It's a great piece. My first thought is that it underscores the fact that to understand Israel/Palestine, you have to read and study fair amount of material. Anyone reading this essay naively, having read little else, could be forgiven for being skeptical and thinking, oh come on, this is hyperbolic, fantastic, incredible. The truth is so horrifying that it strains credulity.
My other thought is that this analysis is missing the element of class struggle and the essential role of capitalism in these dynamics. It's not so much a question of whether we do or don't get the leaders we deserve. There simply is no true democracy where there is so much inequality. I'll oversimply a little for brevity sake. The American ruling class thinks its geopolitical interests are served by sponsoring its attack dog in the Middle East. The corporate media obediently go along with the program. Millions drink the kool-aid, and the casualty is truth. The good news is that notwithstanding the above, most of world opinion is waking up.
Thanks for adding this, and I completely agree. My focus is on the perspective from Israel’s pov. But of course it exists in a wider context, in a dog-eat-dog world where the survival of the meanest is the rule. I write about this in other essays. Israel would not be possible at all without an imperialist world where racism, colonialism, and the sense of entitlement of some to satisfy their own greed at the expense of others are the dominant principles. Nothing exists in isolation. It means each one of us has to speak out or otherwise be active in our own domains and address what needs to be addressed in our societies. Thanks for reading and for your comment.
Extraordinary Avigail Arbanel! This is, among others, a text that should be read and re-read by all those who irresponsibly support and promote the crimes perpetrated by the Zionist entity, to all those who refuse to recognize the colonial, deeply nihilistic and amorous nature of this institution, to all those who refuse to consider that Israeli society is deeply sick, victim, by contagion, of the manifest sociopathy of its leaders and the dystopian character of the Zionist colonial project.
I agree with others - another well thought through, excellently articulated essay. Goes a long way in explaining the conformist behaviour and attitude of rank and file Jewish Israelis. That Gideon Levy, Gilad Atzmon, Shlomo Sand, Israel Shahak and a handful of others have been able to keep out of the societal epistemic bubble and echo chambers is creditable, I guess.
Your radio interview remembrance and take-away was also interesting. One thing to note in today's world is the information blitzkreig that Israelis resort to to propagandise other nations' peoples. In the link^ below, which follows a few minutes of an interview from a gentleman from Tehran, is the Israeli fellow -take a look. See how he goes on the offensive right-away. Anyone clued into Social Media for the past 10 months cannot fail to see the utter absurdity in his utterances, yet the Anchor - underprepared as it were - is unable to push back on any of the lies. The TV station is also owned by an oligarch who sells drones to Israel** and manages Haifa port. So that may explain the Israeli slant - but the lay audience is generally unable to tease out the truth.
I started to watch the first youtube segment from Indian TV. We know India is pro-Israel and that there is a great deal of trade and cooperation between the countries. Modi hates Muslims, and as far as he is concerned the Palestinians belong to the group he hates. I find it really difficult to listent to that Israel. Did you hear his brilliant US accent? He was not born in Israel. Either way, what you heard is the standard Israeli line of propaganda. You cannot argue with it. The Iranian scholar said nothing wrong. He was 100% correct. He just stopped short of saying that Israel wants a big war, because a comprehensive war that ties most of the world, will make it possible for Israel to finish off the Palestinians once and for all with impunity and behind the smokescreen of war. Israel has no leg to stand on. The segment hides behind politician analysis but it was intended to serve Israeli propaganda. That is why the Iranian guy talked first and why he was made to disappear with the Israeli guy having the last word. It’s really crappy TV… the kind of stuff we are used to in our own countries. And of course you are right that Adani is in bed with Israel’s military industry. Disturbing.
I couldn't listen to it all. Incredibly brazen lies and propaganda. Disgusting to hear, and almost zero pushback. Made your point perfectly, though, I agree.
I felt the same. It is the same on Israeli media. Completely nauseating. All we can do is continue to tell the truth. I’ve just had an email from a local activist. Apparently someone from the ‘Friends of Israel’ tried to attack and disrupt the regular Saturday rally in support of the Palestinian people here in Inverness. The activists feel so floored by accusations of antisemitism that I was asked if I could add my statement to theirs to give it more weight. It’s ridiculous that people should come to me for this, but I am more than happy to oblige. I repeated my message that Jewish history is irrelevant to the crimes committed by Israel and that a crime is a crime, etc. Thanks for your positive feedback on my writings.
