From the Archives of Marxism-"Palestinian Trotskyists on the Partition of Palestine and the 1948 Arab-Israel War"

Workers Vanguard No. 981
27 May 2011

From the Archives of Marxism

Palestinian Trotskyists on the Partition of Palestine and the 1948 Arab-Israel War

Each May, as the Zionist rulers celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel, Palestinians across the Near East mark the nakba, or catastrophe: the expulsion in 1948 of more than 700,000 Arabs from their homeland in Palestine. The United Nations General Assembly had voted the previous year in favor of ending the British mandate in Palestine and creating two independent states, one Zionist and the other Palestinian Arab. Through mass killings and terror, the Zionists drove out most of the Palestinian population from their homes and villages. Following the declaration of the founding of the Israeli state in May 1948, a number of bourgeois Arab regimes intervened militarily, not to defend the Palestinians but to seize land that had been allotted to them under the UN partition plan.

The small Palestinian Trotskyist group, the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), upheld the position of communist internationalism in the 1948 War between Israel and the Arab states. While recognizing the right of both the Hebrew-speaking and Palestinian Arab peoples to national self-determination, the RCL resolutely opposed the imperialist-imposed partition and took a position of revolutionary defeatism toward both sides in the war. That position is today upheld by the International Communist League.

We reprint below an excerpted editorial, titled “Against the Stream,” that was originally published in the RCL’s Hebrew organ Kol Ham’amad (Voice of the Class). The English translation was published by the then-Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party in Fourth International (May 1948). The excerpts refer to Ernest Bevin, who was foreign minister in Britain’s Labour Party government; Chaim Weitzmann (Weizmann), Israel’s first president; and the Husseinis, a clan of Palestinian landowners and political leaders.

* * *

Politicians and diplomats are still trying to find a formula for the disastrous situation into which Palestine has been plunged by the UNO [United Nations Organization] deciding upon partition. Is this a “breach of international peace” or are we dealing with merely “hostile acts”? As far as we are concerned there is no point in this distinction. We are daily witnessing the killing or maiming of men and women, old and young, Jew or Arab. As always, the working masses and the poor suffer most.

Not so very long ago the Arab and Jewish workers were united in strikes against a foreign oppressor. This common struggle has been put to an end. Today the workers are being incited to kill each other. The inciters have succeeded….

“Keeping order” in Palestine costs England over 35 million Pounds a year, an amount which exceeds the profit she can extort from this country. Partition will release her from her financial obligations, enable her to employ her soldiers in the productive process while her source of income will remain intact. — But this is not all. By partition a wedge is driven between the Arab and Jewish worker. The Zionist state with its provocative lines of demarcation will bring about the blossoming forth of irredentist (revenge) movements on either side, there will be fighting for an “Arab Palestine” and for a “Jewish state within the historic frontiers of Eretz Israel (Israel’s Land).” As a result, the chauvinistic atmosphere created thus will poison the Arab world in the Middle East and throttle the anti-imperialist fight of the masses, while Zionists and Arab feudalists will vie for imperialist favors….

If the Anglo-American imperialists had forced this “solution” on Palestine of their own, the rotten game would have been patent in the whole Arab East. However, they dodged: the “problem” was passed on to the UNO. The function of the UNO was to sweeten the bitter dish cooked in the imperialist cuisine, dressing it, in Bevin’s words, with the twaddle of the “conscience of the world that has passed judgment.” Exactly! And the diplomats of the lesser countries danced to the tune of the dollar flute, reiterating the “public opinion of the world.” And the peculiar casts in this performance enabled Great Britain to appear as the Guardian Angel overflowing with sympathy for either side.

And the Soviet Union? Why did not her representatives call the UNO game the swindle it really is?—Apparently, the present foreign policy of the SU is not concerned with the fighting of the colonial masses. And as the Palestine question is a second-rate affair for the “Big,” the Soviet diplomats saw fit to dwell upon what Stalin had said about “the Soviet Union being ready to meet America and Britain halfway, economic and social differences notwithstanding.”…

The Jewish worker having been separated from his Arab colleague and prevented from fighting a common class struggle will be at the mercy of his class enemies, imperialism and the Zionist bourgeoisie. It will be easy to arouse him against his proletarian ally, the Arab worker, “who is depriving him of jobs and depressing the level of wages” (a method that has not failed in the past!). Not in vain has Weitzmann said that “the Jewish state will stem Communist influence.” As a compensation, the Jewish worker is bestowed with the privilege of dying a hero’s death on the altar of the Hebrew state.

