Seeing Things as We Are, Not as They Are

A memorable scene from the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, is when the angel Clarence, leaves a note for the struggling George Bailey, that reads, “No man is a failure who has friends.” I used to measure success, in part, by the number of friends in my life. I have since stopped the practice, and learned to be more careful. It is now more about quality, than quantity.

As an activist, the reward is knowing that you are on the side of truth, and justice, even when the costs can be measured in lost friendships. As such, being a champion for others can be a lonely way of life, especially for those of us who believe that ALL children are OUR children, and can’t help but fight, in our own way, for both animal, and human rights.

The US is a criminal state that discourages critical thinking, and often promotes hate, in order to distract, misinform, and justify its next illegal war, or genocide. The biggest challenge for young students is not academics, but rather in learning how to be disobedient, while maintaining their integrity. If successful, they will have preserved their abundant levels of compassion, and empathy, for each other, animals, and our only planet. Which will be no small feat, and far more than I can say for many former friends, and loved ones, who have become irrevocably disconnected from what is most important, love.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

The US-Israeli genocide in Gaza continues to expose everyone. Over the last two years, former friends, as well as people I lost touch with from childhood (most of whom are white), have revealed themselves to be nothing short of certifiable, with their profoundly ignorant, racist beliefs. In addition to their support of Israel’s US backed genocide in Gaza, many have expressed sadness over the death of a white supremacist (and apparent psychopath), named Charlie Kirk. If you are unfamiliar, Charlie Kirk was a racist “influencer”, who was paid over $80 million by Israel (as per journalist Max Blumenthal), to promote pro-Genocide propaganda, misinformation, and other forms of hate speech. As per Pulitzer Prize winning author Chris Hedges, “Charlie Kirk was fomenting hate and demonization. Let’s begin with the kinds of things he said about Muslims, the kinds of things he said about people of color, in particular Black people, the kinds of things he said about the LGBTQ community, the kinds of things he said about feminists. This was really vitriolic hate speech. And it is, like all hate speech, giving license to people to act upon that hate speech. When I heard about the assassination, I was appalled and horrified, not because I have any love for Kirk, but because I know how it would be weaponized. And in all totalitarian states, vigilante groups are vitally important. And they serve this strange purpose: at once, the formal structures of power. They have a kind of deniability because it’s not them. It’s one step removed. On the other hand, the vigilante group carries out a lot of the dirty work that whatever police state or totalitarian state wants carried out.”
Click here to learn more from Chris Hedges, Katie Halper, and Aaron Matte.
Click here to learn more from Chris Hedges and Max Blumenthal.
Artist: Mr. Fish – The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk

Artist: Clay Jones

Chris Hedges is a trusted source. Here are a few excerpts from his latest piece, “The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk”:
“Kirk was a poster child for our emergent Christian Fascism. He peddled the Great Replacement Theory, which claims liberals or “globalists” allow immigrants of color into the country in order to replace whites, distorting immigration trends into conspiracy. He was Islamophobic, tweeting “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” and that it is “not compatible with western civilization.” When children’s YouTuber Ms. Rachel said “Jesus says to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself,” Kirk retorted that “Satan has quoted scripture plenty” and added “by the way Ms. Rachel, you might wanna crack open that Bible of yours, in a lesser referenced part of the same part of scripture is in Leviticus 18, is that thou shall Lay with another man and be stoned to death.” He demanded we roll back the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and disparaged civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King. He was demeaning towards Black people, “If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman…is she there because of affirmative action?” He said “prowling Blacks” are targeting white people “for fun.” He blamed Black Lives Matter for “destroying the fabric of our society.” Kirk insisted the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. He founded Professor Watchlist and School Board Watchlist to purge professors and teachers with what he called “radical leftist” agendas. He advocated televised public executions which he insisted should be mandatory viewing for children. The idea that he championed free speech and liberty is absurd. He was an enemy of both. Kirk, who was a cheerleader for the cult of Trump, embodied the hypermasculinity that is at the core of fascist movements. This was perhaps his primary attraction to youth, especially white men. He claimed there is “a war on men,” fetishized guns and sold Trump to his followers as a man’s man…History has shown what comes next. It won’t be pleasant. Kirk, elevated to martyrdom, gives those seeking to extinguish our democracy the license to kill, just as Kirk was killed. It lifts what few constraints still exist to protect us from state abuse and vigilante violence. Kirk’s name and visage will be employed to accelerate the road to tyranny, which is as he would have wanted it.”
Click here to learn more from Chris Hedges.
Click here to learn more from journalist, Caitlin Johnstone.

