The Israel Is Demonic Obsession. Norman Finklestein And Company

The obsession and need to demonize and delegitimize Israel is common. Because this is already a widespread sentiment, those that indulge in their demonize Israel obsession find it easy to find audiences to validate their hate filled obsession.

It is not the purpose here to defend the actions of the Israeli government. There are many things the government of Israel has done that are wrong and that should be opposed. There are many things the American government has done that are wrong. There are many things that many governments have done that are wrong. Many countries would be better off with regime change. Many countries would be better off with complete changes of government. There are far too many dictatorships in the world. There are far too many countries ruled by arrogant, cruel, greedy leaders that kill and loot at will. There are far too many religious theocracies that strangle freedom and compassion. But there is no country in the world, except for when it comes to Israel, where the goal is not regime change, not a change of government, not to reform a nation, but to destroy the entire country and ethnically cleanse its Jewish population.

All eyes on Israel and damn the rest of the world comes at a heavy price. While the hate Israel obsession rages, keeping the conflict inflamed and far from ever getting resolved, terrible things happen. All the cruel and horrific things taking place in the world get to pass virtually unnoticed and rarely opposed.

Over six million people have been killed in the Congo region alone. Many were hacked to death by machete. Countless women and girls, even babies, have been raped, murdered or made permanently disabled.

War rages in Yemen. Millions of civilians face starvation and disease. War rages in Libya, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Mali, and many other places while the world turns a blind eye.

Finklestein wants people to believe Israel is worse than North Korea in order to validate his obsession. Millions share or happily go along with this obsession despite the heavy price it exacts.

Demagogues, dictators, theocratic rulers and others know that focusing on a scapegoat means no one focuses on them. Having an external target means no one focuses on their shortcomings and deficiencies. People are easier to manipulate and fool when they are directed towards an enemy to hate. Others have made careers, fame and/or fortune by having a scapegoat, knowing that the more widely despised is the scapegoat, the easier it is to attract an audience and following.

Destroy Israel and commit genocide against the Jews, following in the footsteps of Hitler, is actively pursued by Iran, by its Lebanese Hezbollah army, by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and many others. It is not imagined by someone paranoid. It is real, no matter how many in their eagerness to delegitimize Israel pretend that it does not exist. Hamas, Iran. Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and others declare openly and often their goal to exterminate Jewish Israelis. They make it clear that their religious beliefs  compels them to wage war against the Jews, and that there can be no solution to the conflict other than the complete destruction of Israel and the establishment of yet another religious theocracy that the world needs like a hole in the head. Even the former prime minister of  Malaysia, a country far from Israel, wants Muslims united in a war against the Jews. Many so called leftists pretend this does not exist because it is does not conform with their biased narrative that Israel is bad and those that are war with Israel are angels. Antisemitism or the hatred of Jews, must be made to appear insignificant in order for the myth to persist that Israel operates without cause against threats that are not real.

The genocidal actions and rhetoric against Israel are not uncommon. What is common is how commonly they are ignored.

The fact that Finklestein's parents were holocaust survivors and that he is Jewish born does not give him special insight into Israel or into antisemitism that others lack. Most Jews whose parents were in the holocaust do not despise the state of Israel. Many Jews that do experience antisemitism have to wonder how a man that has made a career inciting against Israel and demonizing Israel lectures on antisemitism and argues that it is virtually nonexistent. In 1994 a suicide bomber blew up a Jewish Community Center in Argentina. Hezbollah and Iran are believed to be responsible for the attack that killed 85 people and wounded another 300. No matter how clear in words and actions jihadists and other extremists and supremacists make clear that they want Jews dead, using Israel as the excuse for their hate, none of it resonates for many North Americans and others that have lived sheltered lives and are clueless about the world around.

Many so called leftists justify and support the actions of Islamic jihadists despite the incredibly reactionary, supremacist, bigotry of violent Islamic jihad. Finklestein's justification for the Charlie Hebdo murderers is an example.

