King told us to judge people
not by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character
as many obsess over Obama's skin color
and ignore the deep failings of his character
Obama as "black"
is acceptance of
racist "one drop"
rule
revealing
the speakers' collective poor character
it is infact not King who is degraded
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 19, 2009]
When asked about the possibility of prosecuting Bush administration officials for criminal activity, Obama yesterday said: "I don't believe that anybody is above the law. On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards."
If the criteria is not looking backward, then why prosecute the people held in Gitmo at all? Why prosecute anyone? Why try to go after Bin Ladin?
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 12, 2009]
The two sides are not Israel and the Palestinians. They are not the Israeli government and Hamas.
They are imperialism and justice.
Israel's target is less Hamas than it is international law.
To the extent Hamas is helping the Palestinians, it will be attacked.
To the extent Hamas is facilitating wholesale violence with its own retail violence, it will be in effect assisted.
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 11, 2009]
dr. king is shouting in heaven...
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 20, 2009]
the whole world is watching
amy goodman
of democracy now
keeps saying
with triumph
but the whole world should be
acting
this coronation
both Glen Ford and Kevin Gray
have used that term
is to Democracy
what hollow ritualism
is to Jesus' teachings
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 9, 2009]
1. This statement focuses on the impact of Israel’s continuing Gaza military campaign, initiated on 27 December 2008, on the humanitarian situation confronting the 1.5 million Palestinians confined to the Gaza Strip. In accordance with the undertaking of the mandate, it confines its comments to issues associated with Israel’s obligations as occupying power to respect international humanitarian law (IHL), which refers mainly to the legal obligations contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which sets forth in some detail the legal duties of Israel as the occupying power.
3. The quality of this report is undoubtedly diminished by the absence of first-hand observations of the pre-existing humanitarian situation existing in Gaza, which was to be the objective of a mission undertaken by the Special Rapporteur to gather information for use in making a report to the regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) scheduled for March, 2009. This mission was aborted when the Special Rapporteur was denied entry to Israel on 14 December 2008, detained for some 15 hours in a holding cell at Ben Gurion Airport, and expelled on the next day. Such treatment of a UN expert on mission would seem to raise serious issues for the Organization as a whole, bearing on the duties of a member state to cooperate, and to deal with those carrying out UN work with appropriate dignity. It is to be hoped that the government of Israel can be persuaded to reconsider its policy of exclusion that has hampered the work of this mandate.
5. The use of force by an occupying power against the security threats emanating from a population under occupation is permissible within the constraints set by international law. Israel claims that its current military campaign is reasonable and necessary given the scale and severity of the rocket attacks directed at Israeli civilian populations living in the South Israel towns of Sderot and Ashdod, and attributed to Hamas.
6. It should be pointed out unambiguously that there is no legal (or moral) justification for firing rockets at civilian targets, and that such behavior is a violation of IHR, associated with the right to life, as well as constitutes a war crime. At the same time, the nature of the offense must be evaluated with the context of its occurrence, including the relevance of the temporary ceasefire that had held since June 2008 until seriously disrupted by a lethal Israeli attack on Palestinian militants in Gaza on 4 November 2008.
7. This blockade in effect for a period of 18 months was unlawful, a massive form of collective punishment, and as such in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and also a violation of Article 55, which requires that the occupying power ensure that the civilian population has sufficient food and that its health needs are addressed.
8. Most accounts of the temporary ceasefire indicate that it was a major Israeli use of lethal force on November 4, 2008 that brought the ceasefire to a de facto end, leading directly to increased frequency of rocket fire from Gaza. It is also relevant that Hamas repeatedly offered to extend the ceasefire, even up to ten years, provided that Israel would lift the blockade. These diplomatic possibilities were, as far as can be assessed, not explored by Israel.
