I dont know David McR. I just read an odious (and typical)liberal/racist post on Palestinian violence and after noticing the name wondered if the person who wrote it was the same as the socialist candidate of the same name.Unfortunately it was. You know immediately after sending this I almost regretted using the word 'prick' -- *almost*. Personally I didnt know(and really didnt care) if David McR --the Socialist candidate-- is a good guy or not -- I was just curious if the 'prick' who wrote the above letter, obsessing about Palestinian violence, was one and the same person.
> Of course the terrorism of the Palestinians is no different from that
of the
> Stern Gang, of the foundes of Likkud, etc.
Of course it is no different. Just like the violence of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising is no different than the pogroms and violence of Germans during Kristalnacht. And both should be rightly condemned by any fair and principled leftist as I'm sure many a principled socialist did!
This, this is what comes of framing the problem of an *openly* racist colonial settler apartheid state policy of ethnic cleansing (50+ yrs now!) as simply a problem of a 'peace process'-- of Jews and Arabs learning to trust each other and get along -- ohh why cant we all just get along and learn to love each other, right? That the violence of the Stern gang -- the violence and terror of a fascist (indeed pro NAZI !) militia ideologically committed to a racialist policy of ethnic cleansing -- is to be compared to the *desperate* and isolated acts of Palestinian rage, itself a pathetic response to decades of Israeli terror ---- of rockets being shot at civilians and children throwing stones, state/private massacres of palestinian villagers, use of state sponsored death squads, routine torture and beatings for such offences as displaying the colours of the Palestinian flag, forced expulsion from ancient homes and villages, collective forms of punishment(including torture), *routine* terror at the hands of Jewish settlers -- Israeli equivalent of southern good ol' boys indulging in a bit of recreational lynching to keep the local 'Araboushim' in line -- all with the protection and often support of the Israeli authorities; forced relocation of Palestinian populations to concentration camps called refugee settlements; entire families (including children)being trucked into Israel to work the plantations of the state subsidized agricultural system and then trucked out again before dark (Israeli 'Pass' laws disallow arab workers from being in or near certain Israeli settlements after dark) etc. etc. etc. ---- in sum a terror inspired by and in no small part the product of the same *herrenvolk* ideology that underpinned the Stern; that this terror and the pathetic Palestinian response (however unproductive or even stupid at times) can be deemed morally equivalent beggars the imagination. It is absolutely astonishing that all this can and has, for the N. American left, been confined to a framework of simply being a 'conflict' betweeen Palestinians and Jews; perhaps at times even a 'tragic' conflict, yet nevertheless one with no apparent source, save perhaps for some irrational Arab/third world proclivity for violence or some defect in the Arab psyche predisposing them to "substitute rhetoric for organization" (gosh you gotta admit , *they* are always whining about something or another; at least the Beautiful Israelis are making an effort) The logical(only) solution then is of course 'peace' or the 'peace process'. Nowhere then is 'justice' to enter the equation and the timid attempts to bring it up as an issue by the near quisling PLO is just more "substituting rhetoric for organization" or perhaps even shrill propaganda for constructive effort. Maybe our comrade Socialist Party candidate is wasting his efforts on them.
Was the struggle against apartheid ever discussed in such offensive terms: of peace rather than justice? Where there ever any socialists that babbled on so stupidly about the unfortunate and tragic conflict between Germans and Jews as the pogroms against Jews began to escalate with the nazi rise to power?
After watching (at least for those of us willing to see) racist abuse and humiliation heaped upon torture, heaped upon terror, we now have to endure this invertebrate liberal righteously pontificating about the failings of the Palestinians (or equate them with those of the Israelis who of course are at least making an effort). If only the Palestinians were as beautiful as Beautiful Israelis.
I dont know comrade Socialist Party candidate David Mcreynolds. Or if he is a fine fellow as you say. I just wanted to know if he was the same guy - thats all.
-Pradeep