in the whole country of USA is contained and terrorized by the fear of offending the “Americas best friends”; public servants and politicians must accept bribes (called “campaign contributions”) by organizations of arguable legality and which are reported to have been caught spying on American state secrets repeatedly, or risk losing their position, their careers, or their lives; millions of Americans live on the streets in part because the money which could be used to provide them adequate and affordable housing is shoveled into the suction hose and used to fund enterprises which are against American interests; Israeli spies, traitors and criminals of all types are deported to Israel instead of applying to them the usually harsh sentences for such activities, even when such persons are caught repeatedly; hundreds, perhaps thousands of “charities” collect money to “support Israel” despite the fact that this money directly funds terrorists activities and genocide carried out by American citizens in Palestine, and that such activities, and funding such activities, are criminal offenses under American laws; on top of the reported US$ 3.000.000.000.000 (approximate) which are given by the US Government to Israel directly as grants and credit every year, any person who donates to Israeli causes in the USA can deduct such donations from their taxes – for example, donations for the Israeli Army are tax-deductible.
Can Americans make tax-deductible donations to, for example, “charities” of the armed forces of Iceland ?
In Palestine, the same resources which are sucked out of the USA are used by Israel and its supporters to finance terrorism and terrorists, apartheid, murder, grand theft, genocide, a client regime of torturers and criminals, a gulag where tens of thousands of Palestinians are interned and routinely tortured; an apartheid wall of incredible proportions. Israeli politics are determined by what they can extract from the USA: Sharon reportedly told Peres during a Knesset session in 2001 “… don’t worry about American pressure, we the Jewish people control America.”; American politicians routinely travel to Israel to make a show of their submission to the will of this country; when I lived in Tel-Aviv in 2002, the giant airplanes of the American military were passing overhead day and night. Some years later, I found out that the Americans had been building a secret military base east of Tel-Aviv; American foreign policy at the highest levels was and is controlled and decided by some illegal colonists in the West Bank.
Of course, as the American Bloggers quoted above say, the money is going to Iraq, but the war in Iraq is not fought because America is in danger, but because it is in the interest of Israel. You may revisit the words of Rep. Tom Lantos quoted above, and also the words of other politicians. The same is true for Afghanistan, and the same is true for the massive “support” for Israel everywhere in US politics. After reading everything that is reported by the media, the correct answer to all the questions above, is that the fires of California became a disaster because the money went to further Israeli interests, the “butchers bill for Iraq” is in reality the “bill for Israel”: while Israel and those who support whatever Israel wants literally swim in money, California has no fire engines, no firefighters, no programs to pay prisoners 70 cents a day to cut bushes, no airplanes put out the fires . . .
Both California and Palestine are burning: while both fires are different, their cause is one and the same. In the USA, American needs are neglected because Israel comes first. In Palestine, Palestinians are subject to a genocide financed with the resources extracted from Americans, also because Israel comes first. And, because in 60 or more years of continued occupation and ethnic cleansing those who lead Israel have shown nothing but incompetence and criminal inclinations, now it has been determined that USA must fight against Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria . . . in order to make “peace for Israel” in the unforgettable words of Rep. Tom Lantos.
True friendship for US$ 108.000.000.000 and counting
(Plus US$ 464.000.000.000 for Iraq) Can Americans who lost their loved ones, their homes or their business in the fires of California expect some kind of help to get on their feet again ? According to the words of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi quoted above, yes. The same is true if one takes in account the positions of the Israeli Government and of many influential organizations in the USA, which all have often stated emphatically the American and Israeli interests are one and the same. And, the magnanimity of the Israeli Government is known when it comes to its most needy citizens: when Sharon evicted the colonists from Gaza in preparation for the current genocidal measures, each evicted family reportedly was gives US$ 500.000,- cash, no questions asked, so that they could start somewhere else. These Israeli colonists had been living on property stolen from Palestinians with help of murder and terrorism, and the money was very likely paid from American taxes.
I am confident that Californians who need help to get on their feet can expect to get their US$ 500.000,- from Israel, Jews and non-Jews alike. After all, in the words of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi “America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship” - and Israel has received US$ 108 BN to date as a proof of Americas friendship. Is it not time that they extend their helping hand to their American friends in need ?
If you want to take recourse to Israels unwavering friendship towards America, there are many possibilities. Israel has some consulates in California, and most of the organizations which promote the friendship between Israel and the USA also have branches there. You can find their contact information on the Internet. Pass their phone numbers to others who might be in need of help, and don’t forget to quote Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Lantos when you call.
Tags:
California, Condoleezza Rice, Dianne Feinstein, Henry Waxman, israel, Jane Harman, Nancy Pelosi, occupation, Palestine, Tom Lantos, zionism
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nice shootin’, bro!