The Israeli playbook is only the latest iteration of strategies and tactics employed by colonialists since time immemorial. The Israelis are nothing special. Take away American support and they would not last any time at all. Stand up the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada for showing the way towards, land theft, genocide and resource exploitation. You really are vile🤢
Dear Avigail, thank you for this multi-themed essay, for me it was especially interesting to read about the concept of an enmeshed society. I have not heard that before. I have a feeling that Israeli mentality and the system took a LOT from the worst of the USSR. Because the white Zionist Soviet and East Bloc Jews have been very intrusive, power-seeking and greedy. They took many of oppressive practicies into The Jewish State: the system of bribes and favors, the concept of nationality not as a citizenship but as an ethnicity (In the USSR, passports had the 5th paragraph "nationality", which could be "Russian", "Jew", "Ukrainian", "Kazakh", "Tajik" and so on, but there was no "Soviet" nationality, as there is no "Israeli" nationality in Israel), the sheer pleasure of having power over others (however small), the intrusive nature of society that loves show trials, public shaming, exposure of misdeeds (other than crimes, just something the society does not approve on), the system of countless rules that replaces the Law, etc.
Great point about Haaretz being a gate-keeper of a positive image of Israel. Paradoxically, the more people like Levy and Amira Hass condemn Zionism, the more people in the West get the impression that dissent and even direct opposition are tolerated in Israel because Israel is a democracy. As Ronnie Barkan had said, Haaretz is to blame for the Western public opinion that Israel is inherently good, but has gone astray because of the bad government.
I just wanted to add that Western people like to fear China for its alleged "social credit system" (that is not materializing anywhere in China though) - they should go to Israel to experience what REAL society based on social credit is, and what can be done to those who happen to displease the said society, how the machine grinds them. What Israelis do to dissidents and people with not enough loyalty.
A brilliant article, Avigail, and an equally exquisite (and raw, honest) reply to the pathetic mind-fart of Mr Lindsay. Quite how he got to that after reading your article (assuming he did?) is hard to fathom.
But thank you for this marvellous exposition of why these Zionists behave - and think - in the way that they do. Upsetting and horrific, sure; but vital truth that needs to be heard and amplified across the world.
Ritter et al 1999. “The Trauma Myth,” book by a female author. That’s all you need to know. My views are not controversial in the field.
I do work as a peer counselor for people with a certain mental disorder. I’m an expert on it so I have people coming from all over the world to work with me.
One of the areas I ended up specializing in was people who are troubled by thoughts of being attracted to or wanting to molest children.
In order to work with these folks I had to do a deep dive into pedophilia, hebephilia, and child molestation. I studied these things for years and read everything I could find.
I have to do differential diagnosis between this disorder and some others it looks like, but I got very good at that too.
However I cannot give legal DSM diagnoses. I send people to clinical psychologists for those.
I got very good at this, and people said I was as good as or better than their psychiatrist or psychologist. There are all sorts of regulated terms I cannot use, and I can’t say I do psychotherapy.
As in most states, anyone can do this. Just hang out your shingle and call yourself “Counselor: come talk to me about your problems.”
I can’t say I treat mental illness. I do have people coming to me with other disorders. I tell them I don’t have the training or education to work with this, but I will do the best I can. I can’t guarantee anything and it might not be different than talking to your friends or family or some guy in a bar.
I’m an expert on diagnosing this condition, but I’m not good at diagnosing much of anything else.
I get misdiagnosed people coming all the time. I tell them to fire their psychiatrist and get a new one. The disorder is not well understood even in the field.
I also work with problems in living, growth stuff, and deep stuff. I got good at that too.
There are indeed Mossad or better yet Mossad + CIA bases in Kurdistan.
I suppose the fact that we are also a settler-colonial state has something to do with our Israel support, but the most factor is that the Jewish Lobby in the US has bought off or terrorized all of the politicians to the extent that they do everything the Lobby orders them to do.
I’ve heard that a lot of Congressmen don’t even like Israel and don’t like being controlled this way.
If you go against Israel, the Lobby takes you out in a primary. It’s like the situation with the NRA in the US. The Jewish Lobby is simply Big Jewish Money in politics.
