Rebel Radio | broadcasting an alternative point of view

From an email a friend sent me:

BBC: “Visiting the Israeli town of Sderot in July, he [Obamaa] suggested
that he too would respond if rockets were being fired at his house.”

Well, did he visit Gaza? Did you, Mr Obama? Would you too then
perhaps respond, to being starved, utterly dehumanized, deprived of
the most basic food and health supplies; reduced to an existence more
bleak and pitiful than life-sentence in prison? Would you respond,
just maybe, to being humiliated on a daily basis, restricted in all
your daily movement, subject to devastating helicopter and tank/troop
incursions in which schools, hospitals, mosques, basic infrastructure
(electricity, water, etc.) were regularly the main prey of missiles
armed with state-of-art targeting systems? When over 1000 Palestinian
children vs. 123 Israeli children have been killed since this conflict
began (that’s a 10 to 1 ratio), and despite these statistics the world
persists in its blatantly racist painting of you as the inhuman
aggressor; tell me, how would you respond, Mr Obama??

You might just go build yourself a make-shift Qassam rocket.
Unsophisticated, completely ineffective, barely able to pierce through
a well-built roof, you figure at least with this rocket, you’re
affirming your one human right of which neither the occupier, nor the
entire world, can never can ever rob you - your right to resist!

The pro-Israel US media likes to say that Hamas violated the ceasefire and that Israel was just responding to the Islamic group’s attacks, but long before the ceasefire ended, Israel had been attacking the Gaza Strip. For instance, on November 5, The Guardian reported that Israel attacked the Gaza Strip in violation of the ceasefire agreement and killed 6 Hamas members. Read about it here. This is one incident among many and please keep in mind that such raids occurred during the ceasefire while Israel was simultaneously imposing a severe economic embargo of the strip. So please, keep telling me Israel wants peace.

by Sara Roy (my thesis adviser), read the article here.

Read about it here.

I’ve been terrible ill for a couple days now so I haven’t been at my computer at all but I’ve been glued to the TV watching the newest Israeli aggression and I’ve grown further disgusted with American media. So in this pro-Israel media blitz going on in the US, what facts are missing? What is the pro-Israeli US media keeping from its American viewers? Well, for one, they (like Ehud Barak on CNN yesterday) keep talking about how Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005 but all it got in return was a continuous barrage of missiles. That’s not entirely accurate. You must not separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. It may be two lands but it is one nation, one people. So while the Gaza Strip was evacuated in 2005, the 400,000 illegal Israeli settlers have remained in the West Bank and the government has continued to build more settlements. Furthermore, there was a ceasefire for 6 months between Hamas and Israel and the number of rockets fired were drastically reduced (although Islamic Jihad periodically fired a few) but the Gaza Strip was under a severe economic embargo during the ceasefire. Meaning, not only were Palestinians periodically killed in the Gaza Strip during the ceasefire but the economic embargo has reduced the majority of the people to poverty. I think that all this should be considered within the time frame of US politics. Although Obama has virtually declared himself a Zionist, analysts are still perplexed about the extent of his support for Israel (according to America’s ambassador to the UN Michael Bolton [the neo-con]). In other words, while Bush, the lame-duck president is still in office, Israel felt more secure about American support and launched this most recent aggression against the Palestinian people. In the context of Iran, maybe this is the last phase of a showdown between Iran, and the US and Israel. Meaning, perhaps this is part of the long term strategy that has been unfolding in the past few years of rolling back Iranian influence in time for a showdown over its nuclear facilities. Iran’s military budget is little more than 1% of the US military budget but its strength comes from its regional influence and its ability to wreak havoc on US interests through regional proxies. Although the extent of Iranian support for Hamas is still unknown, such a scenario is not completely unlikely. Israel’s disproportionate response on Hizbullah in 2006 can also be viewed within this paradigm. Does anyone have any telling youtube clips for me to post?

For the past 7 months, I’ve been home for only a week. After coming home from the Middle East this past summer, I was home for a week and then I went to Boston for school for the past 4 months so it’s really nice being home. I flew home from Logan Airport on Dec. 16 but I was in transit for about 21 hours. My connected flight, after being delayed for 3 hours, was canceled. I got another flight that left much later and was itself delayed 3 hours. Ugh. It was worth the trip, however. I’ve been home in Orange County for about 8 days and I have another 10 days to go. Harvard’s exams are after the break so I still have work to do but I’m also relaxing. I haven’t had much time to go to the movies. Have you? What’s good? The last movie I saw was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” which I liked a lot. I want to see “Milk”. Comment and tell me how the holiday season is treating you and what movie is worth seeing.

