LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLE
Reporting from Jerusalem -- Two months after ending its assault on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army was confronted Thursday by the first public allegations from within its ranks of unwarranted killings and other abuses of Palestinian civilians.
The reports in a military institute's newsletter resembled accounts given by many Palestinians during and after the winter offensive. In gripping language cited by two Israeli newspapers, they appeared to support contentions by some human rights groups that Israel had violated the laws of war.
One squad leader said he argued with his commander over rules of engagement that allowed the army to clear out houses by shooting the residents without warning.
"When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up story by story," he was quoted as saying. "Each story, if we identify a person, we shoot them. I asked myself: 'How is this reasonable?' "
A second squad leader said that in a separate case a sniper shot and killed a woman and two children because of miscommunication with the Palestinians and between Israeli units. Soldiers quoted by the daily Haaretz also said wanton destruction of civilian property was common.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
LA TIMES ARTICLE MARCH 20, 2009
Israeli officials had earlier dismissed such accounts, as well as Palestinian claims that almost 1,000 civilians died in the assault, as Palestinian propaganda. Most Israelis supported the 22-day operation, which was aimed at halting years of rocket fire by Hamas militants. They blamed Hamas for civilian casualties in Gaza because its fighters operated in urban neighborhoods.
But the vivid firsthand reports by soldiers who took part in the fighting set off soul-searching in Israel and prompted the army's judge advocate-general to order a special investigation. The military had already launched its own broad review of its conduct during the war. In a statement Thursday, it said it was not aware of the reported incidents.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak repeated Israel's traditional description of its armed forces as "the most moral in the world."
But he added, "This does not mean that there are no irregularities, and I have no doubt that this will be studied seriously."
The soldiers gave their accounts last month at an assembly for students enrolled in a military preparatory school, the Yitzhak Rabin academy. A transcript of the session appeared this week in the academy's newsletter, and excerpts were published in the newspapers Thursday and today.
"We heard about what appeared to be grave incidents, unjustified fire at civilians and vandalism of property," said Danny Zamir, a retired army officer who heads the academy. "But of more concern was the unbridled contempt and reckless disregard for Palestinians."
Zamir said he passed the reports to the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
According to an account by a squad leader, an Israeli sharpshooter killed a Palestinian woman and her two children after they misunderstood another soldier's order and turned the wrong way. The sharpshooter had not been told the civilians were being released from the house where they were confined and, in compliance with standing orders, opened fire when they approached.
"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all . . . he did his job according to the orders he was given," the squad leader was quoted as saying.
"And the atmosphere in general [was that] the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers, so as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way."
In another incident, a different squad leader said an elderly woman was shot dead on orders of a company commander as she walked on a road about 100 yards away.
That squad leader said he argued with his commander over the rules of engagement.
Another soldier quoted in the reports said troops felt they could write "Death to the Arabs" on the walls of homes, toss furniture out the windows and spit on family pictures "just because you can."
Neither the soldiers who spoke out nor those who committed alleged abuses were identified in the transcript. Zamir said those who reported abuses "felt uncomfortable because they could not prevent them."
Several officers and soldiers who were not at the gathering said they were surprised by the accounts.
"It's hard for me to believe these things happened. They seem unfounded," Assaf Dantziger, a 21-year-old soldier who fought in Gaza, told the Ynet online news service. If the soldiers saw comrades doing wrong, he added, "they should have done something about it instead of running out and talking."
Moshe Hager, a retired brigadier general who heads a different military academy, said: "I do not believe a sniper would see a child in his sights and shoot him. But if such a thing happened it must be investigated."
Human rights groups have accused Israel of using disproportionate force and failing to protect civilians. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights has put the Palestinian death toll in Gaza at 1,434, including 960 civilians. Israeli officials say the civilian toll is inflated but have acknowledged that the army used overwhelming force in order to minimize its own casualties.
Thirteen Israelis were killed in the fighting in Gaza or by cross-border rocket fire.
The military's own inquiry includes a review of allegations of abuse made by rights groups, but it has announced nofindings of wrongdoing.
Amos Harel, a military correspondent for Haaretz, suggested Thursday that the inquiry was a whitewash.
Those being queried are at the company commander level and higher, he said, and "the rule is 'you don't ask, we won't tell.' "
"The ones who finally let the dark secrets out were the soldiers in the combat units," Harel wrote. "Somewhere along the way their moral warning lights went off."
