Ken O'Keefe
The weblog of Ken O'Keefe
Apr
19
On Thursday April 21st we shall make a human chain with the children of Gaza to spell out NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE so as to tell the world that Israel’s bombings of Gaza must stop.
We intend to remind the world how the children of Palestine are terrorized and murdered by Israeli air power on a regular basis. We intend to tell the story of how the people of Gaza suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from the horrific bombardment of Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. We demand that t
he good people of the world acknowledge that Israeli planes simply flying over Palestine is an intentional source of panic and fear, of state sponsored terrorism, for countless people in Gaza, especially the children.
There are kids in Gaza that wet themselves at night for fear of being bombed again when they hear Israeli aircraft overhead. And this is a nearly daily occurrence. There are children here that have seen loved ones crushed, bleeding, burned and dying, some hit with White Phosphorus, as a result of Israeli bombings. Some of these children were seriously wounded themselves. One 11-year-old girl I know personally (from the Samouni family) still has pieces of an Israeli rocket in her head from a bombing during Operation Cast Lead. To this day this injury causes her to bleed from her nose and she has other neurological issues as yet undiagnosed and unresolved. This is but one story but it makes the point that not only memories are embedded in these children forever, each time a jet, a drone or helicopter gunship flies overhead, the ongoing nightmare of what may come is re-visited.
I ask every parent out there to imagine your child continuously traumatized and terrified in the name of “fighting terrorism”. Ask yourself how you would feel about being continuously bombarded by the fourth largest military in the world and having no way at all to protect your child from fear or harm? How would you feel?
Now think about how you play a direct role in the terrorizing of children in Palestine if you are a UK or American citizen. Your governments continue to supply the very same weapons used to carry out these missions. Maybe you in particular should do something to stop this homegrown madness, and if you are already doing something then maybe you should do more?
Make no mistake; the flying of Israeli aircraft over Palestine is in itself a form of terrorism. Bombing with “high precision” weapons that continue to hit innocent people is a war crime and terrorism; and this is happening regularly. So what the hell are we doing about it?
Some may say; “what difference will a picture make?” Well I believe the picture we seek to take will make a difference. We will gather around 200 schoolchildren of Gaza on Thursday April 21, 2011 and these children will form a human chain that will spell out the words ‘NO FLY ZONE OVER GAZA’.
As we do this let us face another shameful fact, the NO FLY ZONE OVER LIBYA is pure, unadulterated oil stealing hypocrisy posing as “humanitarian intervention”. If there were ever anything genuinely humane about Western intervention a NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE would have been implemented decades ago. But the Palestinians have no oil, and they certainly have no air defenses, and so the innocent people of Gaza continue to be bombed with impunity.
How bloody stupid, powerless and hypocritical must we the people have become to allow unhindered bombings of Palestine for decades while doing nothing effective to stop it, meanwhile sitting back to watch a NO FLY ZONE OVER LIBYA be put into place in little more than a week or two?
Face it people, we in the West remain staggeringly complacent and falsely inhumane when we allow such hypocrisies to be flaunted right in front of our faces. And so it is that those of us who are still human are compelled to do something.
Symbols have power and the extent of that power is derived from the meaning and intensity people affix to the symbols. We intend to create a powerful global symbol made of a message sent directly from the children of Gaza, to the people of the world. Now whether the world listens and responds to these children is yet to be seen, but at the very least we shall send this message. We hope that our photograph captures the message to such an extent that people are motivated to do more. Ultimately seek to have this message heeded to such a point that Israeli aircraft will no longer be able to terrorize the people/children of Gaza/Palestine. And if not, every single time another Israeli bomb drops on the innocents of Palestine, this picture shall be put forward as the demand of a truly sane and humane international community.
The true cost of bringing 200 children to the spot to form the human chain is roughly $300 but the minimum amount to request with Indiegogo is $500, thus if we receive $500 or more we will look to bring more children as we must supply travel by bus and a minimum of refreshments for the kids. If the amount we recieve is more than needed to do what we intend to do then the remainder will be given to the Samouni Project.
NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE!
http://www.indiegogo.com/NO-FLY-ZONE-OVER-PALESTINE
We intend to remind the world how the children of Palestine are terrorized and murdered by Israeli air power on a regular basis. We intend to tell the story of how the people of Gaza suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from the horrific bombardment of Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. We demand that t
he good people of the world acknowledge that Israeli planes simply flying over Palestine is an intentional source of panic and fear, of state sponsored terrorism, for countless people in Gaza, especially the children.
There are kids in Gaza that wet themselves at night for fear of being bombed again when they hear Israeli aircraft overhead. And this is a nearly daily occurrence. There are children here that have seen loved ones crushed, bleeding, burned and dying, some hit with White Phosphorus, as a result of Israeli bombings. Some of these children were seriously wounded themselves. One 11-year-old girl I know personally (from the Samouni family) still has pieces of an Israeli rocket in her head from a bombing during Operation Cast Lead. To this day this injury causes her to bleed from her nose and she has other neurological issues as yet undiagnosed and unresolved. This is but one story but it makes the point that not only memories are embedded in these children forever, each time a jet, a drone or helicopter gunship flies overhead, the ongoing nightmare of what may come is re-visited.
I ask every parent out there to imagine your child continuously traumatized and terrified in the name of “fighting terrorism”. Ask yourself how you would feel about being continuously bombarded by the fourth largest military in the world and having no way at all to protect your child from fear or harm? How would you feel?
Now think about how you play a direct role in the terrorizing of children in Palestine if you are a UK or American citizen. Your governments continue to supply the very same weapons used to carry out these missions. Maybe you in particular should do something to stop this homegrown madness, and if you are already doing something then maybe you should do more?
Make no mistake; the flying of Israeli aircraft over Palestine is in itself a form of terrorism. Bombing with “high precision” weapons that continue to hit innocent people is a war crime and terrorism; and this is happening regularly. So what the hell are we doing about it?
Some may say; “what difference will a picture make?” Well I believe the picture we seek to take will make a difference. We will gather around 200 schoolchildren of Gaza on Thursday April 21, 2011 and these children will form a human chain that will spell out the words ‘NO FLY ZONE OVER GAZA’.
