Michel de Bruin

Five-star general of the People's Front of Judea | #Feyenoord #OUFC

[The Rights Forum @TheRightsForum]

Kritiek leveren op Israël ligt gevoelig binnen het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken en kan je carrière schaden. Zozeer, dat interne memo’s pro-Israël worden gekleurd, zag voormalig ambassadeur Nikolaos van Dam al in de jaren ’70. https://t.co/n1vxKdqzov

[Palestina En Español 🎒 @PalestinaVence]

🇬🇧🇵🇸🇮🇱 Un cirujano británico que trabajó en Gaza relató.

“Después de los bombardeos aéreos israelíes, llegaban los drones de las FDI… Apuntaban y disparaban deliberadamente a los heridos que yacían en el suelo. Incluso a niños. Los remataban en el sitio.”

No contentos con masacrar desde el aire, los soldados israelíes usan drones para cazar y ejecutar a los sobrevivientes heridos.

Una política sistemática de rematar civiles.Esto no es guerra.

Esto es caza de seres humanos, asesinato a sangre fría de heridos y niños.

El mundo entero debe escuchar este testimonio. No hay justificación posible.

Testimonio estremecedor ante el Parlamento Británico

[Zachary Foster @_ZachFoster]

A short response:

Zionists usually define Zionism as something abstract. It’s a feeling of Jewish connection to Israel. Or its the idea that the Jewish people have a right to be safe in their homeland, or, sing it with me now, that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish State!

Or, perhaps my favorite, as the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs put it above, “Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, affirming their right to self-determination in their historic indigenous homeland, the Land of Israel.” It’s SEO and LLM optimized!

The problem with these definitions of Zionism is that Zionism was not an abstract idea but a “in real life” movement. It was a movement with leaders, institutions, policies and militias that set out to build what it called a Jewish state with a Jewish supermajority working at Jewish-only cooperatives living in Jewish-only colonies owned by Jewish-only land authorities operating Jewish-only schools maintained by Jewish-only militias in a country that was overwhelmingly Palestinian Arab. What could possibly go wrong?

The first thing that could and did go wrong was that not enough Jews moved to Palestine to outnumber the Palestinian Arabs. It was known as the “Arab problem,” i.e., the problem that there were too many Arabs in Palestine. By the mid-late 1930s, the Zionist movement settled on “transfer,” i.e., expulsion, as the optimal solution to this problem. And then, in 1948, that’s exactly what Israel did, expel about 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Then they expelled another 30,000 over the next decade. And then another 300,000 in 1967, along with 130,000 Syrians, and then they pushed out a few hundred thousand more from 1968 to 1993, and a few hundred thousand more since.

Today, Israel’s forcible displacement policies are on steroids. Israel is crowding Palestinians into smaller and smaller areas of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel, and pushing them out of Palestine altogether at an accelerating pace. Now, it’s expanding into Lebanon and Syria and doing the same there to Lebanese and Syrians.

Zionists insist on a definition of Zionism detached from the history of the Zionist movement. As we said, the Zionist movement at its core was about the immigration of Jews into Palestine and the displacement of Palestinians out of it, the construction of Jewish settlements in it and the destruction of Palestinian ones, and the armament of Jewish militias and disarmament of Palestinian ones. That was how an Arab country was transformed into a Jewish one, demographically, physically and kinetically.

Zionists can call immigration “indigenousness,” they can call colonization “the right to self-determination” and they can call a policy on forever, forcible displacement “liberation.” They can do that.

But the propaganda isn’t working anymore. That’s why Israel’s Foreign Ministry budget will receive a $150 million bonus this year, more than a 20X increase in bonus blood money. That’s also why the Israel lobby in the US is responsible for the most expensive primaries in US American history. And that’s why Israel is paying influencers $7,000 per post, since people aren’t buying the bullshit anymore.

And the reason is pretty simple. Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians of Gaza has ripped the mask off the underlying logic of Zionism. As Patrick Wolfe famously put it in his classic essay on the topic, settler-colonial movements, “without exception,” lead to a logic of the “elimination of the native.” And in the case of Palestine, the logic of the elimination of the native needed no theorizing by academics, not even a look at history. Instead, it has been on live-stream every day for the past 969 days, and counting.

All sources linked here in the piece: https://t.co/adUPIqMIjU

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

There is a well-documented pattern to the first Trump administration. The people who worked in it stayed quiet while employed, then the moment they were fired, sat down and wrote a book. Bolton. Esper. Mattis. Tillerson. The consistent theme: the man wanted to bomb things. Iran. North Korea. Venezuela. Mexico, on at least one occasion that we know of. The adults in the room spent considerable energy preventing a nuclear confrontation because the President had seen something on Fox News.

That was Term One. Term Two is different.

The adults are gone. What replaced them is a collection of individuals who in any previous era of American governance would not have been trusted with the photocopier code.

Picture the scene. The President announces he has an idea. He is enthusiastic. He uses hand gestures. The people around the table look up from their shoes and think, in unison: sure, sounds great.

