No Silent Night - 2023

Yesterday the IDF pounded Gaza with bombs and artillery, killing scores of civilians and wounding hundreds. Their national holocaust soul demands retribution for Hamas' October 7 attack and their revenge has not be an eye for an eye. Not on Yom Kippur. Not on Hannukah. Not on Christmas. Extermination of the Palestinians has been the only goal for Israel. Hamas, men, women, children. They have forced their fellow Semites to the edge of the Negev to march everyone the sea or desert same fate as the Turks visited on the Armenians. From the river to the sea, Israel will be free of anyone, but Jews. Many of my Jewish friends see this as the only course. Extermination once and all. Americans remain silent on the subject. The Press only report one-side. Zionism supreme. Silence is the truth. But not for me. And not for others. We believe in peace, but not at the price demanded by Netanyahu and his fascist ministers.

And there is no Silent Night in Gaza last night or tonight.

No Christmas too.

No Silent Night - Bethelem 2023

Yesterday the IDF pounded Gaza with bombs and artillery, killing scores of civilians and wounding hundreds. Their national holocaust soul demands retribution for Hamas' October 7 attack and their revenge has not be an eye for an eye. Not on Yom Kippur. Not on Hanukkah. Not on Christmas. Extermination of the Palestinian has been the only goal for Israel. Hamas, men, women, children. They have forced their fellow Semites to the edge of the Negev to march everyone into the desert as the Turks visited on the Armenians. From the river to the sea, Israel will be free of anyone, but Jews. Many of my Jewish friends see this as the only course. Extermination once and all. Americans remain silent on the subject. The Press only see one-side. Zionism supreme. Silence is the truth. But not for me. And not for others. We believe in peace, but not at the price demanded by Netanyahu and his fascist ministers.

No Christmas too.

Ceasefire - Gaza

Terms of Truce or Ceasefire or Cessation of Hostility according to the BBC Israeli withdrawal, with these intended to occur during the latter phases of Trump's peace plan. What happens next? If completed, the first phase of Trump's 20-point plan would be followed by negotiations over the details of the later phases – but many of these points could be hard to reach an agreement on. The proposal, which you can read in full here, says that if it is agreed by both sides, the war would "immediately end". It says Gaza would be demilitarised and all "military, terror and offensive infrastructure" would be destroyed. It also says Gaza would be initially governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats - supervised by a "Board of Peace" headed and chaired by Trump and involving former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Governance of the Strip would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority - which administers the West Bank - once it has undergone reforms. Hamas - the armed group that has run the territory since 2007 - would play no future role in its governance, directly or indirectly, according to the plan. Hamas members would be offered amnesty if they committed to peaceful co-existence, or would be provided safe passage to another country. No Palestinians would be forced to leave Gaza and those who wished to leave would be free to return. A "Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza" would be created by a panel of experts. What are the sticking points over the later phases? There are likely to be multiple points of contention during the negotiations over later phases of the deal. Lyse Doucet: This is a huge moment but just the beginning Hamas has previously refused to lay down its weapons, saying it would only do so once a Palestinian state had been established. The group also made no mention of disarming in its initial response to the plan last weekend, fuelling speculation that its position had not changed. And though Israel has agreed to Trump's plan in full, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to push back on the Palestinian Authority being involved in a post-war Gaza, even as he stood on the podium next to its president last week. Hamas has also said it expects to have some future role in Gaza as part of "a unified Palestinian movement". Another sticking point is the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal. Israel says its first withdrawal will see it retaining control of around 53% of Gaza. The White House plan indicates further withdrawals to around 40% and then 15%. That final stage would be a "security perimeter" that would "remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat". The wording here is vague and gives no clear timeline for full Israeli withdrawal - something Hamas is likely to want clarity. Photo by Enas Tantesh

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Oct. 7 2024 - A Year Later

1900

Palestine was a province of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab armies liberated the Middle East with the British Army, but the provinces were divided by two English Arab experts. Straight lines drawn in the deserts. Peace ruled the lands, but the West had plans for the Levant. Acrcording to a 1914-1915 census 1914 the population of Palestine was 602,377 Muslims, 38,754 Jews and 81,012 Christian.

