Paul J. Balles considers the mentality of Israelis who openly rejoiced at the death of nine Palestinian kindergarten children and one adult in a bus accident in February.
About Paul J. Balles
Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. He’s a weekly Op-Ed columnist for the Gulf Daily News. Dr. Balles is also Editorial Consultant for Red House Marketing and a regular contributor to Bahrain This Month.Author Archive | Paul J. Balles
Israel, Palestine, Racism, Zionism Iran, Israel, Opinion, Palestine, United States
America on Israel’s Altar
The Republican candidates, except Ron Paul, all go overboard in their attempts to prove to the supporters in America that they will serve the interests of Israel at any cost.
An America that’s never wrong
If it’s difficult to convince most Americans that they are guided by undeserved arrogance, those who know it seem undisturbed by it. When the political elite assume they are superior to others, and when the media elite behave as if America is better than others, they flaunt a dangerously endemic model of arrogant behaviour.
The Bouncer Justification To Beat The Customer To Death
America knows that Iran does not have nuclear weapons; but the bouncers want to destroy all of Iran’s nuclear facilities so that no weapons will ever be made.
Israeli Lobby: US Political and Media Twisters
Those who twist the truth or distort facts–politicians, propagandists, snake-oil salesmen and major media outlets – are expert twisters. Distorters have a cause to serve. Media has their owners and readers or viewers to satisfy. Rupert Murdoch outlets, like Fox News and News Corp pander to Murdoch’s interests.
Dreams of Democracy
It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.
Terrorists Fight Terrorism
Zioncons including William Kristol, Martin Peretz, Richard Perle, Daniel Pipes, Norman Podhoretz and Robert Kagan use terrorism as key to arousing fear.
Still under wraps
At times I feel like the bearded old man going nuts over the passing ship missing the point… If going nuts as the ship passes helps, three rescues show promise.
Suppressing the truth
Issues that should concern everyone, but especially in America, have been subverted, degraded, perverted, retracted, eradicated, expunged, obscured, obliterated, squashed or zapped!
In America: Heckling Israeli ambassador is a crime, heckling President Obama is freedom of speech
In America, you can shout “you lie!” at President Barack Obama, no one will touch you. But disrupting a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, you are criminal and will be prosecuted in U.S. courts.
Countering slurs
Very few films or TV programmes portray Arabs in a favourable light. Those that do need to counter the negative images reflected in the bigotry of a century in Hollywood. The road to deserved improvement of the Arab image in the west will be paved with films that portray Arabs as they really are.
Two different worlds: 9/11 internet coverage vs. mainstream media
The contrast between the coverage of the 9/11 attacks by the mainstream media and by the truth seekers on the internet.
House of Horrors: America ten years after 9/11
Assassinations, kidnappings, torture–the actions of uncivilized pirates, barbaric criminals and rogue governments. The entire litany of vicious crimes against humanity, fitting for horrid, inhuman terrorist groups or third world mongrels, now belongs to America.
9/11: A conspiracy beyond theory
What really happened on 9/11 still hasn’t filtered through the minds of enough of the public. They still believe that Bin Laden was responsible and that the hijackers were Saudis who suddenly came out of a genie bottle as well-trained test pilots.
From Arab Spring to jobless summers
Few young people consider what effect their protests will have. Little heed gets paid by these youthful protesters to the cost of their revolutionary zeal. They blithely ignore the disaster their activities have caused to their national economies.
Rupert Murdoch: Intellectual terrorism
The news itself controlled the governments and may well have written the scripts to the wars, the rigged elections, the acts of terror and the misdirection that sent America after terror groups that never existed.
Israeli thugs – organized criminals
Paul J. Balles compares Israel to a thug who knows he has protection and asks: “How long can Israel’s thugs keep getting away with the travesty of justice that’s no better than organized crime in America?”
US Independence Day reflections
Paul J. Balles reflects on the US Independence Day and asks: if, as the American Declaration of Independence says, “all men are created equal”, then why do Americans act as if that fundamental principle applies only to citizens of the USA?
Islamophobia on the rise in USA
Paul J. Balles argues that Islamophobia is growing and spreading prejudice against Muslims in the US, a fact that is underlined by a recent report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has collected and relayed the facts and identified both vilifiers and supporters of Islam and Muslims.