And what promises does the Jewish state hold out? Does it really mean a step toward the solution of the Jewish problem?

The partition was not meant to solve Jewish misery nor is it likely ever to do so. This dwarf of a state which is too small to absorb the Jewish masses cannot even solve the problems of its citizens. The Hebrew state can only infest the Arab East with anti-Semitism and may well turn out—as Trotsky said—a bloody trap for hundreds of thousands of Jews.

The leaders of the Arab League reacted to the decision on partition with speeches full of threats and enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, a Zionist state is to them a godsend from Allah. Calling up the worker and fellah [peasant] for the “holy war to save Palestine” is supposed to stifle their cries for bread, land and freedom. Another time-honored method of diverting an embittered people against the Jewish and communist danger.

In Palestine the feudal rule has of late begun to lose ground. During the war the Arab working class has grown in numbers and political consciousness. Jewish and Arab workers stood up against the foreign oppressor, against whom they together went on strikes. A strong leftist trade union had come into existence; and the “Workers’ Association of the Arabs of Palestine” had been well on the way of freeing itself from the influence of the Husseinis. The murder of its leader, Sami Taha, committed by hirelings of the Arab High Committee could not restrain this development. But where the Husseinis failed, the decision of the imperialist agency, the UNO succeeded. The partition decision stifled the class struggle of the Palestine workers. The prospect of being at the hands of the Zionist “conquerors of soil and labor” is arousing fear and anxiety among the Arab workers and fellahs. Nationalist war slogans fall on fertile soil. And feudal murderers see their chance. Thus the policy of partition enables the feudalists to turn back the wheels of history….

The two camps today mobilize the masses under the mask of “self-defense.” “We have been attacked, let us defend ourselves!”—say the Zionists. “Let us ward off the danger of a Jewish conquest!”—declares the Arab Higher Committee. Where does the truth lie?

War is the continuation of politics by other means. The war led by the Arab feudalists is but the continuation of their reactionary war on the worker and the fellah who are striving to shake off oppression and exploitation. For the feudal effendis [lords] “Salvation of Palestine” means safeguarding their revenues at the expense of the fellahin, maintaining their autocratic rule in town and country, smashing the proletarian organizations and international class solidarity.

The war waged by the Zionists is the continuation of their expansionist policy based on discrimination between the two peoples: they defend kibbush avoda (ousting of Arab labor), kibbush adama (ousting of the fellah), boycott of Arab goods, “Hebrew rule.” The military conflict is a direct result of the policy of the Zionist conquerors.

This war can on neither side be said to bear a progressive character. The war does not release progressive forces or do away with social and economic obstacles in the path of development of the two nations. Quite the opposite is true. It is apt to obscure the class antagonism and to open the gate for nationalist excesses. It weakens the proletariat and strengthens imperialism in both camps.

Each side is “anti-imperialist” to the bone, busy detecting the reactionary—in the opposite camp. And imperialism is always seen—helping the other side. But this kind of exposure is oil on the imperialist fire. For the inveigling policy of imperialism is based upon agents and agencies within both camps. Therefore, we say to the Palestine people in reply to the patriotic warmongers: Make this war between Jews and Arabs, which serves the end of imperialism, the common war of both nations against imperialism!

This is the only solution guaranteeing a real peace. This must be our goal which must be achieved without concessions to the chauvinist mood prevailing at present among the masses.

How can that be done?

“The main enemy is in our own country!”—this was what Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg had to say to the workers when imperialists and social democrats were inciting them to the slaughter of their fellow workers in other countries. In this spirit we say to the Jewish and Arab workers: The enemy is in your own camp!

Jewish workers! Get rid of the Zionist provocateurs who tell you to sacrifice yourself on the altar of the Hebrew state.

Arab worker and fellah! Get rid of the chauvinist provocateurs who are getting you into a mess of blood for their own sake and pocket.

Workers of the two peoples, unite in a common front against imperialism and its agents!

Remembering Vittorio Arrigoni - by Stephen Lendman-From The SteveLendmanBlog

Monday, April 18, 2011
Remembering Vittorio Arrigoni

Remembering Vittorio Arrigoni - by Stephen Lendman

On April 15, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) members grieved for one of their own, their press release headlining, "Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank unite in mourning of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni," saying:

"People will gather in Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhull, (Gaza's) unknown soldier park," honoring the death of their comrade, slain and abandoned in a house north of Gaza. More on his death below.

