Tag Archives: israel

Moralni bankrot Evrope in celotnega Zahoda

7 januarja, 2025 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , , 1 komentar

John Mearscheimer:

I think once you get outside of the West, almost everybody thinks that the United States and the Europeans are morally bankrupt.

I mean, we are supporting—and I’m choosing my words carefully here—we are supporting a genocide in Gaza.

It’s a genocide that people see on their computers and on their TVs on a daily basis.

So they know exactly what’s going on here, and the hypocrisy is just quite stunning.

Because the West makes a big deal of the fact that it is morally virtuous, that we are, you know, an exceptional Nation—we stand taller, we see further.

And when you think about the fact that we’re complicit in a genocide, I mean, it looks like hypocrisy in the extreme.

So I think outside the West, people understand full well that we are morally bankrupt.

And I think even inside the West, there are lots of people who have just begun to lose hope that we have our moral gyroscopes in place when it comes to dealing with the Middle East.

https://twitter.com/BrankoMilan/status/1876528854103151087

Shlomo Sand: Iznajdba judovskega ljudstva

24 novembra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , , 1 komentar

Čas za osvežitev poznavanja zgodovine.

A historical tour de force that demolishes the myths and taboos that have surrounded Jewish and Israeli history, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a new account of both that demands to be read and reckoned with. Was there really a forced exile in the first century, at the hands of the Romans? Should we regard the Jewish people, throughout two millennia, as both a distinct ethnic group and a putative nation—returned at last to its Biblical homeland?

Shlomo Sand argues that most Jews actually descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered far across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The formation of a Jewish people and then a Jewish nation out of these disparate groups could only take place under the sway of a new historiography, developing in response to the rise of nationalism throughout Europe. Beneath the biblical back fill of the nineteenth-century historians, and the twentieth-century intellectuals who replaced rabbis as the architects of Jewish identity, The Invention of the Jewish People uncovers a new narrative of Israel’s formation, and proposes a bold analysis of nationalism that accounts for the old myths.

Main findings:

  • The expulsion of Jews from Judea did not happen.
  • Many Judean Jews accepted Islam and are the ancestors of today’s Palestinians.
  • The “nation-race” of Jews with a common origin doesn’t exist and the “Jewish diaspora” is a modern invention.
  • The ancestors of European Jews mostly converted to Judaism and have no origin in Palestine.

After a long stay on Israel’s bestseller list, and winning the coveted Aujourd’hui Award in France, The Invention of the Jewish People is finally available in English. The central importance of the conflict in the Middle East ensures that Sand’s arguments will reverberate well beyond the historians and politicians that he takes to task. Without an adequate understanding of Israel’s past, capable of superseding today’s opposing views, diplomatic solutions are likely to remain elusive. In this iconoclastic work of history, Shlomo Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel’s future.

____________

Shlomo Sand is a Jewish Professor of History at Tel Aviv University

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Obrisi Trumpove nove zunanje politike: Hitro stisniti Rusijo in Iran ter pomagati Izraelu, da bi se lahko lotil Kitajske

12 novembra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , 2 komentarja

Trumpova bum-bum diplomacija, kot se kaže v obrisih glede na izbrane osebke za ključne pozicije (glejte Bloombergov newsletter spodaj), je najbolje opisana z zgornjim naslovom. Ključni cilj Trumpa naj bi bil hitra umiritev “nestrateških” konfliktnih področij (Ukrajina, Rusija, Gaza, Iran), da bi se lahko posvetil sovražniku št. 1 – to je Kitajski. Kitajska je edina, ki zares ogroža globalno (gospodarsko, tehnološko in politično) hegemonijo ZDA.

K temu je treba dodati še obrise napovedane strategije glede zaustavtve vojne z Ukrajino, kot jo je skiciral Mike Waltz, najverjetnejši bodoči svetovalec za nacionalno varnost. Ta strategija naj bi izgledala takole:

  1. v prvem koraku je treba stisniti Rusijo prek pritiska na Kitajsko in Indijo, da ne bi več kupovali ruskih energentov,
  2. hkrati bi evropske države prenehale kupovati naftne derivate iz indijskih rafinerij (kjer predelujejo rusko nafto) in
  3. hkrati bi ZDA začele prodajati večje količine utekočinjenega zemeljskega plina (LNG) v Evropo,
  4. v drugem koraku bi Ukrajini “sneli lisice” in ji dovolili, da z ameriškimi, britanskimi in francoskimi raketami dolgega dosega začne raketirati cilje globoko na ruskem ozemlju.

