As the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rolls out "Nakbah 2023", a former senior US diplomat has been caught on a viral video telling an Arab street food vendor in New York that the killing of 4,000 Palestinian children in Gaza is "not enough". The video shows Stuart Seldowitz, who worked on the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under President Barack Obama, beginning by insulting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the Holy Quran, and then goes on a hateful anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian tirade. Seldowitz also served as deputy director/senior political officer in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003. This incident raises the question: Is Islamophobia shaping the US policy in the Middle East and South Asia regions?
Stuart Seldowitz, Former US Senior National Security Official |
US-Pakistan Ties:
US-Pakistan relations hit an all-time low during the Obama years when Stuart Seldowitz worked on the National Security Council South Asia Directorate. Did Seldowitz contribute to the downward spiral? Would the ties have tanked as rapidly and as far as they did if he wasn't there? Were there other Islamophobes in policy roles who caused it? Seldowitz's recent hateful comments about Muslims and Palestinians do raise all these questions.
Nakba 2023:
"We're rolling out Nakba 2023", said Israeli government minister Avi Dichter, referring to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza on November 12, 2023, according to Haaretz newspaper. Nakbah, meaning catastrophe, is what the Palestinians call their forced removal from their homes and lands by violent Zionist militias in the 1940s.
Since Dichter's statement about "rolling out Nakba 2023", another Israeli minister, Gila Gamliel, has explained in a Jerusalem Post op ed why Israel has made large parts of Gaza un-inhabitable. In her words, Israel wants to "promote the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians in Gaza, for humanitarian reasons, outside of the Strip."
Palestine Partition Plan of 1937 |
The Nakba 1 happened in contravention of the Balfour Declaration on British support for a Jewish state in Palestine that clearly stated: "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine."
Balfour Declaration. Source: Jewish Virtual Library |
Settler Colonialism:
Zionist Psyche:
How do Zionists like Stuart Seldowitz, Avi Dichter and Gila Gamliel think about what is going on in the Middle East? I wrote the following piece a couple of weeks ago to explain it:
Zionists are "secular" but they use God as their "land agent" who gave them the "promised land", says Professor Avi Shlaim of Oxford University. Jews are God's "chosen people" who are exempt from the rules that apply to non-Jews, according to Israeli author and journalist Gideon Levy. Israel is carrying out "ethnic cleansing … and that may become genocide”, adds Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov. "No, Palestinians did not commit acts of terrorism, Israel did", tweets Miko Peled, an ex IDF soldier and son of a former Israeli general. These few quotes summarize current thoughts of some of the former Zionists.
Israel Turns Gaza into Rubble
Israeli author and journalist Gideon Levy:
The core of Zionism is the "feeling of being chosen people" that is "deep rooted" in Israel. A consequence of it is that the rules and laws that apply to others do not apply to Israelis. Here's a quote from one of his speeches:
"This is the core of Zionism. This feeling of chosen people is still very deep rooted in Israel. The consequence is that everything which refers to any other country in the world does not refer to Israel. That we are a special case. That international law should be implemented everywhere, but we are a different case. That a Molotov bottle against a Jewish soldier is not like a Molotov bottle against a Russian soldier because we are different, because we are chosen, because of this damned Jewish supremacy".
On Israel's campaign of dehumanizing Palestinians, Levy says:
“My biggest struggle is to rehumanize the Palestinians. There’s a whole machinery of brainwashing in Israel which really accompanies each of us from early childhood, and I’m a product of this machinery as much as anyone else. [We are taught] a few narratives that it’s very hard to break. That we Israelis are the ultimate and only victims. That the Palestinians are born to kill, and their hatred is irrational. That the Palestinians are not human beings like us… So you get a society without any moral doubts, without any questions marks, with hardly public debate. To raise your voice against all this is very hard.”
