The topics discussed and the wording and agendas aired used to be relevant topics to all of us. while there are still a fair amount of decent action reports and invitations, there is now also a flood of opinionated paranoid schizophrenic posts borderline Nazi and right our racist commentators. people trying to figure our how far the rabbit hole goes sort of speak. chasing up global conspiracies and plots, which almost always will end up with "the Jews did it". Everything from "Tony Blair's Jewish Paymasters", to insane things like the zionists led revolt in Libya. All of these things were said and done here in indy. These things makes me extremely uncomfortable hanging out here. i don't know when the next post who's logical conclusion is that we need to eliminate the Jews come.

For all of you who think Jews/Zionists rule the world, I recommend taking a long look at yourselves, and re-evaluating what you believe to be true. the cold fact is that white people, mostly Americans rule the world. if it seems like Israel is getting a favourable treatment, you need to consider the interests of large corporate entities in America, not those of Israel/the Jews (Which in itself is a false association). If it was in Americas interest to nuke Israel they will do so without a second thought, but the business of meddling in other people's business is not a Jewish monopoly.

And as far as generalising goes, Jews aren't even the leaders of doing so. looking at the list of richest people in the world, the top one is Carlos Slim, a Mexican from Arab decent. Next up is Bill Gates, a white American. You'd need to scroll down quite a bit on the top 100 to get to anyone Jewish. But this is besides the point.

Indymedia used to have a very clear line about Israel, that is to say, the people on Indymedia used to have very intelligent approach to dealing with the Palestinian Israeli conflict. This was not one which implied that the Mossad is behind every single event world wide (As some global research people would have you think).

Resistance to the Israeli occupation and military rule should be welcomed here. opposition to the shallow "anti-semitism" calls made by Israel supporters should be challenged, and biblical association does not equate with the sort of abuses that take place daily in Israel/Palestine.

With that said, some of the things people say nowadays are just outright Anti-Jewish, Anti-Semitic if you prefer (Not going into the semantic debate about the exact definition of a Semite).

Indy used to have ISM people reporting from occupied Palestine, they would document their experience and post it here, and it was always good factual reporting of violations made by the Israeli army. The Palestine today podcast which is still going on gives very good information about events on regular basis.

I think it's clear from what I say until now that I do not think we should drop Israel/Palestine from our agenda, but with that in mind, ask yourself, why is Israel so high on our agenda? given that what's going there on daily basis is horrendous, there are worst off people then the Palestinians. If I would start listing the countries who's people are abused worst then the Palestinians I would be writing and researching for months.

suffice to say that almost every African country has people who's stories and struggles are worth following, that there are better organised resistance to occupation in South America, and more heroic tales in Asia. yet, Israel seem to attract the west's attention, and with it the activists effort disproportionally more so than any other place.

In fact there are most storied here about Israel then about England. If you choose to focus your energies on this particular conflict, then first of all, that is great, and should be welcomed. but also, ask yourself why. why Palestine, is it for the cred, for the glory and fame, for the fact that everyone knows or think they know the stakes in the conflict?

90% of the time spent by the UN Comittee for Human Rights focused on Israel. while there is little doubt that Israel is a serial violator of people's rights and autonomy, is it really appropriate to put this on the top of the agenda while there is a genocide in Darfur or a massacre in Syria?

I believe, that many of the activists who choose this topic do so because of the belief that Jews run the world. That Zionism is some secret sect similar to the masons and that the Jewish Lobby is the most powerful institute out there.

So let me clarify a few things:
There is not such thing as a Jewish interest, perhaps fighting Nazism and fascism is a "Jewish interest". But aside from that, there is not common interest that is shared amongst Jews. we don't all want to rule the world, we don't want to be rich and we don't want to "kill the Arabs". if some Jews want these things then you should hold it against them, not against their Jewishness.

Zionism is not a secret cult, it's an ideology, one which I oppose but non the less, not in itself a threat. It's the belief that there should be a Jewish state and nothing more. It does not in itself dictate anything about how the state should treat it's non Jewish citizens. It does not in itself imply the abuses and genocidal actions that the state of Israel takes.
If you were to ask people on the streets of Israel if they were Zionists they are as likely to say they are as when you ask British people in the street if they are patriots. most would say they are, but they would not necessarily mean they believe Israel should be an occupying force.
While I personally believe that it's wrong to define a nation based on an ethnic or religious group, and that this definition is set to discriminate against anyone of another group from the onset, this is my interpretation of this definition.
Much like the Vatican is a catholic state, and as such is set to discriminate against Non-Christian, that does not in itself means that Non-Christians would be discriminated against in it.
At times there were Communist Zionists and even a few Anarchist Zionists. Zionists do not rule the world behind closed doors, America does, and does so in plain view. It's stance on Israel stems from self interest and nothing more.