As we do this let us face another shameful fact, the NO FLY ZONE OVER LIBYA is pure, unadulterated oil stealing hypocrisy posing as “humanitarian intervention”. If there were ever anything genuinely humane about Western intervention a NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE would have been implemented decades ago. But the Palestinians have no oil, and they certainly have no air defenses, and so the innocent people of Gaza continue to be bombed with impunity.
How bloody stupid, powerless and hypocritical must we the people have become to allow unhindered bombings of Palestine for decades while doing nothing effective to stop it, meanwhile sitting back to watch a NO FLY ZONE OVER LIBYA be put into place in little more than a week or two?
Face it people, we in the West remain staggeringly complacent and falsely inhumane when we allow such hypocrisies to be flaunted right in front of our faces. And so it is that those of us who are still human are compelled to do something.
Symbols have power and the extent of that power is derived from the meaning and intensity people affix to the symbols. We intend to create a powerful global symbol made of a message sent directly from the children of Gaza, to the people of the world. Now whether the world listens and responds to these children is yet to be seen, but at the very least we shall send this message. We hope that our photograph captures the message to such an extent that people are motivated to do more. Ultimately seek to have this message heeded to such a point that Israeli aircraft will no longer be able to terrorize the people/children of Gaza/Palestine. And if not, every single time another Israeli bomb drops on the innocents of Palestine, this picture shall be put forward as the demand of a truly sane and humane international community.
The true cost of bringing 200 children to the spot to form the human chain is roughly $300 but the minimum amount to request with Indiegogo is $500, thus if we receive $500 or more we will look to bring more children as we must supply travel by bus and a minimum of refreshments for the kids. If the amount we recieve is more than needed to do what we intend to do then the remainder will be given to the Samouni Project.
NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE!
http://www.indiegogo.com/NO-FLY-ZONE-OVER-PALESTINE
Mar
29
We are looking at sending at least one bus from the UK to Gaza, loaded with materials to set up the Samouni Family Community Centre/Classroom. We would like to do this in the next couple of weeks so we need many things to happen very fast if we are to meet such a deadline. Keep in mind that there are about 112 Samouni kids, two years on from Operation Cast Lead with hardly any support in so many regards, so the sooner we make a difference the better. For 112 kids the requested items that follow are pretty modest; we will look to expand the facilities for sure, with a full educational complex planned, but the goal at this moment is ambitious yet realistic, it really is up to all of us. I am hoping everyone who reads this will give something, big or small. Now is the time to have a functioning classroom and community centre ASAP for this family. We have met with the family and consulted them at length, what they want, including the children, is a real learning facility where the kids can get back to where they were before Operation Cast Lead. We have the teachers ready to go here in Gaza, teachers the kids love, we just need to get the classroom up and running.
Yesterday we managed to arrange an Internet connection for the classroom; this took some bargaining I can tell you as the Samouni’s are not in the urban part of Gaza. We are building the official Samouni Project website right now, we have some great people on this; the site is going to be outstanding. The website will have photos and videos of the family, the children are keen to begin writing blogs (with automatic translations from Arabic to English), and there will eventually be a forum where the family can interact with people from around the world. This is one of my primary goals, to connect people outside of Gaza with the family, to create an extended Samouni family.
Items/Materials/Support sought immediately;
1) A UK based coordinator to facilitate this project, this is a volunteer job.
2) A mechanic or someone very good with vehicles that can travel to Retford, Nottinghamshire, in order to make sure the vehicle is sound and as purchased.
3) We need the vehicle MOT’d and taxed by hopefully the same person above.
4) Costs covered to put vinyl graphics on the bus, such as the Samouni Project logo as well as the logos of our sponsors.
5) Costs for food, fuel, tax, MOT, and insurance for the drive to Gaza.
6) Sponsors; we seek sponsors from unions, organizations, Mosques, community and Palestine Solidarity groups. We propose a minimum donation of £100 to become a sponsor, but anything will help so we encourage everyone no matter what you can contribute.
7) We will need at least two or three drivers who will have to sleep in or just outside the bus in order to ensure security.
8) More Vehicles: if we can get a couple more vehicles, possibly even a bus that can carry the whole family in Gaza, which would be great. There are good deals on vehicles and maybe people will have a vehicle or two that they would like to donate to the family, a work van would be ideal, but any working vehicle will be extremely valuable to the family.
9) Computers: Ideally we will bring 12 desktop computers, mouse, keyboard, computer speakers and if possible, 12 laptop computers so each household will also have something in their home.
10) Office Chairs – 12 is perfect.
11) Webcams with Microphone Headsets for Skype calling.
12) Laser Jet Printer/Copy/Fax/Scanner with refill ink cartridges.
13) Laminating Machine with lamination sheets.
14) Digital Cameras, the more the better, all the kids love cameras.
15) LCD Projector and screen.
16) Small generator, big enough to power a small home.
17) A nice Globe for teaching.
18) Large World Map for wall.
19) Quality books with emphasis on education, history, science, etc. English is great, but if people have Arabic language books as well, that will be fantastic.
20) We hope to bring 50 English teaching books which we already have a teacher to teach with, here is the link to the book we need; http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Headway-Beginner-Students-English/dp/0194376311/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301319517&sr=8-1-fkmr1
21) We are looking for a carpenter to build Custom Bookcase and deliver to London very soon.
22) If a carpenter can work right away, we can give dimensions and precut some material for long desktops to be used for the computers and classroom.
23) Lighting, good quality lighting, LED’s lighting would be ideal so the electricity consumption is low. But we want something other than fluorescent lights, something warm and nice to read and learn with.
24) Musical instruments, if you have an instrument that you can give for these children to experiment with and play; this will be a beautiful contribution. Does somebody have a Piano?
25) Office supplies, paper, paper clips, notebooks, pens, pencils (coloured as well), markers, pencil sharpener, etc.
26) Arts & Crafts of all sorts.
27) Puppets and educational toys.
28) A telescope, this has been asked for, would be great.
