I’m involved with an effort, “Words About War Matter,” and the group led by David Vine has posted guidance for language related to Israel, Hamas, and Gaza. The link is https://www.wordsaboutwar.org/gaza.html
Thank You, Bill, for that link. It is a very valuable resource and asset for anybody who wants to actually, really think ~ let alone write, talk, or social medialize ~ about War. And not just the one in Gaza.
perhaps you have not read and absorbed all the forwards i've sent you, jg, or i have failed to include you in the multitudes i have sent.... but then, this is not your ambit. one must work in palestine to answer those inquiries for oneself. hamas was originally created w/ funding from the israeli govt. in order to create a classic brit-empire 'divide and conquer' subreption against the PLO, which had transmutated into the more pacifistic fatah political sector. 'freedom' means a diverse concept for everyone, depending on her/his background ambit and experiences. in the case of palestinians, they want their land back which was usurped from them by zionists in 1947/1948... and yet more of their land again, which was summarily and opportunistically expropriated from them following the US/UK-supported israeli attack on egypt. YES! the israelis attacked egypt first! i was there. in their classic duplicity and seigneury over the MSM, you and every other donnard were persuaded to believe that egypt and jordan attacked first. the duplicity and hate-mongering of israeli zionists against palestinians defies comprehension. the zionists surreptitiously launched the 1967 war; the palestinians were mere pawns in that mulligrubbing pogrom.
the palestinians have reached a nexus in their beleaguered lives wherein many prefer to die quickly w/ dignity rather than die slowly. as well, palestinians [originally, a small tribe w/in the larger caananite tribe] have been demonized, marginalized, abjured, dispossessed, disdained, and denigrated for over 70 years. they are fighting for their right to exist in their own homeland, which they have occupied for thousands of years. they have virtually nothing remaining and nothing to live for... no future whatsoever, particularly given that the international power-elite refuse to help them. may i repeat?: the palestinians have reached a nexus in their beleaguered lives that many prefer to die quickly w/ dignity rather than die slowly!
my west bank students in the 4 refugee camps surrounding nablus, where i volunteered throughout may, june, and july this year, have bemoaned in defeasance that they will be bombed next. during the months i was there as a volunteer teacher, the israelis bombed jenin, just north of us, and dropped tons of ordnance from their helicopters and drones on our refugee camps, ambulances, and streets, demolishing houses and slaughtering putative 'militants' who were trying to protect their families, homes, shops, and schools. you have no clue, jg, what is it is like in palestine, not in the west bank nor in gaza. please allow the subsumed emails to elucidate you.
these emails are part of a chain carried on by my children and myself.:
[from coryn~alcyon]: Very well-said, all of you. It is bolstering to feel your solidarity of sentiments; it helps one feel less isolated amidst this insanity. I love you fam! 💕
[from jeanie]: please read my explanatory email below that i just winged off to burla [bry], naiis. every asseveration is a veracious one.
Interesting to hear their perspective mom. I wonder how much popular support there was for Hamas at the time of that election and whether it was a rigged outcome.
There is a conspiracy going around on social media postulating that Hamas would only have been able to break through Israel’s highly guarded, virtually impenetrable barriers “undetected” if some faction of Israeli’s defence forces sanctioned Hamas’ invasion (in order to justify a counter-invasion). “If you want to start a war, then hire a terrorist group to invade you and kill some of your civilians”, is the thinking. I have no idea about the veracity of this theory, but it does make me wonder… especially since Israel already had a history of funding Hamas…
by the way, 2 of my local palestinian translation femmes who had volunteered to be my interpreters in the refugee camps’ classes around the nablus region, repined in despair when it was announced that hamas had been elected to represent the palestinian people and that fatah had lost the election. they explained that hamas was a bellicose organization that had been originally funded by the israeli govt to act as an undermining counterweight to the PLO, which had transmutated into the more pacifistic fatah political sector of the now-defunct PLO. my volunteer interpretors, both nablus university students, claimed their consociates and their families were extremely discouraged that hamas had won the election rather than the far more pacifistic fatah political sector of the PLO. having nugatory knowledge of these political machinations at the time, i absorbed their distrust of the seminally israeli-funded hamas w/ naught but curiosity and intrigue. luvmum/jeanie
what is wrong w/ our species? are we insane? the insanity of destroying so many children’s lives is so demented i just can’t wrap my dendrites around it. war is such a crazed, endemic sector of our DNA it seems implausible our species remains regnant.
Fully agree. Flabbergasted and frustrated by US and Canadian politicians and the western media right now. Unbelievable that they can robotically justify Israeli war crimes and ignore a humanitarian catastrophe. Deplorable and sickening.
