zazen

It isn't just Israeli deception, but Evangelical delusion:

I think the simplest way to explain the good and bad of Zionism is this: self-determination is just, but becomes unjust once it starts determining the life of others. No one objects the principle of liberation through self determination, or that people should have a home. The problem is when that liberation requires the subjugation of another. Self-determination is liberation, determining others is domination. Israel already has what it once sought - a sovereign state recognised by the UN. It’s achieved self-determination, but is determined not to extend this same right to the Palestinians. It uses its legitimately established state for illegitimate actions beyond it. Israel has become a launchpad to occupy Palestinian land on its periphery, and weaken the region via the US - who doesn’t just act of imperial self interest, but even when the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t add up. Evangelicals have a mythic allegiance to Israel that is about biblical prophecy, not merely power and profits.

https://x.com/ddgsarah/status/1906728482333458713?s=46&t=DuLUbFRQFGpB8oo7PwRglQ “You will never de-Zionize the United States without confronting the religious ideology that underpins it. This country was not only founded on Protestantism, it was shaped by an evolving belief system that merged American exceptionalism with Biblical prophecy, culminating in dispensationalism, a theology that made support for Israel a sacred duty. Protestants make up about 40% of the U.S. population, and within that, Evangelicals are the largest and most politically active bloc. The most zealous form of Zionism in America isn’t Jewish—it’s Evangelical Protestant. Their worldview is dominated by a homegrown American theological export called dispensationalism, which originated in the 19th century with theologians like John Nelson Darby and was popularized in the U.S. through figures like Cyrus Scofield and later Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye (author of Left Behind series). Dispensationalists believe: •The return of Jews to the Holy Land is a divine prerequisite for the Second Coming of Christ. •The modern state of Israel is God’s chosen nation, and its survival and expansion are necessary to fulfill Biblical prophecy. •Any attack on Israel is literally a battle between good and evil. This belief system is embedded in American foreign policy through decades of lobbying, political donations, and mass voting blocs. It transcends political parties, with both Republicans and many Democrats subscribing to or fearing the wrath of the Evangelical base. Every election cycle, candidates from both parties tout their pro-Israel credentials, not just to appease AIPAC, but to win over millions of Evangelical voters who see Israel as a divine project. Media, megachurches, Christian TV, and even homeschooling curricula in the U.S. indoctrinate children from a young age with pro-Israel prophecy.“

Comments on Iran from the above YouTuber: “My humble opinion on the Iran nuclear deal propaganda: Trump and the Zionists aren’t really too worried about Irans nuclear program. If they were, they wouldn’t have tore up Obama’s deal. Because the deal scaled back the program significantly. In the time since, Iran has enriched ten times as much uranium. If they were so afraid of an Irani nuke, then it would have made more sense to keep the deal in place while pressuring Iran to renegotiate it. The real reason they tore it up is because it offered sanctions relief that brought Iran more money. Money for the weapons they can actually use: The axis. You see the U.S. and Israel knows very well that even if Iran developed a nuke they would never actually use it. According to estimates, Iran has the ability to produce maybe 5 nukes over the course of 6 months to a year-and that’s if they start today. And none of these nukes would be larger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. That’s because there is a lot more than just “enriching uranium.” You have to then work it into a warhead and it’s just a whole process that takes time. If the U.S. or Israel got even a whiff of Iran near a completed nuke, they’d preemptively strike. And even if Iran did manage to make their nukes and deploy them, the United States has 5,000+ nukes, some of which 80 times more powerful than anything Iran could build. And Israel has 200 nukes with a million ways to deliver them. Whatever you think about Iran, they aren’t suicidal. So this maximum pressure campaign isn’t really about the nukes. It’s about the axis of resistance network that Iran has been funding, arming and training. The Houthis have ballistic missiles and drones because of Iran. They gave Saudi Arabia hell for years, wrecked two of their oil facilities, and closed down the Red Sea for an entire year. Iran made that possible. Israel, Saudi and the neocons are sick of it. So Trump wants Iran to not only agree to abandon their nuclear program entirely but also their ballistic missile program and the logistics support for AnsarAllah, Hezbollah and other groups. How Iran responds will define the identity of their nation moving forward. They either submit or stand up. If you read Ken klippensteins article the other day, then you know what Trump has in store for Iran and would understand why they would capitulate. I don’t know what Iran will eventually do however because capitulation could be just as destructive as standing up to the U.S. and Israel right now. Because if they are willing to abandon the nuclear program and the axis, why have they been subjecting their people to decades of sanctions just to back down in the end? This question has produced issues internally. It’s why Iran has appeared so rudderless over the last 6 months. Hezbollah is weakened. Syrias gone. The neocon Zionist Warhawk maniacs are in power and they smell blood in the water. They think this is the best time to break Iran. Whether or not they’re correct in their assessment doesn’t change the fact that they are going to try.” Grayzone and Sachs commentary. The buildup on Diego island could just be posturing to make Iran capitulate - a bargaining tactic Trump is using with everything and everyone. Or he could be serious about bombing them, who knows these days..