29) Tiles to lay on the floor, this is roughly a 10×15 metre space.
Items that would be good to bring now as well;
1) Blankets.
2) Clothes.
3) Kids football shoes.
4) Anything of value that might be useful.
If you have or are willing to purchase any of these items then please do so and email me at 1worldcitizen@spamarrest.com (please put ‘Samouni Project’ in the subject field). If you can provide a service, volunteer to drive to Gaza or be a coordinator then again, please email me.
The following are not likely to be arranged immediately, but maybe, you never know. But even if we cannot get these things now, I would like people to know of our longer-term goals and start looking around for ways to make this happen as well.
Supporting Independence for the family; long-term items sought;
1) We would bring a machine that can process Tomatoes into sauce. The Samouni family are farmers and if they had an industrial machine of this type they would be able to really get back on their feet and be independent soon. I will get more details of the exact type of machine that would be ideal tomorrow, if you think you can help with this then message me please.
2) A loom, an industrial loom that would allow the family to make Kuffiyeh’s, if we do this I am sure the family will have a real income with exported Kuffiyeh’s, made in Gaza, with the Samouni Family brand on it.
3) Building materials to make a small factory/warehouse.
And last, something that would just be wonderful for the entire family, especially the boys;
1) 1) The materials to build a 5 on 5 football pitch, the cement for the foundation, the padding and artificial grass, the walls, goals, bleachers, lighting for night time play.
I am already planning to make a video with the kids inviting FC Barcelona to come out this summer and do a football camp. I am making it clear to the kids that there are no guarantees, but if we try, we have a good chance of getting a result.
I would like to say to everyone reading this just one thing. If we really care, we will make this next phase happen and we will do so within a couple of weeks. We can do anything we set our minds to and what is asked for to make this project happen is completely doable. We all have something to offer, the question is what do you have to offer?
To my Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters, the Samouni’s are your direct family; please make this project happen now. As a community, you alone could make this happen within a week.
Love and respect to everyone who is helping with this, you are blessing yourself big time by contributing, believe me I know this all too well.
To make a contribution right now go to; http://www.indiegogo.com/Samouni-Family-Community-Centre-Classroom-1?c=comments%2F923%2Fdescription%2F0%2F0
TJP,
Ken O’Keefe
Yesterday we managed to arrange an Internet connection for the classroom; this took some bargaining I can tell you as the Samouni’s are not in the urban part of Gaza. We are building the official Samouni Project website right now, we have some great people on this; the site is going to be outstanding. The website will have photos and videos of the family, the children are keen to begin writing blogs (with automatic translations from Arabic to English), and there will eventually be a forum where the family can interact with people from around the world. This is one of my primary goals, to connect people outside of Gaza with the family, to create an extended Samouni family.
Items/Materials/Support sought immediately;
1) A UK based coordinator to facilitate this project, this is a volunteer job.
2) A mechanic or someone very good with vehicles that can travel to Retford, Nottinghamshire, in order to make sure the vehicle is sound and as purchased.
3) We need the vehicle MOT’d and taxed by hopefully the same person above.
4) Costs covered to put vinyl graphics on the bus, such as the Samouni Project logo as well as the logos of our sponsors.
5) Costs for food, fuel, tax, MOT, and insurance for the drive to Gaza.
6) Sponsors; we seek sponsors from unions, organizations, Mosques, community and Palestine Solidarity groups. We propose a minimum donation of £100 to become a sponsor, but anything will help so we encourage everyone no matter what you can contribute.
7) We will need at least two or three drivers who will have to sleep in or just outside the bus in order to ensure security.
8) More Vehicles: if we can get a couple more vehicles, possibly even a bus that can carry the whole family in Gaza, which would be great. There are good deals on vehicles and maybe people will have a vehicle or two that they would like to donate to the family, a work van would be ideal, but any working vehicle will be extremely valuable to the family.
9) Computers: Ideally we will bring 12 desktop computers, mouse, keyboard, computer speakers and if possible, 12 laptop computers so each household will also have something in their home.
10) Office Chairs – 12 is perfect.
11) Webcams with Microphone Headsets for Skype calling.
12) Laser Jet Printer/Copy/Fax/Scanner with refill ink cartridges.
13) Laminating Machine with lamination sheets.
14) Digital Cameras, the more the better, all the kids love cameras.
15) LCD Projector and screen.
16) Small generator, big enough to power a small home.
17) A nice Globe for teaching.
18) Large World Map for wall.
19) Quality books with emphasis on education, history, science, etc. English is great, but if people have Arabic language books as well, that will be fantastic.
20) We hope to bring 50 English teaching books which we already have a teacher to teach with, here is the link to the book we need; http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Headway-Beginner-Students-English/dp/0194376311/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301319517&sr=8-1-fkmr1
21) We are looking for a carpenter to build Custom Bookcase and deliver to London very soon.
22) If a carpenter can work right away, we can give dimensions and precut some material for long desktops to be used for the computers and classroom.
23) Lighting, good quality lighting, LED’s lighting would be ideal so the electricity consumption is low. But we want something other than fluorescent lights, something warm and nice to read and learn with.
24) Musical instruments, if you have an instrument that you can give for these children to experiment with and play; this will be a beautiful contribution. Does somebody have a Piano?
25) Office supplies, paper, paper clips, notebooks, pens, pencils (coloured as well), markers, pencil sharpener, etc.
26) Arts & Crafts of all sorts.
27) Puppets and educational toys.
28) A telescope, this has been asked for, would be great.
29) Tiles to lay on the floor, this is roughly a 10×15 metre space.
Items that would be good to bring now as well;
1) Blankets.
2) Clothes.
3) Kids football shoes.
4) Anything of value that might be useful.
If you have or are willing to purchase any of these items then please do so and email me at 1worldcitizen@spamarrest.com (please put ‘Samouni Project’ in the subject field). If you can provide a service, volunteer to drive to Gaza or be a coordinator then again, please email me.
The following are not likely to be arranged immediately, but maybe, you never know. But even if we cannot get these things now, I would like people to know of our longer-term goals and start looking around for ways to make this happen as well.