BBC: Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference. Crowds gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City district, calling for “hero” Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody. [The link also hosts the best version of the incident I’ve seen thus far, complete with slow-motion footage. Enjoy.]

Wow. I can’t believe Bush had shoes thrown at him. Wow. See the video here. Bush was in Iraq for a farewell visit and the shoe-throwing journalist yelled: “This is a farewell … you dog!” It’s so embarrassing that I’m almost embarrassed for him. Wow. But I got to give it to him, he’s got great reflexes, especially since he’s 62-years-old.

My roommate Eduardo told me about this film while we were undergrads and roommates more than five years ago and I’ve been waiting for it’s release since then. Here’s the trailer, and here’s the wikipedia entry: Che is a 2008 biopic about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro as Che. The film is actually a merged version of two films by Soderbergh: The Argentine and Guerrilla. The first part focuses on the Cuban revolution, from the moment Fidel Castro, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island, until they toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later. The second part focuses on Che’s attempted revolution and eventual demise in Bolivia. Che was screened on May 21 at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival running over four hours. Del Toro won the Best Actor Award at the festival for his portrayal of Guevara in the film. IFC Films has acquired all North American rights to Che and will release it for one week on December 12, 2008 in New York City and Los Angeles in December in order to qualify for the Academy Awards. The film will re-open on January 9, 2009 in these two cities as two separate films, titled Che Part 1: The Argentine and Che Part 2: Guerrilla. The films will then be released in 25 markets beginning January 16 and 22 and will expand further after that.

Is the recent tagline I read in a NY Times Israeli advertisement. Tourism is a huge industry in Israel and the purpose of the ad was to encourage people to visit Israel. But there’s something inherently offensive about the tagline: “No one belongs here more than you.” As we all know, if you are a native Palestinian exiled from your homeland “No one belongs here more than you” does NOT apply. Indeed, everyone else can come visit and if you’re Jewish, you are eligible for citizenship. But if you’re a native, then nothing, “get out and stay out” is the policy.

BBC: “As a Jew, I was ashamed at the scenes of Jews opening fire at innocent Arabs in Hebron. There is no other definition than the term ‘pogrom’ to describe what I have seen,” he told Cabinet members, according to public radio. [He’s absolutely right, but don’t you just love how politicians who are leaving office and are not worried about re-election all of a sudden tell us what they’re really thinking? Also, if he could only extend that same sentiment to his administration’s ruthless bombardment of “innocent Arabs” in Lebanon 2 years ago, the transformation of the Gaza Strip into a giant concentration camp, the West Bank, etc.]

What are comedians going to do when Bush leaves office? See the video here.

The Telegraph: The two penguins have started placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs, in a bid to hide their theft. But the deception has been noticed by other penguins at the zoo, who have ostracised the gay couple from their group. Now keepers have decided to segregate the pair of three-year-old male birds to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season. A keeper at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China explained that the gay couple had the natural urge to become fathers, despite their sexuality. “One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there,” a keeper told the Austrian Times newspaper. “It’s not discrimination. We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time,” he added. There are numerous examples of homosexuality in the animal kingdom, but gay penguins have captured the public’s attention more than any other species. A German zoo provoked outrage from gay lobby groups after attempting to mate a group of gay male penguins with Swedish female birds who were flown in especially to seduce them. But the project was abandoned after the males refused to be “turned”, showing no interest in their would-be mates. In 2002 a couple of penguins at a New York zoo who had been together for eight years were “outed” when keepers noticed that they were both males.

Every so often a movie comes along that makes you question a lot in your own life. “Slumdog Millionairre” did just that for me. See the trailer here.

Source: Israeli Human Rights Group Yesh Din: “Israeli soldiers have been charged in just 6% of all inquiries into suspected offences against Palestinians between 2001-2007, a human rights group says. The Yesh Din group found only 78 out of 1,246 army investigations since the start of the second Palestinian uprising had actually led to charges. Five soldiers, it says, were convicted of unlawful killings despite some 2,000 Palestinian civilian deaths.”

See the video here. These are not isolated events. These just happen to be the ones that were caught on film. It is no shock at all that acts like these occur with an ideology that was founded on ethnic cleansing and continues to ethnically cleanse and illegally occupy Palestinian land militarily.

See the video here.

Sometimes I post stuff here not because I think people care to read or view it, but because I think it’s important and I want to archive it in my blog for future reference. Here is a documentary on the Black Panther Party that I just finished watching.