I have been getting most of my news on the events from Aljazeera. Yes they have their own bias but in this case that is needed in an ocean of blind pro-Israel sentiment.
Love you all
Menzie McEachern
On Oct 23, 2023, at 6:52 AM, Kavan McEachern <kavanmce@gmail.com> wrote:
100%. Most people form strong opinions based on scant information, and Western sentiment on Israel-Gaza is a stark example of that. Supposedly the older and more right wing you are, the more likely you are to support Israel. Although there are plenty of young liberals who still support Israel 🤯 it’s a shockingly bipartisan sentiment.
On Mon, Oct 23, 2023 at 12:57 AM Firth McEachern <firth.mce@gmail.com> wrote:
I feel the same way you do Naiis. Most mainstream Western media reporting on Israel-Gaza, and the public statements being made by politicians (Canadians included), are agonizingly myopic, unbalanced, callous, fallacious, incomplete, or specious — enough to drive one demented!
It has made me so disappointed with our international order, and humanity in general....how ignorant, spineless, irrational, and uncompassionate people can be. And how easily we form camps of crass competition, collective delusion, presumed moral authority, and self-censorship, based on the flimsiest knowledge, experience, and critical thought.
my nifty nymph naiis: am sorry you asked, but i’m barely functional, weeping unconsolably, of exiguous use to anyone, wandering around on the ridges behind us in a tenebrous fugue of despair and desolation. the fabrications of the western MSM have dissolved my psyche into rubble. firth’s and my friends and our students in the west bank refugee camps will be bombed next. the reaction has been so egregiously visceral that i can barely eat, and when i do, i feel emetic. i am certain our courageous PROJECT HOPE NABLUS consociates persist in devoting themselves to those who need their services so desperately, but i cannot reach them. i luvu nymph-naiis, aka, our coryn~alcyon.
How are you faring with the devastation that is occurring in Palestine? I have been thinking of you and wondering how you are coping. I am filled with rage, my heart is breaking, and I feel so helpless. I am unable to read any mainstream media as it incites a volcanic anger.
It is hard to maintain equanimity and not allow the hatred I feel for Zionism and the Israeli government to subsume me- but I try- as I know carrying hatred doesn’t help anyone and is ultimately injurious to myself.
I have been taking small actions- signing petitions and letters, sending money to the World Food Program for Gaza- but it feels ineffectual in the face of so much horror.
The only salve is that I know there are others who think as we do, who recognize that this is genocide, and our voices are growing stronger.
The pain in the world is palpable. I remind myself to maintain my centre and stay in a place of good will and intent, whilst also acknowledging that these insupportable feelings of torment can be a catalyst for change.
I am thinking of you mom; I hope you are as well as can be. I am guessing you have not been able to communicate with any of your Project Hope Nablus friends?
"....humanitarian efforts cannot be allowed to impact the mission to dismantle Hamas."
So, in other words, not only are Palestinian casualties to be disregarded, but in its single- mindedness, Israel is willing to sacrifice its own people being held hostage. All to accomplish a non-quantifiable aim, more political fantasy than anything else. Naturally, it would be an absolute good to get rid of terrorists, but then what? All the hard questions about Palestinian rights still remain.
i've been away, ray, 1st in indonesia for a month, then, as i suspect you already know, in palestine's west bank for 3 months as a volunteer teacher. since returning home to mindoro island, i've been overwhelmed helping w/ the efforts of friends and family supporters, following israel's entrenched, unrelenting genocide of palestinian children... 2 of whom, who were my students in the west bank, have already been killed. metaphorically, i'm not really 'here' any more, RJC, w/ you and my old blogging crwth; my brain and heart are back in palestine.
Thank you very much for these lines, I think it is very important to draw people's attention to these details and to name the injustice that is expressed in the choice of language. It is this judicious selection of terms that makes the big difference in reporting and shows the reporter's "chosen side," apart from the omission or distorted presentation of facts. For me it's good to see that others are also dealing with this and naming these things.
Caitlin is usually spot on with most of her critiques and I link her quite often. Although some tend to think she is anti-American with her views. I rather think she calls it how it is. Linking your article today as well as hers @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
You know that custodians of the Bible back in the day debated whether Revelations was worthy of being in the Bible. Because of its obscure and extravagant imagery, they worried that it could lead to a wide variety of interpretations.
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" Huh? A perfect example! How does one make any sense of that? And one man's interpretation may be another man's bovine excrement.
