Preposterous

THE ABSURD TIMES

Latuff and Trump: Muslim Ban

Israelis and Trump

PREPOSTEROUS

If you think things cannot get any worse, you have not been paying attention. 

So, quick updates:

The day after we sent out the edition on the WAR ON FACT AND SANITY, we received an invitation to subscribe to the Scientic American help fight the War on Fact and Truth.

Trump talked on the phone with the Prime Minister of Australia.  He told the Aussie that he was sending "the next Boston Bomber" to the United States, the Aussie said the "talks were frank and …. .," Which is diplomatic speak for "Shove it up your ass!" He reportedly hung up on him, or vice versa.  Australia is al lot like the U.S. in its attitudes, well represented by the likes of Paul Hogan and Slim Dusty (best song: "The Pub's Got No Beer," actually better than many of what passes for Country these days).

Next call to Mexico: "Stop sending those 'bad Hombres' here.  Your Army is afraid of them, but ours isn't.  We can send ours in."  Right. 

Administration warned Iran about their recent missile test:  "You are hereby on official notice!"  What the hell does that mean?  "Nothing is off the table," just announced a few minutes ago.  So, still, what the hell does that mean?  If we abandon the treaty, Iran is free to start its nuclear production.

Trump says to the people of the United States about his rude and obnoxious behavior on the phone to foreign leaders "Don't worry about it."  Somehow, that is not comforting.

Speaking of nuclear: Trump announced his Supreme Court nomination.  It is actually a move toward diversity since there are already all Catholics and Jews on the court, this one is a Protestant.  He has told the senate to confirm him, even without the needed 60 votes for debate.

His Vice President, Pence, will probably have to cast the divided vote of him Secretary of Education since two Republicans will vote against her.  Murkowski and Collins.  "I just can't vote for her," said Collins.

So, at a national prayer breakfast, Trump called for a number of prayers, INCLUDING A PRAYER FOR ARNOLD SCHWARTZENEGGER!  This defies comment!

Trump currently has a higher approval rating in Poland than in the United States.   This may be because people in Poland don't live here.  There may be other reasons for it.

This is getting ludicrous.  One bright spot is Trump's failure to specifically mention Jews during Holocaust Memorial day.  It may move AIPAC to reduce its approval of Trump?

THE ISRAELI ASSAULT ON HIGHER EDUCATION

WHATEVER

THE ISRAELI ASSAULT ON HIGHER EDUCATION

          First, let’s get one thing straight:  if you are not 100% in favor of Israel taking more and more land from the Palestinians, you are anti-Semitic.  If you do not accept this basic truth, you will go to hell and die a horrible death and join Mark Twain in the fires of hell.  There is no room for being a-Semitic.  What are you, an agnostic or something?

          Ok, so we have a brief interview of North-Eastern University in Boston and the actions they took.  Now you have to get another thing straight: if you support boycott, sanctions, and divestment in relation to Israel, you are also going to hell.  You are pure evil.

          Now the Israeli army is in a fight for its life against that sect, you know, the one with the robes, hats, and pigtails or braids, standing by the wall, bowing and reading out loud.  It seems they don’t think they have to join the army.  They do not realize what a great contribution they could make to peace.  Just imagine some hell-bound evil people trying to stay in their houses with a bunch of these guys surrounding them and praying out loud.  Wouldn’t you move out? 

          Well, before they take the houses of the people, they first give them eviction notices.  It seems some Arab Association in Boston at the university was passing out fake notices that resembled the ones that the Palestinians get before their houses are taken down and bull-dozed to the ground.  Well, the administration at the university didn’t want to burn in Hell, so they kicked that group out. 

