A promise…
…to get back into regular blogging. I promise I promise. Today, I’m re-organizing some stuff here and re-posting some great juicy news tidbits written by kick-ass colleagues.
Joseph Dana, aka @ibnezra on twitter, just posted this item on his blog about a new snarky media tactic being used by right-wing Israeli settler groups who are publicizing their intentions to construct new (and very much illegal) settlement colony outposts in the occupied West Bank, and bullhorning their plan in major Israeli newspapers.
Joseph’s entire post is below.
Settlers, Israel and the Media
Settler organizations have publicly proclaimed their intention of rebuilding at least eleven outposts in newspapers across Israel today. They claim to be taking a stand against the international pressure on Israel to destroy illegal settlements and freeze all settlement activity. What is really going on with this public proclamation of intent?
Why would they inform the entire world about their intent before doing anything? Why not rebuild the outposts and then tell the world? This is another instance of the game that the settlers along with the authorities of the state of Israel are playing to make the settlement issue into something that it is not. It is not a violent internal struggle, at least between the settlers and the IDF. The settlers do not exist without the full permission of the Israeli government and the military support of the IDF. These settler proclamations are a simple way to create an image of a problem for the international media. Israel attempts to create the illusion of a painful cost of removing outposts as a result of stunts like this settler proclamation. It is a silly game.
settler advert proclaiming their intention to build eleven outposts in the coming days
We should also keep in mind that it is the middle of summer which means summer vacation for the children. What is a better way for children to spend summer vacation than to rebuild outposts and fight with the army in staged photo op?
…follow Joseph on twitter, and repost! More to come, promises fulfilled.
