JOHNSTONE

What would it look like to be on the wrong side of history? If there were a mass atrocity taking place presently which history will end up judging harshly in the future, and you were supporting the wrong side of it, what signs might you expect to see that that's the case?

Well, I imagine you'd probably be seeing terrible news about what's happening coming out every day that under normal circumstances would cause you to cry out in horror, but then you'd be getting a bunch of words and stories from your side explaining why those self-evidently terrible things are actually not what they appear to be.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Biden could end this with one phone call. With. One. Phone call. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or ignorant. This mass slaughter is happening because Washington wants it to happen.

When Israel completely cut off Gaza's communications last month, Washington called and ordered them to restore it, and connections were immediately restored. It's always been this way; in 1982 Israel's assault on Lebanon was halted with a phone call from President Reagan.

They can end this assault just as easily. Don't let the White House frame itself as a passive witness to this butchery.

Reading by Tim Foley.

You can't both-sides everything. You can't live your life that way.

Yes it's possible to see both sides of every contentious issue. You're supposed to be able to do that; it's a sign of intellectual maturity. If you can't see both sides of an issue your relationship with abstract concepts is too rigid, and you're probably lacking in empathy. It's just a basic part of growing up to learn how to stand in other people's shoes and see where they're coming from.

But just because you can see both sides doesn't mean you should live your life as though they're both equally true, or as though they both have equal merit. If you want to have a truth-based relationship with reality it's not enough to see both sides; you've got to grapple with it and figure out which side is more truthful, which side has more merit. You're neglecting a whole dimensionality of understanding if you just leave it at "well I can see both sides so I have no responsibility to pick one".

Reading by Tim Foley.

It's not just the Israeli state that has proven it needs to be dismantled, it's the entire US-centralized western empire. The whole giant power structure has got to go.

Reading by Tim Foley.

It's the most 2020s thing in the world that there's an active genocide currently underway and it's the people who oppose it who are being called Nazis.

Reading by Tim Foley.

So we keep our gaze fixed on Gaza. No matter how much it hurts. No matter how horrifying it gets. No matter how much we cry. No matter how often we slump over and feel like we can't do it anymore. We keep our gaze fixed on Gaza. Because what else can we do? Nothing else feels right. Nothing else feels responsible.

Reading by Caitlin Johnstone.

1. That Israel had no idea what Hamas was up to prior to October 7, but ever since October 7 has known about every hospital, mosque, school, refugee camp and water tower that Hamas is hiding in.

2. That the blame for all of the deaths caused by Israeli weapons launched by Israel rests solely on Hamas.

3. That Hamas is using "human shields" - meaning Hamas bases are hidden amidst civilian populations - yet Israel is managing to kill thousands of civilians without doing any meaningful damage to Hamas.

In a bizarre new article titled "White House frustrated by Israel's onslaught but sees few options," The Washington Post reports that the Biden administration believes Israel has gone too far and is killing too many civilians in its assault on Gaza, but are powerless to do anything about it.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Because the western empire has been raining military explosives upon the middle east continuously for many years now, westerners have become desensitized to news reports about bombings happening there. If you tell a westerner "There's been a bombing!" with anguish in your voice, they'll immediately assume you're talking about a terrorist attack in New York or London or Paris, not in the middle east. Westerners tend to regard bombings in the middle east as simply the normal state of affairs, as though bombs falling from the sky is just what the weather is like over there.

Reading by Tim Foley.

They're dropping bombs on a concentration camp full of children. THEY'RE DROPPING BOMBS ON A CONCENTRATION CAMP FULL OF CHILDREN. 

Not in the past. Right now. They're still doing it. They show no signs of stopping. 

No part of opposing this should be remotely controversial.

Reading by Tim Foley.