Ali Abunimah - on Hamas

In light of the most recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, Ali Abunimah speaks at a University of Chicago panel held on January 8, 2008, which included Norman G. Finkelstein and John J. Mearsheimer.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• u
• of
• c
• panel
• 002

[petersz98]

Just read Nazi Likud's Charter!

[nopecharliesnoangel]

@n8glenn

Why have you BLOCKED ME. I wrote you a LONG response with links proving your claims false and you a liar. I'm at work so I've managed to get one of our IT guys to get into an account and record this.

YOU ARE A LIAR!

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss The settler removal is actually an interesting moral case for me. They were there illegally, in essense they were all criminals, but on the other hand, their own government ethnically cleansed them when it suited their purposes, which should not be surprising because ethnic cleansing is just what it does. The settlers should have been told very simply, the IDF is leaving, come with us if you want, if not, make peace with the natives, goodbye. Instead they were loaded on trucks.

[GorterPoss]

@n8glenn You are right, there were political reasons for withdrawing the settlers from Egypt, Sinai and parts of the West Bank. My point is that the even though the settlers were vehemently opposed to a withdrawal, rallied their political allies and threatened mutiny against the IDF, they still did not get what they wanted.

Certainly there are elements of fascist thought in the settler movement, but, like I said, they are in the minority. The majority of Israelis want two states.

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss BTW, I'll tell you another thing about non-violent resistence, it involves pretty much everything for palestinians, existing for them is non-violent resistence, but palestinian political leaders who advocate non-violence, especially the really popular ones, well, they represent a special threat to israel, and they are treated as such. They are either executed or imprisoned and tortured.

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss The settlers in the sinai were removed because the land had to be given back to egypt, that was forced on israel by war. Now, I don't know if any settlers were ever removed from the west bank, but I can tell you that the number of settlers has only increased from the very beginning, sometimes quite rapidly, and that goes for east jerusalem as well. This is an ongoing ethnic cleansing, and palestinians resist non-violently all the time, the IDF frequently just shoots them.

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss I wish you were right about that but I see the fascist shift occurring in israel right now, I see opposition to the occupation from many quarters, but on the other hand, there are two known fascists running the country, and there is a mood of paranoia and extreme racist nationalism which is only gaining momentum. The removal of settlers from gaza was part of a strategy to place gazans in a prison space and deny responsibility for them by israel.

[GorterPoss]

@n8glenn The majority does matter. The settlers are a potent politcal force but they are far from invincible. Settlers were removed from the Sinai, Gaza and the West Bank despite enormous opposition from the settler lobby, including threats of mutiny against the army. Where there is sufficient political will, the settlers do not get their way. I think that if the Palestinians oppose Israel non-violently (advocacy, divestment), there will be sufficient will to dismantle West bank Settlements.

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss Now, about the two state solution, it doesn't matter whether a majority would accept it or not, the fact is the israeli government and the settlers are actively and physically making sure every day that no palestinian state will ever exist. Ask any settler and they'll tell you proudly that they would never accept the EXISTENCE of a palestinian state, but no body notices, they are too busy claiming palestinians reject israel's "right to exist".

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss But hey, if you really believe in this "economic growth" that palestinians are experiencing, go to the west bank and let them know about it! Go to the people having their homes demolished and say "it's cool, you've got economic growth", tell the people being shot to death at non-violent protests against giant walls being erected on their land to imprison them that it's not as bleak as it seems because they just grew economically, tell the people waiting for no reason at checkpoints.

[n8glenn]

@GorterPoss Plenty of weaknesses?! You mean like the fact that it's under a brutal military occupation, overseen by a corrupt and illegitimate palestinian authority which works hand in hand with the IDF to help strip the population of it's land and basic human rights?! Who told you that there WAS economic growth, the IDF? The PA? You'd be a fool to believe anything those people say, to believe there's economic growth, or to believe that any growth was benefitting palestinians.