We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Genocide becomes mainstream in Israeli discourse

Click here to access article by Yazan al-Saadi from Al Akhbar. 
Over the course of Israel’s latest brutal attack on the besieged Gaza Strip this past month, a recurring narrative peddling the notion of genocide as a tactic to be used against the Palestinians has become prevalent, indicating a significant shift of extremist rhetoric from the fringes of society to its mainstream. 
The author then goes on to supply numerous pieces of evidence (with links) from Israeli sources to support his thesis. 

History has shown that this pariah state was born dripping with the blood of terrorism, and has continued throughout its brief existence to maintain itself with violence. It seems that terrorism, apartheid, and genocide can succeed if backed by other powerful states--at least for awhile. (see this, this, this, and this.