That's right. I'm finally on FaceBook, & its great! For the best of the latest, follow my fb: profile.to/AndyzRant
Season's Greetings to Readers & Ranters alike. ^_^
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
'The Cross of Bethlehem' by Ro’i Tov - Review by Leland Lehrman
* Escape from Israel, Escape from Error *
When a person’s heart sets on the road to understanding, acknowledges the need to abandon imperial doctrine, and internalizes the moral filter that instinctively guides us from truth to good policy, saints and angels jump from cars and airplanes to lend us the wings that carry us from error. So it was, that fateful day - as I planted Kucinich for President signs on a street corner - that a former military intelligence officer leaped from his Bronco to congratulate me on my choice of candidate and ask if I was aware of the problems with the official story of 9/11. Sure I said, having thoroughly investigated the matter and concluded that it was probably a false flag attack designed to legitimate imperial adventures of the far-flung variety. “It was a CIA-Mossad operation,” this particular angel announced with tragic authority, leaving me with a phone number then leaping back into his Bronco. Under my angel’s careful tutelage, I proceeded to discover certain intellectual filters and foundational historical documents that permanently alter one’s political vision and point of view for the better - if one values truth that is. Even with respect to that most controversial and dangerous aspect of modern history, it is still a blessing on the path of even the humblest brother to understand the Jewish / Zionist questions within the larger New World Order controversy.
Predictably, I started a radio show, was just as predictably attacked by the ADL, and in my defense chose to present the basic truths I had learned to the world at large. These truths were immortalized in a widely distributed paper now called “ADL, Zionist Policies Causing Rise in Anti-Jewish Sentiment.” The central point of this paper is that Jews can expect additional problems similar to those of the twentieth century if we - I am Russian Jewish on my father’s side - are not among the first to criticize and restrain our brethren when we err on the side of, shall we say, Lucifer.
On the other side of the Equator, a man saw my star rise hesitantly. His own was in trouble and he contacted me with a broken English Israeli SOS filled with familiar-sounding tragedy and estrangement, intrigue and wilderness. His name was Ro’i Tov. For months I heard from him on and off. Each time he earnestly communicated a sub textual belief that I - a poor exiled journalist living amongst the Siberian Elms in a rustic New Mexico shack with a growing family - could do something substantial to improve his persecuted life. Eventually I became hopeful, if doubtful, that perhaps we could one day improve conditions in Israel / Palestine and around the world for all people through a constructive process of education and balanced critique. I hesitated to offer assistance. I was already under attack from Ro’i’s long-armed opponents, but his faith in me gave me strength. One day, this angel stepped off an airplane in New Mexico and we met at a safe house in downtown Santa Fe.
Soon we got down to business, working on early versions of "The Cross of Bethlehem" while discussing the sordid and tragic religious, historic and political details of the last several thousand years. Ro’i’s contribution to my personal understanding of Judaism, Christianity, Israel, intelligence, surveillance and the Hebrew language and culture constitute the type of mountain that Jesus might have been referring to when He mentioned moving them. When it comes to understanding these topics, moving mountains is easy compared to the faith and devotion to truth required to move the established imperial and dogmatic craggy peaks from the soul.
Ro’i’s brilliant, gentle and persuasive intellectual medicine has been crystallized and distilled for all of us through an enormous effort worthy of the attention of religious, political and intellectual leaders worldwide. It is now, finally, available as an inexpensive paperback that deserves pride of place in all libraries, Alleluia. Break bread, drink wine and settle into your favorite arm chair with this book. Most likely just the first of Ro’i’s books, “The Cross of Bethlehem” is a monumental contribution to the English language reader’s understanding of the State of Israel and Judaism as it really is. It is a moral victory on such a scale as to simultaneously redeem Ro’i, Judaism and Christianity all at once. If he weren’t such a modest man, I would shout his name from the rooftops. God Save Ro’i Tov!
Roy has penned many insightful essays, online at RoyTov.com
Special thanks also to Lelend Lehrman of MotherMedia.org
The Cross of Bethlehem may be purchased now from Amazon
Friday, November 13, 2009
Israel on Trial
Back in March I published my observations regarding propaganda, specifically The Recency Effect. The sub-theme, which I made no attempt to sugar-coat, was that one of the most covered-up stories around was the war-crimes that Israel has been accused of committing in the walled concentration camp that is the Gaza Strip. Even though these allegations have now largely slipped, as was intended, from the public consciousness, they have not gone away, nor have they been answered, except with the usual Israeli tactics such as attacking the messenger, and the usual MSM tactic of attempting to divert our attention with the usual mix of lies & distractions. Hey look over there!!! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its a boy in a balloon! Or maybe it isn't? But we all looked, right!? Yes it was a fun diversion, if ou like that sort of thing, but I'm afraid its now back to reality.
There are still many in the West, and in Israel itself who remain blissfully (& in many cases willfully) ignorant of the contents of the Goldstone Report. Perhaps you have not even heard of it. Keep reading then and you will! Some prefer to believe, however erroneously, that Palestinians have brought all this violence which Israel keeps perpetrating on themselves, & that they all should be seen as terrorists - men, women, children & babies alike. But there are millions now who are waking up to the gaping wide flaws in Israel's narrative, and adding their voices to the long overdue clarion calls for truth & justice.
That you have chosen to tackle this subject & this essay at all, dear reader, rather than just retreating like so many to less challenging activities, is a credit to you! I will not attempt to reinvent the wheel by restating too much of that which to most is now obvious, but for the benfit of latecomers, I will at least summarize a few crucial points of history that the ever-trashy MSM have tended to forget, & refocus attention on the substance of the current allegations which are already out there in the public domain:
Firstly, please put out of your mind completely the notion that Jews, as a people, are only ever victims of violence, and rarely if ever the perpetrators. This is a wicked & highly misleading nonsense! Sometimes in history, innocent Jews have indeed been victimized, but no more so, imho, than almost any other people I could name. As for that which has been termed the Jewish Holocaust, many aspects of what has been presented as factual evidence has been conclusively shown to be nothing of the sort! It has of course been getting increasingly difficult to properly research & discuss the matter in a sober, scholarly fashion, because anyone seen as casting doubts, no matter how well-founded, on the official narrative, tends to wind up being attacked from all sides and smeared as a hateful anti-semitic "denier". Yet we are not just *allowed* to forget, but actually *encouraged* to forget that the greatest roles played by Jews in all the terrible mass killings that marred the 20th Century was as PERPETRATORS, not victims! That is correct, because that is the bloody history of Communism:
"We mustn't forget that some of the greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish"
www.ynetnews.com: 'Stalin's Jews' by Sever Plocker 21-12-06
I commend Sever Plocker for having the guts to state the truth so plainly. "We mustn't forget that some of greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish." The facts are that in the early 20th Century, 10's of millions of overwhelmingly innocent Russians, Ukranians & others, mainly Christians, were cruelly imprisoned, tortured & murdered by Bolshevik Jews - "The Red Terror"! This situation remained (& still remains) almost completely unknown to most Americans & other Westerners who were encouraged in the early 20th Century, by expert propoganda, to see the bloodthirsty Communist regime that had Russia by the throat as something benevolent that deserved lavish support. (For detailed accounts, I recommend 'The Gulag Archipelago', 'Two Hundred Years Together' & other works by the great Russian author Alexandr Solzhenitsyn.)
