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25
February 2004 |
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News,
Views, & Analysis Governments,
Lobbies, & the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know
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"The most honest, the
most comprehensive
and most mobilizing
news
and analysis on the Middle East always comes from
MER.
It is
indispensable!" - Robert
Silverman - Salamanca,
Spain
HOLLYWOOD and ISRAEL
HOLLYWOOD and "THE
JEWS"
Mid-East Realities - MER -
www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 25 Feb 2004:
Even
the title is so emotion laden. It's OK to talk about "the
Americans",
"the French", "the Israelis"..."The Kurds", "the Bosnians", "the
Catholics." We often hear references to Christians and
Muslims...to
Hindus and Buddhists. But "The Jews" has a particularly troubling
aspect to it; and of course much of this goes back to history, to
Christian theology, to the European holocaust....and yes to Biblical
times.
As the modern-day media crucifixation of
superstar turned Jesus
story-teller Mel Gibson continues, a brief summary of the situation in
Hollywood is in order. First of course they brought great
pressure on
Gibson to not go forward with the movie in the first place. Then
they
tried hard to ge the movie black-balled from distribution. Next
they put on the
pressure
to get the script of the movie changed (i.e., like the editing
censorship that often
goes on with op-eds and books dealing with the Middle East and "The
Jews" in the U.S. and Europe). And now, with things having
backfired and the movie taking off with fireworks, the attacks
on Gibson
personally and on the extreme violence of his film generally continue
-- witness today's
blockbuster attack in the New York Times (itself long known as a kind
of Israeli-centric heavily Jewish-influenced 'newspaper of record' in the city where more Jews
now live than any other).
In the mid 1970s, there was a film
titled "Children of Rage" that
depicted early-on the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation.
There was a moving love-story between a Jewish doctor and a
Palestinian woman. There was a thoughtful portrayal of the
situation
Palestinian young people now found themselves in, of life in the
refugee camps, of the struggle for freedom and Statehood. In the
end there was much death and destruction. Looking
back, Children of Rage was very much an early warning of the historic cancer which has since erupted into the Intifada, into the
American occupation of the Middle East, and yes into 9/11, the
Apartheid Wall, and the desperation of suiciders.
Children of Rage
was in fact written and directed
by an American
Jew, Arthur Seidelman. It was a substantial motion picture that
opened in
major movie theaters in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and around
the country. But the protests and pressures from Jewish organizations
were considerable, after a
few
weeks the film was gone (never to return), and the Jewish director was
in a very real sense burned out by the whole affair. Seidelman
remained in Hollywood directing for TV and cinema but he never again
returned to
the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
In the 1980s a famous movie actor got
interested in the story of
what happened to the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967. He held a few
meetings
with survivors and went to top-level friends in Hollywood to try to get a movie
made, himself possibly staring as the Liberty Captain.
He not only failed. He was very explicitly warned by the powers
that
be: "Don't even mention this again. If you even try to go ahead with
this you
will never work in Hollywood again."
At the time of the first
Palestinian Intifada another famous
movie star, this one Jewish, was asked for his support regarding a
statement being published in the New
York Review of Books by
Jewish professionals -- most lawyers, doctors, professors -- supporting
the Palestinian
struggle against the Israeli occupation and calling for a suspension of
U.S. aid to Israel until the Israelis ended the occupation and stopped
preventing a Palestinian State. "I definitely support what you are
doing, but I can't
sign
it" Ed Asner said. He added softly, almost in hushed tones: "I'm a
coward, I'm very sorry...my agent would kill
me."
A few years before, in the aftermath of Israel's
invasion of
Lebanon and the early-on suicide bombings that drove the Americans out
of
Beirut, a very high-level extraordinary meeting was privately convened
near Capitol Hill in Washington. Brought
together for the first, and for the only time, were top representatives
of the
PLO, American Jewry, Congress, and academia. In retrospect
the
purpose was to find a way to head off what has now considerably
worsened and expanded
to become the "Clash of Civilizations". Mossad operatives
were soon
to visit some of the participants, in private, one by one, including
the high-level host of the meeting. And the warning was very
blunt: "Your welfare, your career, the future of you and your
family
are at stake. Hold no more such meetings."
Those who 'obeyed' were
rewarded; the host with a life-long appointment to a very senior
position in Washington. Those who did not comply were punished and
black-listed. Though some of the key participants very much wanted to
continue, no follow-up meetings ever took place.
In 'modern' times, crucifixtions take may forms these days
beyond the old Roman way of
nailing to the public cross for all to see and cower in excorciating blood and tears. Ironically, in
a world
of instant mass communications and incessant news spam, deciphering what
is
really happening may be more difficult now than then.
As for Mel Gibson he has
told a tale of Biblical proportions,
one that goes to the heart of Christian theology, and one which in fact
goes to the center of the Jewish predicament ever since those days of
the Sanhedrin and the history-changing Jewish schism that spread worldwide from
Jerusalem erupting into Christianity. Others
can interpret the scriptures, both old and new, in their own ways as they determine best and true --
fair enough. But to try to relentlessly crucify Gibson for trying to
tell the
story as he knows it, or just as he believes it, is in itself a kind of
intellectual and political blasphemy. Rather Gibson
should be thanked for standing his ground, making his movie, telling
his story, and making us all ponder and think and feel...whether Jew,
Christian,
Muslim, Buddhist, aethist...or just plain human.
MAB
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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ThePassionoftheChrist-1129941/
MER
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February 2004
Saudi 'Royal' Decrees Now Prepared by Neocon Washington
(February 29, 2004)
"Saudi charities are...no longer permitted to send money outside the country. The country has also banned the collection of cash in mosques and public places... The United States and Saudi Arabia have set up a joint counterterrorism task force in the Saudi capital, composed of law enforcement officials from various agencies in both countries."
