94 thoughts on “‘We’re a Small Country With a Big Heart’ and Other Nauseating Bibiisms – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. NOTE: “…an aid delegation on behalf of the State of Israel…” (as opposed to ‘from Israel’?) – NETANYAHU
    MY QUESTION: Mercenaries? Israel could not pay for better PR than they got on today’s ABC evening news.

    1. I know, it’s ludicrous. Can you imagine U.S. rescue teams being sent in the name of the the U.S. government or people of the United States? No, they go because their job is to rescue people & they go where the need is greatest. They don’t go in order to show America in the most flattering light.

      1. First of all, what a tragedy. The proportions of this catastrophe are horrific and mind-blogging. What’s sad about the Israeli response to Haiti is that while other nations have sent in rescue teams, medical help and the like because it is what nations (and individuals) ought to do in this type of overwhelming cataclysm, the Israeli leader deems it necessary to go on about how Israel’s help shows how special and supremely moral the Jewish people are; Netanyahu’s grandstanding makes Israel’s help come across as essentially a propaganda stunt, as a form of PR. I’ve heard no other nation talking about its rescue efforts in the sort of hyperventilated narcissistic language we’re hearing from Bibi.

        This isn’t to say that Israel’s medical and rescue help in Haiti is not effective and impressive, it sounds like it has been so far, and one can appreciate and even celebrate this fact on its own terms. It’s just sad that what appears to be motivating Israel (based on Bibi’s comments and those of other right-wing Jewish commentators) is not the intrinsic rightness of helping people, the in-itselfness of the thing, but rather a frantic zeal to burnish Israel’s world image. There’s something very depressing and empty about that sort of relationship toward the surrounding world.

        If Israel were truly motivated by deeper ethical & moral considerations here, it’s difficult to see how they could continue to oppress, starve and slaughter their occupied immediate neighbors, the Palestinians. Palestinian children are slowly wasting away of malnutrition in Gaza, there’s raw sewage in the streets, and Israel holds Gaza under seige and regularly refuses to allow in vital supplies from the international community to help the Palestinian people, the civilian population, meet their most basic living needs.

        Israel (despite the country’s widespread racism) seems to recognize the Haitians as human beings, and thank god for that!, why can’t she seem able to recognize the Palestinians and her other Arab neighbors as full human beings with the right to life and security? Some more enlightened Israeli commentators have also picked up on the incredible hypocrisy and cynicism one observes in this juxtaposition.

        What comes to mind is a man who mercilessly beats a woman to near death in the street, also taking away her food and sustenance, and then he sees someone way across the street trapped under a fallen beam and goes and rescues that person. Would you call that man ethical? Uhh, I don’t think so.

        Notwithstanding these hypocrisies—and you can find all sorts of disturbing angles and contradictions in the U.S. and French relationship with and behavior toward Haiti in general and in regard to this crisis—and the disturbing propagandism evident in some of Israel’s language about itself regarding this ongoing catastrophe in Haiti, I’m still glad so many people around the world have risen up, want to help, and are helping the Haitians, including Israelis.

        Now if only the incredibly exploitative Western global policies toward Haiti could be transformed and come around to mirror the humanitarian(ism) we’re seeing in these rescue efforts, then Haiti could actually rise up from the dust and also be in a position to mitigate the effects of the next natural disaster that hits.

        1. Well done, Warren – thanks.

          If I might piggy-back and comment a bit…

          Netanyahu’s grandstanding makes Israel’s help come across as essentially a propaganda stunt, as a form of PR.

          It’s not only Netanyahu who is grandstanding, of course. and as I have pointed out already, this is nothing new for Israel. I have observed them pulling this kind of opportunistic crap for decades, and have commented on it many times. This time IS a bit different, though. This is the first time I can recall that I have had others share my sense of what they are about. that might be that this time the Israelis are more brazen than usual in their grandstanding (though it is difficult to see how they could beat their outrageously obnoxious and multi-layered exploitation of the Bamm earthquake in Iran), or it might be that people are generally more aware and sensitive to the reality of Israel and its nonsense, or more likely some combination of the two. Regardless, this awareness is a good thing.

          And by the way, let us not reserve our opprobrium for right-wing Israelis and Zionists. Nice, liberal Israelis and Zionists are at least as willing to exploit any opportunity to burnish Israel’s image as a bastion of humanitarianism and morality in the world. In fact, I find that nice liberal Israelis and Zionists are often even more blindly and obnoxiously enthusiastic about anything positive they can find or invent because they are so desperate to believe in the shining image they were indoctrinated from the womb to believe in. They are, in fact, obsessed with convincing themselves. Over the years I have found many of them to be more insufferable than their more realistic and oddly honest right wing counterparts.

          Israel (despite the country’s widespread racism) seems to recognize the Haitians as human beings…

          Ah, I don’t think so, Warren. I think Israel seens them as objects to be exploited. That fits, by the way, with the narcissistic model I have already presented in another thread. I have long believed that Israel is the national equivalent of an individual with Narcissistic Personality Disorder in association with Antisocial Personality Disorder. If you google both disorders you will see what I mean. Among other traits narcissists are incapable of empathy or compassion, and are exploitative in the extreme.

