There’s a comparison I’m very reluctant to make. Because it’s a very overused, and abused comparison. I feel if I made this comparison, I would be deploying the oldest trick in the book, and really, what would that say about…….
Fuck it. I’m comparing the way the Western Media genuflects to Israel to the classic dystopian novel 1984!
1984 is set a year before I was born, but published 36 years before I was born. And it became the absolute benchmark for dystopian fiction. And alas, it became a victim of its own success. Because people started describing things as “like 1984” or “Orwellian” that were either trivial things, or positive things.
So you’d hear, “I was fined for littering today, it’s Orwellian!” Or, “I’m only allowed drive on the left side of the road, it’s like 1984!” Or, “There was a gay couple sitting in the park, and I approached them, and, really politely mind, told them their lifestyle was an abomination, and they told me to fuck off. Who do they think they are thought policing me?”
And it is sickening how the likes of Donald Trump, responsible for bringing America ever closer to fascism, have co-opted 1984:
It’s interesting how when a lot of these conservatives talk about incidents when they were victims of the “thought police” they’re talking about incidents when a private company decided it wanted nothing to do with them. Eh, that’s called the free market, a system you claim to defend. “The free market is great, the free market is God, except, now it’s working against me, so I hate it!”
So, even though making comparisons to 1984 have been rendered absolutely meaningless, fuck it, I need to compare what’s going on now to 1984, because it’s too damn appropriate!
“‘Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four”?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’
‘Four.’
‘And if the party says that it is not four but five — then how many?’
‘Four.’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four.’
The needle went up to sixty.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!’
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!’
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Five! Five! Five!’
‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?’
‘Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!'”
That’s from 1984, which you can read here:
https://george-orwell.org/1984/
Two days ago, an Iranian missile hit an Israeli hospital.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4edzy0vqeo
And I want to make it clear that even given the context (Iran responding to a completely unprovoked attack from Israel), targeting hospitals is wrong. So I want to say that I’m not okay with the fact that an Iranian missile struck this hospital. But, the BBC is quite happy to talk about how an Iranian missile struck one Israeli hospital. So, they’re just as happy to talk about how Israel has destroyed every hospital in Gaza. Aren’t they? Aren’t they? Aren’t they?
Silly goose! Of course they’re not!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crenz9d3181o
Yup, BBC has decided not to broadcast the documentary it was supposed to broadcast, about doctors in Gaza. Due to “impartiality concerns”. Oh there’s impartiality concerns alright. The concern is that the BBC is willing to talk about Iran bombing one hospital in Israel, but gets squeamish when it comes to talking about how Israel has bombed every hospital in Gaza.
“‘Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that Israel’s claims of having a right to defend itself are spurious at best”?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up a picture, depicting a map of Iran.
‘What country is this, Winston?’
‘Iran.’
‘And if the party says Israel has a right to attack Iran, does it?’
‘Well, I don’t think that follows. If we say that a country can just attack another country unprovoked, I mean, where does it end?’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the map of Iran still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
‘Does Israel have a right to defend itself, Winston?’
‘The question is meaningless, Israel attacked Iran unprovoked, and has committed a mass slaughter against the Palestinian people that has been going on for almost two years.’
The needle went up to sixty.
‘Does Israel have a right to defend itself, Winston?’
‘What they’re doing doesn’t qualify as self defense! What else can I say? It doesn’t qualify as self defense!’
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the map of Iran filled his vision. The map stood up before his eyes like a pillar, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably Iran.
‘Does Israel have a right to defend itself, Winston?’
‘Well, perhaps in a hypothetical situation where they were attacked unprovoked! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? As I said, perhaps there is a hypothetical situation where they would have a right to defend themselves!’
‘Does Israel have a right to defend itself, Winston?’
‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’
‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think Israel’s attacks on Iran were wrong, and that the mass killing of the Palestinian people was wrong. Does Israel have a right to defend itself?’
‘No! yes! No! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!'”