Levy believes that the talk of the peace process and two-state solution is a scam perpetrated by Zionists. Here's Levy in his own words:
"Now the real turning point should be, for us, the moment that each of us realize that the Israeli occupation is not a temporary phenomenon. I think that most of the people, if not all of them, understand that the occupation is there to stay. And Israel never had the slightest intention to put an end to it. All the efforts were only to mislead the West and to maintain the occupation. All this longest peace process in history, which never led to anywhere, was never aimed to lead to anywhere. All those efforts were only in order to mislead you and enable the occupation to grow, including Oslo".
Professor Avi Shlaim:
Oxford Professor Avi Shlaim believes that Israel "prefers land to peace", adding that "land grabbing and peacemaking don't go together". Here's his exact quote:
"Land grabbing and peacemaking don’t go together, it’s one or the other, and by constantly expanding settlements, Israel showed that it prefers land to peace....Israel by its actions has shown that it is not interested in having a Palestinian partner for peace because it wants to maintain its control over the territory. Israel refuses to accept Hamas as a negotiating partner. Israel’s position is that Hamas is a terrorist organisation – pure and simple. It will never negotiate with it. Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy has been to let Hamas rule the Gaza Strip, but to contain the Gaza Strip, and this policy collapsed, because Gaza could not be contained."
Professor Omer Bartov:
Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov has warned of "genocide" in Gaza. He has talked about "clear intention of ethnic cleansing" in the narrow strip of two million Palestinians under heavy bombardment by Israeli forces since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel. Here's a quote from him:
"So, my sense is the following. Israeli political leaders and military leaders have made very startling and frightening statements about Gaza, speaking about flattening Gaza, speaking about Hamas, but by sort of extending it also, by extension, also Gazans, in general, as human animals, speaking about moving the entire population of Gaza out of Gaza. That is a clear intention of ethnic cleansing. So, those statements show intent. And that’s a genocidal intent, which is often very difficult to prove in genocide. People who carry out genocide don’t always want to say that they’re doing it".
Former Israeli Soldier Miko Peled:
Miko Peled, whose father was a general in the IDF and who himself served in the Israeli military, says that Israel is the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Talking about the October 7 surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, he says that "Israel is behaving like a gangster who has been humiliated taking vengeance upon innocent civilians, killing thousands upon thousands". "It's not a question of self-defense, it's a question of brutality and revenge because Israel was humiliated", he adds in an interview on Al Jazeera English.
Peled accuses Israel of lying about the October 7 attack. He said the testimony is now showing that most of the Israeli civilians on October 7 were killed by the Israeli helicopters firing indiscriminately. He says the western governments who support Israel “are supporting the fight against justice, the fight against peace”.
Peled says that “liberal Zionism” is a myth and all forms of Zionism amount, in practice, to the denial of fundamental rights and freedoms for the Palestinian people. This process starts at a young age for Israeli children whose history textbooks claim that the Palestinians left their homes of their own free will, that they were not driven out by Jewish militias in the 1940s. These history books deny what the Palestinians call "Nakbah", meaning Great Catastrophe, that forced them to flee their homes as part of the Zionist plan to ethnically cleanse what is now Israel.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Modi and Netanyahu: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Israel's Gaza Attack is Criminal, Not Defensive
Pictorial Review of Israel's Young Gaza Victims
American College Campuses Rise Up Against Israel's Genocidal War on Gaza
Israeli Settler Colonialism
India Promotes Half Truths About UNSC Kashmir Resolutions
Obama's Parting Shot Against Pakistan
Total, Extended Lockdown in Indian Occupied Kashmir
What is India Hiding From UN Human Rights Team?
Indian JNU Professor on Illegal Indian Occupation of Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland
Riaz Haq Youtube Channel
VPOS Youtube Channel
12 comments:
To be fair, I do not think one needs to look to Stuart Seldowitz or any Islamophobia in US Administration for the downward spiral in US-Pak relations. Pakistan has only itself to blame for it, for two reasons - OBL and the Haqqani network.
