Israel vs. Gaza: 985 to 13 and Counting

NewsOne, 1-12-09

   

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By CASEY GANE-MCCALLA

As Israel continues its re-invasion of Gaza, all this talk of a proportionate response and Israel defending itself seems to be off the mark, judging by the numbers. If a man hits you and you beat up his whole family, is that a proportionate response? Is shooting a man for throwing a rock at your window defending yourself?

The Associated Press reports that as of January 14th, more than 985 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 400 civilians. This is in comparison to 13 Israelis who have been killed, including three civilians. It is estimated that 40% of all the Gaza casualties have been civilians.



Last weekend, Barack Obama was on ABC's This Week and reiterated his statement, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."

Palestinians are seeing bombs dropped on their houses at a much more frequent rate than Israelis have had rockets shot at them, so shouldn't they have the right to defend themselves, too? Far more Palestinian daughters have died because of this conflict than Israelis.



We've all heard the saying that an eye for an eye leaves us all blind. What about 200 eyes for an eye?

Does Israel expect to be greeted as liberators in Gaza? Every Palestinian family member they kill just fuels the desperation and hatred of Israel that creates the rocket launchers and the suicide bombers that they are trying to stop.



From 2005 through 2007 in Israel and the Palestinian territories, there were 86 Israelis killed, eight of which were civilians, meaning less than 10% of all Israelis killed during that time were civilians. There were 1290 Palestinian casualties during that same period, of which 222 were civilians.

So in the last two and a half weeks, Israel has killed as many Palestinians as they have during the past four years.

An unequal death toll has marked this conflict for years. From 1987 through 2005, there were 3196 Palestinian casualties, including 620 civilians; and 946 Israeli casualties, including 112 civilians.

In the face of the murder, terror and dead children, U.S. politicians are not condemning the violence or the war, but defending Israel's right to defend themselves. N.Y. Gov. David Paterson said, "I believe the Israeli people, under constant attack from the Palestinian territories, have a right to protect themselves and I stand with them as they fight to defend the basic rights of humanity."

Is Hamas not under attack by Israel as well? Given the disproportionate amount of casualties, isn't it the Palestinians who have more of a need to defend their basic human rights?

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said there is no measured response to terrorism, essentially saying that Israel has carte blanche to use what ever force it wants, regardless of civilian casualties.

I worked for many years as a teacher and had to break up several fights. If a 100 pound kid kicks a 300 pound kid in the shins, and the 300 pound kid begins pummeling the 100 pound kid, I wouldn't say that the 300 kid had a right to defend himself. I would tell them both to stop fighting and try and break it up.



Maybe one of the reasons the US has been slow to criticize Israel is the Iraq war. 100,000 Iraqi civilians (some have estimated it in the millions) have been killed vs. 4,000 U.S. soldiers.

If the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were a boxing match it would have been declared a TKO a long time ago. If it were a football game, Israel would have put in their second string. Without a referee, the game has gotten far out of hand.

In war there is rarely a right side and wrong side. If Hamas was wrong for breaking the previous ceasefire, that does not mean Israel is right for killing more than 400 civilians.

The current war on Gaza is doing very little to improve Israel's relations with both the Palestinians and their Middle East neighbors. It is only fueling hatred for Israel in the Arab world.



While I've heard several good arguments justifying Israel's actions, I've always been told that number and pictures don't lie. Given the lopsided score on the casualty count and gruesome pictures of the casualties, it is very clear that Israel is in the wrong along with Hamas.

For more evidence of Israel's brutality in Gaza check out this gallery of Palestinian casualties.

(Casey Gane-McCalla is a writer, rapper, producer and actor, and the assistant editor for NewsOne.)

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The GOP Must Denounce Rush Limbaugh

NewsOne, 12-29-08

The Rest of Us Should Boycott Clear Channel

By CASEY GANE-MCCALLA

With the recent scandal involving Chip Saltsman, a candidate to run the RNC, and his distribution of Rush Limbaugh's mix CD, which contained the song "Barack the Magic Negro," it is high time for the Republican Party and America as a whole to reject and denounce Rush Limbaugh.



