.
Pity would be no more,
If we did not make somebody Poor:
And Mercy no more could be,
If all were as happy as we;
And mutual fear brings peace;
Till the selfish loves increase.
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.
He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears:
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.
Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head;
And the Catterpiller and Fly,
Feed on the Mystery.
And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat;
And the Raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.
The Gods of the earth and sea,
Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain.
Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain.
William Blake: The Human Abstract, from Songs of Experience, 1794
Gaza Ministry of Agriculture estimates direct damages caused by the
Israeli war at around $250 million!: photo via Middle East Eye / Dr
Bassel Abuwarda on twitter, 20 August 2014
A man brought water to dying animals in Gaza Zoo, even in hard times we
don't forget animals!: photo via Dr Bassel Abuwarda on twitter, 20
August 2014
Gaza Strip the symbol of steadfastness ♡: photo via Sabreena-Gaza, 20 August 2014
American-made Israeli warplanes turned Gaza morning into blood and smoke
and debris: photo via Gaza Writes Back on twitter, 20 August 2014
RAFAH NOW, most of the injured are kids: photo via Falastinian on twitter, 20 August 2014
Initial pix of killed & injured after airstrikes hitting three residential houses in Rafah at the same time: photo via Mohammed M Abu Sadaa on twitter, 20 August 2014
Children of Gaza prepare for more violence: photo via Middle East Eye / Joe Catron on twitter, 20 August 2014
I don't know how many children must die before Israel is taken to war crimes court: photo via Sabreena-Gaza on twitter, 20 August 2014
Allouh family martyrs in Deir Albalah... martyred after the bombing of their home without any warning...: photo via Said Shoaib on twitter, 20 August 2014
Official: 22 Palestinian murdered by Israeli strikes since truce collapsed: photo by Anonymous Palestine on twitter, 20 August 2014
Not how life should turn out for a baby. Children are suffering the most in Gaza Under Attack: photo via Dr Bassel Abuwarda on twitter, 20 August 2014
Heartbreaking: Israel violates ceasefire and terrorizes people and kills an infant: photo via Joe Catron on twitter, 19 August 2014
What REALLY happens in Gaza: image via AKAoptimistic on twitter, 20 August 2014
Slaughter in Gaza: the lessons of history: photo via ISM Palestine, 20 August 2014
Netanyahu after Al Qassam speech :D: photo by Dana on twitter, 20 August 2014
Oh my goooooood another huge explosiiiioooon: photo via HaneenElQadi on twitter, 20 August 2014
Huge explosion right now!!!!: photo via HaneenElQadi on twitter, 20 August 2014
Another massive explosion shakes Gaza City!: photo via Occupied Air on twitter, 20 August 2014
Israeli strike killed Gaza commander's wife and child: Hamas: photo via ISM Palestine on twitter, 20 August 2014
Israel kills several in new strikes on Gaza: photo via ISM Palestine on twitter, 20 August 2014
This F16 missile targeted passengers hall at Rafah crossing today. Didn't explode, thanks God: photo via Youssef M. Aljamal on twitter, 20 August 2014
He, little, promised much, Too soon untied: He only dreamt he lived. And then he died: photo via Gaza Writes Back on twitter, 20 August 2014
Gaza this morning: photo via Falasteen on twitter, 20 August 2014
Israel Government teach their children to hate even before they start to hold the weapons !!!!!!: photo via Dr-Mohammed N. Ziara on twitter, 20 August 2014
Israel's "pinpoint" bombardment of Gaza: image via ronnie barkan on twitter, 20 August 2014
Organizers saying this is the 3rd time police have come. Last night they had assault weapons: photo via ShordeeDooWhop, 19 August 2014
Fox says man in this picture is beaten nearly unconscious w/broken eye socket. No really, the white dude: photo via the silver burrito on twitter, 20 August 2014
St. Louis Police Not All That Interested In How People End Up Shot, Apparently: photo via R Saddler on twitter, 20 August 2014
Records show Ferguson police made more than DOUBLE the arrests they reported: photo via The Root on twitter, 20 August 2014
At least 47 people were arrested on the 10th night of Ferguson protests: photo via New York Daily News on twitter, 20 August 2014
