Palestinian deaths, the Sean Bell verdict, and Desentization-The Spitfire-side Chats

As one Kabob-er noted, sometimes our internal conversations on the listserv are more interesting than our actual posts. The following is a conversation between Kabob-ers regarding the "Wiping out a family is how Israel says 'no'" post written by Mohammad:

Excen-Tarik: I started to write (about the story) and I was too tired to be as angry as I wanted to be.

Emily: The really sad thing that I thought when I first saw this email is that it becomes difficult to muster enough energy to be sufficiently sad and angry over tragedies like this. It becomes just one more.

Makes it even more important to blog about it I suppose.

Excen-Tarik: It really does. I was gonna write within the context of the Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Lieberman's callous denial of having anything to do with it... something along the lines of "sorry, but you have to realize that they died because of the terrorists, not because the tank shell hit them..." you know? hella ironic and cynical as fuck...

Mohammad: I think you should still go through with that. The other Israeli explanation i heard was that they targeted two militants, and that their missile set off the explosives carried by the militants; and it was those explosives that killed the family. Then of course you realize the only other person killed near the home was a 17 year old schoolboy, so the Israeli army says 'he might have been a militant.'

Excen-Tarik: I know right? Thats what I was talking about: the fact that they said it was "bags" full of explosives that killed them. Does it really make a difference when a TANK SHELL is fired at them? I mean, c'mon... bags of explosives and according to al-jazeera international 4 tank shells were fired- one of which landed 10 meters from the house they were in. The "militants" were reportedly over 100 meters away from the house- and NO ONE has witnessed these "bags" or anything like that- only the shells being fired on 2 younger palestinians. AND there was shrapnel from the shells all over the fucking kitchen they were eating in. You can't fit a qassam in a "bag" man- you know? Fuck.... im so pissed about it. For real.

I'm sure we're all hurting right now- sorry about my emotional shit...

Mohammad: What pisses me off the most (and its sad to say this because i've become almost desensitized to the idea of Palestinian families being wiped out) is how Israel can get away with shit like this with the weakest explanations. I mean, their excuses don't hold any water at all, and yet people take their word as fact when the most basic armchair investigation disproves everything they say. Why is it more believable to so many that Palestinians are responsible for their own deaths, even in the midst of israeli attacks?

Excen-Tarik: seriously, habibi. well said. its such a fucking shame.

Maytha: It kinda parallels how an unarmed black man can be shot 50 times by three cops (including one who reloaded his gun) the night before his wedding, and the cops who weren't forced to face a jury (only a judge), could be acquitted on ALL counts-blemish-free! And there is NO outrage on TV, in newspapers, on the radio, and some have sheik even had the never to say, "well we have to have compassion for the cops, and realize the kinda of stress they might be facing that contributed to this." The world has become so desensitized to the brutal and senseless slaughter of black people as it has to Palestinian families murdered in cold blood (and used pathetic excuses to cover it up).

I think we need to start making these kind of connections, like that of Sean Bell, to take the consciousness about and active support for Palestine a reality outside our circles. Because, when we post stories like these, who really becomes shocked? It's people already aware of the immoral conduct of the Zionist state and its mis-writting of history who read the stories that we post on Palestine.

QuiQui: Hear hear.

Mohammad: I completely agree with Maytha. I think this is an aspect of Zionut assholism that has been neglected by activists for decades-facing their untruths head on and disproving them. They've managed to discredit us-its sad we've let them become the trusted source for anything to do with Palestine.
And connecting it to stuff like Sean Bell's murder is important-back in my younger days, in the 60's and 70's, I remember how popular the Palestinian cause was because it was linked to social justice and independence movements worldwide.

QuiQui: Maybe it's just because I'm from L.A., but I swear I thought NYC would riot after I heard about the aquittal. But nothing. There's not enough outrage. Neither civil disobedience nor uncivil disobedience. Isn't the always looming threat of outrage precisely what is supposed to keep democracy in check? Hmmm.

"We might fight with each other
but I promise you this
we will burn this shit down -- get us pissed"
-- Tupac Shakur, To Live & Die in LA

Mohammad: Can't remember where I read about that-that they managed to avoid the rioting because the 'police had made inroads into the community' or some
bullshit like that.

Fadi: I think they might just support police killing black men out there... I think NYC might just be whack, i had an mp3 of Bruce Springstein singing his song "American Skin (41 shots)" about Amidou Diallo in NYC and you can hear the crowd is booing him for some odd reason, and then I remember reading how the head of the NYC chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police called Springstein a "Faggot" because he wrote this song that has such contentious (sarcasm) lyrics as "is it a gun, is it a knife, is it a wallet, this is your life, it ain't no secret, you can get killed just for livin in ur american skin" or something like that. What's up New York!

QuiQui: I wouldn't be surprised if it's those effing community organizations that, under the guises of cultural centers, are de facto front groups for the government. They're kept operating through funding from the State and municipal governments and exist to monitor and collect data on the marginalized communities they pretend to serve. As history has shown, you always gotta have a ripe set of collaborators to help do the bidding of the oppressor.