VivirLatino

Following up on Mala’s post about the relative silence from Obama about Gaza comes this article by the BBC News which explains possible reasons why Obama may be staying silent on this issue–at least for now:

Gaza is a political minefield for Mr Obama.

If he makes a statement that suggests he would pursue a different Middle East policy from that of the Bush team, it would pull the rug from under the current administration’s diplomatic efforts in the region.

It would also cost him Republican goodwill at home if he were to undermine President Bush in that way.

If he issues a statement which puts him in lock step with the Bush team’s approach, then he loses flexibility when the issue arrives in his in-tray in two weeks time.

Whatever he says now will be regarded as policy, but the political landscape in the Middle East could be quite different when he is sworn in.

I think the essay offers some really great reasoning–but I also think that it’s vitally important to question why so many people seem to think that there are no connections to be made between Gaza and Puerto Rico. Does taking different paths on the road of resistance make situation of colonialism less present? Does a colonial country “giving” your country to another country really make colonialism “ok”? In a more abstract sense–does Puerto Rico (or Mexico or any other (former) colonial outpost) really not suffer from the effects of colonialism today as we speak? Is there a reason why so many former colonial outposts in Latin America are so unconscionably poor, politically unstable, and chronically dealing with guerrilla warfare? Is it really because Latin@s (along with Gazans/Arabs apparently) are inherently violent and unable to civilized? Or are the effects of colonialism perhaps more devastating than we are willing to admit?

This is so awful, so disturbing. I am just sick watching it.

I got this video from Huffington Post, which did a really nice job of showing why independent media (or media that is not supported by mainstream corporations) is so vitally necessary.

via Ansel comes this really great report on a protest in Austin, Texas against the Israeli bombing of Gaza.

A small clip:

As darkness began to fall and the chilly night air set in, the mass of protesters in front of the Capitol’s twenty-foot Christmas tree dwindled. But a dozen or so children of Palestinian families weren’t phazed at all – they kept singing and chanting more than two hours after the protest began. Drivers passing by noticed the excitement and honked their approval

It’s a great report and really made me happy to hear so many accented voices out protesting against this horror. Go listen to the whole thing.

Then please watch the following take down of Joe Scarborough by Zbigniew Brzezinski in regards to Israel’s attack on Gaza:

Do you see here how many of the arguments people are using about why this monstrous attack is justified (Israel was pushed into, Israel was defending itself, what would the U.S. do in similar circumstances, you can’t blame the U.S. for this violence, etc) are all lines that have shown up in comments lately? Or on blog posts? Or are repeated chronically through mainstream news sources?

Who are we going to preference in who we listen to here? Joe Scarborough, or a National Security Adviser?

I know who I choose.