Supporting Independence for the family; long-term items sought;
1) We would bring a machine that can process Tomatoes into sauce. The Samouni family are farmers and if they had an industrial machine of this type they would be able to really get back on their feet and be independent soon. I will get more details of the exact type of machine that would be ideal tomorrow, if you think you can help with this then message me please.
2) A loom, an industrial loom that would allow the family to make Kuffiyeh’s, if we do this I am sure the family will have a real income with exported Kuffiyeh’s, made in Gaza, with the Samouni Family brand on it.
3) Building materials to make a small factory/warehouse.
And last, something that would just be wonderful for the entire family, especially the boys;
1) 1) The materials to build a 5 on 5 football pitch, the cement for the foundation, the padding and artificial grass, the walls, goals, bleachers, lighting for night time play.
I am already planning to make a video with the kids inviting FC Barcelona to come out this summer and do a football camp. I am making it clear to the kids that there are no guarantees, but if we try, we have a good chance of getting a result.
I would like to say to everyone reading this just one thing. If we really care, we will make this next phase happen and we will do so within a couple of weeks. We can do anything we set our minds to and what is asked for to make this project happen is completely doable. We all have something to offer, the question is what do you have to offer?
To my Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters, the Samouni’s are your direct family; please make this project happen now. As a community, you alone could make this happen within a week.
Love and respect to everyone who is helping with this, you are blessing yourself big time by contributing, believe me I know this all too well.
To make a contribution right now go to; http://www.indiegogo.com/Samouni-Family-Community-Centre-Classroom-1?c=comments%2F923%2Fdescription%2F0%2F0
TJP,
Ken O’Keefe
Mar
18
Letter from Joe Fallisi;
Dear Ken, my friend, my brother. We met last time at Shawa Theatre in Gaza, before my third concert there, two months ago. You know how much I love the cause of a free (and happy) Palestine and how just in the Strip of Martyrs I have my best friends, even my true family. Till the last breath of my life I’ll go on in this fight for truth and justice. You know also how much I admired you not only for your behavior during our common adventure, last year, on the Freedom Flotilla, but also, and even more, for how, then, you were able to defend the truth about what really happened during the murderer assault by Zionist predators – I remember, for instance, your great interview for the BBC. Just because of that, and even because some years ago you had the wonderful idea to organize from London the human shields to go to Iraq and try to help the people there to avoid the horrible destruction of their country by Western intruders, I ask you to be brave again and to say openly, even now, some words of truth. What all international criminals of “ONU” and “Arab” (more than shameful) “League” are planning against the free, independent Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is a crime beyond any words. Even worse of what the Angloamerica did against Iraq. All the “reports” of totally drugged media, spread all over the world, were, are SPECTRAL, radically FAKE. There is NO reason, absolutely, but the previously decided purpose to swallow an entire country backing it again to the colonial age (by a REAL mass murder and destruction and eternal radioactive plague, just as they did in the unfortunate Iraq, or in Afghanistan…and before in the former Yugoslavia), to make any “humanitarian” no-fly zone on the sky of sovereign Libya, that means, of course, to invade then and to occupy the last independent Arab country, their obvious aim since the beginning of all this plot. “Rebels” from Benghazi are corrupted traitors and ultrareactionary monarchists linked to the foreign exploiters who tried, on behalf of them, to make a coup against the most laical, not racist and prosperous country, since 40 years, of Africa. Gheddafi is a very sweet koala compared to monsters and tyrants like Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy, Netaniahu. And Libyan people will resist to this incredible, indecent bullying wished by the “international” politically correct “community” (of vampires). Please DON’T STAY SILENT. We must live our few years on this earth with dignity. Better to be alone than in a very bad company.
I hug you my brother.
FREE LIBYA, FREE PALESTINE!
DOWN TO IMPERIALISTS, DOWN TO ZIONISTS!
My response;
Make no mistake Joe, I am so buried with several projects that I just cannot keep up, otherwise I would have already made this clear.
Regarding Libya, I am once again struck by the gullibility of people who buy into a no fly zone or any level of Western intervention being a good thing for the people of Libya and indeed our world. The Western powers, especially the ones leading the charge, the US, Britain and France, are colonial/imperial powers who have always, always raped and pillaged the lands they have entered. And yes, they do intend to enter Libya. If we are so stupid as to buy into the idea that these nations simply want to help the people of Libya, then I say we remain the most stupid species to ever walk the Earth.
Where was the no fly zone during Operation Cast Lead? A completely defenceless population in Gaza was bombarded by the fourth largest military in the world, in which they were provided no means of escape, a population with more than 800,000 children, and Obama, Bush, the disgustingly treasonous US government never so much as uttered the words “no fly zone”; and now these same criminals care about Libyan’s!
As for the Arab League, what is the Arab League, it is a collection of corrupt puppets who mostly do the bidding of their Western paymasters. They also serve to give the appearance of some level of autonomy in the Arab world, but this is just a ruse. Sometimes they say some pretty words, just like their Western puppet brethren, but they are hollow and corrupt to the core. To support a no fly zone because the Arab League has asked for it is to be manipulated, it is just that simple.
For those who say we must act in order to save the lives of those in the crosshairs of Gaddafi, that was the same basic argument why we invaded Iraq as well. Saddam killing, torturing his people, “we must liberate”, what a joke. I say to those duped once again, lives may be spared in Libya in the short term, but be sure that the tyrants could care less about these people, it is the oil they covet and the no fly zone and attacks on Gaddafi are merely the prelude to the same old story of rape and pillage. In the end more will die if the West comes to “help” the people of Libya, 1.5 million liberated/murdered Iraqi’s are the most recent proof of what is really going on.
What the tyrants really fear is what I really hope for, a Libya completely free of Western influence and manipulation, a Libya with true Muslim leadership, honourable leadership that cannot be bought. Nationalized oil that benefits all the people in the form of first rate infrastructure, education, healthcare and so on. If the people of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, etc., win their battles on their own terms, and we in the West extract our grubby hands from the booty, they will be just fine. In fact they will be free of the Western tyranny that has been at the heart of the injustice and suffering they have known ever since oil was found beneath their feet.