Arrested for being out at night without Free Papers: photo via zellie on twitter, 20 August 2014
Officer just held a gun up and threatened to shoot me as I was walking to the distraction: photo via {Young}ist on twitter, 20 August 2014
Ferguson: photo via Annie Shields on twitter, 20 August 2014
Ferguson: photo by Claire Ward / Vice News, 20 August 2014
This little boy watched his home being demolished by Israel. This is why we Block the Boat: photo via 14 Friends Palestine, 20 August 2014
Just walked back to main entrance from side entrance. Crowd is still going strong!: photo via Not Frantz Fanon on twitter, 19 August 2014
Israeli ship is blocked from unloading in Oakland for four straight days: photo via ISM Palestine on twitter, 20 August 2014
Around 50 picketers at Berth 22 (1599 Maritime) to Block The Boat one more time: photo via Kumars Salehi, 20 August 2014
California picketers prevent Israeli cargo ship from docking: photo via Joe Catron on twitter, 19 August 2014
Israeli ship blockade continues in California: photo via ISM Palestine, 19 August 2014
Solidarity & hugs to West Coast Block The Boat whose protests stopped Israeli ship from docking: photo via Sherry Wolf on twitter, 16 August 2014
Thousands of ppl -- Chanting 7th and
Mandela -- Not another nickel not another dime for Israeli crime: photo
via Alyssa on twitter, 16 August 2014
Won again! Made history!
Longshoremen ordered 2 go home.
Longest boat has been blocked: photo by Alyssa via Solidarity Gaza, 20 August 2014
Oakland police intervening to try and open our picket line at Block the Boat. We are resolved to continue resisting: photo via Todd Zimmer, 20 August 2014
The heartbreaking continues in too many places in the world.
ReplyDeleteThere is a site I came across named 'Humanize Palestine'. It shows those killed as you might find them in any other place not at war. So many are so young. . . from new-borne to early '30s. The particulars beneath the photos underscore the extent to which this war is destroying entire generations.
Tom, the resemblance between the forces occupying Ferguson and Gaza has a very real connection, as it turns out. So “spreads the dismal shade.”
ReplyDelete“Under the cover of counterterrorism training, nearly every major police agency in the United States has traveled to Israel for lessons in occupation enforcement, a phenomenon that journalist Max Blumenthal dubbed “the Israelification of America’s security apparatus.” Israeli forces and US police departments are so entrenched that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has opened a branch in Tel Aviv.” Found here: http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/israel-trained-police-occupy-missouri-after-killing-black-youth
Would it be an exaggeration to say that the next stage of this counterterrorism training would consist of US policemen fighting alongside the Israeli army in Gaza?
ReplyDeleteThe spectacle of storm trooper pseudo-Special Forces mechanized militiamen hidden inside Darth Vader costumes masquerading as community protectors might seem laughable were it not so terrifying..
ReplyDeleteGrowing police use of military equipment faces scrutiny: LA Times, 15 August 2014
Hazen, Rana Khalek's piece caught my attention too.
Now and then thinking people undergo a change of heart.
The former longtime Seattle police chief, Norm Stamper, has admitted that he was entirely wrong in his draconian approach to policing the 1999 WTO riots.
I heard him interviewed a few days ago. He explained that a fear of young black men is instilled in police in the early days of police academy training. "You learn that this is a dangerous line of work... you learn where the danger is probably going to be coming from..."
Former Seattle police chief during WTO unrest appalled by Ferguson violence: LA Times, 16 August 2014
Maureen, Hazen, Vassilis -- immensely cheered by your continuing demonstration that there remains an abiding spirit of fairness, somewhere, in this world.
Reading backwards today, Tom.
ReplyDeleteSoon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head
The right of return for who?
Who do the police protect?
That song remains as pertinent today as it was in 1988, possibly more so.
ReplyDeleteThe dismal shade of Mystery comes down over us all in the form of mis/disinformation.
The lies are believed only by those who deploy them and those who gapingly insist on believing.