          1. I was a bit shaken after reading your list of symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. I suddenly realized that someone I know (not closely, fortunately, but close enough to have made me wonder about his behavior for years) must suffer from this disorder. (Or rather makes others suffer because of it.) The description fits so perfectly that it is almost scary. What I saw as a random combination of nasty traits apparently from a pattern together.

            Whether you can recognize the symptoms of such a disorder in a society as a whole is another matter of course, but that this disorder is real is beyond doubt to me.

          2. “” Nice, liberal Israelis and Zionists are at least as willing to exploit any opportunity to burnish Israel’s image as a bastion of humanitarianism and morality in the world. In fact, I find that nice liberal Israelis and Zionists are often even more blindly and obnoxiously enthusiastic about anything positive they can find or invent because they are so desperate to believe in the shining image they were indoctrinated from the womb to believe in. They are, in fact, obsessed with convincing themselves. Over the years I have found many of them to be more insufferable than their more realistic and oddly honest right wing counterparts. “”

            That hurt Shirin , really hurt .

            I’m a Left wing liberal Israeli , not a Zionist though , we call ourselves post zionists today .
            I’m a member of Gush Shalom , take your time and read our website @ http://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html

            You should also read Gideon Levy , we are not all the same you know .

          3. Not sure how you can call yrself “liberal” when you support Gush Shalom. I’d say you’re firmly on the left & I’m glad for it. Shirin is quite aware of Gideon Levy, Uri Avnery & Gush Shalom I assure you & knows more about Israel & Zionism than many Israelis.

          4. “Not sure how you can call yrself “liberal” when you support Gush Shalom. I’d say you’re firmly on the left & I’m glad for it. Shirin is quite aware of Gideon Levy, Uri Avnery & Gush Shalom I assure you & knows more about Israel & Zionism than many Israelis.”

            Yes I am firmly on the Left Richard , I vote Hadash .
            Please define ” liberal” for me then because I am confused how you guys use it .

          5. IF you vote Hadash you’re definitely not liberal. Liberal in the context I use it would be the Labor party or Meretz. Those who believe in a 2 state solution but supported the Gaza & Lebanon wars because they felt they needed to support the nation whether it was wrong or not. For Israelis liberals, patriotism is trumps humanitarian values. A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman & Amoz Oz are liberals in the Israeli context. Yr politics seem pretty far fr. theirs which is why I thought you might not’ve understood the context in which we meant the word.

          6. I think Meretz abandoned us Shirin and they paid the price .

            My family almost abandoned me for voting Hadash but that is their problem , dont think for one moment that it is easy Shirin , it is not easy .

          7. When a rock thrown by a rightist Israeli hit me in the jaw at a 1979 Jerusalem demo calling for negotiations with the PLO was when I realized how hard it was to be an Israeli progressive. I know how hard it is. Shirin does too I’m sure. But better rocks than white phosphorus or flechettes or tear gas canisters in the chest I guess.

          8. Don’t mean to dismiss anything you have said, but compared to being a Palestinian living under occupation, especially a Palestinian living in Gaza, it is a piece of cake. You’re not being denied food, you’re not being denied medical care, you have not been denied education, you are not being denied electricity, you are free to come and go as you choose, you have fuel to heat your home and cook your food, and when you are tired at night you have shelter, and a warm bed to go to that you can be reasonably certain will not be bombed to rubble over your head.

            You have made the only socio-political choices you can make and keep your conscience intact, and there is some discomfort associated with those choices, but you probably couldn’t couldn’t live with yourself any other way.

          9. I know people who are members of Gush Shalom, and I know they way in which they are vilified by the society that surrounds them. This cannot be considered a minor inconvenience, I think. There are so many ways in which people can suffer, and so many ways in which people can be brave. My grandparents hid a Jewish baby and – of course – they were very scared, but they did not have to fear excommunication, and being considered traitors by their family and friends and society at large if found out. I am not trying to say that their fate would have been comparable to what critical Israeli’s have to face day to day, but please do not look too lightly upon what they have to deal with.

          10. I was a Meretz supporter till the Lebanon war & then I woke up & realized they were completely attenuated & simply couldn’t speak truth to power even if they wanted to. We prob. have a lot in common. If I were in Israel I’d be doing virtually what you are.

          11. It’s true, and I’m sure it’s human nature, just as so many Americans espouse to the “America, love it or leave it” mentality. Israel has been romanticized out of all proportion.

            Israeli, don’t let it hurt, or else ask yourself, why does it hurt? Why so sensitive?

            And I’m sure Shirin is at least as well read as you would wish her to be.

          12. It may be true for some mary all I am saying is that it is not true for all .

            It hurts because as a member of the peace camp and as a left wing activist I fight for the rights of the Palestinians and I do care mary .

            I was not being rude to Shirin , I just wanted her to read and understand that what she wrote is not true for us all .

          13. Israeli, I know what you mean. I think that the people who best serve their countries and their societies are the ones who see their countries warts and all. Blind nationalism is counterproductive; I think that is what Shirin meant. I love my country too, but I’m an attack dog when I see something unacceptable (I’m always very busy with that!), I speak out and I object. I grew up and have lived my life under a banner which says, “Question Authority.” This is what Israelis need to do, more than ever.