Vineeth: "To be fair, I do not think one needs to look to Stuart Seldowitz or any Islamophobia in US Administration for the downward spiral in US-Pak relations. Pakistan has only itself to blame for it, for two reasons - OBL and the Haqqani network"
You are embracing the western narrative of blaming the victims.
OBL and Haqqani were both creation of the United States. They were recruited to fight the Cold War against the Soviet Union. When they turned against the US, they were declared terrorists. Now Pakistan is dealing with the mess created by the US.
Similarly, Hamas was supported and funded by Israeli intelligence to split the Palestinians. It was part of the Israeli strategy of "divide and rule". Now Gazans are paying a heavy price.
ISLAMOPHOBIA ?
ISLAM IS NO THREAT TO THE WEST !
IT IS A RUSE CREATED BY THE WEST TO CONTROL THE GULF !
HAMAS WAS A LONG TERM BET BY MOSSAD TO MAKE GREATER ISRAEL ! IDF HAS HIT NO AMMO DUMP AND THE TO LEADERS ARE ALL SAFE ! AIM WAS TO SPLIT GAZA IN 2 !
MOSSAD LEFT HAMAS IN CHARGE FOR THIS DAY !
G FOR GAZA ?
NEIN !
IT IS G FOR GAS !
ISLAMOPHIBIA IS FOR THE DUMB MEDIA AND DODOS, WHO MAKE OPINIONS BASED ON MEDIA !
AS PER OSLO DEAL,20 NAUT MILES FROM GAZA STRIP,IS EEZ,AND THAT IS WHERE GAS RESERVES OF 200 BILLION USD WERE FOUND IN 2000 !
THEN THERE IS THE LEVIATHAN GAS ! THAT IS SPLIT WITH LEBANON AND CYPRUS AND ISRAEL !
SO FOR ISRAEL - EASY TARGET IS GAZA ! AND SO, THE GAZA DRAMA ! GAZA GAS IS IN SHALLOW WATERS AND LEVIATHAN GAS IS VERY DEEP !
AND THAT EXPLAINS THE SOFT TOUCH OF FRANCE AND EU ! AS ALL THAT GAS,IS TO BE EXPORTED VIDE LNG TANKERS,FROM HAIFA TO EU ! TO SOLVE THE RUSSIAN GAS THREAT !
BUT GAS IN GAZA AND LEVANT, WILL THREATEN TURKEY,AS A GAS HUB,AND US GAS EXPORTS TO EU !
SO US WANTS TO KEEP GAZA ON BURNER,AND KEEP THAT GAS OFF THE MARKET, UNTIL THEY FIND A PUPPET ,
ISRAEL HAS ALREADY TAKEN OVER A GAS FIELD,IN WEST BANK - S0 IT AIN'T NEW FOR THEM !
AND THAT IS Y IDF WANTS GAZA EMPTY AND EU WANTS TO TAKE IN GAZANS ! AN EMPTY OR CLOSE TO EMPTY GAZA WILL ALLOW A PLIABLE PUPPET IN GAZA TO DANCE TO THE TUNE OF TEL AVIV AND NATO !
AND THAT IS Y QATAR FUNDS HAMAS,AS GAS PRICES STAY HIGH ! ONCE GAZA GAS COMES IN ,GAS RATES WILL FALL !
IRAQ WAS OIL !
GAZA IS GAS !
ISLAM AND ISLAMOPHOBIA IS JUST A MIRAGE !
EVERYYTHING IS A LIE ! AND THAT IS THE ONLY TRUTH ! dindooohindoo
ISLAMOPHBIA IS THE GREATEST DIVERSION INVENTED !
HINDOOS AND CHRISTIANS NEED A REASON, TO HATE MUSLIMS AND ISLAM, AND THE PUPPET MASTERS, ARE PLAYING THIS SONG, VERY WELL !
