To think one must take sides in mourning: if I mourn Israeli deaths, I can't mourn Palestinian deaths. I must choose which deaths are tragic and which are not. It's an old, primitive way of tribalism that doesn't make sense to me.
Very valuable post Mike. I knew about the secret funding of Hamas and the Zion Nazi's upcoming trial being postponed but had no idea about the motherfucker Pulling Back The Troops Protecting The Southern Border, Thereby Setting Up A PRE-PLANNED GENOCIDE Of Over 1200 Of His Own People TO VIRTUALLY ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY IN GAZA!!!!!!!! Thanks loads for this info I'm saving on page 72 of my save file (72 being the 'magic QCD number' in physics)!
I've never met Michael so I can't speak to his character, but it sounds like he loves waging war. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it may be a necessary good thing.
But he said that while he pays special attention to subscriber comments he also reads all his emails.
Yet - despite attempting at some effort to get his attention with quality posts and links IN THIS SPACE, and despite writing him two private emails I've heard nothing from him as he chose instead to focus entirely on the content-free "Fuck you" email that he received instead.
He's a flawed human like the rest of us but does he ONLY know war? Can he just not get his interest up for a radical solution by a well-placed person actually doing his damnest to bring some sanity and happiness into this world?
I don't know.
But the question hangs.
Anybody else interested in what I'm referring to can ask Michael about those emails or just read my various attempts to reach him via subscriber-comments on this and the previous page.
Michael is such a god-blessed power house that I HOPE he's better than the rest of us and gets more excited by optimism than pessimism. Michael, fry me if you must, but first, for the love of God, please take seriously what I have to say.
Once again you have nailed it. So accurate, caring, trying to speak the truth to power and ignore-ance. As a Jewish physician I am horrified at the slaughter and the decimation of the hospitals Remember when Biden did a big speech about how Israel would NEVER bomb a hospital, it must be a Hamas bomb that accidentally felt atop the hospital. How many of the bombs that are being used every day on civilians, schools, refugee camps in "safe zones" to which they have been displaced, are made in and supplied by the US? How can we stop this madness.
Michael, thank’s for posting your heartfelt response to an unknown persons visceral attack. We should all take the time to respond so carefully and acknowledge that those attacks come from a place of ignorance (willful or not) and respond with compassion and fact.
Just one aspect. It happens I have been teaching, writing, and deep schmoozing with Holocaust survivors for over fifty years--since the 1970s. Very few survivors I've known believed that Israel would provide reliable security (although more than without it) or that it would have reliable allies--whether the U.S. or others. Call is cynicism or realism. But, despite widespread assumptions, relatively few survivors I've known believed that Israel was "the answer to the Holocaust." That idea was more the creation of those who did not experience the Holocaust directly. Part propaganda, part convenient delusion.
I sincerely hope you are right. I have been so deeply disturbed by the "tribalism over humanity" of the many of the very deep pockets who support AIPAC. The conflation of Judaism with Zionism.
On another note, I have a friend who I have known for decades who is the person in my life who is personally most defined by her Jewish heritage. She frames Gaza in terms of her view of Jewish history, and says that people who "don't know the history," are behaving in an antisemitic way by opposing Israel. So, I don't dare question her, lest I be accused of antisemitism. At the same time, she disparages Netanyahu. But... Netanyahu's leadership of Israel is the logical endgame of zionism, a nationalist-now-fascist movement that has consistently used terrorism (now genocide)as a deliberate political strategy for 70 years. It has been so depressing to me to see how quickly my friend's conflation of zionism and judaism subsumed all her other values: her political feminism, her progressive politics, etc.
I do know that Edwin Montagu, the only Jewish member of the British cabinet, opposed the Balfour Declaration in 1917. He called zionism a "mischievous political creed." That's putting it mildly.
I wrote about survivors whom I know; not necessarily others.
Beyond that, I disagree with a lot of what you write, but it may at least be worth saying that a great many--on both left and right (especially hyper religious right) opposed zionism from the start. And I fully agree with the role of tribalism--whether White Nationalism/America Firsters; pre-WW2 Japan; the Mafia; WASP preppies; Aryan Supremacists; Islamic Republicans, etc.
Einstein's views were complex and changing. He described himself as pro-Zionist from the 30s to the end of WW2. He hoped for a binational state--don't we all? (or most of us)--but didn't know if that was possible. He was willing to accept the possibility that it was not, but wary of the kind of madness of the kind we now find ourselves. Wiki is actually pretty good on this.
