Sunday, April 18, 2004

The Death of Al Rantisi and American Moral Leadership

By Sam Hamod

Read full article...

Posted 04/18 | Add a Comment

    Comments:

    You must register to comment.

    Login | Register

  1. Excellent piece - and I can assure you that most Jews are not pro-Sharon.  What happens is that Jews amongst themselves are heavily critical of Sharon but fear - because of the somewhat “internal totalitarianism” - ostracism - etc- esp. amongst religous/observant Jews - regarding speaking out against these depravities.  In a recent piece in the Nation, Adam Shatz talks about how when his father turned against the state of Israel, and thus stopped giving money to local “Jewish Federations” he was bombarded with visits from Iraeli Generals and PR people telling him he was a traitor. 

    When I first became active in the Jewish Anti-Occupation movement, my apartment was hit with bomb threats, and people openly threatened to have me killed.  I am not fucking around - I still have the letters, recording of threats etc.  The Jewish Establishment is afraid of the fact that so many Jews want to follow the commandment “love thy neighbour.” But if there is anyone that these Zionists hate more than Palestinians it is Jews like us who support justice.  The only true anti-semitism I have ever experiences is being called “Self hating Jew.”

    As a memebr of Jewish Alliance Against Occupation, I have been in contact with a few local Rabbis, one of whom was a childhood hero of mine for working with Nelson Mandela, etc. in south Africa, from before Reform Judaism adopted Zionism - (much only in the last 15 years)....they both - particularly the young woman Rabbi - tough enough as a female clergy member, she comes from a left background and is a member of Rabbis for Human Rights.  Her job was threatened when she gave sermons about Sharon’s depravities.  Meanwhile, the other Rabbi regularly acts like Bill Kristol with a Kippah.

    I am not writing this for any other reason but to contextualize why it seems that so many Jews seem to be sitting on their hands.  I really do believe that in actuallity, as many if not more of the only 15 million Jews left on this planet, know that Sharon is wrong, and what is more, not Jewish at all in his actions.

    Posted by Jordy Cummings from  on  04/18  at  10:04 AM

  2. The only alternative is “legal resistance” at home?  What if elements like the White Rose in WWII Germany thought that way?  C’mon...thanks for the article...BUT.  Where does this obsession come (in coming from virtually all quarters) on the Left?  And when are we going to definitively put to bed this notion that Kerry and Clinton are worthy of distinction from Bush on the main counts addressed in this piece?  Praise to Sam, but now...let’s get passed this “embarassment and sadness” and do something...in much the same way we would have had to do something to fight Hitler.
    The holocausts will end, Richard

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  04/18  at  11:05 AM

  3. Di you hear Senetor Kerry this morning on Meet the Press? It is very disappointing and sad. He is no different than Bush

    Rawia

    Posted by Rawia Yassin from  on  04/18  at  12:29 PM

  4. Sam, I am quite sure that you just wrote: “the only parallel I can see [to Sharon’s killing of Rantisi] is that of Hitler with what he did to the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto.” I feel duty-bound to remind your readers, especially on Holocaust Remembrance Day, that over 350,000 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto were murdered by the Nazis, 300,000 of them at the Treblinka death camp.
    How can you compare a calamity of this order with the killing of a single man who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians? I find it reprehensible.

    Posted by Josh Harvey from  on  04/18  at  01:56 PM

  5. Again, thanks to the writer of the article. And many hugs to Jordy for what he’s been through...continuing to go through on behalf of justice, etc.  Regarding Josh, however, people need to write in to help him see things from another angle, I believe.  The numbers game won’t wash, obviously.  But, beyond that, instead of focusing on the particular phrase/analogy used...let’s proceed to the fundamental point.  To wit, that that single killing is part of the ongoing genocide that must be stopped as much as the genocide against the gypsies and jews and others had to be stopped...not so very long ago.  As the genocide elsewhere today must be stopped by the people writing on these sites...without waiting for leaders, without depending exclusivelhy on the electoral process, etc.  Best, ox

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  04/18  at  02:18 PM

  6. Your comparison is disgusting and disgraceful.

    Hamas is at war with Israel, and the CHARTER of Hamas is to eliminate every last Jew from the land. (Not just the West Bank… everywhere in the area.)

    You think that Israel should “negotiate” with Hamas? Try to find some “common ground?” In Hamas’s own literature, they clearly state that there are no common grounds for negotiation.

    When one party is at war with another, it is completely morally justifiable to take aim at the military leadership of the opposition.

    Posted by Alan from  on  04/18  at  02:48 PM

  7. Many hugs to Josh, who seems to realize what really happened in the holocaust. Reading these notes makes me realize, as a liberal American, just how necessary Zionism is. As an American, I realize what terrorism is. If I were Spanish, and rantisi would blow up some trains of mine, I would not grieve his death. He is a murderer, and there was no way of getting him alive. Israel has proven in the past that when they can arrest terrorists they do. Every country in the world is obligated to the safety of their own citizens. Period. So if targeting rantisi saves an Israeli life, a Spaniard’s life or my life...that is far from genocide. It is exactly the opposite. It is the most liberal thing a leader can do. Liberal in the true sense of the word.