1937 Nakba when the British defeated the Palestinians and then armed the Zionists to create a homeland for the Jewish people after the Holocaust. The partition wasn't in Germany, but the biblical kingdom of Judah which hadn't rxisted for almost two thousand years.

Death camp survivors and Jews of the Diaspora emigrated to Palestine with the hopes of a place of refuge. None wanted to remain in countries, which had executed the Final Solution such as Germany, Poland, and Austria. This safety came at the cost of the Palestinians; Muslims, Christians, Druze, Samaritans, and others, when the UN voted a partition granthing one-third of the population two-thirds of the land without a plebicite of the land's inhabitants.

Palestine shrunk with the loss of wars. 1948. 1956. 1967. 1972 and then the occupation. Israel a theoocracy ruling over an apartheid ghetto. People said those people were always fighting each other just like the Irish fought the rule of the British. We Irish always stand for a Free Palestine.

Ugly.

Throughout the occupation of Palestine the PLO Hamas and Hezbollah has countered US financing, F-16s, and IDF precision bombing and invasions and with armed attacks on Israeli targets, airline hijacking suicide bombing, and intifdas to no avail, then on October 7, 2023. Hamas broke through the border walls to attack the desert communities in the Negev. On that morning the IDF was asleep. Shin Bet supposedly knew nothing about the preparations for the break-out. Hamas fighters swarmed from Gaza. Nearly 1109 Isrealis died in the assault. Hostages taken by Hamas. Israeli accusations of rape and babies burned to death. The only POV that of Israel and world opinion sanctioned the complete destruction of Gaza, especially the US government.

From Al Jazeera Senator Tom Cotton: “Israel doesn’t need patronising lectures about civilian casualties. As far as I’m concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza.”

Tens of thousands killed by ensuing revenge bombing and artillery barrages. Hundreds of thousands wounded by the IDF. Millions homeless. Nowhere to run or hide in a repeat of the Warsaw Ghetto extermination by the Nazis.

As for the deaths of non-combatants according to Al-Jazeera Former President Bill Clinton said: “Hamas makes sure that they’re shielded. They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself.” and

For months Netanyahu and the hardliners backed by the DNC and GOP refused to negotiate with Hamas or anyone.

Once more Al-Jazeera cited Former President Joe Biden: “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”

Israel sought blood and death backed by billions from the West. War consolidates the the Nazionist rule over Palestine and Judah. $95 billion to kill 100,000 or more with the wounded numbering 244,000. Over 10% of Gaza's pre-October 7 population. And there's more to come with no escape from the onslaught for civilians. Not to Azrael. Not to Egypt. NOt even to the sea. The people are trapped in a shattered land along with Hamas and the remaining hostages. No nations wants the Palestinians. None of the Arab countries. They like the Jews throughout the Diaspora and the Irish under the Crown are pariahs. The Nazionists want to marched them en masse into the Negrev Desert this winner. But that will not defeat Hams. Only take away the ocean in which they swim.

But there is one solution other than the Final Solution.

Peace.

Shalom

Salaam.

But not with Netanyahu in power, although 47, a Israeli puppet, has proposed a peace truce. Hostage exchanges. Release of prisoners. Armstice. Hamas amnesty with a vow to relinquish control over Gaza. The withdrawl of IDF forces. The return of UN humanitarian services, reconstruction et al. Hamas and no one asks why 10/7.

The date has no significance.

Why?

Ask who had to gain from 10/7?

Not Hamas. Not Israel. Not Iran. Not the USA. No one had an answer. Only one person stood to benefit.

Boris Putin.

Why?

On 24 February 2022 Russia's President Putin greenlighted Soviet forces to invade the Ukraine to protect Rodina from a NATO-backed Nazi regime. Four separate armies crossed the border at dawn. Defeat of Kiev appeared to be inevitable, escept the Ukraine fought back and stopped the Russians dead in their tracks. Putin refused to end the war, but things went from bad to worse. This was the modern world. Drones ruled the skies for both sides. Static strategies lead to horrific losses on both sides. Victory was not in sight. Public opinion weighed heavily against the invaders. Russia was the losing both on the ground and with his people, but the crafty KGB operative had a card to play.

"Intelligence.