          14. Elisabeth,

            Yes, NPD is a very real disorder, and virtually impossible to treat successfully because due to its nature, people with it are uniquely resistant to the process – a kind of psychological catch 22. At best they are very, very difficult people to deal with, at worst they are quite literally deadly. Jim Jones of the People’s Temple was a classic type of narcissist, as, I believe, are most cult leader types.

            Narcissists can be very engaging people, and tend to be extremely good at spotting and ensnaring those who are vulnerable to their charms. Those people then become objects in their lives to be used and discarded, often with great cruelty.

            Most of the time the best course is to refuse all contact with a narcissist. It IS possible to maintain a relationship with a narcissist without being damaged, but it is rarely worth the trouble. At best they are like emotional vampires.

          15. PS If you examine Israel’s behaviour as an entity you will see that it fits very well the profile for NPD with Antisocial Personality Disorder. You can make of that what you will. I just find it rather interesting.

          16. I think narcissism is related to the sociopathic personality in that the sociopath is very self-serving, has no conscience and acts completely in their own self-interest. Another interesting trait seen in sociopaths is their complete inability to learn from their experiences and thereby not repeat their same mistakes again and again.

            Around 80 percent of felony offenders in prison are sociopaths. I also tend to think that most governments are sociopathic, or, as I have said on other occasions, completely amoral. Like a sociopath, they exist solely for their own benefit and will commit criminal acts in order to protect or benefit themselves.

          17. That hurt Shirin , really hurt .

            If the shoe fits…..if the shoe does not fit…

            I’m a Left wing liberal Israeli , not a Zionist though , we call ourselves post zionists today .

            What you call yourself is not very interesting. So-called Post-Zionism in particular can be viewed in a number of ways. Do you support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state? If so, you and your cohorts are a Zionists regardless of what you call yourselves.

            I’m a member of Gush Shalom , take your time and read our website

            This is a bit insulting, really. I don’t need to visit your website, I remember Gush Shalom when it was little more than a gleam in Uri Avneri’s eye. I have worked with a number of Gush Shalom members, as well as members of Shalom Achshav. I was one of the first supporters of the original Courage to Refuse group, and some of my friends and colleagues were early signatories to that statement. Shall I go on, or do you get the picture?

            Oh – and I know very well who Gideon Levy is, and I have actually met and conversed with Amira Hass multiple times. Ditto Jeff Halper.

            I have also participated in the past and co-moderated quite a number of “dialogue groups” and “dialogue”-oriented activities with liberal Zionists and Israelis, and found certainl traits common to most of the very nice, truly well-meaning Zionists who participate in these things. They are quite happy as long as the Arab participants behave like “good Arabs”, show consistent appreciation for the fact that Jews are willing to dialogue with Arabs at all, and do not rock the boat too much by pointing out uncomfortable facts, let alone showing any sort of negative emotion about anything. Arabs are expected to accept as truth the Zionist mythology about the creation of Israel, including the attitudes toward and treatment of the Palestinians as completely factual, despite evidence to the contrary. The Palestinian reality is generally greeted with a sympathetic, kindly, patronizing, “yes. but…” attitude. Get a bit uppity, and you have stepped over the line, are no longer a “good Arab”, and are treated quite differently. That has been my consistent experience of well over a decade of attempting to engage in “dialogue” with nice, sincere, genuinely well-meaning liberal Zionists, and nearly every Palestinian or Arab I know who has attempted “dialogue” has had very much the same experience.

            Now, if none of that fits you, then I am glad to hear it. The language I used was, in fact, not as general as the message you took away. I DID use qualifiers, which you, probably understandably, missed. In any case, I am sorry if I hurt or offended you, but if you want to have a meaningful communication, you should know what my experience has been and what I have taken from it.

          18. I think narcissism is related to the sociopathic personality…

            In fact, narcissists are sociopathic by definition, and NPD is very frequently found in association with full-blown sociopathy (aka Antisocial Personality Disorder).

            I agree with you about governments.

          19. Hi Shirin,

            so why not best claim for the disappearance of Israel as a country, then the jews will be again scattered around the world and will keep being a pest until totally eliminated?
            Everything about Israel is bad, if they help people it’s bad, if they don’t help it’s bad, if they exist it’s bad, if the jews live in other countries is bad, what is your suggestion for a solution to the jewish problem, a final one?

          20. For being a provocative trollish troublemaker, you’ve been banned. And you know why.

            If you’re really interested in debate or discussion you’re welcome. If you think your debating skills are way cool and snark is your forte, go elsewhere.

          21. Trolo, spare me your manipulative whining and whimpering. I have heard it all a thousand times before, I was not impressed the first time, and I am not likely to be more impressed now. I am even less impressed by your poorly-disguised Nazi reference.

            No one, least of all me, is suggesting that Jews should not consider historic Palestine as their homeland if they wish to, and live there as equal citizens with the non-Jews whose homeland it is, if they wish to. No one, least of all me, has suggested that Jews should disappear – well, pardon me, but your “best friends” the Christian Zionists actually DO have the oblitaration of the Jewish people as their ultimate reason for supporting Israel (using the Jews as an instrument of their own destruction is kind of the epitome of anti-Semitism, wouldn’t you say?) , but that is another matter.

            So don’t try to manipulate me with that bull****. I am immune to it.

