The Palestinian Holocaust?

This BBC article today make me sick to my stomach. The key excerpt:

[Israeli deputy defense minister] Matan Vilnai said Palestinians risked a “shoah”, the Hebrew word for a big disaster – and for the Nazi Holocaust.

Mr Vilnai said Israel would use all its might to defend itself, after rockets hit the city of Ashkelon, 10km (six miles) from Gaza.

…

The Iranian-made rockets are said to have a range of about 22km (14 miles)

Yeah you read that right. Israel’s defense department just threatened a holocaust on Gaza citizens. Oh, the circle of life. I’m going to stop myself now from writing some scathing things about the Israeli occupation, actually; I just hope this doesn’t escalate (Iran).

Do yourself a favor and download some Sheva (warning: audio plays automatically). Sheva are a new-age Israeli band that just drip with peace and love (that, and didgeridooes!). The song ‘Salaam‘ is a great starting point. It’s an epic song about peace (actually, they just repeat the refrain peace in the world) completely sung in Arabic!

Patriotism: The Torture Playlist

I figure this is a good starting point for this blog; it integrates both music and the politics of war:

Mother Jones has an interesting run-down of the songs played by US guards and interrogators while torturing inmates captive in US military prisons. According to the author, Justine Sharrock, the playlist is based upon a

‘ leaked interrogation log, news reports, and the accounts of soldiers and detainees’

Yes. The Meow Mix song, the Bee Gees, Niel Diamond and David Gray are all indeed torturous songs. Personally (were I masochistic enough), I would have included some Fall Out Boy, Miley Cyrus, or really anything released by Jive Records after 1991.

Saying that, we’ll see is Bruce or Metallica are disgusted enough by this information to sue the DOD for copyright infringement. After all, I doubt even Don McLean licensed his all-American jig to harmonize with the muffled screams of those humans we deem ‘enemies’.