THE MASA MOVEMENT

The confusion and anxieties still thrive. There is an air of unease throughout. The relationship between the United States and the State of Israel is clouded in an atmosphere of frustration. The ongoing situation in Ukraine still smoulders without any end in sight. The sad display of pour Volodymyr Zelenskyy having to do a photo op with Donald Trump because the election is still to be decided, was disheartening. When asked about the relationship between Netanyahu and the Biden/Harris administration, the Vice President rephrased the question and said that the American People still support and back the Israeli people. She did not comment on whether or not the United States Government has any influence or sway over decisions taken by the Israeli Prime Minister and his government. Her avoidance of the question spoke volumes. The situation in the Sudan grows more horrific by the day and seemingly avoids being headline news over the events in the middle east.

 

On top of all the above, the United Kingdom’s new Labour Government is having difficulties finding its feet and making a favourable impression on the British public. The economics are such that the Chancellor is floundering to find a pathway towards the goals set out during the election campaign. The boast of hitting the ground running has faltered owing, in part, to the state of treasury’s books of account, and the unfortunate titbits and freebies lavished on some of the incoming ministers who ought to have known better. The Prime Minister is having difficulties endearing himself to the populous, as are many of his cabinet. His initial inside team has had to go through some rather unfortunate scrutiny and changes which do not inspire confidence, and indeed, has exposed the whole of the government to comment on many platforms. Not a good look or start.

 

There is of course the heating up of the election on the 5^th November 2024 in the United States, which is hovering over just about everything. For some obscure reason it is still touch and go as to whether the American electorate will elect an unprincipled charlatan or a relatively normal human being to be their Chief Executive.

 

I have seen a variety of views expressed on various outlets in support of Mr Trump, from the poorly educated diehard maga supporters, so beloved by Donald Trump, to other, supposedly more educated, followers. These overly patriotic and bewildered people who have swallowed the fear of immigrants’ rhetoric and the notion that Mr Trump actually has an economic policy, but who mostly put America First. They firmly believe that Trump loves America above all else and that he will put their interests first and foremost. For some reason they do not see through the sham, nor do they recognise the narcissism or conceit, but sincerely believe that he is their saviour.

 

The BBC presented its Question Time Program from the United States and there was a woman who spoke up and one could see that she was visibly shaken by the worry that Mr Trump would not be elected. She could not see, nor even contemplate, that the factual catalogue of his lies and deceit, or the fact of his being a convicted felon, might change her view. The simple slogan of making America great again was what drove her to distraction. The notion of America First was all consuming. That any woman can be blind to his misogyny and the finding by a court that he is a sexual predator is astounding. His apologists are apparently legion and many of them, young women who have some degree of higher education. That alone is an astounding feature of the current electorate of the United States. Not only are they blind to his character but are also more than willing to support and promote his lies.   

 

In the face of the mounting evidence of his past and clearly criminal activity, as well as the continuing daily visuals of his duplicity and lies, it is a mystery that any elected congressperson of senator would show him any kind of support; and yet they do. Time and again I hear, and find myself asking, why is the decision such a close call? Of the two candidates, which is the felon?  In the United States (except for Vermont and Maine) convicted felons lose their right to vote until after sentence or parole is completed, when it can be restored. Trump is a convicted felon who has not yet been sentenced so for all intent and purposes he has no vote. How is it he can even be on the ballot? So again, why is the decision so difficult?  How can nearly half the population of the United States even contemplate Trump as a President?

 

The tragedy is that the outcome of this election has great implications for the rest of the world. Who is president of the United States matters a great deal, particularly so far as continued support for Ukraine, the continuing premiership of Mr Netanyahu, possible restraints or laissez faire for Mr Putin, and any number of other areas in the world upon which the United States Government might have some influence.

 

In a sense, it is rather like the conservative party’s membership of 150k electing a leader who may be prime minister in a country of 68 million citizens. Given the election of Liz Truss, it is not a very satisfactory approach to leadership. There are 8.2 billion people in the world and only 346 million on the United States. Of that there are some 162 million citizens registered to vote. Effectively less than 1% of the world’s population have an influential say in what happens next.

 

Will the 5^th November 2024 be an auspicious day of reckoning? Will our anxieties be laid to rest? I do not know if the world will be any safer if Kamala Harris is elected President, but there will be a humanitarian presence in the White House. It is as much as one can hope for in the present climate. The chaos of a Trump administration raises anxiety levels we have yet to contemplate. I may be entirely wrong and a Trump Presidency may be without any dramatic incident. It may pass over without any appreciable difference to the rest of the world. Anxiety levels may remain the same.  He might even make good on his one phone call and stop the violence across the world. We might even be living in fantasy land.

 

What happens next is however very much in our minds. Yes there are problems of democracy in every country across the globe. The European Union is in somewhat of a state of flux. The United Kingdom, whether it realises it or not, has yet to sort out what kind of relationship it wants to have with the European Union and just how it can get back in. Yes there is strength in Union, economically and in terms of security. Middle Europe and the Middle East are on fire. The far east is equally in some turmoil and indecision, and going through economic pangs. Will some form of stability in the Americas over the next four years, perhaps even eight, make a difference to the rest of us? I have no idea, but I do know who I’d rather rely on at the moment. It’s the MASA movement – Make America Sane Again.

PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE 2

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh in respect of the ongoing situation in the middle east, but the attempts at reconciliation and movement towards a peaceful and fruitful co-existence in the area has not been helped by the general treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli authorities. Division and suspicion bread nothing but division and suspicion. The problem has persisted my entire lifetime and I was born in 1942. Is it not about time that vendetta and vengeance be set aside?

 

There is a very good point of view from Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/04/israel-israelis-gaza-war-7-october-anniversary

 

Nonetheless, the question “who started it?” is no longer relevant. It should not matter anymore, and the grownups must step up and out of the playground mentality that seems to pervade any talks leading to settlement and compromise. An accommodation must be found. What is so difficult to understand? So long as the posturing and blaming carry on, so long will all the people of the middle east continue to suffer. Leadership requires rational intelligent thought, with a view to the future. Why must I continue to put myself in other people’s shoes to see a point of view. I can see and sympathise with people’s suffering from demolition, disease and death. I do not want to watch this anymore.  It has surely gone on long enough.

 

I have taken a view on the insanity which may not be to everyone’s liking; however, the current arms rattling and bristling between the Israelis and the Iranians is endangering the entire world, now so full of governments that see nationalism and populism as the preeminent form of coping with domestic as well as international affairs. Repression and control under the guise of maintaining order in society, is still repression and control. So long as the likes of Netanyahu puff out their chest, there will never be closure. His position is to remain in control, that’s it, and so long as military action persists, he will exploit it.  Do not be fooled by his posturing as protector of the people. He is merely protecting himself. His trial on corruption charges is still ongoing. It hovers in the background and he will do anything to make it fade into the distance. He is not to be trusted.

 

That is not an anti-Israeli point of view. It is merely what the images and reporting from the region indicate is the case. I know ordinary Israelis as well as ordinary Palestinians are desperate for peace. Their so called protectors are the problem. They have become entrenched in their religious and fanatical enmity and are blinded and made dumb. The irony is that the same God hovers over them and permits the slaughter to continue.

FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE

I have been listening to various interviews with pundits, Israeli diplomats and spokespersons for the Israeli Government. Their impassioned plea is to try and impress people with the righteousness of their cause in protecting the Israeli people from the aggression and attacks coming out of Gaza, the Lebanon and Iran. They have been prosecuting aggressive defence since the disastrous attack of October 7^th last year by Hamas. Most western countries have acknowledged, through their leaders, that Israel is entitled to defend itself.

 

In the course of that defence they have acted with particularly brutal force without any concern, despite their claims, for those innocents who may be killed or injured in the process of protecting the Israeli people. They have lost sight of their humanity. Why do I say this?

 

Consider for a moment the events of the exploding pagers and mobile phones. The planning and execution of the, so called, security operation, must have taken months if not years to put into effect. Developing the pagers and phones, implanting the explosives, ensuring that they were purchased by the appropriate people, ensuring that they were distributed to the appropriate people and whatever else it might have taken to get the items into the appropriate hands. That involves careful and long term planning - let alone keeping it secret – for the sole purpose of causing death and injury. They did not care whether any innocents might be in possession of these death traps as they set them off without warning or care. It did not matter to them who might be killed or injured. If they did have a passing worry about the side effects, they clearly dismissed those thought in favour of protecting the Israeli people.  There can be no doubt about the intent of the exercise, kill and maim. Again, to put that intent into action must have taken some considerable time.

 

We also have the claim that the Israeli Defence Force have taken as much precaution as possible to ensure that civilians and innocentS are not injured by their actions, by warning them to move out of harm’s way, and indeed may have escorted some to move. Really, that’s a humane army in action? Please move out of the way so I can reduce your home and environment to rubble, thereby reducing you to homelessness, poverty and starvation, but you’ll be out of harm’s way. This is what is going on in Lebanon right now and has been going on in Gaza.

 

It is claimed all this is being done with the intention of fighting off  long-time aggressors for the protection of the Israeli people. The Iranians have now launched an aggressive strike on Israel provoking an almost gleeful response “They will pay the price”. The gung ho attitude is thick on the ground. You can be sure that whatever response is made, it will have been planned long ago in the bunkers of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, because that appears to be the only go to response of the Israeli government. They have for so long been playing the professional victim, that any victims who get in their way do not count. That is the poisonous persona that has for so long occupied their minds that they are way past protecting the people, but leading them further into yet more violence and retribution.  They know nothing else but to cry out for vengeance.

 

This is an attitude that seems to pervade the middle east. We are a continent of victims and there appears to be no let up from that position. When will they make an end?

 

If as much time, as has been spent on devising more devious methods of destruction, had been spent on planning peace and trade agreements then perhaps there might have been a very different picture. Frankly, the United States and Europe, long supporters of Israel, no longer know where to put themselves They are embarrassed at having to defend this out of control defence of a country that seems intent on dragging the world into its poisonous orbit, allegedly for the protection of the people. I am not suggesting that the terrorist aggressors are blameless in this endeavour, but the fault, in my view, rests now with people who really ought to know better, but are too blinded by vendetta and vengeance. For God’s sake end the cycle. Just stop the killing, it might just work.