          Here is the interview:

A War on Campus? Northeastern University Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter

The Northeastern University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has become the latest student group to face reprimand for organizing around the Palestinian cause. Northeastern has suspended the group until 2015, barring it from meeting on campus and stripping it of any university funding. The move comes just weeks after student activists distributed mock eviction notices across the campus during Israeli Apartheid Week. The notices were intended to resemble those used by Israel to notify Palestinians of pending demolitions or seizures of their homes. We speak to Northeastern Students for Justice in Palestine member Max Geller and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the new book, "The Battle for Justice in Palestine." His new book includes a chapter titled "The War on Campus."

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Northeastern University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has become the latest student group to face reprimand for organizing around Palestinian issues. Northeastern University has just suspended the group until 2015, barring it from meeting on campus and stripping it of any university funding. The moves comes just weeks after student activists distributed mock eviction notices across the campus during Israeli Apartheid Week. The mock notices were intended to resemble ones used by Israel to notify Palestinians of pending home demolitions or property seizures.

AMY GOODMAN: Northeastern University accused the student group of disregarding university policies over an extended period of time. Michael Armini, Northeastern’s senior vice president of external affairs, said, quote, "The issue here is not one of free speech or the exchange of disparate ideas. Instead, it is about holding every member of our community to the same standards, and addressing SJP’s non-compliance with longstanding policies to which all student organizations at Northeastern are required to adhere."

We’re joined now by two guests. Max Geller is with us, Northeastern University School of Law student and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. And Ali Abunimah is with us in studio, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, author of a brand new book, The Battle for Justice in Palestine. His new book includes a chapter headlined "The War on Campus."

Let’s go first to Boston, to Northeastern University. Max, what happened? Why have you been decertified as a student organization? And why are—what is Students for Justice in Palestine attempting to do?

MAX GELLER: We have been suspended as an organization because the administration feels that they can no longer control our activities, and this is the best option they have left.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what are the violations, repeated violations, they claim that you’ve been engaged in?

MAX GELLER: I think it’s insubordination, is what their—their claim is that we—they said it’s a pervasive rule violation. But what really happened was we distributed a bunch of fliers, and the Hillel organization on my campus lost their temper and pressured the university into calling the police on us.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, Max, you’re a Jewish student, part of the Northeastern University Law School, with the group Students for Justice in Palestine. Explain this last act, that you didn’t get permission for. Explain why you did distribute these, what, mock eviction notices that you slipped under residents’ doors, students’ doors.

MAX GELLER: Yes, Amy. I mean, it’s important to understand, in the context of the greater repression of our activities, prior to our official suspension, we were suspended in everything but name. We were constantly thwarted and deprived funding. Our events were moved around, and roadblocks were put up. The only sort of—the only recourse we had, the last educational activity we could engage in, was a sort of direct action, where we didn’t need university funding or university space. We went door to door and slipped mock eviction notices under people’s door. But we were careful—

AMY GOODMAN: Why?

MAX GELLER: Because we wanted to simulate the sort of common Palestinian experience of coming home to find that your residency and existence has been criminalized.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Ali Abunimah, I wanted to ask you, this—what the students at Northeastern are facing, increasingly across academia, professional organizations of professors, as well as other universities, the battle is raging now over—against the supporters of self-determination for the Palestinians.

ALI ABUNIMAH: Absolutely. What’s happening at Northeastern is part of a much bigger war on campus that’s being waged by university administrations and by pro-Israel organizations. I mean, in addition to the harassment the students at Northeastern are going through, I mean, right now I’m scheduled to speak at Northeastern on April 1 as part of this book tour, and now we don’t know: Can that event go ahead? Am I banned from campus because the student group can’t book rooms or get resources? This is what it’s about. It’s about shutting down the discussion.

And the group, the off-campus group that has been harassing students at Northeastern is an extreme right-wing group called Americans for Peace and Tolerance, founded by an extreme Islamophobe called Charles Jacobs. He is the founder of another group called the David Project, which is taking this war national. And they have said that campuses in this country are the main arena where support for Israel has to be rescued and saved. And the David Project, as I write in The Battle for Justice in Palestine, has said that the war on Palestine solidarity must effectively be a war on the broader left and progressive movement, because that’s where support for Palestine is nurtured.