So, "some of the greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish". Hmmm, not a good look for "God's Chosen" people, eh? And where did all these murderous Jews go after they were through with Russia? Certainly they were not welcome in Germany, and were told "Juden Raus" in no uncertain terms! [Germany knew only too well about the murderous carry-on in Russia, not to mention the economic strangulation of their own, once proud nation, so in the circumstances mass expulsion was seen as a quite reasonable response.] The fleeing Jews were generously offered safe haven in many countries, but thanks to intense lobbying by the supremely powerful Zionist lobby, large numbers of Jews were made to feel that their best option was to emigrate to Palestine. And this they did, armed to the teeth and ready to grab, by any means necessary, every piece of land that they could, never mind that it was already occupied by the native inhabitants, who, funnily enough, were (& still are) known as "Palestinians"! And so began The Nakba, the deliberate dispossession and genocide of the Palestinian people. What was the Palestinians' "crime", in Zionist eyes? They were in the way!
Luckily the Palestinians at least had the British to protect their interests, or so one might think. The British had, it seems, intended to remain in Palestine, as peacekeepers. attempting to keep order between the heavily armed Zionist newcomers and the original, largely defenceless Arab inhabitants. However a series of Zionist atrocities, not least of which the false-flag bombing of the King David Hotel by Zionist Jews (masquerading as Arabs) led to the Brits eventually withdrawing and ultimately recognising the entity which became known as the state of Israel.
Since that tragic event, numerous other acts of Zionist terror have been committed, frequently under "False Flag" (to use the correct military term). There was the Lavon Affair in Egypt, where Zionist Jews dressed up as Muslim Arabs and planted bombs against British, American & Egyptian targets, until caught red-handed when a bomb blew up prematurely in the pocket of one of the perpetrators. Then there was the cowardly attack by unmarked Israeli jets & torpedo boats against the unresisting United States surveillance vessel the USS Liberty, in which 34 American servicemen were killed & 174 were wounded. The USA's response? Hahaha - NOTHING but cover-up & buck-passing! "Support our Troops", eh Uncle Sam! THEY ARE STILL WAITING!!! And we must not forget, much as some might like to, the countless massacres & miscellaneous attacks carried out against unarmed Arab civilians, who of course we have been encouraged, by copious Hollywood propaganda, to dismiss as inherently violent & untrustworthy. Talk about "bearing false witness". This is all Hollywood ever seems to do! I have included a link, further down, to a comprehensive list of alleged Israeli massacres. I cannot of course vouch for the veracity of every report, but having read what evidence is available, I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of the allegations are completely factual.
Having now established this disgraceful litany of murderous criminality by the Zionist entity throughout the last century, let us now cast a closer & more critical eye over the allegations levelled by Judge Richard Goldstone (himself a Zionist Jew, but one it would seem with a conscience), regarding the bloody events in Gaza just 11 months back:
rense.com: 'Breaking The Silence - Testimonies
Of Israeli Soldiers' by Stephen Lendman 7-24-9
"They explained wanton destruction, crops uprooted, human slaughter, women and children killed in cold blood, illegal weapons used, free-fire orders to shoot to kill anywhere at anything that moved, and using civilians as human shields. Israeli commanders refuted their accounts as groundless, but B'Tselem reported that the military "refused to open serious, impartial investigations," even when provided with detailed information, including victims' names, exact dates, and precise locations of incidents."
"In describing the atmosphere and command orders, they were "Kill, kill, kill, kill. We want to see bodies."
"More comments reflected the "moral deterioration" of the army and Israeli society, even affecting the rabbinate that blessed mass slaughter and destruction prior to engagements."
"From the onset....the brigade commander and other officers made it very clear to us that any movement must entail gunfire" with or without being shot at. Alerts were given about a suicide bomber or sniper in the area, but "none of (these) materialized as far as our company was concerned."
"Orders always were shoot to kill, including women and children."
"We weren't told outright to shoot anything we saw moving but that was the implication. I asked, 'What if I see a girl outside?' She has no business being outside. 'So what do I do?' Check if she's armed - then shoot her."
"There is no such thing as suspect arrest procedure. If I detect a (possible threatening) suspect - I shoot (to kill)."
"Commander briefings stressed "aggressive action," protecting soldier lives, and having no regard for civilians. They're all suspects."
"They gave pep talks and handed out booklets about "the importance of serving the People of Israel who have been persecuted all these years and (are) now back in (their) homeland and need to fight for it." The usual hot button issues were mentioned - the Holocaust, defending God, and the rights of Israeli Jews. Arab ones don't matter."
"Houses were entered with live gunfire, grenades, and other destructive force. Extensive damage was done. Soldiers inside did much more. They had no regard for "even the simplest most basic sanitary stuff like going to the toilet, basic hygiene. I mean you could see they had defecated anywhere and left the stuff lying around." No one cared."
"One guy said he just couldn't finish this operation without killing someone. So he killed someone...." It was war.
"All Palestinians were suspects, so even ones waving white flags were shot."
"Final Comments: Defense minister Ehud Barak claims Israel has "the most moral army in the world." The above testimonies say otherwise."
haaretz.com: 'Evidence that Israel abused human rights in Gaza' Reuters 15-08-09
"Pillay said rights violations included arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial execution, forced eviction and home demolition, settlement expansion and related violence and restrictions on freedom of movement and expression."
"While these violations are of deep concern in their own right, the nearly total impunity that persists for such violations (regardless of the responsible duty bearer) is of grave concern, and constitutes a root cause for their persistence," the former South African high court judge said.
www2.ohchr.org: 'United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' 29-09-09
haaretz.com: 'Disgrace in the Hague' by Gideon Levy 17/09/09
"There's a name on every bullet, and there's someone responsible for every crime. The Teflon cloak Israel has wrapped around itself since Operation Cast Lead has been ripped off, once and for all, and now the difficult questions must be faced."
"Although there were some propagandists who actually tried to use the anti-Semitism weapon against him, even they knew this was farcical. One had to hear the moving interview that Goldstone's daughter Nicole gave to Razi Barkai on Army Radio Wednesday, to understand that he is in fact a lover of Israel and its true friend. She spoke, in Hebrew, of the mental anguish her father experienced and of his conviction that, had he not been there, the report would have been much worse. All he wants is an Israel that is more just, she explained."
"On the eve of the Jewish New Year, Israel, deservedly, is becoming an outcast and detested country. We must not forget it for a minute."
abc.net.au: Half of Gaza war dead 'were civilians' 9/9/2009
"The extremely heavy civilian casualties and the massive damage to civilian property require serious introspection on the part of Israeli society," B'Tselem said.
guardian.co.uk: 'Israel's missed opportunity - Judge Richard Goldstone' 22/10/09
"Five weeks after the release of the report of the fact-finding mission on Gaza, there has been no attempt by any of its critics to come to grips with its substance."
"I begin with my own motivation, as a Jew who has supported Israel and its people all my life, for having agreed to head the Gaza mission."
"I sincerely believed that because of my own record and the terms of the mission's mandate we would receive the co-operation of the Israeli government. Its refusal to co-operate was a grave error."
