Update: A few facts have come to light from the insightful comments in a crosspost. There is no occupation, and no walls. Palestinians [who do not exist] are free to move around in the West Bank and Gaza as they wish in accordance with their pursuit of happiness, with Israel cheering them on. There is no Israeli militarism and no PR apparatus in support of Israeli militarism - which does not in any event exist.
To deny these facts above is to subscribe to a "world Zionist conspiracy" theory and/or be nonconstructive and/or be drunk/on drugs/off drugs/high and/or hear voices/be insane and/or be a twit and/or be a whack job, and/or an anti-Semite and/or a "Jew hater" and/or a believer in the "decoder ring" [whatever that is; have to admit that last one does seem odd]. Please revise your worldview accordingly and know that when Israel bombs and shoots Palestinians it means well. But I'll say this, these pro-militarist-guys can always be counted on to demonstrate your point in the Comments section. :) See the comments section at: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/5/727993/-GIYUS-Support-Killing-Palestinians.
Readers may have noticed Robert Naiman's On Israeli Settlement Freeze, Public Has Obama's Back at MyDD.
Naiman’s piece is modest, asserting that the American public supports the settlement freeze.
In the face of decades of Israeli-American rejectionisism and continuing terror in the occupied territories, readers may find the settlement freeze diverting from the nature of the savage enterprise of illegally occupying Gaza and the West Bank. [See B'TSELEM at virtually any given moment.]
Yet Naiman comes under attack for his, I think, somewhat meek conclusion reflected in the title.
Ignoring Naiman's argument addressing American public opinion, the GIYUS.org (Give Israel Your United Support) talking points begin to flow.
At least Naiman was spared the ad hominem attacks, but if he were to crosspost around, it gets dirty fast. Check out Salon's lame piece on the film on Rachie Corrie, for example.
Who is GIYUS.org?
It's an online pressure group that has been around for a few years. They mean to insult and annoy, but not address facts or data.
GIYUS.org is, as Alan Johnston notes, a “little army of cyber soldiers” who will do anything but engage arguments. Their mission is to slime, divert, and repeat talking points ad nauseam.
See Israel backed by army of cyber-soldiers (Farago. UK Times, July 28, 2006).
Writes Yonit Farago:
Israel’s Government has thrown its weight behind efforts by supporters to counter what it believes to be negative bias and a tide of pro-Arab propaganda.Supporting militarism is not all that difficult for some. And supporting peace, recognizing the humanity of Palestinians is apparently impossible.
The Foreign Ministry has ordered trainee diplomats to track websites and chatrooms so that networks of US and European groups with hundreds of thousands of Jewish activists can place supportive messages.
In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special 'megaphone' software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.
Exaggeration? Ask Rachel Corrie's family.
So for those who speak out for justice and peace, for those who speak out for victims of militarism: GIYUS.org is at the ready, but not to engage in discourse or dialogue.
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Note on GIYUS.org: GIYUS.org is a worldwide online network supporting Israeli militarism [and dedicated to sullying the memory of Rachel Corrie, among other distasteful pursuits]. It is intended to intimidate bloggers and other writers and create an impression that a strong grassroots community exists in support of Israeli atrocities and state terror.
If you ever seen a piece in MyDD and Daily Kos, for example, that cites human rights data in criticizing Israeli foreign policy—a real no-no for this group—you will see an immediate response from GIYUS.org.
GIYUS.org members’ comments are welcome here to promote their point of view, but actually responding to the points made in the piece would be a welcome change.
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