"Barack the Magic Negro" is hardly the most offensive thing that Rush Limbaugh has said and is hardly the strongest tie that Limbaugh has had to the Republican party.

Limbaugh is a bigot, a sexist, a hypocrite and a xenophobe. He stirs up fear and hate in his listeners. He preys on the disenfranchised and uneducated and turns their resentment against blacks, feminists, immigrants, and liberals. For a sampling of Limbaugh's most racist quotes against blacks, click HERE. Limbaugh has also managed to offend Latinos, saying Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reminded him of a shoe shine boy and also saying in reference to Hugo Chavez, "A Chavez is a Chavez. We've always had problems with them."

Limbaugh's prejudice does not only extend to minorities. He also has discriminated against women, who happen to make up the majority of this country. He has said, "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society," and also, "We're not sexists, we're chauvinists — we're male chauvinist pigs, and we're happy to be because we think that's what men were destined to be. We think that's what women want."

Rush Limbaugh has long acted as the de facto spokesman for the Republican Party, the self-appointed voice of conservative broadcasting, saying what mainstream party figures mean to say but won't for fear of being deemed politically incorrect.

The GOP has continually given him their approval. George W. Bush has appeared on Limbaugh's show several times, as has his brother Jeb. GOP Uncle Toms like Condoleezza Rice and Clarence Thomas have also appeared on his show, along with Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has not only appeared on Limbaugh's show, but has served as a replacement host for Limbaugh, as has Matt Drudge.

It's amazing how few Republicans have come forth to criticize Limbaugh. When rapper, Ludacris referred to Hillary Clinton as a bitch, Fox News criticized him for a whole news cycle, yet when Limbaugh repeatedly referred to Clinton as a "B-I-itch," Fox News kept quiet. Meanwhile, John McCain asked Obama to publicly condemn John Lewis for rightfully comparing the crowds at McCain/Palin hate rallies to those drawn by George Wallace, but never condemned Rush Limbaugh for comparing Obama to Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, linking Democrats to Al Qaeda, and labeling feminists as Nazi's.

In 2000, John McCain bravely stood up to 'agents of intolerance' on the Right such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. However by the 2008 campaign, he had turned into a yellow-bellied coward. Despite the fact that Limbaugh criticized him heavily throughout the primaries, John McCain has never spoken out against Limbaugh.

In 2007, Limbaugh, who avoided the Vietnam draft because he "did not want to go," said that soldiers who did fight for their country and returned home to criticize the war (after seeing the death and carnage there) were "phony soldiers." Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on his fellow Senators to condemn the remarks. John McCain's response? "I did issue a statement saying that I thought it was inappropriate, and perhaps Mr. Limbaugh didn't mean it, but he should not have said it." Hardly a condemnation.



McCain had another chance to condemn Limbaugh's statements last year when the Obama campaign ran an ad using Limbaugh quotes like, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified," and "Shut your mouth or get out (of this country)." The ads referred to Limbaugh as one of McCain's Republican friends. McCain could have issued a statement saying that Limbaugh was not one of his friends and that his views did not represent the McCain campaign or the Republican Party, but instead he stayed quiet for fear of pissing off the dittoheads.

McCain had one last chance to distance himself from Limbaugh on Meet The Press shortly before the election, when Tom Brokaw played a clip of Limbaugh saying that Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama was all about race and asked McCain if he agreed. McCain could have said, 'I know Colin Powell and have been friends with him for many years. While I disagree with his endorsement, it is ludicrous to insinuate that a man who has given so much service to his country would endorse a Presidential candidate based on his skin color.' By repeatedly refusing to criticize Limbaugh, McCain has shown that he either shares Limbaugh's bigoted views or is too cowardly to renounce them.