Other events took place throughout Palestine, including protests following Friday's prayers across from the UN's Gaza headquarters. Bil'in and Al Masara also dedicated their weekly demonstrations to Vittorio, Vic to his friends.

On Saturday, the Popular Committee in Nablus held a commemoration with political parties in Nablus center, celebrating his work and condemning his killing.

ISM explained his activism for Palestinian liberation and justice for almost 10 years, including the past two and a half years in Gaza with ISM:

-- monitoring Israeli human rights violations;

-- supporting Palestinian resistance against occupation, and siege; and

-- daily violations of international law and democratic values.

Moreover, as a journalist, he wrote for the Italian newspaper IL Manifesto and Peacereporter, providing information about Gaza to a worldwide audience. The next Freedom Flotilla was renamed "Stay Human," honoring him and his book titled, "Gaza Stay Human."

Weeks earlier, he wrote comments like:

"The mighty flow of blood and hope from Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria and Libya also washed over young Palestinian minds in Gaza. What started as a stream has become a torrent and will soon spill its banks....Palestinians are working hard to mobilize thousands of people (on March 15) to the squares of Ramallah and Gaza on the day (now) named "The Day of Reconciliation" rather than "The Day of Anger."

He also participated in the Free Gaza Movement's August 2008 siege-breaking flotilla. Established that month, it visited Gaza nine times by sea "to break Israel's illegal stranglehold on 1.5 million Palestinian civilians," suffocating under siege.

However, it never was clear sailing. In 2008, Free Gaza succeeded five times, but were "violently intercepted on the(ir) past four voyages," including the lethal May 31 massacre, killing nine or more activists and injuring many more. One of several earlier articles explained, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/05/brave-israeli-commandos-slaughter-aid.html

Free Gaza and its coalition partners are the only organizations "sen(ding) boats directly to Gaza in defiance of Israel's criminal" blockade. They "sail as an expression of citizen nonviolent, direct action, confronting" Israeli lawlessness, together with:

-- the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza;

-- IHH - the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights;

-- Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief;

-- the International Committee to End the Siege on Gaza;

-- Ship to Gaza Sweden; and

-- Ship to Gaza Greece.

Ahead, missions from growing numbers of countries plan to deliver vitally needed aid, sending a message that Israeli lawlessness won't stand.

During Cast Lead, Arrigoni helped medics and reported on IDF attacks to a worldwide audience. As a result, Israeli forces arrested him many times for his writing, activism, and support for Palestinian liberation and justice. His last arrest and deportation came after he reported on Israel's lawless confiscation of Gazan fishing vessels in Palestinian waters, one of many other times they've done it.

On April 15, a Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) press release headlined, "With Great Shock and Sorrow, PCHR Condemns the Murder of Italian Activist, Vittorio Arrigoni," saying:

That day his "body was found in an abandoned house in the north of the Gaza Strip, following his murder at the hands of kidnappers."

According to its own investigation, extremists called "Group of the Companion Mohammed Bin Maslamah" announced his kidnapping on April 14, demanding the release of its detained members affiliated with the so-called "Salafist Jihadist Group." If authorities didn't release them within 30 hours, they threatened to kill him, a threat fulfilled as broadcast on You Tube.

His face showed clear signs of beating, as well as handcuffs and strangulation marks on his neck. A Gaza Ministry of Interior press release condemned the crime, announcing the arrest of two of the group's members, as well as efforts to find the others.

On April 15, London Guardian writer Conal Urquhart headlined, "Palestinians rally to mourn kidnapped Italian activist murdered by extremists," saying:

He was abducted to force authorities to release Sheikh Abu Walid-al-Maqdas. The New York Times named Hisham Saidani as their imprisoned Tawhid and Jihad (TJ) leader, saying "details of the crime remain muddled," especially with TJ denying responsibility.

Luigi Ripamonti, deputy mayor of his hometown of Bulciago, told Italy's Sky 24 Television:

"Today we los(t) an Italian citizen, a citizen of Bulciago, and also a Palestinian citizen, because he married a Palestinian."

Egidia Beretta, Bulciago's mayor and Arrigoni's mother said he first arrived in The Territories in 2002, where "(h)e was taken with Palestine and Palestine took to him."