Most Christians who support Israel do so in the mistaken belief that it is the will of the God of their Bible. But Zionism is directly opposed by the will of YHVH Elohim, as he explicitly states in the Tanach (Hebrew “Old Testament”). See our article @ http://www.rense.com/general75/ZionismOfGod.pdf
Finally, someone who has the gyts to say it like it is . . . I really couldn’t have said it better - kudos for an excellent article . . .
PEACE
Dear Madame,
An excellent article. However, you ought not to be surprised that the media reports the great ’success’ in California. It’s the new American way… it doesn’t matter what’s really happening, all that matters is what you say about it.
‘I didn’t have sex with that woman!’
leads directly to
‘Everything is hunky-dory in California after the
fires. A million refugees are perfectly cared-for and happy.’
and
‘There’s nothing wrong with the economy.’
thankyou for your thoughtful and moderate writing. It’s a cause of wonder to me that there can still be moderate voices coming out of Palestine. As a child of the 50’s, it was a ‘given’ that the jews who survived the horrors of the second world war needed a place that they could call their own. It was this sentiment which prevailed and thus man gave Israel back to the jews. It’s now my understanding that religious jews would have preferred to wait until God had given the land back. I have no arguement with individual jews however the mindset of much of the world is such that any criticism of Israel is seen as anti-semitic.
I have watched, with growing unease, the ruthless way in which Israel has dealt with the Palestinians and, apart from gas chambers, see it as no different, in essence, to the way in which they themselves were treated by nazi Germany. Does the saying of this make me an enemy of Israel ? No - no more than I am an enemy of America. It’s the policies of the country which create conflict and not the fact that the country exists. I don’t understand how the settlers of Israel justify their barbarity on religious grounds when God has not yet shown his hand and given that land back. ‘Smiting enemies’ and religious zealotry permeates much of the world and, unfortunately, surrounds George Bush - a man who plainly has trouble stringing sentences together. To believe, as Christian Fundementalists of a certain ilk do, that to support Israel - right or wrong - will somehow hasten the return of Christ is surely both arrogant and underhanded - neither quality espoused by Christ.
If fair treatment and an understanding that we’re either all ‘children of God’ or none of us are, were to prevail … ah well.
Your writing is appreciated.
As always my dear, WRITE sic on the money!
Good comment David Griffith. But there is more. Israel to those who can claim jewish ethincity is also a place of physical refuge. Thus an independent and strong militarily Israel is a must for the concerned. The only extradition treaty Israel has with the US refers to “criminal fugitives”, but not embezzlers and other civil defendants. Hence Tony Rich managed to evade US tax liability for decades. Forthermore, local Israeli law trumps international treaty obligations. It was the holocaust hype that gave us an outlaw state, with opaque banking laws and racist citizenship policy.
Until the American people wake up, the United States will always be the “Jewnited States of Jewmerica”!
Everyones house in America is filled with things, too many things. We are kept busy night and day moving our things around, cleaning them, getting more from our multitude of stores that provide most things for the income level we live in. Then there are the sports, the seasonal sports and the soap operas and the sitcoms…that will keep you going…then there are the fund raising orgs and the church fund raising orgs. Busy, busy people, working, playing and being lied to. We pay many taxes. Truth be known our homes are not our own if the taxes aren’t paid in full.
They will take them away, right from under us. We live on borrowed money and borrowed time. Our Government is so corrupt that replacements quickly fill in to become to greater or lesser degree corrupt.
The people have marginalized the corruption they live in. WOE to America. She does not see that she is naked and wanting, blind and penniless, her materialistic wealth cannot give to her the satisfaction for having the corruption and filth and lies steal her soul away. Yet we are a people who are moved from the heart. What are the hidden motives?
This will be seen when we go through the fire.
What will it be? Gold or Clinkers. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Love your enemy.
Do good to those who hate you.” It is upon us. WOE to America. She is filthy. She will be tried in the fire.
Mercy and Justice will take a stand We have been forwarned by History, by our life, by our Creator.
We have to get our eyes off the the window displays in the “store of life”, as long as we continue to be mesmerized by the window displays they will continue to produce them. We need to figure out how to storm the actual store instead of all the trappings that are put there to keep us busy. The problem is the people behind the governments and not the governments themselves which are only puppets. To get rid of the problems(symptoms) we have to get rid of the people or entities causing the problem. As long as we focus on the problem they will continue to feed them to us.
Just goes to prove that all goverments suck at having the best interest of their own people in mind. Those at the top are only concerned with those at the top,be it a capitalist, communist, facist, or theist regime.
Make a difference, wake your friends up, and vote for Ron Paul.
Ronpaul2008.com maybe together we can stop the madness!
All I can say is
http://www.endgamethemovie.com/
and check out this full free film on Government Sponsored Terror at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=786048453686176230
Excellent article but please note that what Israel is doing to Palestinians is not comparable to Apartheid. Apartheid was separate development NOT stealing land, uprooting trees, killing and torturing people.