We have money-based elections in this country. 9 of the 25 largest donors to the Democratic Party are Jewish Lobby Jews. You go against Israel and the Democratic Party’s money dries up and the Republicans win.
With Republicans it feels much more ideological. Republican Party ideology now is fanatical support for Israel.
The “Jews control the media” meme is an old one. You could have said it was true 30 years ago but not now. However, Jews still have a vastly outsized presence in the industry.
I did a study and the Gentile controlled media wasn’t much different from the Jewish controlled part of it. Outlets go from Gentile to Jewish control and vice versa, and the Israel coverage remains the same.
I don’t have a good explanation for this. But this slanted media plays a big role in Americans’ pro-Israel sentiments.
Nobody can talk about this Lobby or the media issue because you immediately get labeled antisemite, and that’s a job and career killer. I think we have to get over this fear of being called names in order to have any progress on this matter.
The great historian and researcher Thomas Suarez had said that Zionism aims at making all antisemitic tropes come true. And then accuses of antisemitism those who catch Zionists enacting these tropes on the ground. Blood libel, Dual loyalty (single loyalty to Israel only), "Jews control the media", "rich Jews buy the politics", "Jews want to control the world", etc.
Yes, of course. Zionists, like all perpetrators are master projectors. They project themselves and their mindset on everyone else without any capacity for self-awareness or reflection.
Latest news is the missile theory on the assassination is wrong. Actually two months ago someone connected with Mossad placed a bomb in that residence he was staying in. It was then activated by remote control.
Pedophilia doesn’t harm a soul in and of itself. It’s just a way of thinking or better a sexual orientation. A better term would be child molestation.
I prefer it to child sexual abuse, a terrible term which now covers sex with teenagers, which is generally legal or covered under statutory rape.
Another problem with child sexual abuse is that the “victims” themselves often reject the term. A survey in Denmark of people who had been molested as children found that half of them said, “I don’t consider that abuse.”
Child molestation fits perfectly. A stunning percentage of adults who were molested claimed that they LIKED it believe it or not. It’s possible to enjoy getting molested but hardly possible to enjoy getting abused.
My father sexually abused me initially from age around three. And then there was a break because he did not have as much access to me as before, after my brother was born. He then started to abuse me again when I was about seven and my mother disappeared off to hospital for three months. He had contant access to me and I was not protected by anyone. He continued to prey on me, sexualise me and tried to touch me all the time, when I was a teenager and even as a young woman when I was already married. He collaborated with a friend of his who had two daughters on both sides of my age and they swapped us between them. It was horrific. Later my father would make regular trips to Thailand with male friends of his, where he would rape six year old girls. The reason I know about it is because he bragged about it openly and told stories in great detail to my first husband.
This is not a purely intellectual academic issue and you, Robert, clearly have no idea what you are talking about. If you have not been molested/sexually abused, you have no idea what it is like to be on the receiving end of it.
You sound like someone out of the 19th Century and it is because of views like yours that children have remain so unprotected for so long. Thankfully society has moved on from ignorant views like yours.
You have no comprehension of the dynamic of sexual abuse, the horrific forms it can take, the impact of threat and secrecy, the disruption to your sleep and your life, the inability to trust in the adults who are entrusted with your care. Sexual, indeed, all abuse and is a massive betrayal of children who need to be cared for and helped to develop and it is rightly defined as a crime..
As a psychotherapist (twenty-five years in private practice — are you a mental health professional? I am guessing not.) I work with many victims of sexual abuse of all kinds, and it is takes a great deal of hard work to recover from this abuse.
Child sexual abuse is always harmful. Your attempt at distinction between molestation and abuse is irrelevant. The issue is the imbalance of power, and the fact that someone with power just takes what they want, and the victim has no say in it. Sexual abuse falls under the broader category of adults using children to meet their own needs. It requires a profound absence of empathy, and an objectification of another human being with less power.
And if that’s the only issue you are taking from my article, it really worries me. I wonder why you are reading my essays at all.
Ritter et al 1999 is the last word on the subject. It has since been replicated many times. Child molestation is not inherently harmful. 70% of gay men molested a children said they LIKED it. With women the figure is 17% but I think it is higher because I meet women all the time who got molested and told me they LIKED it.