About the security on the Gaza BOrder. Netanyahu had pulled off soliders to deal with the protests against his government's attempting to abolish the Supreme Court. Putin couldn't attack on this info, but let his closest arms supplier, Iran, know that the border was soft. The Islamic council had little use for this, but Putin convinced them to let Hamas know about opening. Iran told thier Hamas allies top brass and they decided to take actio, even knowing that the IDF was bound to exact more than a pound of flesh. Shin Bet saw nothing come, because Netanyahu knew of the planned attack and he realized that he could rally the publich behind a war of revenge. The rest is history.

Before 10/7 the War in Ukraine was the # 1 lead for the media. Now Israel Total War rules the headlines. October 11. Chaos. The Ukraine War invisible to the world.

Putin now attacks Ukraine with impunity, reaping the value of Eternal War.

But one day Peace in the world. Gaza, the Ukraine, and everywhere and I hope it's soon.

Call a truce now.

Bring home the hostages.

Stop the war.

Shalom salaam.

Rush A Homa

The Jewish faith has many holidays. More than Catholics. Certainly more than for atheists like myself. According to the all-knowing AI there are no universally prescribed "atheist holidays," as atheism is the lack of belief in gods, not a religion with its own dogma or culture. However, atheists may celebrate holidays for secular reasons, such as Newtonmas on December 25 to honor scientist Isaac Newton, the secular aspects of Christmas, or the Winter Solstice.

This week thos of the Jewish faith celebrated Rosh Hashanah, a two-day observance marking the of the lunar year and also Yashim's creation of Adam and Eve, although that day in front of the 169 bar on East Broadway I argued with Nathan, a religious tribesman, that it was impossible that Adam and Eve were given breath of life on the same day.

"Adam came first, thus proving that the chicken came before the egg. Plus this also explains why pig is forbidden by the Torah." Genesis 2:4-3:24 in the Old Testament.

"How so?"

"Eve was created by Yahweh from Adam's rib. Yahweh performed the same surfical extraction for Adam, except the rib came crom a pig, since they are very close to humans, as evinced by recent attempts to tranpant pig organs into himans."

"That proves nothing."

"It's just a thoeery like Einstein's Relativity."

"You are obviously a thinking man."

"Just the musings of a shabath goy."

"A heretic too."

"apikoyres. The word is derived from the greek philosopher Epicurus, an ancient rationalist known for disputing Yahweh's or any Gods' influence on the cosmos, thus suggesting that Man adn not animals, plants, planets, or the stars possessed free will. I followed his teaching of a simole life, although I had been a drinker for over sixty years. Nothing simple about that I'm sober these years. "Have you ever blown the shofur." The ram's horn announcing the new year?

"Two years ago."

"Mazel tof."

As with many conversation with Jews these years we spoke about Gaza. I proposed the only answer is peace and justice.

"One deay the Jews will have to atone for stealing the land as they had in Canaant in the Old Testament."

I left Nathan with that sentence.

Next week is Yom Kippur. The time of atonement. Why not this year. Free Palestine.

Nagasaki Day 2025 Gaza Now

The day after Hiroshima Japanese scientists returned to Tokyo and told the Imperial Cabinet that the bomb had been atomic. The Army possessed intelligence that the US had two to three more bombs and they as samurai should fight to the bitter end to satisfy the bushi dignity of war. THe US received no message from the Japanese about peace negotiations. The next day the Bockscar B-29 was loaded with a Fat Man on Tinian Island and flew with escorts to Nagasaki, an industrial center on the southern island of Kyoshu.

At 11:01 the clouds cleared beneath the bomber and the second atomic bomb was dropped on a city of over 200,000. THe explosion cupped by the hills surrounding Nagasaki intensifying the destruction. THe US reported 60,000. Mostly workers and civilians. Only one hundred and fifty soldiers died on the ground.

On August 9, the Imperial Cabinet met to discuss surrender. The Amry was against capitulation. The Emperor had the final say. As long as Kokutai or Japanese sovereignty could be preserved, he realized that surrender was the only honorable way out of this war without asking his people to die rather than accept defeat. Truman was bound to drop more bombs as they began available. The next for August 19. The Emperor faced reality.

"Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization."

After announcing the cessation of war, die-hard militarists staged a coup. They failed and peace has reigned in Japan. 1945 to 2025. Eighty years. But not so for the USA, trapped as the world's superpower in Endless Wars everywhere in the world, especially in Gaza, where the Azraelis have killed over 300,000 Palestinians in revenge for the twelve hundred deada from Hamas' October 6, Attack. And they aren't stopping yet or in Syria or Yemen or the West Bank. And Azrael has yet to use a Nuclear Bomb. Of curse they can't, since they are basically bombing that which they want for themselves. Judah.

