Steven D speaks for me. We don’t do much Israel/Palestine posting here, not for lack of interest so much as the need to write about things happening right here and not enough time to cover all of it. Let this story be an example to all those who believe that walling up America will help anything or anyone other than the wall-builders.

I found the story of the “breakout” particularly tragic and heartbreaking. Women and children, desperate for food and water…a real “Wailing Wall,” no? How they “deserved” this “collective punishment” is beyond the comprehension of decent people. I imagine good people in Israel are as ashamed of their government today as I have been of mine. But I will only reserve contempt and anger for American politicians too cowardly to stand up to the Likudnik lobby. Israel is our friend, and funding this kind of oppression to the tune of billions annually is not the act of a friend. There is no freedom for anyone, not on any side of any Ghetto wall.

Color me not surprised. Off the top of my head, I can think of plenty of things Israel has done to make itself less and less defensible; shooting photographers, bombing civilian homes, locking up whistleblowers. So I suppose denying a visa to one nigger with some silly “peace” prize is par for the course:

Israel Blocks Desmond Tutu From Fact-finding Mission in Gaza
In other news from the region, Israel has blocked a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip that was supposed to have been led by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu was scheduled to investigate the killings of 19 civilians in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Israel refused to grant Tutu the necessary travel clearance.  Read more