But the vivid firsthand reports by soldiers who took part in the fighting set off soul-searching in Israel and prompted the army's judge advocate-general to order a special investigation. The military had already launched its own broad review of its conduct during the war. In a statement Thursday, it said it was not aware of the reported incidents.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak repeated Israel's traditional description of its armed forces as "the most moral in the world."
But he added, "This does not mean that there are no irregularities, and I have no doubt that this will be studied seriously."
The soldiers gave their accounts last month at an assembly for students enrolled in a military preparatory school, the Yitzhak Rabin academy. A transcript of the session appeared this week in the academy's newsletter, and excerpts were published in the newspapers Thursday and today.
"We heard about what appeared to be grave incidents, unjustified fire at civilians and vandalism of property," said Danny Zamir, a retired army officer who heads the academy. "But of more concern was the unbridled contempt and reckless disregard for Palestinians."
Zamir said he passed the reports to the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
According to an account by a squad leader, an Israeli sharpshooter killed a Palestinian woman and her two children after they misunderstood another soldier's order and turned the wrong way. The sharpshooter had not been told the civilians were being released from the house where they were confined and, in compliance with standing orders, opened fire when they approached.
"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all . . . he did his job according to the orders he was given," the squad leader was quoted as saying.
"And the atmosphere in general [was that] the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers, so as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way."
In another incident, a different squad leader said an elderly woman was shot dead on orders of a company commander as she walked on a road about 100 yards away.
That squad leader said he argued with his commander over the rules of engagement.
Another soldier quoted in the reports said troops felt they could write "Death to the Arabs" on the walls of homes, toss furniture out the windows and spit on family pictures "just because you can."
Neither the soldiers who spoke out nor those who committed alleged abuses were identified in the transcript. Zamir said those who reported abuses "felt uncomfortable because they could not prevent them."
Several officers and soldiers who were not at the gathering said they were surprised by the accounts.
"It's hard for me to believe these things happened. They seem unfounded," Assaf Dantziger, a 21-year-old soldier who fought in Gaza, told the Ynet online news service. If the soldiers saw comrades doing wrong, he added, "they should have done something about it instead of running out and talking."
Moshe Hager, a retired brigadier general who heads a different military academy, said: "I do not believe a sniper would see a child in his sights and shoot him. But if such a thing happened it must be investigated."
Human rights groups have accused Israel of using disproportionate force and failing to protect civilians. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights has put the Palestinian death toll in Gaza at 1,434, including 960 civilians. Israeli officials say the civilian toll is inflated but have acknowledged that the army used overwhelming force in order to minimize its own casualties.
Thirteen Israelis were killed in the fighting in Gaza or by cross-border rocket fire.
The military's own inquiry includes a review of allegations of abuse made by rights groups, but it has announced nofindings of wrongdoing.
Amos Harel, a military correspondent for Haaretz, suggested Thursday that the inquiry was a whitewash.
Those being queried are at the company commander level and higher, he said, and "the rule is 'you don't ask, we won't tell.' "
"The ones who finally let the dark secrets out were the soldiers in the combat units," Harel wrote. "Somewhere along the way their moral warning lights went off."
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Cambodia 1970, Pakistan 2009: Will Predators create new Khmer Rouge?
A striking parallel has occurred to me. It's not a one to one analogy in terms of scale, but there's a similar cause and effect relationship. Remember the Khmer Rouge? The monstrosity that murdered millions of Cambodians during its tenure in power in the 1970s? What social factors led to its creation and insane actions?
During the Vietnam war the US wanted to stop the flow of reinforcements and supplies from North Vietnam to the National Liberation Front's fighters in the South. The route of roads and footpaths that carried this traffic was called the "Ho Chi Minh trail" and it ran along the Vietnam-Cambodian border. The US also complained that the neutralist Cambodian government of Prince Sihanouk was tolerating the existence of NLF "sanctuaries" in Cambodia. Nixon's invasion of Cambodia in 1970, which sparked mass protests in the US, was supposed to eliminate this problem.
