I raised a few blogs ago the idea of the US working class being in the front lines, the first victims of ideological war on workers by US capitalism. The media is so censored and controlled that 40-year old college graduates have never heard of Mai Lai or the Gulf of Tonkin. The overthrow of governments by US capitalism from Guatemala to Iran and the support of murderous dictators from Mobutu to the Shah are hardly ever mentioned.
With regards to the Middle East, the role of Israel and it horrific treatment of Palestinians is always in the context of the poor Israeli’s trying to defend the only “democracy” in the region from the raging anti-Semitic Arab hordes. But Israel is a democracy for Jews only. It is a religious, state; the Zionists regime is racist to the core. For Palestinians, Israel resembles the Apartheid regime of South Africa more than a traditional democracy. Palestinians in the occupied territories are at the mercy of the misnamed Israeli Defense Force as well of the fanatical religious settlers who, like true Zionists should, believe all the land from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean is their birthright, was given to them by god. For the settlers, Russians, Americans, South Africans and other nationalities, the Palestinians don’t exist. And then there’s Gaza.
The case of Sabbar Kashur, a Palestinian man sentenced to 18 months in prison for raping a Jewish woman reflects the level of racism built in to Israeli society. Kashur was convicted of rape although the sex was by all accounts consensual. The crime was that Kashur told the woman he was Jewish. "If she hadn't thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have co-operated," the judges argued.
Sherine Tadros, an Al Jazeera correspondent for Israel and the Middle East put it this way:
Consider this scenario – a girl meets a guy while out shopping. They make eye contact, they flirt, he tells her he’s a business mogul about to close on a billion dollar deal. she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, he’s been searching for her all his life, etc etc, you know the drill.
They go to a nearby building and have sex. Both adults, both consenting.
Days pass and the girl realises she wasn’t the woman of his dreams and he is never going to call her - in fact his name is Bob and he works at the newsagents around the corner.
The girl then proceeds to file a criminal complaint against the guy for rape and indecent assault. The judge, while admitting the sex was consensual, accuses the guy of misrepresenting himself and sentences him to 18 months in prison for rape.
Incredible right? (1)
The issue of whether deception is rape or not is a valid one and I am not attempting to make arguments for or against that but the case of Sabbar Kashur is an example of the racism that pervades Israeli society and Zionist ideology. Laurie Penny’s blog in the New Statesman raises other interesting aspects about the case. It turns out that the woman was a victim of extreme sexual violence at the hands of her father. Penny raises powerful points about sexism and chauvinism. The Israeli state, and a male judge, protecting the sanctity of a woman’s body against desecration by an Arab male but seemingly absent during an entire period when this woman needed help the most, a great piece. Penny’s piece makes for good reading.
(1) Is Being Arab Israel’s Criteria For Rape
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