One day there will be peace.

Babi Yar Ala Gaza

On 29–30 September 1941 outside of Kyiv the Nazi occupiers of that city rounded up the city's Jews and marched them to a ravine called Babi Yar. Throughout the next two days the SS Sondercommando squad massacred some thirty-four thousand men, women, and children. No one was spared, although twenty-nine people survived the killings by acting dead. A horrifying number and of course the SS and their commanders slept like princes after the slaughter.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel desert settlements, the IDF has indiscriminately killed over twenty-seven thousand Palestinians. Three months of constant and methodical killing, but without coming close to the savagery of Babi Yar. Netanyahu's advisors must be asking themselves, "How was that possible? Should we be more ruthless with Amalekites."

Bibi's staff substitute that tribe for the people of Gaza.

Yahweh had allowed the Hebrews to annihilate this tribe after the crossing of the Red Sea.

“You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons, or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods”

According to the Old Testament the exiles from Egypt battled the Amalekites with the divine weapon. Moses and Aaron smote them with their hands and staffs. Not the first time nor the last the Children of Judah practiced extermination, but this time like the Holocaust the while world is not some much watching, but turning an eye.

Some of my Jewish friends are against the War on Gaza, but the others only see genocide as the one true Final Solution. They have yet to understand that it really isn't easy to kill off an entire people and it comes at a cost. The future looks dark, but I have hopes that more ignorant minds take over and try to accomplish the impossible. Peace.

Shalom is the same in Hebrew as it is in Arabic.

Israeli military has struck at Hamas leaders. Their replacements will be in no hurry to negotiate with assassins.

But peace has to meant something to everyone.

As does genocide.

Remember Babi Yar.

Imagine Peace

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No silent night No peace on Earth Like Lennon sang Imagine Imagine Imagine

Imagine no more them Imagine no more us Imagine only we are the world We are us. We are us.

From the mountains And the valleys To the Oceans All around the world.

No more prayers No more thoughts Only the silence of guns And Peace on Earth

From the Jordan River To the Ukraine To the wars Everywhere Nothing but peace

For the children of now For the children of the future For we who were once children Peace around the world.

Imagine It's easy if you try Lennon sang that then Let's sing it together now.

All together now All tomorrows All together now We are us All of us Like it or not.

שוב רצח עם עז

Facebook has censored most of my comments on Gaza. I believe in the one state for all the peoples. Isrhael stole the land of Palestine with the help of the British and French after World War I, but that history don't matter now. All the wars fought and the uprisings crushed and the apartheid oppression and suicide bombings don't matter after October 7.

Hammas fighters burst from the invincible high tech stalag and unleashed a 9/11. <>

For the forty-three days Gaza has suffered the wrath of Yahweh.

Dead children, women, and men.

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None at all.

The Gaza ghetto to be razed to the ground and the people forced into the al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ or the Middle White Sea or the Negev desert in the dead of winter ala The Ottoman's Final Solution. The bombings and tanks are only spurs to force the people into death of their choosing.

Not everyone in the world is behind this genocide, but the American Seventh Fleet is stationed off Gaza to insure Israel has a free hand in acheiving the annilation of the Palestinians in Gaza as well the West Bank. Like the Nazis they will fail, because like the Jews the palestinians are everywhere in this world.

All we want is peace.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN UNLESS YOU MEAN IT FOR ALL

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Another Day Another Massacre

After the defeat of the Arab forces in 1948, almost a million Palestinian Arabs fled their houses, villages, and cities in fear of the conquering Israelis. This exodus was a trail of tears. The Palestinians called the tragedy Nakba.

The victors showed no mercy during the ethnic cleansing of the region.

The refugees never were allowed to go home.

This week tens of thousands of protestors gathered in Gaza to protest the injustice.

The IDF or Israeli Defense Force responded by shooting live rounds into the crowds.

Hundreds have been killed by the IDF hiding behind dirt berms.

Safe from harm.

They shoot men.

They shoot women.

They shoot the press.

And they kill children.

like the Nazis of Babi Yar.

