Honesty and peace, they go hand in hand. And without one...

For the past eight years Bush has used the "Blame the Beaten Wife" argument against Palestinians, so his implementation of it again in his radio address today isn't surprising. Likewise, maybe this part of is speech isn't surprising, either, but I think it's worthy of closer inspection:

He expressed concern about the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, but again blamed this on Hamas.

"By spending its resources on rocket launchers instead of roads and schools, Hamas has demonstrated that it has no intention of serving the Palestinian people," Bush said.

The assumption here is that the Palestinian people are free to live their lives how they wish and build a society. You have to be pretty ignorant of history to believe this, but Bush is talking to Americans here... So we have a lot of people who believe this.

I could whip out the traditions arguments against Bush's assertion: Israel's economic blockade of the Occupied Territories: controlling how much water and electricity they do (and don't receive), continually taking their land, building walls around their society that separate the territories from the rest of the world, etc. And all of that is important, but first we need a visual representation of oppression.



Here's a colored map of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where most Palestinians live. The dark green spots show the parts of the territories which are nominally under the control of Palestinians. As you can tell, the areas that Palestinians "control" in their own territory is startlingly fragmented -- how could anyone even claim that Palestinians are free to build their own society when they are given so little land build upon?

And where it's not dark green? Could be an Israeli-only highway, could be Israeli settlers who are surrounded by the IDF for protection. Last July, a Guardian reporter went to a West Bank town (which I would surmise to not be in a dark green zone) and made a must-see audio slideshow of how differently Palestinians and Israeli settlers are treated there. The slideshow gives you a personal view of all the traditional arguments: land and water control, electricity, checkpoints, etc. Is this the Palestinian freedom that Bush speaks of? Is he kidding?

As for the dark green spots, some will point out that all of Gaza is dark green because Israel moved all of its settlers out of there. So they're free, right? I think the past couple of weeks have given us an answer to that question -- an indisputable fact that only a stubborn idiot would protest against.

Which brings us back to Bush.

One wonders what Bush's motivations are. With less than 20 days left in office, does he have any motivation left? Does he actually believe what his speech writers tell him to say even though it can easily be debunked by a blogger with half an hour to kill? Is Bush actually that stupid? Or is Israel holding a gun to Bush's head, telling him that they'll spend billions on arms from Russia instead of us if he doesn't pimp their public relations points about how war against Palestinians is an awesome thing? Though interesting to ponder, we won't know the answer for quite a while (if ever, depending on how many documents the Bush administration shreds on its way out the door).

What is important to note is that, whether or not Bush knows he's lying, he's not helping. By arguing that Palestinians are free and choose to be terrorists, Bush does not honestly assess the dire situation the Palestinians live under every day. How can a peace process even begin when one side isn't represented honestly?

Thus, the cycle of violence continues. Thanks Bush. Please be sure to fuck the hell off on your way out, you warmongering fucking asshole.

Placing the latest Israel/Gaza violence into perspective...

Robert Fisk (h/t mattthebastard):

Ever since 1948, we've been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis -- just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist "death wagon" will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be "liberated." And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise "restraint" -- as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery. Hamas's home-made rockets have killed just 20 Israelis in eight years, but a day-long blitz by Israeli aircraft that kills almost 300 Palestinians is just par for the course.

Amnesty International:

This is the highest level of Palestinian fatalities and casualties in four decades of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The escalation of violence comes at a time when the civilian population already faces a daily struggle for survival due to the Israeli blockade which has prevented even food and medicines from entering Gaza.

So this latest Israeli hissy fit bout of violence may be unprecedented (since 1948, at least). And speaking of the Israelis blockading aid, the Guardian reports...

Israel accused of ramming Gaza aid ship

The Free Gaza Movement said its vessel, the Dignity, was intercepted by several Israeli vessels as it was heading to the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli aerial bombardment since Saturday.

One gunboat rammed the Dignity on the port bow side, causing heavy damage, although no one was hurt, the group said.

"[The Dignity] is taking on water and appears to have engine problems," the movement said on its website. "When attacked, the Dignity was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza.

As for the origins of this current crisis, it's tough to know where to begin... But, as OpenLeft points out, some blame should be given to the Bush administration since it was them who helped bring Hamas into power (ironically enough):

Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war. The plan was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America's behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically elected Hamas-led government from power. (The State Department declined to comment.)

But the secret plan backfired, resulting in a further setback for American foreign policy under Bush. Instead of driving its enemies out of power, the U.S.-backed Fatah fighters inadvertently provoked Hamas to seize total control of Gaza.

But, as we all know, the real question is how many anti-Arab, pro-death trolls will this post rake in? Fuck talking about reality! Meanwhile, the bodycount mounts... And Arab leaders still don't know what the hell to do. (Well, except for the Egyptians, who seem content with shooting at Gazans at the border and not opening up their hospitals to them. Classy.) But to be fair, Bush doesn't know what to do either -- he won't even cut his vacation short because of the crisis. Which is also classy.