          22. I get the picture Shirin , in kodachrome.

            Do you? I hope so. I certainly hold no hostility toward you, and I have generally not found the views you have expressed to be a problem. You do not strike me so far as one of those “nice liberal Jews” who were so insufferably and cluelessly condescending.

            For what it is worth, I have a deep appreciation of the likes of Jeff Halper, and I find Amira Hass simply amazing. She even speaks a passable Palestinian dialect, by the way. Gideon Levy plays a part in some of my successes in changing the point of view of some of my young friends in Gaza. I have a dear, dear young friend named Fadi who lives now in Gaza City. I have known him since he was in his early 20’s, and actually acted as his “romantic advisor” when he met and fell in love with the young woman who is now his wife. When I first met him he was living in Rafah. We communicated one way or another virtually every day for years, and for years we argued, sometimes very angrily, about Jews. His lifetime of experience with Jews had taught him that they were all vicious, evil people, and I worked hard for years to counter that and to point out to him that there were not only plenty of good, moral, Jews who cared about Palestinians, there were even good Israeli Jews. I sent him articles by people like Amira Hass and Gideon Levy. One day he called me very upset to tell me that Gideon Levy had been shot at by the Israeli military (you might recall the incident). “He is one of the good ones” he said to me during that conversation. Even now I get a bit choked up remembering that.

            This has caused outrage on the part of a number of Jews who have heard it from me, but I think you might be able to appreciate it when I suggest that there are what can be termed in relation to Palestinians (and others of Israel’s victims) “righteous Jews”. Amira Hass is one, Jeff Halper is one, Gideon Levy is one, Ilan Pappe is one – that’s only a few of the famous ones, and there are plenty of others. I think Richard is one, and you also might be one. I hope you do not object to the concept.

    2. On the NBC evening news there was a segment about the Israeli ‘field hospital’. It certainly seemed like a very impressive. The report indicated that everything came in on two planes from Israel within 48 hours of the earthquake.

      PITY THE POOR FRENCH: (Tue, 19 Jan 2010) France is demanding the United Nations investigate and clarify the dominant US role in Haiti, after Washington deployed over 10,000 troops to the quake-hit country.
      The demand came after US forces turned back a French aid plane carrying a field hospital from the main airport in the Haitian capital…
      SOURCE (Iranian) – http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116503&sectionid=351020706

      1. PITY POOR ‘DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS’:(excerpt)…Take Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the highly respected international medical humanitarian organization. You know, the one Sandra Bullock gave $1 million this week before she won the Golden Globe? They’ve been in Haiti for years. They have hundreds of medical staff in place, and are working in five hospitals in Port-au-Prince. They know the country. They’re experts in delivering medical aid. These are the people you want on the ground after a killer earthquake? Am I right?
        Then why was an MSF cargo plane carrying, among other badly needed supplies, an inflatable surgical hospital, not allowed to land in Port-au-Prince on Saturday and re-routed to the Dominican Republic? Despite assurances from the United Nations and the Defense Department that its planes would be allowed in?….
        …The inflatable hospital included two operating theaters, an intensive care unit, 100 beds, an emergency room and equipment for sterilizing material. The supplies had to be sent by truck, so the hospital didn’t arrive in Haiti until a day later. To be fair, a plane carrying supplies for the other half of the field hospital did arrive in Port-au-Prince on Sunday…
        SOURCE – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mona-gable/doctors-without-borders-i_b_427470.html

  2. Here is some fresh from the oven news about settler violence, from today’s Israel Hayom (in hebrew):

    ” 5 תלמידי ישיבה נעצרו בחשד להצתת המסגד”

    link attempt 1, in page 13

    http://digital-edition.israelhayom.co.il/Olive/ODE/Israel/Default.aspx?href=ITD%2F2010%2F01%2F19

    link attemp 2

    http://digital-edition.israelhayom.co.il/Olive/ODE/Israel/Default.aspx?href=ITD%2F2010%2F01%2F19&pageno=13&entity=Ar01300&view=entity

    I know you will be interested.

    1. It’s funny: There was a post on settler violence first, where someone introduced Haiti, and now there is a post on Haiti, and someone introduces settler violence…

  3. Ah yes – Israel as paragon of humanitarianism.

    Two items caught my attention today in a nasty stomach-turning sort of way (and just when I was beginning to feel better, too!).

    1. The Israelis are making a big P.R. show out of the fact that the “first Haitian baby since the earthquake” was born in an Israeli field hospital set up as part of the relief effort (how do they know it was the first? I’m betting they don’t). As if that were not nauseating enough, they are also boasting loudly that they talked the mother into naming the baby – get ready for this – “Israel”, and she was quite delighted to do so. It is difficult to imagine how they could squeeze one more nanoliter of self aggrandizement out of that little event, but I’ll bet they’ll keep trying.

    2. Tonight on KGO radio, the number one talk radio station in the country, the discussion turned to the ultimate irony, a quien es mas humanitario en Haiti (who is more humanitarian in Haiti) battle between Israel and the United States. It seems that normally fairly reasonable host Gene Burns was utterly incensed because someone compared the U.S. response unfavourably with that of Israel. Setting aside the stunningly childish pettiness of such an argument under the circumstances, there is the breathtaking irony of two countries who have shown such consitently criminal, even sadistic disregard for humanitarian concerns and human rights in their own military endeavors fighting over who is the better humanitarian.