I love and agree with all of his views on everything.
Wikipedia: "As a Labor Zionist, Einstein supported the Palestinian Jews of the Yishuv. However, he did not support the establishment of a Jewish state or an Arab state to replace Mandatory Palestine, instead asserting that he would "much rather see a reasonable agreement reached with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace" under the framework of a binational Jewish–Arab state."
The idea of violently pushing people off their land with no compensation is just appalling to me and I can't understand how any decent person would agree to it. We had no idea about the Nakba, growing up in the US in the late 50s, early 60s. The Hasbara was all consuming.
For a serious look into Einstein's complex and changing views on Zionism, the wiki article is worth reading. A lot of his own questions remain questions today. It ain't simple. In 1947, he wrote to Nehru in India:
"Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong....The Jewish people alone has for centuries been in the anomalous position of being victimized and hounded as a people, though bereft of all the rights and protections which even the smallest people normally has...Zionism offered the means of ending this discrimination. Through the return to the land to which they were bound by close historic ties...Jews sought to abolish their pariah status among peoples... The advent of Hitler underscored with a savage logic all the disastrous implications contained in the abnormal situation in which Jews found themselves. Millions of Jews perished... because there was no spot on the globe where they could find sanctuary...The Jewish survivors demand the right to dwell amid brothers, on the ancient soil of their fathers." —Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, June 13, 1947[30]"
He never let go of the hope of a just, democratic, and pluralistic state. But he also recognized that it might not be possible given the reality as it was. Primarily, he blamed neither Arabs nor Jews but the Euro colonial powers--especially, England, France, Germany--for, in effect, screwing and exploiting everyone in the "region." He hated the rightist Zionists, but not equate them with Zionism as a whole. My Palestinian friends in Israel don't either.
I can't imagine him approving of the Nakba. It surely wasn't a land without people. Nethu, for one, lives in a stolen home. How was that ever fair. Anyone who took advantage of the Balfour Declaration is responsible too. It was and is an unconscionable disaster that never should happened. Germany should have been forced to give up land, if anyone.
Excellent and educational reply, Michael ("He who is like God"). As most of us realize, we are in a deeply deeply sad situation, and I feel that all of the historical fighting could have been and can be prevented. Not one life should have been nor should be lost.
Thank you for your guidance Michael. I learn from you every single time I read or listen to you.Knowledge is the guide to wisdom and compassion through understanding we inherently all feel and want love.
A good thing for you to write a response. I did feel, though, that though completely true, the way it was written showed so much anger and disgust with the Netanyahu regime, that it might be just misinterpreted by readers like Aron as anti-Israel. I am Jewish and have been disgusted by Netanyahu's fascism and cruelty for over a decade - frankly humiliated. He cares nothing for human life and apparently doesn't consider those people human, even the children, elderly, disabled, and those trying to care for them. He is exactly the same as the Nazi's. I really am humiliated to be an American whose government supports him and his horrific cadre of ultra right wing supporters. I have been foolishly hoping that the Israeli citizems would do something to bring him down, but I have basically given up hope. I am not surprised that he may have allowed the Hamas attack to happen as a false flag to keep himself in power. Israelis should put them in prison as war criminals or bring him to the Hague. Again, I am Jewish and filled with despair over the level of hatred against Israelis that this has engendered in Arabic countries, and which massively increases the threat to them for decades to come. I am 77, and I will be long dead before I will ever see Israel as a safe haven or anything like the country I knew as a child.
I am a 73 year old who was raised Jewish. I am disgusted by any human being that stands up for murdering civilians because you must "take Israel's side".
To think one must take sides in mourning: if I mourn Israeli deaths, I can't mourn Palestinian deaths. I must choose which deaths are tragic and which are not. It's an old, primitive way of tribalism that doesn't make sense to me.
Very valuable post Mike. I knew about the secret funding of Hamas and the Zion Nazi's upcoming trial being postponed but had no idea about the motherfucker Pulling Back The Troops Protecting The Southern Border, Thereby Setting Up A PRE-PLANNED GENOCIDE Of Over 1200 Of His Own People TO VIRTUALLY ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY IN GAZA!!!!!!!! Thanks loads for this info I'm saving on page 72 of my save file (72 being the 'magic QCD number' in physics)!
Agreed.
"Until Brotherhood Prevails, The Sword Shall"
https://ydydy.substack.com/p/brotherhood-or-the-sword-the-only
See also: Isaiah, Amos, etc.