Nobody pushes back. Nobody has a map. Nobody asks what happens to global oil supply when you bomb the Persian Gulf, or what Mexico does when American special forces cross the border, or whether Greenland’s population has any opinion on being purchased against their will.

Nobody knows, because the hiring criteria for this White House had nothing to do with knowing things.

In Term One, the grownups bought time. They slow-walked the paperwork. They prevented catastrophe through sheer bureaucratic friction.

In Term Two, there is no friction. There is only nodding. And under the table, at least three senior officials are quietly Googling “where is Iran” on their phones. One of them has spelled it “I-ron” and is now reading a five-star review of a steam iron on Amazon. He finds it very informative.

He is the Secretary of Defense.

[Mohamad Safa @mhdksafa]

Israel is explicitly warning Christian residents in southern Lebanon not to welcome Muslim residents among them, threatening to bomb Christian neighborhoods.

Israel is now searching for Muslims hiding in the attics of Christians. It’s not 1944. Read that again.

The goal isn't military. It's destabilizing social stability in Lebanon.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Qua faciliteiten is De Kuip (opnieuw) verouderd, maar het was en is een iconisch stadion; als 'toen al' het criterium is, waren wij al in de vroege jaren '30 innovatief. Aan recente plannen om De Kuip bij de tijd te brengen/houden ontbreekt het ook niet.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Zelfs voor wie geloven van niet zijn dit soort dingen gewoon op het internet op te zoeken. Blijft staan dat dit lang niet altijd zo is geweest en dat de ontwikkeling van het Philips Stadion historisch gezien geleidelijk heeft plaatsgevonden.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Allebei fout. Het eerste stadion met skyboxen was De Meer (1986), niet het Philips Stadion (1988). De eerste wedstrijd met kunstlicht in De Kuip was op 27 november 1957, die in Eindhoven op 9 april 1958.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Grappig om te zien hoe projectie werkt, want als er één plaats is waar men voortdurend op de ziel getrapt reageert (liefst naar de Randstad toe), is het Eindhoven. Daar verandert een façade van meters Bavaria en gezelligheid niets aan.

[The Resonance @Partisan_12]

JEFFREY SACHS DESTROYS THE MYTH: “Israel Is NOT a Liberal Democracy”

“No. It has rudiments of democracy if you are a Jew.

If you’re an Arab in Israel, absolutely not.
If you’re a Palestinian, you’re more likely to be slaughtered than to have rights or a vote.”

“It’s only a democracy by RACIST STANDARDS that treat Arab people as animals or vermin to be exterminated.”

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

Amnesty: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Human Rights Watch: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

UN: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

B’Tselem: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Genocide experts: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

AIPAC: Nuh-uh…

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Geen zorgen, anoniempje, dat ben ik wel. Ik verkies feiten boven de verzuurde propaganda van de doorsnee PSV'er.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Het heeft 80 jaar (tot ver in de jaren '90) geduurd voordat het Philips Stadion (Philips-sportpark) topclub waardig werd. Het geleidelijk uitbreiden en moderniseren van een veredelde fietsenstalling is weinig innovatief.

[Michel de Bruin @DutchOx]

@Fanzone1913 @twigthans Als je de geschiedenis van je eigen stadion een beetje zou kennen, had je geweten dat dat onzin is. Taalkundig valt er ook wel iets op aan te merken, want 'De Kuip' (een stadion) congrueert niet met 'wij' (club, supporters?). 'Enigste' is in elk geval goed Rotterdams.

[Rutger @HRutger14]

Oscar weer in de bocht. De man is ex advocaat maar ontbeert de meest basale vermogens om zijn stellingen deugdelijk te onderbouwen.

Ik hou niet van ad hominem drogredeneringen, dat laat ik aan Israel supporters over, maar f'ing BILD citeren voor een aanval op UNRWA terwijl;

- Het Internationale Gerechtshof (!) heeft geconcludeerd dat Israel heeft gefaald in het aandragen van bewijs voor banden tussen UNRWA en Hamas;
- de Wall Street Journal heeft bevestigd dat er geen bewijs is voor banden tussen UNRWA en Hamas, en;
- een ex Franse Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken de claim onafhankelijk heeft onderzocht en heeft bevestigd dat ze geen bewijs van Israel heeft gevonden voor banden tussen UNRWA en Hamas,

dat getuigt van menselijk ondraaglijke stupiditeit.

Oscar, ik blijf het je vragen;
Waarom reageer je nooit op me?

[Voice of Rabbis @voiceofrabbis]

Nothing is more dangerous than those who create the crisis and then present themselves as the solution.

Zionists have a long, tragic record of provoking antisemitism inside Jewish communities to pressure Jews into immigrating to Israel.

And now, newly resurfaced evidence exposes one of the most painful chapters of that pattern.

On January 4, 1951, a massive explosion ripped through the Masouda Shem-Tov synagogue in the heart of Baghdad.

