"Today... the essential calculation... has been blatantly revealed.... One Israeli life is worth a hundred Palestinian lives."
By John Berger
12.27.2008 | http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org
"We are now spectators of the latest - and perhaps penultimate - chapter of the 60 year old conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. About the complexities of this tragic conflict billions of words have been pronounced, defending one side or the other.
Today, in face of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, the essential calculation, which was always covertly there, behind this conflict, has been blatantly revealed. The death of one Israeli victim justifies the killing of a hundred Palestinians. One Israeli life is worth a hundred Palestinian lives.
This is what the Israeli State and the world media more or less - with marginal questioning - mindlessly repeat. And this claim, which has accompanied and justified the longest Occupation of foreign territories in 20th C. European history, is viscerally racist. That the Jewish people should accept this, that the world should concur, that the Palestinians should submit to it - is one of history's ironic jokes. There's no laughter anywhere. We can, however, refute it, more and more vocally. Let's do so."
John Berger is an English art critic, painter, and novelist. Two years ago, he launched an appeal for worldwide cultural boycott against the Israeli state: John Berger, "We Must Speak Out," Guardian, 15 December 2006; and "John Berger and 93 Other Authors, Film-makers, Musicians and Performers Call for a Cultural Boycott of Israel," Ramallah, 15 December 2006.
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Sunday, December 28, 2008
2 comments:
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You should read the comments about these events at FreeRepublic.com. The Freepers are gloating over Palestinian suffering and reveling in the pictures of exploding bombs.
ReplyDeleteI spend about 10 hours a day reading current events on a VERY wide range of websites. I have been locked into this massacre since it started (actually for much longer).
ReplyDeleteI am shocked and horrified that this is happening. But I am completely and utterly disgusted by the supporters and cheerleaders that celebrate MURDER. The comments sections of every website with a story about this massacre are FULL of joy from the israeli-supporters who are gleefully enjoying the wholesale slaughter of human beings. There are names that are obviously jewish and many that are not. They are in cities around the world. And they are seeming to ENJOY this spectacle--this ritual sacrifice of human lives.
If I was ever unsure that the religion "Judaism" was really "Satanism"--I am convinced now.
When I read the leading rabbis in israel saying it is acceptable to God to kill civilians (yes, including children), it was clear. When your religous leaders condone the murder of children, you should be asking yourself just exactly WHOM your god is! My God is about love and mercy and even has a commandment that reads "thou shalt not kill".
Who is this god of the israelis that endorses killing??
Thanks, Michael for your hard work over the years!