I am still calling for brotherhood.
One-sided condemnations may feel good, but do they accomplish any good? Are they the ultimate answer?
Only the removal of the presumption of competition as a necessary or noble element in society can bring about a better world.
Brian Thompson was guilty, but so are we all. We are ALL complicit in society's wrongdoings. And we can stop.
The greatest people throughout history have told us how. Please pay attention.
https://ydydy.substack.com/p/all-i-have-to-sell-is-brotherhood
I've never met Michael so I can't speak to his character, but it sounds like he loves waging war. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it may be a necessary good thing.
But he said that while he pays special attention to subscriber comments he also reads all his emails.
Yet - despite attempting at some effort to get his attention with quality posts and links IN THIS SPACE, and despite writing him two private emails I've heard nothing from him as he chose instead to focus entirely on the content-free "Fuck you" email that he received instead.
He's a flawed human like the rest of us but does he ONLY know war? Can he just not get his interest up for a radical solution by a well-placed person actually doing his damnest to bring some sanity and happiness into this world?
I don't know.
But the question hangs.
Anybody else interested in what I'm referring to can ask Michael about those emails or just read my various attempts to reach him via subscriber-comments on this and the previous page.
Michael is such a god-blessed power house that I HOPE he's better than the rest of us and gets more excited by optimism than pessimism. Michael, fry me if you must, but first, for the love of God, please take seriously what I have to say.
Good for you for responding so generously and patiently. And correctly.
Thank you, Michael Moore for your ability to return good for evil.
Yes Mike, beautiful example of do no harm. That includes to ourselves- be blessed Mike
Once again you have nailed it. So accurate, caring, trying to speak the truth to power and ignore-ance. As a Jewish physician I am horrified at the slaughter and the decimation of the hospitals Remember when Biden did a big speech about how Israel would NEVER bomb a hospital, it must be a Hamas bomb that accidentally felt atop the hospital. How many of the bombs that are being used every day on civilians, schools, refugee camps in "safe zones" to which they have been displaced, are made in and supplied by the US? How can we stop this madness.
Your self-discipline is an example for us all. Thank you for the quality of reason offered 🫴.
Respond with love and kindness - values that are hard to discover in our current world.
Michael, thank’s for posting your heartfelt response to an unknown persons visceral attack. We should all take the time to respond so carefully and acknowledge that those attacks come from a place of ignorance (willful or not) and respond with compassion and fact.
Thanks for sharing!
There's no indication of ignorance. Such responses indicate only anger, as Michael alludes to.
Just one aspect. It happens I have been teaching, writing, and deep schmoozing with Holocaust survivors for over fifty years--since the 1970s. Very few survivors I've known believed that Israel would provide reliable security (although more than without it) or that it would have reliable allies--whether the U.S. or others. Call is cynicism or realism. But, despite widespread assumptions, relatively few survivors I've known believed that Israel was "the answer to the Holocaust." That idea was more the creation of those who did not experience the Holocaust directly. Part propaganda, part convenient delusion.
I sincerely hope you are right. I have been so deeply disturbed by the "tribalism over humanity" of the many of the very deep pockets who support AIPAC. The conflation of Judaism with Zionism.
On another note, I have a friend who I have known for decades who is the person in my life who is personally most defined by her Jewish heritage. She frames Gaza in terms of her view of Jewish history, and says that people who "don't know the history," are behaving in an antisemitic way by opposing Israel. So, I don't dare question her, lest I be accused of antisemitism. At the same time, she disparages Netanyahu. But... Netanyahu's leadership of Israel is the logical endgame of zionism, a nationalist-now-fascist movement that has consistently used terrorism (now genocide)as a deliberate political strategy for 70 years. It has been so depressing to me to see how quickly my friend's conflation of zionism and judaism subsumed all her other values: her political feminism, her progressive politics, etc.
I do know that Edwin Montagu, the only Jewish member of the British cabinet, opposed the Balfour Declaration in 1917. He called zionism a "mischievous political creed." That's putting it mildly.
I wrote about survivors whom I know; not necessarily others.
Beyond that, I disagree with a lot of what you write, but it may at least be worth saying that a great many--on both left and right (especially hyper religious right) opposed zionism from the start. And I fully agree with the role of tribalism--whether White Nationalism/America Firsters; pre-WW2 Japan; the Mafia; WASP preppies; Aryan Supremacists; Islamic Republicans, etc.
And Einstein, for another who opposed it.