From Arnaud: ”This is actually an extraordinary admission to make for a US Vice President. Vance explains that "the idea of globalization was that rich countries would move further up the value chain while the poor countries made the simpler things." But he laments that it didn't quite work out this way: as he explains it turns out that poor countries (mostly China) didn't want to just remain cheap labor forever and started moving up the value chain themselves. Which is why, according to him, globalization was a failure. Meaning that the objective of globalization wasn't to reduce global inequalities but very much to maintain them, to institute a system of permanent economic hierarchy where rich countries would maintain their hold over the most profitable sectors while relegating poor countries to perpetual subordination in lower-value production. This is basically all you need to know to explain 90% of U.S. foreign policy these past few years: colonial thinking is alive and well, and America's shift of strategy in recent years - away from the previous "Washington Consensus" of "free" markets towards a much more overt attempt to contain and restrict China's development - stems precisely from this mindset. From semiconductor export controls to investment restrictions, these policies aren't about 'national security' in any genuine sense - they're about trying to preserve a global economic order where, simply put, poorer nations know their assigned place and stay there. At the very core, that's the "China threat": a China that stepped out of the economic lane assigned to it by the West. It's deeply ironic when you think of it: a global game allegedly designed to "spread market principles" worldwide is being abandoned precisely because it worked too well. When China succeeded better than expected, the response wasn't to celebrate the validation of the game's effectiveness but to change its rules. Precisely because the real unspoken game - but now clearly stated by the U.S. Vice President - was to maintain global inequality, not eliminate it. All in all, in case they hadn't yet gotten the memo, this sends a very clear message to the developing world: economic development will require challenging a U.S.-dominated economic order that views their advancement as a threat rather than a success. Which incidentally is why Vance's words might actually help accelerate the very redistribution of global economic power he laments, pushing more nations to recognize that genuine development requires strategic independence from a system intended to keep them in their place.”

@Lila9 @Nivsch The problem isn’t that one side has more extremists than the other, it’s that’s one sides extremists (Israel) are enforcing a system of control and domination, in the form of occupation - while the other sides extremists (Hamas) emerge in reaction to that system, as a symptom. Israeli extremism exists within a domain of systemic domination, Palestinian extremism exists within a domain of symptomatic desperation. One side has the power asymmetry to end the cycle causing both extremisms, more than the other. What underpins that system of occupational domination is a dark interpretation and implementation of the ideology of Zionism. Returning to a historically rooted home to coexist with natives is fine, but dispossessing them because of an ethno-centric fever dream isn’t. A lot of the arguments stem around survival and national security. That’s something I’ve talked about regarding understanding Russias actions in reaction to Western containment that could threaten their national security at the border of Ukraine. The difference with Israel is that a besieged conclave of people with no tanks, navy, air or nuclear capability - aren’t a existential threat to a nuclear armed high tech power like Israel, backed by the collective West including a superpower like the US. It’s not the same level of national security concern the way it is for Russia. Not only are Israels actions as an occupier completely unjustified, its reactions to those it occupies, reacting to that occupation, are also completely unjustified - because those resisting pose no existential threat. Israel was simply asleep at the wheel which caused a breach of the border on a one off occasion. Some say it was allowed to happen but that’s beside the point. Even this notion of Israel being in a hostile neighbourhood surrounded by wolves is false. Egypt and Jordan have peace treaties, Saudi Arabia has been in silent alignment via the US and normalizing more recently (paused for now due to Israel’s psychotic behaviour), Syria poses no threat and has its own issues. Hezbollah exists mainly as a defensive militia protecting Shias in South Lebanon, in reaction to Israels invasion in the past. The reason Israel breach Lebanese and Syrian air space / sovereignty is because of Iranian supply lines to Hezbollah, who came to exist because of Palestinian resistance in the first place. Most, if not all Israels regional conflicts can be traced back to the refusal to resolve the ongoing Palestinian issue. Israels surrounded by countries reacting to its own system of control over a dispossessed people - it’s not innate hostility towards Jews, but circumstantial towards a state behaving dominantly in the region.

Oh totally, we really don’t see why people dislike Israel - must be something about the whole having their boot on the neck of Palestinians thing. And every time those Palestinians gasp for air, resist or lash out in a savage manner due to being cornered - they’re instantly labeled terrorists, dehumanized, and told they were raised to be sociopaths by the same colonial forces that used to do this in black and white and now do it in HD. But yeah, no clue why anyone would have an issue with that.

I can acknowledge the possibility of that, including that Hamas can be savage. But can you acknowledge that it isn’t right to collectively punish Gazans then? If some people including your family, are held hostage in a house by crazy people, does that make it okay to switch off the heating to that house in winter so they can all freeze? Just because you want the crazy kidnappers to freeze also.. The hope is that at least some of the aid is getting to the people, including the hostages the whole of Israel protests over. How else would they be surviving all these months otherwise.. the look of Palestinian detainees is starkly different to the Israeli hostages - which means they are at least getting something. Also those hostages are a bargaining chip for Hamas, they have the incentive to keep them alive.

The bigger question is why did they start bombing Yemen again? Because they started blockading sea lanes. Why is Yemen doing that? Because Israel ended the ceasefire and is blockading and starving out Gazans - during Ramadan of all months, including killing over 400 in a single day last week.

So if they are that evil, how can we expect Palestinians to overthrow them? And how does it make it okay to collectively punish / pressure the population via starvation..

Isn't the fact that Palestinians are protesting against Hamas, proof that they aren't complicit in October 7th and therefore shouldn't be collectively punished via starvation? Therefore the country doing this is a terrorist state?

American exceptionalism on display. The best line “I’m an American reporter and would like a answer to the British reporters question” Europe needs to do what’s in its best interest and build itself up over time. The “hostile” US is going to relegate itself so nothing retaliatory needed. They are self owning themselves. They talk about Europe freeloading but won’t ever mention Israel doing so lol retards

@Raze Horrible. They need the media blackout to cover for what they’re doing. When does it become genocide? Isn’t Gaza currently under siege being starved? Is the West (who has the power to stop this) going to wait for Palestinians to die off slowly through malnutrition and untreated diseases? Does it even register to them what is happening? It seems that when they do, their only way of acknowledging this is by saying whoopsie, we should have done something sooner.