    Posted by Zach Bear from  on  04/18  at  02:58 PM

  8. For Zach, please note that the genocide referred to is not specific to actions against Rantisi.  Rather, it is characteristic of the Zionist attitude and actions re many others.  For Alan, I’d be curious whether or not you’d apply that last line of yours to the leaders at the Pentagon on 9/11.  All people who point a finger at a person or a group, underscoring what they said or wrote regarding murderous thoughts (negotiable or non-negotiable) ought to check in with themselves to see whether or not they’ve asked the hard question of WHY the person or group is taking such a stance.  If the quick, easy answer re Hamas is that the people are simply mad...simply on some “religious binge,” then perhaps it’ll e instructive to apply your “principle” (justifying genocide) to Euro-Americans vis-a-vis Native Americans.  No one addressing issues related to this one individual should be allowed the luxury of focusing on one person.  Good fortune, R.Ox

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  04/18  at  05:50 PM

  9. Michael Ignatieff, the director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University has said, “Those who should use the word genocide never let it slip their mouths. Those who unfortunately do use it, banalise it into a validation of every kind of victimhood.” American Heritage defines genocide as “The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group.” The UN Convention on Genocide refers to “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The majority of the approximately 3,000 Palestinians killed since the start of their uprising were combatants. These same combatants killed almost 1,000 Israelis, the great majority of whom were innocent civilians going about their life. Calling the actions of the Israeli government genocide subverts the word and undermines attempts to stop true genocide. In Sudan it is estimated that 1,000 people are being killed every week (see Kristof’s piece http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4724911.html). This is the kind of thing we should keep in mind when we remember what happened in Nazi Germany 60 years ago.

    Posted by Josh Harvey from  on  04/18  at  07:01 PM

  10. For Richard: I would never call al Qaeda’s war against The West a moral undertaking. However, since al Qaeda has declared war on the U.S., then I would classify their strike on the Pentagon as within the bounds of “proper warfare” (an admittedly odd term). I would not classify their Pentagon strike as craven Terrorism, as their destruction of the World Trade Center was.

    And those acts, of course, have justified in turn the U.S. retaliations against al Qaeda, and against any state that supports al Qaeda.

    So I stand by my original post: Hamas continues to proclaim their no-room-for-negotiation war against Israel. Hence IDF strikes at Hamas leaders and soldiers are fully justifiable.

    Posted by Alan from  on  04/18  at  07:34 PM

  11. This man, Professor Hammond is correct.  Allowing Sharon to run wild and to kill at will is just like the Nazis, and Bush is equally guilty for allowing and abetting it.

    As Americans, we must stand against this.  It is my hope that Sharon and Bush will both be taken to the International Court of Justice for war crimes because both have built prima facie cases against themselves.

    Bravo for Professor Hamod and those brave enough to call a Nazi a Nazi, especially in this day and age of Ashcroft and his secret SS or KGB operatives.

    Posted by David Alexander, Ph.D. from  on  04/19  at  02:18 AM

  12. For Josh and Alan:  Please note that Hans von Sponeck and Denis Haliday both quit their high posts at the UN --after serving for decades each in those quarters-- precisely because they felt the U.S. was involved in genocide in Iraq.  Euro-American attempted exterminaton of Native Americans and Israeli attempted extermination of Palestinians both have plenty of equally reputable people labeling their actions as such. Furthermore, the people in the WTC were to a large extent serving the same function as Eichman was in WWII.  How about being concerned with people who are not Zionists?  How about looking after the Jewish people, in part, by showing that you care about other holocausts?  One of the sure fire ways of spreading anti-semitism is to keep this thing going about the jews being The Chosen People.  When it comes to genocide...it’s long past the time to broaden the considerations that are clearly a part of the historic l record.  Best, Richard

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  04/19  at  10:23 AM

  13. Richard is most welcome saying “care about other holocausts.” The Shoah - of which yesterday was “Yom HaShoah” - the holocaust remembrance day - first killed 6 million Jews - AND more than 3 million Serbs, Romani, Disabled, Gay, Radicals, Catholics...etc..

    Since the holocaust, there have been many more holocausts.  The only moral way to state the message of “never again” is to truly mean it.  The Holocaust did not occur in a vacuum.  Read a book by Enzo Traverso “The Origin of Nazi Violence.” And since then, we have had an ongoing holocaust.  Right afterwords, the USA hired most Nazis - saving only the notorious ones for war crimese tribunals.  West Germany resuscitated Nazi party members.  East Germany on the other hand....