LOOK AT CHAI-STHAN ! HOW CHAIWALA HAS USED SOCIAL MEDIA,LIKE FACEBOOK,TWITTER AND GOOGLE TO WHIP UP ISLAMOPHOBIA,ANTI-MUSLIM HATE,CHANNEL RIGHT WING HINDOOS, BUILD TROLL ARMIES,AND SPREAD LIES AND DISINFORMATION - IS A LE CLASSIQUE MASTERPIECE !
THE PREFERRED OPTION OF CHAIWALA IS THE VHP !
Many years ago,the CIA had classed the VHP as a terror organization, and later classed it,as a “religious militant organization”.
It is the business model of the VHP,to make “controversial religious posts” (by stooges with Muslim names)from unknown or hacked accounts, make the posts viral on the web,,create law and order problems, start riots,grab eyeballs and media coverage,destroy shops and businesses of the minority community,and then replace the minority business interests, with that of the financial sponsors of the VHP (who are from the bania community).
These riots are also used by the VHP for,land grabbing activities,of the minority and backward communities,at nil or distress rates.
Land grabbing and encroaching on state and private land,to build temples,is also a part of the business and financing model,of the VHP.
This is the financing and working capital mechanism of the VHP,and they are also funded and protected,by the ruling polity,in this regard.
The US State Department, in its 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: India,from the OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, has named the VHP and Bajrang Dal, for planning and partaking, in the killing of, Muslims and Christians,in India.
THIS ANTI - MUSLIM POGROM AIDS THE VHP IS DIVERTING DIMWIT HINDOOS FROM THE MONEY LAUNDERING OF THE VHP AND ALSO AIDS THESE BANIA SCUM IN RAISING FUNDS FROM INDIA AND THE WEST !
The entire diamond exim money laundering via London, Antwerp, Frankfurt,Zug,New York,is routed by “front men”,who are associated with the VHP, as there is a financial intersection between the exim diamond trades,which are not in the books,and the donations raised by VHP from the West (Which are to be funneled into India).That Indian Americans get tax credits for donations to the VHP,which in turn, launders and funnels the money into India,and then,to the ilk of Bajrang Dal (which is used to burn churches and rape nuns),has been documented in hearings of the US Congress
Due to its Anti-Muslim hate,it has allied with like minded souls in the US,and now has its scum in the US Congress !
THese Anti-Muslim rants and campaigns on the Social media,make the dumb hindoos feel that VHP is their custodian and protector ! These panwari banias are the protectors of the Hindoos !
The VHP and Bajrang Dal use Temples,to carry out money laundering,tax evasion, garner lucrative tenders of temples, awarding and brokering management and outsourcing contracts by temples,land grabbing for temples and ashrams,and extorting money from the religious piligrimage value chain
The VHP is involved in the entire “religious tourism value chain”, ranging from transportation, hotels, food, ceremonies,gatherings,satsangs, workshops, books, gifts, souvenirs, nuggets,deity offerings, idols,video and audio recordings,sale of Gangotri water etc.
VHP is an octopussian mafia,which funds the Bajrang Dal,and other lumpens,and has the state government in its tentacles.
The BJP government uses the VHP to fan communal discord, to divert voters,from THE “core issues” of corruption, inflation and employment, and to canvass votes, in elections.
WHY ODES THE PAKISTAN MOFA AND ISI,NOT EXPOSE THESE BANIA VHP-BJP-RSS SCUM,IN THE US AND EU,AND SHUT DOWN,THEIR FUNDING ? INDIAN DIAMONDS ARE TAINTED,WITH THE BLOOD OF MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS !
IT IS NOT INCONCEIVABLE THAT,SFJ OR KCF OR SOME WHITE CHRISTIAN ENTITY,WIPES OUT THE VHP HQ AND TEMPLES IN THE US,UK AND THE WEST - IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE ! dindooohindoo
What you have not covered is what the street vendor said before justifying the actions of Hamas
Both were wrong. The Police are reviewing the tapes and SS will be charged based on the evidence.
