Great points, Cindy. Everyone has a "right to exist." The problems begin when you displace others from their land in order to "exist." RFK, Jr.'s comments were surprising and very disappointing. One of the few good things about the "Woke" Left is that many of them openly condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. It wouldn't even have been controversial to tactfully say that. And then to follow it up by holding an Israeli flag in a pro-Israeli march? Not exactly a profile in courage. Thanks!
Jun 9, 2023·edited Jun 9, 2023Liked by Cindy Sheehan
I dunno about the question of nations rights to exist. I dont really understand the question. Im obviously against occupations. But one of my favorite things about Ireland (and the faves are quickly disappearing) is that you'd be hard pressed to find a flag over here. Even beautiful tri-colours are rare. You'd see county flags during friendly sports competitions but thats about it. Its refreshing compared to insane America where there is a huge US flag every 10ft across the entire country as if ppl dont even know and have to be constantly reminded what fucking country they live in. Never owned a US flag in my life over there.
The entire notion of "rights" is nonsense. It's not anywhere in the Bible or other scriptures. God talks about our duties, not our "rights". "Rights" were invented by aristocrats and further expanded by the terrorists of the French and US revolutions. The history of "rights" is consistently bad. Courts always use "rights' to grant special privileges to aristocrats, above and beyond the privileges already given by their class,
I wrote and performed an Open Mic piece called "Everyone's a Palestinian" a few years ago. From my perspective, approaching everyone as a "Palestinian" kind of annihilates hierarchical biases and that sort of thing. Not being a racist is so easy, more people should try it. Really good column, by the way. What is a State? Not to go overlong here, but I will say that there is no such thing as a "State of Nature"; the so-called "State of Nature" was invented by sycophantic political philosopher Think Tank types to justify their tyrannical Overlords and imperious bureaucracies. Not sure what RFK Jr is thinking, but he seems to be serious about running, and AIPAC's just another "Brick in the Wall," so to speak...
Just a quick response as I have A LOT to say on the subject of Israel-Palestine but for now...NO pretender to the throne (ie challenger for the Presidency of the US) will get ANY traction unless they are seen rallying around the Israeli flag and kowtowing to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee aka US Zioni$t Central). RFK jr is only doing what has to be done. Shameful.
Jun 9, 2023·edited Jun 9, 2023Liked by Cindy Sheehan
My two cents: Cindy, I agree with your axiom: "in general, every nation has a right to exist without interfering with the existence of other nations". In context I think the argument is framed more accurately stated this way: The Palestinians should recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and vise versa, of course. The "right to exist" is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the 19th-century French philosopher Ernest Renan, any state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. An important question in my view is do the citizens of any nation have the right to defend themselves should they be invaded by another and if so to what degree? Humans have inalienable rights but are governed by states rights. I remain unclear as to how one would separate those rights should any country be deemed to not have the overall "right to exist". Fun fact: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.
Question: who decides if something is a "nation"? What is the definition of "nation"? i.e. I am going to state that the property upon which I live and have lived for a quarter of a century is my own territorial state within the United States. Why is that not ok? Or is it ok? What is the actual definition of a nation? ......Israel does have a right to exist as it has always existed. Palestine has a right to exist as it has always existed. Hmmm...so where is the boundary of these nations? And how far back in history do we have to go? It seems to me the biggest bully decides boundaries...in fact, isn't that what has always happened throughout history? We should simply call Israel and the USA the bully states. And I declare my home and property Joanna State. On another equally ludicrous note, RFK Jr...I was rather surprised at this stance but then his wife had a hisssy fit when he connected the Plandemic with the Holocaust, remember? His wife is Jewish, correct? A Hollywood actress and a good one who wants and needs to maintain her popularity. It appears Mr. Kennedy loves and needs her particularly after his previous experience and tragic loss, correct? I suppose he still wants to stay in this current marriage.... right? He's human. He's flawed. And remember a lawyer/politician will do what it takes to get in power...that is the nature of the game....here is what I know as a volunteer woman on his campaign. He is the only one of prominence who went after Big Pharma, Fauci and the destruction of society with any fervor and with hard work and FACTS. So no matter his flaws and we all have them, he is getting my vote in the primary. Incidentally, anyone out there must declare themselves a Democrat ---- ugh I know -------to be able to vote in primary....so I held my nose and took some gag prevention meds and just re-registered as a Democrat because I think RFK Jr is our only hope...simply because he is a Kennedy.
A nation, I think, is just a useful word for a political community within (so far) a geographic area. The "nation" has acquired a special legal and political status under international law through centuries of historical development, which solidifies its legitimacy as a "base-level", inviolable political community, but it does not have that status in the first instance just by virtue of being a "nation". So, if the question is whether a nation has a right to exist then I think its mystical properties emanating from its special form should be discarded at the outset before seeking to answer the question. In turn, I think the discarding means that the question becomes, does a voluntary political community have a right to exist? The answer to that question is an obvious yes, provided it doesn't infringe on other political communities or become involuntary internally (this is very similar to your "yes and no" answer). The trouble is, what is a voluntary political community? That's hard to answer, and it also can be hard to know when a voluntary political community becomes involuntary internally to its own constituents and externally to other voluntary political communities. But it's pretty obvious in the case of Israel that that country is not a voluntary political community vis-a-vis the Palestinians.