I still want child molestation to be illegal as I don’t want to live in a place where it is legal to do that to kids.
Also some kids are ABSOLUTELY harmed. The best figure I’ve seen is that 22% of molested girls suffer long term trauma. This can be severe and last decades or a lifetime. It’s terrible! It also seems associated with coercion.
The book by a woman called The Trauma Myth complements Ritter and is also a very important read.
The typical reaction after molestation is indifference and confusion. The child often thinks, “That was weird!” Kids don’t even know what sex is so they don’t know what to make of this.
50% of college women molested as girls are over it by college. Most of the damage is related to guilt and shame. But if we tell them that there’s nothing to be ashamed of and nothing is their fault, much of this damage goes away.
The takeaway point is that kids are more resilient than we think. You yourself stated that people have tremendous capacity for recovery from trauma is instructive.
Consensual sex between teenagers and each other and adults outside of a sexual abusive situation like you experienced is not inherently harmful at all. Humans have been doing this for 99% of our existence and no harm was ever found.
Nevertheless I support statutory rape laws and would not lower the AOC lower than 16 in the US. Societal distaste is a great reason to keep it illegal.
You are one of the ones to experience long term harm by your father, a monster. I’m so sorry! But your outcome is not typical. In fact it looks like only 25% of cases are like this.
Thank you so much Adam, for reading and for the effort. If I could, I would hire you as a professional proofreader and editor 😏. I have gratefully adopted everything you suggested.
Hi Avigail. It's my pleasure, as always. But is it okay if I email you the proofreading suggestions from now on? I've never been completely comfortable sending them to you as a post comment as they are just intended as a 1:1 communication from me to you, and I don't really want to receive replies from other people as has happened on this occasion. Can I use the email on the contact page of your website?
That's very kind of you to say so Laura, but I'm afraid I won't be posting them as comments any longer as I prefer to just email them to Avigail directly from now on.
Hi, Adam, I want to add that there are three types of colonialism: 1) colonialism proper that colonizes the land, all resources and the indigenous people, but resides elsewhere, having only an overseeing colonial population in the said colony, 2) settler-colonialism that not just colonizes the land and the resources, but RELOCATES a considerable, decisive number of people to besettle the land as the NEW population, however only displacing the indigenous into ghettos and reservations, creating apartheid (South Africa), 3) eliminationist colonialism that seeks to REPLACE the former population with a new, imported one COMPLETELY, however slowly (the goal and intent) - that is Israel. Israel is not just colonizing and besettling the land - it seeks to erase Palestine (as a country, as a cultural entity, as a people, as a memory, all its history, everything that can be said "Palestinian" and prohibit the very use of this word "Palestine"). That clearly distinguishes Israel from North American, South American, French or German colonialism. Similarly, the Ukrainian regime seeks to remove the actual population from Donbass and Crimea, erase all memory of Russian Ukraine, language, history, culture, tradition - and replace it with the imported alleged "Ukrainians". Population replacement is of course genocide by definition. Not just colonialism or even apartheid. (Not just me, also Ussama Makdisi and Thomas Suarez spoke about this distinction.)
No, Adam, I meant it as a reply to you, to remind you that "settler-colonialism" is not the same as just "colonialism" in general. You said "You probably don’t need both “colonialist” and “settler-colonialist” since they mean practically the same thing" - they are not the same, hence my comment to you .It is a free discussion of people's thoughts here, people certainly talk to each other too, not just addressing the author.
I'm on holiday and don't have the time or the wish to engage in discussion on any of these points, which in any case were only intended for Avigail in the first place. I've deleted the comments now and will email proofreading suggestions rather than posting them here to avoid this type of thing. This is not a criticism of any of your comments which are thoughtful and substantive. It's just that I don't have the time or the wish to engage in this discussion right now. Thanks.
It's a great piece. My first thought is that it underscores the fact that to understand Israel/Palestine, you have to read and study fair amount of material. Anyone reading this essay naively, having read little else, could be forgiven for being skeptical and thinking, oh come on, this is hyperbolic, fantastic, incredible. The truth is so horrifying that it strains credulity.