Na ta način naj bi Trump Rusijo prisilili v pogajanja in hkrati dal bonbonček Ukrajini, da bo lažje pristala na pogajanja.

Že prejšnji teden pa je pricurljal obris predloga iz Trumpovega kroga glede bodoče mirovne rešitve za Ukrajino. Ta bi v grobem izgledala tako:

  1. Razmejitev med Ukrajino in Rusijo se zamrzne vzdolž sedanje frontne linije,
  2. Med frontno linijo in preostankom Ukrajine se oblikuje demilitarizirano območje,
  3. Ukrajina pristane, da naslednjih 20 let ne bo prosila za vstop v Nato,
  4. ZDA Ukrajini še naprej vojaško pomagajo, kar bi ji dalo neke vrste varnostne garancije.

No, zanimivo bo videti ruski in evropski odziv na te obrise predlogov. Pomembno pa je, da se pogovori o mirni rešitvi vojne sploh začnejo. Naj diplomacija namesto orožja poišče rešitev.

Toda, če bi vsebinsko komentiral te idejne skice, bi bil prvi komentar: Good luck with that.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Trumpova zunanja politika na Bidnovih ruševinah

7 novembra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , ,

Pulitzerjev nagrajenec Seymour Hersh ima dokaj podobne poglede tako na dizaster Bidnove zunanje politike (sponzoriranje vojne v Ukrajini in masakra nad Palestinci v Gazi in Zahodnem bregu) kot na konture bodoče (morebitne) Trumpove zunanje politike. Morda bo Trump pomagal hitreje končati vojno v Ukrajini, toda glede ravnanja Izraela bo kvečjemu enako ali bolj prizanesljiv. No, problem Kamale Harris kot protikandidatke je bil, da se glede zunanje politike ni znala distancirati of Bidna in ponuditi boljše vizije. Trump je znal ponuditi vsaj nekaj boljših rešitev (končanje vojne v Ukrajini, transakcijski odnos do Kitajske in Evrope), Kamala pa je v svoji vsebinski praznini izgledala kot bleda kopija katastrofalne zunanje politike njenega nekdanjega šefa. Kot pravi Hersh, Obama je slabo opravil svoje delo, ko je postavil Harrisovo za demokratsko predsedniško kandidatko.

___________

It wasn’t close.

Americans once again rejected a flawed female Democratic candidate in favor of Donald Trump, who comes to office with grievances and revenge on his mind, along with a welcome determination to end the war in Ukraine and a far less welcome commitment to continue the Biden policy of unfettered support for the murderous Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

Here are some day-after thoughts about an election I thought in my dotage that Trump would not win, especially because his campaign gave no sign of any regrets for his abysmal response to his defeat by Joe Biden four years ago.

There are lots of lessons here. First of all, Barack Obama continued a lousy precedent by picking a weak vice president after winning the primaries in 2008. Biden was considered by some of his peers in the Senate as a vain and lazy second-rater: a weak vice presidential choice who was publicly loyal but increasingly resentful of what he saw as Obama’s dismissive attitude toward him. Once elected to the presidency in 2020, he replayed the Obama mantra by selecting a vice president who posed no political threat. Kamala Harris, in turn, did the same by picking a political novice who added little to her campaign and, if elected, would be, at best, a White House liaison to high school football and America’s heartland.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Vpliv vojne na izraelsko gospodarstvo

21 oktobra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , ,

UP TO 60,000 ISRAELI BUSINESSES TO CLOSE IN 2024

“The economic fallout from the ongoing war was most immediately felt by businesses active in the construction, agriculture, tourism, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, according to Amir.

That’s as 85,000 Palestinian workers have virtually disappeared from Israel’s construction industry since the war’s start, as they have not been allowed into Israel to work due to security concerns, while many foreign workers working at building sites left the country. This has caused many building sites to shut down completely due to a lack of workers.

‘Agriculture but especially the construction industry suffers from a severe shortage of manpower causing significant delays of projects and in the handover of apartments,” said Amir. “We are seeing some influx of foreign workers who have returned to Israel, but the low supply has also led to an increase in salaries and higher costs of hiring.’”

See: timesofisrael.com/up-to-60000-is…Image

ISRAEL’S CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED WITH FURTHER DOWNGRADING TO “JUNK EXPECTED

Moody’s: “The key driver for the downgrade is our view that geopolitical risk has intensified significantly further, to very high levels, with material negative consequences for Israel’s creditworthiness in both the near and longer term. The ratings would likely be downgraded further, potentially by multiple notches, if the current heightened tensions with Hezbollah turned into a full-scale conflict.”