The definition of insanity is to keep repeating oneself and expecting a different result. Rather than insisting that we the White Horse of heroism from the West comes to the rescue, we should be insisting that we get our blood soaked hands off of everything outside our lands and start cleaning up our own house, which is, for those remaining blind, a bloody mess of corruption and inequity.
We in the West do not even take care of our own people, multi-billionaires and deep poverty side by side, house foreclosures in concert with trillions of dollars being handed to the banksters. These bastard banksters are the ultimate rape and pillage machine, and they are salivating over Libya.
On a brighter note, I am so happy and inspired to see the youth increasingly aware of these things, because we adults remain so completely uselessly duped on so many levels.
I hope that is clear enough Joe, I will not generally respond to outside demands for my time as I work hard enough as it is and I cannot do all that I wish, but I respect you and agree that it is right for me to be clear on this issue.
To even things out a bit, since the US taxpayer enjoys buying and supplying Israel with fighter jets used to murder the air defenceless population of Gaza, which happens to include 800,000 plus children, I suggest the US taxpayer also commence to shooting Israeli/American jets out of the sky over Palestine. Why not?
Join the ‘No Fly Zone Over Palestine’ support page on Facebook
Dear Ken, my friend, my brother. We met last time at Shawa Theatre in Gaza, before my third concert there, two months ago. You know how much I love the cause of a free (and happy) Palestine and how just in the Strip of Martyrs I have my best friends, even my true family. Till the last breath of my life I’ll go on in this fight for truth and justice. You know also how much I admired you not only for your behavior during our common adventure, last year, on the Freedom Flotilla, but also, and even more, for how, then, you were able to defend the truth about what really happened during the murderer assault by Zionist predators – I remember, for instance, your great interview for the BBC. Just because of that, and even because some years ago you had the wonderful idea to organize from London the human shields to go to Iraq and try to help the people there to avoid the horrible destruction of their country by Western intruders, I ask you to be brave again and to say openly, even now, some words of truth. What all international criminals of “ONU” and “Arab” (more than shameful) “League” are planning against the free, independent Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is a crime beyond any words. Even worse of what the Angloamerica did against Iraq. All the “reports” of totally drugged media, spread all over the world, were, are SPECTRAL, radically FAKE. There is NO reason, absolutely, but the previously decided purpose to swallow an entire country backing it again to the colonial age (by a REAL mass murder and destruction and eternal radioactive plague, just as they did in the unfortunate Iraq, or in Afghanistan…and before in the former Yugoslavia), to make any “humanitarian” no-fly zone on the sky of sovereign Libya, that means, of course, to invade then and to occupy the last independent Arab country, their obvious aim since the beginning of all this plot. “Rebels” from Benghazi are corrupted traitors and ultrareactionary monarchists linked to the foreign exploiters who tried, on behalf of them, to make a coup against the most laical, not racist and prosperous country, since 40 years, of Africa. Gheddafi is a very sweet koala compared to monsters and tyrants like Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy, Netaniahu. And Libyan people will resist to this incredible, indecent bullying wished by the “international” politically correct “community” (of vampires). Please DON’T STAY SILENT. We must live our few years on this earth with dignity. Better to be alone than in a very bad company.
I hug you my brother.
FREE LIBYA, FREE PALESTINE!
DOWN TO IMPERIALISTS, DOWN TO ZIONISTS!
My response;
Make no mistake Joe, I am so buried with several projects that I just cannot keep up, otherwise I would have already made this clear.
Regarding Libya, I am once again struck by the gullibility of people who buy into a no fly zone or any level of Western intervention being a good thing for the people of Libya and indeed our world. The Western powers, especially the ones leading the charge, the US, Britain and France, are colonial/imperial powers who have always, always raped and pillaged the lands they have entered. And yes, they do intend to enter Libya. If we are so stupid as to buy into the idea that these nations simply want to help the people of Libya, then I say we remain the most stupid species to ever walk the Earth.
Where was the no fly zone during Operation Cast Lead? A completely defenceless population in Gaza was bombarded by the fourth largest military in the world, in which they were provided no means of escape, a population with more than 800,000 children, and Obama, Bush, the disgustingly treasonous US government never so much as uttered the words “no fly zone”; and now these same criminals care about Libyan’s!
As for the Arab League, what is the Arab League, it is a collection of corrupt puppets who mostly do the bidding of their Western paymasters. They also serve to give the appearance of some level of autonomy in the Arab world, but this is just a ruse. Sometimes they say some pretty words, just like their Western puppet brethren, but they are hollow and corrupt to the core. To support a no fly zone because the Arab League has asked for it is to be manipulated, it is just that simple.
For those who say we must act in order to save the lives of those in the crosshairs of Gaddafi, that was the same basic argument why we invaded Iraq as well. Saddam killing, torturing his people, “we must liberate”, what a joke. I say to those duped once again, lives may be spared in Libya in the short term, but be sure that the tyrants could care less about these people, it is the oil they covet and the no fly zone and attacks on Gaddafi are merely the prelude to the same old story of rape and pillage. In the end more will die if the West comes to “help” the people of Libya, 1.5 million liberated/murdered Iraqi’s are the most recent proof of what is really going on.
What the tyrants really fear is what I really hope for, a Libya completely free of Western influence and manipulation, a Libya with true Muslim leadership, honourable leadership that cannot be bought. Nationalized oil that benefits all the people in the form of first rate infrastructure, education, healthcare and so on. If the people of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, etc., win their battles on their own terms, and we in the West extract our grubby hands from the booty, they will be just fine. In fact they will be free of the Western tyranny that has been at the heart of the injustice and suffering they have known ever since oil was found beneath their feet.
The definition of insanity is to keep repeating oneself and expecting a different result. Rather than insisting that we the White Horse of heroism from the West comes to the rescue, we should be insisting that we get our blood soaked hands off of everything outside our lands and start cleaning up our own house, which is, for those remaining blind, a bloody mess of corruption and inequity.