The demonize Israel crowd wants Israel destroyed or at least weakened into an indefensible nation. Jihadists and the enemies of Israel are celebrated. The hundreds of thousands of missiles directed against Israel, the costly tunnels built to wage war and infiltrate, the jihadists acts of murder and martyrdom are whitewashed or encouraged.

In their Orwellian universe, Israel must be made to appear as a demonic actor, never as a nation with the legitimate right to exist with secure borders. The war against Israel and the effort to destroy it is disregarded. This way, Israel appears as a violent, irrational nation operating in a vacuum.

Whether or not Israel exists, the jihadist threats remain. Boko Haram in Nigeria kills by the thousands. Abu Sayaf in parts of the south Philippines beheads and terrorizes. Al-Shabaab terrorizes in Somalia and Kenya. Mali, Libya, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, South Thailand, Yemen, Iraq and many more places are drenched in blood from jihadists.

Most Israelis originated from the middle east or North Africa, not Europe, where many were ethnically cleansed and forced out of lands where they had lived for centuries or even for thousands of years. Jews from Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, British controlled Palestine, Algeria, Afghanistan,  and elsewhere are still alive, as are their descendants. They can tell their story of why there needs to be an Israel, and why they defend Israel's right to exist. They can tell a side of the story that the Finklestein crowd conveniently ignores in its eagerness to delegitimize Israel and paint a one sided, demonic narrative.

Finklestein, a privileged American, does not speak for the Jews from North Africa and the middle east or for the average Israeli.  He blissfully remains focused on only seeing or believing what he wants to see and believe, excluding the narratives that puncture holes in his.

If Israel is destroyed, as many of its enemies desire, and if Jewish Israelis are forced to leave, assuming they are not massacred as Hezbollah, Hamas and many other jihadists desire, many cannot return to places that they or their parents or grandparents left. The Jews that originated in places like Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere, would be slaughtered or persecuted at best if they were forced to go these lands full of hatred for Jews. Jews that used to live in what was called Palestine under British rule, and before that Ottoman empire rule, know that if Israel is destroyed, they as Palestinians will not be safe.

All over the middle east and North Africa, religious minorities are persecuted. Bahai's and others are persecuted in Iran. Yazidis and many middle east Christians have been slaughtered. Coptic Christians are persecuted in Egypt. Persecution or discrimination against religious minorities is widespread not just in the middle east and North Africa, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and many other places.

Many people, in their hatred for Jews, make sure that this hatred is manifested in hatred for the one small Jewish state in the world. Everything else that happens in the world, the terrible treatment of religious minorities in many countries, the wars and terror that take place daily, the bigotry and religious violence that keeps the world washed in blood, the poverty and misery that so many face, the severe environmental destruction and pollution that is destroying the world, nuclear weapons, and all the other terrible things taking place in the world are ignored.

The WW2 destruction of Europe, with over 50 million people killed following leaders obsessed with killing Jews, should have taught where where antisemitism leads.

Israel has been a UN recognized state for over 70 years. Millions of Israelis have grown up on that soil. The goal to see them driven out, or to see their state become an indefensible shell of a state that is completely vulnerable to genocidal enemies, does nothing but ensure years more of senseless bloodshed and suffering.

Ignoring the genocidal ambitions of those that wish to destroy Israel should not mean uncritical support for Israel. All countries, all governments, all organizations, all religions and religious institutions should be subject to criticism, scrutiny and questioning. Resolving this long standing conflict defies easy solutions, but one thing is for certain, more of the same; hate, violence, incitement, demonizing the other side, religious bigotry and intolerance, war and terror only brings more misery and bloodshed. Everything that can be done to build bridges and mutual acceptance is a step in the right direction. Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Central African Republic, Darfur, Mali, Northern Nigeria and Afghanistan are but a few examples of how war, religious intolerance, and violence spin out of control, creating unimaginable suffering. This must not be allowed to happen.

One way or another, the only solution to the conflict is for Israelis and Arabs to learn to live with one another in peace. Those that promote peace between the different peoples are to be applauded. Those that incite hatred, those that encourage bigotry and violence, those that pursue terror, those that demonize and demean must be opposed, no matter who they are or from what side.