See: reuters.com/world/middle-e…Image

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Precedenčna sodba v V. Britaniji: Protisionizem ni enako protisemitizmu

15 oktobra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , , 1 komentar

Davida Millerja, profesorja politične sociologije, so na univerzi v Bristolu odpustili zaradi njegovih stališč glede sionističnih politik izraelske vlade z obtožbo o protisemitizmu. Britansko delovno sodišče je v nedavni sodbi na 120 straneh spoznalo, da je bil profesor David Miller nepravično odpuščen zaradi svojih protisionističnih stališč in da bi moral biti protisionizem zaščiten s protidiskriminacijskimi zakoni.

Zgodba sega v leto 2019 in se nanaša na Millerjevo predavanje, zaradi katerega sta dva judovska študenta vložila pritožbo zaradi protisemitizma. The Guardian:

Two Jewish students complained about a 2019 lecture by Miller in which he identified Zionism as one of the five pillars of Islamophobia, the panel heard. The Community Security Trust, which campaigns against antisemitism, said Miller’s remarks were a “disgraceful slur”.

A review commissioned by the university found Miller had no case to answer because he did not express hatred towards Jews.

In an email to the university’s student newspaper sent in February 2021 Miller said: “Zionism is and always has been a racist, violent, imperialist ideology premised on ethnic cleansing.” In the message he also claimed the university’s Jewish Society was an “Israel lobby group”.

A separate review found these statements had been offensive to many, and in a hearing they were found to be “wrong and inappropriate”. He was then sacked for gross misconduct, the panel heard.

When his appeal was rejected he took the university to a tribunal, which he won earlier this year.

Senat sodišča je ugotovil, da so Millerjeva prepričanja izpolnjevala merila, da so “vredna spoštovanja v demokratični družbi, niso nezdružljiva s človeškim dostojanstvom in niso v nasprotju s temeljnimi pravicami drugih“.

Sodnik je dejal, da so bila protisionistična stališča, ki jih je izrazil Miller, “sprejeta kot zakonita, niso bila antisemitska in niso spodbujala nasilja ter niso predstavljala nobene grožnje zdravju ali varnosti katere koli osebe.”

Spodaj je nit o zagovoru na 97 straneh, ki ga je napisal Miller.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Apologeti genocida: Tudi liberalni mediji so v postelji z Izraelom

7 oktobra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , , 1 komentar

I can’t put this strongly enough. Howard Jacobson’s article in today’s Observer newspaper may be one the vilest pieces of journalism published in Britain in living memory, arguing that any reporting of Israel’s documented slaughter of many thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza is a “blood libel” and antisemitic. It is pure genocide apologism.

But far worse is the fact that the Guardian Media Group signed off his column. This isn’t the work of one Zionist loon. A whole army of journalists brought it to print.

And note: Jacobson, odious as he is, isn’t responsible for the choice of photo. That is entirely down to the Observer newsroom.

I worked at both the Guardian and the Observer, its Sunday sister paper, for many years. The comment editor, the photo editor, the revise sub-editor, the Observer’s chief editor and all the section heads would have approved not only Jacobson’s text but that photo too.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Izraelski genocid nad Palestinci se je začel leta 1948 z Nakbo

5 oktobra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , , 4 komentarji

Za Palestince Nakba predstavlja največjo kolektivno travmo, travmo vseh travm, takrat se je začel izraelski genocid nad njimi. Leta 1947 je bil z deklaracijo OZN na palestinskem ozemlju ustanovljen Izrael, leta 1948 pa so izraelska vojska in paravojaške skupine nasilno pregnale 750,000 Palestincev (polovica palestinskega prebivalstva in 80 % prebivalcev nove države Izrael) iz njihovih domov, z njihove zemlje v begunstvo. Izraelci so zradirali 11 arabskih mest in 500 vasi in zastrupili vodnjake, da se Palestinci ne bi mogli več vrniti. Kdor se je vrnil, je bil ubit ali pregnan.

Po Nakbi 1948 je sledila Naksa 1967, ko so Izraelci sistematično pregnali še ostalih nekaj sto tisoč Palestincev in jih pregnali v Jordanijo, preostale pa stisnili v dve okupirani enklavi – Gazo in Zahodni breg.