Einstein's views were complex and changing. He described himself as pro-Zionist from the 30s to the end of WW2. He hoped for a binational state--don't we all? (or most of us)--but didn't know if that was possible. He was willing to accept the possibility that it was not, but wary of the kind of madness of the kind we now find ourselves. Wiki is actually pretty good on this.
I love and agree with all of his views on everything.
Wikipedia: "As a Labor Zionist, Einstein supported the Palestinian Jews of the Yishuv. However, he did not support the establishment of a Jewish state or an Arab state to replace Mandatory Palestine, instead asserting that he would "much rather see a reasonable agreement reached with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace" under the framework of a binational Jewish–Arab state."
The idea of violently pushing people off their land with no compensation is just appalling to me and I can't understand how any decent person would agree to it. We had no idea about the Nakba, growing up in the US in the late 50s, early 60s. The Hasbara was all consuming.
For a serious look into Einstein's complex and changing views on Zionism, the wiki article is worth reading. A lot of his own questions remain questions today. It ain't simple. In 1947, he wrote to Nehru in India:
"Long before the emergence of Hitler I made the cause of Zionism mine because through it I saw a means of correcting a flagrant wrong....The Jewish people alone has for centuries been in the anomalous position of being victimized and hounded as a people, though bereft of all the rights and protections which even the smallest people normally has...Zionism offered the means of ending this discrimination. Through the return to the land to which they were bound by close historic ties...Jews sought to abolish their pariah status among peoples... The advent of Hitler underscored with a savage logic all the disastrous implications contained in the abnormal situation in which Jews found themselves. Millions of Jews perished... because there was no spot on the globe where they could find sanctuary...The Jewish survivors demand the right to dwell amid brothers, on the ancient soil of their fathers." —Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, June 13, 1947[30]"
He never let go of the hope of a just, democratic, and pluralistic state. But he also recognized that it might not be possible given the reality as it was. Primarily, he blamed neither Arabs nor Jews but the Euro colonial powers--especially, England, France, Germany--for, in effect, screwing and exploiting everyone in the "region." He hated the rightist Zionists, but not equate them with Zionism as a whole. My Palestinian friends in Israel don't either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Albert_Einstein#:~:text=Einstein%20was%20a%20prominent%20supporter,Jews%20the%20sense%20of%20community.
I can't imagine him approving of the Nakba. It surely wasn't a land without people. Nethu, for one, lives in a stolen home. How was that ever fair. Anyone who took advantage of the Balfour Declaration is responsible too. It was and is an unconscionable disaster that never should happened. Germany should have been forced to give up land, if anyone.
Excellent and educational reply, Michael ("He who is like God"). As most of us realize, we are in a deeply deeply sad situation, and I feel that all of the historical fighting could have been and can be prevented. Not one life should have been nor should be lost.
Can you run for president next go round as you make total sense in this incredible insane climate of the world at this time☮️
Thank you for your guidance Michael. I learn from you every single time I read or listen to you.Knowledge is the guide to wisdom and compassion through understanding we inherently all feel and want love.
Thank you Michael.
Beautifully said Michael - this, and yesterday's. And I'm very grateful for you, every single day.
To: Benjamin Netanyahu
From: Confucius
“When setting out for revenge, dig two graves!”
RIP the myth of Israeli and American “exceptionalism!”
A good thing for you to write a response. I did feel, though, that though completely true, the way it was written showed so much anger and disgust with the Netanyahu regime, that it might be just misinterpreted by readers like Aron as anti-Israel. I am Jewish and have been disgusted by Netanyahu's fascism and cruelty for over a decade - frankly humiliated. He cares nothing for human life and apparently doesn't consider those people human, even the children, elderly, disabled, and those trying to care for them. He is exactly the same as the Nazi's. I really am humiliated to be an American whose government supports him and his horrific cadre of ultra right wing supporters. I have been foolishly hoping that the Israeli citizems would do something to bring him down, but I have basically given up hope. I am not surprised that he may have allowed the Hamas attack to happen as a false flag to keep himself in power. Israelis should put them in prison as war criminals or bring him to the Hague. Again, I am Jewish and filled with despair over the level of hatred against Israelis that this has engendered in Arabic countries, and which massively increases the threat to them for decades to come. I am 77, and I will be long dead before I will ever see Israel as a safe haven or anything like the country I knew as a child.
Thank you Michael. You once again nailed it.
I am a 73 year old who was raised Jewish. I am disgusted by any human being that stands up for murdering civilians because you must "take Israel's side".