Oceans And Plastic Pollution: What Must Be Done

There is a massive failure to protect oceans and the environment in general from plastic pollution. This includes, but is not limited to the following reasons: First, there is the common use of plastic or synthetic oil based materials, including in clothing, food packaging, plastic bottles, plastic bags, and thousands of other items, without affordable, safer alternatives on the horizon. 

Second, there is a massive failure to properly collect and properly dispose of plastic. In the developed and developing world, micro fibers from clothes and other sources are commonly released into the environment from washing and drying. The developed nations, with exceptions, have not been successful at properly removing plastic waste from the environment. Sweden burns plastic waste, creating energy, while scrubbing out many of the contaminants. Sweden's approach appears to be one of the more effective ones. In many developing nations, plastic waste is burned openly, exposing people, wildlife and the environment to harmful carcinogens. Some developed nations still ship their plastic waste to developing countries already overwhelmed by their own plastic trash. In developing nations, the infrastructure is often lacking to properly collect and properly dispose of plastic waste. Plastic waste and other garbage are often brought to unsecured landfills, where mountains of garbage are created. Winds and storms blow much of the waste back into the environment. In other places, ground water is contaminated when waste is buried improperly or buried at improper locations.

It is critically important that plastic waste and other harmful waste are properly collected and properly disposed. There are billions of people plastic dependent, without ways to collect and properly dispose of their plastic. Proper waste collection and proper waste disposal must become universal. Anything less ensures ocean destruction and other enormous harm continues unabated. 

Third, plastic trash already in the environment is not effectively being removed. Employing impoverished people in developing nations to remove plastic pollution already in the environment is part of the solution. People need employment and plastic trash must be removed from the environment. This part of the solution - employed labor to remove plastic pollution - has been missing. The need for employment is enormous, as is the need to remove plastic trash from coastlines, mangroves, forests and many other areas which can only be achieved by manual labor. A movement is needed to ensure the widespread employment of impoverished people to remove plastic trash. One small organization has a workable model by employing impoverished people to remove plastic pollution from ecologically sensitive coastal areas in a developing country. But the extent of poverty and plastic pollution requires a much greater effort that must have governments and others involved. 

Removing plastic trash already in the environment cannot be successful without manual labor. No individual or organization, profit or nonprofit, should mislead people into believing that the huge amount of plastic trash already in the environment can be removed without an enormous amount of human labor. There is a place for technology, and there is a place for volunteerism, but they are no substitute for the manual labor that is needed to lead mankind out of the plastic trash mess.

Manuel labor is needed to remove all plastic waste, not just the small amounts that can be recycled. Programs that are based on incentives for people to recover recyclable plastic waste miss the boat in that all plastic waste is harmful and must be removed. It is far more effective that people are employed fair wages based on their labor, with fair daily or hourly wages, than having people paid by the recyclables they recover.

Programs that make it appear that products made from ocean plastic, like jewelry or something else, actually helps the oceans misleads people. The minuscule amount of plastic they recover is greatly offsetted by the false narrative that this is something of consequence, leading people into a continued state of blissful unawareness or noninvolvment. The fact is that millions of pounds of plastics pour into the oceans daily, and nothing will stop this massive damage unless: 1. the effort goes into ensuring widespread proper waste management and that plastic waste is properly collected and disposed of everywhere.  2. People are employed to remove the plastic trash already in the environment, including the amounts added every day, by getting paid fair hourly, daily, weekly or biweekly wages.

Similarly, ending the plastic pollution nightmare must not get derailed by narrow focused so called anti plastic advocacy. For example, the advocacy to end plastic straws fails to make it clear that plastic straws are a minuscule part of the plastic pollution nightmare, and that even if all plastic straws are banned, the plastic pollution nightmare will continue unabated. There is a lot of advocacy for ending plastic straws, but virtually no advocacy to employ the necessary manual labor to remove plastic pollution from the environment, and to create the appropriate infrastructures worldwide to ensure plastic trash is properly collected and properly disposed. Plastic straws should be banned, but the advocacy to make this happen should not continue to deter people from addressing what is necessary for ending the plastic pollution nightmare.