Hundreds of Jews fled in terror, and whispers immediately spread through the community including from Iraqi officials at the time; that Zionist operatives had thrown the grenade to accelerate Jewish emigration.

A new Haaretz report and a recent documentary reveal buried testimonies, forgotten archives, and decades of unanswered questions: Israel denied involvement, yet Iraqi authorities arrested Zionist activists; witnesses said the Zionist underground was responsible; and internal proposals from Zionist agencies spoke openly of using “scare grenades” in Jewish areas to force the issue.

What happened next is undeniable: within months, over 80,000 Jews renounced their Iraqi citizenship and the ancient community was emptied almost overnight.

Seven decades later, the tactic persists.

Every critic of Israel including our Mayor Mamdani is branded an antisemite, as Zionists continue using Jews as human shields for their political agenda.

The truth is finally resurfacing. And the pattern is too consistent to ignore. Source

@authenttorahjew
@TorahJudaism

[Patricia Marins @pati_marins64]

Venezuela warns airlines that they must pay the US directly for fuel purchased from Caracas

“A letter sent to international companies that operate with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company indicates that payments in foreign currency must be made directly to an account of the US Department of the Treasury.”

This situation needs to be taken to American justice.

A nation cannot seize the export revenues of another nation’s main energy asset to the point of imposing such humiliation, where airline companies cannot even pay for their own fuel in Venezuela.
The previous argument was that the government was corrupt. But now the government that the US installed is also corrupt? Maybe it’s the same government, just with a different group in charge.

They used to say it was a cartel government. So if the government continues under US management and the US is now running the cartel?

The most tragic part of all this is that life in Venezuela remains exactly the same.

I still don’t understand what kind of transition is actually being carried out, nor when or even if it will happen. So far, all we’ve seen is a coup and a puppet government.

Will there be any real movements toward change in Venezuela?

https://t.co/vPTHQpQlAN via @eldiarioes

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

So @Axios has an explosive report claiming that Trump had a tense call with Netanyahu today and told him: "You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Trump also accused Netanyahu of ingratitude since Trump had helped keep Netanyahu out of jail. At the heart of the matter was Trump’s frustration with Netanyahu not caving to his demands to cease bombing Lebanon, as Israel’s aggression risked jeopardizing Trump’s diplomacy with Iran.

The story has understandably been met with considerable skepticism. After all, there is a long and well-documented pattern of American presidents privately expressing anger and frustration with Israeli prime ministers while publicly standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them and continuing to support their policies.

Take Joe Biden as an example. In late December 2023, Axios reported that Biden’s frustration with Benjamin Netanyahu had become so intense that he abruptly ended a phone call with the Israeli leader, reportedly concluding the exchange with the terse remark: “This conversation is over.” Yet in practice, Biden remained firmly aligned with Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

Two months later, NBC News reported that Biden had repeatedly referred to Netanyahu as an “asshole” in private conversations with aides and donors. But even as he vented his exasperation behind closed doors, Biden continued to arm Israel lavishly and shield it from mounting diplomatic and political pressure at the United Nations. The gap between private frustration and public policy could hardly have been more striking.

There are, however, a few important counterexamples—particularly from Trump’s second term—that suggest the Axios story is not entirely implausible. (Indeed, the report would have been far more difficult to believe had Axios claimed that Trump told Netanyahu, “Everybody loves you.”)

Read the full analysis on my Substack: https://t.co/SsS8s0gG6n

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

Trump: “I Don’t Care.” (He Cares Enormously.)

Donald Trump, the man who once sent seventeen tweets in a single morning because a CNN anchor looked at him funny, wants you to know that he absolutely, categorically, does not care about Iran.

“I honestly don’t care if they’re over. I really don’t care,” he told CNBC, with the serene detachment of a man who definitely cares so much he can barely breathe.

This is, of course, the political equivalent of texting your ex at 2 AM to let them know you’ve completely moved on.

We know the pattern. Trump doesn’t care about NATO, right up until he’s shrieking about burden-sharing at 6 AM. He doesn’t care about the stock market, precisely until it drops forty points and he starts personally calling TV hosts. He doesn’t care about his poll numbers while obsessively reading his poll numbers. The man is constitutionally incapable of not caring, yet here he is, caring so little about Iran that he felt compelled to announce it on national television.

Meanwhile, Tehran has said it will walk away from talks unless Israel stops operations in Lebanon. Which is a perfectly rational precondition that will absolutely not be met, meaning the talks are effectively dead, meaning the Strait of Hormuz is sitting there looking very narrow and very interesting.

But don’t worry. Trump doesn’t care about oil prices either, apparently.

The Strait carries roughly 20 percent of global oil supply. A closure would send energy markets into a spiral that would make 2008 look like a minor inconvenience. Petrol prices, heating costs, shipping, food, everything that breathes diesel or jet fuel would convulse.

But the man in the White House is very relaxed about all of it.

Extraordinarily, magnificently relaxed.

Totally fine.