Nationalism + Religion = Disaster

So some people have accused me of being an anti-Semite, or anti-Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am anti-oppression anti-Imperialist as well as pro-human being. I think Judaism is a beautiful religion filled with amazing heritage and culture and some of the people I respect most in the world are Jewish. It truly is a sad time when one can't criticize the actions of the secular Israeli government without being labeled an anti-Semite. It's only in the last 70 years that Zionist nationalism took hold and caused all the problems.

I truly believe most Palestinians want peace. They are a rich and vibrant culture that is suffocating under occupation. The retaliations taken by Israel are disproportionate and completely unjustified. Yes the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis are guilty of attrocities, but the collective punishment has got to stop. The root causes of the martyr bombings are complete control of daily life of the average Palestinian as well as a land that has been stolen at the barrel of a gun. A well adjusted and free person generally doesn't do suicide bombings. Although I don't support violent resistance, I can see why it happens.

I find myself wanting to talk to the soldiers because I'm sure on a personal level they're mostly OK. They must hate the occupation as much as anyone else. Surely they must know their presence here is unjust and strictly to protect the racist and ideological settlers. Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to talk to them because it looks bad in the eyes of the Palestinians. We want them to trust our presence here.

One of our ISMers has been threatened on the internet. He posted the video of the settler attack just outside our apartment. He received a message saying they know what he looks like and it would be a shame if something were to happen. I'm pretty sure it says in the Torah that it's not OK to commit violent acts. How come fundamentalists can pick and choose which part of their dogma they obey?

We took the long way around to the mosque the other day. Walked past another occupied house taken by the settlers. They apparently took it by force a couple months back. They broke a four year old's hand in the process. They have been served an eviction notice by the courts, but who knows if that will stick. Everywhere the settlers go, they leave their mark. Star of Davids spray painted everywhere. Rocks and verbal abuse thrown at any Palestinian in the area. It's funny, even the courts agree the occupation of the house is illegal yet it still gets army protection.

It's the end of Ramadan here so the streets are eerily quiet. Nothing is open as Muslims everywhere prepare the biggest feast of the year. No school runs today so I imagine we'll just end up doing some checkpoint watching. Five bucks says we stumble upon someone being held just before sundown when Muslim's break their fast.

Our mission over the next couple of days is to track down some spray paint. Green, black, red and white. Because the settlers keep tearing down the Palestinian flags we put up at Issa's house, we're going to paint them on the walls. It shouldn't be too hard to get them in because as I said in a previous blog, the checkpoints aren't for security but humiliation. We'll just have to take the long way round into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and cross at the unmanned roadblock.

This song by Propaghandi keeps running through my head:

You speak of Rastafari, but how can you justify belief in a God that's left you behind. You simply fill the gap between the upper and lower class and your faith merely keeps you in line. An amalgamation of Jewish scripture and Christian thought. What will that get you? Not a fucking fuck of a lot. Take a look at your promised land. Your deed is that gun in your hand. Mt. Zion's a minefield. The West Bank. The Gaza strip... Soon to be parking lots for American tourists and fascist cops. Fuck Zionism. Fuck militarism. Fuck Americanism. Fuck nationalism. Fuck religion.