Monday, January 2, 2017

John Kerry's Israeli-Occupied Mind

In my last post, I listed US Secretary of State John Kerry's terms of endearment for the genocidal colonial-settler state of Israel (Remarks on Middle East Peace, 28/12/16). I turn now to what he had to say about the brutalised indigenous, occupied/exiled inhabitants of Palestine.

There's barely a word, phrase, sentiment, misrepresentation or outright lie in it that hasn't been borrowed from some Zionist propaganda tract or talking point.

In a very long speech, there are only two points where Kerry actually touches on the devastating impact of Israel's military occupation on the Palestinian people - but in neither does he come anywhere close to doing it justice:

"I have also often visited West Bank communities, where I met Palestinians struggling for basic freedom and dignity amidst the occupation, passed by military checkpoints that can make even the most routine daily trips to work or school an ordeal, and heard from business leaders who could not get the permits that they needed to get their products to the market and families who have struggled to secure permission just to travel for needed medical care."

"I've also seen the devastation of war in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian girls in Izbet Abed Rabo played in the rubble of a bombed-out building."

The idea that desperate acts of resistance are an inevitable consequence of a grinding, never-ending military occupation/colonisation process is nowhere to be found. Instead, we get this:

"There is absolutely no justification for terrorism, and there never will be. The most recent wave of Palestinian violence has included hundreds of terrorist attacks in the past year, including stabbings, shootings, vehicular attacks and bombings, many by individuals who have been radicalized by social media. Yet the murderers of innocents are still glorified on Fatah websites, including showing attackers next to Palestinian leaders following attacks. And despite statements by President Abbas and his party's leaders making clear their opposition to violence, too often they send a different message by failing to condemn specific terrorist attacks and naming public squares, streets and schools after terrorists. President Obama and I have made it clear to the Palestinian leadership countless times, publicly and privately, that all incitement to violence must stop. We have consequently condemned violence and terrorism, and even condemned the Palestinian leadership for not condemning it."

Incredibly, even seeking redress in international fora is verboten:

"Far too often, the Palestinians have pursued efforts to delegitimize Israel in international fora. We have strongly opposed these initiatives..."

Apparently, occupied/colonised Palestinians are supposed to just sit on their hands as the Israelis, with the connivance of the Americans, pull the rug out from under them. And God forbid that any Palestinians should want all of their homeland back:

"Most troubling of all, Hamas continues to pursue an extreme agenda: they refuse to accept Israel's very right to exist. They have a one-state vision of their own: all of the land of Palestine."

Then, FFS, we have the naked Israeli virgin encircled by swarthy, hirsute bikies, drooling at the prospect of violating her sweet innocence as they close in:

"And we all understand that Israel faces very serious threats in a very tough neighborhood. Israelis are rightfully concerned about making sure that there is not a new terrorist haven right next door to them."

Here it is, 2016/2017, and Kerry's still trotting out the Leon Uris version of 1948:

"The United States recognized Israel seven minutes after its creation. But the Palestinians and the Arab world did not, and from its birth, Israel had to fight for its life. Palestinians also suffered terribly in the 1948 war, including many who had lived for generations in a land that had long been their home too."

The Palestinian presence in Palestine goes back to the Canaanites but for Kerry it has long been their home too!

As for 1967, he peddles the same, tired myth we've been hearing now for almost 50 years:

"Next year will also mark 50 years since the end of the Six-Day War, when Israel fought for its survival."

Finally, here's Kerry's 'solution' to the Palestinian refugee problem:

"Provide for a just, agreed, fair, and realistic solution to the Palestinian refugee issue, with international assistance, that includes compensation, options and assistance in finding permanent homes, acknowledgment of suffering, and other measures necessary for a comprehensive resolution consistent with two states for two peoples."

This of course has nothing whatever to do with justice, fairness or realism. It is nothing more than a transparent attempt to skirt the requirements of UNGA resolution 194 (1948): "... refugees willing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so..."

Kerry's speech is nothing but the delusional product of an Israeli-occupied mind.

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