My other thought is that this analysis is missing the element of class struggle and the essential role of capitalism in these dynamics. It's not so much a question of whether we do or don't get the leaders we deserve. There simply is no true democracy where there is so much inequality. I'll oversimply a little for brevity sake. The American ruling class thinks its geopolitical interests are served by sponsoring its attack dog in the Middle East. The corporate media obediently go along with the program. Millions drink the kool-aid, and the casualty is truth. The good news is that notwithstanding the above, most of world opinion is waking up.
Thanks for adding this, and I completely agree. My focus is on the perspective from Israel’s pov. But of course it exists in a wider context, in a dog-eat-dog world where the survival of the meanest is the rule. I write about this in other essays. Israel would not be possible at all without an imperialist world where racism, colonialism, and the sense of entitlement of some to satisfy their own greed at the expense of others are the dominant principles. Nothing exists in isolation. It means each one of us has to speak out or otherwise be active in our own domains and address what needs to be addressed in our societies. Thanks for reading and for your comment.
Extraordinary Avigail Arbanel! This is, among others, a text that should be read and re-read by all those who irresponsibly support and promote the crimes perpetrated by the Zionist entity, to all those who refuse to recognize the colonial, deeply nihilistic and amorous nature of this institution, to all those who refuse to consider that Israeli society is deeply sick, victim, by contagion, of the manifest sociopathy of its leaders and the dystopian character of the Zionist colonial project.
Thank you Avigail Arbanel!….
I agree with others - another well thought through, excellently articulated essay. Goes a long way in explaining the conformist behaviour and attitude of rank and file Jewish Israelis. That Gideon Levy, Gilad Atzmon, Shlomo Sand, Israel Shahak and a handful of others have been able to keep out of the societal epistemic bubble and echo chambers is creditable, I guess.
Your radio interview remembrance and take-away was also interesting. One thing to note in today's world is the information blitzkreig that Israelis resort to to propagandise other nations' peoples. In the link^ below, which follows a few minutes of an interview from a gentleman from Tehran, is the Israeli fellow -take a look. See how he goes on the offensive right-away. Anyone clued into Social Media for the past 10 months cannot fail to see the utter absurdity in his utterances, yet the Anchor - underprepared as it were - is unable to push back on any of the lies. The TV station is also owned by an oligarch who sells drones to Israel** and manages Haifa port. So that may explain the Israeli slant - but the lay audience is generally unable to tease out the truth.
^ https://youtu.be/ZVKX42_Ymh4?t=314
** https://www.livemint.com/Companies/DCpFevRz6Oo88qLURHKvjL/Adani-ties-up-with-Elbit-Alpha-for-unmanned-aircraft-system.html
I started to watch the first youtube segment from Indian TV. We know India is pro-Israel and that there is a great deal of trade and cooperation between the countries. Modi hates Muslims, and as far as he is concerned the Palestinians belong to the group he hates. I find it really difficult to listent to that Israel. Did you hear his brilliant US accent? He was not born in Israel. Either way, what you heard is the standard Israeli line of propaganda. You cannot argue with it. The Iranian scholar said nothing wrong. He was 100% correct. He just stopped short of saying that Israel wants a big war, because a comprehensive war that ties most of the world, will make it possible for Israel to finish off the Palestinians once and for all with impunity and behind the smokescreen of war. Israel has no leg to stand on. The segment hides behind politician analysis but it was intended to serve Israeli propaganda. That is why the Iranian guy talked first and why he was made to disappear with the Israeli guy having the last word. It’s really crappy TV… the kind of stuff we are used to in our own countries. And of course you are right that Adani is in bed with Israel’s military industry. Disturbing.
I couldn't listen to it all. Incredibly brazen lies and propaganda. Disgusting to hear, and almost zero pushback. Made your point perfectly, though, I agree.
I felt the same. It is the same on Israeli media. Completely nauseating. All we can do is continue to tell the truth. I’ve just had an email from a local activist. Apparently someone from the ‘Friends of Israel’ tried to attack and disrupt the regular Saturday rally in support of the Palestinian people here in Inverness. The activists feel so floored by accusations of antisemitism that I was asked if I could add my statement to theirs to give it more weight. It’s ridiculous that people should come to me for this, but I am more than happy to oblige. I repeated my message that Jewish history is irrelevant to the crimes committed by Israel and that a crime is a crime, etc. Thanks for your positive feedback on my writings.