We in the West do not even take care of our own people, multi-billionaires and deep poverty side by side, house foreclosures in concert with trillions of dollars being handed to the banksters. These bastard banksters are the ultimate rape and pillage machine, and they are salivating over Libya.
On a brighter note, I am so happy and inspired to see the youth increasingly aware of these things, because we adults remain so completely uselessly duped on so many levels.
I hope that is clear enough Joe, I will not generally respond to outside demands for my time as I work hard enough as it is and I cannot do all that I wish, but I respect you and agree that it is right for me to be clear on this issue.
To even things out a bit, since the US taxpayer enjoys buying and supplying Israel with fighter jets used to murder the air defenceless population of Gaza, which happens to include 800,000 plus children, I suggest the US taxpayer also commence to shooting Israeli/American jets out of the sky over Palestine. Why not?
Join the ‘No Fly Zone Over Palestine’ support page on Facebook
Feb
01
It is 5:30 pm here in Gaza and reports are coming in of 2 million in the streets in Cairo, over 2 million for their “1 Million March”. February 1 could still be the day that one brutal dictator flees the Middle East. But more important than one fleeing tyrant are the seeds that are being sown. If we nurture these Tunisian and Egyptian seed, identify the powers that be, hiding, conspiring, attempting to co-opt as they always do, we can end their game once and for all. Think about a world in which there are no secret negotiations like those revealed in the Palestine Papers. Think of a world in which “politicians” are replaced by representatives, real and genuine representatives, honouring the will of the people at all times. Why not?
We can achieve anything we set our minds to. We can expose the tyrants and their minions. We can end the scourge of endless war, especially the farcical “War on Terror.” Let us begin to acknowledge every institution and person who perpetuates this illusion for who they are, dupes and/or servants to tyranny. The former must be seen with understanding and support, they are brothers and sisters caught in the web but we can help free them. The latter on the other hand must be exposed and warned that there are consequences for such allegiance. People die and suffer in legions for their work, there must be consequences, and there must be responsibility. Ignorance of a crime and following “just following orders” is not a defence.
How many of us know the truth and can see through the propaganda? I do not know the number but is massive. And we are the ones that truly matter; we are the most powerful force on this planet. We have just been in a slumber. We are Muslims, we are Christians, we are Atheists, we are Communists, we are black and white, male and female, we are Chinese and Peruvian and Hawaiian, we are liberal and we are conservative, we are all people who know right from wrong and we are fully capable of agreeing to disagree on matters of lesser importance. What do we agree on? That is what matters most. Do we agree that people should be free to live life as they see fit, so long as we do not adversely affect others? Then we agree on a most important matter. Do we agree that human rights are inherent? If so then we agree on a most important matter. What we agree on is far more important than what we disagree on.
I have longed for the day that we can celebrate our differences, where we would shed the labels and the treatment of others based on whether they fit into “my” group. To all my Muslim brothers and sisters I say that I am not a Muslim, to all my Atheist friends that I am not an Atheist, nor am I any label that would ever satisfy me, but one thing is for sure, I am your brother. I will always be your brother, and I will treat you as I would treat my brother/sister… because we are indeed family.
As for my lost brothers and sisters who subscribe to “chosen one” ideologies, providing preferential treatment for themselves and often times grave injury to others, you are a threat to all people for the logical consequence of your power expanding is more injustice. Yours is a tribal ideological relic of the past, one that fits perfectly into the tyrants scheme, feeds into perpetual war, it divides and does so expressly for the empowerment of the few. That was yesterday; let us never forget. But today we are thinking differently, we are acting differently, and tomorrow we shall act as one.
For those of my brothers and sisters so indoctrinated that you cannot fathom what it is to treat others as you would yourself, you have been conned. You have been stripped of your humanity; you are a threat to the whole. What difference does it make whether it is Hitler or any other supremacist? Anybody who supports persecution or denial of rights based on values of supremacy is an enemy to the people. We can say this of all sorts of people, elitists, racists, religious extremists, no one group has a monopoly on such thinking, and each of you is essentially the same.
I do not believe myself much different from most people in that I am happy to share this world with all people, people of all religions, orientations, cultures, the only thing I require is respect and freedom for myself the rest of my human family.
I believe the time has come to unite, those of us who are sane, who can see that the masses are comprised of so many cultures and vastly different ways of life, yet we all demand essentially the same things. We demand to be treated with respect. We demand the right to a decent way of life. We demand to be free. We demand to be treated as a human being and afforded all the rights of a human being. How many of us are there? I don’t know but it is a huge number. We need only unite and we will expose and root out the tyrants and their servants quite quickly.
And to my Egyptian and Tunisian brothers and sisters, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
We can achieve anything we set our minds to. We can expose the tyrants and their minions. We can end the scourge of endless war, especially the farcical “War on Terror.” Let us begin to acknowledge every institution and person who perpetuates this illusion for who they are, dupes and/or servants to tyranny. The former must be seen with understanding and support, they are brothers and sisters caught in the web but we can help free them. The latter on the other hand must be exposed and warned that there are consequences for such allegiance. People die and suffer in legions for their work, there must be consequences, and there must be responsibility. Ignorance of a crime and following “just following orders” is not a defence.
How many of us know the truth and can see through the propaganda? I do not know the number but is massive. And we are the ones that truly matter; we are the most powerful force on this planet. We have just been in a slumber. We are Muslims, we are Christians, we are Atheists, we are Communists, we are black and white, male and female, we are Chinese and Peruvian and Hawaiian, we are liberal and we are conservative, we are all people who know right from wrong and we are fully capable of agreeing to disagree on matters of lesser importance. What do we agree on? That is what matters most. Do we agree that people should be free to live life as they see fit, so long as we do not adversely affect others? Then we agree on a most important matter. Do we agree that human rights are inherent? If so then we agree on a most important matter. What we agree on is far more important than what we disagree on.