U.S. Troops To Pakistan!
(February 29, 2004)
But Pakistan has never before faced such a situation and the 'intervention' of large numbers of uniform U.S. troops -- on top of the plain clothes special forces and CIA agents already operating in the country -- is sure to bring about counter-reactions of various kinds. This is now a sui generis historical situation for the Muslim country of Pakistan. Meanwhile, it appears the Bush Administration is so desperate to capture or kill Bin-Laden soon in order to enhance its electoral chances in November, it is willing to take this major risk with this crucial country and with General Musharraf personally.
U. N. RAPED
(February 27, 2004)
U.N. Raped
(February 27, 2004)
Now just what is the United Nations, representative of the world community, going to do about it? They failed to prevent it. They failed to undercover it. They failed to protect themselves and those who confided in them. Now are they also going to fail to do something real and serious about it?
Hollywood and Israel and "The Jews"
(February 25, 2004)
As for Mel Gibson he has told a tale of Biblical proportions, one that goes to the heart of Christian theology, and one which in fact goes to the core of the Jewish predicament ever since those days of the Sanhedrin and the history-changing Jewish schism that spread worldwide from Jerusalem erupting into Christianity. Others can interpret the scriptures, both old and new, in their own ways as they determine best and true -- fair enough. But to try to relentlessly crucify Gibson for trying to tell the story as he knows it, or rather as he believes it, is in itself a kind of intellectual and political blasphemy. Rather Gibson should be thanked for standing his ground, making his movie, telling his story, and making us all ponder and think and feel...whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, aethist...or just plain human.
Hollywood and "The Jews"
(February 25, 2004)
As for Mel Gibson he has told a tale of Biblical proportions, one that goes to the heart of Christian theology, and one which in fact goes to the core of the Jewish predicament ever since those days of the Sanhedrin and the history-changing Jewish schism that spread worldwide from Jerusalem erupting into Christianity. Others can interpret the scriptures, both old and new, in their own ways as they determine best and true -- fair enough. But to try to relentlessly crucify Gibson for trying to tell the story as he knows it, or rather as he believes it, is in itself a kind of intellectual and political blasphemy. Rather Gibson should be thanked for standing his ground, making his movie, telling his story, and making us all ponder and think and feel...whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, aethist...or just plain human.
(February 25, 2004)
As for Mel Gibson he has told a tale of Biblical proportions, one that goes to the heart of Christian theology, and one which in fact goes to the core of the Jewish predicament ever since those days of the Sanhedrin and the history-changing Jewish schism that spread worldwide from Jerusalem erupting into Christianity. Others can interpret the scriptures, both old and new, in their own ways as they determine best and true -- fair enough. But to try to relentlessly crucify Gibson for trying to tell the story as he knows it, or rather as he believes it, is in itself a kind of intellectual and political blasphemy. Rather Gibson should be thanked for standing his ground, making his movie, telling his story, and making us all ponder and think and feel...whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, aethist...or just plain human.
The Passion of Hollywood and "The Jews"
(February 25, 2004)
As for Mel Gibson he has told a tale of Biblical proportions, one that goes to the heart of Christian theology and the history-changing Jewish schism... Others can interpret the scriptures, both old and new, in their own ways as they determine best and true -- fair enough. But to try to relentlessly crucify Gibson for trying to tell the story as he knows it, or just as he believes it, is in itself a kind of intellectual and political blasphemy. Rather Gibson should be thanked for standing his ground, making his movie, telling his story, and making us all ponder and think and feel...whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, aethist...or just plain human.
"Dungeons" for Palestinians
(February 23, 2004)
The "Wall" is "helping turn Palestinian communities into dungeons, next to which the bantustans of South Africa look like symbols of freedom, sovereignty and self-determination... It is misleading to call these Israeli policies. They are American-Israeli policies — made possible by unremitting United States military, economic and diplomatic support of Israel... At most, the Hague hearings will end in an advisory ruling that the wall is illegal. It will change nothing."
Articles about how the Neocons Push the US to War in the Middle East
(February 20, 2004)
The Passion about 'The Passion' - Christ Reborn in 2004 on the Big Screen
(February 18, 2004)
The Passion about 'The Passion'
(February 18, 2004)
Modern Day Wall Around Jerusalem
(February 18, 2004)
Israel's Make Jerusalem Theirs, and Theirs Only
(February 18, 2004)
What the Israelis have done, and continue doing, to the city of Jerusalem all but guarantees the conflict with the Palestinians, with the Arabs, and with the Muslims, will not end for a very long time. This major story from Page 1 of the Washinton Post in February 2004.
Arab Americans Raise Money For BUSH Reelection
(February 17, 2004)
It will come as something of a shock to many; but it was just a few years ago that people like former Congressman Paul Findley were on the Bush campaign trail rounding up as many Arabs and Muslims as they could deceive.
Bush Commission - Coverup and Whitewash
(February 8, 2004)
Bush Commission is both not so hard to see Whitewash and Coverup -- but don't expect the corporate media or the on-board Washington press to fess up.
Outrage! Both Powell and Tenet should resign!
(February 5, 2004)
Let's talk straight about this. One year ago today Secretary of State Colin Powell, literally backed by CIA Director George Tenet, went before the Security Council of the United Nations and grossly distorted, propagandized, and lied. Because of this, whether purposeful or though far-fetched even if by 'mistake', both Powell and Tenet should no longer be public officials representing the United States and the Security Council should take action to protect it's own integrity.
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