One of the most disturbing things to know about Rush Limbaugh is that his program airs on Armed Services Radio. Given the fact that the army is 24% Latino and 12% black, Limbaugh is offending more than a third of our enlisted soldiers. Is Limbaugh the voice of America we want represented on our military airwaves? Do we really want someone broadcasting to our enlisted soldiers who said Abu Ghraib was just a fraternity prank, and compared a wounded Iraq vet who appeared in TV ads against the war to a suicide bomber?

Many of Limbaugh's supporters have defended him by saying his statements are made in a humorous context. When someone like the character Borat makes racist, sexist or anti-semetic comments, it falls in the category of humor because we know that Sacha Baron Cohen doesn't mean it and is using the character to show the stupidity of prejudice. However, with Limbaugh, it is quite clear that he stands by his statements and it is minorities and women who are the butts of his jokes, not his own racism and sexism.

If the GOP is to truly move into the 21st century, they must cut all ties to bigots like Rush Limbaugh. When the President, Vice President, Vice Presidential candidates, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Senators, Governors, and Supreme Court justices all appear on the show of a hate-spewing racist, sexist pig, it does not reflect well on their political party.

While Limbaugh might have a large base, it is not as large as the base he offends. By attacking blacks, Hispanics, feminists and liberals he is alienating more than half of the country. Not only blacks and Hispanics, but every white person who has an African-American or Latino relative, loved one, hero or friend.

Throughout the campaign, Obama was repeatedly asked to denounce people he associated with because of their statements. Whether it was Ludacris, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, or Rep. John Lewis. Obama repudiated them all but Lewis. Now, it is the Republicans' turn to speak out.



Pleases write to your Senators, Representatives, and Governors, and ask them to publicly denounce Limbaugh for his racism, sexism, xenophobia and disrespect, and to cancel his contract with Armed Services Radio. It is ridiculous that any part of our tax money goes to this rich, mean spirited bigot...and ridiculous that our brave soldiers are forced to listen to him.

Is there any Republican brave enough to criticize or acknowledge Rush Limbaugh's bigotry, or has the party traded in its fiscal conservatism and family values for hatred and racism?

I urge all leaders in the African-American and Latino communities as well as leaders of the women's movement to protest Limbaugh. When we went after Don Imus, we targeted the wrong bigot. Limbaugh makes Imus look like he works for Air America.

I'm also calling for a boycott of all Clear Channel stations. Clear Channel is the parent company of Limbaugh's show. The corporation's president, Mark P. Mays, recently defended Limbaugh for his 'phony soldiers' comment. Please e-mail him with you questions and concerns about Limbaugh at MarkPMays@clearchannel.com. You can also call Clear Channel with your concerns at 1-210-822-2828. And please call the local stations in your area that carry Limbaugh's show.

(Casey Gane-McCalla is a writer, rapper, producer and actor, and the assistant editor for NewsOne.)

The Shilling of Sept. 11

The Carrboro Citizen, Carrboro NC, 9-13-07

   

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CHAPEL HILL - With every year that passes, September 11, 2001 recedes further into history. But this year marks the fifth anniversary of another dark time for our country. The first time we memorialized the victims of 9/11, our (fraudulently) elected leaders were hard at work exploiting this national tragedy by conning us into an unnecessary war of choice in Iraq.



The day after the first 9/11 anniversary, on September 12, 2002, George W. Bush addressed the United Nations and served up one fiction after another about why Iraq, not al Qaeda, was America's most important enemy. "al Qaeda terrorists escaped from Afghanistan and are known to be in Iraq," said Bush. He assured the world that Iraq has "failed to account for more than three metric tons of material that could be used to produce biological weapons," and "retains physical infrastructure needed to build a nuclear weapon."



Also on September 11, 2002, citizens in communities across the nation, including Chapel Hill, were speaking out against the rush to war. Sensible voices cautioned not to let the urge to avenge 9/11 blind us to the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.



We were warned that an unprovoked war would enrich defense contractors like Halliburton, could help multinational oil companies get their hooks into the world's second largest proven oil reserves, and might boost Bush's re-election chances in 2004. But it wouldn't help America in the long run.



