Racism
by John Constantine

It was the loveliest party
that I've ever attended
if anything was broken
I'm sure it could be mended
my head can't tolerate
this bobbing and pretending
listen to some bullet-head
and the madness that he's saying

This is where the party ends
I'll just sit here wondering how you
stand by your racist friend
I know politics bore you
but I feel like a hypocrite talking to
you - you and your racist friend
-Your Racist Friend,
They Might Be Giants

playing in the rubble
of his former house

The United States and Israel pulled out of the Durbin conference on racism today. They don't like the conclusion that the rest of the world came up with denouncing Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

And granted that the entire conference is stacked against the Israelis. Most of the world is fed up with the crap that has been going on for decades, and quite frankly the only reason it is still continuing is the fact that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. financial aid - mostly military aid.

And I realize that my writing this will forever mark this site as something of an anti-Israeli site.

And that's precisely the problem I want to talk about...

Yes, the Holocaust happened. It was one of the sickest events in history. Yes, the Jews have been universally reviled and hated throughout history. I don't deny it. I think anyone who does has demonstrated complete idiocy.

I really do think that the Jews have been screwed over repeatedly and horribly throughout history.

But I don't think that this gives them the right to turn around and do similar things to the people they simply have to live with.

I am not saying that the Jews are acting like Nazis. The Nazis were a horror that I hope has been extinguished from our genes.

But that doesn't mean there aren't things that are still horrible that still fall far short of global Nazi horror.

I mean, even brutally torturing even one person is a horror. And at that point you really have to ask yourself if the ends are justifying the means.

"Even Jerusalem clearly has to be fenced"
-Ehud Barak

And now the latest fad in Israel is the push to put up a wall of razor wire between them and the Palestinians.

Like that is going to solve the problem.

I was watching the news the other night and the segment was about the various razor wire fences Israeli communities are building around themselves to "protect" themselves from the incredibly pissed off Palestinians.

Doesn't this look all too familiar to them?

I mean, isn't this hauntingly familiar? Doesn't this look strangely like the Israelis are building their own prison camp around themselves?

Doesn't this strike anyone else but me as completely insane?

And I'm not saying the Palestinians are the angels here. They've struck a bargain with the devil and are terrorizing people's lives.

Which is not surprising. When you have no one else to turn to, making a pact with the devil seems like the logical thing to do. When you have nothing else to lose, the prospect of losing your soul seems downright silly in comparison.

You can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

But everyone seems to forget that the modern state of Israel itself was born from a similar pact with the devil. The birth of Israel had a midwife of terror. Menachem Begin. Leader of the Irgun Zvai Leumi (abbr. Etzel). The sixth prime minister of Israel. His buddy, Yitzhak Shamir, prime minister 1983-84 and 1986-92.

Basically, for those who seem to either don't know, don't care or have conveniently forgotten, Etzel was a terrorist organization. And it used terror against the British and the rest of the Arab world in order to form the state of Israel.

It attacked and blew up government offices, military installations and police stations. It declared war on the British.

Sound familiar?

The belief structure name Zionism is what this is all about. The United States and Israel are correct. The UN conference in Durbin is designed to get the issue out on the table.

Well, not on the table, but in their faces.

Like a dog that has just shit on the floor, the world thinks that someone's nose has to be rubbed in it.

Now, from my point of view, I certainly don't think Zionism is racism. Fundamentally, it's about the Jewish homeland. But, because people were already living there, there was a fundamental problem with the Jewish homeland. They had to kick out the current residents.

And they had to terrorize the British to allow them to do this.

And I am not saying that the British are angels either. They had the largest empire in history, and quite frankly that doesn't happen without a lot of terror and atrocities. It's part and parcel of controlling populations who really don't appreciate the favor.

The United States itself was conceived by terrorists. We call them the fathers of our country, but they were terrorists.

I mean, does anyone really believe that all the soldiers in the war of independence were nice people. I learned in my history classes that one of the reasons we won is because we used guerrilla warfare and all the stupid British walked around with bright red suits. If you believe Mel Gibson, our revolutionary war heroes even fought a dirty war by British standards.

But dirty in a gritty, American, "breaking the rules" kind of way.

Not dirty in a terrorist, suicide bomber kind of way.

Well, that's the fantasy at least. Like everyone else on this planet, we live in a country that was born by terrorism. We paper over it like everyone else. We invent fantasy versions of our glorious birth.

Our society creates filters so that these realities don't intrude into our thinking and inconvenience us. As I've said before, we all suck.

Military Grade EMI Filters

Meaning that evolution has never been an ethically clean event. From our very beginnings this has been a dog-eat-dog world. We started out as asexually reproducing slime, for "Bob's" sake!

It wasn't that long ago we were scavenging like Jackals for our nightly meals.

Life is hell.

But that doesn't mean we have to continue this crap. Yes, the world is a scary place and we can't become weak and woosy.

But it can't be the driving force for our global behavior.

We won't survive it.

Israel is a nuclear power. They haven't admitted it.

Are we really just all going insane?

Doesn't this all sound like the plot of a really bad science fiction novel?

The fall of the Soviet empire unleashed a lot of weapons grade plutonium on the market. We probably have some really nasty weapons already lying around.

Who cares who wins this? Nobody can possibly win unless they wipe out the other.

During the news show that actually started me off on this rant in the first place they were interviewing a Jewish settler.

The guy was scary.

Yes. He's living in a war zone.

Yes. His family is under very real danger of horrible death.

But the reason he's there is because he feels God has given the Israelis this land. And he's not going to leave. Ever.

For god's sake don't shoot me. I'm part Italian!

I'm a member of the Human Race. Well, not really, being not of this planet, but for all genetic purposes that's what I claim while stuck here on earth.

Madmen, sleazebags, tortures, sadists, warmongers, rapists, fascists, dictators, idiots and marketers.

No single race can lay claim to them as their exclusive genetic heritage. We all suck. Every single one of us will more likely than not sell someone out we have no previous relationship with for a mere pack of cigarettes.

I don't know how, but some people seem to be able to torture another human being for 12 hours and then come home to his wife and kids for a nice dinner.

"Did you have a hard day at work today, honey?"

And you can bet your last dollar that they go to church on Sunday. They're probably the most respected people of their local community.

Certainly you don't fuck with them.

So the point is, the US and Israel probably have a real point in that Zionism should not be equated with racism. It doesn't call for the eradication of any race, or the subjugation of any race, or the exploitation of any race.

However, I think that there is certainly enough evidence that it was connected with terrorism - certainly during the formation of the modern state of Israel.

Certainly during the formation of any state, including the USA.

But at some point, something has to give.

I just hope it is not a nuclear or biological weapon.

I really like the middle east. I think it is a beautiful and unique part of this earth. Beautiful. Rich with culture and rich with history. I have some good friends who live there. I have a friend who's wife is from Iran. I'm sure that all the individuals are largely good people.

But collectively, the whole place is a mess. I certainly don't even pretend to know the answer, but I do know that it almost certainly won't involve weapons.

The analogy one should have in one's mind is a roomful of 20 angry people. Our current strategy is to throw a bunch of deadly weapons into the room and then lock the door.

You can guess the outcome, can't you?

Labor Day, September 3, 2001

Notes:

	Note that many who believe in Zionism are people who are absolutely against terrorism and never, ever, ever supported such madness. This is what makes everything difficult, doesn't it?
	note to kids: we almost got our asses kicked by these stupid red coats, and they lost largely because of poor logistics and the kind help of the French.

Racism by John Constantine