Great points, Cindy. Everyone has a "right to exist." The problems begin when you displace others from their land in order to "exist." RFK, Jr.'s comments were surprising and very disappointing. One of the few good things about the "Woke" Left is that many of them openly condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. It wouldn't even have been controversial to tactfully say that. And then to follow it up by holding an Israeli flag in a pro-Israeli march? Not exactly a profile in courage. Thanks!
I dunno about the question of nations rights to exist. I dont really understand the question. Im obviously against occupations. But one of my favorite things about Ireland (and the faves are quickly disappearing) is that you'd be hard pressed to find a flag over here. Even beautiful tri-colours are rare. You'd see county flags during friendly sports competitions but thats about it. Its refreshing compared to insane America where there is a huge US flag every 10ft across the entire country as if ppl dont even know and have to be constantly reminded what fucking country they live in. Never owned a US flag in my life over there.
The entire notion of "rights" is nonsense. It's not anywhere in the Bible or other scriptures. God talks about our duties, not our "rights". "Rights" were invented by aristocrats and further expanded by the terrorists of the French and US revolutions. The history of "rights" is consistently bad. Courts always use "rights' to grant special privileges to aristocrats, above and beyond the privileges already given by their class,
I wrote and performed an Open Mic piece called "Everyone's a Palestinian" a few years ago. From my perspective, approaching everyone as a "Palestinian" kind of annihilates hierarchical biases and that sort of thing. Not being a racist is so easy, more people should try it. Really good column, by the way. What is a State? Not to go overlong here, but I will say that there is no such thing as a "State of Nature"; the so-called "State of Nature" was invented by sycophantic political philosopher Think Tank types to justify their tyrannical Overlords and imperious bureaucracies. Not sure what RFK Jr is thinking, but he seems to be serious about running, and AIPAC's just another "Brick in the Wall," so to speak...
Just a quick response as I have A LOT to say on the subject of Israel-Palestine but for now...NO pretender to the throne (ie challenger for the Presidency of the US) will get ANY traction unless they are seen rallying around the Israeli flag and kowtowing to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee aka US Zioni$t Central). RFK jr is only doing what has to be done. Shameful.
Unfortunately, RFK Jr. has come out as a strong supporter if Israel. Dam it all to hell.
Thank you Cindy.
My two cents: Cindy, I agree with your axiom: "in general, every nation has a right to exist without interfering with the existence of other nations". In context I think the argument is framed more accurately stated this way: The Palestinians should recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and vise versa, of course. The "right to exist" is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the 19th-century French philosopher Ernest Renan, any state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. An important question in my view is do the citizens of any nation have the right to defend themselves should they be invaded by another and if so to what degree? Humans have inalienable rights but are governed by states rights. I remain unclear as to how one would separate those rights should any country be deemed to not have the overall "right to exist". Fun fact: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.
Cindy, I invite you to read this Dr. Michael Rydelnik: https://www.chosenpeople.com/is-the-modern-state-of-israel-2/
Question: who decides if something is a "nation"? What is the definition of "nation"? i.e. I am going to state that the property upon which I live and have lived for a quarter of a century is my own territorial state within the United States. Why is that not ok? Or is it ok? What is the actual definition of a nation? ......Israel does have a right to exist as it has always existed. Palestine has a right to exist as it has always existed. Hmmm...so where is the boundary of these nations? And how far back in history do we have to go? It seems to me the biggest bully decides boundaries...in fact, isn't that what has always happened throughout history? We should simply call Israel and the USA the bully states. And I declare my home and property Joanna State. On another equally ludicrous note, RFK Jr...I was rather surprised at this stance but then his wife had a hisssy fit when he connected the Plandemic with the Holocaust, remember? His wife is Jewish, correct? A Hollywood actress and a good one who wants and needs to maintain her popularity. It appears Mr. Kennedy loves and needs her particularly after his previous experience and tragic loss, correct? I suppose he still wants to stay in this current marriage.... right? He's human. He's flawed. And remember a lawyer/politician will do what it takes to get in power...that is the nature of the game....here is what I know as a volunteer woman on his campaign. He is the only one of prominence who went after Big Pharma, Fauci and the destruction of society with any fervor and with hard work and FACTS. So no matter his flaws and we all have them, he is getting my vote in the primary. Incidentally, anyone out there must declare themselves a Democrat ---- ugh I know -------to be able to vote in primary....so I held my nose and took some gag prevention meds and just re-registered as a Democrat because I think RFK Jr is our only hope...simply because he is a Kennedy.
A nation, I think, is just a useful word for a political community within (so far) a geographic area. The "nation" has acquired a special legal and political status under international law through centuries of historical development, which solidifies its legitimacy as a "base-level", inviolable political community, but it does not have that status in the first instance just by virtue of being a "nation". So, if the question is whether a nation has a right to exist then I think its mystical properties emanating from its special form should be discarded at the outset before seeking to answer the question. In turn, I think the discarding means that the question becomes, does a voluntary political community have a right to exist? The answer to that question is an obvious yes, provided it doesn't infringe on other political communities or become involuntary internally (this is very similar to your "yes and no" answer). The trouble is, what is a voluntary political community? That's hard to answer, and it also can be hard to know when a voluntary political community becomes involuntary internally to its own constituents and externally to other voluntary political communities. But it's pretty obvious in the case of Israel that that country is not a voluntary political community vis-a-vis the Palestinians.