The Israeli playbook is only the latest iteration of strategies and tactics employed by colonialists since time immemorial. The Israelis are nothing special. Take away American support and they would not last any time at all. Stand up the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada for showing the way towards, land theft, genocide and resource exploitation. You really are vile🤢
Dear Avigail, thank you for this multi-themed essay, for me it was especially interesting to read about the concept of an enmeshed society. I have not heard that before. I have a feeling that Israeli mentality and the system took a LOT from the worst of the USSR. Because the white Zionist Soviet and East Bloc Jews have been very intrusive, power-seeking and greedy. They took many of oppressive practicies into The Jewish State: the system of bribes and favors, the concept of nationality not as a citizenship but as an ethnicity (In the USSR, passports had the 5th paragraph "nationality", which could be "Russian", "Jew", "Ukrainian", "Kazakh", "Tajik" and so on, but there was no "Soviet" nationality, as there is no "Israeli" nationality in Israel), the sheer pleasure of having power over others (however small), the intrusive nature of society that loves show trials, public shaming, exposure of misdeeds (other than crimes, just something the society does not approve on), the system of countless rules that replaces the Law, etc.
Great point about Haaretz being a gate-keeper of a positive image of Israel. Paradoxically, the more people like Levy and Amira Hass condemn Zionism, the more people in the West get the impression that dissent and even direct opposition are tolerated in Israel because Israel is a democracy. As Ronnie Barkan had said, Haaretz is to blame for the Western public opinion that Israel is inherently good, but has gone astray because of the bad government.
I just wanted to add that Western people like to fear China for its alleged "social credit system" (that is not materializing anywhere in China though) - they should go to Israel to experience what REAL society based on social credit is, and what can be done to those who happen to displease the said society, how the machine grinds them. What Israelis do to dissidents and people with not enough loyalty.
Thank you for an absorbing piece. Especially interesting given that Hebrew is a fluency of yours.
🙏
A brilliant article, Avigail, and an equally exquisite (and raw, honest) reply to the pathetic mind-fart of Mr Lindsay. Quite how he got to that after reading your article (assuming he did?) is hard to fathom.
But thank you for this marvellous exposition of why these Zionists behave - and think - in the way that they do. Upsetting and horrific, sure; but vital truth that needs to be heard and amplified across the world.
Thank you Steve, I appreciate it. And thanks for taking the time to read the article.
Ritter et al 1999. “The Trauma Myth,” book by a female author. That’s all you need to know. My views are not controversial in the field.
I do work as a peer counselor for people with a certain mental disorder. I’m an expert on it so I have people coming from all over the world to work with me.
One of the areas I ended up specializing in was people who are troubled by thoughts of being attracted to or wanting to molest children.
In order to work with these folks I had to do a deep dive into pedophilia, hebephilia, and child molestation. I studied these things for years and read everything I could find.
I have to do differential diagnosis between this disorder and some others it looks like, but I got very good at that too.
However I cannot give legal DSM diagnoses. I send people to clinical psychologists for those.
I got very good at this, and people said I was as good as or better than their psychiatrist or psychologist. There are all sorts of regulated terms I cannot use, and I can’t say I do psychotherapy.
As in most states, anyone can do this. Just hang out your shingle and call yourself “Counselor: come talk to me about your problems.”
I can’t say I treat mental illness. I do have people coming to me with other disorders. I tell them I don’t have the training or education to work with this, but I will do the best I can. I can’t guarantee anything and it might not be different than talking to your friends or family or some guy in a bar.
I’m an expert on diagnosing this condition, but I’m not good at diagnosing much of anything else.
I get misdiagnosed people coming all the time. I tell them to fire their psychiatrist and get a new one. The disorder is not well understood even in the field.
I also work with problems in living, growth stuff, and deep stuff. I got good at that too.
The disorder I work with is called OCD.
They are called Scuds, not Scads.
There are indeed Mossad or better yet Mossad + CIA bases in Kurdistan.
I suppose the fact that we are also a settler-colonial state has something to do with our Israel support, but the most factor is that the Jewish Lobby in the US has bought off or terrorized all of the politicians to the extent that they do everything the Lobby orders them to do.
I’ve heard that a lot of Congressmen don’t even like Israel and don’t like being controlled this way.