AMY GOODMAN: On the—at the student level, polls show across the country that especially young Jewish students are much more now critical of the state of Israel and identifying with the plight of Palestinians.

ALI ABUNIMAH: Exactly, because young Jewish students in this country, like all young students, identify with universal human rights and equality. And that’s why we’ve got legislatures in New York, in Illinois, in Maryland, even the United States Congress now, considering bills to penalize universities if students or faculty express support for the Palestine solidarity movement in the form of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. It really is a free speech emergency. And just this week in New York City, at Columbia University, at Barnard College, students had gotten permission—they had gone through all the authorizations to put up a banner that said, "Stand with Justice in Palestine," and the university administration took it down after complaints from pro-Israel groups and basically said, "We’re not going to allow any more banners." Free speech is losing out to support for Israel on our campuses, when administrations are left in charge of people’s rights. That’s why we have to stand by the students at Northeastern and all over this country.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, and meanwhile, Israel has launched its most intense bombing of the Gaza Strip since the assault of late 2012. Around 30 Israeli attacks have hit Gaza since Wednesday, following a barrage of Palestinian rocket fire. No casualties have been reported on either side. The group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks in what it called a response to earlier Israeli strikes that killed three people. More rockets have now been fired from Gaza as the flare-up continues for a third day. Ali, could you talk about this latest—this latest escalation in the actual conflict there?

ALI ABUNIMAH: Well, you mentioned the November 2012 assault by Israel, which killed 170 Palestinians. That ended with a ceasefire agreement between Israelis and the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza. Israel has incessantly violated that ceasefire and has been escalating its so-called targeted killings, extrajudicial executions, in recent weeks. And I think what we saw yesterday was an attempt by Palestinian groups in Gaza to say, "Look, if Israel keeps violating the ceasefire, we have the capacity to hit back." But I don’t think there’s anyone in Gaza that wants to see a total breakdown of the ceasefire agreement.

AMY GOODMAN: What about the so-called peace talks between Israel and Palestine that John Kerry is presiding over? How much faith do you put in them, Ali?

ALI ABUNIMAH: As much as John Kerry, which is none. I mean, John Kerry was caught by a reporter the other day, in a private moment, saying that his talks with Netanyahu were going absolutely nowhere. I think the significant thing and what’s really happening now is, you know, look at the fact that when Netanyahu was speaking to the Israel lobby AIPAC, he spent a third of his speech condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, because this is really what’s changing the equation. It’s grassroots activism in this country, in Palestine and all over the world.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, it’s an interesting quote. When the prime minister of Israel addressed AIPAC, he said, "Those who war the BDS label should be treated exactly as we treat any anti-Semite or bigot. They should be exposed and condemned. The boycotters should be boycotted." I want to go back to Max Geller. The equating of those critical of the Israeli state or the Israeli military with being anti-Semitic or being a bigot, your thoughts on that?

MAX GELLER: I mean, especially in the university context, it’s deeply troubling. It’s deeply troubling to demonize a viewpoint before one can debate it, especially in a university context. The Israeli-Palestinian question remains difficult to answer. And if those answers are not going to come from the academy, I don’t know where they’re going to come from. And to render a certain subject taboo is to deprive the students on campus of important perspectives when they—crucial to making informed decisions. It’s very troubling.

And, Amy, I think it’s really important to understand that Northeastern students put up fliers where they’re not supposed to every day. Every day, every student at Northeastern walks by fliers that weren’t authorized to be put up. But the only time you ever hear about students being disciplined for it is when the content contains pro-Palestinian messages.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Max, what are the plans for your group? Are you going to challenge this ban at all, or how are you going to continue to function or operate in the future?

