Palestine/Israel
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Zionism and the Jewish Establishment
For some, the stories told in foundational texts – Old and New Testaments, the Mahabharata and so forth – are parables and myths illuminating paths to right conduct. For others of a more literalist bent, what is written is hardcore objective historical fact, pointing, in a no-nonsense way, to what has happened in the past, Continue reading
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Palestine/Israel: Gramsci has something to say to us
At time of writing, the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is nominally agreed. ‘Nominally’: Israel, as ever, has conjured pretexts that call into question what was but moments ago cause for cautious, celebratory feelings among both the Palestinians of Gaza and the families and friends of the Israeli hostages – achievement of a ceasefire agreement Continue reading
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Gaza, Lebanon, Syria: the moral abasement of the UK’s political and mainstream media caste
Has the moral abasement of our political class, along with the bulk of mainstream media, including the public-funded – that’s you and me – BBC reached its nadir, or will it descend still further into an ethic-less abyss of its own creation? How comes it that this coterie of comfort and ignominy so tenaciously cleaves Continue reading
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The end of the Israeli state?
It is not possible to be certain of the duration of its decline, it is only possible to be certain of the conclusion: the end of the Israeli state. A state that has debased itself more than anyone could have imagined possible. Israel, in common with any other state, has no inherent right to exist. Continue reading
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Perhaps. Just perhaps…the boundaries of what can be thought and said about Israel are shifting
Perhaps. Just perhaps…Israel, in unleashing its genocidal fury on Gaza, and now on Lebanon, has, unwittingly, fostered and spread the corrosive agents that are eating away at its legitimacy as a specifically Jewish, Zionist state. This is happening at the fundamental level of ideas, of ideologies, of ethics and of morality. Of what can be Continue reading
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Israel: In a dark place
The 7th October 2023 punctured Israel’s belief in its inherent superiority. Disorientated, it knows only one mode of reaction: indiscriminate violence fuelled by a toxic fusion of fear and blood-lust revenge. And a belief that Palestinians and indeed Arabs – witness the Gaza-like decimation being visited upon Lebanon – are not fully human. And so Continue reading
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Project Israel: hegemony + elimination
The project to create an Israeli imperium over swathes of the Middle East is well under way. Hubris attends the project, as time will tell. Israel, led by a man, Netanyahu, with pronounced megalomaniacal tendencies, allied to maniacal, Jewish supremacist Knesset members and government ministers, knows no bounds in its pursuit of ‘security’ via domination. Continue reading
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It didn’t work first time, so we’ll do it again: Israel repeats itself in deadly ways
The Middle East is in a phase of radical uncertainty. Speculation is rife. Will Israel launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah? Will Hezbollah expand the scope and severity of its attacks on Israel? By the time you read this, the answers may be known. Or remain as uncertain as it is at the time of Continue reading
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From October, Israel will be able to kill vaccinated children
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, reports that hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s children – 90% coverage – have received the first of two required polio vaccinations. The second round should take place at the end of September. So, come, say October/November, Israel will find comfort in the knowledge that the Gazan children it will continue Continue reading
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Israel’s PR problem: Itself
The problem for proponents of Israel as a ‘normal’ state, is Israel itself. Over the past eleven months, Israel’s murderous, ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and now escalating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have been displayed on our screens for all to see. It is not a good look to destroy hospitals, kill and Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 