Porus: "What you have not covered is what the street vendor said before justifying the actions of Hamas
Both were wrong. The Police are reviewing the tapes and SS will be charged based on the evidence"
Nothing the vendor may have said justifies what Seldowitz did. Similarly, nothing Hamas is reported to have done on October 7 justifies Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza civilians.
With all due respect to you.
Hopefully my current training on Inner Presence will help in my response.
There are no easy answers in gray areas.
Your reply
"Nothing the vendor may have said justifies what Seldowitz did. Similarly, nothing Hamas is reported to have done on October 7 justifies Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza civilians. "
Riaz
Seldowitz was wrong in his response and he later realized he was also wrong. ..as was the vendor.
Hamas was totally wrong on Oct 7 th. and Israel responded.
As per
Genocide
the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
Both Hamas and Israel committed crimes against humanity....
However based on legal definition and per experts they have not committed genocide
See attachments below:
https://time.com/6334409/is-whats-happening-gaza-genocide-experts/
However if I were to ask a Muslim , his response would be genocide by Isreal and the same question asked to a Jew, genocide by Hamas.
These are natural human responses based on ones Bias/
What is going on is crimes against HUMANITY.
Yes, it could end up in Genocide as it did in Guatamala or Rwanda where 200,000 were killed.
Porus: "There are no easy answers in gray areas"
There’s nothing gray about mass killings and wanton destruction of all that sustains life in Gaza.
What you need is moral clarity which is sadly lacking.
Arnaud Bertrand
@RnaudBertrand
This is a must-read by Omer Bartov, an Israeli professor who is one of the world’s leading Holocaust historians and genocide experts:
https://cgcinternational.co.in/the-hamas-attack-and-israels-war-in-gaza/
"On October 7 the repressed reality of Palestinians under direct or indirect Israeli rule literally exploded in the country’s face. From this perspective, while I was shocked and horrified by the brutality of the Hamas attack, I was not surprised at all that it occurred. This was an event waiting to happen. If you keep over two million people under siege for 16 years, cramped in a narrow strip of land, without enough work, proper sanitation, food, water, energy, education, with no hope or future prospects, you cannot but expect outbreaks of ever more desperate and brutal violence."
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1728998212424601967?s=20
Arnaud Bertrand
@RnaudBertrand
This has got to be a first in France's history. A former Prime Minister saying that France is becoming "a very diminished nation" ("un très petit pays"), notably due to the country's reduction in freedom of thought and speech with regard to Israel.
This was Dominique de Villepin, who was responding to accusations of antisemitism made against him, because he'd been very critical of Israel and of the censorship of Israel's critics. Here's a complete translation of what he said, as always extraordinarily well expressed:
"All roads lead to Rome, but not all paths of criticism lead to antisemitism. It is possible to criticize the United States without being necessarily antisemitic. One can criticize the messianic Zionism of a part of the Israeli government without being antisemitic. One can support the idea of justice for the Palestinian people without being antisemitic. One can question an economic, cultural, financial system... As far as I know, a former [french] president of the republic campaigned denouncing the power of finance, he was not antisemitic!
Essentially, in all the questions you ask me, what is the goal? What is the purpose behind you and those who prepare this kind of questioning? It is to make sure that I remain silent... By constantly wanting to limit our ability to express ourselves, by no longer being able to say anything in the media under the pretext that it might mean [this or that] or be inconvenient, by tracking all forms of thought that can overshadow a strategy or policy, we are becoming what we are turning into, that is, a very diminished nation.
Look at the United States, what is happening there? In the United States, within the Democratic Party, which is not known for its antisemitism, a major revolt is taking place regarding Israel. A generational revolt, a political revolt. And within the Jewish community itself, linked to the relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, there is also a revolt organizing.
You know, what I think about first and foremost by telling you this is the interests of Israel, the interest of the Jewish community: it is necessary to help oneself, that is, not to put oneself in a situation where one risks fueling criticism. So I believe it takes a lot of lucidity, a great deal of rigor, a little bit of courage, to try to assert one's ideas and convictions."