"In Gaza, I was surprised and shocked by the destruction and misery there. I had not expected it. I did not anticipate that the IDF would have targeted civilians and civilian objects. I did not anticipate seeing the vast destruction of the economic infrastructure of Gaza including its agricultural lands, industrial factories, water supply and sanitation works. These are not military targets. I have not heard or read any government justification for this destruction."
blogs.salon.com: 'Goldstone tells Moyers 'Israel Guilty of War Crimes''
Bill Moyers "I mean, there are allegations in here, some very tough allegations of Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed civilians who pose no threat, of shooting people whose hands were shackled behind them, of shooting two teenagers who'd been ordered off a tractor that they were driving, apparently carrying wounded civilians to a hospital, of homes, hundreds, maybe thousands of homes destroyed, left in rubble, of hospitals bombed. I mean there are some questions about one or two of your examples here, but it's a damning indictment of Israel's conduct in Gaza, right?"
jpost.com: 'Rattling the Cage: Our exclusive right to self-defense' by Larry Derfner 7-10-09
This piece is quite cleverly satirical, worth a read!
dprogram.net: 'Israeli Massacres: Details and Numbers' by 'sakerfa' 31-07-09
"Although the Image that Israel distributes about herself is that of an oppressed nation, it is with heavy hearts that we present these crimes that stand for themselves for the brutality of the Israeli Army and the heartlessness of its soldiers who seem to have a thirst for blood. It is for the hope that the world may see a clearer picture that we present these painful facts. It is interesting to notice that today’s media does not dwell on these crimes as they do on the Holocaust. They are reported in the news for a week or two and then swept into the sea of oblivion. Those who attempt to revive the true history of Israel are charged of being anti-Semitic. So with the hope to keep those memories in mind we present this shameful history of Israel that seems to have found that the role of Goliath is more interesting than that of David."
So there we have it, a few glimpses into the bloody reality of the Zionist State which calls itself Israel. The evidence is overwhelming despite the ongoing attempts to exclude and deny proper scrutiny. Israel's leaders have refused to undertake proper enquiries, let alone hold anyone to account for these heinous acts of violence. I therefore see no reason why anyone be they Palestinians, Iranians, Americans, Europeans, Australians or anyone else should go out of their way to recognise Israel's so-called "right to exist". Why should anyone suport a so-called "state" that is as steeped in violence & deceipt as this shitty little entity? If God Himself chooses to protect these so called Chosen Ones then that is God's business, but frankly I cannot see it happening.
I call upon all people of good faith to recognise Israel from this day forth as a pariah state that is deserving only of contempt. Any media outlet that has not been vocally bringing Israel's crimes to your attention is not worthy of your support. Same goes for your so-called elected leaders and other public figures. Either they have been telling the whole truth, or they have not. By all means ask them the hard questions. Will they choose to stand, however belatedly, with the oppressed? Or will they continue to side with the oppressor?
I also support the calls for a policy towards Israel of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction. The EAN country code for Israel is 729. If a product bears thus number, please consider leaving it on the shelf, and purchasing something else.
petitionsonline.com: Sign petition to Boycott Israel
inminds.co.uk: Brands to avoid
desertpeace.wordpress.com: Ways you can help the beseiged people of gaza
_______________________________________________
There are still many in the West, and in Israel itself who remain blissfully (& in many cases willfully) ignorant of the contents of the Goldstone Report. Perhaps you have not even heard of it. Keep reading then and you will! Some prefer to believe, however erroneously, that Palestinians have brought all this violence which Israel keeps perpetrating on themselves, & that they all should be seen as terrorists - men, women, children & babies alike. But there are millions now who are waking up to the gaping wide flaws in Israel's narrative, and adding their voices to the long overdue clarion calls for truth & justice.
That you have chosen to tackle this subject & this essay at all, dear reader, rather than just retreating like so many to less challenging activities, is a credit to you! I will not attempt to reinvent the wheel by restating too much of that which to most is now obvious, but for the benfit of latecomers, I will at least summarize a few crucial points of history that the ever-trashy MSM have tended to forget, & refocus attention on the substance of the current allegations which are already out there in the public domain:
Firstly, please put out of your mind completely the notion that Jews, as a people, are only ever victims of violence, and rarely if ever the perpetrators. This is a wicked & highly misleading nonsense! Sometimes in history, innocent Jews have indeed been victimized, but no more so, imho, than almost any other people I could name. As for that which has been termed the Jewish Holocaust, many aspects of what has been presented as factual evidence has been conclusively shown to be nothing of the sort! It has of course been getting increasingly difficult to properly research & discuss the matter in a sober, scholarly fashion, because anyone seen as casting doubts, no matter how well-founded, on the official narrative, tends to wind up being attacked from all sides and smeared as a hateful anti-semitic "denier". Yet we are not just *allowed* to forget, but actually *encouraged* to forget that the greatest roles played by Jews in all the terrible mass killings that marred the 20th Century was as PERPETRATORS, not victims! That is correct, because that is the bloody history of Communism:
"We mustn't forget that some of the greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish"
www.ynetnews.com: 'Stalin's Jews' by Sever Plocker 21-12-06
I commend Sever Plocker for having the guts to state the truth so plainly. "We mustn't forget that some of greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish." The facts are that in the early 20th Century, 10's of millions of overwhelmingly innocent Russians, Ukranians & others, mainly Christians, were cruelly imprisoned, tortured & murdered by Bolshevik Jews - "The Red Terror"! This situation remained (& still remains) almost completely unknown to most Americans & other Westerners who were encouraged in the early 20th Century, by expert propoganda, to see the bloodthirsty Communist regime that had Russia by the throat as something benevolent that deserved lavish support. (For detailed accounts, I recommend 'The Gulag Archipelago', 'Two Hundred Years Together' & other works by the great Russian author Alexandr Solzhenitsyn.)
So, "some of the greatest murderers of modern times were Jewish". Hmmm, not a good look for "God's Chosen" people, eh? And where did all these murderous Jews go after they were through with Russia? Certainly they were not welcome in Germany, and were told "Juden Raus" in no uncertain terms! [Germany knew only too well about the murderous carry-on in Russia, not to mention the economic strangulation of their own, once proud nation, so in the circumstances mass expulsion was seen as a quite reasonable response.] The fleeing Jews were generously offered safe haven in many countries, but thanks to intense lobbying by the supremely powerful Zionist lobby, large numbers of Jews were made to feel that their best option was to emigrate to Palestine. And this they did, armed to the teeth and ready to grab, by any means necessary, every piece of land that they could, never mind that it was already occupied by the native inhabitants, who, funnily enough, were (& still are) known as "Palestinians"! And so began The Nakba, the deliberate dispossession and genocide of the Palestinian people. What was the Palestinians' "crime", in Zionist eyes? They were in the way!
Luckily the Palestinians at least had the British to protect their interests, or so one might think. The British had, it seems, intended to remain in Palestine, as peacekeepers. attempting to keep order between the heavily armed Zionist newcomers and the original, largely defenceless Arab inhabitants. However a series of Zionist atrocities, not least of which the false-flag bombing of the King David Hotel by Zionist Jews (masquerading as Arabs) led to the Brits eventually withdrawing and ultimately recognising the entity which became known as the state of Israel.
