Opinion Editorials, March 2014

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, March 15, 2014

Below is a six minute segment from a Q&A session at the Washington Report's AIPAC Conference of March 2014.  It begins the moment the Holocaust narrative is challenged and the panic on the stage becomes palpable. 

In the clip, an anonymous but well-informed member of the audience asks the panel to address the question of the dominance of the Holocaust in American life. Rightly, she points out that the Holocaust is a state-imposed religious dogma and as such ‘violates constitutional rights’.  However, it takes only a few minutes to see that as far as Justin Raimondo & Philip Weiss are concerned, all that really matters is the Jews and their suffering. 

Jewish Voice for Whatever icon, Philip Weiss doesn’t think that we should ‘problematize the education of the Holocaust'.  "a wonderful book!", he says of the Diary of Anne Frank.  Well, I’d like to hear from Weiss or anyone else something about the literary qualities of this diary - because I've found none. 

Meanwhile, ‘anti-war’ hero Justin Raimondo apparently doesn’t agree that the Holocaust, like other historical narrative, should allow a ‘range of opinion’.

The meaning of all this is all too simple: For America to liberate itself, it may first have to  emancipate itself from its current tribal icons of dissent. For America to be once again the land of the Free, it must leave Jerusalem behind and find the true Athens in its heart. 

http://youtu.be/xS73ufRIoYc

The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity politics and Jewish Power in particular - available onAmazon.com  & Amazon.co.uk

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On Abby Martin, Freedom and Tolerance

By Gilad Atzmon

RT’s presenter Abby Martin has bought herself a reputation as a 911 sceptic and a vocal opponent of Israeli‘s policies . Yesterday she denounced Russian action in Crimea while she was live on air.

She said she 'would not sit here and apologise or defend (Russian) military aggression,' before saying her 'heart went out' to the Ukrainian people whom she described as 'the real losers here.' 
Ms Martin hosts on the American version of the channel and made her statement at the end of her show

http://youtu.be/IHYUPbnSs_0

She said: 'Before I wrap up the show, I wanted to say something from my heart about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and Russia's military occupation of Crimea. 'Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs.’

'What Russia did is wrong!'

Following Martin’s announcement, many western media outlets were quick to denounce the ‘Kremlin’s funded’ TV network and its authoritarian manner, but the fact that Martin openly criticised the Russian government proves the opposite. Martin’s statement means that Russia is far more respectful of freedom of speech and thought than our so called ‘Free West.’

Can you imagine a BBC presenter standing up against the British Government? Not anymore I guess. In the continent, the clumsy ‘socialist’ French Government couldn’t even tolerate the quanelle. The French media remained silent when France Government launch a war against Dieudonne, France’s most popular Comedian.  And what about Fox /CNN News, do they denounce American interventionism in such an open manner?

Truth, must be said, Martin’s TV appearance yesterday may suggest that Russia is now more tolerant and pluralist than the West.

But Martin failed to convey elementary political wisdom. 'I admittedly don't know as much as I should about Ukraine's history or the cultural dynamics of the region, but what I do know is that military intervention is never the answer,” she said.

Like Martin, I also oppose any from of intervention, however, I try to not to comment publically on issues I know little about. There is something that must be highlighted about the Russian operation in Crimea. Though, it looks like a military invasion, so far it hasn’t involved any violence on the part of the Russians. I guess that the situation is volatile and this can change any second. But we also have to remember that unlike the Zionised West that is quick to use vast and lethal fire power that leaves countries in a state of carnage for decades, the Russians are operating in Crimea under a heavy smoke screen, they are supported by local militias and so far, they have achieved their military and political goals without fatalities.  Let’s hope that the situation remains the same.

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah & ccun.org.

editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org