(And not the good sort of Black.)
The immediate need in Israel-Palestine, right now, is to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from power, and stop the genocide in Gaza. Afterwards, there may be time to think of solutions. – Justice in Israel-Palestine, Dec 3, 2023
We have recently had a kerfluffle; online publisher Substack has been criticized for publishing Nazis. Jonathan M. Katz at the Atlantic wrote about it at length, and a group of Substack authors wrote a letter asking Substack to get rid of the Nazis. Unfortunately, Substack is one of the few places on the internet where a freelance author can build a following and make money at it, so it’s hard for authors to walk away. Substack’s publisher responded with a letter defending the practice as free speech, which is just nonsense – Substack blocks plenty of authors, just not Nazis.
Since the latest war broke out in Israel-Palestine, I have had occasion to review the history of Zionism from non-Zionist sources. I was and am dismayed to find that I had learned a Zionist version of the history, heavily whitewashed. This is an attempt to rectify my wrong thinking on the matter. As with so much of what I write these days, this is too short; a sketch of a sketch of something more thoroughly worked out.
The immediate need in Israel-Palestine, right now, is to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from power, and stop the genocide in Gaza. Afterwards, there may be time to think of solutions.
Various disjoint notes on the on-going disaster in Israel/Palestine.
(I wrote these down in the middle of the night after waking up out of a nightmare.)
I don’t think the concerns about Biden’s age are legitimate. He’s extraordinarily healthy for a man of 81 years. All this concern about Biden’s age is just Hillary Clinton’s emails all over. Behind the bad press is racism and sexism; the press is hinting that – horrors! – we might end up with a black woman as president.
[Commentator Hilzoy wrote this on Bluesky, which is still in closed testing. I like it enough that I want to see it published more widely, so (with permission) here it is.]
I actually think it’s worth listening to Mike and Kelly Johnson’s podcast, at least if want to understand our new Speaker. (shudders) Personally, I’d start with the first episode, which is rather interesting, at least if you are not deterred by what Josh Marshall called its 700 Club vibe. Then I’d listen to Episode 12, which is about Jan. 6. (Both of these are from 2022, but before the Congressional elections.) But for those who are not prepared to devote maybe an hour to this, a brief thread.