Since that tragic event, numerous other acts of Zionist terror have been committed, frequently under "False Flag" (to use the correct military term). There was the Lavon Affair in Egypt, where Zionist Jews dressed up as Muslim Arabs and planted bombs against British, American & Egyptian targets, until caught red-handed when a bomb blew up prematurely in the pocket of one of the perpetrators. Then there was the cowardly attack by unmarked Israeli jets & torpedo boats against the unresisting United States surveillance vessel the USS Liberty, in which 34 American servicemen were killed & 174 were wounded. The USA's response? Hahaha - NOTHING but cover-up & buck-passing! "Support our Troops", eh Uncle Sam! THEY ARE STILL WAITING!!! And we must not forget, much as some might like to, the countless massacres & miscellaneous attacks carried out against unarmed Arab civilians, who of course we have been encouraged, by copious Hollywood propaganda, to dismiss as inherently violent & untrustworthy. Talk about "bearing false witness". This is all Hollywood ever seems to do! I have included a link, further down, to a comprehensive list of alleged Israeli massacres. I cannot of course vouch for the veracity of every report, but having read what evidence is available, I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of the allegations are completely factual.
Having now established this disgraceful litany of murderous criminality by the Zionist entity throughout the last century, let us now cast a closer & more critical eye over the allegations levelled by Judge Richard Goldstone (himself a Zionist Jew, but one it would seem with a conscience), regarding the bloody events in Gaza just 11 months back:
rense.com: 'Breaking The Silence - Testimonies
Of Israeli Soldiers' by Stephen Lendman 7-24-9
"They explained wanton destruction, crops uprooted, human slaughter, women and children killed in cold blood, illegal weapons used, free-fire orders to shoot to kill anywhere at anything that moved, and using civilians as human shields. Israeli commanders refuted their accounts as groundless, but B'Tselem reported that the military "refused to open serious, impartial investigations," even when provided with detailed information, including victims' names, exact dates, and precise locations of incidents."
"In describing the atmosphere and command orders, they were "Kill, kill, kill, kill. We want to see bodies."
"More comments reflected the "moral deterioration" of the army and Israeli society, even affecting the rabbinate that blessed mass slaughter and destruction prior to engagements."
"From the onset....the brigade commander and other officers made it very clear to us that any movement must entail gunfire" with or without being shot at. Alerts were given about a suicide bomber or sniper in the area, but "none of (these) materialized as far as our company was concerned."
"Orders always were shoot to kill, including women and children."
"We weren't told outright to shoot anything we saw moving but that was the implication. I asked, 'What if I see a girl outside?' She has no business being outside. 'So what do I do?' Check if she's armed - then shoot her."
"There is no such thing as suspect arrest procedure. If I detect a (possible threatening) suspect - I shoot (to kill)."
"Commander briefings stressed "aggressive action," protecting soldier lives, and having no regard for civilians. They're all suspects."
"They gave pep talks and handed out booklets about "the importance of serving the People of Israel who have been persecuted all these years and (are) now back in (their) homeland and need to fight for it." The usual hot button issues were mentioned - the Holocaust, defending God, and the rights of Israeli Jews. Arab ones don't matter."
"Houses were entered with live gunfire, grenades, and other destructive force. Extensive damage was done. Soldiers inside did much more. They had no regard for "even the simplest most basic sanitary stuff like going to the toilet, basic hygiene. I mean you could see they had defecated anywhere and left the stuff lying around." No one cared."
"One guy said he just couldn't finish this operation without killing someone. So he killed someone...." It was war.
"All Palestinians were suspects, so even ones waving white flags were shot."
"Final Comments: Defense minister Ehud Barak claims Israel has "the most moral army in the world." The above testimonies say otherwise."
haaretz.com: 'Evidence that Israel abused human rights in Gaza' Reuters 15-08-09
"Pillay said rights violations included arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial execution, forced eviction and home demolition, settlement expansion and related violence and restrictions on freedom of movement and expression."
"While these violations are of deep concern in their own right, the nearly total impunity that persists for such violations (regardless of the responsible duty bearer) is of grave concern, and constitutes a root cause for their persistence," the former South African high court judge said.
www2.ohchr.org: 'United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' 29-09-09
haaretz.com: 'Disgrace in the Hague' by Gideon Levy 17/09/09
"There's a name on every bullet, and there's someone responsible for every crime. The Teflon cloak Israel has wrapped around itself since Operation Cast Lead has been ripped off, once and for all, and now the difficult questions must be faced."
"Although there were some propagandists who actually tried to use the anti-Semitism weapon against him, even they knew this was farcical. One had to hear the moving interview that Goldstone's daughter Nicole gave to Razi Barkai on Army Radio Wednesday, to understand that he is in fact a lover of Israel and its true friend. She spoke, in Hebrew, of the mental anguish her father experienced and of his conviction that, had he not been there, the report would have been much worse. All he wants is an Israel that is more just, she explained."
"On the eve of the Jewish New Year, Israel, deservedly, is becoming an outcast and detested country. We must not forget it for a minute."
abc.net.au: Half of Gaza war dead 'were civilians' 9/9/2009
"The extremely heavy civilian casualties and the massive damage to civilian property require serious introspection on the part of Israeli society," B'Tselem said.
guardian.co.uk: 'Israel's missed opportunity - Judge Richard Goldstone' 22/10/09
"Five weeks after the release of the report of the fact-finding mission on Gaza, there has been no attempt by any of its critics to come to grips with its substance."
"I begin with my own motivation, as a Jew who has supported Israel and its people all my life, for having agreed to head the Gaza mission."
"I sincerely believed that because of my own record and the terms of the mission's mandate we would receive the co-operation of the Israeli government. Its refusal to co-operate was a grave error."
"In Gaza, I was surprised and shocked by the destruction and misery there. I had not expected it. I did not anticipate that the IDF would have targeted civilians and civilian objects. I did not anticipate seeing the vast destruction of the economic infrastructure of Gaza including its agricultural lands, industrial factories, water supply and sanitation works. These are not military targets. I have not heard or read any government justification for this destruction."
blogs.salon.com: 'Goldstone tells Moyers 'Israel Guilty of War Crimes''
Bill Moyers "I mean, there are allegations in here, some very tough allegations of Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed civilians who pose no threat, of shooting people whose hands were shackled behind them, of shooting two teenagers who'd been ordered off a tractor that they were driving, apparently carrying wounded civilians to a hospital, of homes, hundreds, maybe thousands of homes destroyed, left in rubble, of hospitals bombed. I mean there are some questions about one or two of your examples here, but it's a damning indictment of Israel's conduct in Gaza, right?"
jpost.com: 'Rattling the Cage: Our exclusive right to self-defense' by Larry Derfner 7-10-09
This piece is quite cleverly satirical, worth a read!
dprogram.net: 'Israeli Massacres: Details and Numbers' by 'sakerfa' 31-07-09
"Although the Image that Israel distributes about herself is that of an oppressed nation, it is with heavy hearts that we present these crimes that stand for themselves for the brutality of the Israeli Army and the heartlessness of its soldiers who seem to have a thirst for blood. It is for the hope that the world may see a clearer picture that we present these painful facts. It is interesting to notice that today’s media does not dwell on these crimes as they do on the Holocaust. They are reported in the news for a week or two and then swept into the sea of oblivion. Those who attempt to revive the true history of Israel are charged of being anti-Semitic. So with the hope to keep those memories in mind we present this shameful history of Israel that seems to have found that the role of Goliath is more interesting than that of David."