Before the Europeans came with their dismal greedy murdering thieving world that they call..Civilization… there weren’t any homeless in Turtle Island. The last of the Tribes were rounded up around 1895 & now all these people do is either weep, wail, & gnash their teeth about either their personal problems, family problems or problems of their Nation.
Now they are murdering in other people’s lands for oil or their land & worldly political control of other people’s land. Yes, I know all Americans do not support these policies.
Interesting article. No question that the Palestinians are getting screwed. Although many of the interests of Israel are being served with our current policies in the Middle East, I feel that a major ingredient pushing our foreign policies there is money and greed; basically mega corporations and central banking syndicates and families (the New World Order, where is Israel I believe has a major seat in it). As for the American Jewish support for Israel (my family is mainly Jewish), they are blinded via by at least 2 sources. One source is the mass media which no doubt is heavily influenced by the Zionists (Zionism is not Judaism). The likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX NEWS, CNN and others are essentially controlled to produce an overall view to support Israel. Sure they will show the occasional debate to show that they are “fair”, but you will see that overall people are brainwashed in the direction of supporting Israel. Everytime I see an Israeli and Palestinian debate on T.V. the Israeli side when pushed to the corner will yell “Its because of the suicide bombers and Israel needs Security”. Suicide bombers are not born that way, they are a last ditch and desparate response to an awful policy against their people. The other source which blinds most American Jews is that Israel is a Jewish state and they have this automatic religious attachment to that country. Of course the Holocaust is always brought up for support. (Please read Norman G. Finklestein’s “The Holocaust Industry-Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering”) . Therefore the American Jews have this blind and unquestioning support for any of Israel’s policies. This is in contrast to a degree where in Israel many of the Jews question or are trying to modify some of Israel’s policies. There are a number of Peace groups including a few joint Israeli Jew- Palestinian organizations trying to change things for the better. Here in the States there are a number of Jewish groups in favor and support for an independent Palestinian state and the withdrawal of the Israeli borders to the pre-1967 lines.
PEACE & SHALOM
Looks like entry # 16 above could be another false flag operation by the Mossad of sorts! Unfortunately many Jews (not most) just about hate all Arabs and Moslems. Of course hate breeds hate. Someday if we don’t destroy ourselves first this will change.
Again PEACE & SHALOM
Wonderful article and well said tho, in fact, we need to understand how things works for 2008 elections - would the next president be a Zionist ?
‘Iraq was Invaded to Secure Israel,’ says Senator Hollings
(EDIT: Link deleted)
Senator Lieberman:
USA should launch a military air and ground attack on Iran.
Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank ”is not terrorism.”
regretted that Palestinian land had been taken in building the wall.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2D9123EF93BA25753C1A9659C8B63
John Edwards:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Edwards_Iran_must_know_world_wont_0123.html
Barack Obama, supports Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=832667&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1
——————
They sold their souls to Zionist, so American became their 2nd or may be 3rd priority tho!
This would seem to be down to the diaspora jews to stand up and make themselves heard in opposition to the zionazi Israeli government and to the zionazi settler movement and the zionazi land fund etc. Without the support of the jewish diaspora, no matter how much in funding the dog (ie. the US) might throw at Israel, it cannot survive.
Five Dancing Israeli’s + 911 = Inside/Outside Job
Funny you should mention that because when I was in the West Bank one of the things that struck me was the lack of homeless people on the street despite the severe poverty. Another was the kind way I was treated by the Palestinian people despite my being an American.
But then Palestinians seem to be more aware of what goes on here than Americans.
Literal minded readings of religious texts are strange in such a secular age but even if you believe that God gave Israel to the descendants of Abraham than you would recognize that those people would be the Palestinians who live there and have done so for centuries. Look at the Israelis! They are certainly not from that part of the world nor are their ancestors.
Suicide bombers are not the reason that so much money goes to Israel. The state of Israel commits far more acts of violence than suicide bombers, immensely more, and it does so in pursuit of its decades long takeover of land in order to form Ertetz Israel.
Visit my website,www.holylandunveiled.com and get a real look at the democracy of Israel
One thing that is seldom mentioned when talking about homeless people, is the number of empty and abandoned houses and buildings in nearly every city in America. There are people with no homes, and homes with no people, why can’t we do something to bring them together.
USA has been taken hostage by the Jews after WWII. There is no money for people, infrastructure or aid, because this is squandered in Iraq and in several proven useless weapon systems.
They only peaceful hope for the World is that the US economy breaks badly and the influence will erode. There are already signs that the World is shifting away from US finances and countries like Russia, China, Venezuela show the rest of the World that this is possible.
The Californian fires were bad and it was also kind of stupid to built houses in this areas without cleaning the underwood. Moreover if they don’t suffer from fire they suffer from earthquakes and landslides in this part of California.
I feel really guilty about the Palestines, because we can do so little to protect them from the Zionist genocidal acts.