For the comedic pundits, TV personalities and jokes about the Middle East, Palestine-Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, afghanistan, etc are as follow:
Pundits view of the Middle East: Comical edition
1. Security first for Israel, U.S., and West, war and destruction for people of the Middle East, Africa & Asia with vitual resources.
2. Israel first it matters Palestinians do not, fight terrorism over there ignore the destruction
of Mesopatamia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iraqis resisting U.S. occupation are "fundamentalists and terrorists."
3. Zionism is understandable & its history similiar to Europe/U.S. particularly the rise of nationalism,
but most importantly it is a secular movement
4. God is a real estate agent for Israel, the Bible has become the land deed for the Israelis (including illegal settlers in occupied Palestinian territories)
& His word is above International Law, Palestinians & authors on Middle East conflict and war
5. Islamism is crazy, uber religious, fanatical, irrational & appeared from the desert out of nowhere.
It has no history, leaders or reasons for its birth and growth. Only Zionism merits understanding.
Beyond laughter: Real geopolitics and reality
Many American & pro-Israeli organizations and people such as AIPAC & famous neo-conservatives Alan Deroshowitz & Daniel Pipes among them, belief aggressive U.S. Foreign Policy
is necessary for Western Security & Iraqi Democracy at all costs. They often ignore Israeli peacemakers and activists, offering literal interpretation of
revalation to explain Palestine-Israel, via Pat Robertson & John Hagee, two renown conservative pastors whose sermons have been broadcast on American TV for over 40 years.
Robertson's 700 club has been on air since 1966. With mainstream media not attempting to challenge the rightwing pundits, neoconservative authors, religous figures and authors,
misinformation about the Arab World beginning in earliest days of colonialism (Read Edward Said's Orientalism, A Peace to End all Peace), Zionism, colonialism's consequences
limited historical background & textbook & religous explanations of what has happened and continues to happened in Israel & Palestine has allowed ordinary Americans,
Israelis & Europeans to support right wing Zionists, aid illegal Israeli settlements built in occupied East Jerusalem & West Bank, shun human rights for Palestinians & Iraqis
or help Congress, Parliament & numerous corporations/businesses to sustain Israel's 41 year occupation of 22% of remaining historical Palestine, Lebanon's Sheba Farms &
Syria's Golan Heights and United States continual 6 year occupation of Iraq.
Zionism that we spoke of today concerning Israel, Israelis and Jewish life since establishment
of Israel in 1948 on top of Palestine is Political Zionism & its movement then and now. Another form of Zionism not known to most people is
cultural Zionism founded by Martin Buber. Cultural Zionism opposed creating a Jewish State in Historical Palestine, acknowledged Palestine as a homeland of
Palestinians while also noting the Palestinians were indigenous people to land and promoted a binational state in a wider Arab federation of Middle East.
Among the prominent followers of cultural Zionism was Ben Elizer Yehuda who helped to revive the Hebrew language as a modern and national language.
Unfortunately for Palestinians, Jews & Arab World and larger world Cultural Zionism did not have the same large following as
Political Zionism by the time of Balfour Declaration.
Cultural Zionism
A colonizing Project built on lies. Author M Shahid challenges the Zionist mythology of Palestine as "a land without a people fit for a people without a land,"
examining European nationalism & racism in Jewish life as centuries of anti-semetism spilled over into violent and horrifying pogroms toward Europe's largest Jewish community in Eastern Europe.
Until 1933 with the rise & violence of Nazism and Fascism, 60% of World's Jews lived in Europe, (remaining 40% lived in Africa, Asia & Americas) were Europeans, followed Ashkenazi Judaism, spoke Yiddish, Polish and other languages of their home countries
(Hebrew was considered a dead language before Ben Yudah Elizer encouraged its revival in early 1900s and was soley used to read Talmud,
Torah and in religious ceremonies) & only had few families in Palestine. Most Jews at the time were not Zionists nor readily embraced Zionism when it first emerged in late 1890s.
Reel Bad Arabs: A telling documentary that exposes the history of stereotypes of Arab people and vilification of the Arab World and culture from colonialism to today in popular culture, Hollywood and mainstream media.
It examines the role of how foreign policy and current events also play around in creating the "Arab oriental others." Produced and narrated by the renown Media critic and Professor Jack Shaheen.
This segment of the documentary looks at reality of Palestinians living under occupation while examining & challenging the stereotype of "all Palestinians are terrorists."