Meanwhile the Trump regime celebrates the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Tanks.

Versus a boy throwing a stone.

Shame.

Klaatu Barada Nikto

Isaac Asimov wrote the three laws of robotics in I ROBOT.

1.) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2.) A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3.) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

The producers of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL ignored these edicts by granting the robot Gort the ability to destroy humanity for its sins against universal peace.

This week the powers of peace have been overwhelmed by the forces of war in the Middle East.

My friend Jorge wrote on facebook; Just to be clear, I think Israel has as much right to exist as the state of Palestine. I decry their bombing of Gaza, just as I do Palestinian attacks on Israel. I am not looking to ascribe blame in this convoluted scenario; I simply wish for innocent people and children to be spared. Naive as it may sound, I think all violent aggressors that cost innocent lives should be policed and boycotted by the UN and world-at-large over and above any political affiliations. If world-government accord enforced such stipulations, aggressors would have to cease or face sanctions and embargo. Of course that would leave much of the world, including the US, penalized. Enter Gort!

Klaatu barada nikto.

One friend posted; Its all so fucking stupid...after all this time what is the fucking point? And I entered the fray by writing; The point is that these two sides have grievances. Palestinian land was stolen by the Israelis to make up from their treatment at the hands of the Nazis. Peace cannot exist without truth." Jorge argued not without a passion for peace, "The new point is to cease returning to historical causes and justifications and to start unanimously denouncing all violent acts. Otherwise, we are caught in an endless cycle." I countered, "The historical causes must be addressed to sate the need for both justice and equality. The truth will out." Our mutual friend Merrill enjoined the discussion with the following entry. "Somebody in a forum I was arguing with about this said the reason Palestine was chosen to repatriate Jews was because they were part of the Ottoman Empire and sided with the Germans during the war. I don't see why that would not warrant the Jews to be settled in Germany though, but I always wondered why Palestine was chosen...why did they draw the short straw? This seems to be all about real estate, plain and simple. I have the impression that the Palestinians are like the American Indians, handshake deals, not keen on "owning" the land, so not able to negotiate rights later on when Israel wants to paper their way over ownership. In that way it is also a culture clash, a difference of relating to owning things. Very sad. Israel seems greedy." I agreed with Merrill by writing, "Someone cited that the Ottoman Empire sided with the Germans. That was in WWI, but the Arabs revolted against the Turks only to be screwed by the Filthy Brits and Frogs. Of course history is written by the victors and revised periodically to suit the purposes of repression. There were no palestinians at Dachau." And as Patricia Neal said in THE DAY EARTH STOOD STILL, "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto." There is no translation to this phrase, but Gort stopped his destruction of the planet. If only it were so easy for us, we could clap our hands like when we watched PETER PAN and say, "Klaatu barada nikto." It has to meant something

Peace At All Costs - Gaza

After the Deir Yassin massacre by the Irgun, Palestians fled the violence of the 1948 War. The refugees numbered over 800,000. This diaspora was never allowed to return by Israeli authorities and the frced exs has been called Nakba or the 'Disaster'.

Camps sprouted up all around the partitioned lands.

The exiles lived in squalor.

The ethnic cleansing has reduced the Arabs land to almost nothing and every year Palestinians demonstrate against the occupation every year at this time.

This week thousands of protestors marched on no-go zone in Gaza.

The IDF pitched up behind dirt berms and shot into the crowd, killing 18 and wounding almost 900.

Men, women, and children.

Sniper bait.

All to save Netanyahu from prosecution for corruption.

Free Palestine.

Free the world.

Free the balloons.

THEY ARE ANIMALS By Peter Nolan Smith

The other day I was on 47th Street selling a diamond. I ran into a young friend. Shimon spotted my NY Times opened to an article about Hamas.

"Animals."

"Excuse me." I liked Shimon. We shared the same taste in clothing.

"Hamas are animals. They hide behind civilians and hide weapons in schools." His chest puffed with righteous indignation.

"That's what the Nazis said about the Jews." I didn't mention that the KKK and John Birch Society shared the same thought.

"What would you do if someone was firing missiles at you?"

"You mean missiles that don't hit anything?"

"People die from the missiles."

"Out of the twelve thousand missiles fired in the last ten years twenty-eight Israelis have been killed versus over 500 Palestinian children killed during the recent Gaza operations by the IDF."

