{"id":29865,"date":"2011-07-11T07:50:51","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T07:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=29865"},"modified":"2011-07-14T06:32:39","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T06:32:39","slug":"flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospects-of-a-%e2%80%98civil-society%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=29865","title":{"rendered":"Flotilla, Flytilla and the Prospects of a \u2018Civil Society\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Gilad Atzmon \u2013 gilad.co.uk July 10, 2011<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It might be argued that the passing week was not very easy on the Palestinian solidarity movement:\u00a0 firstly, an international peaceful flotilla aiming to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza did not manage to leave Greek ports. The Greek government had surrendered submissively to Israeli pressure and American Jewish organisations, and blocked the naval enterprise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Secondly, an international attempt to fly hundreds of activists from all over the world to the West Bank also partially failed, as the Israeli Government had managed to mount just enough pressure to make sure that the project fell apart before it became airborne.<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilad.co.uk\/writings\/gilad-atzmon-flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospect-of-civil-soc.html#_ftn1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">[1]<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Though it may seem as if the Palestinian solidarity movement suffered a blow, it is actually Israel that was harshly beaten here, for Israel has managed to expose its level of hysteria: it seems that eight old yachts and a few hundred Easyjet passengers have managed to shake the entire Israeli society.\u00a0 Now try to imagine the potential impact of hundred of thousands of\u00a0 Palestinian refugees marching to their\u00a0 homes\u00a0 in Jaffa , Acre Lod , Ramle, Haifa, Beer Shiva and\u00a0 Al Quds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">I guess that the picture is clearer than ever\u2014Israel doesn\u2019t stand a chance. Its fate is doomed. It is just a question of time. It is not a matter of \u2018if\u2019 but a question of \u2018when\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">But the truth of the matter goes slightly deeper. Both the Flotilla and the Flytilla are exemplary cases of \u2018civil society campaigns\u2019\u2014 they were intended to mobilise international public support using peaceful and democratic means.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Both campaigns were not aimed to harm Israel\u2019s security in any way; rather, they were there to draw the world\u2019s attention to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. Their immediate goal i.e. reaching Palestine,\u00a0 was not fulfilled, but their mission is still a clear and significant victory because it proves once again what Israel is all about: the Jewish State is a closed society, a morbid collective driven by \u2018<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.informationclearinghouse.info\/article15015.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u00a0(fuelled by vivid imaginary fantasies of destruction).\u00a0 Most importantly, the Israeli government\u2019s desperate measures against the peaceful Flytilla proved to the world that the West Bank is also under siege, and Palestine is closed to visitors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The leaders of the two \u2018civil society campaigns\u2019 had done their homework: they had planned it all for months, orchestrating and coordinating an airlift of different international groups. They had raised the funds, and they operated as you would expect \u2018civil society campaigners\u2019 to operate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">But they had failed to see one thing. They did not grasp the most obvious fact about the Jewish State and its supportive powers around the world.\u00a0 As much as they wanted to put into action the most civilised peaceful strategy, they may have failed to grasp that the Jewish State is not a civilised place, and it is also totally foreign to the notion of civilisation.\u00a0 Once again the Israeli Government provided its critics around the world with a clear lesson about the unique traits of the Jewish State.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Israel vs. Civilisation<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The word \u2018civilisation\u2019 comes originally from the Latin word\u00a0<em>civilis<\/em>, related to the Latin words\u00a0<em>civis<\/em>, meaning citizen, and\u00a0<em>civitas<\/em>, meaning city or city-state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018Civilisation\u2019, then, is traditionally grasped as a society that acknowledges and respects notions of\u00a0 \u2018civil law\u2019 and \u2018citizenship\u2019. Israel is not such a society unfortunately. Most of the people whose homes are on Israeli-controlled land lack basic civil rights just for failing to be Jewish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It is possible that Israel\u2019s deficiency in that regard is rooted in orthodox Judaism&#8217;s defiance of the notions of \u2018civil law\u2019 and civilisation. For Rabbinical Judaism, it is the Halacha law that strictly sets the legal rights and duties of the Jew<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilad.co.uk\/writings\/gilad-atzmon-flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospect-of-civil-soc.html#_ftn2\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">[2]<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Interestingly enough, early Zionism was an attempt to remedy the situation. It promised to \u2018civilise Jewish life\u2019.\u00a0 It vowed to erect a Jewish society that respected principles of citizenship and secular civil law. But Zionism was doomed to fail. Already, at its moment of inception, the Jewish State preferred to ethnically cleanse the vast majority of the Palestinian population instead of exercising the theoretical possibility of \u2018Jewish civilisation.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Israeli-children-write-messageson-artillary-shells-to-be-fired-into-Gaza.