• Re: Palestine now divides us

    From %@21:1/5 to NefeshBarYochai on Sat Nov 4 18:16:36 2023
    XPost: uk.legal, alt.checkmate

    NefeshBarYochai wrote:
    BY MOHAMED SEIF EL NASR NOVEMBER 3, 2023

    While reading the works of the medieval Arab sociologist Ibn Khaldun
    many years ago, I was surprised by his ideas on geography and climate,
    which attribute not only physical but also sociological patterns for
    people living in the same climatic region. In short, these ideas
    suggest that if someone from the extreme Northern Hemisphere moved to
    the extreme Southern Hemisphere, their surviving descendants would
    eventually have the same physical and sociological attributes as the
    people of the Southern Hemisphere. I was fascinated by this concept
    and at a loss of how anyone in this world could be a racist, knowing
    they could have mutated into anyone else.

    Holding onto this notion and adding to it years of soul-searching,
    which for being born a Muslim led me to delve into Sufism, I developed
    the firm belief that all humans are essentially one and that all evil
    in the world is the result of our division. I was convinced the
    principal reason people in the Global North condone their armies
    murdering innocent civilians or the dying of children from hunger in
    faraway nations is that they are unable to perceive the victims as
    similar to them and are accordingly unable to empathize with them and
    feel their pain. If they did, I told myself, most evil in the world
    would disappear.

    That is why I believe that the main objective of the arts should be to humanize those we perceive as different. Being an aspiring novelist
    myself, I decided that unity and the oneness of being would be the
    principal theme of all my work.

    I can no longer adopt such beliefs and will no longer vouch for those
    ideas.

    It is clear to me now that calling for love and unity does not fall on
    the oppressed but on the privileged. In the face of the hate or apathy
    of those who do not feel their suffering or regard them as equal, the persecuted have no choice but to embrace whatever they are persecuted
    for, ethnic, religious, or else, and accept the division. To vouch for
    love and unity is a privilege only people in the Global North can now
    afford. For the rest of us, it is nothing short of weakness and
    humiliation.

    Like most people in the Global South, I am watching with horror the
    ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the blind, astonishing backing of the majority of governments and mainstream
    media outlets in the United States and Europe. Like most people in the
    Global South, I am opening my eyes to the hypocrisy, racism, and ugly confirmation that our lives and deaths are still not valued or
    regarded as equal. Like most people in the Global South, I am outraged
    at the narrative of condemning Hamas solely for the attack on October
    7, the impudence of acting as if it were unprovoked, and the moral
    failure to view it in the context of 75 years of dehumanization,
    colonialism, ethnic cleansing, land theft, violence, torture, and rape
    at the hands of Israel.

    We, who suffered from colonialism, understand that the only party to
    blame is Israel, the occupying power, simply because if there had been
    no occupation, there would have been no Hamas. We, who suffered from colonialism, understand that the Hamas combatants who attacked Israel
    on October 7 did not choose to be resistance fighters and would have
    had normal lives if they had not been subjected to occupation and
    living for almost two decades in a concentration camp where more than
    half of the population were struggling to afford food just before
    October 7. We, who suffered from colonialism, are well aware of this narrative of blaming the victims and the failure to apply the same
    moral principles to us.

    So, for the people of conscience in the Global North who are standing
    with the Palestinians in any way they can, for those marching,
    writing, and speaking up, thank you for giving us hope in humanity in
    our darkest hour and not allowing us to turn into complete monsters as
    our enemies want us to.

    And for the other ones, for those who are running this horror show in
    Gaza or facilitating it, for those who are murdering and collectively punishing the innocent men and women and the children of the earth,
    for those who know there are children trapped in darkness under the
    rubble of bombed buildings, who are dying of thirst and hunger and are
    still against a ceasefire, for those who have revealed the wickedness
    of their hearts and the darkness of their souls, know that we now see
    you for who you are. The masks have fallen, and millions of us are
    opening up our eyes to the realization of how much you hate and
    dehumanize us. Millions of us are radicalized and ready to adopt the
    ideas and narratives of any group, only if it will fight or oppose
    you. Whatever doctrine there is — Islamist, Communist, or Nihilist — millions of us are ready to espouse it only if it will take a stand
    against you.

    Palestine now divides us.

    We have hate in our hearts, and I promise you that it will remain. And
    I promise you we will live like this and die like this and pass on our
    rage and our pain. And we will remain prisoners of our hate, and you
    will remain prisoners of your crimes and fears, and the violence will
    go on, and none of us will be free, until there is fairness and until
    there is justice, and until Palestine is free.

    https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/palestine-now-divides-us/

    so

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From o/o@21:1/5 to NefeshBarYochai on Sat Nov 4 23:23:13 2023
    XPost: uk.legal

    On Sun, 05 Nov 23 01:02:29 UTC,
    NefeshBarYochai said:


    BY MOHAMED SEIF EL NASR NOVEMBER 3, 2023

    While reading the works of the medieval Arab sociologist Ibn Khaldun
    many years ago, I was surprised by his ideas on geography and climate,
    which attribute not only physical but also sociological patterns for
    people living in the same climatic region. In short, these ideas
    suggest that if someone from the extreme Northern Hemisphere moved to
    the extreme Southern Hemisphere, their surviving descendants would
    eventually have the same physical and sociological attributes as the
    people of the Southern Hemisphere. I was fascinated by this concept
    and at a loss of how anyone in this world could be a racist, knowing
    they could have mutated into anyone else.