So there we have it, a few glimpses into the bloody reality of the Zionist State which calls itself Israel. The evidence is overwhelming despite the ongoing attempts to exclude and deny proper scrutiny. Israel's leaders have refused to undertake proper enquiries, let alone hold anyone to account for these heinous acts of violence. I therefore see no reason why anyone be they Palestinians, Iranians, Americans, Europeans, Australians or anyone else should go out of their way to recognise Israel's so-called "right to exist". Why should anyone suport a so-called "state" that is as steeped in violence & deceipt as this shitty little entity? If God Himself chooses to protect these so called Chosen Ones then that is God's business, but frankly I cannot see it happening.
I call upon all people of good faith to recognise Israel from this day forth as a pariah state that is deserving only of contempt. Any media outlet that has not been vocally bringing Israel's crimes to your attention is not worthy of your support. Same goes for your so-called elected leaders and other public figures. Either they have been telling the whole truth, or they have not. By all means ask them the hard questions. Will they choose to stand, however belatedly, with the oppressed? Or will they continue to side with the oppressor?
I also support the calls for a policy towards Israel of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction. The EAN country code for Israel is 729. If a product bears thus number, please consider leaving it on the shelf, and purchasing something else.
petitionsonline.com: Sign petition to Boycott Israel
inminds.co.uk: Brands to avoid
desertpeace.wordpress.com: Ways you can help the beseiged people of gaza
_______________________________________________
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Propaganda Techniques - The Recency Effect
What is propaganda? Type 'define:propaganda' into Google and you will see over 30 definitions, from the benign:
* information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause
to the unsettling:
* systematic efforts to spread opinions or beliefs, especially by distortion or deception
to the downright scary:
* one-sided, biased presentation of an issue, trading on emotional appeals and a wide range of rhetorical devices in order to override critical assessment and secure conviction. The propagandist has found the truth and has no interest in encouraging others to engage in genuine inquiry.
That, in my view, is the real essence of propaganda - deception. Take the innocent, but possibly over-enthusiastic promotion of some cause, such as the "World's Best Chocolate" which one is sometimes offered by various fund-raisers. Sure, the "World's Best" claim is unprovable, and almost certainly false, but for a potential risk of a mere few dollars and a few empty calories, one is still probably inclined to give the seller the benefit of the doubt. It still qualifies as propaganda, but while not entirely honest, it is still, certainly, at the benign end of the scale. It is worthy of consideration because it helps up front to acknowledge the vast areas of subtle grey between absolute truth, and utter distortion. My intention is to stick, as far as possible to the former, while mercilessly exposing purveyors of the latter.
It is convenient, and somewhat comforting to imagine that the practice of large-scale deception could not survive undetected for long in our so-called enlightened West, that propaganda was confined to history's dustbin with the fall of the dictator regimes such as Hitler's or Stalin's. Surely, when diversity of opinion is not just allowed, but strenuously encouraged, the best and most truthful points of view would naturally rise to the surface, like the cream in a jug of milk, a veritable meritocracy of ideas. Certainly there have been countless technological and humanitarian achievements that support this view, but large sections of humanity have also, sadly, demonstrated a tendency to be carried along by a tide of misplaced emotions to support really, really stupid ideas. The cream, sadly is no longer at the top. The milk of human kindness and decency becomes, at best, homogenised, at worst, it curdles. An obvious example is when the former Puppet President of the United States - GWB, with many willing helpers, convinced the world that the then stable, prosperous and largely peaceful nation of Iraq was stockpiling massive quantities of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and that the only way to save the world from Iraq, and Iraq from itself, was to invade the country militarily. Iraq is now, still, in ruins, as more astute & truthful commentators predicted, with a toll of over a million dead, and millions more maimed or poisoned by depleted uranium. For all Saddam Hussein's alleged crimes (many of which were, I believe, either exaggerated, or completely fabricated), he appears to have done a damn-sight better job of keeping his people fed, housed, and protected from violence than the forces that conspired to overthrow him.
So who should bear the greatest share of blame? George W "Smirking Chimp" Bush, Tony B.Liar and/or Australia's own "Honest John" Howard? All of the above! They all have the blood of the innocent on their hands, as have their most enthusiastic supporters. But by far the greatest blame must fall upon the MainStream Media (MSM). Every newspaper hack, radio shock-jock and TV talking head who failed to do their utmost to expose the WMD lie, and all the other supporting lies should, if their consciences are still functional, hold themselves guilty of being facilitators to mass-murder.
For a classic example, it is hard to go past the so-called journalist Ms Judith Miller, her then employer, the New York Times, and the NYT editorial staff who allowed so much of her falsehood-dependent rubbish into print.
Certainly Ms Miller and the NYT are responsible for spreading a lot of malicious lies, but the rest of the MSM, almost without exception, are also guilty of failing to apply due diligence and asking "Can these claims really be believed?"
There was an excellent and very funny cartoon published a few years back (by thismodernworld.com, salon.com & others) which makes this point with crystal clarity. It was entitled simply "How the News Works". It is worth seeking out and reading, and showing to everybody you know. http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/07/16/tomo/
Since the various flavours of the MSM all failed to expose even the most blatant Words of Mass Deception, by what logic can we assume that they might not also mislead us, at every possible opportunity, with far more subtle techniques? None whatsoever! If you, dear reader, live in a so-called "democracy", as do I, then the buck does not stop with our so-called leaders, or even with the media, since we already KNOW that neither can be trusted. The buck, dear reader, stops with you, and me. We may not be able to stop their lies, and the bastardry that their lies enable, but it is surely our duty to at least try.
Propaganda is to news what MSG, salt, sugar, aspartame, or ketchup, is to food. Eat too much additive-laden junk food, and eventually one's health will suffer. Propaganda has a similar effect on one's mind. It may seem satisfying, but in reality it is a slow poison to the individual, and if too many individuals consume it, then it is poison also to the society as a whole. The good news, at least for the individual, is that the effects are largely reversible. First, learn to recognise propaganda, and stop consuming it. Stop taking the poison! Or consume it only in small, controlled doses! Don't inhale, and don't swallow! You may not be able to avoid MSM altogether, but if you do consume MSM content, it is possible to learn more or less what is factual and honest, and absorb that, while recognising and rejecting that which is not. Learn to spot the techniques, one at a time, as I have been attempting to do, and you will be better prepared to make informed choices as to which sources probably deserve your trust, and which one's more rightly deserve boycott and scorn.
Recency Effect or "Recency vs Primacy"
"Given a list of items to remember, we will tend to remember the last few things more than those things in the middle."
changingminds.org/explanations/theories/recency_effect.htm
Compare these statements by a hypothetical smoker:
A) I know smoking is a dirty habit which is probably reducing my quality of life and killing me prematurely, but I intend to keep smoking because it is one of life's simple pleasures, and because I have already tried to quit; and failed. Please pass me the lighter.
OR
B) I enjoy smoking and have tended to view it as one of life's simple pleasures, but I must admit that it really is a dirty habit which is probably reducing my quality of life and killing me prematurely, so even though my past attempts to quit have not succeeded, it is my New Year's resolution to try again, and this time I do intend to succeed. Please pass me that apple.
In statement A, the hypothetical smoker has buried what are arguably the most powerful and relevant arguments for his/her well-being early in their monologue, and then neutralised them, with a feel-good emotional cop-out and a false, defeatist assumption. No winners here.