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1728952543349498202?s=20
Christiane Amanpour
@amanpour
“If we shall not end the occupation, we shall not have security,” warns Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, “and if we shall not end this occupation, we shall not have democracy.”
In an extraordinarily candid interview, Israel’s former internal security chief condemns what he calls Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “toxic leadership,” and argues that as the war continues, “we are losing our identity as people, as Jews, and as human beings.”
Watch our full conversation here.
https://x.com/amanpour/status/1805295431355973645
-------------
In January 2024, Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's internal security force, the Shin Bet, said that Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state. Ayalon also called for Israeli authorities to release Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the second intifada, to help negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state. Ayalon also said that Israel is not at war with the Palestinians.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/shin-bet-ami-ayalon-calls-on-israel-release-intifada-leader-marwan-barghouti
Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral who also commanded Israel’s navy and was wounded in battle and decorated for his service, also said destroying Hamas was not a realistic military goal, and the current operation in Gaza risked entrenching support for the group.
“We Israelis will have security only when they, Palestinians, will have hope. This is the equation,” he said in an interview at his home. “To say the same in military language: you cannot deter anyone, a person or a group, if he believes he has nothing to lose.”
He said Israel’s war in Gaza was a just one, after the horrors of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas slaughtered at least 1,200 people and took more than 240 others hostage. But too many Israelis could not accept that Hamas did not represent all Palestinians, or that they had a legitimate claim to their own state, he said.
Ayalon said most Israelis believed that “all Palestinians are Hamas or supporters of Hamas”, and they did not accept the concept of a Palestinian identity. “We see them as people, not ‘a people’, a nation,” he said. “We cannot accept [the idea of a Palestinian people] because if we do, it creates a huge obstacle in the concept of the state of Israel.”
He believes releasing Barghouti, a Palestinian who has been jailed since 2002, serving a life sentence for murder after leading the second intifada, would be a vital step towards meaningful negotiations. According to recent polls he would beat senior Hamas figure Ismail Haniyeh in open elections.
Christiane Amanpour
@amanpour
“If we shall not end the occupation, we shall not have security,” warns Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, “and if we shall not end this occupation, we shall not have democracy.”
In an extraordinarily candid interview, Israel’s former internal security chief condemns what he calls Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “toxic leadership,” and argues that as the war continues, “we are losing our identity as people, as Jews, and as human beings.”
Watch our full conversation here.
https://x.com/amanpour/status/1805295431355973645
-------------
In January 2024, Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's internal security force, the Shin Bet, said that Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state. Ayalon also called for Israeli authorities to release Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the second intifada, to help negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state. Ayalon also said that Israel is not at war with the Palestinians.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/shin-bet-ami-ayalon-calls-on-israel-release-intifada-leader-marwan-barghouti
Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral who also commanded Israel’s navy and was wounded in battle and decorated for his service, also said destroying Hamas was not a realistic military goal, and the current operation in Gaza risked entrenching support for the group.
“We Israelis will have security only when they, Palestinians, will have hope. This is the equation,” he said in an interview at his home. “To say the same in military language: you cannot deter anyone, a person or a group, if he believes he has nothing to lose.”
He said Israel’s war in Gaza was a just one, after the horrors of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas slaughtered at least 1,200 people and took more than 240 others hostage. But too many Israelis could not accept that Hamas did not represent all Palestinians, or that they had a legitimate claim to their own state, he said.
Ayalon said most Israelis believed that “all Palestinians are Hamas or supporters of Hamas”, and they did not accept the concept of a Palestinian identity. “We see them as people, not ‘a people’, a nation,” he said. “We cannot accept [the idea of a Palestinian people] because if we do, it creates a huge obstacle in the concept of the state of Israel.”
He believes releasing Barghouti, a Palestinian who has been jailed since 2002, serving a life sentence for murder after leading the second intifada, would be a vital step towards meaningful negotiations. According to recent polls he would beat senior Hamas figure Ismail Haniyeh in open elections.
Post a Comment