    1. The irony is staggering, that such grandstanding comes from the two biggest mass murderers on the planet.

      Israel won’t let pasta into the Gaza Strip but crows loudly at how it is the poster child for humanitarianism in Haiti. At this point, 370 people in Gaza have died due to being refused entrance into Israel for medical treatment. 80 percent of the children living in the Gaza Strip suffer from PTSD, and more than 50 percent are stunted from malnutrition (information available from BT’Selem and Human Rights Watch). In the West Bank, recently Israel has indulged in its pastime of shooting to death in cold blood unarmed people it “believes” are associated with Palestinian resistance groups.

      The world does not need Israeli hypocrisy disguised as humanitarianism.

      1. And if that was not enough, there are stories about USA’s motives in this humanitarian intervention. In fact, I did watch on some news channel ( I rarely watch TV so can not remember which ) that now US corporations will be able go in and rebuild the country!!!

        “The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?”
        by Michel Chossudovsky
        http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17000

        ps I posted a comment earlier but is being moderated…..

        1. Disaster capitalism a la “The Shock Doctrine.” Naomi Klein described it perfectly. Nothing like making money off someone’s loss. Where were these companies before the quake? They couldn’t be bothered to help these poor people, but now they have an opportunity to exploit them.

          1. I just ordered this just-published book: Cultural Cleansing in Iraq: Why Museums Were Looted, Libraries Burned and Academics Murdered. The premise of the book is that none of that was just an unfortunate result of the chaos and lawlessness, etc., etc., not that I ever thought it was. Actually, Robert Fisk wrote a pretty good piece about that during the early weeks of the occupation. I still have a copy of it.

            As my dear friend Rania Masri kept reminding us during the “run up to the war”, and the first weeks and months, when you hear them use the word reconstruction in relation to Iraq, what it really means is deconstruction and transformation. That is what they set about to do there. In the case of Iraq they first had to create a man-made catastrophe, but in the case of Haiti they will simply opportunistically use the natural catastrophe – after all, that has saved them much of the work of the deconstruction process.

          2. That is exactly what disaster capitalism is. For example, in the case of Hurricane Katrina, it was an opportunity to clear the city of the many thousands of poor blacks living in poor neighborhoods. That “reconstruction” involved building high-priced condos while many still languished in cheesy FEMA trailers. The poor were effectively shoved out of New Orleans.

            This will no doubt happen in Haiti, when the US corporations take advantage of the horror of this earthquake to “re-create” Haiti in a glittering capitalist image. I’m sure the poor will be building new shacks out of all the detritus left by this disaster and that they will be no better off, but more miserable than ever.

  4. How does it happen that the discussion centers on Israel and the US? Rescue workers and medical teams from all over the world are in Haiti, and more and more are fighting to get in. (And there is a lot of competitiveness: There are for instance complaints that American military personnel supposedly delays flights from other countries in favor of American flights.)
    Surely there can be no doubt that the largest amount of relief comes from the US (being so close and so involved already) so I am not surprised that the US is mentioned as one of the ‘competitors’ in this sad peeing contest. But how come the other ‘competitor’ mentioned is Israel? Why not, say, France, or Britain, or Norway, or Japan etc.?
    Is it because America is obsessed with Israel?
    Or is it because Israel is milking its relief efforts for PR reasons?

      1. Now, what exactly was hasbarist about that video? It was clear, objective evidence that the reason Israel is receiving so much attention is because, in fact, it is doing a better job than the rest of the world. It seems you’re more interested in the question remaining a mystery, with speculation regarding the world’s bias, than actually seeking an answer. Wasn’t one of the comment rules “provide evidence for your assertions”? This seems to run counter to that…

        1. You were providing hasbara for Israel’s patently self-congratulatory, self-inflating Haitian disaster relief. That’s not evidence. That’s puffery. We’re not fans of puffery.

          Watch this space though. I’ll have a post later that will really PO you.

          1. LOL. How was that hasbara? That was CNN if you didn’t notice. They interviewed a number of doctors, on the scene, who stated quite unequivocally that Israel’s was the only hospital treating patients, that it was providing the best aid. I don’t see how that’s a) puffery or b) hasbara. I mean, I know, you’ve made your decision long before you acquire any actual facts. (That’s called prejudice by the way. I think you’re actually (nominally) against prejudice.)

            And the piece you linked to was cute and all… except that it ignores the glaringly obvious. But I’ll save that for some other time, I have to get to sleep. In the meantime, enjoy this parody that seems to have anticipated you word for word…

            http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/stephaniegutmann/100022827/israel-builds-a-field-hospital-in-haiti-anti-zionists-not-fooled/

            And of course, I’m proud of you, once again, for suggesting your readers donate to the relief work.

          2. How was that hasbara? That was CNN if you didn’t notice.

            Oh, you mean CNN can’t be co-opted by the hasbara machine to publish puff pieces about Israel? And not just CNN, scores of major stories were written about Israel’s efforts in Haiti. It was a veritable hasbara propaganda coup.

            They interviewed a number of doctors, on the scene, who stated quite unequivocally that Israel’s was the only hospital treating patients, that it was providing the best aid.