In B, the addicted individual still acknowledges the pleasure that smoking has given them and their past failures in quitting, but answers and dismisses both those points with final words that are positive and empowering. THAT, at its most simple, is Recency versus Primacy. The Prime, or most important assertion, should be stated at the very end of one's message. Used honestly, this is a very good thing. When used deceitfully, as is often the case in a great deal of MSM reporting, the reader or viewer will be left, by intent, with a distorted view of what should be the most important message.
Now, here are two examples from recent media coverage of the situation in Gaza. If you have been following events on those which I would consider to be the more reputable of the alternative news sites, such as WhatReallyHappened.com, Ziopedia.org or DesertPeace.wordpress.com you might well understand straight-away. However, if you have been getting your news from mainly MSM sources, be they print media, talk-back radio, or the Idiot Box, you may be in for a steep learning curve, because, quite simply, you have been lied to, by commission, omission, and distortion, over and over again.
Example #1
"Reports suggest Israeli forces using cluster bombs in Gaza"
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/04/israel-cluster-bombs/
"Reports suggest..."? That's a pretty limp-wristed headline, and a misleading one given that the photographic evidence just several lines below depicts a shower not of cluster bomblets, but rather the distinctive tentacle-like trails of white phosphorus (WP) chunks falling earthwards. Sure, cluster bombs were also dropped (as admitted in the Haaretz article to which thinkpress.org links), but the insidious lumps of toxic flesh-burning WP ordnance that were also rained down upon Gaza's citizens have not even been rated a mention..
BUT the most glaring propaganda technique here is the Recency Effect. Buried in the middle of the last paragraph is the briefest mention of "a Palestinian woman and four of her children" who were reported killed during an "Israeli ground operation". Was it WP burns while they were caught in the open, jagged shell fragments as their family home was rocketed by a helicopter gun-ship? Or did one of the roaming ground-based "Chosen Ones" just line them up and put bullets through their heads at close range while they stood waving white flags, crying and wetting themselves in terror? Just as likely the latter. I checked the Haaretz link cited as the source. While long and rambling, the Haaretz article does not say. The deceased Palestinian family is barely mentioned at all. Do their deaths not matter?
The bulk of the final paragraph is clearly crafted to defuse anger and gain sympathy for the IDF:
An Israeli soldier was killed in a gunbattle with Gaza militants today, the first since Israel launched its ground operation. "In addition to the fatality, 31 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been wounded, three of them seriously."
The IDF casualties may well have been "friendly fire". It would not be the first time that trigger-happy Israeli soldiers have shot and killed their own. Even if we were to concede that Israel's version of events is accurate and that "Gaza militants" were responsible for one or more IDF casualties, this hardly gives Israel a free pass to kill innocent women and children, which we now know is exactly what Israel has done.
Then there's the very last sentence:
Meanwhile, "Palestinian terrorists continued their bombardment of southern Israel, firing some 41 rockets and mortar shells since Sunday morning."
And that is the last statement the readers probably take in about Gaza, before they go back to their televisions. If they even remember the undeniable report which amounts to their country's close ally Israel raining massive indiscriminate fire on civilians, or the specific yet unexplained killings of a Palestinian mother and four of her children, they probably believed that this is somehow not relevant, or is indeed justified by the reported death (singular) of the IDF soldier, or the alleged firing, by persons unknown, of rockets at Israel, the Israeli casualties from which were apparently zero.
The Recency Effect has caused the reader to forget what is relevant, as was undoubtedly the intention.
Example #2
"Gaza woman killed by IDF despite waving white flag"
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3655753%2C00.html
Eyewitnesses describe a 50 year old Palestinian woman being shot and killed while waving a white flag. This report mentions four other such incidents. (I could list plenty of others.) It seems that after she had been shot and was lying there wounded and defenceless, another Israeli bullet was fired into her head, killing her outright. The poor woman's children were, one assumes, in the house listening, and possibly watching this unspeakable horror unfold. Apparently the Ynetnews reporter did not see this aspect to be relevant.
Further down it is reported that IDF soldiers opened fire on a group of approximately 30 civilians who were waving white flags. An unspecified number of these civilians were killed, three of whom, including an 80-year-old man, were members of the same family. (Why no reference in the Ynet headline to any of these other killings?) This sort of behaviour, as reported, is chillingly similar to the widely reported atrocities that Israeli forces were seen to commit in its most recent invasion of Lebanon, where their rules of engagement apparently allowed the shooting of anything that moved, including civilian refugee columns travelling under white flag, not to mention the millions of unexploded cluster bomblets that still litter the landscape and the UN observation post and its occupants that were bombed into oblivion.
But back to the Ynetnews Gaza piece. Instead of ending the report with some acknowledgement of what can only be described as blatant barbarism, the "Recency" technique is employed to good effect:
The IDF said in response to the B'Tselem report "we have no knowledge of these incidents. The army is targeting Hamas gunmen who are operating out of populated areas and using civilians as human shields. The civilian population in Gaza is not being targeted."
So, Israel's army is targeting Hamas gunmen, but it is not targeting civilians. How do we know? Because the IDF says so. Are we to just ignore the eyewitness reports from the victims' families? Should we just forget about all the photographic evidence of dead women and children? Because that's what they want us to do, to just wander back to our televisions, and flick over to the sports channel, or America's Fattest Idiot, or whatever, because there's nothing to see here. Hopefully by tomorrow 99% of readers will have forgotten, and "moved on", if they haven't already.
And that, in a nutshell, is the propaganda technique of "Recency". People are most likely to remember that which they heard most recently. Bury the highly incriminating news content in the body of the report, then close with anything at all that is likely to distract the audience from dwelling on, or even remembering, what they observed only moments earlier.
The ongoing atrocities inflicted upon Gaza have already become yesterday's news. The powers that be want us to forget. It is up to you, dear reader, to use the not inconsiderable power of your wonderful human mind to resist, and to seek out the truth, no matter where that search may lead, and to remember.
So please, if you will, take a walk with me now, in your mind's eye, through Gaza, and remember...
youngfoxredux.blogspot.com/2009/01/take-walk-through-gaza.html
Thank You.
* information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause
to the unsettling:
* systematic efforts to spread opinions or beliefs, especially by distortion or deception
to the downright scary:
* one-sided, biased presentation of an issue, trading on emotional appeals and a wide range of rhetorical devices in order to override critical assessment and secure conviction. The propagandist has found the truth and has no interest in encouraging others to engage in genuine inquiry.
That, in my view, is the real essence of propaganda - deception. Take the innocent, but possibly over-enthusiastic promotion of some cause, such as the "World's Best Chocolate" which one is sometimes offered by various fund-raisers. Sure, the "World's Best" claim is unprovable, and almost certainly false, but for a potential risk of a mere few dollars and a few empty calories, one is still probably inclined to give the seller the benefit of the doubt. It still qualifies as propaganda, but while not entirely honest, it is still, certainly, at the benign end of the scale. It is worthy of consideration because it helps up front to acknowledge the vast areas of subtle grey between absolute truth, and utter distortion. My intention is to stick, as far as possible to the former, while mercilessly exposing purveyors of the latter.