"Because Hamas is hiding behind the civilians."

"No, because the IDF was angered by the number of soldiers killed during their attacks and went blood red for revenge. The blast radius of an artillery shell is 64 meters, which means if there was a missile launcher at St. Patrick's Cathedral we would get blasted to dust."

"But what would you do if they were shooting missiles at you?"

"I'd kill everyone of them."

"And push them into the sea."

"Exactly, but I'm not a Nazi or a Zionist or a member of Hamas. I'm Irish and I know that at one time you have to sit down with the other side and talk about peace or else you'll lose the war and Israel, because people will not back murder or talk about people being animals. Neve again a Shoah. Not for anyone, unless you believe that the Holocaust was a good thing, because it create Israel."

I walked away without hearing his answer.

Shimon texted me later that I was an asshole.

I replied, "לעולם לא עוד."

Like I said I'm Irish and my people lived through the Famine.

"Go deo arís."

It is the way to live.

Anything else is strictly about death and death is not an option for those who have lived through Shoah, the Famine, or the Nakba.

I texted back to Shimon, if he had a two-carat diamond for a certain price.

"Of course."

"Good man."

After all the first law on 47th Street was 'nimmt geld' or take money.

And with my many mouths to feed I am a true believer in taking money.

As well as peace.

Free Palestine.

Free the world

We are not animals.

Meir Kahane Is Dead

This weekend I petitioned passers-by at the General Fowler Triangle in Fort Greene. Blacks were eager to sign. White people shook their head, when asked to sign a petition asking Congress and President Obama to support a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas' resumption of its missile attacks reminds too many New Yorkers of 9/11 and the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism. Their statements about Hamas using human shields and accusations of anti-Semitism came straight from the Western Media without any consideration for the injustice caused by the foundation of Israel.

Hamas is evil.

Israel is defending itself.

A Russian Jewish friend walked by the triangle.

"I can't believe you're supporting terrorists."

"No, I'm supporting an end to the fighting." I quoted Michael Jackson's line from BEAT IT. "I don't care who's wrong or right. All I want is peace."

"Meir Kahane said we can never be at peace with the Arabs." Mike was a young man. We knew each other from 47th Street. He bought gold. I sold diamonds.

"Meir Kahane?" I hadn't heard the name of the JDL's assassinated leader in ages.

"Yes, Kahane argued against the two-state solution, since the Arabs could outbreed the Jews."

"I recollect his saying that the Arabs should be forcibly deported from Biblical Israel."

"It's the only solution."

"You mean like a Final Solution?" This adoption of the Nazi policy against the Palestinians was too ironic for my tastes.

"It's us or them."

"But not the two."

"Never two."

"I don't think the USA will support that measure."

"That's naive. The Arabs don't care what happens to the Palestinians and neither does the USA. Only Israelis care about them and the only way to end the war is to end Palestine."

"A pogram?"

"They threw us out of North Africa by the hundreds of thousands."

"After letting the Jew live amongst them for centuries."

"Everything comes to an end. Good and bad." Mike walked away toward Atlantic Terminal.

"Sie gesund."

"Ed, the head of Brooklyn Peace Intiative came over to me and asked, "What was that about?"

"Meir Kahane."

"Meir Kahane. He was a friend of Bob Dylan and he instructed Arlo Guthrie on the Torah."

"He did?"

"Yes, but he's dead since the 90s. He was shot at a hotel. Supposedly the first al-Qaada attack, but the killer wasn't convicted of murder."

"Why not?"

"CIA?" Ed shrugged and we returned to petitioning the pedestrians.

None of them were Meir Kahane. He was dead.

Only people on their way home or Frank's Lounge or Mullane's or Mo's or la Habana.

Life was good in Brooklyn.

It wasn't Gaza.