9. It is also important under international law to determine the extent to which the reliance on force is proportionate to the provocation and necessary for safeguarding security. To mount a major military campaign against an essentially defenseless society already gravely weakened by the blockade accentuates the disproportion of reliance on modern weaponry in combat situations where military dominance was largely uncontested. The one-sidedness of casualty figures is one measure of disproportion. Another is the scale of devastation and the magnitude of the attacks.
10. There have also been a variety of allegations made by qualified observers of Israeli reliance on legally unacceptable targets and on legally dubious weaponry that violate the customary international law prohibition on weapons and tactics that are ‘cruel’ or cause ‘unnecessary suffering.’ Among the targets viewed as unlawful under IHL: Islamic University, schools, mosques, medical facilities and personnel (including ambulances). Among weapons that are legally dubious under IHL: phosphorous gas in shells and missiles that burn flesh to the bone; dense insert metal explosives (so-called DIME) that cut victims to pieces, and raise risk of cancer for survivors; depleted uranium associated with deep-penetrating, so–called ‘bunker buster’ bombs used against Gaza tunnels, possibly causing radiation sickness for anyone exposed over a period of centuries.
12. From the perspective of the Mandate for oPt the following recommendations seem worthy of the attention at this Special Session:
(1) To request restoring access for Special Rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territories as an essential feature of UN monitoring role;
(2) To seek General Assembly initiatives with respect to investigating allegations of war crimes;
(3) To propose long-term truce based on cessation of rocket launchings from Gaza and unconditional lifting of blockade;
(4) To request an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice to assess the legal status of Israeli control in Gaza subsequent to Israeli ‘disengagement’ in 2005.
[originally published at husseini.org on Jan. 9, 2009]
To really come to terms with Death....
His Bush speech:
God is good. God is great. God is good. My God is good. Bin Laden's God is bad. His is a bad God. Saddam's God was bad, except he didn't have one. He was a barbarian. We are not barbarians. We don't chop people's heads off. We believe in freedom. So does God. I am not a barbarian. I am the democratically elected leader of a freedom-loving democracy. We are a compassionate society. We give compassionate electrocution and compassionate lethal injection. We are a great nation. I am not a dictator. He is. I am not a barbarian. He is. And he is. They all are. I possess moral authority. You see this fist? This is my moral authority. And don't you forget it.
Mine:
I am ordering our military command to withdraw all troops from Iraq within six months. This will include military contractors and will be done in an orderly manner. I request international peacekeepers from other nations with no major interests in Iraq to help the Iraqi people whom we have so damaged. I pray the families of those Iraqis killed -- and the number of such people likely far exceeds the 30,000 I claimed recently -- will forgive me for what I have done, and will now embrace what I am doing. We will pay compensation as a small token of our regret to the Iraqis killed in this war we have started. [Bush weeps, but continues with the address.][originally published at husseini.org on Dec. 31, 2008]
Digital "collage" of drawing of "real Jesus" as depicted by medical artist Richard Neave and published by Popular Mechanics in 2002 "atop" "traditional Western painting" of "Jesus at the Door". Based on a physical execution of mine of a few years ago, this digital execution done by my friend Elisa Salasin.
[originally published at husseini.org on Dec. 25, 2008]
I've only begun exploring Harold Pinter's work. His Nobel speech is indeed great. The lines that haunt me are the end:
I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.If such a determination is not embodied in our political vision we have no hope of restoring what is so nearly lost to us -- the dignity of man.
He has departed and pointed to a life of work.
[originally published at husseini.org on Dec. 25, 2008]
Wolf Blitzer: "How did an Iraqi reporter manage to throw two shoes at president Bush during a news conference." Blitzer is going through a litany of "security incidents" with Bush. Media is downplaying or ignoring what the journalist said: "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." Bush: "I don't know what his beef is." Muntadar al-Zeidi's brother: "Americans have been killing and disrespecting Iraqis for five years. It's time we paid them back." Don't think this does the trick. It's like Tony Soprano killing Patsy Parisi's twin brother and Parisi getting his "revenge" by pissing in Soprano's pool.
[originally published at husseini.org on Dec. 15, 2008]