As long as billions of people in developing countries are plastic dependent, lacking the infrastructure and ways to properly dispose of their plastic, the plastic pollution ocean destroying nightmare will only worsen. No amount of recycling, plastic straw bans, jewelry or other items made from plastic ocean trash, devices to remove plastic from rivers and oceans, studies about plastic pollution and its prevalence, or volunteer beach cleanups, are of any consequence unless this changes. Millions of pounds of plastic waste continue to pour into oceans daily because billions of people in developing countries have no ways to dispose of plastic other than to openly burn it or dump it into rivers, oceans, and other places.   

While the effort continues to find alternatives to plastic, the critical need for proper waste collection and disposal must be aggressively pursued. This is of the highest priority. Plastic trash already in the environment that can only be removed by manual labor opens the door to what must become one of the largest antipoverty, environmental projects the world has ever known. But this very necessary program can only succeed when proper waste management succeeds universally.  

Privileged Social Justice Warriors And The Battles They Do Not Fight

It is easy to come up with solutions that require little to no self sacrifice, and that fit a politically correct feel good narrative

Impoverished communities need jobs. Manufacturing long ago left the United States for cheap overseas labor.

Instead of bringing jobs back to the United States, people are content chasing the latest meaningless app or the next meaningless social media or internet startup. Venture capitalists spend billions on nothingness.

The most fundamental things that people need have been exported overseas, along with much else. There is no excuse for why shoes, clothing, electronics, computers, sports equipment, toys, phones and so much more cannot be made in the United States.

There will never be social justice as long as labor is devalued and sent to places with the cheapest labor costs and with the poorest environmental and safety standards.

Many of the sjw elitists are content with their high paying meaningless jobs, or cushy overpaid jobs in academia, while demanding change that has nothing to do with the most fundamental things that have gone wrong.

Gangs and the drug trade are major U.S. employers. They have filled the vacuum left behind by lost jobs.

The more there are gangs and illegal drug trafficking, the more there will be gang violence, drug related violence, religious and political hate cults, violence in impoverished communities, and violent interactions with police.

Low income affordable housing must stop being concentrated in high crime, low income areas. The resistance of wealthy suburbs to any presence of affordable housing in their privileged communities must stop. Housing discrimination based on income must stop. The federal government can mandate the distribution of affordable housing. It is long past the time in which rich, privileged suburbs continue to exclude low income housing.

Sjw's can move into impoverished communities and help by their involvement in these communities.  They must stop being outsiders dictating what everyone else must do except for themselves.

Sjw's can think twice about their many meaningless overpaid jobs and ask why labor jobs are gone, how they can return, and how labor can finally be restored to the dignified place it never should have lost.

Millions of Americans struggle on low paying service job wages while executives receive incredibly inflated salaries and benefits.

If there was a strong middle class in the United States working well paying labor jobs in manufacturing, agriculture and elsewhere, many of the problems that an army of sjw's can do nothing about would resolve.

Environmental common sense must not be a sideshow to social justice or any other form of justice. The more forests are lost, the more oceans are polluted and destroyed, the more there is environmental degradation, the less hope there is for humanity regardless of whether or not humans  figure out how to live in peace and harmony with one another.

The Cult Of Victimhood And its Path To Violence

In the cult of victimhood, those considered victims are not responsible for their actions. If they are violent or bigoted, it is not their fault. Blame must always be cast elsewhere.

Not holding people responsible for their actions, which includes those considered victims, is a guaranteed recipe for violence and misery.

Victimhood ideology is a pathway to destructive ideologies and religious beliefs that ensure a level of oppression and misery that far surpasses whatever misery and violence was initially opposed.

Victimhood ideology asserts no matter how people placed in the victim class act, no matter what they do, no matter how bigoted or violent they may be, they must not be held responsible.

The never hold victims responsible crowd continuously looks for reasons, explanations and solutions to ensure those placed in the victim class are never responsible or accountable for anything.

Victimhood ideology has created its own perverse caste system that the subscribers to this ideology are too blind to see.

People can be victims in need of justice and sympathy or empathy. But this never should have become not holding people, victim or not, responsible for their actions.