I have longed for the day that we can celebrate our differences, where we would shed the labels and the treatment of others based on whether they fit into “my” group. To all my Muslim brothers and sisters I say that I am not a Muslim, to all my Atheist friends that I am not an Atheist, nor am I any label that would ever satisfy me, but one thing is for sure, I am your brother. I will always be your brother, and I will treat you as I would treat my brother/sister… because we are indeed family.
As for my lost brothers and sisters who subscribe to “chosen one” ideologies, providing preferential treatment for themselves and often times grave injury to others, you are a threat to all people for the logical consequence of your power expanding is more injustice. Yours is a tribal ideological relic of the past, one that fits perfectly into the tyrants scheme, feeds into perpetual war, it divides and does so expressly for the empowerment of the few. That was yesterday; let us never forget. But today we are thinking differently, we are acting differently, and tomorrow we shall act as one.
For those of my brothers and sisters so indoctrinated that you cannot fathom what it is to treat others as you would yourself, you have been conned. You have been stripped of your humanity; you are a threat to the whole. What difference does it make whether it is Hitler or any other supremacist? Anybody who supports persecution or denial of rights based on values of supremacy is an enemy to the people. We can say this of all sorts of people, elitists, racists, religious extremists, no one group has a monopoly on such thinking, and each of you is essentially the same.
I do not believe myself much different from most people in that I am happy to share this world with all people, people of all religions, orientations, cultures, the only thing I require is respect and freedom for myself the rest of my human family.
I believe the time has come to unite, those of us who are sane, who can see that the masses are comprised of so many cultures and vastly different ways of life, yet we all demand essentially the same things. We demand to be treated with respect. We demand the right to a decent way of life. We demand to be free. We demand to be treated as a human being and afforded all the rights of a human being. How many of us are there? I don’t know but it is a huge number. We need only unite and we will expose and root out the tyrants and their servants quite quickly.
And to my Egyptian and Tunisian brothers and sisters, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Jan
28
I know how this happens, growing up in my white middle-class Californian life; I was a mindless idiot like most, I had no idea that we in the West were living on the back of the blood sweat and tears of countless people around the globe. I was clueless about our reaping the benefits of the plunder of the world. I too was living in that bubble of indifference, a bubble that is finally bursting. I wonder if the billions who have suffered for our indifference can forgive us? I wonder if we will be honest about our criminal complacency which has resulted in an unfathomable amount of suffering and death?
Ah but alas, the American empire is crumbling, it is rotting from within, like every single empire before it. And how poetic that its accelerated demise was ignited by the rage and desperation of one Mohamed Bouazizi, one of the countless victims meant to be just another statistic; no no, this statistic just kicked off a global revolution.
Think about it, if a street vendor can do that, imagine the power of the people united, intelligent, fearless and indomitable.
And the people of the world are beginning to realize that all the bribe money, all the weapons, all the sleazy tyrants and their minions are nothing, they are spineless fleeing cowards, running away as cowards do. Let them run to the grotesquely corrupt hosts who will receive them, their day is coming soon as well. Soon there will be nowhere to hide, no gold for them to steal, no court to shield them and no stolen land to live on.
Moving forward with this revolution I am sure many such scoundrels will come home to America, the most corrupt land of them all, by virtue of the seeds of corruption it has sowed across the globe… America, possessor of the most disgusting, servile, traitorous government of them all, will soon play host to all its servile tin pot dictators.
America… the land of illusions, with the veneer of civility and prosperity, in truth the essence of destitution and lunacy. I know this land; it is my birth nation, I was indoctrinated in this nation and made insane, like the vast majority of its population. And yet I am blessed for my insanity because I have survived it, and more importantly I remember it, thus I can look at all my lost brothers and sisters and see myself.
I realized upon awakening that it was the height of arrogance to expect everybody else to awaken in unison with me, and so I accept people, as they are, collectively insane but capable of retaining their humanity. I knew for sure that if I could break free, anyone can. I remember how crazy and stupid I was, I remember believing my nation this and my nation that, and I remember pledging my allegiance to The United States of Hypocrisy by reciting the words “with liberty and justice for all”; what a bunch of bullshit! But I believed it.
I owe brother Malcolm X an incredible debt of gratitude for teaching me how stupid I was. I owe my native American brothers and sisters for teaching me of the genocidal history never mentioned in school. I owe my Hawaiian (kanaka maoli) brothers and sisters for teaching me true love of the land and the sea, as well as respect for my elders and the beauty of an extended family.
I owe the United States Marine Corps massively, for providing me my first real taste of injustice; undoubtedly the most critical event of my life. They gave me the rage, for having done the right thing and being punished, they connected me to everyone who knows injustice. How ironic… how beautiful.
I thank one president above all, thank you Dubya, my brother George W. Bush. You more than any other president taught my fellow Americans a lesson that I had known for years. I thank you Mr. President for uniting people around the world, like no other president in my lifetime. But most of all I thank you for forcing Americans to ask themselves, honestly; “do I live in the greatest nation on Earth?” And if so, how is it possible that “my president” is a silver spoon suckin, idiot Yale graduate, Skull & Bones tapped, cocaine snorting, Vietnam disserting, un-elected asshole?
Bill Clinton killed a good million and half Iraqis through inhuman sanctions, including 500,000 plus children. But Americans remained in their coma, oblivious to Clinton the mass-murdering war criminal; but then came George, thank you George, no president did more to wake Americans up, you were the turning point.
People were engaged with Dubya, he stirred them from their slumber, but Obama put them back to sleep. “It’s all good, there is a black man in the White House, everything is cool again!” What a joke. Meanwhile Americans sat by, waving flags and losing their jobs, losing their homes and making a bonfire of their Constitution and Bill of Rights. American sons and daughters turned into psychopaths and sacrificial lambs yet again. America, a nation of and for war criminals. America, making orphans by the millions. America, fighting and “leading” a farcical “War on Terror.”
America became some horrible B-movie, one big B-movie set in Fantasy Land, produced by Zionist lackeys. Only a nation and a world gone insane could have believed the movie was reality. Power to the prostitutes of propaganda, they did all they were ever called on to do. Meanwhile the working class continued working hard, bought their tickets and watched the movie, just so they could go further into debt by gifting the bankers trillions and trillions of dollars. “God bless America!”