            Surprise, Israeli doctors brag about the superiority of Israeli medical facilities. I also note that Doctors Without Borders, who has devoted far more time, energy & personnel to Haiti than Israel (& will be there far after Israel leaves) has had permission denied 3 times to land its own field hospital there. You don’t think this is a cozy little bargain bet. the US military (controlling air traffic) & the Israeli gov’t, do you? Nah, I didn’t think so.

            That’s called prejudice

            Spoken by someone who has the market cornered on prejudice (in favor of Israel & against anyone who isn’t). So are you claiming the Israeli doctor who has decades of experience w. Israeli disaster relief operations is prejudiced against Israel???

            the piece you linked to was cute and all

            Why do you need to be a brat? Can’t you just be a plain ordinary person who doesn’t feel the need to introduce snark? Dr. Yoel Donchin was making a very serious critique of Israel’s disaster emergency relief program. The fact that you call it “cute” indicates how immature you are.

            People should read Guttman’s piece of meretricious nonsense. It’s such badly written parody & Israel’s actions in Haiti are so glaringly self-promotional that what she writes actually rings very true. The proof is in the pro-Israel hasbarists in the comment thread who took her seriously & reamed her for her alleged anti-Israel hate. Guttman is a shade better than a neocon moron. BTW, she doesn’t believe in climate change or global warming. No wonder she’s such a friend of another fantasist project supporting Israel & Occupation.

            I’m proud of you, once again, for suggesting your readers donate to the relief work.

            If you make another comment like this again you’ll be banned. I’ve already warned you. And like the infantile college student or untrained puppy you are, you decide you’re going to take yet another dump in the same place you did last time.

        2. Outside of Israel itself and (apparently) the US, Israel is NOT “receiving so much attention”. I looked for news specifically mentioning the Israeli efforts in Haiti in several European languages, and outside of publications that concentrate on Jewish matters and news from Israel, I found nothing.

          (Oh, I did find ‘baby Israel’, in one Dutch newspaper, the national rag – for your information – which normally concentrates on ‘foreigner crime’ and saved baby kittens. Does this mean Israeli relief help is superior? Or does it mean other countries are less eager to attract attention (or less successful at it) by getting their beneficiaries to name their babies ‘Dutch’, or ‘Dane’, or ‘Nippon’?)

          Apparently, Israel’s efforts do not stand out so much among the efforts of the nations. Sorry to burst your bubble…

    1. One fairly well-known American “progressive” blogger has gone on for two posts already about how the United States is the only country that is capable of “doing the job” for Haiti, and that eventually Haiti will have to become a protectorate so that the United States can rebuild its new (anti-Cuba, anti-Chavez, economically-and-politicially-dependent) government, etc. How, he asks, can Haiti meet its challenges without the kind of help and investment that only America seems able and willing to provide? He goes on to say “it is America that has the proximity, equipment, resources, and will to rebuild an actual government infrastructure. And this will not be done without strings attached that are both warranted (accountability) and self-serving.” At least he is being honest. After all, unseating Aristide didn’t really do all that much for America, I guess, so now there is a real opportunity to jump in there and create the Haiti that will really suit the U.S.

      When one commenter pointed out that, despite being much farther away, China, not the United States, was the first on the ground with rescue teams, and that those teams were at least as well-equipped and trained as the United States’, as are those of most other countries, our “progressive” blogger did not miss a beat. before replying “China might be willing and able to establish a de facto protectorate in the Caribbean, but we would never allow it if we could do it ourselves….what comes later, when it comes time to rebuild the government and the port, airport, roads, etc.” In other words, even a massive humanitarian disaster in the poorest country in the region is seen as an opportunity for American predation. But first, of course, comes the self-aggrandizing P.R. campaign (and Israel had better not DARE to try to horn in on any of that!).

      Beyond shameful.

      But isn’t nice to see that American exceptionalism and devotion to empire is still alive and well in the American “progressive” blogosphere?

      1. Even humanitarian efforts reek of a hidden, or not so hidden agenda here. Hmmmmmm, the US says, how can we exploit this tragedy to our advantage? And even so-called progressives are OK with this mindset, this predatory compulsion of non-ending conquest and hubris? Hey, let’s clean up the mess in Haiti and build a military base there! We’ll use cheap Haitian labor and they’ll be so grateful! And we’ll be sticking it to China, too by opportunistically plopping our big imperialist butt down in Haiti first.

    2. is it because Israel is milking its relief efforts for PR reasons?

      Could be. Israel even took credit for delivery of the 1st Haitian baby at this field hospital though they have absolutely no way of knowing whether this self-interested claim is true. Everything they’re doing there is for PR purposes. It’s a cheap way of diverting attention fr. Goldstone & all the other crap they’re involved in back home.

      1. Yeah, and they actually talked the mother into naming the baby Israel – how’s that for completely shameless grandstanding? They actually admitted in the interview I heard that they asked her to name her baby Israel, and were soooooo happy when they were able to get her to agree. I was driving when I heard that on the radio, and I nearly had to pull over to the side of the road and throw up.