At first Hamas was reluctant to accuse anyone of the crime, suggesting possible Israeli involvement, spokesman Mahmoud Zahar saying:

"We cannot deny the relation between this incident and an international campaign by the Zionist enemy to restrict the arrival of pro-Palestinian activists. This crime is not in line with our norms as Muslims and Palestinians."

He added that "(s)uch an awful crime cannot take place without arrangements between all the parties concerned to keep the blockade imposed."

In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry said the killing was a "barbaric murder and vile and irrational gesture of violence on the part of extremists indifferent to the value of a human life."

Haaretz said a group calling itself Monotheism and Holy War released a video showing Arrigoni blindfolded with cuts on his face. It demanded authorities free its leaders and two others or they'd kill him. Despite the video, the group denied responsibility, raising suspicions of its origin.

The Guardian said a fellow US activist, Nathan Stuckey, said he spent most of his time as a journalist, but was involved in promoting the rights of Gaza fishermen to work freely in their own waters, adding:

"At the moment, he was particularly focused on the launch of our new boat, which we will use to monitor (Israel's navy) violation of the rights of the fishermen. He often said that he now felt more at home in Gaza than in Italy and he was strongly committed to the Palestinian cause."

Arrigoni's death comes days after a gunman killed Juliano Mer-Khamis, an Israeli actor who ran a Jenin refugee camp theater. He also supported Palestinian liberation and justice. His mother, Arna Mer, was a Jewish activist for Palestinian rights. His father, Saliba Khamis, was born and raised in Nazareth.

In 2006, he opened the Jenin Freedom Theater with Zakariya Zubeidi, former local Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades military leader. He was threatened numerous times, and his theater was torched twice previously. Jenin's Governor Qadura Moussa called him a great Palestinian supporter.

Haaretz's senior editor and theater critic called him a "great actor and extraordinary human being whose life-story is part of the tragic reality of this country," who in death, became "another tragic victim of life in the Middle East."

Shot dead on April 4, he's remembered as one of the best along with Arrigoni and Rachael Corrie, a 23-year old American peace activist, murdered in Gaza on March 16, 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer operator when she tried to stop it from demolishing a Rafah refugee camp home.

According to witnesses, she climbed up on it, spoke to the driver, climbed down, knelt 10 - 20 meters in front in clear view, blocking its path with her body. With activists there screaming for it to stop, the soldier-operator crushed her to death deliberately by running her over twice to be sure.

For many years, Israel killed numerous other peace activists, including Tom Hurndall, a 21-year old photojournalist shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in April 2003, trying to rescue Palestinian children under fire. He clung to life in a vegetative state until succumbing on January 13, 2004, another victim of Israeli barbarity and contempt for human life, a testimony to an out-of-control rogue state.

Like Arrigoni, Corrie and Hurndell were also ISM members, heroic peace activists for Palestinian liberation and justice.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

posted by Steve Lendman @ 1:12 AM

*From The Blogosphere- The "SteveLendmanBlog"-The Israeli Lobby: Declassified Documents Expose Its Influence

Click on the title to link to the blog mentioned in the headline.

*From The "SteveLendmanBlog"-"Notes from Besieged Gaza" - A Guest Commentary

Click on the headline to link to a SteveLendmanBlog entry-Notes from Besieged Gaza.

Markin comment:

End the blockade of Gaza now! Defend the Palestinian people!

*From The "Green Left Global News" Blog- American West Coast Dock Actions In Defense Of The Palestinian People

Click on the headline to link a"Green Left Global News" Blog entry on- American West Coast Dock Actions In Defense Of The Palestinian People.

Markin comment:

Every action by the international working class, including unionized dock workers who have a militant history on the American West Coast docks, to slow down the Israeli war machine, even if only symbolically, is a step in the right direction. Totally End The Blockade of Gaza! All Honor To The Flotilla Blockade Breakers! Down With U.S Aid To Israel! Defend The Palestinian People!

*Hands Off Helen Thomas!- Down With The Blockade Of Gaza!

Click on the headlines to link to an Associated Press (AP)article about the retirement of Washington press corps correspondent Helen Thomas.