    Holding onto this notion and adding to it years of soul-searching,
    which for being born a Muslim led me to delve into Sufism, I developed
    the firm belief that all humans are essentially one and that all evil
    in the world is the result of our division. I was convinced the
    principal reason people in the Global North condone their armies
    murdering innocent civilians or the dying of children from hunger in
    faraway nations is that they are unable to perceive the victims as
    similar to them and are accordingly unable to empathize with them and
    feel their pain. If they did, I told myself, most evil in the world
    would disappear.

    That is why I believe that the main objective of the arts should be to humanize those we perceive as different. Being an aspiring novelist
    myself, I decided that unity and the oneness of being would be the
    principal theme of all my work.

    I can no longer adopt such beliefs and will no longer vouch for those
    ideas.

    It is clear to me now that calling for love and unity does not fall on
    the oppressed but on the privileged. In the face of the hate or apathy
    of those who do not feel their suffering or regard them as equal, the persecuted have no choice but to embrace whatever they are persecuted
    for, ethnic, religious, or else, and accept the division. To vouch for
    love and unity is a privilege only people in the Global North can now
    afford. For the rest of us, it is nothing short of weakness and
    humiliation.

    Like most people in the Global South, I am watching with horror the
    ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the blind, astonishing backing of the majority of governments and mainstream
    media outlets in the United States and Europe. Like most people in the
    Global South, I am opening my eyes to the hypocrisy, racism, and ugly confirmation that our lives and deaths are still not valued or
    regarded as equal. Like most people in the Global South, I am outraged
    at the narrative of condemning Hamas solely for the attack on October
    7, the impudence of acting as if it were unprovoked, and the moral
    failure to view it in the context of 75 years of dehumanization,
    colonialism, ethnic cleansing, land theft, violence, torture, and rape
    at the hands of Israel.

    We, who suffered from colonialism, understand that the only party to
    blame is Israel, the occupying power, simply because if there had been
    no occupation, there would have been no Hamas. We, who suffered from colonialism, understand that the Hamas combatants who attacked Israel
    on October 7 did not choose to be resistance fighters and would have
    had normal lives if they had not been subjected to occupation and
    living for almost two decades in a concentration camp where more than
    half of the population were struggling to afford food just before
    October 7. We, who suffered from colonialism, are well aware of this narrative of blaming the victims and the failure to apply the same
    moral principles to us.

    So, for the people of conscience in the Global North who are standing
    with the Palestinians in any way they can, for those marching,
    writing, and speaking up, thank you for giving us hope in humanity in
    our darkest hour and not allowing us to turn into complete monsters as
    our enemies want us to.

    And for the other ones, for those who are running this horror show in
    Gaza or facilitating it, for those who are murdering and collectively punishing the innocent men and women and the children of the earth,
    for those who know there are children trapped in darkness under the
    rubble of bombed buildings, who are dying of thirst and hunger and are
    still against a ceasefire, for those who have revealed the wickedness
    of their hearts and the darkness of their souls, know that we now see
    you for who you are. The masks have fallen, and millions of us are
    opening up our eyes to the realization of how much you hate and
    dehumanize us. Millions of us are radicalized and ready to adopt the
    ideas and narratives of any group, only if it will fight or oppose
    you. Whatever doctrine there is ? Islamist, Communist, or Nihilist ?
    millions of us are ready to espouse it only if it will take a stand
    against you.

    Palestine now divides us.

    We have hate in our hearts, and I promise you that it will remain. And
    I promise you we will live like this and die like this and pass on our
    rage and our pain. And we will remain prisoners of our hate, and you
    will remain prisoners of your crimes and fears, and the violence will
    go on, and none of us will be free, until there is fairness and until
    there is justice, and until Palestine is free.

    so why did the uncivilized arab savages,
    who have been treacherous and brutal
    cutthroats for thousands of years think it
    was okay to torture, rape, behead and burn
    children alive and force their parents to
    watch before doing the same to their
    parents? do u approve of these tactics
    against innocent children? how would u
    react if it were the other way around?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jos Boersema@21:1/5 to NefeshBarYochai on Tue Nov 7 01:02:41 2023
    On 2023-11-05, NefeshBarYochai <[email protected]> wrote:
    BY MOHAMED SEIF EL NASR NOVEMBER 3, 2023

    While reading the works of the medieval Arab sociologist Ibn Khaldun
    many years ago, I was surprised by his ideas on geography and climate,
    which attribute not only physical but also sociological patterns for
    people living in the same climatic region. In short, these ideas
    suggest that if someone from the extreme Northern Hemisphere moved to
    the extreme Southern Hemisphere, their surviving descendants would
    eventually have the same physical and sociological attributes as the
    people of the Southern Hemisphere. I was fascinated by this concept
    and at a loss of how anyone in this world could be a racist, knowing
    they could have mutated into anyone else.