It is convenient, and somewhat comforting to imagine that the practice of large-scale deception could not survive undetected for long in our so-called enlightened West, that propaganda was confined to history's dustbin with the fall of the dictator regimes such as Hitler's or Stalin's. Surely, when diversity of opinion is not just allowed, but strenuously encouraged, the best and most truthful points of view would naturally rise to the surface, like the cream in a jug of milk, a veritable meritocracy of ideas. Certainly there have been countless technological and humanitarian achievements that support this view, but large sections of humanity have also, sadly, demonstrated a tendency to be carried along by a tide of misplaced emotions to support really, really stupid ideas. The cream, sadly is no longer at the top. The milk of human kindness and decency becomes, at best, homogenised, at worst, it curdles. An obvious example is when the former Puppet President of the United States - GWB, with many willing helpers, convinced the world that the then stable, prosperous and largely peaceful nation of Iraq was stockpiling massive quantities of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and that the only way to save the world from Iraq, and Iraq from itself, was to invade the country militarily. Iraq is now, still, in ruins, as more astute & truthful commentators predicted, with a toll of over a million dead, and millions more maimed or poisoned by depleted uranium. For all Saddam Hussein's alleged crimes (many of which were, I believe, either exaggerated, or completely fabricated), he appears to have done a damn-sight better job of keeping his people fed, housed, and protected from violence than the forces that conspired to overthrow him.
So who should bear the greatest share of blame? George W "Smirking Chimp" Bush, Tony B.Liar and/or Australia's own "Honest John" Howard? All of the above! They all have the blood of the innocent on their hands, as have their most enthusiastic supporters. But by far the greatest blame must fall upon the MainStream Media (MSM). Every newspaper hack, radio shock-jock and TV talking head who failed to do their utmost to expose the WMD lie, and all the other supporting lies should, if their consciences are still functional, hold themselves guilty of being facilitators to mass-murder.
For a classic example, it is hard to go past the so-called journalist Ms Judith Miller, her then employer, the New York Times, and the NYT editorial staff who allowed so much of her falsehood-dependent rubbish into print.
Certainly Ms Miller and the NYT are responsible for spreading a lot of malicious lies, but the rest of the MSM, almost without exception, are also guilty of failing to apply due diligence and asking "Can these claims really be believed?"
There was an excellent and very funny cartoon published a few years back (by thismodernworld.com, salon.com & others) which makes this point with crystal clarity. It was entitled simply "How the News Works". It is worth seeking out and reading, and showing to everybody you know. http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/07/16/tomo/
Since the various flavours of the MSM all failed to expose even the most blatant Words of Mass Deception, by what logic can we assume that they might not also mislead us, at every possible opportunity, with far more subtle techniques? None whatsoever! If you, dear reader, live in a so-called "democracy", as do I, then the buck does not stop with our so-called leaders, or even with the media, since we already KNOW that neither can be trusted. The buck, dear reader, stops with you, and me. We may not be able to stop their lies, and the bastardry that their lies enable, but it is surely our duty to at least try.
Propaganda is to news what MSG, salt, sugar, aspartame, or ketchup, is to food. Eat too much additive-laden junk food, and eventually one's health will suffer. Propaganda has a similar effect on one's mind. It may seem satisfying, but in reality it is a slow poison to the individual, and if too many individuals consume it, then it is poison also to the society as a whole. The good news, at least for the individual, is that the effects are largely reversible. First, learn to recognise propaganda, and stop consuming it. Stop taking the poison! Or consume it only in small, controlled doses! Don't inhale, and don't swallow! You may not be able to avoid MSM altogether, but if you do consume MSM content, it is possible to learn more or less what is factual and honest, and absorb that, while recognising and rejecting that which is not. Learn to spot the techniques, one at a time, as I have been attempting to do, and you will be better prepared to make informed choices as to which sources probably deserve your trust, and which one's more rightly deserve boycott and scorn.
Recency Effect or "Recency vs Primacy"
"Given a list of items to remember, we will tend to remember the last few things more than those things in the middle."
changingminds.org/explanations/theories/recency_effect.htm
Compare these statements by a hypothetical smoker:
A) I know smoking is a dirty habit which is probably reducing my quality of life and killing me prematurely, but I intend to keep smoking because it is one of life's simple pleasures, and because I have already tried to quit; and failed. Please pass me the lighter.
OR
B) I enjoy smoking and have tended to view it as one of life's simple pleasures, but I must admit that it really is a dirty habit which is probably reducing my quality of life and killing me prematurely, so even though my past attempts to quit have not succeeded, it is my New Year's resolution to try again, and this time I do intend to succeed. Please pass me that apple.
In statement A, the hypothetical smoker has buried what are arguably the most powerful and relevant arguments for his/her well-being early in their monologue, and then neutralised them, with a feel-good emotional cop-out and a false, defeatist assumption. No winners here.
In B, the addicted individual still acknowledges the pleasure that smoking has given them and their past failures in quitting, but answers and dismisses both those points with final words that are positive and empowering. THAT, at its most simple, is Recency versus Primacy. The Prime, or most important assertion, should be stated at the very end of one's message. Used honestly, this is a very good thing. When used deceitfully, as is often the case in a great deal of MSM reporting, the reader or viewer will be left, by intent, with a distorted view of what should be the most important message.
Now, here are two examples from recent media coverage of the situation in Gaza. If you have been following events on those which I would consider to be the more reputable of the alternative news sites, such as WhatReallyHappened.com, Ziopedia.org or DesertPeace.wordpress.com you might well understand straight-away. However, if you have been getting your news from mainly MSM sources, be they print media, talk-back radio, or the Idiot Box, you may be in for a steep learning curve, because, quite simply, you have been lied to, by commission, omission, and distortion, over and over again.
Example #1
"Reports suggest Israeli forces using cluster bombs in Gaza"
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/04/israel-cluster-bombs/
"Reports suggest..."? That's a pretty limp-wristed headline, and a misleading one given that the photographic evidence just several lines below depicts a shower not of cluster bomblets, but rather the distinctive tentacle-like trails of white phosphorus (WP) chunks falling earthwards. Sure, cluster bombs were also dropped (as admitted in the Haaretz article to which thinkpress.org links), but the insidious lumps of toxic flesh-burning WP ordnance that were also rained down upon Gaza's citizens have not even been rated a mention..
BUT the most glaring propaganda technique here is the Recency Effect. Buried in the middle of the last paragraph is the briefest mention of "a Palestinian woman and four of her children" who were reported killed during an "Israeli ground operation". Was it WP burns while they were caught in the open, jagged shell fragments as their family home was rocketed by a helicopter gun-ship? Or did one of the roaming ground-based "Chosen Ones" just line them up and put bullets through their heads at close range while they stood waving white flags, crying and wetting themselves in terror? Just as likely the latter. I checked the Haaretz link cited as the source. While long and rambling, the Haaretz article does not say. The deceased Palestinian family is barely mentioned at all. Do their deaths not matter?
The bulk of the final paragraph is clearly crafted to defuse anger and gain sympathy for the IDF:
An Israeli soldier was killed in a gunbattle with Gaza militants today, the first since Israel launched its ground operation. "In addition to the fatality, 31 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been wounded, three of them seriously."
The IDF casualties may well have been "friendly fire". It would not be the first time that trigger-happy Israeli soldiers have shot and killed their own. Even if we were to concede that Israel's version of events is accurate and that "Gaza militants" were responsible for one or more IDF casualties, this hardly gives Israel a free pass to kill innocent women and children, which we now know is exactly what Israel has done.
Then there's the very last sentence:
Meanwhile, "Palestinian terrorists continued their bombardment of southern Israel, firing some 41 rockets and mortar shells since Sunday morning."