MAX GELLER: Well, I’m pleased to say that the outpouring has been overwhelming. We received in less than 24 hours over 3,500 signatures to our petition. And we are right now considering the most spectacular way of delivering this petition to the president’s door. We have had student groups who are pretty apathetic. I mean, the—politically speaking—the debate team has offered to engage in a walkout of class on SJP’s behalf, and it’s been really inspiring and moving. But we are still trying to figure out the best way to sort of catch this lightning in a bottle and force the university’s hand.

AMY GOODMAN: Ali Abunimah, we just have about 45 seconds. The title for your book is The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Do you hold out any hope?

ALI ABUNIMAH: Well, I hope people will look at this book, because while I think the battle is raging in Palestine and in this country and on campuses and everywhere where people are gathering, I have a lot of hope. And in the end, this is a book about what the future looks like, a future based on equality, anti-racism and decolonization in Palestine, where everyone can live, because people are sick and tired of this conflict and the violence that comes with it.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both very much for being with us. Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, his new book is called The Battle for Justice in Palestine. And thanks, Max Geller, Northeastern University School of Law student, actively campaigning with Students for Justice in Palestine, known asSJP.

And that does it for our broadcast. Happy Birthday to Aaron Maté! As I said, we’re on the road: tonight, Flagstaff; tomorrow night, Santa Fe; Saturday night, I’ll be inDenver, Colorado; and then March 29th, St. Louis. Check our website at democracynow.org.

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International Edition -- Explaining America

THE ABSURD TIMES

The Absurd Times has readers in Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, India, Australia, France, Indonesia, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, Slovakia, Turkey, the UK, Jordan, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium, Columbia, and South Africa. Other extensions, unidentified, are gov, coop, arpa, int, edu, and a large number of visits from "Unknown." I even have the flag images to illustrate it.

Since most of these readers have acquired English as a second or third language, their command of the syntax, grammar, and vocabulary is much stronger than that of the average American. As a result, a good deal of what occurs in this country seems very strange and, at best, puzzling. Other aspects of our behavior and especially the behavior of our leaders appear to them as quite preposterous. For this reason, I am undertaking to explain our country and its politics to people who are not fluent in American culture and colloquialisms. For the sake of convenience, I use the term "American" here to refer to citizens of the United States and do not include Canadians, Native Americans, or those who live in the southern Americas.

One of the most common questions has to do with why the American electorate, since 1976 at least, has insisted on electing either cowboys or people with non-standard, extremely southern sounding, accents or, preferably, both.

To understand this, it is important to look at the cinema (what Americans call "movies" or "the theater") since World War II when the United States became acknowledged as a world power and leader. Many Americans grew up watching westerns where there is a sharply drawn distinction between good and evil. Moreover, lest there be any confusion, the actors representing the "Good" wore white cowboy hats and those wearing black hats represented the forces of evil. Since the United States represents the Good, naturally, a cowboy would be an excellent President. Ronald Reagan had a long career starring the "Death Valley Days," a western television series and, hence, was an ideal candidate for President. Many of his historical allusions, in fact, were to events that never really happened but which were scenes from movies. George Bush, the latter, even walked bowlegged. The southern accent was attractive because it was associated here with "conservative" values. There can be no doubt that the southern states, for the most part, are racist and reactionary and, in fact, once even tried to establish their own country here in order to preserve slavery. Sarah Palin was taken seriously because she often flew in helicopters shooting wildlife, much as did legends of the "old west" such as one Wild Bill Hickock.

Additionally, since the majority of Americans no longer wear hats, they need some way to spot Evil. They were obliged with the image of someone with slightly darker skin wearing a beard.

However, so long as we are referring to movies, the best western to review in order to ascertain the American character is "High Noon" with the title song sung by another cowboy, Tex Ritter, and starring Gary Cooper. It clearly indicates the basic cowardice and instinct for self-interest as more important than any such issues as good and evil. This explains the difference between the speeches of recent American Presidents and their actions. Wars against countries such as Granada are much preferable to those against comparable forces. You will notice that even today the United States is issuing grim warnings about the weaponry of North Korea (which is about as advanced as a Nash Rambler) and we take what comfort we can in our own tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. (Better safe than sorry.)