And it seems their concerns were justified as to this day there are a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the historical interpretation; to prophecies on what will happen in the future by way of God's will, to different and wild "end time" scenarios, and to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) the famous Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology and whose work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religious studies said in his autobiography "Memories Dream Reflections"..."I will not discuss the transparent prophecies of the Book of Revelation because no one believes in them and the whole subject is felt to be an embarrassing one."
Hence for me, I take any reference to Revelations with a great pinch of salt. Having reservations that most of it is even true or accurate. And its "end times" prophetic stuff we see on our TV Charlatan's religious shows every weekend are surely superstitious nonsense. Scaring the shit outa gullible people! And all the cartoons of bearded men on street corners with their signs. "The End is Near". LOL
these are not 'militants', rjc; they are 'freedom seekers'. words matter b/c they are more puissant than weaponry in this era of social media, the MSM, bloggers, mass indoctrination, mendacity, and military 'doublespeak'.
How about "militant freedom seekers," Jeanie? But how much "freedom" are they actually seeking? And what kind of "freedom" is it? And how much of what kind of "militantcy" are they prepared to use? And against Whom?
One can only wonder what a Gandhiesque campaign of non-violent resistance would have accomplished; as opposed to what "Al-Aqsa Storm" has actually accomplished for the people of Gaza and the West Bank.
It certainly could not have achieved less than has been accomplished and gained by Hamas so far.
I’m involved with an effort, “Words About War Matter,” and the group led by David Vine has posted guidance for language related to Israel, Hamas, and Gaza. The link is https://www.wordsaboutwar.org/gaza.html
And Thank You for this article. It almost is beginning to sound like You are getting totally and completely fed up with all The Bullshit.
Thank You, Bill, for that link. It is a very valuable resource and asset for anybody who wants to actually, really think ~ let alone write, talk, or social medialize ~ about War. And not just the one in Gaza.
perhaps you have not read and absorbed all the forwards i've sent you, jg, or i have failed to include you in the multitudes i have sent.... but then, this is not your ambit. one must work in palestine to answer those inquiries for oneself. hamas was originally created w/ funding from the israeli govt. in order to create a classic brit-empire 'divide and conquer' subreption against the PLO, which had transmutated into the more pacifistic fatah political sector. 'freedom' means a diverse concept for everyone, depending on her/his background ambit and experiences. in the case of palestinians, they want their land back which was usurped from them by zionists in 1947/1948... and yet more of their land again, which was summarily and opportunistically expropriated from them following the US/UK-supported israeli attack on egypt. YES! the israelis attacked egypt first! i was there. in their classic duplicity and seigneury over the MSM, you and every other donnard were persuaded to believe that egypt and jordan attacked first. the duplicity and hate-mongering of israeli zionists against palestinians defies comprehension. the zionists surreptitiously launched the 1967 war; the palestinians were mere pawns in that mulligrubbing pogrom.
the palestinians have reached a nexus in their beleaguered lives wherein many prefer to die quickly w/ dignity rather than die slowly. as well, palestinians [originally, a small tribe w/in the larger caananite tribe] have been demonized, marginalized, abjured, dispossessed, disdained, and denigrated for over 70 years. they are fighting for their right to exist in their own homeland, which they have occupied for thousands of years. they have virtually nothing remaining and nothing to live for... no future whatsoever, particularly given that the international power-elite refuse to help them. may i repeat?: the palestinians have reached a nexus in their beleaguered lives that many prefer to die quickly w/ dignity rather than die slowly!
my west bank students in the 4 refugee camps surrounding nablus, where i volunteered throughout may, june, and july this year, have bemoaned in defeasance that they will be bombed next. during the months i was there as a volunteer teacher, the israelis bombed jenin, just north of us, and dropped tons of ordnance from their helicopters and drones on our refugee camps, ambulances, and streets, demolishing houses and slaughtering putative 'militants' who were trying to protect their families, homes, shops, and schools. you have no clue, jg, what is it is like in palestine, not in the west bank nor in gaza. please allow the subsumed emails to elucidate you.
these emails are part of a chain carried on by my children and myself.:
[from coryn~alcyon]: Very well-said, all of you. It is bolstering to feel your solidarity of sentiments; it helps one feel less isolated amidst this insanity. I love you fam! 💕
[from jeanie]: please read my explanatory email below that i just winged off to burla [bry], naiis. every asseveration is a veracious one.
On Oct 23, 2023, at 05:57, Corinne McEachern <corinnemce@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, makes me wonder too Brya…
On Sun, Oct 22, 2023 at 3:34 PM Brya <bryarly@gmail.com> wrote:
Interesting to hear their perspective mom. I wonder how much popular support there was for Hamas at the time of that election and whether it was a rigged outcome.