        But I really don’t think this is per se about diverting attention from Goldstone, etc. I have seen this kind of self-congratulatory bulls*** from Israel every time there is some sort of natural disaster they can run to and exploit for PR purposes. They did considerable public self-back-patting for sending a team after the big Tsunami, and they even made a big issue of “volunteering” to send teams to Iran after the Bamm earthquake, and made a big deal out of it when the Iranians 100% predictably and quite reaonsably said thanks, but no thanks.

  5. “I urge you to contribute to the American Jewish World Service Haiti Relief Fund (or any charity of your choice).”

    I’m proud of you, Richard. You actually did something useful. Well done. I’ll take your thank-you-for-the-idea-of-walking-the-walk whenever you’re ready to acquire some humility.

    1. You make me sick. The next snark from you you’re banned. Don’t push it if you want to stay.

      I don’t need assholes like you telling me what to do. I did not add the link because of you. I wanted to point out the utter hypocrisy of Israel’s effort & hasbara like yours which exploits Haiti’s misery for partisan Zionist purposes. American Jewish World Service is doing true Jewish work in Haiti. Israel is serving the devil.

  6. Worth reading about the situation in Haiti…….and inadequate response, anger at USA etc….

    “Why the Haiti response is so screwed up”
    http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/4112

    “French minister criticizes US aid role in Haiti”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8904367

    “Anger at US builds at Port-au-Prince airport”
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guma2WKnHthswP2UVPiCIuLm_ocQ

    And yes, the blogosphere is full of the story of a baby delivered and named Israel by Israeli doctor. I am grateful that the baby was delivered and saved but where were they when they were killing hundreds of children in Gaza? Where were they when babies were dying for lack of O2 or meds in ICU or could not leave Gaza for special treatments? I really wonder if the world really understands the total hypocrisy of Bibi’s statements.

  7. Right on the money, Richard. On a Zionist site I noted that the field hospital where the first victims were treated, and the only one available until January 13, was Argentinian-staffed, and an Argentinian perished in the earthquake. This was hardly noticed by the media because the Argentinians were already there, not sent in response to the disaster.

    True solidarity means helping other people all the time, not just when it’s good PR.

    1. And true humanitarianism involves caring for all human beings in crisis, not only the ones that make for good self-aggrandizing PR campaigns. The crassness of this jockeying for No. 1 position in the “who is helping Haiti the most?” is appalling, especially when people in Gaza are still suffering the aftereffects of a manmade disaster, courtesy of the “little country with a big heart.”

  8. For those whose hunger for ipecac is truly insatiable, Yoel Marcus makes a valiant effort to out-bibi Bibi:

    Every time disaster strikes anywhere in the world, I am filled anew with admiration at how ready and willing we are to assist, and how speedy, effective, organized and wholehearted that assistance is.

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143626.html

    Earthquake in Haiti, is it good for the Jews?

    He goes on about the I/P conflict, which is where it gets really bizarre:

    Mitchell said in a television interview that he believed it was possible to reach an agreement within two years. But the truth is that the chances of an agreement are getting smaller – not least due to the settlement-freeze policy adopted by U.S. President Barack Obama, on one hand, and Netanyahu’s condition – that the Iranian nuclear issue must be solved first – on the other.

    And so on, exploring his parallel universe is almost amusing in a perverted way.

    1. “We did not rush aid to Haiti because there is a Jewish community there. We went there for humanitarian reasons. As a nation that has experienced disasters and bereavement for generations, other nations’ disasters do not leave us indifferent. ”

      No? Do Lebanon, Gaza and Palestine ring a bell?

      Parallel universe, indeed.

      1. Come on, Mary, be fair. The intentionally Israel-made disasters in lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine certainly did NOT leave them indifferent. They felt quite triumphant over them, actually.

  9. Oh, by the way, Palestinians in Gaza are sending donations to Haiti. So far they haven’t made a big fanfare about it, but maybe they will take a page from Israel’s playbook and grab the opportunity to give themselves great big public pats on the back every time they see a microphone or a camera running.

    1. Actually, they did feel triumphant, only now they’re manipulating the Haiti situation to patch up their reputation over how they trashed Gaza, as if people are that stupid and their memories that faulty.

      If the Gazans can find something to donate to the Haitians, that tells me what kind of wonderful people they are (as if I don’t already know since I have friends in Gaza). I’m sure they will not call themselves “the small country with a big heart” but will leave it to the world to see the truth.

      1. It is more likely that Israel would claim that Gaza has plenty of food and that the siege is not creating a humanitarian crisis after all. Whatever they do, Israel will distort it and make it advantageous to their image.

      2. Actually, they can’t do that because no goods are allowed to leave Gaza, as some Gazans found out when they tried to donate blankets, clothes, and powdered milk. The only thing they can donate is money.

      3. Actually, I saw on a tv news program (French) last night that Gazans are gathering packages of aid for shipment to Haiti, including toys and flowers. I wonder if the Israelis will allow it to be cleared?

  10. For the good of all concerned, I think that all Israeli aid to Haiti should be banned and shipped to Gaza instead. Israelis should be barred for participating in Haitian “aid” (colonization)

    1. And what governmental body would be responsible for “banning” this aid? And after what kind of court proceeding? How ridiculous. Israel needs to be made to end its occupation of Palestine. That would certainly take care of the problem of the Gaza blockade, don’t you think? And I’m sure the people in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon might appreciate it too. Please, be serious.