And that is the last statement the readers probably take in about Gaza, before they go back to their televisions. If they even remember the undeniable report which amounts to their country's close ally Israel raining massive indiscriminate fire on civilians, or the specific yet unexplained killings of a Palestinian mother and four of her children, they probably believed that this is somehow not relevant, or is indeed justified by the reported death (singular) of the IDF soldier, or the alleged firing, by persons unknown, of rockets at Israel, the Israeli casualties from which were apparently zero.
The Recency Effect has caused the reader to forget what is relevant, as was undoubtedly the intention.
Example #2
"Gaza woman killed by IDF despite waving white flag"
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3655753%2C00.html
Eyewitnesses describe a 50 year old Palestinian woman being shot and killed while waving a white flag. This report mentions four other such incidents. (I could list plenty of others.) It seems that after she had been shot and was lying there wounded and defenceless, another Israeli bullet was fired into her head, killing her outright. The poor woman's children were, one assumes, in the house listening, and possibly watching this unspeakable horror unfold. Apparently the Ynetnews reporter did not see this aspect to be relevant.
Further down it is reported that IDF soldiers opened fire on a group of approximately 30 civilians who were waving white flags. An unspecified number of these civilians were killed, three of whom, including an 80-year-old man, were members of the same family. (Why no reference in the Ynet headline to any of these other killings?) This sort of behaviour, as reported, is chillingly similar to the widely reported atrocities that Israeli forces were seen to commit in its most recent invasion of Lebanon, where their rules of engagement apparently allowed the shooting of anything that moved, including civilian refugee columns travelling under white flag, not to mention the millions of unexploded cluster bomblets that still litter the landscape and the UN observation post and its occupants that were bombed into oblivion.
But back to the Ynetnews Gaza piece. Instead of ending the report with some acknowledgement of what can only be described as blatant barbarism, the "Recency" technique is employed to good effect:
The IDF said in response to the B'Tselem report "we have no knowledge of these incidents. The army is targeting Hamas gunmen who are operating out of populated areas and using civilians as human shields. The civilian population in Gaza is not being targeted."
So, Israel's army is targeting Hamas gunmen, but it is not targeting civilians. How do we know? Because the IDF says so. Are we to just ignore the eyewitness reports from the victims' families? Should we just forget about all the photographic evidence of dead women and children? Because that's what they want us to do, to just wander back to our televisions, and flick over to the sports channel, or America's Fattest Idiot, or whatever, because there's nothing to see here. Hopefully by tomorrow 99% of readers will have forgotten, and "moved on", if they haven't already.
And that, in a nutshell, is the propaganda technique of "Recency". People are most likely to remember that which they heard most recently. Bury the highly incriminating news content in the body of the report, then close with anything at all that is likely to distract the audience from dwelling on, or even remembering, what they observed only moments earlier.
The ongoing atrocities inflicted upon Gaza have already become yesterday's news. The powers that be want us to forget. It is up to you, dear reader, to use the not inconsiderable power of your wonderful human mind to resist, and to seek out the truth, no matter where that search may lead, and to remember.
So please, if you will, take a walk with me now, in your mind's eye, through Gaza, and remember...
youngfoxredux.blogspot.com/2009/01/take-walk-through-gaza.html
Thank You.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Welcome to my Rant. You can call me Andy.
I live in Sydney. I am an honest, law-abiding citizen, although a number of NSW Police Officers have put considerable effort into trying to prove otherwise. I will save the full accounts for another post.
Why a "rant"? Why not? For starters, there is a war on - a dirty, bloody, immoral, illegal War of Aggression.
Let's never forget the indecent fervor with which Bush, Blair and Howard attempted to "sell" their war to their fellow citizens, nimbly leaping from one false story to the next. In reality, Iraq had no WMD, nor ANY connection with 9/11. Iraq was not threatening its immediate neighbours, and was certainly not threatening the so-called "Coalition" countries in any way. We went to war based on falsehoods, exaggerations, spin and outright lies.
Bush has tried to pretend that this war has improved life for Iraqis. Yeah, sure. Their country is now permanently blighted with DU (Depleted Uranium), which the Pentagon had previously said was safe. Bomblets from U.S. cluster bombs litter Iraqi suburbs. Children don't know what they are and pick them up. They explode. White Phosphorous is a ghastly substance similar to napalm. Both are genuine Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Americans not only have WP in their arsenal. They have used it during the destruction of Fallujah. At first the Pentagon claimed WP was just used for illumination of targets, but this claim appears to have been false:
"I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorous on Fallujah," said one soldier, quoted in the Independent. "In military jargon, it's known as Willy Pete. Phosphorous burns bodies; in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone. I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 meters is done for." (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=18789&hd=0&size=1&l=x)
Welcome to the New World Order. "Freedom is on the March!"
That's about it for my first go. I'm all ranted out. Where to next? Maybe a review of the atrocities carried out on 9/11. How did three modern steel-framed buildings (WTC1, WTC2 & WTC7) collapse neatly into their own respective footprints? Controlled demolition? Was 9/11 "the New Pearl harbor" for which the PNAC NeoCons had been planning? Certainly looks that way.
The answers are out there, sometimes in plain view.
I wish a Safe and Happy Christmas to all who read this, particularly to my friends, relatives and other assorted acquaintances. And a special hello to Riverbend, the feisty young lady who writes BaghdadBurning (riverbendblog.blogspot.com). Go girl!
Andy
Why a "rant"? Why not? For starters, there is a war on - a dirty, bloody, immoral, illegal War of Aggression.
Let's never forget the indecent fervor with which Bush, Blair and Howard attempted to "sell" their war to their fellow citizens, nimbly leaping from one false story to the next. In reality, Iraq had no WMD, nor ANY connection with 9/11. Iraq was not threatening its immediate neighbours, and was certainly not threatening the so-called "Coalition" countries in any way. We went to war based on falsehoods, exaggerations, spin and outright lies.
Bush has tried to pretend that this war has improved life for Iraqis. Yeah, sure. Their country is now permanently blighted with DU (Depleted Uranium), which the Pentagon had previously said was safe. Bomblets from U.S. cluster bombs litter Iraqi suburbs. Children don't know what they are and pick them up. They explode. White Phosphorous is a ghastly substance similar to napalm. Both are genuine Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Americans not only have WP in their arsenal. They have used it during the destruction of Fallujah. At first the Pentagon claimed WP was just used for illumination of targets, but this claim appears to have been false:
"I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorous on Fallujah," said one soldier, quoted in the Independent. "In military jargon, it's known as Willy Pete. Phosphorous burns bodies; in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone. I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 meters is done for." (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=18789&hd=0&size=1&l=x)
Welcome to the New World Order. "Freedom is on the March!"
That's about it for my first go. I'm all ranted out. Where to next? Maybe a review of the atrocities carried out on 9/11. How did three modern steel-framed buildings (WTC1, WTC2 & WTC7) collapse neatly into their own respective footprints? Controlled demolition? Was 9/11 "the New Pearl harbor" for which the PNAC NeoCons had been planning? Certainly looks that way.
The answers are out there, sometimes in plain view.
I wish a Safe and Happy Christmas to all who read this, particularly to my friends, relatives and other assorted acquaintances. And a special hello to Riverbend, the feisty young lady who writes BaghdadBurning (riverbendblog.blogspot.com). Go girl!
Andy
Friday, December 23, 2005
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