This move led to the ousting of Sihanouk and the installation of Lon Nol as a US backed military dictator. Encouraged to wipe out any Vietnamese presence and to "pacify" the countryside in which an indigenous revolutionary movement was operating, Nixon ordered what was bizarrely called the "secret bombing" of Cambodia. It wasn't a secret to the villagers who were being bombed, or those who did the bombing... Anyway, large numbers of bombing runs by B-52s were carried out and thousands of villages were obliterated. These were not what could be called "surgical strikes."
The result? As we all know the US lost the Indochina war and it's client states in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia collapsed. What was achieved by the "secret bombing" in Cambodia was the total destruction of the fabric of village society. This facilitated the Chinese-supported Khmer Rouge (the Chinese wanted a counterweight to the USSR in the region) in attracting, indoctrinating and arming thousands of very young refugees into a vengeance-seeking army, which marched into Pnom Phen in 1975 and began a reign of mass murder. This implacable, child/peasant army was unleashed to eradicate anyone or thing associated with cities, foreigners, education, etc.
This bloody rule of the Khmer Rouge and it's leader Pol Pot was ended via Vietnamese military intervention in 1979. It should be noted that the US government protested this action by the Vietnamese and gave diplomatic and military support to the exiled Khmer Rouge for several years.
Now think about the US military's remotely controlled Predator aircraft missile strikes in the Pakistani territory bordering Afghanistan. Not exactly saturation bombing by B52s, but killing defenseless villagers on a retail scale rather than wholesale can bring about similar results. You can immediately discount any claims that only "bad guys" (this commonly used term denotes the true depth of thinking involved in policy making) are being hit. Smart bombs, stupid bombs, marginally intelligent bombs... this has always been a scam. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, wherever such bombing is done, civilians, children, families are killed and maimed.
I'm not sure Predator strikes in Pakistan will destroy village life and drive thousands of young men whose families have been killed or wounded into ranks of armed fundamentalists. But perhaps it will, or is currently doing so. Everything adds up when pursuing a destructive self-defeating policy, as the US is doing. Military solutions to social and political problems, "good guys" vs "bad guys," body counts ... the Vietnam era stupidities have been successfully passed on to a new generation of military morons.
During the Vietnam war the US wanted to stop the flow of reinforcements and supplies from North Vietnam to the National Liberation Front's fighters in the South. The route of roads and footpaths that carried this traffic was called the "Ho Chi Minh trail" and it ran along the Vietnam-Cambodian border. The US also complained that the neutralist Cambodian government of Prince Sihanouk was tolerating the existence of NLF "sanctuaries" in Cambodia. Nixon's invasion of Cambodia in 1970, which sparked mass protests in the US, was supposed to eliminate this problem.
This move led to the ousting of Sihanouk and the installation of Lon Nol as a US backed military dictator. Encouraged to wipe out any Vietnamese presence and to "pacify" the countryside in which an indigenous revolutionary movement was operating, Nixon ordered what was bizarrely called the "secret bombing" of Cambodia. It wasn't a secret to the villagers who were being bombed, or those who did the bombing... Anyway, large numbers of bombing runs by B-52s were carried out and thousands of villages were obliterated. These were not what could be called "surgical strikes."
The result? As we all know the US lost the Indochina war and it's client states in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia collapsed. What was achieved by the "secret bombing" in Cambodia was the total destruction of the fabric of village society. This facilitated the Chinese-supported Khmer Rouge (the Chinese wanted a counterweight to the USSR in the region) in attracting, indoctrinating and arming thousands of very young refugees into a vengeance-seeking army, which marched into Pnom Phen in 1975 and began a reign of mass murder. This implacable, child/peasant army was unleashed to eradicate anyone or thing associated with cities, foreigners, education, etc.
This bloody rule of the Khmer Rouge and it's leader Pol Pot was ended via Vietnamese military intervention in 1979. It should be noted that the US government protested this action by the Vietnamese and gave diplomatic and military support to the exiled Khmer Rouge for several years.
Now think about the US military's remotely controlled Predator aircraft missile strikes in the Pakistani territory bordering Afghanistan. Not exactly saturation bombing by B52s, but killing defenseless villagers on a retail scale rather than wholesale can bring about similar results. You can immediately discount any claims that only "bad guys" (this commonly used term denotes the true depth of thinking involved in policy making) are being hit. Smart bombs, stupid bombs, marginally intelligent bombs... this has always been a scam. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, wherever such bombing is done, civilians, children, families are killed and maimed.