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29869\" title=\"Israeli children write messages on artillary shells to be fired into Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Click to enlarge\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Israeli-children-write-messageson-artillary-shells-to-be-fired-into-Gaza-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Israeli-children-write-messageson-artillary-shells-to-be-fired-into-Gaza-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Israeli-children-write-messageson-artillary-shells-to-be-fired-into-Gaza.jpg 507w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The truth of the matter is that the Jewish state has battled with\u00a0<em>Halacha<\/em>\u00a0laws since its moment of birth. On the one hand secular Israelis, Hasbara agents and Zionists disseminate the deceptive image of a Jewish \u2018democratic\u2019, \u2018civilised and open society\u2019 but on the other hand, the religious institutions in Israel challenge that fictitious deceptive\u00a0\u00a0 agenda: they clearly argue that if Israel defines itself as the \u2018Jewish State\u2019, it should give Jewishness some real meaning. They are basically referring to\u00a0<em>Halacha<\/em>\u00a0laws<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The outcome of this struggle is clear: by now, Israel has very little respect for the notion of \u2018civilisation\u2019 or \u2018civil law\u2019.\u00a0 At the most, it mimics some liberal Western symptoms. The Arab MK<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/mWoyAyr78o0\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Azmi Bishara<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u00a0<\/span>who suggested a few years ago that Israel should become a state of all its citizens ( i.e. a civilisation ), had to run away for his life, and has lived in exile ever since. It is not a secret that Israeli Arabs (Palestinians with Israeli citizenship) are second class citizens, and the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank lack any meaningful civil status. They are dwelling in open air prisons. They are subject to Israeli brutality and different forms of racially discriminative laws. Not only that, foreign labour communities in Israel are also totally marginalised, living a life of complete insecurity, with few rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The obvious question here then, is whether &#8216;civil society action&#8217;, as we have seen in recent weeks from international solidarity activists, can have any effect at all on a society that so clearly defies the notions of \u2018civil law \u2018and \u2018civilisation\u2019?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Jewish Diaspora and Civilisation<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Israel itself is obviously just part of the problem: the Jewish State is supported by some relentless Jewish Lobbies all over the world.\u00a0 These lobbies do manage to push Western governments and political institutions into some very dark corners.\u00a0 In Britain, for instance,\u00a0Sheikh Raed Salah, AKA the \u2018Gandhi of Palestine\u2019 has been detained for more than a week following the shameful British Government surrender to right-wing Jewish Lobby pressure. \u00a0Also, the Israeli press was proud to report recently about the incentives offered by Jewish organisations to the struggling Greek government ahead of the Flotilla.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Israeli Government and its supporting lobbies gathered a while back that it is much cheaper to buy a Western politician than it is to buy a tank.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">So, the moral for the rest of us should be clear: though Israel itself defies the notion of civilisation, the above incidents prove that its lobbies around the world still manage to interfere with our respective nations&#8217; civilisations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Civil Society Action Vs. The Non Civilised<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Palestinian Solidarity leaders will have to draw the necessary lessons from the recent events. Civil Society Campaigns do indeed mobilise public support around the world and this is indeed very important. However, such campaigns may be just too weak to bring about a change of consciousness in Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In order to defeat Israel and Zionism, we must first admit to ourselves what Israel is all about: we are combating a unique, racially oriented, expansionist tribal project that has no precedent in history, and this project exceeds beyond its natural geographical boundaries. Israel is not just a territorial quest; it is actually an ideology, and its modus operandi is driven by radical forms of racial supremacy (Jewish chosen-ness). But we should \u00a0also acknowledge that the Jewish State is not alone: it is supported institutionally by world Jewry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">If we care about Palestine, world peace and the state of our world in general, our task is to stand up openly and identify the kinds of ideology, politics and culture that serve the Jewish State and its interests, both globally and locally.\u00a0 We do not necessarily have to travel to Palestine to combat the Israeli soldiers: it may be better to locate its mercenaries around us, in our media, political institutions, think tanks, academia and economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">These people and organisations actually interfere with our civilisation, with our most sacred Western values of ethics, pluralism, harmony and tolerance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilad.co.uk\/writings\/gilad-atzmon-flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospect-of-civil-soc.html#_ftnref1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[1]<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u00a0Those activists that did make it to Israel were very quickly detained and given deportation orders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilad.co.uk\/writings\/gilad-atzmon-flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospect-of-civil-soc.html#_ftnref2\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[2]<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u00a0It may be argued that Islam also defies the notion of Civil Law. However, unlike Judaism, Islam is a universal precept. It \u00a0clearly defined respectful measures and approaches towards ethnic and religious minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilad.co.uk\/writings\/gilad-atzmon-flotilla-flytilla-and-the-prospect-of-civil-soc.html\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If nothing else Israeli actions have proved to the world that the West Bank is also under siege, and Palestine is closed to visitors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs","category-Israel_Anti-Semitism_Zionism_and_US-UK_allies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29865"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30092,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29865\/revisions\/30092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}