If you go against Israel, the Lobby takes you out in a primary. It’s like the situation with the NRA in the US. The Jewish Lobby is simply Big Jewish Money in politics.
We have money-based elections in this country. 9 of the 25 largest donors to the Democratic Party are Jewish Lobby Jews. You go against Israel and the Democratic Party’s money dries up and the Republicans win.
With Republicans it feels much more ideological. Republican Party ideology now is fanatical support for Israel.
The “Jews control the media” meme is an old one. You could have said it was true 30 years ago but not now. However, Jews still have a vastly outsized presence in the industry.
I did a study and the Gentile controlled media wasn’t much different from the Jewish controlled part of it. Outlets go from Gentile to Jewish control and vice versa, and the Israel coverage remains the same.
I don’t have a good explanation for this. But this slanted media plays a big role in Americans’ pro-Israel sentiments.
Nobody can talk about this Lobby or the media issue because you immediately get labeled antisemite, and that’s a job and career killer. I think we have to get over this fear of being called names in order to have any progress on this matter.
I could go on but you get the picture.
The great historian and researcher Thomas Suarez had said that Zionism aims at making all antisemitic tropes come true. And then accuses of antisemitism those who catch Zionists enacting these tropes on the ground. Blood libel, Dual loyalty (single loyalty to Israel only), "Jews control the media", "rich Jews buy the politics", "Jews want to control the world", etc.
Yes, of course. Zionists, like all perpetrators are master projectors. They project themselves and their mindset on everyone else without any capacity for self-awareness or reflection.
Latest news is the missile theory on the assassination is wrong. Actually two months ago someone connected with Mossad placed a bomb in that residence he was staying in. It was then activated by remote control.
Pedophilia doesn’t harm a soul in and of itself. It’s just a way of thinking or better a sexual orientation. A better term would be child molestation.
I prefer it to child sexual abuse, a terrible term which now covers sex with teenagers, which is generally legal or covered under statutory rape.
Another problem with child sexual abuse is that the “victims” themselves often reject the term. A survey in Denmark of people who had been molested as children found that half of them said, “I don’t consider that abuse.”
Child molestation fits perfectly. A stunning percentage of adults who were molested claimed that they LIKED it believe it or not. It’s possible to enjoy getting molested but hardly possible to enjoy getting abused.
My father sexually abused me initially from age around three. And then there was a break because he did not have as much access to me as before, after my brother was born. He then started to abuse me again when I was about seven and my mother disappeared off to hospital for three months. He had contant access to me and I was not protected by anyone. He continued to prey on me, sexualise me and tried to touch me all the time, when I was a teenager and even as a young woman when I was already married. He collaborated with a friend of his who had two daughters on both sides of my age and they swapped us between them. It was horrific. Later my father would make regular trips to Thailand with male friends of his, where he would rape six year old girls. The reason I know about it is because he bragged about it openly and told stories in great detail to my first husband.
This is not a purely intellectual academic issue and you, Robert, clearly have no idea what you are talking about. If you have not been molested/sexually abused, you have no idea what it is like to be on the receiving end of it.
You sound like someone out of the 19th Century and it is because of views like yours that children have remain so unprotected for so long. Thankfully society has moved on from ignorant views like yours.
You have no comprehension of the dynamic of sexual abuse, the horrific forms it can take, the impact of threat and secrecy, the disruption to your sleep and your life, the inability to trust in the adults who are entrusted with your care. Sexual, indeed, all abuse and is a massive betrayal of children who need to be cared for and helped to develop and it is rightly defined as a crime..
As a psychotherapist (twenty-five years in private practice — are you a mental health professional? I am guessing not.) I work with many victims of sexual abuse of all kinds, and it is takes a great deal of hard work to recover from this abuse.
Child sexual abuse is always harmful. Your attempt at distinction between molestation and abuse is irrelevant. The issue is the imbalance of power, and the fact that someone with power just takes what they want, and the victim has no say in it. Sexual abuse falls under the broader category of adults using children to meet their own needs. It requires a profound absence of empathy, and an objectification of another human being with less power.
And if that’s the only issue you are taking from my article, it really worries me. I wonder why you are reading my essays at all.