Changing cultures
Different cultures think differently. If you believe that doesn’t matter, try crossing a road in England or Australia if you come from America or the Middle East.
You’ll be looking left when you should be looking right as you begin to cross. If you automatically look in the wrong direction, you’ll be lucky not to get run over.
Shifting focus
Harris and his cronies at the AJC have been working the same charade for years: when the rest of the world focuses on Israeli intransigence, Harris shifts attention to Egypt or Libya or Iran.
When Palestinians are starving or being murdered in Gaza, Harris writes about Hamas or Hezbollah as terrorist clients of Iran.
Israel, right or wrong
Paul J. Balles explains why Zionist scaremongering and distorting of history, as manifested in the writing of Israel apologists such as the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen, only increases fear by Jews and disdain by others.
Scapegoats and witch hunts
King apparently decided that Islam is to be the scapegoat for America’s ills; and he is now on a witch hunt for Muslims to burn. King’s anti-Islamic bias discredits him as a bigot.
What next?
What are we going to do?
Who’s going to do it?
How are we going to do it?
Who’s going to clean up the mess afterwards?
9/11 is revisited
The official story about 9/11 is rejected by growing numbers of professors, physicists, architects, engineers, pilots, former military officers and former intelligence officials. – David Griffin
Mind-sets and revolutions
The revolution in Egypt provides evidence of a public well-informed by 30 years of mostly silent submission to the dictates of a self-serving regime. Finally, when the silence yielded to a voice that said “Enough”, the latest technology and social networking brought that voice to millions ready to protest and bring down the regime.
Anti-Muslim brainwashing
Paul J. Balles looks at how key opinion formers in the United States, from the media to politicians, are brainwashing the public into anti-Muslim hysteria by labelling as “Muslim or Islamic extremists” anyone who refuses to cow-tow to Israel, America or their stooges.
The big bluff
If the 60 million Christian Right expect a Second Coming of Jesus Christ into the Holy Land, they are in for a shock. His Jewish Mother would not be good enough to get Him residency.
The US arms industry and the people’s revolt in Egypt
Paul J. Balles comments on the USA’s ambivalent line on the people’s revolution in Egypt. He argues that although the administration has a growing fear that a government hostile to Washington could gain control Egypt, “the unspoken fear is that American arms manufacturers will lose a reliable customer”.
Selling the people short
In a report for the Carnegie Foundation on US aid to Egypt, Ahmad Al-Sayed El-Naggar asks “Why don’t Egyptians notice the role of American aid to their country? The simple answer is that U.S. economic aid to Egypt, which amounted to $455 million in 2007, translated to only $6 per capita.”
Weapons of mass deception
What does the reference to “alternative” media mean? It refers to newspapers, magazines, radio or television that cover news that doesn’t get reported or is under-reported in the mainstream media.
A number of reliable alternative sites include news and commentary related to international issues as well as accurate and fair perspectives on the Middle East.
WikiLeaks and the press
They ought to be after Assange for giving governments reasons for censorship – just the opposite effect of the transparency he presumably wanted to promote.
But readers of the two leading US newspapers never learned key facts about the document. According to Porter, WikiLeaks revealed how the press has been complicit in cover-ups by the government.
That alone should justify WikiLeaks’ efforts to expose cover-ups and promote transparency – even in the press.
Against criticism: Shameful traits of the USA and Israel
In short, criticise Israel for any of its misdeeds–destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure, imprisoning thousands of Palestinians, starving and slaughtering Gazans–and Klein will shift to an unrelated issue. Americans think that any criticism of America is unjustified, primarily because much of the evidence fails to make it to the media and because they rebel at criticism.
Wicked WikiLeaks
If information related to “the war on terror” is vital to other’s trust or US security, it should have been classified top secret. None of the documents released by WikiLeaks were top secret. “By law, information may not be classified merely because it would be embarrassing or to cover illegal activity; information may only be classified to protect national-security objectives.”
Chickens come home to roost: US technology goes to North Korea via Israel and China
“The real danger comes in Israel’s habit of reverse engineering US technology and selling to nations hostile to US interests.”
American taxpayers pay to provide military technology to Israel and Israel turns around and sells it to China and others.
Are we worried about Iran’s nuclear aspirations and missile technology? “China sold over 100 missiles and launchers to Iran.” Remember, they were supplied by the US to Israel and sold to the Chinese by Israel.
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