COSATU House, 10th, For Gaza

The destruction of the Gaza power station brought it all back. The first reports, no doubt picked up from Israeli press releases, said only that the power station had provided “40%” of Gaza’s power. Only in one later report did it appear in a small line that “the remaining 60% is provided by the Israel Electricity Commission”. This vile Israeli act was not a partial but a total reduction of the autonomous power-generating capacity of the Gaza Palestinians to zero. It was not an act of “collective punishment” as some have said. It was much worse that that. It was mass torture of the worst, psychological, kind. The nature of psychological torture is clearly shown in Stan Winer’s article (thanks for sending it to us, Stan), linked below, called “Tortured Fragments of History”. Torture at this level has the object of “reversing” the nature and mentality of the victims. These “psychological torturers (require) to have total control of the environment. Existing mental programming can then be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.” In “The Real Reasons for Israel's Invasion of Gaza - Israeli experiment in human despair” Jonathan Cook sets out quite clearly the strategy and tactics of the Israelis – mass emiseration of an entire poulation (See linked article below.) This is atrocity on a vast scale playing itself out in front of our eyes. What can one do? You hope it will stop, but you know by the nature of the Israeli strategy and tactics that it will not stop. You know that the next atrocity is already planned before the current one is even started. The whole thing is systematic. South Africans have no excuse for ignoring it or not seeing it for what it is. Young South Africans have been told by the older ones. The older ones can remember what “total strategy” means. Those who were in exile can still remember a time 20-odd years ago when the two spin-doctors, Adriaan Vlok for the apartheid regime and Benjamin Netanyahu for the Zionist entity used to appear on nearly every news bulletin around the world. Each was allowed as much time as he wanted to spread his filthy lying “version” of what was happening. South Africans have made some progress. Vlok was never punished, but at least he is out of the way. It has become too easy for us to ignore the plight of our Palestinian comrades. We ask ourselves what can be done? too silently The answer is that we must get together around this question. COSATU is providing a lead. On Monday 10th July at 14h30 on the 10th Floor of COSATU House, 1 Leyds Street, Braamfontein, COSATU will be hosting a “media conference” to discuss the Gaza situation. (See the linked notice for Condemnation of Gaza Massacre and Media Conference). This is more than just another press briefing. It is also a chance for people to gather in solidarity and to hear proposals for the way forward. Please, Comrades, support this event even if you do nothing else! Let us not allow open ourselves to accusations of the kind made by the Zimbabwean MDC Youth Assembly (see link) who say in relation to recent attacks by the Tsvangirai faction, among other things: “What we find more appalling as a democratic youth movement is the deafening silence by the human rights defenders in the civic society. What honestly is it that could be termed civic of a society that pays a deaf ear when evil is perpetrated? …the human rights defenders have on every occasion responded with disastrous passive silence.” The MDC youth have exposed the limitations of “civil society” proponents of democracy who are not themselves democratic. We have to do better than this. Click on these links: COSATU condemnation of Gaza massacre, Media Conference (Notice) Israeli experiment in human despair, Jonathan Cook, Counterpunch (1478 words) Tortured Fragments of History, Stan Winer (3120 words) MDC Youth Assembly Condemns Attack On Party Officials (521 words)