Nakba je izraelski izvirni greh. Kar se danes dogaja v Gazi in Zahodnem bregu, je zgolj nadaljevanje popolnega etničnega čiščenja, ki se je začelo z Nakbo in nadaljevalo z Nakso.

Poklon Rogerju Watersu (ex Pink Floyd) v spodnjem intervjuju, ki je ena redkih javnih osebnosti na zahodu, ki si upa to javno povedati.

Pod njim pa je še kratek povzetek iz Wikipedije (ja, kljub pristranskosti in vplivu ameriških in izraelskih obveščevalnih služb na njene vsebine je tekst o Nakbi še vedno travmatično branje; precej boljših in bolj objektivnih zgodovinskih tekstov je o Nakbi, vendar namerno objavljam najbolj izraelsko pristranskega).

The Nakba (Arabic: النَّكْبَة, romanized: an-Nakba, lit. ‘the catastrophe’) is the ethnic cleansing[2] of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their society and the suppression of their culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations.[3] The term is used to describe the events of the 1948 Palestine war in Mandatory Palestine as well as the ongoing persecution and displacement of Palestinians by Israel.[4] As a whole, it covers the fracturing of Palestinian society and the long-running rejection of the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.[5][6]

During the foundational events of the Nakba in 1948, approximately half of Palestine’s predominantly Arab population, or around 750,000 people,[7] were expelled from their homes or made to flee through various violent means, at first by Zionist paramilitaries, and after the establishment of the State of Israel, by its military. Dozens of massacres targeted Palestinian Arabs and over 500 Arab-majority towns, villages, and urban neighborhoods were depopulated,[8] with many of these being either completely destroyed or repopulated by Jews and given new Hebrew names. Israel employed biological warfare against Palestinians by poisoning village wells. By the end of the war, 78% of the total land area of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by Israel.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

J’Accuse: Zahodni mediji so sokrivi za masaker v Gazi in Libanonu

4 oktobra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , ,

Poročanje Karmen Švegl iz Bližnjega vzhoda je simptom odnosa zahodnih medijev do leto dni trajajočega izraelskega genocida v Gazi, izraelskega masakra v Libanonu in velike regionalne vojne, ki se po izraelsko-ameriških notah kuha na Bližnjem vzhodu. Zahodni mediji so v postelji z Izraelom in ZDA.

The US and Iran are on the brink of war. Israel and the United States are planning a major attack on Iran, which according to Biden himself could entail strikes on Iranian oil sites. Iran is now saying that its days of “individual self-restraint” are over, and it is prepared to go all-in if the US and Israel keep ramping up escalations.

The IDF continues to slaughter civilians in Lebanon with US-backed airstrikes as news surfaces that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a 21-day ceasefire with Israel shortly before Israel assassinated him. The US reportedly knew about the deal.

And of course Israel is still killing dozens of civilians a day in its daily massacres in Gaza. Ninety-nine American healthcare workers who volunteered in the enclave have published an open letter to their president detailing the horrors that they have witnessed, and estimating the current death toll from this onslaught is over 118,908.

And at this juncture in history, I think it would be good for us to give the western press their due credit for helping to take us here by manufacturing consent for the political environment in which such western-supported atrocities are possible.

All the mass media personnel who’ve been lying and manipulating for Israel helped pave the way to this.

All the pundits and reporters who’ve been assigning far more weight to the Israeli deaths on October 7 than to the vastly greater number of Arab deaths before and since.

All the editors who’ve been running “Gaza child walks into bullet” passive-language headlines designed to mask Israel’s responsibility for the killings.

Nadaljujte z branjem→

Po atentatu v Libanonu: Velika regionalna vojna ali zmaga Izraela?

29 septembra, 2024 By in gospodarstvo Tags: , , , ,

In the past 48 hours, Lebanon has experienced a significant geopolitical event that may have far-reaching implications for the entire region. This moment is likely to be recorded as a decisive chapter in the region’s history. Why?

Firstly, the decision to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, was made while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States, specifically during the United Nations General Assembly session. The location and timing are symbolic for two reasons: it suggests that the decision was made with American consent, and it implies that the principles of international justice, as represented by the UN, are subordinated to Israeli interests. This signals that we are living in an era where power overrides justice.

Secondly, Nasrallah’s assassination would represent a significant blow to Hezbollah. Even the group’s most loyal supporters cannot ignore this reality. Nasrallah was a charismatic leader, a skilled military commander, and a master strategist. Replacing him would not be easy, as he was a unique figure within Hezbollah. His leadership style and capabilities would be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate.

Nadaljujte z branjem→