Now I can already see the flood of comments accusing me of being a Zionist pawn, or what not. but I cannot in clear conscience continue to visit a site that lets right out Nazi opinions be aired unchallenged, and with the recent flood of such attitudes I might even find myself having to attack a site which I used to love and appreciate.
This is a warning to the moderators, get your act together. I spend much more time then I should on this site, and have been for many years.
It used to be a valuable resource for activists, for people who actually wanted to go out and do things, now it just serves paranoid delusions in a sort of echo chamber.
I know you do not wish to log actions on here, and that a logging mechanism would steer many people away. I love the fact that Indy runs without any javascript (Well if you disable it it works fine), but there must be a way to fast track hiding offensive posts, and there must be a way to track down who is posting these unhelpful hate-mongering shit.

Now here is what I think Indy's line on Israel should be. This isn't definitive but I think it's a good start. first of all, we should support anyone who is fighting to gain his rights. and we should stand on the side of the oppressed always. that does not mean that anyone from the oppressed side should dictate our attitudes. Some are very intelligent critiques, others are just warmongers. Separate out the chum.

A few years ago, the socialists used to go hand in hand with the Muslims chanting things about slaughtering the Jews and what not, while we anarchists kept a safe distance from these lots, focusing our anger at the state. this is the safe and right position still. Jews are still the only group which is discriminated against from both sides of the divide. No one would dare using the same rhetoric against Muslims, black people or gypsies here that they feel comfortable using on Indy against us. When this god-awful war of terror ends, Muslims will return to being second class citizens while we will always be Jews, the worst of the worst.

The position on Palestine should be one which is centred around people's rights, not a particular political solution. There might be a Palestinian state, there might be two states, or there might be a Jewish/Palestinian state we cannot know... it's also immaterial. what's important is the well being of people living and breathing on that land. We should always oppose killing people, even if the death count is incredibly unbalanced towards one side, it's still wrong to kill people. even when it's clear where the oppressed is, and who is the oppressor, ours should be the third position sort of speak, disengaging from the nationalistic divide and worrying only about the lives of those caught in the middle.

We should expel all of the conspirators, they are not helping, and just sew confusion and insecurity. if you are fighting a system that is so powerful and is everywhere you might as well stay at home and fight it from in-front of your keyboard. if you believe that we can change this, that this complex system is made out of people and that it can be defeated you are much more likely to get yourself outside and start acting. these opinions are just scaring everyone out of their wits. That means no more global research, no more knot-eye-jaguar sort of expressions, no more the Zionist lobby did this or that etc.

The Palestinian people deserve a safe and decent lives where ever they happen to live (Within the green-line or outside). this is the priority. Self determination, food, homes education and rights. the things we all want, so should they have.

The Israeli Jews also deserve those things, and for the large part they have them. We should not wish to take those things away from them, any more then we wish to give them to anyone who lacks. Israeli Jews for the large part were also born and lived in Israel all their lives and also have some valid claim over this land. It's not our job to decide who has a stronger claim, just to pursue improvement in the conditions in which people live. there is no contradiction between the very justified claim of the Palestinians to this land and the equally justified claim that Jews have.

We should oppose Zionism, but in context, not as some monster secret self interest organisation, but as a false and harmful ideology. This should be kept in line with reason. We should oppose it as we are opposing any other nationalistic ideology. some nationalism can lead to genocide, while other kinds are mostly harmless but still false. Pride should not be rooted in the nation you happen to belong to. but if you are proud of "your nation", this does not always mean that you wish to take away from the pride of anyone else in "his own nation".

As a Jew, I always feel a little uncomfortable everywhere. This is to say, that I know that there are times it's better if I lie about where I come from, there are times where I should not "advertise" who I am, that I should always try and keep a low profile. I know i am safer surrounded by Anarchists then I would be surrounded by anyone. I don't live in Israel, nor the Palestinian territories, but I know I still have to watch my back. just as an Arab living in a Jewish neighbourhood might, so do I live in a mostly Asian neighbourhood. That is not to say I had any problem with any of my neighbours who are for the large part nice people. but I know that if I had a Hanukia on my window (Not that I would anyway), if I was to advertise my Jewishness I would not be as safe in my own home.