A key source of confusion to those who speak formal English is the "table". I must admit that I have never seen this table, and that only a select few have ever seen it. It's existence must be taken on faith, and that is one reason for Americans proclaiming their religious ardor. So, when the Democrats finally gained a majority in 2006, the Speaker of the House of Representatives announced that "Impeachment is not on the table." I doubt whether prosecution of the previous administrations for its war crimes is on the table either. This table serves a wide variety of purposes. For example, if some action threatens to benefit anyone other than the top 5% of the population, it is "tabled". Then, someone comes along and brushes it off the table and it is never seen again.

A bit of history as to the origins of so-called "natural-born" citizens may help in understanding the thinking of Americans. Many of our first settlers, ignoring the Vikings, were religious fanatics and zealots and British Royalty was quite glad to be rid of them. Another large portion of early settlers were criminals and, again, quite glad to be rid of them. These two groups eventually interbred to produce self-righteous thieves, murderers, and rapists. All three groups comprised the original populations, then.

Later on, a group of other immigrants came, most of them in slave-ships, and their descendants are now called African Americans. More recently, the French gave us the Statue of Liberty with, in part, the following inscription:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As a Brit once stated, "Well, people DID!" I believe they were comprised to a great deal of the "wretched refuse".

However, all of the factors mentioned above do not fully explain Americans. They actually possess a great deal of common sense and some are quite intelligent. For example, about 80% of them do want what should be properly called "Socialized Medicine," but consistently vote against anyone who even uses the phrase except in derision. There are constant complaints about the salaries of unionized workers as compared to those in other countries in the so-called "developed world," but the disparity is largely a result of Socialized Medicine in those countries. Still, moneyed interests lobby against such competitive assets. The United States leads in executions of the death penalty, although it is quite obvious that is not a deterrent. One need only look to Renaissance England where being a pickpocket ("cutpurse") was a capital offense. Where were most of the cutpurses apprehended? At the public executions of other cutpurses. Nothing more than vengeance can explain the popularity of the death penalty, at least that is the only positive explanation of it. The fact that it conflicts with the "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord," is irrelevant. They have religious leaders who talk to God who told them it was ok in this case. Attempts to collaborate these conversations have heretofore proven unsuccessful.

No, the real explanation is to be found in ignorance. Where Americans are knowledgeable, in sports, for example, they show great memories, intelligence, and analytic skills. However, in subjects such as history, social science, and languages, they are retarded, even with public education. It has been generously estimated that an American High School Graduate, on average, is about two academic years behind European counterparts. This is largely a result of the PTA which insists that certain facts be suppressed, such as those relation to contraception, slavery, imperialism, and so forth. Those who do find the educational system lacking and rebel as carefully weeded out of the system so that only the obedient and addle-minded are allowed to proceed.

How then, does one explain the knowledge and high intelligence of some of the graduates? The answer is obvious: those with high intelligence and perception who do manage to continue in education are passive-aggressive rather than anti-social or direct. The rest are failed, held back, and eventually drop out. Only the mediocre, the naive, or passive-aggressive manage to obtain an education.

There is one fact that merits further explaination -- how and why did they elect Barack Hussein Obama, an African American with an IQ at least two standard deviations above the mean and highly educated in Constitutional Law and committed to helping the lower classes? This at first seems a very glaring anomolie. However, one must take two facts into consideration. First, George Bush was so horrible that even an average American wanted him and his political party gone and rid of, even more than British Royality wanted to be rid of religious fanatics. Second, he states himself that he found that white people are not as much afraid of black people if only the black people smile alot. He found that out when he was sixteen years old. That is why he still smiles too much.

These few words may not be enough to completely explain America to you, but they are at least a good starting point for further research.