Remember this my fellow Americans, a street vender from Tunisia kicked your ass; how beautiful is that? Somehow your slave masters could not manage to stop a single, insignificant man from knocking over the first domino and igniting the fire to which you shall soon be engulfed, literally. If you know what’s good for you, you will see your traitors on Wall Street, in the Congress and the White House for who there are, fast.
Speaking of which, let me say to Hillary Clinton and the other prostitute politicians calling for “restraint” in Tunisia and Egypt; fuck you and fuck restraint. Remain angry my brothers and sisters and channel that anger until the result is achieved, a revolution resulting in a dictators flight. He has shamed the Egyptian people for far too long, bought and paid for by the American taxpayer; there is no “reform” absent his departure. Let Egyptian rage manifest in the form of that cowardly, pathetic excuse of a man fleeing Egypt to join some pathetic and corrupt regime suitable of hosting him. I am not alone in waiting for the news that Israel and America’s Pimpdaddy Mubarak, and all his prostitutes, are fleeing Egypt for good.
And I am loving the “financial crisis, loving the fact that people are suffering in Europe and America, let it get worse and worse, please God I pray for a storm of discomfort. Let the middle and upper class people of the West in particular live like the Bedouins of Gaza I met today, nothing will jump start their conscience more. Let them feel a fraction of the pain and suffering we have dealt to the rest of the world. Soak it up, embrace it, live in the street, go hungry and homeless and get beaten for seeking shelter in the wrong place. Then look in the mirror and see the world you created in your own eyes.
Let us realize once and for all the truth, we are all connected, we, the working class, the un-employed, no matter color, religion, sex, nationality, we are the masses, we have the power. And if we have any sense at all we will see any and all attacks on fellow human beings as an attack on ourselves and our family. With this attitude we will crush any so-called leader/politician who even thinks to bamboozle us with the same bogus game that has played out for far too long.
Enough is enough, the world we created has been horrid, let us thank profusely those who fought while sat on our lazy, indoctrinated asses. Let us now stand together, brothers and sisters, with the people of Tunisia and Egypt in particular. Let us turn the page on the nicey nice social gathering protests that serve to diffuse our rage and absolve us of guilt by allowing us to say; “I protested.” No it is time now for much more effective measures. Direct Action is my chosen method, but general strikes are called for big time. It is time for the workers to bring the slave masters to their knees and to seriously, meaningfully, express solidarity with the people of every occupied nation, including but not limited to, Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan and my beloved Hawaiian nation.
It is time to fight fire with fire if necessary and make clear to our police and military that if they turn on the people, then they will feel the wrath of the people.
Every government should be made to fear the people and respect the people, period. Let that be our credo, let us shed the fear and instill fear in every tyrant. The Tunisians and Egyptians have put the fear of god in their governments, so should we; our Western governments are every bit as corrupt.
And if our revolutions begin to be replaced by another form of tyranny, we shall rise again the moment it reveals itself.
As for irony, how about this, let us use the words of a despicable institution (The United Nations) and manifest the meaning of the words;
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,…” – Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Let us live these words and draw a line in the sand. Either you live these values and protect these values or you are an enemy of the people. The bullshit war on terror and all who support that farce must be exposed and put in their place. Wars of aggression and occupation must end immediately. Those that rationalize and justify war and occupation must be exposed and recognized as enemies of the people. Banking, the fractional reserve system and the Federal Reserve, the central banks and the entire ponzi scheme they enslaved us with must be completely destroyed. Every secret society conspiring to benefit the few at the expense of the many must be exposed and destroyed.
Behind every empire remains the hidden powers and the removal of Ben Ali and Mubarak is merely the removal of their puppets; they have countless more so it is the powers in the shadows that we must finally see. These anti-humans care nothing for the religions or nations that the masses are so wedded to. They can slither from one place to another. Like a chameleon they can change color or camouflage themselves. They must be seen, the truth tellers are doing their part; we need only open our eyes. And open your eyes for this one, the greatest animated film ever made, The American Dream. Watch this 30 minute cartoon, get angry and get real.
I say again, if a street vendor can kick off a global revolution, imagine the power of the people united, intelligent, fearless and indomitable. We can achieve any damn thing we commit to. I say we destroy the banking system and replace it with genuine currencies of real value serving simply as a means for fair and ethical trade. I say we default on all of our loans to the criminal banks, both personal and national, and start over. I say we make criminals of the merchants of death who produce weapons of mass-destruction. And I say we sail to Palestine by the thousands and turn Israel’s ruthless, mass-murdering, fourth largest military in the world into an impotent irrelevance.
Why not?
Let us realize once and for all, that we the people are one, that we are human, that our most precious gift is that of our humanity. Let us never sacrifice it again. Together we are unstoppable. We are the sleeping giant, we are the waking lion, we are fierce and we are fearless.
If you the tyrants, the bankers, the prostitutes of propaganda and politics, if you are very fortunate indeed we will give you amnesty. But if you seek such mercy, then step down and speak honestly of the crimes against the people to which you aided and abetted and/or committed. Maybe, just maybe, you will become human again. And you can thank us all for being human with you.
If you are the police, the army, the servant of the tyrants, know that you are one of us, and you have the opportunity to serve your true purpose, which is to serve the people. Do this and you will be welcome. Remember, you are commanded by God and/or conscience to serve your fellow human beings; do so at the very moment your traitorous superiors order you to turn on the people. At that moment in which you are being ordered to sacrifice your humanity, put down your weapons and join the people; WE WILL EMBRACE YOU. You will transform from a vassal of tyranny to a hero. You have been placed in your position for this role, do not reject it.
To the tyrants, it matters not what you do to any one of us, we are the people, we are the true power and we are reclaiming it. Do not stand in our way.
To my brothers and sisters in Tunisia and Egypt, my deepest love and respect goes out to all of you. Thank you for showing us the way. May we follow in your footsteps, and without delay; I for one am with you 100%.
Tags: American Imperialism, blockade, Egypt, Gaza, Israel, Ken O'Keefe, Kenneth
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