Most Racists Don’t Know They’re Racist

Surprise, surprise. Lifetime criminal, and convicted felon, Donald Trump, receives more support from older white Americans, than any other demographic. Did you know that 94% of US Jews identify as white, and that 2 years into the live streamed US-Israeli Genocide in Gaza, only 53% of Americans have a “somewhat” or “very unfavorable” view of Israel? The tide may be turning, but too many Americans (mostly white), still don’t get it. You can’t two sides genocide. Supporting Israel is no different than supporting Nazi Germany. Also, learning that a disproportionate number of white Americans were mourning the death of a genocide supporting white supremacist (Charlie Kirk), while remaining silent, or worse, as hundreds of thousands of our Palestinian brothers and sisters continued to be slaughtered (with countless CHILDREN being sniped in the head, chest and genitals), was both sickening, and unforgivable. The lack of empathy borders on sociopathy. How could anyone remain friends with someone who supports one of the worst crimes in human history, the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine?
Click here to learn more from Jewish Voice for Peace.
Click here to learn more about Trump’s strongest approval ratings coming from older white Americans.
Click here to learn more about how 94% of US Jews identify as white.
Click here to learn more about how most racists don’t know they are racist.

“You get to decide which side you’re on. And that decision will define the rest of your life.” – Author and activist, Susan Abulhawa

Susan Abulhawa

Israel MUST be Dismantled in the Same Way that Nazism was Dismantled

Palestinian writer and activist, Susan Abulhawa, is another trusted source who does terrific work. Here are her latest thoughts on Israel, and the US-Israeli Genocide in Gaza: “When you have watched what we have been forced to watch for two years, every day, shredded bodies, children sniped in the head, people burned alive, doctors being raped to death, having rape camps where prisoners are tortured day in and out…It’s disgusting. This kind of naked colonialism, we all thought was a thing of the past, but we’re all watching it in real time. This colonialism that is complete with just utter wanton slaughter and supremacy and lies, and you know, this abysmal darkness, Ralph, it does not bode well for the future. I don’t agree to live side by side with these people anymore. I think Israel needs to be dismantled, and that is what needs to be normalized. Saying that this, in the same way that Nazism was dismantled, in the same way that apartheid was dismantled, Israel must be dismantled…And the people who have committed this holocaust must be held to account. If humanity is to have any semblance of hope, of a moral future, this has to happen. It must. It is grotesque, the way that the most powerful nations in the world have ganged up on this tiny strip of land, of a principally unarmed, defenseless, civilian population. And why? Why? Because it’s prime real estate? And because they have a gas field offshore? That’s the reason. It is naked colonialism, naked aggression, naked, unfettered greed.” – Susan Abulhawa
Click here for the full interview from the always excellent Ralph Nader Radio Hour.

Here is an excerpt from another powerful piece by Susan Abulhawa:
“But how does one reckon with losing your entire family, watching and smelling their bodies disintegrate around you in the rubble, as you wait for rescue or death? How does one reckon with total erasure of your existence in the world – your home, family, friends, health, whole neighborhood and country? No photos of your family, wedding, children, parents left; even the graves of your loved ones and ancestors bulldozed. All this while the most powerful forces and voices vilify and blame you for your wretched fate. Genocide isn’t just mass murder. It is intentional erasure. Of histories. Of memories, books and culture. Erasure of potential in a land. Erasure of hope in and for a place. Erasure is the impetus for destroying homes, schools, places of worship, hospitals, libraries, cultural centers, recreational centers and universities. Genocide is intentional dismantling of another’s humanity. It is the reduction of a proud, educated, high-functioning ancient society into penniless objects of charity, forced to eat the unspeakable to survive; to live in filth and disease with nothing to hope for except an end to bombs and bullets raining on and through their bodies, their lives, their histories and futures. No one can think or hope for what might come after a ceasefire. The ceiling of their hope at this hour is for the bombing to stop. It is a minimal ask. A minimal recognition of Palestinian humanity.Despite Israel cutting power and internet, Palestinians have managed to livestream a picture of their own genocide to a world that allows it to continue.But history will not lie. It will record that Israel perpetrated a holocaust in the 21st century.”
Click here to learn more from Ms. Abulhawa, and the always superb Electronic Intifada.