Markin comment:

Look, on most days I would be totally non-plussed by the resignation of the dean of Washington bourgeois press correspondents and more so of an old battle axe/gadfly like Helen Thomas who has been around at least since the Andrew Jackson administration. But not today, and not for the flap that caused her resignation. A remark, perhaps made in haste, about Israelis “getting out of Palestine” and going elsewhere (basically back to where they came from- Poland, Germany, or where there is a large cluster of Jews like the United States. She did not mention Russia but, perhaps, there as well.). She has, moreover, made public apologies over the remarks. Under most circumstances that would seem be case closed.

Now I will not pretend to dissect Ms. Thomas’ remarks, or her motivation. However, in the context of the hellhole of a situation in Palestine and particularly of the siege of Gaza over the past few years and of other intractable problems I, for one, can understand her exasperation with the Israelis. Helen Thomas, rightly or wrongly, has spoken her version of “truth to power.” In the aftermath of the Israeli atrocities at sea on May 31st (after her remarks were made), moreover, is she really that far off base?

No one questions the right of national self-determination, the right to their own state, for the Hebrew-speaking people of Israeli, or no one should if for no other reason that to take the national question off the agenda and place the class programmatic solutions up front there and in the whole Middle East. All the talk of driving the Israelis into the sea, or wherever, is crazy talk, or worst. But today, today June 7, 2010, is not a day to address that aspect of the national question. That right is not seriously in jeopardy today for the armed-to-the-teeth Israeli regime, except perhaps to some crazed Zionist who has been spending his or her time kicking Palestinians out of their homes so that they can move in.

Today all our sympathies must stand with the defense of the Palestinian people, especially the benighted, undernourished people of Gaza. Today we stand with those who call for an end to U.S. aid to Israel. Today we stand with those who call for an end to the blockade of Gaza. Today we stand with those (few, too few) Israelis who stand in solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinians for their own state. Today we stand in solidarity with, and admiration for, those courageous souls who have attempted to lift the blockade of Gaza by sea (and, especially, those who have lost their lives in the attempt). And today we stand in solidarity with Helen Thomas for not just swallowing the “party line” on the struggle in the Middle East.

*From The "UJP" Website- Protest Demo-Boston Demands: End the Siege on Gaza! -June 4, 2010

*Click on the headline to link to a "UJP" Website entry- "Protest Demo-Boston Demands: End the Siege on Gaza! -June 4, 2010."


Markin comment:

All Out To Defend The Palestinian People-End The Siege! Enough Is Enough!

*From The UJP Website- The Boston Emergency Gaza Flotilla Attack Protest Demonstration

Click on the headline to link to a "UJP" Website entry- "The Boston Emergency Gaza Flotilla Attack Protest Demonstration", dated May 31, 2010.

*From The "HistoMat" Blog- On The Upcoming Gaza Flotilla Defense Demonstations in Great Britain

Click on the headline to link to a "HistoMat" Blog entry- "On The Gaza Flotilla Demonstations in Great Britain."

Markin comment:

All out everywhere to defend the Palestinian people and their right to survive as a people. Down with Israeli piracy! Down with Israeli imperialism!

*From The SteveLendmanBlog"-Brave Israeli Commandos Slaughter Aid Activists at Sea

Click on the headline to link to a "SteveLendmanBlog" entry- "Brave Israeli Commandos Slaughter Aid Activists at Sea."

Markin comment:

As I have said previously today- Defend The Palestiian people!-By Any Means Necessary!

*From The "Green Left Global" Blog- Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Click on the headline to link to a "Green Left Global" blog entry on the latest Israeli atrocity against the Palestinian people.

Markin comment:

No one should be surprised by this latest Israeli atrocity against the Palestinian people and their supporters. This is an act of war even under bourgeois conventions. Defend the Palestinian People!-By Any Means Necessary! Down With The Blockade! End The Siege Of Gaza!

*From The Boston UJP Website- Emergency Demo Against Israeli Atrocities At Sea

Click on the headline to link to a "UJP-Boston" entry for an emergency demo against the latest Israeli atrocities at sea.

Markin comment:

Defend The Palestinian People Now!

*From The "Green Left Global News & Info" Blog-Al Jazeera Interview with Noam Chomsky: "We were denied entry"

Click on the headline to link to a "Green Left Global News & Info" Blog entry-"Al Jazeera Interview with Noam Chomsky: "We were denied entry."

Markin comment:

On a day when I an reviewing a Noam Chomsky documentary (Noam Chomsky: "Rebel Without a Pause) it seems right to give the devil his due.

*From The "SteveLendmanBlog"-Indoctrinating Israeli Youths to be Warriors -A Guest Commentary

Click on the headline to link to the "SteveLendmanBlog" entry noted in the headline above.