  11. ” But better rocks than ” …. a bullet in the back when you are 73 years old .

    It was the violence of the religious Right that took me down this path Richard , it has been a long road since Rabin’s assassination and I have learnt much on the way .

    Last elections was a disaster, this Gov is a disaster , but if America can go from GWB to Obama then let us hope that the future for us to can be brighter .

    And keep up the good work , it is great to know that not all American Democrats are like Dov Hikind ;o}

    1. Sorry, but how is Obama different from GWB in any real, practical way? I don’t see a great deal of daylight between them except for rhetoric, and when it comes to foreign policy in general and Israel in particular, the on-the-ground reality is about the same.

  12. In response to Mary’s question, I could envision Venezuelan, Cuban, or Iranian troops commandeering the Israeli “care” shipments and diverting them to Gaza. They are the only ones with the cohones to stand up to ziothugs

  13. I am sick and tired of “Israeli” claiming to be a good person. Until he moves from israel and pays reparations, he is no better than an Eichmann who claims to love humanity

    1. ” I am sick and tired of “Israeli” claiming to be a good person. Until he moves from israel and pays reparations, he is no better than an Eichmann who claims to love humanity ”

      He is a she and I have never claimed to be a ” good person.”

      I was born here where exactly would you like me to move to ????

      Sorry , I’m a kibbutznik , struggle to pay the food bill at the end of the month have nothing left over for ” reparations “.

      1. Israeli, I think American BDS he is a right-wing troll. Do not take him or her seriously. By the way, I have the greatest possible admiration for the people of Gush Shalom.

        1. ” Israeli, I think American BDS he is a right-wing troll. Do not take him or her seriously. By the way, I have the greatest possible admiration for the people of Gush Shalom. ”

          Thank you Elisabeth

          ( let BDS speak , I am a great believer in free speech and I can handle whatever he/she throws my way )

          1. The problem is that there is no discussion possible when someone only pretends to have a certain opinion, in order to disrupt a serious exchange of ideas such as on a blog like this. And with American BDS I think this is the case.
            (It is only after I started to follow Richards blog that came to understand through observation how trolls work and what their objectives are.)

          2. only after I started to follow Richards blog that came to understand through observation how trolls work and what their objectives are.)

            We DO seem to have more than our share of ’em & they do give you an education on the twists & turns of their strange minds.

        2. I never thought of that but you know that’s very possible. Thanks for suggesting that. If you’re talking about American BDS he’s now being moderated & will be booted if he violates the rules again.

    2. Now that I have read some of your other comments on the “Zionization of disaster relief” thread I am starting to think that you may actually mean what you say. You disgust me with your ‘ziothug’ terminology and your sick comparison of Israeli with Eichmann. Who do you think you are?

  14. “Arabs are expected to accept as truth the Zionist mythology about the creation of Israel, including the attitudes toward and treatment of the Palestinians as completely factual, despite evidence to the contrary. The Palestinian reality is generally greeted with a sympathetic, kindly, patronizing, “yes. but…” attitude. Get a bit uppity, and you have stepped over the line, are no longer a “good Arab”, and are treated quite differently.”

    I find that a pretty good description of the attitude of average well-meaning liberals in the western world, who think of themselves as having a very nuanced view on the conflict and think they are taking the Palestinian experience seriously enough.

  15. Israel does so much more than people ever hear about. When I was in the Peace Corp in Micronesia, I met 2 Israelis that were setting up desalinization and solar energy equipment- for free. There were also doctors that were sent to the medical clinic to donate equipment and to train the staff.
    This was 18 years ago. And apparently, Israelis come back regularly to maintain and update the medical equipment. I’ve never read a word about this anywhere- I know because I saw it.

    1. Dear Cady,
      There are so many people from so many countries doing that kind of work. Do you really expect all these things to be noticed and highlighted in the media of other countries?

      Do you hear me complain for instance that my country (Holland) “does so much more than people ever hear about”?

      The work that the Israeli doctors are doing in Haiti is great, but the way in which it is exploited for PR reasons turns people off. It would be a sad thing if all humanitarian missions started to behave as described below:

      “…on the ground was a retinue of Israelis dedicated to making sure people heard about their country’s humanitarian mission and spreading the word. Press officers from the Israeli military were flown in, as were photographers and a video team to document the work of Israeli medical and rescue personnel. They distributed daily footage to the press. Representatives of Israeli and foreign media were embedded with the group, and other reporters were invited.
      A day after the Israeli field hospital opened, two Israeli officers in uniforms canvassed the row of TV producers sitting in their broadcast positions along the city airport’s runway. “We’re telling them about our hospital,” one said.”

      1. Just think how many more lives and limbs they might have saved had they send one doctor or nurse in place of every PR flak they sent, and if they had sent medical equipment in place of all the equipment they sent in order to transmit their PR messages.

    2. How lovely. And in your mind I suppose that makes up for the daily death, destruction, and misery Israel intentionally and systematically has caused to millions of Palestinians, Lebanese, Golan Syrians, and others as part of its standard operations. How charming that Israel tries to make up for the daily death it deals with one hand by sending a handful of its citizens out to set up desalinization equipment that benefit a few thousand people.

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