WAWA/WeAreWideAwake is my Public Service to America as a muckracker who has journeyed seven times to Israel Palestine since June 2005.
WAWA is dedicated to confronting media and governments that shield the whole
truth.
We who Are Wide
Awake are compelled by the "fierce urgency of Now" [Rev MLK, Jr.] to raise
awareness and promote the human dialogue about many of the crucial issues of our
day: the state of our Union and in protection of democracy, what life is like
under military occupation in Palestine, the Christian EXODUS from the Holy Land,
and spirituality-from a Theologically Liberated Christian Anarchist
POV.
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
"My aim is to agitate & disturb people. I'm not selling bread, I'm selling yeast." Unamuno
"Imagine All the People Sharing All the World." John Lennon
"If enough Christians followed the gospel, they could bring any state to its knees." Father Philip Francis Berrigan
"You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down." Tom Petty
"If I can't dance, it's not my revolution." Emma Goldman
"We have yet to begin to IMAGINE the power and potential of the Internet." Charlie Rose, 2005
Only in Solidarity do "We have it in our power to begin the world again" Tom Paine
"Never doubt that a few, thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
DO SOMETHING!
Photo of George shown here and in web site banner courtesy of Debbie Hill, 2000.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that, among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. -July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence
February 18, 2010: The Brutal Truth About With God On Our Side and The Ninth of Av
Many Christians
ascribe to a theology that teaches that the Jews have a divine right to a piece
of real estate and thus, uncritically support the Israeli government’s policies
that privilege any Jew without any historical tie to the land at the expense of
the indigenous Palestinians, and this is the fuel of much of today’s
Anti-Semitism and distrust of and anger at America.
The heretical
religious fundamentalism espoused by the likes of John Hagee and the tedious
Left Behind series of pap combined with a limp and fawning Corporate Media, have
colluded to deceive good Christians and has lead to 63 years of suffering and
human rights abuses inflicted upon Palestinian Christians and Muslims which
threatens Israel's and America’s security!
Everywhere but in
America the last 43 years of Israeli Occupation of Palestine is viewed as a USA-Israeli
collaboration and the empire’s claims of supporting democracy, freedom,
equality and justice while enabling misery and death is blatant hypocrisy and
nothing more than blowing idiot wind!
Khalid Sheikh
Mohammad involvement in the terror upon America, “By his own account…stemmed
from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” [1]
Abdulmutallab’s
Christmas Day 2009, attempt to blow up a plane was fueled by “his sympathies
toward the Palestinians and anger over Israel’s actions in Gaza.” [Ibid]
Dr. Ilan Pappe, an
Israeli born historian said:
"On March 10,
1948, eleven men had a meeting in the Red House headed by Ben Gurion. The
eleven decided to expel one million Palestinians from historical Palestine. No
minutes were taken, but many memoirs were written about that fateful meeting. A
systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine began and within seven months the
Zionists managed to expel one half of all the Palestinian people from their
villages and towns.
"The New York Times followed Israeli troops and reported the truth of the
expulsion and separation of men and women, and of the many massacres. The world
was well informed in 1948, but a year later not a trace was reported in the USA
press or books. It was as if nothing ever happened.
"From March to October 1948 the USA State Department stated what was
happening was a CRIME against humanity and ethnic cleansing. When ever one
ethnic group expels another group they should be treated as War Criminals and
the victims should be allowed to return. This is never mentioned in the USA
about Palestine.
"Israel is so
successful in their ethnic cleansing because the world doesn't care! The ethnic
cleansing continues via the apartheid policies of the Israeli government and
because of the denial of the truth by the USA media.
"To claim Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East is bullshit!”[2]
Both Israel and
Hamas should be investigated for war crimes perpetuated during the 22 days of
assault on Gaza which began two days after Christmas day 2008, when the Israeli
military launched Operation Cast Lead, that killed 1,400 Palestinian and 13
Israelis.
Over 5,000 Palestinians were injured, 400,000 were left without running water,
4,000 homes were destroyed, rendering tens of thousands who are still homeless
because of Israel's targeted attacks upon them, their schools, hospitals,
streets, water wells, sewage system, farms, police stations and UN buildings.
The 22 days of Israel's attack on the people of Gaza was enabled by US-supplied
weapons and we the people of the US who pay taxes provide over $3 billion
annually to Israel although Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons in
violation of America's Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts.
Just before
Christmas 2009, President Obama, signed into law the biggest aid pledge of the
year. NOT for we the people or for struggling countries on the World Bank's
list, but for another $30 billion to Israel over the next decade.
During the 22 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, "Washington provided F-16
fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles, and a wide array of
munitions, including white phosphorus and DIME. The weapons required for the
Israeli assault was decided upon in June 2008, and the transfer of 1,000
bunker-buster GPS-guided Small Diameter Guided Bomb Units 39 (GBU-39) were
approved by Congress in September. The GBU 39 bombs were delivered to Israel in
November (prior to any claims of Hamas cease fire violation!) for use in the
initial air raids on Gaza. [3]
In a 71-page report released March 25, 2009, by Human Rights Watch, Israel’s
repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas
of Gaza was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes.
"Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza,"
provides eye witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus
munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.
"Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and
dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets,
apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza
immediately after hostilities ended in January.
"Militaries officially use white phosphorus to obscure their operations on
the ground by creating thick smoke. It has also been used as an incendiary
weapon, though such use constitutes a war crime.
"In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas
as a screen for its troops," said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies
researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. "It fired
white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops
weren't in the area and safer smoke shells were available. As a result,
civilians needlessly suffered and died." [Ibid]
During the 22 days of attack on Gaza, the UN Security Council, Amnesty
International, International Red Cross, and global voices of protest rose up
and demanded a ceasefire, but both houses of Congress overwhelmingly endorsed
resolutions to support a continuation of Israel’s so called "self
defense."
As
President Lincoln said, "Sir, my concern is not
whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side."
Porter Speakman,
Jr., the Director and Executive Producer of “With God on Our Side” wrote:
"Good intentions can still have
devastating effects. Some of the most tragic events in history have occurred
from a bad interpretation of biblical texts and understanding of who God is.
Any approach to the Middle East must be one that sees the needs of all people,
not just one, because at the heart of who God is, is a God of love who commands
us to love one another, whether that be our neighbor or someone we consider our
enemy." [4]
Coming to America
is his film, "With God on Our Side" which illuminates a biblical alternative for Christians who love
and want to support the people of Israel and to promote peace and reconciliation
for both Jews and Palestinians.
Jewish Zionism began with the hope that all Jewish
people would have a safe and peaceful dwelling place, but it has become an ideology
of superiority, which has corrupted the faith of Judaism!
In 1948, American Mark Braverman was born into a
devoutly religious and Zionist home, but the scales fell from his eyes when he
experienced life in the West Bank. In FATAL EMBRACE he speaks as a Jewish
prophet and also explains Walter Brueggemann’s analysis of ‘the land’ as a
metaphor:
"On the ninth of Av, when I stood on the outskirts
of Jerusalem, a Jerusalem I now saw marching to its own destruction. I felt
like the prophet Jeremiah and like Jesus eight centuries later, overcome with
grief…[Jeremiah mourns] for the brokenness and imminent disaster awaiting the
people. But the mourning is not about victimhood: it is about the
self-inflicted nature of disaster to come." [5]
For Brueggemann, the land is a "core metaphor for
the drama of God’s people struggling to come to terms with the divine
imperative to live justly…it is at once the promise and the problem…Possession
of the land is totally conditional on obedience to God’s plan as expressed in
the covenant…The land…is a powerful force for well-being characterized by social
coherence…security and freedom…the land is a vast metaphor about home,
homelessness, loss, transgressions, forgiveness and redemption…God’s promise of
land to Israel…is at the heart of the covenant…Christians cannot speak
seriously to Jews unless we acknowledge land to be the central agenda. [It is]
the locus of meaning [and] the issue of identity…there is an entitlement that
must be acknowledged…What would the prophets say?" [6]
"From Moses
to Jeremiah and Isaiah, the Prophets taught...that the Jewish claim on the land
of Israel was totally contingent on the moral and spiritual life of the Jews
who lived there, and that the land would, as the Torah tells us, 'vomit you
out' if people did not live according to the highest moral vision of Torah.
Over and over again, the Torah repeated its most frequently stated mitzvah
[command]:
"When you enter your land, do
not oppress the stranger; the other, the one who is an outsider of your
society, the powerless one and then not only 'you shall love your neighbor as
yourself' but also 'you shall love the other.'" [7]
Christians are
called to be peacemakers, to forgive and love their enemies and to try to
reconcile with all people. And the cross is also a metaphor!
2,000 years ago
the cross had no religious symbolic meaning and was not a piece of jewelry. When
Jesus said: "Pick up your cross and follow me" everyone back then
understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads into
Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any who
disturbed the status quo of the Roman Empire and Military Occupying Forces.
Christians could indeed
change the world; if they would only pick up that cross!
Only in Solidarity
do "we have it in our power to begin the world again."-Tom Paine
Eileen Fleming,
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com
Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish
American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with
Vanunu" http://www.youtube.com/user/eileenfleming
Visitors since 07.22.05
Visitors: 32488784
"HOPE has two children.The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." - Aquinas
Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
" In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."-Mother Teresa
“You cannot talk like sane men around a peace table while the atomic bomb itself is ticking beneath it. Do not treat the atomic bomb as a weapon of offense; do not treat it as an instrument of the police. Treat the bomb for what it is: the visible insanity of a civilization that has ceased...to obey the laws of life.”- Lewis Mumford, 1946
The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership....a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition. The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures." - William Fulbright
“Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.” - Rev. MLK
Establishment of Israel
"On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations." - May 14, 1948. The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel
Blog 
technocrati