Markin comment:

I am, as I have mentioned before, always happy to link to this blog, especially when the subject is the intractable Palestinian situation, and the ever-expanding, provocative Israeli settlements. Every time that I even think about this situation it is clear that nothing short of socialism, and all that means about the changes in political consciousness on every side that would put that solution on the agenda in this situation, will settle this thing. But let us be clear, today the obligation of every leftist militant is encapsulated in this slogan- "Defend the Palestinian People"- and I would, add, the best way we can. More on this later.

*From The "SteveLendmanBlog"- The (Continued) Israeli Settlement Expansion Into Palestine

Click on the headline to link to a "SteveLendmanBlog" entry concerning the ever-continuing expansion of the Israeli settlements.

Markin comment:

I am, as I have mentioned before, always happy to link to this blog, especially when the subject is the intractable Palestinian situation, and the ever-expanding, provocative Israeli settlements. Every time that I even think about this situation it is clear that nothing short of socialism, and all that means about the changes in political consciousness on every side that would put that solution on the agenda in this situation, will settle this thing. But let us be clear, today the obligation of every leftist militant is encapsulated in this slogan- "Defend the Palestinian People"- and I would, add, the best way we can. More on this later.

*The Latest From Gaza -A Report From The Front Lines Coming Up At A Boston Meeting

Click on the title to link to a "UJP" (Boston) Website announcement of a meeting, featuring a report by a woman just back from the struggle in Gaza.

*From The Steve Lendman Blog- Gaza One Year Later- A Guest Commentary

Click on the title to link to a "Steve Lendman Blog" report/analysis of "Gaza A Year Later". Defend The Palestinian People!

*From The Struggle To End The Seige Of Gaza- A Guest Report

Click on the title to link to a "Boston Indymedia" article/photographs of a Boston First Night demonstration in support of ending the seize of Gaza. Defend the Palestinian People!

*Update On McKinney Trip To Aid Gaza- Israel Hands Off!

Click On Title To Link To Message about Former Congresswomen (And 2008 U.S. Green Party Presidential Candidate) Cynthia McKinney's Trip In Aid Of The Palestinian People In Gaza. Hands OFF McKinney! Defend The Palestinian People!

*The Three Hands Of Barack Obama- The Cairo Speech

Click On Title To Link To Barack Obama's Speech At Egypt's Cairo University on June 4, 2009.

Commentary

What is this? Has Markin gone off the deep end and forgotten that humankind is only gifted, officially, with two hands (although even a child knows that every bourgeois politician has had a third grafted on- you know-on the one hand, and on the other and on the…., well, you know the rest)? Moreover, why is he spilling any ink on the subject of some lanky bourgeois politician’s, United State President or not, off-hand professorial speech on the hellish fate of the Muslim world to invited guests at Egypt’s Cairo University? Good questions.

In the normal course of events I would peruse such speeches and then move on, sometimes, as here, having felt that I had wasted precious time by even doing that much. Furthermore, being a newshound of sorts, I would have already had my fill of pundits, bloggers, and anyone with some half-baked opinion on the subject and been ready to go screaming into the night. This little Obama set speech, however, has set my teeth on edge. Frankly, I am irked (I am being polite, as this is a family-friendly site) at this bombastic little (okay, not so little) twerp going on and on about the problems of the Middle East, Islamic/Western tensions and the like without so much as raising one concrete proposition to “solve” the problems in that benighted region. Enough!

From some of the person-on- the- street interviews of Muslims in its aftermath I am not alone in seeing that “the emperor has no clothes”. You know, little things like getting the historically oppressed Palestinians out of the refugee camps of Gaza and the West Bank and into their own state, getting the United States the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan (and as is becoming more apparent, Pakistan), stopping the drone attacks on civilians, Muslim civilians, everywhere in the region and stopping one, just one, concrete block headed toward building of yet another Israeli settlement in the Occupied Territories. I could go on and on, but you get my drift.

One thing about being the Commander-in-Chief of the American imperium is never having to really say you are sorry. Mr. Obama did his duty in Cairo and then to show his even-handedness (or rather three-handedness) he showed up at the Buchenwald concentration camps in order to shore up his Israeli/American Jewish flank. Get it. This is worth no more ink though, except this. U.S. Out Of Iraq And Afghanistan! Defend The Palestinian people!