Unfortunately, the Bush administration's crusade to take the country into war in Iraq was on a fast track. Secretary of State Colin Powell would go on TV a few days later, September 15, to help make Bush's case against Iraq.



Appearing on NBC's Meet The Press, he asserted that "Iraq does present a danger," referred to Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction activities," and said the threat the U.S. faced was that Saddam Hussein would continue "enhancing his ability to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction."



The 2002 mid-term congressional campaigns were heating up, and the timing of Bush's push to war was seen by many observers as an especially transparent attempt to boost support for Republican candidates. In Georgia, Democratic U.S. Senator and triple amputee Vietnam war hero Max Cleland would be defeated for re-election that fall by a Republican campaign that questioned his national security record, including ads featuring pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.



Five years later, the war drags on with no end in sight. We've seen more than 3,700 U.S. soldiers needlessly killed and nearly 28,000 wounded, according to the Pentagon's official figures. America has poured almost half a trillion dollars down the drain, only to end up less safe today than we were before the war started.



North Carolina's communities have borne their share of Iraq's casualties. Last Thursday, Chapel Hill native Army sergeant Lee C. Wilson became the latest N.C. servicemember to die in Iraq, killed when a bomb exploded near his vehicle during combat in Mosul. The 30 year-old had enlisted in 2001, was on a mind-boggling fourth deployment, and due to return home in December. When contacted by reporters, his father said, "We always talked about what we were going to do when he got out. He didn't want to be there."



Bush has destroyed Iraq while supposedly trying to liberate it, and thrown the Middle East into turmoil in the process. The bungled U.S. occupation has turned out to be the greatest recruiting tool al Qaeda could have hoped for. Iraq has become a shooting gallery where a new generation of terrorists are honing their skills using our troops as sitting duck targets.



And the Sept. 11 mastermind, Osama Bin Laden? Last week he released another propaganda video, implicitly taunting the United States for having failed to capture him, referring to events so recent it erased any doubt he was still alive.





Another 9/11 anniversary wouldn't be complete without another well-timed push to rally the nation around the flag in support of the Iraq fiasco. This time, it's Gen. David Petraeus who's shilling for Bush, having delivered his Sept. 10 report to Congress on how this year's "surge" in troops is coming along.



Despite his history of exaggerating progress in Iraq, most notably in a Washington Post op-ed published six weeks before the 2004 elections, Petraeus is Bush's last hope as a salesman for staying the course. There's nobody else left in his administration with any credibility. Meanwhile, more and more nervous Republicans are peeling away over Iraq, realizing voters are fed up with the war and want the troops to come home.

Unless the Republican Party wants to suffer more congressional losses in '08, and probably elect a Democratic President, it's far past time for Bush to declare victory in Iraq and leave. There's always a chance this message has finally gotten through Bush's thick skull, and true, he has been recently hinting at troop reductions. Yet considering his stated desire to hand Iraq over to his successor, any cutbacks in U.S. forces are likely to turn out to be a shell game, taking troop numbers down only to pre-surge levels.



As long as he's in the White House, the Decider will determine whether and how fast we extricate ourselves from Iraq. Forget about what the citizens want, forget about what military officials more candid than Petraeus advise, and forget about what's in the best interest of the United States. Bush will continue playing with our soldiers' lives until his term runs out. But he's wrong to think one more Sept. 11 snow job will salvage his tattered political legacy.

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Sept. 11, 2002 Remembered: Only Bush Wanted War in Iraq

Thanks to Kelly, Barbara, and Ernest for their help making this community memorial happen.

The above photo gallery was shot on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC on September 11, 2002, as a memorial for the first anniversary of 9/11, and protest against George W. Bush's unconscionable use of Sept. 11 to gin up support for an unprovoked war in Iraq.

In light of what Bush, Cheney & Co. have done in their memory by dragging America into the Iraq War's nightmare, the victims of 9/11 must be turning in their graves.