So, am I being a bit hyperbolic by comparing the Western media’s defense of Israel to the horrific torture scenes in 1984? No, I’m not actually. Look at this video:
Are you really going to tell me hearing this isn’t painful? Are you really going to tell me that listening to Bill Clinton talk about how Israel didn’t want to kill anyone in Gaza but Hamas made them do it, isn’t painful? I’ll tell you, listening to Clinton talk, I begged to be tortured as Winston Smith was, that would have been so much less more cruel and inhumane than listening to Clinton!
Israel has kept the people of Palestine in a state of apartheid since 1948. Since then they have been subjected to having no civil liberties and Israel having a complete right to kill them with zero consequences.
It almost sounds like, if we wanted to be consistent, we would have to say, Palestine has the right to defend itself. Was that what was said about the October 7th attacks?
Now, despite the context of the October 7th attacks, war crimes are never acceptable, but, how come, after apartheid since 1948, nobody says, “Palestine has a right to defend itself,” but because of the October 7th attacks, Israel is allowed to commit a live-streamed genocide, with the constant excuse of, “Israel has a right to defend itself?”
I’m deeply worried about how truth, and basic logic, are being twisted to suit whatever Israel want them to be. The truth is whatever Israel says it. There was talk of “the tide turning” for a while. How the mass slaughter of men, women, children, and babies, has gone on for so long, and so relentlessly, that even people with the hardest hearts could no longer look away, or at least cry crocodile tears for the mass slaughter in order to save their career, but, while it looked like the tide was turning for a while, it looked like all that happened, was a slight change in strategy.
Yes, now there is a small bit of talk about how Israel’s genocide of Gaza is unacceptable. But, if anyone tries to do anything to help the people of Gaza, they will be ridiculed in the Western media! So, yes the genocide is wrong, but don’t try to help anyone in Gaza, why would you want to do that, that’s weird!
Like what happened to Greta Thunberg and the crew of the Madleen. This brave crew tried to get aid into Gaza, and the crew were intercepted by Israel, and then deported. It’s important to note that their boat was boarded in international waters, where Israel has no recognized jurisdiction.
It’s important to note also that while the crew of the Madleen were returned to their home countries, they could have been injured, or killed, because Israel has murdered people trying to get aid into Gaza before. So, it took a level of courage that most of us do not possess for the crew of the Madleen to do what it did.
So how did the British media, including everyone’s favourite vacuous entity, Piers Morgan, react? They parroted Israel’s exact line about the Madleen being a “selfie yacht”.
So, a crew of aid workers, who didn’t know for certain they were going to come back alive, tried to deliver aid to a people who are suffering an absolutely horrific famine, and the British media ridicules them? While I detest the way the media talks about Greta Thunberg, I’m not worried that she’s going to stop what she’s doing, I’m not sure she’s even able to stop doing what she knows is right, but few of us have the resolve she has. So I’m deeply worried about the fact that people who might be considering doing things to help get aid into Gaza, will see that if you do this, you will be made a laughing stock by the ghoulish Western media, and will have second thoughts about doing so.
Welcome to the year 2025. Where 2+2 is extremely fucking 5.
“‘Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that the Israeli-Palestine conflict in not complicated”?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up a map depicting Israel and Palestine.
‘Is this conflict complicated Winston?’
‘No.’
‘And if the party says that it is not simple, but complicated, is it complicated?’
‘Well, I don’t see the argument for that. It all started in 1948, when the state of Israel was formed, a decision which took not account whatsoever of the Palestinian people who were living there. To me it’s quite simple, Israel is the aggressor, I don’t see any complexity to it whatsoever’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the map of Israel and Palestine still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
‘Is it complicated, Winston?’
‘As I was already saying, it has been consistently the case since 1948 that Israel has been the aggressor, so I think it’s quite simple actually.’
The needle went up to sixty.
‘Is it complicated Winston?’
‘No! No! What else can I say? No!’
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the map of Israel and Palestine filled his vision. The map stood up before his eyes like a pillar, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably a map.
‘Is it complicated, Winston?’
‘No! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? No! No!’
‘Is it complicated, Winston?’
‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’
‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think that Israel is the aggressor and that Palestine is the aggrieved party. Is it complicated Winston?’
‘No! Yes! No! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!'”
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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