I'm not sure Predator strikes in Pakistan will destroy village life and drive thousands of young men whose families have been killed or wounded into ranks of armed fundamentalists. But perhaps it will, or is currently doing so. Everything adds up when pursuing a destructive self-defeating policy, as the US is doing. Military solutions to social and political problems, "good guys" vs "bad guys," body counts ... the Vietnam era stupidities have been successfully passed on to a new generation of military morons.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Helen Thomas: "is there any Mideast country that has nuclear weapons now?" Obama: "Uhhhh, did someone say something? Guess not, Next Question!"
On February 9th President Obama held his first news conference since taking office. After answering a few questions he called on Helen Thomas, the veteran reporter who has a well earned reputation for directness and intolerance for spin and who was ex-president W's nemesis at news conferences.
Thomas asked a question about the Taliban taking refuge in Pakistan and then said: "is there any country in the Middle East that already has nuclear weapons?" She broke the taboo nobody in the mainstream media or the government from either party will ever acknowledge: the one and only nuclear power in the Middle East is Israel, which has a few hundred nuclear warheads and has had such weapons for many years.
After answering her question about Pakistan (a nuclear power which is not in the Middle East), Obama then bullshitted at length about nothing in particular, except he mentioned Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons.
Thomas tried to follow up by saying: "what about countries there that have nuclear weapons?' but was brushed aside.
It's been common knowledge for decades that Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel has and will jail any Israeli who even whispers this truth. AIPAC (the Israel lobbying group) and proported Jewish "leaders" like Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League will gang up on any public official or news outlet that happens to mention this fact. It has become an unfact, a non-topic for no permisable discussion.
How can they dump on Iran as a possible developer of atomic weapons if someone counters that Israel has them, so why can't other countries? If Israel's nuclear arsenal was acutally talked about in the open then someone might propose a nuclear-free Middle East in which Iran won't develop atomic weapons and Israel has to give them up. Give them up! The rules for discourse in the USA says: "Israel can do anything it wants and is above criticism." Whoever disagrees is a terrorist loving anti-semite.
Obama's performance at his inagural news conference show that nothing has changed. He's bought in to the Israeli propoganda and fantasy land, either by intimidation or belief.
Thomas asked a question about the Taliban taking refuge in Pakistan and then said: "is there any country in the Middle East that already has nuclear weapons?" She broke the taboo nobody in the mainstream media or the government from either party will ever acknowledge: the one and only nuclear power in the Middle East is Israel, which has a few hundred nuclear warheads and has had such weapons for many years.
After answering her question about Pakistan (a nuclear power which is not in the Middle East), Obama then bullshitted at length about nothing in particular, except he mentioned Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons.
Thomas tried to follow up by saying: "what about countries there that have nuclear weapons?' but was brushed aside.
It's been common knowledge for decades that Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel has and will jail any Israeli who even whispers this truth. AIPAC (the Israel lobbying group) and proported Jewish "leaders" like Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League will gang up on any public official or news outlet that happens to mention this fact. It has become an unfact, a non-topic for no permisable discussion.
How can they dump on Iran as a possible developer of atomic weapons if someone counters that Israel has them, so why can't other countries? If Israel's nuclear arsenal was acutally talked about in the open then someone might propose a nuclear-free Middle East in which Iran won't develop atomic weapons and Israel has to give them up. Give them up! The rules for discourse in the USA says: "Israel can do anything it wants and is above criticism." Whoever disagrees is a terrorist loving anti-semite.
Obama's performance at his inagural news conference show that nothing has changed. He's bought in to the Israeli propoganda and fantasy land, either by intimidation or belief.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Jazz at Lincoln Center: Take the Coca Cola out of Dizzy's Club
It's great to have Dizzy's Club as a jazz venue at Jazz At Lincoln Center in Manhattan. But selling the naming rights to Coca Cola SUCKS. I really don't care if a sports stadium gets a corporate name (pro sports is so awash in corporate money, and corporate culture that they deserve it). But a jazz club, and one dedicated to Dizzy, should not be so desecrated. It's worse than bad taste, it's selling out creativity for money. Of course selling out all principle for money is the American way, but a creative music and the persona of the great be-bopper shouldn't be degraded like this.
There's a reason big corporations sponsor the arts. They are trying to cover up their justly earned image as sociopaths and thieves. If only they gone after Planter's Peanuts as a sponsor, that I could understand (Salt peanuts! Salt peanuts!).