Ouch! Talk about being a lame duck president See the video here.

One sunny day in January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”

The Marine looked at the man and said, “Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer President and no longer resides here.” The old man said, “Okay” and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.” The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.” The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.” The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the President and no longer resides here. Don’t you understand?”

The old man looked at the Marine and said, “Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.”

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “See you tomorrow, Sir.”

Man o man, did I enjoy this video.

Read about it here. Here is SJP’s statement on the attack:

SJP statement on violent anti-Palestinian attack on campus
November 14, 2008– (Berkeley, CA)

Contact: admin@calsjp.org

Student organization “Students for Justice in Palestine” (SJP) is extremely concerned about a violent attack on three Arab Palestinian students on the evening of November 13, 2008 around 6:00PM, and calls upon campus administrators and authorities to immediately investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

According to dozens of witnesses on the scene, three organizers for the “Zionist Freedom Alliance” attacked one male and two female Arab students who stood nearby the event holding a Palestinian flag. The assailants were identified by the Daily Californian to include current ASUC student senator John Moghtader, Cal alumnus Gabe Weiner, and performer Yehuda De sa. The paper also reported that all three had been cited by the UC Police Department on several counts of battery.

The three Arab students had decided to display the flag as a silent statement after hearing offensive anti-Arab remarks at the concert. They did not attempt to interfere with the event. Shortly after they put their flags on display, the assailants were seen angrily rushing into Eshleman Hall and disturbing several meetings to reach the protestors who were located on the 2nd floor balcony. Students on the scene report that the men were yelling racial epithets directed at Arabs and Palestinians.

When the assailants arrived at the balcony, they attempted to push the protestors aside and take their flags away. Witnesses claim that the assailants eventually knocked one protestor against the balcony railing, with a scuffle ensuing where two Arab students, one male and one female, were hit several times. Within a few minutes the assailants began to rush away, though a small group of their supporters had followed them upstairs. Throughout the process the assailants and their supporters were also overheard making remarks like, “we’re about to take care of some f***ing Palestinians,” and “you Arab dogs, we will kill you.”

The group of assailants was eventually pushed away by a crowd of students who were waiting for the police to arrive and collect statements. One of the assailants accused his victims of assaulting him, causing citations to be issued on the victims despite the testimony of several witnesses on the scene refuting the claim. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt during the ordeal.

SJP is concerned by the willful and concerted escalation to violence by these individuals, who are members of student organization Tikvah. SJP disagrees with the Daily Californian’s characterization of the event as the result of “tensions between Palestinian and Jewish students.” In fact, the incident was isolated, and the assailants are not representative of the Jewish community at Cal. After a series of similar threatening encounters with a handful of individuals this semester, SJP members began to document these incidents. Two of the attackers, John Moghtader and Gabe Weiner, were involved in another outburst at a campus lecture last month that led the Jewish Student Union to place Tikvah on probation [1, 2].

SJP calls upon campus administrators to pursue the incident immediately, and for students to remain committed to resolving their political differences through peaceful dialogue and discussion.

References

[1] (Video) Tikvah members disrupt Berkeley event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkFwb4MS6Q

[2] Jewish SF: Friction among Jewish students at Cal (http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/36441/format/html/displaystory.html)

Online Version

Nim-Pahlavi (aka Reza Pahlavi) sent Obama a congratulation letter. I bet Obama recycled it before reading. I mean, who is Reza Pahlavi to be congratulating Obama? And of course, just like so many other Iranians, he claims to speak for all of us. By the way, did any of you read Pahlavi’s book, Winds of Change? Written more than 10 years ago, he argued that the regime was about to fall and that Iran should be ready for elections. Should the people, he argued, vote him to be the next monarch or president then he obey their demands. What a joke. What a farce. I mean, this man has zero qualifications, except of course being the son of the ousted dictator, and has done nothing to bring about change. Yet, we’re supposed to take him seriously? Pssssssssh, maybe if he donated some of the millions his family plundered from Iran, I might stop cussing him out ALL THE TIME.

NY Times: Representative Rahm Emanuel, left, President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff, called the president of an Arab-American group today to apologize for comments his father made to an Israeli newspaper. In the remarks, Benjamin Emanuel discussed the potential impact of his son’s new position on U.S.-Israeli relations. “Obviously he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House,” the elder Mr. Emanuel told the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, according to English-language reports in The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Shortly after he died, 2pac’s song “Changes” was released in 1996 in which he stated “We ain’t ready to see a black president.” 12 years later, Obama made us ready.