Random rants or posts by a Brown Guy who is not always Angry. Usually about politics, sports or games but every now and then comes along a post completely off the wall.
CBS’ 60 Minutes has quite an eye-opening piece and quite frankly an amazing segment exposing Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. The piece is by Senior CBS Foreign Correspondent Bob Simon, who is Jewish living outside Tel-Aviv and produced by Robert G. Anderson.
“While my heart still wants to believe that the two-state solution is possible, my brain keeps telling me the opposite because of what I see in terms of the building of settlements. So, these settlers are destroying the potential peace for both people that would have been created if we had a two-state solution,” Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, once a former candidate for Palestinian president, told Simon.
Palestinians had hoped to establish their state on the West Bank, an area the size of Delaware. But Israelis have split it up with scores of settlements, and hundreds of miles of new highways that only settlers can use. Palestinians have to drive – or ride – on the older roads.
Gaza Justice Action Center has an appreciation page for those who watched the video and want to express their support that reads the following:
Thank you for exposing Israel’s apartheid policies against Palestinians during your January 25, 2009 piece titled: Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution?
It’s rare to find impartial meaningful news stories about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by American media outlets. Your story relayed to viewers the untold realities that are blocking peace progress in that region.
I urge you to produce similar balanced stories on the conflict and occupation. Thank you again
Here is a prime example of an interview that is just not broadcasted in the “free media” of America and any sort of questioning like this would most certainly be followed by accusations of being anti-semetic.
A great return for The Daily Show last night by talking about the chaos in the Middle East and having the moderator of Meet The Press, David Gregory, as his guest. What is great about Jon Stewart is that even when he is talking about serious, informative points, he’ll make you laugh. And you know that when he is passionate about a certain issue he doesn’t let it go. He’ll keep trying to get his questions answered or his points understood.
I think he drives home a good point saying that everyone keeps using the analogy that is Hamas kept attacking America with these rockets, how would we retaliate?” but rarely do you hear the other side of that conversation by someone asking what would America do if another country came in and occupied their land and made the American people go through checkpoints while traveling within their own cities.
I inserted a couple of quotes but the two clips below the break are (1) his intro after coming back from break and (2) David Gregory interview and he asks the Israel question around 4:50 in the second clip.
Jon Stewart: Why can’t anyone – this always surprises me – why can’t any American politician criticize Israel in any way for their behavior. I’m watching these shows and there’s not one person going jesus it’s kind of complex. Yeah Hamas is a bad actor – they shouldn’t be throwing missiles, but gosh you know the treatment of the Palestinian people maybe for the past 50 years is not so nice either. But you never hear that side.
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You know you never hear anyone say hey man you know the settlements or that kind of stuff. Is that really the third rail of American politics now?
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David Gregory: You know settlement activity under the Bush administration – you know from 2000 and 20007 settlement activity increased the population 45% in Israel. That doesn’t say anything about illegal outposts. So there is no question this is not an area where the Bush administration was pressuring the Israelis.
Israel continues their massacre and bombing campaign which including a one-ton bomb in a residential area, all which I should remind you is done in the name of peace.
Gaza officials say that nearly 400 people have died and over 1,500 have been injured since Israel began its aerial assault on Saturday. The U.N. figures say at least 60 Palestinian civilians have been killed.
(A Palestinian medic carries a wounded girl to a treatment room following a missile strike)
(Palestinians carry the body of an 11 year old during his funeral. He was killed Wednesday after he was injured on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike. His two sisters, 12 and 4, died in Tuesday’s airstrike.)
You notice stories like this all the time whether it was in a mall or in an airport and I just don’t understand how parents, not only all over this country but all over the world continue to focus more on getting to their destination on time rather than the welfare of their children. I especially like how the story points out that they made sure that their 18 suitcases for the entire family was accounted for but disregarded whether all the children had made it on board safely.
It was a 3-YEAR-OLD! You would think someone account for her amongst the two parents and four other children that were going. The scary part of all this (as if leaving a child at the airport wasn’t enough) is that they did not realize that the child was missing at all until notified by the airplane crew that their child had been safely found by authorities at the airport.
JERUSALEM – Israeli airport police say a couple going on a European vacation remembered to bring their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport.
The couple and their five children were late for a flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost. A policeman found her wandering around the terminal, crying for her mother.
Israeli media report Monday that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents, whose names were not released, didn’t notice the child was missing until they were told, in the air, that she had been found at Ben-Gurion airport.
The child, accompanied by an airline staffer, took the next flight to Paris where she was safely reunited with her parents.Read more…