PS: "Hot Peanuts," for those not in the know, is a jazz composition written by Dizzy and recorded by his quintet with Charlie Parker. The song featured Dizzy singing "Salt Peanuts, Salt peanuts" as part of the opening melody.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Down Home Radio hosted by Eli Smith
THIS IS A MUST-HEAR PROGRAM, HEARTILY ENDORSED BY "POLITICS, MUSIC & IRONY"
http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/down-home-liv
About Down Home Radio Show
Hosted by Eli Smith .
“Down Home Radio Is A Hardcore, Unreconstructed, Paleo-acoustic, Folk Music Program.”
Eli Smith (host/producer) is a banjo player, writer, researcher and promoter of folk music living in New York City. He plays as part of the Roots ‘n’ Ruckus music collective and hosts Down Home Live, every second Saturday of the month at Banjo Jim’s. He has appeared as a guest on terrestrial radio stations such as WBAI and WDST in New York and KPFA, KPFK and KUCI in California. Eli has presented panels and discussions on folk music at the Left Forum conference at Cooper Union and at the Podcamp podcasting conference in New York City. In 2004 He traveled to Caracas, Venezuela as an American delegate to the Encuentro Mundial de Intelectuales y Artistas “En Defense de la Humanidad” (World Encounter of Intellectuals and Artists “for the Defense of Humanity). Eli also served as music consultant for the Civil War film“Racing Daylight” (2007). He has performed and recorded with Peter Stampfel, John Cohen and Sam Shepard.
Contact Eli @ DownHomeRadio@hotmail.com
Down Home Radio was founded in the summer of 2006. We believe it to be the first show of its kind on the internet.
What some folks have said about DHR:
“… [an] internet-based vernacular music program that I highly recommend for its lucid and coherent thematic perspectives.” - Nathan Salsburg, Production Manager, Alan Lomax Archive/Association for Cultural Equity.
“Always terrific…” - Jambase.com
“Everyone complains about how the local airwaves suck, but instead of bitching, you should go online to find a Gotham-based program that actually has good roots music—the podcast-formatted Down Home Radio Show..“ - The Village Voice
“Down Home Radio “ presents an ever-widening view of traditional music today…. It showcases young performers of Old Time music and Blues, as well as extraordinary rare recordings from 78s, and interviews with folklorists and traditional musicians. The program is the brainchild of Eli Smith, a rare bird who is as respectful of the past as he is concerned with the present. Being an excellent musician himself, he wanders widely and reports on happenings all over, including California as well as the downtown music scenes in Brooklyn & Manhattan. He is the only young musician I know who is single-handedly reporting on the present scene and documenting its continuity with the past. His radio show will keep you posted on the gossip, truths and anecdotes that course through this vital traditional music panorama. - John Cohen (of the New Lost City Ramblers)
Guests on Down Home Radio Have Included (In No Particular Order):
Bela Fleck
David Grisman
Pete Seeger
Rahzel
Del McCoury
Jeffrey Lewis
Peter Stampfel
John Cohen
Mike Seeger
The Carolina Chocolate Drops
David Honeyboy Edwards
Elijah Wald
David Rovics
Jody Stecher
Hank Bradley
Larry Hanks
Suzy Thompson
Mat Callahan
Peter Rowan
David Holt
Polly Ferman
The Otis Brothers
Baba & Steven Israel
Daniel Jatta
Feral Foster
Joe Hickerson
(Some of these interviews have not yet been produced as programs. Soon…)
In Memorium: Many early episodes of Down Home Radio were hosted by Professor Henrietta Yurchenco; a veteran folk and world music radio personality and pioneering ethnomusicologist. Beginning her radio career in 1940, she was Leadbelly’s producer on WNYC and was the first person to put Pete Seeger on the radio. She produced and hosted many shows featuring Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and many other now well known folk musicians. Prof. Yurchenco is the primary field recordist and researcher of pre-Columbian Mexican Indian music and has conducted extensive research in all parts of Mexico, as well as Guatemala, Spain, Morocco, Puerto Rico and the Georgia Sea Islands in the U.S. She was Professor Emerita at The City College of New York.
For further information, please contact Eli Smith at:
DownHomeRadio@hotmail.com
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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