Ritter et al 1999 is the last word on the subject. It has since been replicated many times. Child molestation is not inherently harmful. 70% of gay men molested a children said they LIKED it. With women the figure is 17% but I think it is higher because I meet women all the time who got molested and told me they LIKED it.
I still want child molestation to be illegal as I don’t want to live in a place where it is legal to do that to kids.
Also some kids are ABSOLUTELY harmed. The best figure I’ve seen is that 22% of molested girls suffer long term trauma. This can be severe and last decades or a lifetime. It’s terrible! It also seems associated with coercion.
The book by a woman called The Trauma Myth complements Ritter and is also a very important read.
The typical reaction after molestation is indifference and confusion. The child often thinks, “That was weird!” Kids don’t even know what sex is so they don’t know what to make of this.
50% of college women molested as girls are over it by college. Most of the damage is related to guilt and shame. But if we tell them that there’s nothing to be ashamed of and nothing is their fault, much of this damage goes away.
The takeaway point is that kids are more resilient than we think. You yourself stated that people have tremendous capacity for recovery from trauma is instructive.
Consensual sex between teenagers and each other and adults outside of a sexual abusive situation like you experienced is not inherently harmful at all. Humans have been doing this for 99% of our existence and no harm was ever found.
Nevertheless I support statutory rape laws and would not lower the AOC lower than 16 in the US. Societal distaste is a great reason to keep it illegal.
You are one of the ones to experience long term harm by your father, a monster. I’m so sorry! But your outcome is not typical. In fact it looks like only 25% of cases are like this.
Thank you so much Adam, for reading and for the effort. If I could, I would hire you as a professional proofreader and editor 😏. I have gratefully adopted everything you suggested.
Hi Avigail. It's my pleasure, as always. But is it okay if I email you the proofreading suggestions from now on? I've never been completely comfortable sending them to you as a post comment as they are just intended as a 1:1 communication from me to you, and I don't really want to receive replies from other people as has happened on this occasion. Can I use the email on the contact page of your website?
Of course, Adam. You are welcome to email me directly and as always I am grateful to you.
Thanks, I'd prefer that.
I was a copy editor for a newspaper in Philadelphia. I loved it. I enjoy reading your edits. 💯
That's very kind of you to say so Laura, but I'm afraid I won't be posting them as comments any longer as I prefer to just email them to Avigail directly from now on.
Understood 💯
Hi, Adam, I want to add that there are three types of colonialism: 1) colonialism proper that colonizes the land, all resources and the indigenous people, but resides elsewhere, having only an overseeing colonial population in the said colony, 2) settler-colonialism that not just colonizes the land and the resources, but RELOCATES a considerable, decisive number of people to besettle the land as the NEW population, however only displacing the indigenous into ghettos and reservations, creating apartheid (South Africa), 3) eliminationist colonialism that seeks to REPLACE the former population with a new, imported one COMPLETELY, however slowly (the goal and intent) - that is Israel. Israel is not just colonizing and besettling the land - it seeks to erase Palestine (as a country, as a cultural entity, as a people, as a memory, all its history, everything that can be said "Palestinian" and prohibit the very use of this word "Palestine"). That clearly distinguishes Israel from North American, South American, French or German colonialism. Similarly, the Ukrainian regime seeks to remove the actual population from Donbass and Crimea, erase all memory of Russian Ukraine, language, history, culture, tradition - and replace it with the imported alleged "Ukrainians". Population replacement is of course genocide by definition. Not just colonialism or even apartheid. (Not just me, also Ussama Makdisi and Thomas Suarez spoke about this distinction.)
No, Adam, I meant it as a reply to you, to remind you that "settler-colonialism" is not the same as just "colonialism" in general. You said "You probably don’t need both “colonialist” and “settler-colonialist” since they mean practically the same thing" - they are not the same, hence my comment to you .It is a free discussion of people's thoughts here, people certainly talk to each other too, not just addressing the author.
I'm on holiday and don't have the time or the wish to engage in discussion on any of these points, which in any case were only intended for Avigail in the first place. I've deleted the comments now and will email proofreading suggestions rather than posting them here to avoid this type of thing. This is not a criticism of any of your comments which are thoughtful and substantive. It's just that I don't have the time or the wish to engage in this discussion right now. Thanks.
I dunno Adam, some of this stuff is a bit picky. Other suggestions are correct though.