Discussion (2)¬

1. Zapata says:

   July 30, 2014 at 8:07 am

   Mr. Bell, as a veteran of the civil rights movement in Miss. in the 60s, and one who work on (and was arrested multiple times for) the anti-apartheid movement, I have to take exception to your establishment characterization of both. The law of the land in our country in the pre-60s was enshrined in “separate but equal” statutes. Segregation was legal until we put our bodies on the line to bring the issue to the forefront of U.S. public view, and when the majority of the non-southern population became disgusted enough with the firehoses and dogs, they changed the law. In South Africa, none of the organizations from the ANC to BCM and SASO ever challenged the Boer government’s “right to exist.” We won that battle when the spotlight of truth convinced the populations of other nations that S. Africa was a pariah nation. I assume the same will be true in Israel and its Bantustan of the occupied territories, and second class citizenship for Palestinians living in the country itself. Cartoons like yours for 7/29 just whitewash over the murderous attempts at Israeli genocide.

   • Darrin Bell says:

     July 30, 2014 at 2:54 pm

     “Mr. Bell, as a veteran of the civil rights movement in Miss. in the 60s, and one who work on (and was arrested multiple times for) the anti-apartheid movement, I have to take exception to your establishment characterization of both. The law of the land in our country in the pre-60s was enshrined in “separate but equal” statutes. Segregation was legal until we put our bodies on the line to bring the issue to the forefront of U.S. public view, and when the majority of the non-southern population became disgusted enough with the firehoses and dogs, they changed the law.”

     I have no idea why you would take exception with my saying you were demanding what the Constitution guaranteed us. That’s exactly what you were doing. There are laws, and then there’s the Constitution. Jim Crowe laws were unconstitutional. People didn’t change the laws because they grew disgusted, they rescinded UNCONSTITUTIONAL laws because they grew disgusted.

     “In South Africa, none of the organizations from the ANC to BCM and SASO ever challenged the Boer government’s “right to exist.”

     …Yes, that’s exactly what I wrote in the cartoon.

     “We won that battle when the spotlight of truth convinced the populations of other nations that S. Africa was a pariah nation. I assume the same will be true in Israel and its Bantustan of the occupied territories, and second class citizenship for Palestinians living in the country itself. Cartoons like yours for 7/29 just whitewash over the murderous attempts at Israeli genocide.”

     There’s a lot that’s humiliating and brutal, and unjust about the occupation, but I vehemently disagree that Israel is attempting to commit genocide. Israel hasn’t tried to remove Arabs, hasn’t tried to slaughter them, and inside Israel, Arab Israeli citizens make up about 25% of the population and have full citizenship rights (I’m not sure what you mean by “second class citizenship,” but if you’d like to explain, I’ll listen). That’s not genocide.