There is a conspiracy going around on social media postulating that Hamas would only have been able to break through Israel’s highly guarded, virtually impenetrable barriers “undetected” if some faction of Israeli’s defence forces sanctioned Hamas’ invasion (in order to justify a counter-invasion). “If you want to start a war, then hire a terrorist group to invade you and kill some of your civilians”, is the thinking. I have no idea about the veracity of this theory, but it does make me wonder… especially since Israel already had a history of funding Hamas…
On Sun, Oct 22, 2023 at 6:23 AM Jeanie McEachern <jeaniemce@icloud.com> wrote:
by the way, 2 of my local palestinian translation femmes who had volunteered to be my interpreters in the refugee camps’ classes around the nablus region, repined in despair when it was announced that hamas had been elected to represent the palestinian people and that fatah had lost the election. they explained that hamas was a bellicose organization that had been originally funded by the israeli govt to act as an undermining counterweight to the PLO, which had transmutated into the more pacifistic fatah political sector of the now-defunct PLO. my volunteer interpretors, both nablus university students, claimed their consociates and their families were extremely discouraged that hamas had won the election rather than the far more pacifistic fatah political sector of the PLO. having nugatory knowledge of these political machinations at the time, i absorbed their distrust of the seminally israeli-funded hamas w/ naught but curiosity and intrigue. luvmum/jeanie
On Oct 22, 2023, at 11:10, Jeanie McEachern <jeaniemce@icloud.com> wrote:
what is wrong w/ our species? are we insane? the insanity of destroying so many children’s lives is so demented i just can’t wrap my dendrites around it. war is such a crazed, endemic sector of our DNA it seems implausible our species remains regnant.
On Mon, Oct 23, 2023 at 10:05 AM Menzie McEachern <mceachernclan@gmail.com> wrote:
Fully agree. Flabbergasted and frustrated by US and Canadian politicians and the western media right now. Unbelievable that they can robotically justify Israeli war crimes and ignore a humanitarian catastrophe. Deplorable and sickening.
I have been getting most of my news on the events from Aljazeera. Yes they have their own bias but in this case that is needed in an ocean of blind pro-Israel sentiment.
Love you all
Menzie McEachern
On Oct 23, 2023, at 6:52 AM, Kavan McEachern <kavanmce@gmail.com> wrote:
100%. Most people form strong opinions based on scant information, and Western sentiment on Israel-Gaza is a stark example of that. Supposedly the older and more right wing you are, the more likely you are to support Israel. Although there are plenty of young liberals who still support Israel 🤯 it’s a shockingly bipartisan sentiment.
On Mon, Oct 23, 2023 at 12:57 AM Firth McEachern <firth.mce@gmail.com> wrote:
I feel the same way you do Naiis. Most mainstream Western media reporting on Israel-Gaza, and the public statements being made by politicians (Canadians included), are agonizingly myopic, unbalanced, callous, fallacious, incomplete, or specious — enough to drive one demented!
It has made me so disappointed with our international order, and humanity in general....how ignorant, spineless, irrational, and uncompassionate people can be. And how easily we form camps of crass competition, collective delusion, presumed moral authority, and self-censorship, based on the flimsiest knowledge, experience, and critical thought.
On Sun, Oct 22, 2023 at 5:48 PM Jeanie McEachern <jeaniemce@icloud.com> wrote:
my nifty nymph naiis: am sorry you asked, but i’m barely functional, weeping unconsolably, of exiguous use to anyone, wandering around on the ridges behind us in a tenebrous fugue of despair and desolation. the fabrications of the western MSM have dissolved my psyche into rubble. firth’s and my friends and our students in the west bank refugee camps will be bombed next. the reaction has been so egregiously visceral that i can barely eat, and when i do, i feel emetic. i am certain our courageous PROJECT HOPE NABLUS consociates persist in devoting themselves to those who need their services so desperately, but i cannot reach them. i luvu nymph-naiis, aka, our coryn~alcyon.
On Oct 22, 2023, at 23:50, Corinne McEachern <corinnemce@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi mumaiis,
How are you faring with the devastation that is occurring in Palestine? I have been thinking of you and wondering how you are coping. I am filled with rage, my heart is breaking, and I feel so helpless. I am unable to read any mainstream media as it incites a volcanic anger.
It is hard to maintain equanimity and not allow the hatred I feel for Zionism and the Israeli government to subsume me- but I try- as I know carrying hatred doesn’t help anyone and is ultimately injurious to myself.
I have been taking small actions- signing petitions and letters, sending money to the World Food Program for Gaza- but it feels ineffectual in the face of so much horror.