As safer as I feel inside the "Anarchist scene", I know this is not always the case. one of my first experiences in an anarchist gatherings, I had to deal with statements such as "I would never trust a Jew" or "I would talk to Nazis but I would never talk to the police".

I at one time were asked to point out people who's names sounded Jewish in a year book of some masonic lodge. while mostly they all had very English names, and while some had Germanic sounding names which could or could not indicate their Jewishness, there was never any accusations that British white people should be expelled, their religious or ethnic association was not taken into account, unless they were Jewish.

I cannot speak for other discriminated groups, even within Anarchist circles I see some hidden racism towards people of colour (which is not pink). I can see how much more sociable a black person would have to be to "fit in", and how often he would be the only one there who is obviously non-white.

Can you imagine an Indymedia article about the Congo headed with someone's "Nigger paymasters" ? of course not, this would blatantly be considered racist. even if you were to change the wordings to someone's "dark skinned paymasters" that would seem offensive. yet for a Jewish paymasters not an eyebrow is raised.
As a Jew, I know that another genocide of "my people" is not impossible in Europe, and that maybe right now it seems unlikely, but enough history have thought us that we will need to know how to go to the underground at times, that it's best to keep a few trustworthy friends who know how to live in the underground, and that when the time to fight comes the Anarchists are the only people to trust.
But, and it's not easy to admit, I feel a little safer knowing that if I had to flee, I could go to Israel and they will protect my well being. this is why so many Zionists really believe that a Jewish state is necessary. this is where this ideology stems from, and all these conspiracies floating around here now just strengthen this belief. These opinions have in past caused major catastrophes, genocides etc. They were Hitler's strongest propaganda tool. when your can't prove something isn't real but you can make this thing appear real and threatening, this is when crystal night happen.

I am not here to defend all those horrible things that are done in the name of Zionism. I cannot defend any of the violent actions taken by settlers in the Westbank, and I have no interest in doing so. However, if I had to choose between what is right and what will keep me alive and well, I would choose my own survival.
I do not associate with them, even though we are both supposedly Jewish. but following and doing what is right is a luxury that people have when they are not in immediate danger. People can be criticised when doing so, they can be opposed, but at the end of the day we would all choose our safety and well being over being right or just.

By all means, we should support the sacred work that the ISM/PSC does. we should support anyone who is fighting to better the lives of people. but we should be wary of association with fanatic groups, with people who might have interests other then that.
Take Hamas for example, an elected government in Gaza, and evidently a majority party. They also benefit from continuing conflict, and are responsible for killing people who have not inflicted any harm on anyone. While this might not compare to the harm inflicted by the Israeli army, it's still harm and it's still unjust. These are still the sorts of groups we do not want to be associated with. On the other hand, take the various charities which deliver aid the Palestine (Or anywhere else for that matter). They actually have an interest in ending the madness, take Anarchists against the wall, Shovrim Shtika, Combatants for Peace or Betzelem, people who build and seed the foundation of what will one day become a just and safe society. It's those groups which we need to support, and they will never call for the killing of people, they will not focus their attention in this or that non-existent global conspiracy. instead they get dug in, making human connections with the people who are supposed to be on the other side. This is where we should be too.

These are also the focus of a butt-load of legislations in Israel. the state of Israel is more threatened by the freedom theatre or Hadash then they are by Hamas or the psudo-nazi-lefty conspiracy theorists.
These just threaten us, people who want to live our lives safely and peacefully where ever this may be.

The point being, if I don't feel safe, I cannot be expected to devote time and energy to doing right by one another, to go on peace marches and actions and like. If Indymedia don't change and expel those bad apples you are in danger of loosing some of the core participants, and many people who have devoted a lot of energy here will go elsewhere, leaving indy a very unpleasant place to be.

This is up to the moderators, I know it takes it's toll, it's time and effort, but it's time and effort that you need to spend, or else Indymedia will become another Stormfront. One solution could be a "mark as offensive" button, which you could later override as you see fit. Other than that, I can just politely ask all the Alex Joneses out there to go back to their forums where they are free to spread their bile as they see fit.

P.S. Tony Blair's Paymasters are the British Tax Payers, that's you and me!