Did you know that PETA is a GENOCIDE supporting organization? Here is yet another example of the depravity of Israeli soldiers as they shoot and kill a horse for carrying bags of flour for Palestinians (The US & Israel have weaponized disease, and starvation in their concerted efforts to erase Palestinians). PETA’s reaction? SILENCE. As per Susan Abulhawa, “PETA??? Why have you been silent over the slaughter of animals by Israelis? This isn’t the first video evidence of them targeting animals. They themselves have posted videos of firing on horses, sheep, and other animals in Gaza.”
Click here for the video of Israeli soldiers murdering a horse for carrying bags of flour for Palestinians.

UN delegates walk out on Netanyahu

Unlike the soulless US politicians who gave indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, 58 standing ovations, United Nations delegates walked out on his latest speech before it even began. At least it’s a start. Benjamin Netanyahu, a Polish Jew whose real name is Benjamin Mileikowsky, is a moral monster, who MUST be held accountable for the US-Israeli Genocide in Gaza (for starters). Netanyahu/Mileikowsky graduated from a US high school outside of Philadelphia, PA in 1967, and changed his name for political reasons (to hide his Polish origins). Don’t let his tough guy act fool you. Netanyahu/Mileikowsky is nothing more than a mass murdering coward, who unfortunately, also happens to be one of the greatest threats to the survival of our species (Israel possesses 300-400 nuclear warheads, and has reduced most US politicians to subordinate status, via blackmail, intimidation, pay-offs, and other means of persuasion/coercion).
Click here for the video of UN delegates walking out on indicted war criminal, and genocidist, Benjamin Netanyahu/Mileikowsky.
Click here to learn more about Netanyahu/Mileikowsky from Susan Abulhawa (her address to the Oxford Union).

Norman Finkelstein

Professor Norman Finkelstein is one of the most knowledgeable, and trusted sources on the US-Israeli Genocide in Palestine: “The problem is not Netanyahu. And the problem is not Netanyahu, Ben Gavir and Smoltrich. That’s not the problem. The problem is this is not a state project. It’s not a state project. It’s a national project. It’s the whole of Israeli Jewish society. And we know that Israel is probably the most polled place on God’s earth. And we know from all the poll results, this is a project which is the extermination of the people of Gaza. It’s a project embraced by probably, if you look at the polls consistently for two years, 95% of Israeli Jews believed Israel was either using not enough force or sufficient force in Gaza. Only 5% believed Israel was using too much force. And then there are all the polls pointing to the genocidal nature of Israeli society in terms of what they’re advocating in Gaza. Heim Brashez Zavner, who wrote a book, An Army Like No Other, about the IDF, he himself is an Israeli-British academic. He says that this genocide is the most democratic genocide ever. I think that’s totally correct. It’s not only the most democratic (genocide), it’s actually the most shameless. Now, obviously, there are points of similarity, points of difference between this genocide and preceding ones. If you take the case of the Nazi genocide, there’s no way that Nazi genocide could have been carried out were it not for a war. You couldn’t have done that in peacetime, what the Nazis did during World War II, the Nazi Holocaust. It required the quote unquote fog of war to carry it out. It was done behind walls. As a matter of fact, as the Nazi army retreated at the end, as the Allies advanced, one of the first acts, one of the main acts in the retreat was they blew up all the extermination centers because they knew was not going to look good. So there is no physical evidence of the extermination centers. Like at places like Auschwitz, they rebuilt the extermination center, but there is no physical evidence. The Nazis, as they were retreating, blew it up. Israel broadcasts it. They’re very flagrant about it. They posted on the social media. They’re very proud of it. There’s no shame. So it’s not only the most public genocide, it’s also the most shameless genocide. There’s no shame at all among the Israelis about what they’re doing.”

So the Israeli goal is they have the green light from Washington, from the White House, to finish the job. And finishing the job basically means you are going to annihilate the civilian population and pulverize its infrastructure until the people of Gaza decide on their part to leave and on the part of the international community to exert pressure to open up the border and enable them to leave. So I do believe that the goal still remains the complete, not the complete, not necessarily the complete, but the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