The only salve is that I know there are others who think as we do, who recognize that this is genocide, and our voices are growing stronger.
The pain in the world is palpable. I remind myself to maintain my centre and stay in a place of good will and intent, whilst also acknowledging that these insupportable feelings of torment can be a catalyst for change.
I am thinking of you mom; I hope you are as well as can be. I am guessing you have not been able to communicate with any of your Project Hope Nablus friends?
Love naiis ♥️
"....humanitarian efforts cannot be allowed to impact the mission to dismantle Hamas."
So, in other words, not only are Palestinian casualties to be disregarded, but in its single- mindedness, Israel is willing to sacrifice its own people being held hostage. All to accomplish a non-quantifiable aim, more political fantasy than anything else. Naturally, it would be an absolute good to get rid of terrorists, but then what? All the hard questions about Palestinian rights still remain.
The big lie is "war on Hamas". "Hamas-Israel" war!
Israel has turned Gaza into a "free fire zone", an entire country!
Biden's "right to defend" is allowance for a free fire zone!
Our evil is in the open!
i've been away, ray, 1st in indonesia for a month, then, as i suspect you already know, in palestine's west bank for 3 months as a volunteer teacher. since returning home to mindoro island, i've been overwhelmed helping w/ the efforts of friends and family supporters, following israel's entrenched, unrelenting genocide of palestinian children... 2 of whom, who were my students in the west bank, have already been killed. metaphorically, i'm not really 'here' any more, RJC, w/ you and my old blogging crwth; my brain and heart are back in palestine.
immense gratitude for you support, fellow raster-scanner RJC, on behalf of palestinians, particularly those in gaza and the west bank.
grats, den and RJC.. tnx for your support, both of my comments and the dispossessed palestinians.
Thank you very much for these lines, I think it is very important to draw people's attention to these details and to name the injustice that is expressed in the choice of language. It is this judicious selection of terms that makes the big difference in reporting and shows the reporter's "chosen side," apart from the omission or distorted presentation of facts. For me it's good to see that others are also dealing with this and naming these things.
Caitlin is usually spot on with most of her critiques and I link her quite often. Although some tend to think she is anti-American with her views. I rather think she calls it how it is. Linking your article today as well as hers @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Sometimes wish that I could have faith in a God of Righteous Justice. This level of evil against the children is Satanic.
Hello my friend Ray,
You know that custodians of the Bible back in the day debated whether Revelations was worthy of being in the Bible. Because of its obscure and extravagant imagery, they worried that it could lead to a wide variety of interpretations.
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet" Huh? A perfect example! How does one make any sense of that? And one man's interpretation may be another man's bovine excrement.
And it seems their concerns were justified as to this day there are a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the historical interpretation; to prophecies on what will happen in the future by way of God's will, to different and wild "end time" scenarios, and to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) the famous Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology and whose work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religious studies said in his autobiography "Memories Dream Reflections"..."I will not discuss the transparent prophecies of the Book of Revelation because no one believes in them and the whole subject is felt to be an embarrassing one."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation
Hence for me, I take any reference to Revelations with a great pinch of salt. Having reservations that most of it is even true or accurate. And its "end times" prophetic stuff we see on our TV Charlatan's religious shows every weekend are surely superstitious nonsense. Scaring the shit outa gullible people! And all the cartoons of bearded men on street corners with their signs. "The End is Near". LOL
Take care my good man.
Phew Ray - way above my pay grade I'm afraid my friend!
Not exactly my area of expertise! LOL But thanks. I find it interesting.
But I agree with your last sentence. I'm pro-Palestine and finding this very stressful.
Hope you are doing well.
Are you making any progress with getting you TURP procedure done?
My Oncologists are pleased with my Blood Cell Counts with the Leukemia chemo drugs.
Sadly, the side effects make me feel pretty bad all the time.
Take it easy my friend. No worries.
Yes, and when Jonah told the Babylonians to repent they did, while the chosen condemned most of His messages.
these are not 'militants', rjc; they are 'freedom seekers'. words matter b/c they are more puissant than weaponry in this era of social media, the MSM, bloggers, mass indoctrination, mendacity, and military 'doublespeak'.
How about "militant freedom seekers," Jeanie? But how much "freedom" are they actually seeking? And what kind of "freedom" is it? And how much of what kind of "militantcy" are they prepared to use? And against Whom?
One can only wonder what a Gandhiesque campaign of non-violent resistance would have accomplished; as opposed to what "Al-Aqsa Storm" has actually accomplished for the people of Gaza and the West Bank.
It certainly could not have achieved less than has been accomplished and gained by Hamas so far.