Green Everywhere Around Israel

After WW2 hundreds of thousands of Jews sought refuge in Palestine joining the thousands of their religious kinsmen who had fled the pograms of Czarist Russia. This influx of refugees swelled the small British Mandate, so that by 1948 32% of the population of nearly two million people were Jewish, yet the UN resolution awarded over half the land to the newcomers, who seized even more territory after their decisive victories against the Arabs in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 as well as occupying major portions of the West Bank and Gaza to quell any rebellion against Israel. Americans tend to think that Israel has existed forever, however since the Romans conquered the Hebrews no Jewish state existed for almost 2000 years. We have seen countless movies about the struggle to establish a homeland for a people persecuted by the Nazis almost to the point of extinction. Our sympathies were heightened by the romanticism of EXODUS. No president has ever really spoken out against the apartheid democracy and my fellow Americans consider all Arabs as terrorists as evinced by this facebook entry by my cousin Kim "I'm worried about Israel...there will never be peace but hopefully a cease fire. McCain calling for Bill Clinton to go in. Anyone that is willing to cross boarders with a bomb strapped to their chest is a dangerous zealot. No Israeli would do such an act. Beyond war into terrorism. Golda Meir said the conflict would end when the Arabs love their children with the same intensity that they love their children..below a map. Israel is surrounded by enemies. Kim posted the above map showing an Israel wrapped by green. I responded as follows; "Israel put itself in that situation when they stole the land from the palestinians. How many palestinians were at Dachau? Zero. As for the terrorists with a 10lb bomb strapped to them, what about the US made F-16s strapped with 1000 pound bombs. Oh, I forgot that's precision bombing. Fuck an eye for an eye. All I want to say to the two parties is what Grace Slick said at Altamont, "Calm down people." addendum ps on a geographical note Israel has four neighbors and the sea. Then again Americans aren't too good with geography. Kim, I'm glad you have GPS or else you couldn't find your way to Starbucks Her friend Jay jumped into the discussion, "Let's all relive history and make Israel the bad guy again. After all it worked so well last time... NOT!" Kimberly wasn't amused either. Zealots on both sides have no sense of humor, "I shall always love Israel, and what it stands for..Jews persecuted for centuries..shit on for all time..mass graves...gas...six million slain as they whisper the one hope: Israel..the promised land. Yesterday at 3:44pm · Like "Once more there were no Palestinians at Dachau. Love an ideal, do not support apartheid." I wasn't leaving her with the last word. Or at least that's what I thought. Kim. "Hamas is a terrorist organization. The Muslim brotherhood is a terrorist organization. No need to talk down to me. Apartheid. REALLY? We will have to agree to disagree. I tried to reason, "This is all a shadow play at the cost of lives. The plot cannot be seen by those unprepared to challenge the lies of politicians, media, and perception. All is not what it seems, but you know what you've been taught to know. There are no other options when you don't question the truth. Kim: "What, are you in the CIA? LOL" "No, but I know what happened. Over the past months parties within Hamas, Israel, and Egypt pursued a peace pact. The proposal was handed to Ahmed Jabari and hardliners within Hamas snitched him out to an equally obdurate faction within the IDF, who ended all peace prospects with a drone attack. Of course this is all a hunch based on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but then all life is an imitation of art." "Unleash the dogs of war." - General Chang Klingon commander I love Star Trek.

Gaza Versis Goliath

The Old Testament has great plots; Adam and Eve, Moses freeing his people, and the classic David versus Goliath. Israel has touted their relationship to the young shepherd downing the giant throughout the wars against their neighbors without ever mentioning the help of the West. They were never really alone, but few Arab states have openly supported the PLO or Hamas on a military basis in fear of earning the wrath of the Big Dog of the USA. The most recent escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip has resulted in over a hundred dead on both sides, although the Palestinians are taking a beating from their arch-nemesis. Low-tech rockets in one direction and top of the line bombs and missiles in the other. Egypt has offered terms for a ceasefire. Israel demands no hostile fire from Gaza and an end of arms shipments to Hamas, while their fellow falafel eaters demand a cessation to the Gaza blockade and Shin Bet assassinations. While newly re-elected US President Obama attempted to reach a common ground between the combatants, he also green-lighted Israel's right to defend itself. No one wants Israel to lay down in the face of aggression, but neither will the world approve of a bloodletting such as occurred in the last Gaza incursion. PM Netanyahu has called up 75,000 army reservists and Hamas has said 'bring it on'. The IDF has superiority of arms, but as they learned in Lebanon their tanks are only good for one thing, so Israelis are rightfully worried that "Bibi' is leading them into another war without victory only more mayhem. Come on people, demand for a ceasefire. As Winston Churchill said, "It is better to jaw jaw than war war."