    Posted by Jordy Cummings from  on  04/19  at  10:38 AM

  14. Alan, you may want to read Richard Sale’s investigative piece on Hamas:

    http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc515.html

    Israel essentially created Hamas. Hamas is the best thing to ever happen to Ariel Sharon; so long as they are around, he doesn’t have to treat the Palestinians like human beings. And, of course, for nutbar Zionists like Sharon (or in this case, Eitan), Palestinians are little more than “drugged cockroaches in a bottle.”

    Last week Bush gave US approval for that bottle; not only do we now pay for it, we also justify it.

    So, when “terrorism” arrives in the US, as Condi predicts, the victims can blame Bush and Sharon.

    Posted by Kurt from  on  04/19  at  11:49 AM

  15. In George Bush’s and Ariel Sharon’s view, the aramaic speaking historical figure, Jesus, search for profound love and a shared realization for all people, was a terroist.

    Jason E. Pacifico
    Reform Party Candidate
    President of the United States

    Posted by Jason E. Pacifico from  on  04/19  at  12:44 PM

  16. Zionism is to Jews what Africanism is to black folk. It is part of their history & ideas only recently has zionism been given a bad name. The father of zionism is a Brit not some tank or CAT driving Israeli...Black folk support Africa and Jews support Israel. I do not care for Sharon...he is an evil man with his own agendas...but I also do not care for various Arab governments maniuplating Palestine to continue their hate campaign against all things Jewish. Both sides have blood on their hands...to equate Sharon with Hitler is a very weak argument (and you call yourself a professor! of what?)...yes, Israel is guilty of human rights violations but is this on the same level as Nazism?? Can any of you tell me or have seen or heard of GAS showers or OVENS to perish mass amounts of individuals? How does that compare to a checkpoint??? Where are the mass graves of millions of dead Palestinans?

    Give me a checkpoint over being placed in a burning oven alive any day of the week...the Jews killing off a Hamas leader...sorry broham I spend my time mourning for children...not guilty adults!
    chew on that...mourn for the children. They are the only ones innocent...adults all have their agendas…

    Posted by Scott Smith from  on  04/19  at  03:38 PM

  17. Yay for Jordy and Kurt.  Look, Scott, ovens aren’t THE litmus test...and if you think checkpoints is THE problem on the other end...there’s not much of a starting place for discussion.  I don’t know if you have children, of course, but...the way you’re talking I think you’ll discover one day...I hope...that children and adults aren’t so easily separable. Best, Oxy

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  04/19  at  06:22 PM

  18. Zionism is to Jews what Naziism was to Germans. Nerutei Ka ta, the Orthodox group of rabbis, calls for the peaceful dismantlement of the Judeo-Nazi [Israel Shahak’s term] state terrorist government of Israel. Hamas also calls for the end of the Judeo-Nazi state. I wish both Nerutei Karta and Hamas success in their efforts, but I personally do not want to engage in the struggle. But Americans should stop their suicidal, one-sided support of the Tel Aviv beasts.

    Posted by Patrick from  on  04/19  at  08:47 PM

  19. Quoting Michael Ignatieff and Krisof?  Those imposters don’t have enough fora they have to vomit all over Press Action?  And citing a New York Slimes article.  Who cares?  As for 3,000 Palestinian murders by the Israelis being mostly combatants...you’re kidding right?  In the first place that’s an out and out fabrication, because the majority are innocents caught in the crossfire.  Which doesn’t even touch on the tens of thousands wounded.  I’m so nauseous I can’t read more than the headlines anymore, but I heard 16 were killed along with the Hamas leader the other day.  I suppose they are all “combatants”?  In the second, even if they were “combatants;” combatants with what?  Sticks and stones versus the US-supplied helicopter gunships, tanks, F-16s and bulldozers - $5 billion in mostly military and also economic and diplomatic aid?  Real fair fight.  Even though no one has made the point yet, I will grant the profound wisdom in Bush calling Sharon a man of peace.  And everyone thought Bush was an intellectual lightweight.

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  04/19  at  09:50 PM

  20. To our Zionist apologists, you talk about genocide, but I talk about omnicide. There is little doubt of Israel’s role in helping to initiate the US war in Iraq, with a majority of the neocons being American Zionists in the Bush admin. Although Hitler didn’t have nukes or depleted uranium in his day, his clones-- Hitler 1 and Hitler 2 (Sharon and Bush) surely do.
    The depleted uranium weaponry used in the last four US wars, with the latest war being by far the worst, released the atomic equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki sized atom bombs worth of radioactivity into the environment. The Middle East is the most contaminated region but the deadly particles are now permanently part of our biosphere: atmospheric, hydrological and terrestrial ecosystems. Thank you America. Thank you military industrial complex. Thank you Zionists.Thank you for omnicide...cue up Enya, fade to darkness.

    Posted by Rhino Rick from  on  04/20  at  02:43 AM
    21. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. {/if}

    Next entry: Screwballs for Freedom

    Previous entry: Journalism 101

    [ads]

    Support Press Action