    Holding onto this notion and adding to it years of soul-searching,
    which for being born a Muslim led me to delve into Sufism, I developed
    the firm belief that all humans are essentially one and that all evil
    in the world is the result of our division. I was convinced the
    principal reason people in the Global North condone their armies
    murdering innocent civilians or the dying of children from hunger in
    faraway nations is that they are unable to perceive the victims as
    similar to them and are accordingly unable to empathize with them and
    feel their pain. If they did, I told myself, most evil in the world
    would disappear.

    Quite nonsensical, because there has been a massive amount of war
    between the European people on all levels of size. Villages went to war
    on villages, regions on regions, Nations against Nation, Empires against Empires, and then everything once over again. I suppose there is a logic
    in the principle that there is a Division, and that this Division has
    played a part in the war and the repression.

    It is also the case that there has been an equal amount of war in the Equatorial regions and the global South, if not more so (per capita).
    Slavery, hate, torture, it has all blossomed in the Equatorial regions
    and elsewhere. There was white on white slavery in the North, and black
    on black slavery in Africa, and organized torture in Middle America.

    That is why I believe that the main objective of the arts should be to humanize those we perceive as different. Being an aspiring novelist
    myself, I decided that unity and the oneness of being would be the
    principal theme of all my work.

    I can no longer adopt such beliefs and will no longer vouch for those
    ideas.

    It is clear to me now that calling for love and unity does not fall on
    the oppressed but on the privileged. In the face of the hate or apathy
    of those who do not feel their suffering or regard them as equal, the persecuted have no choice but to embrace whatever they are persecuted
    for, ethnic, religious, or else, and accept the division. To vouch for
    love and unity is a privilege only people in the Global North can now
    afford.

    Go talk to some homeless people here in the "global North", and see how
    they feel about the love and unity in this western society.

    Then there is the fact that western / global North, seems to be more
    wealthy than the South. While there is an element of plundering,
    especially the USA versun the Middle East (oil), Nations which are poor
    are typically not as such poor, but tyrannical and dictatorial. They
    just hate each other that much more, so they cannot unite against their
    common enemy: the super rich criminals, who take everything for
    themselves and leave the rest in poverty to serve them.

    This doesn't mean there is plenty of evil in the "global North", and
    that these Nations aren't guilty of looting, because they did plenty of
    that. It just means that people in the global South who seem poor,
    aren't innocent of their own poverty and conditions.

    For the rest of us, it is nothing short of weakness and
    humiliation.
    [...]
    https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/palestine-now-divides-us/

    Who even cares ? It is a sandbank somewhere in Arabia. Why do you all
    obsess about this zero spot. It has no bearing on any of us. I see a
    similar development as in Donbass (eastern Ukraine). People didn't
    really care about that either. In the more overtly USA controlled
    areas of the world (such as the E.U., Western Europe) people where
    fed lies by their Government, with the purpose of creating a war with
    Russia. It was the *story* of their own criminal ruling classes which interested the people. The Government made it a talking point, but
    completely re-imagined reality into something they could use for their
    evil. The story was interesting for the people, because they focus on
    whatever the criminals say. They worship these people, out of
    foolishness I suppose, or historically justified fear for their own
    rulers. "What are our evil bosses talking about now ?" But probably it
    was mostly stupidity, otherwise they would have cared to find out facts,
    and they didn't.

    The same now with Gaza and Israel, two specks on the map, two half
    Nations at best. Nowhere near anything relevant, except maybe
    religiously. The focus is for both sides in the greater War to be
    created, on whatever story their ruling class gives them. Who can even
    figure out who is lying the most every day, the Zionists or the
    Palestinians. The first casualty in war was the truth, wasn't it.

    People don't focus on reality, but on the stories that Divide people,
    when their ruling class orders them to do so. The truth should unite
    people, because there is ultimately one greater truth, even if you can
    have many opinions about it. Enough focus on the truth, should create
    greater unity. However it doesn't seem to interest people to get into
    it, and people like Julian Assange get destroyed for exposing the truth.


    P.S. (I happen to care about the situation with Israel, most if not only because they should do their Torah, and be an example to the rest of the
    world. If they don't, this world could turn into a hell world. I know it
    sounds over the top. Go check technological development over time, and
    don't forget to take note of what modern armies are doing, and how often
    there have been diabolical Tyrannies on the Earth, and how long their repressive regimes have lasted. It is a world of fools with great toys
    and plenty of evil to go around. The situation is critical I would say.)

    --
    Economic & political ideology, worked out into Constitutional models,
    with a multi-facetted implementation plan. http://market.socialism.nl

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