But the means, the method to achieve the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is genocidal. There is, if you take the wording of the Genocide Convention of 1948, you have to prove an intent to destroy a racial, ethnic, religious national group in whole or in part. And Israel is intent on destroying the population in whole or in part, but it’s not the objective per se, it’s the method. The modus operandi, they will kill off, they are intent on killing off as much of the population as is necessary in order to achieve their simultaneous goal of, so to speak, persuading the people of Gaza to leave and persuading the international community to open up the border so as to allow them to leave. Israel’s apologists have a funny argument right now. The funny argument they’ve been making for the last couple of months, the amusing argument they’ve been making for the past couple of months is, well, if you really believe there is a genocide in Gaza, then why don’t you advocate opening up the border? Well, I have another idea. How about if I really believe there’s a genocide in Gaza, how about taking out the leaders of the genocide? I don’t see there’s anything in principle with targeting the executives of a genocide. I would totally support killing. I have no problem with saying that. I totally support killing Netanyahu and the whole gang of them to stop a genocide. I don’t see why the only solution is opening up the border. We can kill them off. Well, we can kill them. That’s obviously not an option they want exercised.” – Professor, and activist Norman Finkelstein
Click here to learn more from Norman Finkelstein, and the Useful Idiots podcast with Katie Halper & Aaron Mate.

More From Refaat Alareer

Refaat Alareer

Refaat Alareer was a Palestinian poet, writer, professor, and father of six. He was just 44 years old, when he was MURDERED by Israeli forces on December 6, 2023.

Here are a few additional excerpts from Refaat Alareer’s heart wrenching book, “If I Must Die, Poetry and Prose”:

“In Gaza, people can be seven wars old…Combined, my wife and I have lost over fifty family members to Israeli war and terror.”
– Refaat Alareer, October 27, 2023

“The mere thought of a prolonged genocide terrifies us because nothing kills like hunger.” – Refaat Alareer, November 19, 2023

“We are an average Palestinian family. But we have had our fair share of Israeli death and destruction. In Gaza, no one is safe. And no place is safe. Israel could kill all 2.3 million of us and the world would not bat an eye…As a parent, I feel desperate and helpless. I can’t provide the love and protection I am supposed to give my kids. Instead of often telling my kids “I love you,” I have been repeating for the past two weeks: “Kids, eat less. Kids, drink less.” And I imagine this being my last thing I say to them and it is devastating…The big question Palestinian households debate is whether we should sleep in the same room so when we die we die together, or whether we should sleep in different rooms so some of us may survive. The answer is always that we need to sleep in the living room together. If we die, we die together. No one has to deal with the heartbreak.”
– Refaat Alareer

“We didn’t fail. We didn’t submit to their barbarity.” – Refaat Alareer, 2023

“Why would Israel bomb a university? Some say Israel attacked IUG (Islamic University of Gaza), just to punish its twenty thousand students or to push Palestinians to despair. While that is true, to me IUG’s only danger to the Israeli occupation and its apartheid regime is that it is the most important place in Gaza to develop students’ minds as indestructible weapons. Knowledge is Israel’s worst enemy. Awareness is Israel’s most hated and feared foe. That’s why Israel bombs a university: it wants to kill openness and determination to refuse living under injustice and racism. But again, why does Israel bomb a school? Or a hospital? Or a mosque? Or a twenty-story building? Could it be, as Shylock put it, “a merry sport”?”
– Refaat Alareer

Poem: Drenched
On the shores of the Mediterranean,
I saw humanity drenched in salt,
Face down,
Dead,
Eyes gouged,
Hands up to the sky, praying,
Or trembling in fear.
I could not tell.
The sea, harsher than the heart of an Arab, Dances,
Soaked with blood.
Only the pebbles wept.
Only the pebbles.
All the perfumes of Arabia will not” grace the rot
Israel breeds.
– Refaat Alareer, November 28, 2023 (less than two weeks before he was targeted, and murdered, by Israeli forces)

Palestinian poet, Tamim Barghouti, summarizes the relationship between death and the Palestinians that war brings:
(Refaat Alareer’s translation)
It was not wise of you, Death, to draw near.
It was not wise to besiege us all these years.
It was not wise to dwell this close,
So close we’ve memorized your visage
Your eating habits
Your time of rest
Your mood swings
Your heart’s desires
Even your frailties.
O, Death, beware!
Don’t rest that you tallied us.
We are many.
And we are still here
[Seventy] years after the invasion
Our torches are still alight
Two centuries
After Jesus went to his third grade in our land
We have known you, Death, too well.
O, Death, our intent is clear:
We will beat you,
Even if they slay us, one and all.
Death, fear us,
For here we are, unafraid.
– Tamim Barghouti

*Excerpts From “If I Must Die, Poetry and Prose”, by Refaat Alareer
Rest in Power Mr. Alareer, and thank you!
Click here to learn more.

How the UN could Stop the Genocide in Palestine

Craig Mokhiber

Craig Mokhiber is an international human rights lawyer, who has been a voice of clarity & sanity during the US/Israeli Genocide.
As per Mr. Mokhiber, there are 5 things that the United Nations could do to stop the Genocide in Palestine:
Excerpts: “As a key deadline approaches in the United Nations General Assembly, a little-used UN mechanism, immune from the US veto, could bring military protection to the Palestinian people – if we demand it.

A UNGA resolution adopted under Uniting for Peace could
(1) Call on all states to adopt comprehensive sanctions and a military embargo against the Israeli regime. While it lacks the power to enforce sanctions, it can call them, monitor them, and supplement them as required.
(2) Decide to reject the UNGA credentials of Israel, as the UNGA did in the case of apartheid South Africa.
(3) Mandate an accountability mechanism (like a criminal tribunal) to address Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid, and genocide.
(4) Reactivate the UN’s long-dormant anti-apartheid mechanisms to address Israeli apartheid, and
(5) Mandate an armed, multinational, UN protection force to deploy to Gaza (and, ultimately, to the West Bank), acting at the request of the State of Palestine, to protect civilians, open entry points via land and sea, facilitate humanitarian aid, preserve evidence of Israeli crimes, and assist in recovery and reconstruction.”
Click here to learn more from Craig Mokhiber on how the UN Could act today to STOP the Genocide in Palestine.
Click here to learn more from the always excellent Katie Halper show.

“This is not an end to the genocide. The genocide will continue regardless of what happens in these talks. I would go further and say these are not ceasefire talks. They are talks between the two principal perpetrators, the United States, and Israel, on plans for the final stage of the Genocide…the talks that are happening in Washington today with indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, and convicted felon Donald Trump. We must remember as well that the US putting itself out there as a mediator is quite an absurd notion. The US is not a mediator. It is a co-perpetrator. And when we set our expectations on what can come out of these initiatives, we have to keep that in mind as well. We also have to remember that Israel is not seeking a sustained ceasefire. And Netanyahu and others in his government have been very clear about that.”
– Human Rights Attorney Craig Mokhiber on a potential “Ceasefire”

Closing thoughts from two of my all time favorites, Rachel Naomi Remen, and Howard Zinn

“Perhaps finding the right protection is the first responsibility of anyone hoping to make a difference in this world. Caring deeply makes us vulnerable. You cannot move things forward without exposure and involvement, without risk and process and criticism. Those who wish to change things may face disappointment, loss, or even ridicule. If you are ahead of your time, people laugh as often as they applaud, and being there first is usually lonely. But our protection cannot come between us and our purpose. Right protection is something within us rather than something between us and the world, more about finding a place of refuge and strength than finding a hiding place.” – Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen (My Grandfather’s Blessings)
Click here to learn more from Rachel Naomi Remen.

“A friend of mine who is a comedian (I have friends of mine who are comedians, but who don’t know it) but this is a guy who is a comedian and who knows it. But he’s also serious…And in his serious comedy, he would very often be critical of certain things that the United States had done in the world. And people would say to him, “Well, why don’t you move somewhere else?” And he would say, “I don’t want to move somewhere else, because I don’t want to become the victim of American foreign policy.”
– Howard Zinn (professor, author, historian, and activist)
Click here to learn more from Howard Zinn, and the Zinn Education Project.

Lifetime criminal, and convicted felon, Donald Trump, must be impeached, and then prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and Genocide. Unfortunately, there is no opposition party to Trump & the GOP, as Biden, Harris, Blinken, Schumer, Obama, and the entire DNC, have blood on their hands too. The United States remains the biggest agent of terror in the world, and the greatest threat to the survival of our species.

Lastly, most people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of the truth. I have watched many former friends, take too much comfort in their bubbles, to the extent that they fail to understand that what goes around, comes around. Regarding the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, their continued silence, and willful ignorance (or worse), are now unforgivable. Their lack of empathy, compassion, and apparent refusal to think critically, while our brothers, sisters, and children are being slaughtered in Palestine, borders on sociopathy, and only accelerates the decline of a so-called “free state”. Whatever label is placed on their madness (whether it’s racism, Zionism, Islamophobia, white supremacy, fascism, psychopathy, etc.), we will all have to live with the consequences of their actions for the rest of our lives.

Until next time…

FREE PALESTINE!Artist: Carlos Latuff